RoboBob3000
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SEE http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=19809&page=3#341217 for latest build and information.

This is a quick demo of my current project, which is a port (har har) of Portal to DROD. The goal of the project is to produce an engine which will allow for anybody to create Porthole levels with a minimum of scripting edits involved.

There are certainly still problems to overcome and design decisions to be made, but this demo is very playable, and if I may toot my own horn, pretty darn cool. Much credit to Chaco who provided the custom character graphics for the portholes. (Also to Dictator Reverus and Monkey for their graphical magic.)

As always, give me your thoughts or bug reports or post any cool levels you've made. Thanks!

Known bugs:
Various initialization issues
Can gain vertical momentum by standing on a porthole when only one exists.

Work items/ideas:
Decide on appropriate momentum shifts.
Create levels/story/dialogue
Use porthole count for medal system when designing levels.
Add fade effect to dying energy balls
Graphics: Turret revised (need to decide how this is handled)
Graphics: Energy ball (NSEW healthy, NSEW faded)
Graphics: Energy ball receptor (NSEW)
Graphics: Energy ball spawner (NSEW)

Info about level editing posted below is out of date.

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 07-05-2012 10:10 PM]

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1978
Registered: 10-23-2003
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Porthole Level Editing Guide

Note: This needs to be updated to work with the latest version. This guide predates the existence of the companion cube and the turret.

Open up the Sandbox room in the editor. For starters, you should know about all of the characters involved in the room, listed in movement order. Maintaining this movement order is important!

Characters:Optional changes:Exit conditions:Design Considerations:

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 02-11-2008 03:27 PM]

Rabscuttle
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What version is this meant to be run under? Basic movement doesn't seem to work for me - the direction I push doesn't always move in the right direction.

oh wait, it's a platformer - that's gravity!

never mind!

Rabscuttle
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Is there anyway out of the hole in the centre left of the screen? Portholes appear too far away to use (at the moment)

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Rabscuttle wrote:
Is there anyway out of the hole in the centre left of the screen? Portholes appear too far away to use (at the moment)

Yes, it's possible. You'll probably have to throw a porthole out of the way. I put that section in to show some of the current problems with the engine.

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 01-28-2008 06:48 AM]

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1300
Registered: 06-14-2005
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Actually, if you go through a porthole and the other doesn't exist, you are still there, can still shoot portholes, but if you shoot the porthole that doesn't exist it comes into play and teleports you there.

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

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File: Porthole.hold (21.7 KB)
Downloaded 78 times.
License: Public Domain

Okay, here's a level. Am I exploiting the scripting in it? If not, I'll make it better, because it's not too much of a challenge as it is now.

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 190
Registered: 03-21-2006
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File: Go through walls.demo (676 bytes)
Downloaded 58 times.
License: Public Domain

Found a "go through walls" bug.

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lurking

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[Last edited by Monkey at 01-28-2008 09:18 PM]

Anson
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 67
Registered: 02-05-2007
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File: Porthole Sandbox The Entrance.demo (657 bytes)
Downloaded 61 times.
License: Public Domain

Someone Else wrote:
Okay, here's a level. Am I exploiting the scripting in it? If not, I'll make it better, because it's not too much of a challenge as it is now.

That was too easy! I have the demo right here

____________________________

Please, I admire Guthix, I solve problems, I fix rules too. I used to be a Scoundril, Complaining about the forums, But now i changed.

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

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File: Porthole Sandbox Glitchy Victory.demo (732 bytes)
Downloaded 55 times.
License: Public Domain

Now I'm just being ridiculous.

Edit: It's just silly portholing around (with wall climbing) in Someone Else's Porthole.

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lurking

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[Last edited by Monkey at 01-29-2008 02:29 AM]

RoboBob3000
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Thanks for the bug demos, Monkey. The first bug is an extension of a known bug (shooting point blank at walls). I've got a plan for how to address that. I'll also make it impossible to launch a porthole immediately after a teleport. I'll see if I can get these fixes implemented tonight.

I can't view the second demo. Presumably this comes from a version of the hold that you edited yourself.

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

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It's basically me portholing around the room and making Someone Else's hold look like a playground.

Edit: But just think of teh puzzel pontentul with wall climbing!

Ediit: Ah, well. I can just use the buggy one in all the new levels.

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lurking

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[Last edited by Monkey at 01-29-2008 02:33 AM]

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Someone Else wrote:
Okay, here's a level. Am I exploiting the scripting in it? If not, I'll make it better, because it's not too much of a challenge as it is now.

Ha. Simply put, yes. The changes I outlined in the previous post should make this sort of room impossible (in the intended manner).

I like the checkpoint idea. Unfortunately, the action can't be stopped with your particular implementation. I wonder what can be done with fegundos...

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Someone Else
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I didn't think of that. It would make checkpoints one use, however.

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 190
Registered: 03-21-2006
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File: Blue Porthole Asplodes.demo (1 KB)
Downloaded 50 times.
License: Public Domain

Oh, and another bug... when you place a porthole on an NPC, it will still porthole you, but you can't fire that porthole anymore.
Demo attached.

note: in those nonsense turns after the blue porthole disappears, I'm trying to fire one. And I eventually infini-cutscene myself by putting a porthole outside the room.

____________________________
lurking

Someone Else
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File: Porthole Demo The Entrance Glitch.demo (960 bytes)
Downloaded 78 times.
License: Public Domain

Okay, glitch. I don't know how this happened.

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 190
Registered: 03-21-2006
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Seen that glitch. I call it "Fart out a porthole!"

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lurking

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Someone Else wrote:
Okay, glitch. I don't know how this happened.

Ooh, great one. This happens because I don't have proper checks for northward portal launching when the player has upward momentum.

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Monkey
Level: Master Delver

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File: what the.demo (793 bytes)
Downloaded 51 times.
License: Public Domain

There's another bug. I can't really describe it, so you'll have to see it in the demo. It probably has something to do with not removing one portholation point, I'm guessing.

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lurking

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[Last edited by Monkey at 01-29-2008 03:40 AM]

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Monkey wrote:
There's another bug. I can't really describe it, so you'll have to see it in the demo. It probably has something to do with not removing one portholation point, I'm guessing.

Thanks. I'm planning on prohibiting teleporting when one porthole has disappeared and allowing it again when it is back. That should fix the behavior you see by not allowing the teleport when both are in the "same" position.

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RoboBob3000
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I just discovered something in my design that I can simplify which solves the bug of portholes going through walls. I'm going to spend some time refactoring my code, so I probably won't get a new version up tonight, but I'll probably have it ready to go tomorrow. Thanks for the help so far.

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RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Okay, I lied, I got it put together before bed. Find it in the top post shortly. Sorry for the triple-post, but it's no-holds-barred in Architecture. I am so good at jokes.

Bugs fixed:
Point blank firing no longer goes through walls.
Improper northward firing with upward momentum.
Can now jump as early as "turn" 2 instead of "turn" 3.

Bugs introduced:
Can't depress multi-use pressure plates properly. Replaced the plate in the demo level with a single-use.

____________________________
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Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

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Now, when you fire in the air, you don't fall. You can fire indefinitely and not fall.

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1978
Registered: 10-23-2003
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Hmm, interesting. I'm away from my install right now, so if you could clarify that would be great. Does it stop you from falling only on the turn you fire, or do you stop falling period? Can this be used to travel horizontally without falling or otherwise let you move in ways you should not be able to?

Edit: Okay, I've seen the behavior you mentioned. It looks like there's no way to exploit it, so I'm okay with it remaining as it is. If you can show me otherwise, please do.

Edit 2: This behavior actually seems to solve another problem I was having, which happened when you launched a porthole in the same turn that you move into a porthole. This delay appears to prevent that from ever happening. Sweet!

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 01-30-2008 04:34 AM]

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Latest and most stable version posted. I feel confident that I can now move on to adding new features. I decided not to fix the "bug" that Someone Else pointed out in his last post, since it solves a few problems and doesn't cause any. Please continue to try and break things and let me know what you come up with.

The largest current bug I can think of is when you fire a porthole on a porthole. This can cause some character disappearances, but it's nothing that can't be solved by firing again. I'm going to consider leaving this one in since it appears that you can recover from it, and I think it would take a lot of code changes to fix.

My next priority is to fix pressure-plate usage. Then maybe revamp the demo level. What does everybody think of the current momentum-shifting setup when launched through a porthole? I don't really have a means to "shoot" the player horizontally yet, but I could try to work one out.

Anybody have any more levels? I'd still like to see what people can come up with. For space conservationists, I think hot-tiles will work quite well at creating some "no-portal" tiles, because stepping on a hot-tile kills the Player Character immediately due to the nature of the scripting.

Changes:
Can't fire immediately after teleporting. Fixes major exploits.
Exit condition character moved to last in movement order.
Um... something else. I forget.
Updated level editing guide in second post in this thread.
Edited bugs/ideas in first post.

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 01-30-2008 05:29 AM]

Dictator Reverus
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 37
Registered: 11-25-2007
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File: Chell.PNG (1.5 KB)
Downloaded 112 times.
License: Public Domain

Because DROD normally has a top-downish veiw and the platformer has a sideways veiw, it just doen't look right. So I made these, use it to replace the standard mud-coordinator.

By the way that is the best picture of a human I ever drew, and by best I mean doesn't look horribley deformed.

____________________________
Since everybody keeps putting their holds in their signature, I decided to put my mod here.

Not sure if anyone actually clicks on these things though

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Dictator Reverus wrote:
Because DROD normally has a top-downish veiw and the platformer has a sideways veiw, it just doen't look right. So I made these, use it to replace the standard mud-coordinator.

By the way that is the best picture of a human I ever drew, and by best I mean doesn't look horribley deformed.

You. Rule. So. Hard.

If I have your permission, I'll incorporate this into the hold when I have an opportunity (likely tomorrow). You'll receive due credit.

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Dictator Reverus
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 37
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File: WCC.PNG (375 bytes)
Downloaded 95 times.
License: Public Domain

As long as you give me credit, I'm fine. You may use it in your hold.

Edit: From henceforth, one may always use graphics I posted in their thread, unless stated otherwise. That includes a newly attached Weighted Companion cube. I think it's slightly off color though.

____________________________
Since everybody keeps putting their holds in their signature, I decided to put my mod here.

Not sure if anyone actually clicks on these things though

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[Last edited by Dictator Reverus at 01-30-2008 11:41 PM]

RoboBob3000
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Ooh, the cube is outstanding too. I might alter the image to incorporate rotations of the heart as well.

The main difficulty I foresee with adding a cube into the game is that I can't think of any good way to pick it up. I may just incorporate it as a teleportable object, but otherwise immobile.

Chell looks sweet in-game. The only strange thing is facing northward and southward. The second row of tiles is optional animation, so when facing north or south, Chell may just change (visible) directions without player input. I may choose to leave out the second row altogether, or, if you're up for more tile manipulation, you could create north and south facing frames that are neutral. That is to say, Chell is directly facing the screen. Just a thought. It's already fabulous as it is.

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Dictator Reverus
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File: Kitty.PNG (900 bytes)
Downloaded 80 times.
License: Public Domain

Sorry, I only can do side veiws when drawing on the computer. Whenever I tried to make Chell face the player it looked like an orange blob with legs obscured by a gun. When I tried to make her facing away from the player it looked like she was peeing. Off topic, I did the west-east flip thing with a picture of a cat I put into DROD (except it only had two different frames, cause I was too lazy to draw more).

Perhaps the weighted companion cube could be pushable? Like a mirror?

Edit: P.S. It's really funny if you replace Chell with a cat.

____________________________
Since everybody keeps putting their holds in their signature, I decided to put my mod here.

Not sure if anyone actually clicks on these things though

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[Last edited by Dictator Reverus at 01-31-2008 05:45 PM]