joker5
Level: Smitemaster
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Time for another tar!

This tar is like normal tar.... except it's yellow. It has a seperate tar mother. A normal yellow orb triggers it. You can cut it according to normal tar rules. It acts as a yellow door, and can grow as normal tar - especially over open doors. It grows closed and open, but open it can't go through open doors.

If tar is split then the orb affects both halves. If two seperate tars join then the orbs keep their effects and the tar 'entities' merge. In other words, if orb 1 closes tar 1 and orb 2 opens tar 2 then if tar 1 and 2 merge then orb 1 closes the new tar and orb 2 opens it. Even if they're split.

This could create some very strange puzzles - reach the orb before the tar surrounds it, stuff like that. And interactions with other monsters would be tricky too. The only problem I can think of is memory problems - how to shuffle all the entities and so forth.

That's about it.

~joker5

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Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Heh...this is a pretty cool idea! Question: what happens to the yellow tar babies when you hit the orb controlling the tar?

Game on,

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AlefBet
Level: Smitemaster
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joker5 wrote:
This could create some very strange puzzles - reach the orb before the tar surrounds it, stuff like that. And interactions with other monsters would be tricky too. The only problem I can think of is memory problems - how to shuffle all the entities and so forth.

This sounds like an interesting idea, and I don't see any big implementation difficulties. I have a few questions, though. Can you cut it when it's open? Can open tar merge with closed tar? Also, while I think the idea is interesting, I think it would be better if you could post a sketchy idea of a few good puzzles that would be enabled with the element.

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stigant
Level: Smitemaster

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The only problem I can think of is memory problems

If the new orb assignments stick after splitting, then the state of the puzzle is not completely determinable from the image of the room - it changes based on past moves.

Edit: Also, suppose orbA opens tar group 1 and closes tar group 2. If the two groups merge, what is the behavior of hitting orbA?

It acts like a door - in closed state, does that mean it will block evil-eye line of sight?

It might be more interesting if it doesn't grow and you can't cut into it when its in closed state, but it does grow and you can cut into it when its in an open state.



[Edited by stigant at Local Time:03-29-2005 at 12:03 AM]

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Garlonuss
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 275
Registered: 06-28-2004
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stigant wrote:
Edit: Also, suppose orbA opens tar group 1 and closes tar group 2. If the two groups merge, what is the behavior of hitting orbA?

One possible solution would be that no orb can control more than one section of tar initially. If that is the way it is set up, even if that section of tar split, it could control more than one section of tar without ever contradicting its own commands, even if the sections merge with other tar sections. I'm not particularly fond of this solution as it is a bit forced but it would eliminate the problem as you can only ever hit one orb at a time.

I do, however, like the idea that the tar can only grow or be destroyed in either its closed or open state, though I'm not sure which one would produce more puzzle possibilities. But what about the tar mother? Would the tar mother toggle as well? I think that the tar mother should only be vulnerable when the tar that is surrounding it is vulnerable.

This is a silly idea, but what if, in stead of creating yellow tar babies (which every tar-stuff suggested seems to be doing anyway), the yellow tar simply created yellow doors? This would make destroying the yellow tar considerably different from regular tar in that you would have to plan out your swings to create the doors in places that would either remain out of your way or strategically block certain paths.

AlefBet wrote:
Can open tar merge with closed tar?

I think that the best thing to do here would be to make it so that tar can only merge when the states match. In this way, you could block off one section of the room with one portion of yellow tar that is in a stable, closed state, with one or two sections of open yellow tar that would make it slashable. You have to reach the one orb that will make the tar compatible to merge so that you can destroy it and work your way through the rest of the room.

Edit: On further consideration, if the Yellow Tar were to create doors rather than babies, the doors would still have to be able to be killed by your sword in the right state. Otherwise, you would never be able to slash all the way through the tar since it would always create a door/baby on the other end of the tar.

[Edited by Garlonuss at Local Time:03-29-2005 at 08:29 PM]

[Edited by Garlonuss at Local Time:03-29-2005 at 11:53 PM]

[Edited by Garlonuss at Local Time:03-30-2005 at 11:16 PM]

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