agaricus5 wrote:
I don't particularly like the idea, since it basically enables you to make two moves (or even more in large hordes) per turn, which is highly un-DRODish since the moves are made out of your control. Also if they can push you, then you could get stuck into a corner eventually if you're not careful.
Wubbas can keep you stuck in a corner if you're not careful.
These Wubbas can, however,
push you into a corner to get you stuck there, which is quite a big difference compared to passively getting yourself stuck in a corner.
Also, I wouldn't really suggest using a ton of these in one room much in the same way it's somewhat bad practice to add 10-20 slayers to one room.
Still, even 3 in a small area can be enough to produce some unpredictable effects:
O
O /
B
O
Key:
B- Beethro
O Special Wubba
Rotate once anti-clockwise, and if we assume the red one goes first, then green and then blue, what will happen is you will be first rotated clockwise and then once more so you end up facing east. Then you will get pushed upwards, all of which take place in the space of one move.
That would be a bit unpredictable if you had several - movement order would then be extremely important.
True, it'd be somewhat unpredictable, which is...somewhat troublesome. On the other hand, we didn't really predict orbs, and that worked okay in AE for quite a while, as I recall.
There are two major differences you are basically forgetting:
First, orbs don't move, so although they required guesswork in AE to figure out their functions, once you'd worked out what they did, the problem was basically alleviated since all you needed to do was remember which orb did what. With these moving monsters, you'd need to work out which was created first through trial-and-error, and try to remember this through each game state, especially when they interact, since they look the same. After that, then you'd need to calculate which moves first and so work out your final position. It's certainly quite a lot more work than working out and memorising the function of a few orbs.
The second thing is that orbs are stationary objects that don't interact with you at all; it's your choice whether to hit an orb or not. These Wubbas, however not only interact with you, but also alter your movement and position too. Basically, once you get right next to one, you've no choice but to get pushed, and so lose control.
Finally, although you say that...
On the other hand, we didn't really predict orbs, and that worked okay in AE for quite a while, as I recall.
...the orb problem was bad enough that it
did bother people quite a lot, especially as orb complexity was an easy to implement and often integral part of many puzzles. Why else would the orb-clicking feature have been included in JtRH?
Monster movement order, on the other hand, isn't very obvious, is pretty hard to make puzzles out of, is very difficult to predict, and so I don't think many puzzles actually have much of this problem (and for those that do, I guess the solution was to avoid them or ask the architect to reduce the effect). Once the movement order determines where the player will end up, as in the case of this monster, that would just end up very frustrating.
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Resident Medic/Mycologist
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