Tom 7 Radar:
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:)
The level browser rewrite is not intended to be monumental, just:
- Use filters and tags instead of "directories"
- Read comments as well as post them
- Make everything fast with indexing and threads
- Don't require levels to reside in individual files, since that has a lot of overhead when you have 3000 of them
- Make it possible for trusted users to curate collections of the best levels
I did already start but man, one sad thing about life is that there just isn't time to do everything you wanna do. I still love escape though. If you guys have ideas about concrete improvements to the level browser, or specifically ideas about how to improve the first-play experience, I'd love to hear them. I agree it's a higher priority than new tiles; those are fun but there are plenty of those to play with already.
Dave: I actually agonized over the name "minor leagues" for a while because I didn't want it to sound like those levels were unwelcome, and I wanted to give the sense that there was a "major leagues" to aspire to. It might sound mean to people that don't understand the provenance. Do you have a suggestion?
It seems to me that with the current message volume, a level-specific thread and a single global thread are plenty? I'd be happy to fire up a message board (it's trivial to add them) but it seems to only make sense if there's a larger community. I think doing simple-ish things like making it possible to read comments in-game would probably help more.
There are actually known MD5 collisions (as of about 2005?) and I think it's not even that expensive to generate them any more. Both will be nonsense data, but I think the escape file format actually would allow for a contrived collision. Please don't do this. :)
Dave: I can't quite follow the specifics of your "bug", but for sure Escape reads every file in directories where it thinks it might find levels, and does so in a way that makes you wait. That's fixed in the level browser rewrite, but having fewer files in those directories is another way to make sure it stays fast. |
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Tom has mentioned a rewrite of the level browser, which presumably would cut back on scrolling time by offering more ways to find the level you want. Asking for a Tom 7 mockup sounds like a silly idea because they can span anywhere on the usefulness spectrum and you never know which one you're going to get, but has he presented a concrete idea of how it's going to be different than what we have?
Of course MD5 collisions are possible in theory, but the point of MD5 and other such algorithms is to offer a large enough hash space that each file has plenty of room to scamper without running into the others. Other algorithms like SHA-* offer an even larger space, but they're all slower to compute, and the MD5 code was already there for the taking. A bigger, but still laughably remote worry (forging malware to have a hash collision with a level file? No one would go to those lengths since there's no money in it) is that a level has the same MD5sum as another _level_, which would render the second such level inaccessible since the game would just think it's a copy of the first level. Fortunately, even such a minor change as adding a space to the end of the level name will change its MD5 and get it off the collision, so that's not really a problem.
If the Radar thread format is workable, but you'd like a way around the inability for anyone except Tom to start new threads, there's already a solution to that: snoot.org and the boards there. We could either co-opt the general board (4), or ask for an Escape-specific board to be created in slot 13 or something.
As for why CC came to have a bigger player base than Escape, simple. CC was included on Windows installations at the height of Microsoft's power, while Escape is included by default on...a lot fewer systems, to say the least, and on many of those systems the users don't even suspect it's there, let alone give it a fair shake. |
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10303. Anonymous (69.121.173.92) –
23 Jun 2011 13:38:24
[ BAD SAT SCORES ]
got a freaking 998 how bad is that? -.- |
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Just Remembered an idea I had for the escape site: Forums.
Basically they don't need to be all that complicated. Maybe just like a 'Help' category for troubleshooting and problem solving difficulties, and a 'Prototyping Ideas' category for coming up with Ideas for new or improving escape features before they become serious suggestions. I figure this might help make it easier for players to get the word of what they need and would like for escape, as things suggested in the feedback thread here die fast, unless they are posted at the right time, with some solid pluses without too many problems. I think that the thread format for your 'Tom 7 Radar' is perfect for my forum idea, but we would need to have it that the forums still are like normal forums.
I Hope this won't be too hard, considering you already have a thread layout.
I think that as far as simplistic bots go, Nervous bots and Lazy bots are good ideas, and I would like to know what anyone thinks about my gel block & rough block ideas. The rough blocks are 'rough' since they have sandpaper-like sides that scape against the 'rough' floor tile, basically sanding it down enough to make the "rough' floor tile become a normal floor. The gel blocks basically are large chunks of gel that are very good at filling in gaps and holes, and also push easily, allowing it to fill in rough and holes.
Simple Idea: Cliffs. Cliffs are basically like floor, but suddenly drops off halfway between one side and another, so you can stand on it, lasers and transponders can beam over it, but anything pushed onto a cliff falls off, disappearing.
Sorry for how long my posts are and how there are 3. I keep thinking of things. |
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Sorry, that last post was me. I did type in my name, but i think the adjusting thing at the bottom of the comment box messed it up? I'm not sure.
My current level that I am making is going to be an implementation of something not implemented in this game so far. I hope you will enjoy it. |
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Dave, I do agree. Another thing is that much older levels take a lot longer to get to than new ones, and scrolling down the levels is nowhere near as fast as if there were [levels 1-999], [levels 1000-1999], [levels 2000-2999], & [levels 3000+] folders.
Plus, Although there are way more than (due to different factorings of areas and panels, remotes, & teleports) t nPr a (what my calc says is # of permutations of items t (tiles) taken a (area) possible levels, which is gigantic at the moment), many are basically duplicates or not solvable. Many of these solvable ones are really bad or too similar to another level to upload, and a few are essentially impossible for the human mind to solve, like pieguy's "block cipher", which most of those are probably too similar to block cipher. Many good level possibilities have been exhausted, but adding one more tile or bot will increase the amount of possible levels.
One off note thing that still relates to escape: This probably won't happen, but it would be bad if a piece of malware ended up having the same MD5 string (or close enough) as an escape level, or if an antivirus's MD5 list contained one which corresponded to an escape level, as then an antivirus might say that the level would be dangerous. Just a thought. |
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Sorry about the typo (undeleted unrequired sentence fragment) in the middle of that. |
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As I finally got my triage solved count up to 2000 today (I very much doubt that I am alone or first to acheive that), I think I've earned myself a soapbox moment:-
The level rating system:
At the moment, most levels get rated immediately by a small group of experienced regulars who, me included, are pretty harsh scorers. This means that many levels, especially ones by new players, are ignominiously dumped into 'minor leagues'. This is not exactly an encouragement for these people to stay, build more levels, experiment and learn the game. This is particularly apparent when you look at the quality of some levels created, say, 5 years ago (2 years before I started playing) which are still in triage but wouldn't stand a chance now.
Next, I understand where the term 'minor leagues' come from but, from a non-US perspective, it's sounds incredibly derogatory. The other thing I remember from when I started playing, which was in the midst of a pretty mediocre series of levels, was my utter disappointment with a game that promised so much... why? ... because the first levels you play are always the most recent, whatever they happen to be at the time. I stuck with it, how many left? You're not going to test a game for potential by obeying the rules and working through the tutuorial, you only do that after you've had a bit of poke around first.
This is a brilliant and unique game but sadly under-appreciated. Maybe a restructure of the level browsing system will help. Certainly the old plan of an official series of levels, presumably over a cross-section of difficulty raings, which will become the default level directory may help. Or, how about a multi-division system which allows for demotion and promotion (minor leagues is currently a life sentence for a level). Whatever, this is probably something of higher priority than all the discussion about new blocks.
Just food for thought.
We seem to be very small community, and the game deserves better than that. Why is the CC community so much bigger? I seem to recall John Lewis' comments about competitive play. |
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The website urbanmushrooms.com
you can identify your mushrooms here. I too had the curly one. My landlord is being a d*** about getting it seen to. Landlords are the scum of the fungus infested inside of the toiletbowl of life.
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Well I'm glad you like it! If you have any good Ideas for the game, feel free to post them. |
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Just testing comments are working after N7DOT's problems.
While I am here... just a minor bug.
On one computer I had about 10 deleted levels permanently stuck in triage. No major mystery... they were in the Program Files/Escape/Triage but all level updates were being applied to Users/...Blah Blah.../AppData/.... Consequently, any file in the original triage dir at the time I installed it but which was later deleted was never being detected as stray and therefore not being moved to the attic.
Anyway, I finally decided to do something about it and deleted all the esx files from the former directory. And the effect: The recurring 'program not responding' problem during level load between the main menu and level select menu has completely disappeared. In fact, I reckon overall that start-up is about 10 times quicker than it was even when the program didn't hang up.
Has anyone else noticed anything similar? It only seems to be a problem in Vista.
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the mushroom is just the fruiting body of a fungus. They are produced when the fungus (which would be covering any amount of timber out of sight) goes to reproduce. like the tip of an iceberg
so could bleach/salt/peroxide/any chemical really be anything but a short term solution?
i suppose anyone seriously considering salt as a cure is too cheap to have a bathroom inspected, ripped out and a new one installed, ventilated and heated properly with proper materials by a skilled installer... |
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nevermind i got it ^thanks man
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my bad i could have been more specific. i move the on transponder to block the laser and get to the heart to wake uo the door but then i'm stuck. if you dont want to put a spoiler here you can send it to my e-mail. bcjam101@yahoo.com i love this game btw. i d/loaded it back in 1999 or so. had forgotten about it and found it again. yay!! |
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New Tile idea: Gel Blocks & Rough blocks
The idea is that gel blocks act like greys normally and rough blocks act like maroon blocks normally, but both share one key feature which makes them special: They can be pushed onto rough, causing the block to disappear, but also turning the rough into floor, allowing other blocks to be pushed through.
Instead, they could stick around, but that would give to much power to the blocks.
Also, I thought that if you Replaced the hugbot in 'Hugbot Framer' with a timer x Nervous bot, or just added a nervous bot, it would likely be an interesting level, and at the same time you would be able to push the door even farther to the right. |
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Oh yes, transponders... that's a tricky one. If this hint doesn't help, then feel free to say what your having trouble with. One thing that trips people up is that they don't realize they can move transponders, which are the wire type that can send signals across empty areas. however, you'll have have to figure out how to make use of this fact. So, as my hint, you'll need to move the transponders. |
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how do you do tutorial 20? i'm soooo stuck. |
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10222. Anonymous (98.253.142.113) –
05 Jun 2011 00:50:40
[ BAD SAT SCORES ]
I go to a Jesuit Prep School surrounded by loads of students who thing anything below a 3.8 is shameful. I'm a teachers worst nightmare, unmotivated and stubborn. And due to that I never turned any work in my freshman or sophmore year. this year I got a GPA of 3.5 but my overall is a 2.5. But on the SAT i scored a 2130... with a perfect score in writing. what's going to happen to me? have i messed up my gpa and ruined my life already? or will the sat score save me? what are my college options? what if i can pull a really good essay explaining my poor grades? |
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10221. Anonymous (75.216.41.244) –
04 Jun 2011 16:52:18
[ BAD SAT SCORES ]
I GOT A 1050 THE FIRST TIME BUT I JUSS TOOK IT OVER ON TODAY!!!!! |
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10218. Anonymous (71.92.14.100) –
02 Jun 2011 13:42:03
[ BAD SAT SCORES ]
Hey all you people saying you got like 1300 and did horrible. All you guys just shut up! Yeah you may not get into Harvard or whatever, but if you do your research there are a lot of fantastic colleges that put little emphasis on the SAT. Look at the average SAT scores for certain colleges, and then remember that they had to have accepted people with score quite a bit lower than those. Try taking the ACT. some people do better on that.
My first SAT i got 1190, and I've maintained a 3.8 unweighted GPA through high school. I'm taking the SAT again this Saturday, then in a few months I'll take the ACT. I'm aiming for 1250-1300. I've taken the prep course and studied like mad. I'm 100% sure I'll get a good education in college.
So all you people with less than 1500: you'e FINE! |
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10216. Robalore (122.167.100.198) –
31 May 2011 22:08:23
[ Before / After ]
BUT WE SHAL ADD COMMENTS TO THWART YOU BWAHAHAHA |
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Math: 420
Critical Reading: 440
Writing: 410
Essay : 8/12
1270.
My first SAT and I did horrible )': |
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So today I found a mushroom growing out of the base board near the tub. There has been a lot of water puddling near there after my showers. Guess I know the reason it occured, now to fix it. I had poured bleach on it but now going to try salt and peroxide as well. |
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10212. Someone Please Help (108.20.116.25) –
29 May 2011 10:56:14
[ BAD SAT SCORES ]
So I just got my SAT scores and I got an 1190 I have 3.1 GPA and I run varsity track, and I also volunteer at a suicide hotline. So I have to ask if my life is over. I'm a Junior and I already sighed up for some AP and Honors class for Senior Year. So is my life over, will I even get into college? |
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