2548. Tom 7 (h-72-244-70-113.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 21 Jun 2005 23:50:23 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did 1 and 6, since those are easy. I have been planning on doing 2 (especially) and 3 for some time, but haven't got around to putting the advanced features in the editor (it will take a little more work to do it right, especially copy/paste).

As for 3, it's basically an arbitrary decision about what entities can be pushed into. I restricted it to things that you'd normally walk onto, and I consider the teleporter a "button", not a "walk into" (otherwise, you could push bots off it as well). Actually, this idea is slightly violated, since a Dalek can't walk onto another dalek that's standing in electricity (only possible by teleport or starting condition). Maybe I will change that (?). Anyway, the pushing code is about the most complicated thing in the game rules (maybe second to steel interactions with panels), so I don't want to play with it too much. ;)

7: There will be more bots soon, at which point a toggle won't make much sense. But it should let you change a bot's type by putting another one on top of it. Actually, I just fixed that.

It's true that you could get a little more mileage out of electric tiles if you could electrify anything, but it would mean major changes to implement (there is no such thing as "tile states" currently). I could introduce a bunch of individual electrified tiles, but I think this is a slippery slope. Same goes with directional lasers, although I am inclined to think that these may be more useful. In any case, I'm trying to resist adding new tiles that do something that can be accomplished another way. For directional lasers it's easy to see how to do this, for electricity, you could make a hugbot push some steel to change the level right after the electricity is turned off (although this is limited by the number of bots and level space you're willing to kill).

Thanks for the suggestions!

2547. Tom 7 (lolo.wv.cc.cmu.edu) – 21 Jun 2005 11:55:06 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Yeah, but only on Windows. It will be there in the next mac version.

2546. Max (qu-advlan110.quinnipiac.edu) – 21 Jun 2005 11:48:26 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Oops, sorry, apparently you just changed that in the latest update!

2545. Max (qu-advlan110.quinnipiac.edu) – 21 Jun 2005 10:55:13 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

10) I think when you decide to delete a level from triage, you should be prompted to leave a comment explaining why, as when you report having cooked a level. We haven't had any incidents leading to confusion yet, but there is definitely potential.

2544. Stephan (fl-71-3-32-158.dyn.sprint-hsd.net) – 20 Jun 2005 22:02:08 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Ok, A few more for the editor:
7) A toggle for bots between hugbot and dalek. It's a pain to have to erase a bot to switch, and then have to renumber. You can toggle sleep/wake, why not hugbot/dalek too?

8) Not needed, but would be nice: 'erase all bots button' or maybe shift-click the erase button?

And finally,
9) Have you considered directional lasers, not just 4-way? It seems like the 4-way can inhibit some level design simply because you have to block the unwanted laser directions with additional tiles.

2543. Stephan (fl-71-3-32-158.dyn.sprint-hsd.net) – 20 Jun 2005 21:45:13 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

6) And hey, in the editor, when you cancel placing a panel or teleport down by pushing the escape key, the editor should remember what was there when you started and restore the tile, not just put floor down!

2542. Stephan (fl-71-3-32-158.dyn.sprint-hsd.net) – 20 Jun 2005 21:40:57 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Suggestions:
1) In solution playback mode, it would be nice to see what move number you are on. (It can lead to discussion about how, "In move 23, you could save time by going left.", etc.)

2) In the editor, how about copy, cut and paste an area that's been hilighted with right-click?

3) Also in the editor, a flood fill tool or a fill highlighted area could be handy.

4) Daleks can teleport. So why shouldn't I be able to push a sleeping Dalek through a teleport?

5) It would be cool if electric field could be a tile state, (perhaps overlaid on the image using SDL's alpha blending?) This could allow electric field on top of other tiles and might allow for some interesting puzzles. Right now when the field gets turned off, you're just left with floor; kind of a waste of space.

2541. Tom 7 (h-72-244-70-113.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 20 Jun 2005 20:36:08 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

I released an emergency bug-fix today on the server, and whenever I do that I bump the version on the level collections so that there aren't any confusing mismatches. But I couldn't make a windows release until I got back home. It should be there now.

2540. octweak (200165248086.user.veloxzone.com.br) – 20 Jun 2005 19:15:55 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

After updating escape I tried to update levels, but I get an error
"This version cannot accept any collections. Please upgrade"
Press Cancel

I try to update but there is no new version

2539. Un fan franais de supergreg... (76.37.119-80.rev.gaoland.net) – 20 Jun 2005 17:23:26 [ Supergreg ]

supergreg NUMBA OnE !!!

2538. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-214.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 19 Jun 2005 00:36:35 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

The panel thing is intentional, and basically fundamental to escape. Every tile has exactly one destination, so if you flip between a panel and teleport (for instance), both will necessarily target the same spot.

2537. Max (pcp0010478666pcs.hamden01.ct.comcast.net) – 18 Jun 2005 22:33:02 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Oh yeah, another thing: is it a bug, intentional, or just practically unfixable that a panel in the foreground and a panel in bizarro world can't refer to two different locations? I think it could be potentially confusing (but there are already a lot of ways to be confusing ;) ) but very useful in designing levels...

2536. Max (pcp0010478666pcs.hamden01.ct.comcast.net) – 18 Jun 2005 16:07:00 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

How about having an icon that appears next to the number of moves (or somewhere in the title line of a level, like the key) indicating that you have the speed record?

2535. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-214.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 18 Jun 2005 11:19:54 [ UPD: midimml/t7es ]

Yeah, in fact, the 2A03 requires an external pure crystal coprocessor to run, so there's one in every cartridge.

2534. Quincunx (cpe-24-25-175-211.maine.res.rr.com) – 17 Jun 2005 16:18:50 [ UPD: midimml/t7es ]

Don't most NES games have crystals in them? That's why I named my second Album-a-Day "Crystal Aegis Prototype." I'll keep an eye out for the T7ES page.

2533. Tom 7 (h-72-244-71-22.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 17 Jun 2005 00:41:01 [ UPD: Embed / DMCA threats ]

(So, details of your problem would be interesting..)

2532. Tom 7 (h-72-244-71-22.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 17 Jun 2005 00:40:42 [ UPD: Embed / DMCA threats ]

Thanks. I would be very happy to know that my story is inspirational for those facing similar threats.

2531. TCwho (207-172-94-151.c3-0.grg-ubr2.lnh-grg.md.cable.rcn.com) – 16 Jun 2005 20:23:48 [ UPD: Embed / DMCA threats ]

Man I came across this site ... because of a similar problem! WoW, this is amazing how you stayed strong and gave them a battle. Thank you to you and all those that supported you.

......

I read everything on your site except that last letter, the one you said was long and boring blabla etc etc. By that point, I was wondering did you still offer the program, did "They" win..?????

!!!And to my surprise - !BAM! The link to go get it. LOL.

Thank you. Thank you.

2530. Tom 7 (h-72-244-71-22.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 15 Jun 2005 00:04:25 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Yes, that's clearly a bug! It's pretty fun, though, because you can see what your memory looks like as an escape level, and you can also find a bunch of other escape levels that have the same width that are still in the memory. Anyway, I fixed it for the next release.

The yellow highlight showing up was just a happy accident of the way this used to work, so it's no surprise that it doesn't work if you scroll. Some confirmation of this process, delivered in a regular way, would cleary be a good idea. I put it on the list for the future.

Thanks for all your bug-hunting, Stephan! What's your last name again? I want to thank you in the docs.

2529. Stephan (fl-71-3-32-158.dyn.sprint-hsd.net) – 14 Jun 2005 21:03:59 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

I see that you can now scroll with the keyboard while setting a panel's target. This works, but note that the yellow target hilight doesn't appear when the target is initially clicked (as it does when no scrolling has occurred).

Also, you can scroll further left than the left edge of the board, wrapping around in memory and doing strange and probably unwanted things. Bug?

2528. Anonymous (pc0.wagr.wa.gov.au) – 14 Jun 2005 05:27:49 [ Filibuster vigilantly ]

One note spelt L I T E

2527. Tom 7 (h-72-244-68-84.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 12 Jun 2005 18:23:45 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

The new 'partial solution' saver (maybe I will give this a name like "bookmarks") will allow you to do this, but it is merely in planning, not actually implemented yet.

2526. Max (pcp0010478666pcs.hamden01.ct.comcast.net) – 12 Jun 2005 15:09:21 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Is there a way to save alternate solutions (of your own) for a level if you already did one that is faster? If not, then it would be cool if there were. It only seems to save the original solution and whatever is faster.

2525. Tom 7 (h-72-244-68-84.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 12 Jun 2005 11:02:10 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

OK, fixed that.

2524. Stephan (fl-71-3-32-158.dyn.sprint-hsd.net) – 12 Jun 2005 02:45:57 [ NEW: Escape Beta 2! ]

Minor Bug: on Windows, if you delete one of your completed levels using the delete key, the graphical level preview/animation doesn't update until you move the mouse/highlight a different level. (Everything else updates though, which is odd.)