Quark Robot dev blog

Week #18 update

Quark Robot -

I finally started work on LAN gaming! This has been on my TODO list for several weeks. A few months if you press me about it. Progress has been quite quick which I'm pleased about.

The downloads have been updated for the April build. It includes most of what is in this weeks update. If you've already downloaded the April build - don't worry, it works but there are some issues. Special thanks to Howie, Jeffrey and the Morse family for pointing them out.

I forgot to mention this in the April roundup post (long time downloaders will have noticed) that the filenames have changed for the builds. Usually the downloads are named something like LODERUNN-WIN-APR.ZIP. Starting from the April build, I switched to the same style Ethan Lee uses for his FNA releases. The new names are LODERUNN-platform-yearMonthDayRevision.ZIP.

Two new boards have been added to the scoreboard thanks to Jared. The 1st two boards are for playing the original, built-in puzzle sets and new boards for when playing custom puzzle sets.

*Bragging rights*

A name in parenthesis and in bold is the finder of the bug/quirk. Thanks to all, I really do appreciate your time and support. Cheers!

Editor

  • fixed bug when restarting a puzzle being play-tested giving the wrong number of lives (Jayde)
  • tooltip text when changing worlds now matches the soundtrack name (EXAMPLE: "Meltdown Metropolis" is displayed instead of "Select the Industrial World background"). Thanks to (Jeffrey).

Game

  • game mode is based off the runner count - this matches the Original;
  • if you choose a single player game but a select a puzzle with two runners, then the game will be switched to two-players
  • same goes for two player puzzle with one runner
  • this system is not perfect but it does match the Original
  • pointed out by numerous testers, most recently by Howie
  • fixed bug that did not correctly show points when entering secret puzzles
  • when a runner dies with a tool, it now returns to the tools' original position (or next empty position if occupied) (Jared)
  • fixed bug that awarded points and lives incorrectly when dying in a secret puzzle
  • when a runner dies (completely out of lives) and has a high-score, you will now be prompted to enter the scoreboard (Paige, Alexis)
  • fixed AI bug that let monks chase after runners who are falling or entering a puzzle (Kaia)
  • monks no longer need to be as close to a runner to eat them; (Kaia)
  • this appears to match the Original more
  • fixes the issue on some occasions that stopped a monk eating a runner

LAN

A lot of time was spent on LAN gaming. LAN gaming was present several builds ago but since removed. Although stable, it wasn't really brilliant and a bit of a mess if I'm being honest. It was also never designed for more than two runners.

So far;

  • host a game
  • discover games available to join on the local network
  • only games that have the same version as you will be found
  • join a game and enter the lobby
  • lobby;
  • send text messages to all players
  • host can toggle quirks mode, allow cheats and choose a puzzle set to play

The above list isn't very large, I know, but all networking areas were started from scratch. I hope to have the lobby completely done by next weekend so I can go onto gameplay.

General

  • update FNA to 16.05
  • fixed bug that crashed when launching full-screen if your monitor did not support more than five 4:3 resolutions (accidently left in when testing) (Howie, Jared)
  • fixed bug that did not allow you to access the "saved game" folder (Jared, Howie)
  • fixed bug that resumed paused music (disabled via Options or shortcut) when unpausing the game (Jayde)
  • deeper integration of gamepads (eg. can be used to dismiss prompts, access menus, etc.)
  • changes to the scoreboard;
  • optimized shader
  • two extra boards have been added and are dedicated to non-official puzzle sets (Jared)
  • fixed graphic glitches for both Ancient and Dark worlds (Jeffrey)
  • added configuration file support to access areas of the project that are in development (read: guaranteed to crash the game or YMMV). Alter the AccessAllAreas property.
  • fixed bug when using the TAB key to tab controls
  • rich-text support added to textboxes

The entire user-interface in Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge/Rewrite is written from scratch. That includes all controls; buttons, textboxes, list boxes, scroll bars, windows, tooltips - the lot. Rich-text support wasn't in the game before since nothing needed it. Jared brought to my attention that in certain areas, a pop of colour is needed instead of the default "Lode Runner yellow".

The project now has very basic rich-text support - all added to the text in the language files so nothing has to be manually edited in code. Pretty much as "set and forget" as I can get. So far only underlines and changing text colour is supported. You can see this in the hideous dialog above ;).

Surrounding text with ::u will underline it and wrapping text with ::# will change the colour. Here is an example to change text colour: ::#373FDBWes Reckless!::#. The only downside is readability suffers a little but since I'm the only one who creates the XML language files, it isn't a real concern.

Bugs being worked on

  • blocks blasted instantly 'healing' and crushing a monk - timing dependent (Jayde)
  • case-sensitive filename support not working correctly on Linux machines

What I'll probably do next week

  • finish LAN lobby