Quark Robot dev blog

Week #4 update

Quark Robot -

A reminder about the monthly build - first build of 2017 and since the December - will be uploaded Wednesday (1st of the month).

A lot of little bugs and inconsistencies with the Original game were fixed this week, plus some tweaks to the editor added.

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

  • updated "add from" icon
  • added "power-user" mode to menu - hold CTRL/COMMAND while the mouse is over the menu to show alternate commands

A while ago we added Save As functionality to the editor. Instead of cluttering up the simple UI we decided on holding COMMAND/CTRL key when clicking on the save button. This isn't really ideal since you can't see what you are doing. When Insert blank puzzle was added in week #2 we decided to make a "power users" mode. If the mouse cursor is over the menu and COMMAND/CTRL key is held down, the icons will switch to show the new functionality.


New icons added for power users


old "Add from" icon vs. updated icon

Game

  • vastly improved code to add/remove various block state data (blasting, phasing in, rubble present, etc)
  • rope traps now match the Original (Howie);
  • traps no longer disappear when a runner is eaten when setting up the trap
  • monk has temporary immunity to trap if above
  • fixed bug that did not always set the trap after an explosion
  • fixed bug that caused a runner to switch to ladder animation when blasting (Howie, Pat)
  • fixed players continuing to drown if the liquid they are in has been filled in (Howie, Pat)
  • monks can no longer climb down a ladder directly under a blasted hole they are standing in - this matches the Original
  • fixed bug that permanently froze runners hit by falling pickaxe rubble (Howie)
  • pick-axe rubble now matches the Original perfectly
  • jackhammering now matches the Original perfectly;
  • players standing on block being jackhammered also fall at the correct frame
  • fixed block seaming glitch when phase exit blocks are phasing into the puzzle

I've found something in the Original Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge that is rather odd. I've never come across it before. If a runner is setting up a rope trap and is eaten by a monk before he completes it then the trap becomes broken - no runner or monk can be caught it in. I briefly toyed with the idea of adding it the list of quirks but decided against it since it really doesn't make any sense.

General

  • fixed scroll bug in vertical slider (Howie)
  • slight performance gain when loading game assets
  • fixed bug in restoring games that did not correctly load the player type (Howie, Pat)
  • unsupported 4:3 resolutions entered manually into the configuration file will now be corrected (Howie);
  • further reading: GHOST_URL/adventures-in-scaling/

Bugs being worked on

  • monk hump 'n bump does not always work
  • monks can get stuck choosing a runner to chase (Howie, Pat)

What I'll probably do next week

  • input predication (web games)
  • monks merging when crossing ladders