April 2016 build

Welcome to the April 2016 build! A massive 83 bug fixes, updates and improvements were made to Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge rewrite in the last month alone!

This month sees a whole whack of new features and improvements, along with lodes of fixes to further match this game to the Original.

This monthly post covers the highlighs from the last month of work. If you like to read the weekly update posts featured in this build, you can find them here: weeks #13, #14, #15, #16 and #17

What are you waiting for? Head on over to the downloads page page and get a copy!

Special thanks for this build go to Leandro, Howie, Jeffrey, Jared, Jayde, Paige and Alexis. 90% of all bug fixes were found by testers which is terrific - thanks to all of you who took the time to give me feedback or just say hello.

If you find anything at all that is wrong with the game so far or have any ideas or suggestions, please get in touch with me. Your feedback is very important to making this project as good as it can possibly be.

Continue reading for a summary of all the fixes, improvements and new features in the April update.

Editor

2 new features, 2 bug fixed, 4 improvements
when testing a two-player puzzle, each runner will start with 5 lives;
want more? Simply toggle PlayTestLives in your config file
puzzles shuffled via the Puzzle Viewer will have their undoes move with them
toolbox will snap to the nearest position within the editor if toolbox position was out-of-bounds (manual config edit or toggling full-screen)

Are you a whiz on the keyboard? Good news! You can now use the original 1983 style keys to rapidly aid in painting.

0 = delete a tile
1 = paint blastable
2 = paint solid
3 = paint ladder
4 = paint monkey bar
5 = paint fall-through/trapdoor
6 = paint exit ladder
7 = paint gold coin
8 = paint Mad Monk
9 = paint Jake Peril
arrow keys can be used to move the mouse cursor

When creating large puzzles, it can get annoying having to move the toolbox out of the way constantly. When in full-screen mode, you can now move the toolbox anywhere you like. As per windowed mode, the position will be remembered for the next time you launch the editor.

See more of what you edit by moving the toolbox in full-screen

Game

4 new features, 26 bugs fixed, 22 improvements
phase bricks that can appear or disappear when collecting gold added;
this feature is straight from the Xbox Lode Runner
you can read all about exit phase here
fixed bug that caused monks to teleport around the puzzle
improvements to throwing goop and walking in goop
fixes to keyboard shortcuts killing runners
improved keyboard shortcuts for cheat keys
fixed bug that prevents runners from unlocking doors
collecting all gold with YOG+CTRL+F5 will empty monk pockets
fixed runners not being allowed to get more than 99 lives
points accumulated in a puzzle are no longer cleared if a runner dies
darkness mode no longer shows for a runner if he is out of lives
improved accuracy when runners are landing on monks
several fixes for tools to improve accuracy against the Original
fixed pick-axe debris piles becoming permanent
added "Flying Lode Runner" quirk to Quirks Mode
improved monks when they transition to/from running in goop
numerous fixes when playing secret puzzles;
you can now save and restore correctly
fixed resetting issues
fixed YOG cheats not working correctly
numerous fixes to improve monk AI in relation to runners

*Exit phase blocks!*

The scoreboard has been added to the game. Finally see who is the best 'Lode Runner' out of your family and friends!
You can read all about it the scoreboard post.

Welcome to the hall-of-fame!

*Monks teleporting*

General

4 new features, 7 bugs fixed, 12 improvements
video player optimized
numerous fixes and enhancements to UI control elements
support to turn off tooltips with the EnableBalloonHelp property in your config file
save game format altered to allow you to move a save between different machines
puzzles shipped with the game are no longer restricted to 16 characters (only applies to puzzles the are included with the download - any puzzles you make have no limits)
fixed bug that caused the game to crash when deleting, renaming or copying files under OS X
the gamepad can now control the mouse cursor via the left thumbstick
gamepad triggers can be used for mouse left/right buttons (including single and double clicking)
further support to load/play puzzles created with Lode Runner Hacker's Editor
new error logging using plain-text and works on all supported platforms (Windows, OS X and Linux)
configuration file is now preserved when updating builds (patches or monthly downloads)

*Tab support for keyboard ninjas*

You can now use the TAB key to switch focus between controls just like you can do on Windows. You can read about the TAB control here.

If your graphics card drivers don't support a great deal of 4:3 resolutions you may end up with the game not being as large as you'd like it to be. The config file now has support to manually override the default full-screen behaviour and use the older method by altering the ForcePillarBoxes property.

If you've got a keyboard or machine that is difficult to access CTRL+function keys (Chromebook), then toggling the RemoveFKey property in your config file will allow you to use the matching numeric key instead of the function key. For example, CTRL + F5 to collect all gold (when cheating) can now be used by CTRL + 5.