Quark Robot dev blog

Week #36 update

Quark Robot -

What I've done this week##

LAN games this week underwent a major rewrite. Those of your who tried network games in the August update will know how unstable gaming was. It was extremely easy for games to get out of sync (even with a 2ms delay!). I've worked very hard on LAN this past week and it is far, far better now. Remember, LAN is still an "experimental" feature so don't worry too much about flaws/bugs at this early stage.

If you'd like an update copy before the September build (somewhere on the last weekend of the month), just send me a message and I'll upload a patch for you to try.

If you do take the time to try out a build of this Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge and you stumble across a bug, odd behaviour or any inaccuracies with the Original, then please let me know. I'll have a look and try to fix it as soon as I can.

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

While having a quick break for doing LAN games, I took the time to improve the editor a little. I know my ethos is to not change too much and steer away from the feel of the original, but the editor is one of those things that needed help. The original can be sometimes too tricky to use and a little confusing at times - especially when spending hours making puzzle sets.


Increased alpha tint level on the paint helpers, making them less distracting


Settings now draw over the top of the paint helper

*Easy to visualize teleport links*

Game

  • tweaked runners setting up a snare/rope trap
  • LAN;
  • fixed bug that highlighted/selected a non-existent game in the join/network dialog
  • improved major portions of the LAN system
  • all LAN players now use single-player controls (thanks to Rick for letting me know)
  • reduced overall bandwidth usage by 70%

General

  • fixed bug that did not save whether or not you muted the sound effects in the options
  • removed some redundant code from the sound manager

Bugs being worked on

  • Gravis gamepads not working with OS X (Adam)

What I'll probably do next week

  • play/test for bugs
  • work on some of my TO-DO list items
  • continue AI improvements
  • continue LAN