Quark Robot dev blog

Week #44 update

Quark Robot -

I've slacked off on doing any meaningful work on network games this past month in order to focus on other areas of the project. That, and to be honest, I wasn't "feeling it". This week though I spent most of my time on LAN games. You should now be able to hold a network game without getting out of sync and without each machine ending up doing their own thing.

Mouse control was added this week. This was one of those things I've been putting off and putting off. This week I thought "why not?" so I did. Mouse support is now in and working and it turns out it was also one of those things that takes a few hours including testing. I've made some changes to how it works compared to the original to improve it a little.

*Mouse control in action*

Remember, the October build is up for download on the downloads page. Go and download it if you haven't yet (why not?). The October has 100+ updates, fixes and improvements. You can read the complete monthly roundup here (including this week).

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 some tooltips that did not show for the toolbox

Game

  • mouse support added;
  • only one player can use this and if more than one does, Jake will be favoured (well, he is the team leader after all)
  • gamepad or keyboard has priority over mouse
  • left press to move
  • right click to pick up/drop a tool
  • middle mouse click to use a tool
  • left click on a block on either side of the player to blast
  • fixed monk AI bug that caused a monk to ignore liquid blocks
  • fixed bug that allowed a monk starting in the air to swap to a ladder (Will)
  • added support to enter a hide-hole before falling to match original (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that did not reconnect a player-specific teleport to another (or deactivate) if the teleport receiver was destroyed by a big bomb (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that allowed a player to stand on a recently blasted block and not fall (Will)
  • fixed bug that prevented players being crushed in phase blocks (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that allowed a player to leap off a ladder into a phase block that was too far gone to allow entry
  • adjusted blasted blocks to not re-edge the sides touching a phase block - matches original
  • fixed monk orientation glitch when the game starts
  • streamlined runner entering in two player games after dying
  • greatly improved monks entering the puzzle
  • fixed bug that allowed a monk to climb out of a hole and go into a wall (Leandro)
  • fixed issue with falling rock piles going through a block before turning to a rock pile (Leandro)
  • fixed issue with a rock pile not burying a player properly
  • altered the befuddlement gas to make buried players immune; this does differ to the original but makes more sense since he is shielded and cannot move
  • fixed bug that could instantly crush a monk climbing out a hole

LAN

  • monks should now behave proper in games, including;
  • freezing/unfreezing when the bump into other monks
  • picking up and dropping gold
  • wandering about when runners cannot be reached

General

More keys were added to the keyboard key bindings. This does differ from the original with some keys but does allow you to use more of the keyboard. The shift keys should point upwards but an extra arrow indicating left or right looks a little confusing. You can now use the following keys in the game;

  • left/right ALT
  • left/right CTRL
  • left/right SHIFT
  • page up
  • page down
  • home
  • end
  • space
  • insert
  • delete

Interesting tidbit: the page up/down, home, end, insert, delete came from The Legend Returns resources since for some reason Lode Runner Online doesn't have these. I added the arrows to the CTRL and ALT keys.


More keys now available

Bugs being worked on

  • possible monk freezing bug with OS X (Stace)
  • empty game window with Windows 10 (Alen)
  • rapid key movements can send a runner through a wall (Leandro)

Coming soon

  • gamepad feedback when being crushed
  • two additional players (after completion of LAN)
  • working scoreboard

What I'll probably do next week

  • continue playing the game
  • add save support to LAN games
  • monks reentering the puzzle at random locations