Apparently my map got raped by the latest patch, causing weird UI interactions and once again breaking my player leave functions. I don't know when I can get around to fixing it, I'm up to my neck in classwork. Sorry guys.
I've got the new version with the tutorial completely done, but I'm still working on the next version which will add features. I can release it version right now if you guys would like while I still work on the new content for the next update.
Also I'm starting college tomorrow so I'm a bit busy.
Finally finished the tutorial. Changed a few things at the start of playing the game. Uploading a test version to bnet to play with some random people and see if they get it.
Yeah, I think I'll go with the short cinematic with some sort of instructional subtitles. Afterwards, the player will be given time to do what was just shown to them in the cinematic.
Thanks for the suggestion Taco, but if the game has enough new players, the tutorial is already forced on them. I want everyone to be in the tutorial at the same time, so if new players don't understand the cinematic, they can watch the more experienced players work their way through the tutorial and ask them questions. A quiz would fit more if the tutorial was quite long, but its only about 2 minutes long at the moment, and it's not a major hassle to sit though it if someone is new.
As for the chat improvement, I'll try to get that in after I spruce up the tutorial. Also, I'll make Super Smash Planets automatically selected, and I'll put a 'Recommended' tag next to Sol. I may make a new map that has no stars in it, but with some other hazard that's different. (Such as comets that fly through the screen as the game goes on).
@Sandtrout: Go
That's strange. Planets should be deleted and removed from that game after a player leaves. There must be some new issue that came up with the patch because this didn't used to happen. I'll look into it.
UPDATE:
I've got 2 cinematics totally done, which explain how to move and how to knock other players around. Working on the 3rd one that explains how suns/gravity works and secondary weapons. Between each cinematic is an arena that gives players a chance to test out what they just saw, by using the stages that are already in the tutorial.
Sorry guys, I've been quite busy prepping for heading off to college and haven't had much time to work on the map. I'd like to try and get the tutorial redesigned asap however. The current issues I see with it are as follows:
1. Even with text in new players faces, its still hard to get them to grasp that you need to shoot to move, and that moving pushes yourself in the OPPOSITE direction of your shot.
2. New players like to start clicking around randomly, then get confused why they are flying off the map very fast in random directions.
3. There is nothing that explains how secondary weapons work in the tutorial. I may add a 3rd tutorial stage explaining this, or somehow pack it into the second one.
4. If text isn't working, I think I'll have to switch to a more image oriented tutorial, where a short cinematic shows you how to move/fight before the tutorial gives you a chance to do it yourself.
5. The host needs to be able to force a tutorial to start.
If you guys have any suggestions for changes in the tutorial PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know. This is the most important part of the game for retaining new players.
Is there no way mods can see who voted in the poll? Why is there the thought that just because my map was winning it was because of 'shady business'? Is it so impossible to think that some people might actually enjoy my map? There have been tournaments for it, after all.
The poll was enough to get the entire thread to talk about my map. Though I agree, its up to Rodrigo and the others. I really hope this whole program works out anyway, regardless if my map is chosen. It's the best thing we can do for authors that tons of hard work into their maps, yet are unrewarded by Blizzard's current system.
Wanted to buy it, but I'm scared that the gameplay will get old really fast. I think it'd still be cool for terraining stuff but theres no free edit mode yet as far as I know.
I'm reconsidering some of the options, but I've had many complaints about boost feelings too backwards to use, which is why I'm considering putting in an option to switch the way its targeted.
The changes to Sol are really for new players. Since Sol is the default map, it needs to be optimized for new players, and many new players found themselves flying into the sun and bouncing off the map before they could figure out whats going on. I may reduce the Sols gravity as well.
If the majority of players are new, there will be no way to skip the tutorial. I like the idea of the host being able to enable the tutorial so it will still play even if fewer than half of the players are new.
Chat changes may be kind of awkward. Do you mean that the text (game messages and player chat) appears in a separate window in the top left of the screen rather than the middle of the screen?
Not exactly, since I can't reliably predict where someone's next click will be in a reactionary physics game.
Since in the game you may move at high speeds, your planets position often changes significantly by the time the battle.net receives your mouse click. Therefore, if you intended to slow down at first by launching a shot at a point ahead of their planets motion, you may actually push yourself to go even faster, as that target point is now behind you. What I've done is just correct the player's shots based on their speed and ping time, by translating their target point in the direction of their motion. This gives a feeling that your shooting towards the point that you clicked at about 250ms earlier, especially when traveling sideways. Obviously, this doesn't actually reduce the delay at all, it just tries to remove errors caused by the high bnet pings.
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@Jinxxx123: Go
implying page 1 maps are good
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Apparently my map got raped by the latest patch, causing weird UI interactions and once again breaking my player leave functions. I don't know when I can get around to fixing it, I'm up to my neck in classwork. Sorry guys.
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@xSun: Go
I've got the new version with the tutorial completely done, but I'm still working on the next version which will add features. I can release it version right now if you guys would like while I still work on the new content for the next update.
Also I'm starting college tomorrow so I'm a bit busy.
0
Finally finished the tutorial. Changed a few things at the start of playing the game. Uploading a test version to bnet to play with some random people and see if they get it.
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Mafia is a short term solution that will probably work, but we'll need something more if we're to keep our program on page 1.
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@TacoManStan: Go
We get that you don't like my map. Let's move on.
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Yeah, I think I'll go with the short cinematic with some sort of instructional subtitles. Afterwards, the player will be given time to do what was just shown to them in the cinematic.
Thanks for the suggestion Taco, but if the game has enough new players, the tutorial is already forced on them. I want everyone to be in the tutorial at the same time, so if new players don't understand the cinematic, they can watch the more experienced players work their way through the tutorial and ask them questions. A quiz would fit more if the tutorial was quite long, but its only about 2 minutes long at the moment, and it's not a major hassle to sit though it if someone is new.
As for the chat improvement, I'll try to get that in after I spruce up the tutorial. Also, I'll make Super Smash Planets automatically selected, and I'll put a 'Recommended' tag next to Sol. I may make a new map that has no stars in it, but with some other hazard that's different. (Such as comets that fly through the screen as the game goes on).
@Sandtrout: Go That's strange. Planets should be deleted and removed from that game after a player leaves. There must be some new issue that came up with the patch because this didn't used to happen. I'll look into it.
UPDATE: I've got 2 cinematics totally done, which explain how to move and how to knock other players around. Working on the 3rd one that explains how suns/gravity works and secondary weapons. Between each cinematic is an arena that gives players a chance to test out what they just saw, by using the stages that are already in the tutorial.
0
Sorry guys, I've been quite busy prepping for heading off to college and haven't had much time to work on the map. I'd like to try and get the tutorial redesigned asap however. The current issues I see with it are as follows:
If you guys have any suggestions for changes in the tutorial PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know. This is the most important part of the game for retaining new players.
0
Is there no way mods can see who voted in the poll? Why is there the thought that just because my map was winning it was because of 'shady business'? Is it so impossible to think that some people might actually enjoy my map? There have been tournaments for it, after all.
0
@TacoManStan: Go
The poll was enough to get the entire thread to talk about my map. Though I agree, its up to Rodrigo and the others. I really hope this whole program works out anyway, regardless if my map is chosen. It's the best thing we can do for authors that tons of hard work into their maps, yet are unrewarded by Blizzard's current system.
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Wanted to buy it, but I'm scared that the gameplay will get old really fast. I think it'd still be cool for terraining stuff but theres no free edit mode yet as far as I know.
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me gusta cant wait for tomarrow
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@xSun: Go
I'm reconsidering some of the options, but I've had many complaints about boost feelings too backwards to use, which is why I'm considering putting in an option to switch the way its targeted.
The changes to Sol are really for new players. Since Sol is the default map, it needs to be optimized for new players, and many new players found themselves flying into the sun and bouncing off the map before they could figure out whats going on. I may reduce the Sols gravity as well.
If the majority of players are new, there will be no way to skip the tutorial. I like the idea of the host being able to enable the tutorial so it will still play even if fewer than half of the players are new.
Chat changes may be kind of awkward. Do you mean that the text (game messages and player chat) appears in a separate window in the top left of the screen rather than the middle of the screen?
0
@grenegg: Go
It's obvious to me that you haven't actually given my map a shot. Your posts as of late haven't been very impressive.
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@zeldarules28: Go
Not exactly, since I can't reliably predict where someone's next click will be in a reactionary physics game.
Since in the game you may move at high speeds, your planets position often changes significantly by the time the battle.net receives your mouse click. Therefore, if you intended to slow down at first by launching a shot at a point ahead of their planets motion, you may actually push yourself to go even faster, as that target point is now behind you. What I've done is just correct the player's shots based on their speed and ping time, by translating their target point in the direction of their motion. This gives a feeling that your shooting towards the point that you clicked at about 250ms earlier, especially when traveling sideways. Obviously, this doesn't actually reduce the delay at all, it just tries to remove errors caused by the high bnet pings.