Annoucing a new map by PiSketch Inc!

Yep, i'm at it again. This is just a simple, unfinished map that i made to try out an idea. (It was the trees, though it now contains quite a few more ideas) This Map will be finished, i'm working on the final boss now, actually.
Credit goes to Silverwind for inspiring me to use such awesome detail as he does.

Pi

Download - Note: this link will always have the most recent version, the only other post guaranteed to have it is the most recent one by me announcing a new version.

Oh, and thanks to QuickShareIt for filehosting.

Update: File has been uploaded, should be as good as it will get. I couldn't kill the slowdown without getting rid of some of the detail, so sorry to those of you who had trouble with this.

This post has been edited by PiSketch : 29 May 2007 - 04:13 PM

A very nice start. i especcially like the teleport at the beginning. Although the frame rate drops quite a bit in the second room when the flikr's attack, it's still playable though. Can't wait for more!

Yeah, the large amount of sprites there does slow it quite a bit. But hey, whatcha gonna do.

Pi

EDIT: New version up. Contains one of the coolest things i've ever done.

Download

This post has been edited by PiSketch : 30 April 2007 - 04:03 PM

I've just played the level through and I can't get my head around the appearing vines! How did you do it? It looks like an alternative Boss Door method, but without opening the editor I can't really confirm it. Excellent level Pi, great detail and ideas.

@silverwind, on Apr 13 2007, 11:06 AM, said in Forest Map:

I've just played the level through and I can't get my head around the appearing vines! How did you do it? It looks like an alternative Boss Door method, but without opening the editor I can't really confirm it. Excellent level Pi, great detail and ideas.

He used the vines as sprites childrened to a rock. When the rock comes into culling range the vines appear. And for boss doors would the vines get deactivated if you kill the boss? cause you would have to link the vines to the boss with an extra 2 value.

This post has been edited by Dogbert : 13 April 2007 - 10:26 AM

Ingenious! I should've thought of that...

I'm sure a technique could be worked out to allow Boss Doors using this method, but unfortunately I don't think I'll have time to figure it out today.

Confirming what Doggie said, that is indeed how i did it.

@Silver: Thanks. It means a lot coming from you, you know. You're probably the best SKF designer here. You've got huge levels with enormous amounts of detail.

@Boss Doors: Yeah, Doggie mentioned that on a iChat session. Wouldn't be hard to set up, the only tricky part would be getting the distance right.

Don't call me doggie!
one of these days you will truly appreciate what Dogbert has done for this world! (absolutely nothing)

I'm sure i don't know what you're talking about... Doggie.

Pi, who should still be in his own account.

Really like the beam in, walls of vines, and fireworks explosion of the mini boss...great fun! On my aging G4/1MhzTiBook I can't go into the forest at the beginning without the frame rate dropping to very low (even if I try to kill all the enemies on the outside first) upon entering the forest the ship freezes up and gets destroyed...it looks like an interesting space... so I have to stay near the entrance and fire into the forest from a few angles until I get lucky and unlock the door... getting by the vines was bit touch and go too... takes a couple of trys to get by fast enough without the last wall of vines destroying the ship.

Yeah, that same thing happened on Doggie/Teh's computer, though it runs fine on mine. Odd. I'll see if i can do anything about it.

The vines problem has never happened to me, but if it persists you could always place a force field.

I've got a new version that should fix the "Getting killed by the last vine wall" (Download), though i'm still stuck on the slowdown.

EDIT: Ah, figs. Forgot to move the gamestart from where it was... Fixed.

This post has been edited by PiSketch : 30 April 2007 - 04:04 PM
Reason for edit: URL Problem

After a long delay. the project is once more up and running! I am proud to present the latest version of Forest Map, with two new bosses, a couple of hidden items, and a few new glitches. Please report anything you find, along with suggestions on how to fix it. Thanks!

Download

This post has been edited by PiSketch : 30 April 2007 - 04:04 PM

I'll wait until you're done to test it, okay?

Heh, allright. There's really not many glitches, though there are a few that i can't figure out how to stop. Oh well.

Resumes work

@gray-shirt-ninja, on Apr 29 2007, 02:18 PM, said in Forest Map:

I'll wait until you're done to test it, okay?

Eh, it only takes a few minutes to play through.

Comments:

• The game's speed slows down to nearly-unplayable levels in the "maze" beyond the

Spoiler

green mechanical thing

. This, unfortunately, makes it nearly impossible to gun down the flickers waiting around in there, so they tend to kill me. In fact, if I have any programs running in the background, and leave the main path, the game locks up completely and I die of flicker impacts while the screen isn't updating.

• The Big Boss is a nice change from the usual style of bosses in this game. Good job with it.

• The final "boss" is too boring. Perhaps adding some large green flickers and reducing its hitpoints would spice it up nicely? There's nothing quite like running away from immortal enemies while trying to destroy something.

• I found the exit path, but you might want to put the "to be continued" message in a visible layer, and make the passage itself visible from the Boss room.

Edwards

@edwards, on Apr 29 2007, 10:40 PM, said in Forest Map:

Comments:
(1)The game's speed slows down to nearly-unplayable levels in the "maze" beyond the

Spoiler

green mechanical thing

. This, unfortunately, makes it nearly impossible to gun down the flickers waiting around in there, so they tend to kill me. In fact, if I have any programs running in the background, and leave the main path, the game locks up completely and I die of flicker impacts while the screen isn't updating.
(2)The Big Boss is a nice change from the usual style of bosses in this game. Good job with it.
(3)The final "boss" is too boring. Perhaps adding some large green flickers and reducing its hitpoints would spice it up nicely? There's nothing quite like running away from immortal enemies while trying to destroy something.
(4)I found the exit path, but you might want to put the "to be continued" message in a visible layer, and make the passage itself visible from the Boss room.
Edwards

1: I've heard this from Teh and Dogbert, but i've never had it slow to anywhere near unplayable on my machine. I'll probably have two maps with the final upload, one with significantly reduced scenery. I'll cut out some of the detail in the next version.

2: Thanks! That was actually one of the things that i wanted to do in this level, one of those ideas i mentioned.

3:I'm assuming you're talking about the

Spoiler

battery

? The latest version (Not uploaded) spices it up quite a bit. Also, rest assured, that is NOT the 'final' boss. There will be more.

4: TBC Message: Heh, i noticed that too. The "Retaining traits from last selected sprite" thing is both cool and annoying. I did that later on with some text that gained the Savering script. Passage: I don't really want to make it visible from the Boss room, i want it to be one of those things that the player gets stuck on for a bit, so they have to look closer.

Thanks for the feedback, Edwards, and i hope you don't mind my borrowing some of the things you did in your Pro Mul Ske entry.

Pi

New version. This is the final one, barring bug fixes. There will be a sequel, and it'll take place in the Factory. Post any bugs you find, please.

Low(er) Detail Version

This post has been edited by PiSketch : 30 April 2007 - 04:04 PM

There's a bit of scenery right near the beginning of the map (just past the first spiders) that can be destroyed, and occasionally drops a shield pickup.
I agree entirely about the sentiment written behind the wall in the area that was formerly "to be continued", but it's about my immediate death from flicker swarm due to framerate failure, rather than the speed of the entry. Fortunately, the framerate was much better the second time through, and I survived.
Also, did you know that if the framerate drops low enough, it is simply not possible to fire the Beam gun?
Yes, I have been playing the reduced scenery version.

The

Spoiler

battery

is still completely trivial to kill, although it should now be a bit of a shock to newer players.
The edge of the background comes too close to the passageways just north of

Spoiler

the suspiciously familiar miniboss

, and it is possible to see out of backgrounded territory.
And no, I don't mind people borrowing tricks I've come up with for use in their own maps- in fact, it's rather cool to go through a map and notice how many little tricks are based on things I came up with.

I look forward to seeing the sequel- hopefully you'll find some way around the framerate problems.

Edwards