Attention all Sages of MASCOT:
Wouldn't it be great if there was somewhere that you could share your knowledge of MASCOT, which you have aquired over a year or so of practice, with other creators?
Well, here it is! The Creator's Corner, for newcommers and veteran's alike. Ask questions of your fellow creators, explain what you think makes a beautiful level, discuss various tricks and cunning traps.
Enjoy!
I'll go first.
spamguy: In BN, there is a point where you step on a teleporter (level 4- in the water near the gluttony sign.) It takes you to the beginning of the level, but not on top of another teleporter, how did you do this?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
You can link a teleporter to basically any object. I don't suggest using something you can take or kill, scenery is ideal. One way teleports are quite fun.
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The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. --Socrates
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. --Thomas Edison
Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability. -- Flowers A. Newhouse
What happens if you link to an object which has been taken or killed? Will it crash or just teleport you back to the orginal teleporter?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
Quote
Originally posted by Emperor Ent:
**I'll go first.
spamguy: In BN, there is a point where you step on a teleporter (level 4- in the water near the gluttony sign.) It takes you to the beginning of the level, but not on top of another teleporter, how did you do this?
**
What the...?
The way it's supposed to work is similar to "Parched Earth": each transport sends you to a central transport at the beginning in which you can fix yourself up and try again. Looking at the transports in MASCOT, they all seem to be hooked up correctly. Are you saying you're not being sent there? If that's the case, I need to pull out a new fix soon!
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Greetings - I am your friendly neighborhood moderator. Over the coming years I shall force-feed you my biased one-sided liberal tripe that I find truthful based upon my own faulty and fragmented logic; excessive smileys 
and bizarre TexT! formatting also help clarify my inane points. Welcome to the boards!
Quote
Originally posted by Emperor Ent:
**What happens if you link to an object which has been taken or killed? Will it crash or just teleport you back to the orginal teleporter?
**
Teleport you back.
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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are not even capable of forming such opinions."-Albert Einstein
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"Six by nine. Forty-two." "That's it. That's all there is."-Douglas Adams
Anyone who could explain the info fields of...
1. Catapults
2. Enemy Pipes?
Also, how can you make rock chutes drop exploding rocks without having to press any button?
How do you edit STR resources or whatever they are called? Do you need ResEdit?
How do you make conversations open rock barriers?
And just if someone didn't know, if you want a secret spot to play the "secret spot sound" when you enter it, type 1 in info field (0).
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~_~
Quote
Originally posted by (0ZM0:
**Anyone who could explain the info fields of...
1. Catapults
2. Enemy Pipes?
Also, how can you make rock chutes drop exploding rocks without having to press any button?
How do you edit STR resources or whatever they are called? Do you need ResEdit?
How do you make conversations open rock barriers?
And just if someone didn't know, if you want a secret spot to play the "secret spot sound" when you enter it, type 1 in info field (0).
**
I don't know the answer to the first two, but...
Rock Chutes: You need to have a button pressed. TRAP IDEA The player runs, through, a level with many (non-working) rock chutes. At the end of the level is a button which opens a barrier blocking the exit, at the beginning of the level. The player must now go back with all the rock chutes working.
Yes, you do need ResEdit to edit the STRs. Open your World File in ResEdit (MAKE SURE that you do not have the file open in MASCOT at the same time) and open STR it contains a list of numbers and text boxes. Change a text box then open the World File in MASCOT and enter the signs (0) as the number of the text box.
As for Rock Barriers, quoth the Aschaaf evermore:
"Left to right in an action line: 6, 0, 3
That opens the RBs with 0 in info(0)"
Also, I thought Secret Spots always made a sound.
If Dr. Tall is reading this message I hope I have not wasted your time, being that you are already knew this, and everyhting for that matter.
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
What makes a great level? What makes a horrible level? How does difficulty/annoying/addictive play into this?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
Quote
Posted by Emperor Ent:
If Dr. Tall is reading this message I hope I have not wasted your time, being that you are already knew this, and everyhting for that matter.
Oh come on, is my knowledge of everything a reason to make fun of me? I do not know everything, I don't try to pretend like I do...most of the time 
Oh but Secret Spots only make a noise when info (0) is set to 1 
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Dr. Tall says: Taller is Better
Quote
Originally posted by Emperor Ent:
**What makes a great level? What makes a horrible level? How does difficulty/annoying/addictive play into this?
**
There are several things which make a great level, in no particular order:
ยBeauty:
Mr. Man's Mean Bastard Level is a great example of this. One must combine BG Tiles, Scenery and Objects properly to create a natural, Ben-esque level.
-BG Tiles: Use extensive diagonals, strait lines are boring, if they vary in direction and shape it will add realism. Make sure you don't use the same BG Filler, especially in cave levels. The best results come from adding streaks of another, more profound, BG Tile.
-Scenery: The scenery should work with the BG Tiles to create the atmosphere. Although it is hard to over-use BG Tiles, this is not the case with scenery. To much scenery can over crowd the screen. Also, experimenting with tinting, flipping, and layering can produce a wider variety of scenery.
ยDifficulty:
Levels should be difficult, addictive, and not annoying.
-Difficult: Traps and tough areas are the best way to add difficulty. Force the player to think and work hard, reward them with a check point.
-Annoying: Preforming an impossible set of manuevers makes the player very annoyed. You will notice that Ben only expects the player to repeat a series of diffiuclt manuevers in but a few levels, Parched Earth and Iceconoclasm come to mind. A good level should be beaten by it's creator without dying more than 3 times (depending on the creators skill.)
Addictive: A player will quit a world very quickly if it's creator desires a evil grin to describe it. One excellent way to increase the level of addictiveness is to place your more difficult levels at the very end of your world. The player desires the eurphoria of beating a complete world. This euporhia is created by becoming involved in the world, and therefore wanting to conquer it. (Exspecially, when you already have donated so many hours to the game.
ยPlot
I have never been overly bothered by plot. Niether was Ben.
Agree? Disagree? Additions?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
(This message has been edited by Emperor Ent (edited 06-09-2001).)
Don't make your worlds too busy. It hurts the eyes to see a billion scenery items in one room. Balance, and it will look natural. Also, learn how to use pixmaps...they are your friend and they add texture, especially to dark dungeon-type places.
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Greetings - I am your friendly neighborhood moderator. Over the coming years I shall force-feed you my biased one-sided liberal tripe that I find truthful based upon my own faulty and fragmented logic; excessive smileys and bizarre TexT! formatting also help clarify my inane points. Welcome to the boards!
Quote
Originally posted by spamguy:
**Don't make your worlds too busy. It hurts the eyes to see a billion scenery items in one room. Balance, and it will look natural. Also, learn how to use pixmaps...they are your friend and they add texture, especially to dark dungeon-type places.
**
I agree completely. 100% You are right on the ball. What are pixmaps?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
I probably should have said lightmaps, not pixmaps. Lightmaps make great distinctions between out-in-the-openness and dark dungeons. Pixmaps, too, are your friend...it allows you to structure your dimensions around your level, rather than your level around your dimensions.
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Greetings - I am your friendly neighborhood moderator. Over the coming years I shall force-feed you my biased one-sided liberal tripe that I find truthful based upon my own faulty and fragmented logic; excessive smileys and bizarre TexT! formatting also help clarify my inane points. Welcome to the boards!
Quote
Originally posted by spamguy:
**I probably should have said lightmaps, not pixmaps. Lightmaps make great distinctions between out-in-the-openness and dark dungeons. Pixmaps, too, are your friend...it allows you to structure your dimensions around your level, rather than your level around your dimensions.
**
I am wearing my ignorance on my sleeve when I say:
"How do you make lightmaps?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
Quote
Make sure you don't use the same BG Filler
Ugh yes, there needs to be a randomize BG tiles option =(
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The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. --Socrates
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. --Thomas Edison
Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability. -- Flowers A. Newhouse
Quote
Originally posted by (0ZM0:
**Anyone who could explain the info fields of...
1. Catapults
2. Enemy Pipes?
**
Catapults- I don't think they use any.
Enemy Pipes- Info(0) = the ID of the sprite to create.
And a question. How do you use FG overlays?
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"Six by nine. Forty-two." "That's it. That's all there is."-Douglas Adams
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For as long as I can remember, I've had memories.- Colin Mochrie, Who's Line is it Anyway?
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For overlays:
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Greetings - I am your friendly neighborhood moderator. Over the coming years I shall force-feed you my biased one-sided liberal tripe that I find truthful based upon my own faulty and fragmented logic; excessive smileys and bizarre TexT! formatting also help clarify my inane points. Welcome to the boards!
Press "o" and place the FG Tiles where you want, press "o + delete" to select and delete FG Overlay Tiles.
Do overlay tiles appear in front of everything?
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Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
