That's also another thing making a level editor difficult. I think the VERY FIRST PROTOTYPE LEVEL I ever did was me typing the word "PENIS" in huge lava letters. If I did that in the first 10 seconds of the game even really existing, it doesn't bode well for anonymous people behaving themselves. Apple might also have severe issues with a level editor where you can basically draw anything you wanted, so we'd have to figure out some sort of censor... Second thing I ever did with the level editor: Making a level that instantly killed testers. This is much easier to deal with, but a rating system (not to mention the level sharing system itself) would still take tons of extra work. Much more than the level editor itself. A level editor is something we want to do. I also have some ideas on how we could do it. It's just something I wouldn't get my hopes up too high for. It's not the level editor that's super difficult to make, it's all the (completely mandatory) stuff associated with it.
Im really disappointed about the bounty hunter character because this sounds like something i would have bought. Also, with regards to DLC i believe that Hookbot was a good DLC option because flashy cosmetics isn't that interesting to me and i probably wouldn't have bought it, like i haven't with Pocket God, because its more about the gameplay to me. If people are complaining about Hookbot, maybe the preview of the map is the way to go so that you can prepare yourself and learn the maps. Or a explore mode / turn chaser off with no leaderboads option, this would be like a practice mode. And i think the reason why people are disliking Hookbot is because you are making people pay to play the game casually, but the new bounty hunter character is for the hardcore players and isn't necessary. Also i think exploring the levels is something that people have wanted to do for a while and hookbot allows people to do this, but at a price. I hope that you do take both sides of the story into account because i wouldn't buy the cosmetic packs, but i would buy a new character, maybe im just different that way...
Man, ive been playing this game for a while now, and i'm having a LOT of trouble with Gold Skull! Any tips? I always fail at 44%...i just cant keep the momentum!
We have to make the Bounty Hunter cosmetic only at this point, so we can contrast and compare how they do against each other. We also need to see which gets more negative feedback. So far, you've given the cosmetic-DLC idea negative feedback already. I'll remember the vote against it, but it's going to happen at this point because we need to see the results for the whole DLC experiment to have a point. It's early, but so far we're thinking using DLC to help make our games cheaper would be a terrible idea. People being split on cosmetic versus functional versus absolutely no DLC means that we could never use it to recoup costs on what would basically be unfairly cheap future games. At least we're figuring this out now, instead of later. I've played Gold Skull so much I'm no longer even capable of explaining how to play it, if that makes any sense. I do recall once you get past the midpoint of the level, the level actually lets up a little in difficulty. You can also blow a couple of rocketjumps now and still survive the level, I believe.
In regards to the level editor difficulties, I'd suggest the "level blocks" type of editor. That is, you make a whole bunch of set pieces that can be used one after another (or not, a ranking system would filter out the nonsense), so you wouldn't have to deal with instant doom, and there wouldn't be anything obscene that you didn't put in yourself. Similarly, hats could be a series of base hat shapes, with overlaid pom poms, spikes, antenna, etc.
That's one of the things we're considering. There's lots of things we can do to make things "safer", but they're all pretty restrictive. One thing we're thinking of is having a minimum brush size. By that I mean, you can't place tiles down one at a time, but have to place down 5x5 blocks. This makes it basically impossible to draw something obscene, at least in a way that people can see it. Still, pretty restrictive. Another idea was just making it so you could only share levels with friends on OpenFeint. This would alleviate a lot of concerns (It's not our fault if you get griefy levels that way, it's your friends faults), but it would also mean way less level selection. We'd want something like Time F**k's or Labyrinth 2's level sharing system, though this may not be feasible because they're simpler games as far as level editing is concerned... That did not work for Spore. I think they had a REPORT USER function, but it did not stem the tide of all the sporenography.
It's too bad that apple doesn't do the ESRB "ESRB does not rate online interactions" sorta thing going on..
Great update Kepa! The game is already great and it will surely get better. Not sure if I will buy Hookbot... I might though I'd prefer DLC with additional levels rather than a character. It doesn't work for me with Minigore either..
ugh I just spend over an hour trying to finish the last level in the Bull idol map, and haven't made it to the end. so angry
Did you get Jake's hotpants item? It will save you from lava once, then he has 5 rocketjumps. I believe only one rocketjump is necessary on that map, so you have 4+ chances to save yourself. It's also the "last map", though technically you unlock 8 more when you beat it.
I don't have my iphone on me right now, but send me a few challenges involving you dying on the problem level. I'm interested in what the trouble spot is. My Feint name is also Kepa. DISCLAIMER: If anyone else sends me a challenge, I basically will take a year to get to it. Oh, also apologies to anyone already in my challenge queue.
Kepa, you are awesome, taking a personal interest in wootbean. I seriously can't wait to see what sort of games you'll be bringing in the future, I'm totally on board. I just wanted to say that while I'm disappointed that we're not getting that bounty hunter character, I understand why you're making it cosmetic only. Testing the waters, so to speak, for future endeavors. It's just that it's such a cool idea, I hope it stays on the back burner somewhere and we get to see it someday down the line.
I'm stuck on the last level in the Bull Idol map as well... I still need to buy another rocket jump though.
