ADEPT - playtest build available!

[Jwatt]

Gameplay video

Downloads
Windows 64-bit
Source
Demo level

Note
Saved levels go to the default Love2D folder. Currently there can only be one level to save/load at a time, with the filename "dev.ADEPT".

Known bugs:
- you can sometimes avoid being crushed by a downwards moving platform by jumping at the right time, "snapping" you to the side
- horizontal springs are wonky, depending on player input to give a good boost
Neither of these are gamebreaking, but they're kinda unintuitive. To be fixed in future versions.

______________________________________



Adept is a game of competitive level design that sprung out of Ludum Dare 33.

...But this thread isn't Adept. It's just the diary of its development. (I am employed, so updates may be sporadic/weekend-only.)

______________________________________

The concept in a nutshell is that level design itself could be a game. That there can be an evolving "meta" of trying to outwit other players with your creations. And that the level editor itself can have a sense of challenges and progression, such as limited amounts of tiles to place.

To this end, all content in the game is player-generated and sorted using a dynamic ranking system. As players progress through levels, easier levels fall down in the ranking so that new players encounter them earlier, while levels with a low completion rate rise higher.



Additionally, when you beat a level, you obtain the tiles used to make it. With your collection of loot, you can create your own level to submit into the ranking system.

More on the specifics later. My forum signature tracks the latest state of development.

[MadByte]

Sounds interesting. Looking forward to the playtest version.

EDIT
Understanding Question: Will the player be able to create their own tiles and create levels using them?
And if so, will other players who beat your level get the tiles you created?

[Jwatt]

Today I implemented saving/loading(!), multi-directional tiles, a cool LED table for announcements that would otherwise be printed into console, usability stuff, dealt with fonts, whipped up new background graphics, plus a whole bunch of lesser additions and fixes.

Since I'm on a roll, I'm just gonna fix some quirks of the existing tiles, so that playtesting is more meaningful and people might actually be able to make some cool levels straight away.

Will the player be able to create their own tiles and create levels using them? And if so, will other players who beat your level get the tiles you created?

I'm not sure what creating new tiles would be like, but the idea is that you can only ever rearrange tiles you've encountered.

[airstruck]

Nice idea, sounds similar to King of Thieves.

whipped up new background graphics

Probably a good move. Hard to look at those red and beige stripes for more than about 5 seconds without wanting to strangle someone. Maybe something more low-contrast for backgrounds? Then again, I'm no art critic

I like that pinball display, though.

[Jwatt]

I know, it's kind of overkill. Not even the colors as such, but the stripes being so narrow is what makes it look like eye razors. Especially when there's a moving object in front that your eyes are focusing on.

The other backgrounds are more low-contrast, but then there's some readability issues with certain tiles. Let's just say graphics aren't final (though that's what I always say).

The LED screen has potential to become very memorable, I feel. Guess I should embrace it and have like pinball-style animations in the future.

[Jwatt]

I just encountered the most genius bug: a falling block collided with the editor cursor, and both died in the collision. I'm kind of proud that my component system is generic enough for this to happen without fatal errors or anything.

But after I stopped laughing, I faced the fact that these are the sort of things Adept is about. Really using everything in the game's design to your advantage. I'm disabling this for now, but I have got to work that in as an intentional feature somehow.

[Jwatt]

Today I crossed off the difficult parts from my todo list for the public build. Only got three more known quirks to fix. #gethype

I also made a demo level to test and showcase some (intended) curiosities. Might as well package this with the game for you to play around with.

[Jwatt]

So, here it is: a build that contains a functional live editor with a subset of the upcoming tileset.

Downloads
Windows 64-bit
Source

Known bugs:
- you can sometimes avoid being crushed by a downwards moving platform by jumping at the right time, "snapping" you to the side
- horizontal springs are wonky, depending on player input to give a good boost
Neither of these are gamebreaking, but they're kinda unintuitive. To be fixed in future versions.

______________________________________

Just go ahead and start making some levels, or check out my demo level while you're at it. Saved levels go to the default Love2D folder. Currently there can only be one level to save/load at a time, with the filename "dev.ADEPT". (Don't worry, advanced file handling is the next thing on my list.)

If you make something cool, share the level here! And if you find any bugs or come up with improvements, report them as well!

[Nixola]

I didn't start playing yet, I would like to warn you though: your shader code doesn't work here (Linux, Intel GPU).
I tried to modify it a bit, here's a patch:

Code: Select all

21c21
<         #extension GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 : enable
---
>         //#extension GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 : enable
28,30c28,30
<             pixel.r = int(t*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.g = int(t*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.b = int(t*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
---
>             pixel.r = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.g = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.b = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
33,35c33,35
<             pixel.r = int((t+1*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.g = int((t+1*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.b = int((t+1*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
---
>             pixel.r = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.g = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.b = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
38,40c38,40
<             pixel.r = int((t+2*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.g = int((t+2*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
<             pixel.b = int((t+2*1/xt)*xt)%3*0.3+0.2;
---
>             pixel.r = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.g = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
>             pixel.b = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;

Here's the edited shader code:

Code: Select all

    xorro = love.graphics.newShader([[
        //#extension GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 : enable
        extern number t;
        vec4 effect( vec4 color, Image tx, vec2 tc, vec2 screen_coords ){
          vec4 pixel = Texel(tx, tc);
          number xt = 0.15+0.002;
          
          if (pixel.r*255==41) {
            pixel.r = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.g = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.b = mod(int(t*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            }
          if (pixel.r*255==133) {
            pixel.r = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.g = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.b = mod(int((t+1*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            }
          if (pixel.r*255==241) {
            pixel.r = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.g = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            pixel.b = mod(int((t+2*1/xt)*xt),3)*0.3+0.2;
            }
  
          
          return pixel;
        }
    ]])

I had two errors; this is the first one:

Code: Select all

Error: Cannot compile pixel shader code:
0:1(12): warning: extension `GL_EXT_gpu_shader4' unsupported in fragment shader
0:1(1): error: #extension directive is not allowed in the middle of a shader

And here's the second, after commenting out the first one:

Code: Select all

Error: Cannot compile pixel shader code:
0:8(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:8(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:8(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:9(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:9(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:9(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:10(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:10(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:10(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:13(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:13(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:13(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:14(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:14(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:14(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:15(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:15(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:15(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:18(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:18(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:18(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:19(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:19(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:19(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:20(12): error: operator '%' is reserved in GLSL 1.20 (GLSL 1.30 or GLSL ES 3.00 required)
0:20(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric
0:20(12): error: operands to arithmetic operators must be numeric

[Jwatt]

Oh wow. I had no idea that could cause problems.

Well, the shader's not actually used in this build yet, so might as well remove it altogether. Reuploaded, thanks.