Week #45 update

It has been a bumper week. As you can see below, lodes of bugs have been fixed and some new features added such as two more runners, a quirks mode add-on to fix the running in goo faster bug from the Original, plus monks re-entering the puzzle when they have no entry doors.

Special thanks to Leandro for the video below and spending a lot of time testing Lode Runner Online for me.

*Welcome, Jane and Digmo!*

A name in parenthesis and in bold is the finder of the bug/quirk. Thanks to all, I really do appreciate your time and support. Cheers!

Editor

  • when testing puzzles, the music track will pick between the ambient and normal tracks at random, favouring the ambient;
  • previously, only ambient would play
  • the original appears to match this new method but sometimes there is a delay - I'm not sure what the purpose of it is
  • fixed missing exit door for Wes Reckless in the tile palette (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that caused the game to not be correctly reset when trying a game (Leandro)
  • if you create a new puzzle set and don't make changes, you are no longer prompted to save when exiting or loading another set

Game

  • blast related fixes;
  • visual quirk fixed regarding the effect of blasting a block
  • bug fixed that caused a player to delay getting crushed in a blasted block
  • quirk fixed that let a player play their crushed animation when falling into a later-staged restoring block
  • fixed bug with goo not falling off a phase block
  • goo can no longer be thrown into a fall-through block - matches original
  • removed some now obsolete methods
  • fixed bug that would cause a runner to snap several pixels in the air when falling onto a monk climbing out a hole (Leandro)
  • fixed bug in the quirk "Can't climb down" that prevented a player from a taking a legal move
  • fixed bug that under certain conditions caused a monk and a runner to get caught together (monk twitching back and forth and the runner fall/land loop)
  • a monk can no longer eat two runners at the same time (Tua)
  • fixed bug that allowed more than one monk to reenter the puzzle at the same time in the air
  • fixed bug that allowed monks to collect and drop gold when gassed (and most other animations)
  • fixed bug that did not cause a player to fall when gased
  • fixed bug that prevented monks from climbing out a hole adjacent to a ladder (Leandro)
  • left/right control can no longer be used for key bindings;
  • the entire game uses control for most shortcuts
  • using it to control the player complicates things too much (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that caused a monk to get stuck in a loop climbing a ladder when aborting crossing a ladder (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that could cause a monk to pause when crossing from a ladder when a monk is falling into a hole (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that could send a runner into a wall when throwing goo from a ladder (Leandro)
  • fixed bug that did not immediately teleport a player when entering a teleport from a ladder (climbing) (Leandro)

The rock piles created by a pick-axe had multiple issues since the major update last week. I thought I fixed these but Leandro pointed out multiple bugs so I rewrote portions to make it simpler. All issues are now fixed and the tool behaves as the original game now - rocks won't fall down ladders.

The goo puddles also got another look at with several issues fixed. Like rock piles, these now behave as the original and cannot fall down ladders.

Jason's Lode Runner Archive has the following listed as a possible bug;

You can move through slime a little faster than you should be able to if you tap repeatedly on the left or right movement key.

This is because the sticky walk animation spans a long distance with a gap with some goo splatters at the start and end of each frame. I've added some magic to position the runner when he idles in line with his boots from the goo run frame. This has now been added as a quirk and to access the normal behaviour you'll need to play with quirks mode enabled. The end result you can see in the video below - you can no longer move too fast through goo.

*Jake is running and Wes is tapping the keys*

LAN

Network games are getting another major overhaul. I know, this is happening quite often. Since most of my LAN testing is done on the same machine, I started using Lidgren's lag simulation to enable better testing. Turns out, the current approach is not very accurate. Runners doing rapid movements or collecting/dropping tools can cause game to get of sync within seconds - hence the overhaul.

It should be on track to be finished for the November build. For those of you interesting in the behind-the-scenes of network games, Gaffer On Games has a very good set of articles.

General

  • fixed alignment glitch with the down key binding for single player controls
  • toggling full-screen no longer causes the ENTER key to okay a dialog
  • save game format changes to support additional runners;
  • games saved with the September or October build will still work!
  • fixed the annoying tooltip bug when you left the mouse on a control but changed windows (example; clicking try in the editor and the bomb tooltip for player one showing) (fixed by Gareth)

Bugs being worked on

  • possible monk freezing bug with OS X (Stace)
  • empty game window with Windows 10 (Alen)
  • rapid key movements can send a runner through a wall (Leandro)

Coming soon

  • gamepad feedback when being crushed
  • working scoreboard

What I'll probably do next week

  • continue playing the game
  • continue with LAN games