Rocking Woods - A Chaos Constructed Level

[TCD]

You might have noticed that Exl made a Chaos Engine editor. So I tried it right from the very start on Monday and now am quite proud to present you :

Thanks to my alpha/beta/WIP testers : Dastardly, Exl, HungryHorace, Jimbo, skateblind, xpect and those I've forgotten (sorry )

Of course the major thanks goes out to Exl who made this possible

Also big thanks to my man Dastardly for making that amazing logo

Grab your new Chaos Engine (WHDLoad preinstalled) fix at : Hotlink
or on the EAB file server in the folder 'Game/WHDLoad/Chaos Engine Levels'.

The difficulty is quite high, but it's mainly because you need to know the level

(there are 8 secrets to be found, so good luck )

Edit : I missed to add the 'I hope you have as much fun playing it that I had making it' bit

[AmigaFriend]

Have you not worked in game development in the past?

It is an excellent level from the beginning.

I can just reproduce what i've said today on IRC, so here is the copy & paste:

17:58:12 | <xpect> well i just can't praise enough your work TCD
17:58:20 | <xpect> an excelent level indeed
17:58:42 | <xpect> for seasoned players the dificulty is well balanced
17:58:54 | <xpect> and for me was not difficult at all
17:59:18 | <xpect> it's an engaging level
17:59:32 | <xpect> full of surprises and really interesting
17:59:52 | <xpect> so hats of to you Mr. Druid

Waiting for the second one!

[TCD]

Originally Posted by xpect

Have you not worked in game development in the past?

Cheers Well I've done a few Doom and Morrowind WADs/plugins, but I always wanted to have a go at Chaos Engine. I'm not kidding The game really has a great balance between sheer action and some RPG/puzzle elements. I've already told Exl, but I don't think he got what this editor means to me *sob sob*

Anyway, I will do some other stuff during the next days, but afterwards it's onto level 2 for sure Looking forward to see your effort aswell xpect

[Dastardly]

Excellent work TCD! Really enjoyed my first go at this. New CE stuff is awesome news (cheers Exl). I will be giving this a good go over the next few days and hopefully cracking those 7 secrets.

Awesome! (Dastardly needs MOAR).

[TCD]

World's biggest Bitmap Brothers fanboi likes my level
Thanks a lot for the feedback Dast, as I surely aimed it at players that know Chaos Engine Then again, it should be doable for pretty much everyone that gives it a few tries

[Dastardly]

Sod the noobs. Let them play Superfrog

[TCD]

/me likes to point out that the level is not that hard
No really, there are a few spots that are 'surprising', but should be doable on the next try, plus there's quite a bit of food around to get you going. Oh and even two extra lives if you manage to find them ).

[lilalurl]

90% . Oh, it's not the LA/EAB league?

Good job overall TCD .
That probably won't be an easy level for a beginner but I believe that anyone who has already finished the game and therefore moves cautiously/saves food for later use/backtrack a bit won't have too much trouble.



Here are the issues I have found. Some of them may be related to the editor (not setting some flags on etc...) or not. I suppose Exl will read this thread or that you will forward him any issues.


- CPU taking the "players saved" yin-yang pickups?
I am pretty sure that I read somewhere in one of the EAB threads about CE that CPU players were supposed not to take any item that will "alter" the level (keys and players saved especially). I have seen mine do that several times.


- I believe my shots should go through the gap between these trees, should not they?


- Apparently some of those pod thingies that shoot slime balls (or whatever they are) spawn two times. As a consequence they can shoot two balls?
At first I would have thought this was done by TCD on purpose in order to increase the difficulty. But after coming back from some backtracking, I noticed some of them only had one shot then.


- Some of those stones let the shots go through and the others don't, so it is a bit obvious to know that some of them will fill a certain role. I believe this is a limitation of the game engine though.


- No "tension" music when you get near the end of the level?


- Would it be possible to move this node one row above? The CPU seems to like to get stuck behind it. It is not a really big deal because after a short while he is teleported but there is a short time when he is not here when his help could be useful.

[Jimbo]

I was lucky enough to do some beta testing, this level rocks. Thanks TCD

[TCD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- CPU taking the "players saved" yin-yang pickups?
I am pretty sure that I read somewhere in one of the EAB threads about CE that CPU players were supposed not to take any item that will "alter" the level (keys and players saved especially). I have seen mine do that several times.

Hmm, this would be a game issue. Don't remember how the original levels behaved, but there nothing I can do about it

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- I believe my shots should go through the gap between these trees, should not they?

Curse you for spotting it Not really, you're my next beta tester for sure It's a 'dirty' trick which secret won't be revealed (it shouldn't effect gameplay at all)

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- Apparently some of those pod thingies that shoot slime balls (or whatever they are) spawn two times. As a consequence they can shoot two balls?
At first I would have thought this was done by TCD on purpose in order to increase the difficulty. But after coming back from some backtracking, I noticed some of them only had one shot then.

I wondered about that aswell and certainly will have a second look now Thanks for mentioning the backtrack bit

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- Some of those stones let the shots go through and the others don't, so it is a bit obvious to know that some of them will fill a certain role. I believe this is a limitation of the game engine though.

That's a 'bug' So, well... cheers

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- No "tension" music when you get near the end of the level?

Well spotted, as I haven't used the music change feature at all yet. Will do for the final version

Originally Posted by lilalurl

- Would it be possible to move this node one row above? The CPU seems to like to get stuck behind it. It is not a really big deal because after a short while he is teleported but there is a short time when he is not here when his help could be useful.

Well spotted Will do that for the next version (tomorrow ).

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I was lucky enough to do some beta testing, this level rocks. Thanks TCD

And a big thanks to you for having a look at the very first bits and giving some feedback Hope that you will enjoy the next levels as much as you did this one

[john4p]

Don't wanna spoil the fun so I'll wait until you've finished your TCE - TCD Edition.

[TCD]

Okay, updated version is ready. Fixed the 'two balls' and 'shoot through walls' issue. I also moved the node lilalurl mentioned (infact I moved everything around it ) one 'tile' down. Still the CPU likes that spot, so nothing I can do about it, if he still gets stuck.

Added music info, yet I'm not sure they work as intended Feedback would be nice

Oh and I also slightly decreased the difficulty. As a result I was able to...



No life lost, full health. I hope Dast won't hate me for it

First post for the download.

@john
Hehe, maybe there will be a world 1 in the future, but I'm certainly not mad enough to make 15 more maps

[Muzkat]

Looks fantastic TCD, nice work!

[Boo Boo]

Rocking Level there TCD - Nice level layout very professional layout.

[TCD]

Thanks Muzzy and Boo Boo Tried my best to make it a worthwhile play.

[Graham Humphrey]

I will check this out later

Maybe if enough people contributed we could have our own EAB version of The Chaos Engine? I think that would be pretty cool.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Graham Humphrey

Maybe if enough people contributed we could have our own EAB version of The Chaos Engine? I think that would be pretty cool.

Well, that's what I tried this week. Maybe seeing a result will help to get people into trying the editor at least. I made a kind of FAQ along the way, which can be found on the IRC channel #chaosconstruct for those who are interested. Fingers crossed that we'll get there some day

Edit : The FAQ is also included in the official docs now Of course feel free to join IRC and ask questions.

[Dastardly]

"Level completed". Pretty sure I got everything too

[TCD]

Well done!

Small update on behalf of the Dast : Minor layout change (because it's more Bitmap Brotherish this way ) and added a secret (not a really fancy one )

Beta 3 download in the first post.

[jotd]

Played the level and only found 1 secret. Must be a bit rusty

Nice work!! If you plan to set this level as "first level", the other ones should be even harder

Do you plan to implement "multiple exits" ? I saw that nowhere in the docs.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by jotd

Nice work!! If you plan to set this level as "first level", the other ones should be even harder

Thanks Really good to hear that from you. Not sure about it being the first level really, but we'll see how the story goes

Originally Posted by jotd

Do you plan to implement "multiple exits" ? I saw that nowhere in the docs.

Well, that's of course already possible, but since the original level one also only had one exit, I didn't really bothered to think about adding more. That said, there are of course great ways of designing continuous levels and I will surely make use of it

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

Added music info, yet I'm not sure they work as intended Feedback would be nice

- If by "music info" you mean the end of level tension music, then I am afraid it did not work, I have not heard anything.

Perhaps this has to do with the level? IIRC, the first level in stock CE does not feature the tension music.


- I have encountered the two shots issue for one of the pod thingies again but in a more restricted way. First, I did not see any of them spawn two times and most of the time I had not the two shots issue.

But after backtracking, when I came back forward (whatever that means ) I saw that this one fired two times.
However, this only happened for the first "shot" (the two of them actually). The second (or rather third) shot was a single shot and so were the next ones.
But when I went back again and came back the two shots issue happened again (and only lasted for the two first shots).


- Hmmm, seems like one extra life eludes me. Well, I don't want to overplay the level so I will probably wait for the next version before trying to find it.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

If by "music info" you mean the end of level tension music, then I am afraid it did not work, I have not heard anything.

Perhaps this has to do with the level? IIRC, the first level in stock CE does not feature the tension music.

That would explain it (as I used the music info from the original level one) and also why I didn't hear it when testing . If you can give me an example of a level with the tension music at the end I'll have another look.

Originally Posted by lilalurl

I have encountered the two shots issue for one of the pod thingies again but in a more restricted way. First, I did not see any of them spawn two times and most of the time I had not the two shots issue.

But after backtracking, when I came back forward (whatever that means ) I saw that this one fired two times.
However, this only happened for the first "shot" (the two of them actually). The second (or rather third) shot was a single shot and so were the next ones.
But when I went back again and came back the two shots issue happened again (and only lasted for the two first shots).

Hmm, that's strange and shouldn't happen. The error you reported before was a stupid mistake at my end This time I can't see a problem there... will check again after the footie

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

If you can give me an example of a level with the tension music at the end I'll have another look.

Level two for example. Tension music begins 6 seconds after the linked segment of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-X8zmxpns#t=08m30s

In case you don't remember this music only activates when you are in that area near the end of the level. And if you go away from there the music reverts to normal.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

In case you don't remember this music only activates when you are in that area near the end of the level. And if you go away from there the music reverts to normal.

Heh, I know how that works now, yes Just need the correct 'number' of the music. This should look somewhat familiar :



5 it is then. Thanks for the info, will change that later

[Peter]

HI TCD - I played the B3 level on my A1200 and it works very - I got 85% so will have to keep hunting on my next attempts...

One thing I did notice (and playing on a real Amiga I wasn't able to get a screen shot) was that when I went through a portal (this was the second portal I went through in the level - it was located on a wall between two water falls) I teleported to a small island... once on the Island there was no visible exit back as (on the Island) no exit portal appeared (of course it would be difficult to create a portal here as no wall space is available) - I had to walk to the top of the Island where I was automatically teleported back to the area between the two water falls... but it was more by luck than judgement that this happened.

I don't know if you knew about this or maybe it is the way it is for a reason but I thought I would post and mention it all the same just in case...

Great work TDC - thanks for this - it was fantastic to play a new level!!

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Peter

I don't know if you knew about this or maybe it is the way it is for a reason but I thought I would post and mention it all the same just in case...

It's by design I'll have another look, but the 'problem' is that I wanted the silver key to teleport you back, which doesn't work as expected (or I didn't try hard enough ).

Originally Posted by Peter

Great work TCD - thanks for time you have dedicated here - it was fantastic to play a new level!!

Thanks Peter Certainly good to hear that people like my level and of course that helps to get the motivation to make a second one in a bit

Edit : Success! Seems like I simply didn't try hard enough Thanks a lot for making me have a second look Peter Makes much more sense now

Edit 2 : Okay, beta 4 is ready for download. Fixed the tension music at the end (hopefully... ) and the teleport on the secret island. I've seen the 'two balls' issue aswell after backtracking and coming back, but it only happened once (right when I entered the screen). Don't know how I can fix that, so I just call it the 'amazing two ball throw wonder' feature from now on

[Peter]

Thanks TCD - great work - I will play some more later... and I really must try to get some time next week to look over the FAQ section and look into doing a level myself...

Enjoy the Football today...?!!

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Peter

Thanks TCD - great work - I will play some more later... and I really must try to get some time next week to look over the FAQ section and look into doing a level myself...

Would be great If you have any question, just pop on IRC and ask away.

Originally Posted by Peter

Enjoy the Football today...?!!

Look in OT

Edit : Bug regarding the forest monster spawn spots fixed thanks to Horace Updated beta 4 in the first post.

[TCD]

After a remark about the usage of RAR archives on real machines with Musashi ("Using RAR instead of ZIP so I can't unpack it as easily on a real machine "), I've uploaded a zip version of the level to the file server aswell

[TCD]

Thanks to Peter's amazing testing skills, he spotting two glitches right at the start Thanks again mate

Updated to beta 5 now and tomorrow I'll call it a final if noone else finds a bug. Download in the first post again.

Edit : It's not tomorrow (???), but time to move on, so beta 5 is the final now Renamed the files on the file server (not fussed about the direct download). Path To Threedom enters alpha phase now, so don't miss out on that one

[daxb]

I don`t know if it was a second level or just a part of the level (same map). However, there was passage B (upper left corner on the map) open I think but couldn`t go thru. Missed I something or was that a bug?

[TCD]

Bit hard to tell from your description. Can you make a screenshot please?

Edit : Ah, I think I know what you mean. Well, if there's a 'block' in your way, you need to search for a way to get rid of it It's a two part secret (and an important one too )

[daxb]

No block. It seems really open but I can`t go thru. Unfortunately I can`t make a screenshot.

[TCD]

Hmm, you mean this one :



?
My alpha testers could go through there. If that's the spot, I'll have a look myself and ask them (mainly Dast ) to try it again aswell.

[daxb]

No, it was the upper left corner on the map. In the forest. Second level I guess because there was loading between.

[TCD]

Ah, you're still in the first level Guess some posts need to be moved then Well, I'll have a look later and now I know which spot you mean

[daxb]

I`m confused. Do you moved text between threads? I also don`t know what is level one and level two.

Path2Threedom = Level 2?
RockingWoods = Level 1?

I`ll check again what I played. Maybe I depacked the wrong archive.

[TCD]

Yes, Rocking Woods is 'level 1' and Path To Threedom 'level 2'. RW is a world 1 map and PTT a world 3 map. Should be easy to identify by looking at the screenshots in the first post

[daxb]

Ok, then it was Path To Threedom. I just played again with the same result as described.