Zeta Flow

Sure Redsatori I could do that, is rotating the core independently not important then?

Coding wise it would be similar to what I'm already doing in game, just a little different as the editor doesn't use the parent/child structure, and really it's just a bunch of good ol' trigonometry to get the pieces to rotate around a radius.

So do you program actionscript too?
Btw, i like your 12 o'clock shuffle, and your stopping rotation trick is neat too. It's awesome seeing the 'hacks' (not really) you guys come up with, in fact, there's still one i'm surprised no one's discovered yet...hehe...

swartzer, item grouping is coming! I've already got grouping working with moving multiple part, just no rotation yet.
In the end, rotating everything would require selecting each part, so having the core rotate every part around it might still be useful...of course, ideally the grouping would work like it does in operating systems, click and drag a selection box...maybe one day.

Once Christmas break comes and all my exams are done I can dedicate some time to Zeta Flow, then I will implement as much as I possibly can

~MD

Well, rotating the core independently is important as well. However, when you are creating a level that is symmetrical around the core, such as a triangle or pentagon shaped boss, it's quite difficult to put the right numbers into place. I spend about 40% of my level design time working out the trig to get the exact (or close approximation) coords for where things go. I just think that rotating the entire level a certain degree would allow designers to create a more symmetrical level. Just my two cents at any rate.

I do a bit of actionscript. I have Flash 8 Pro atm, since I can't afford to upgrade to the new versions right now. I have dabbled in it a little bit, and can make things work right. I have been playing around with pathing techniques for monsters in a 2D environment. And also trying to make a 3D engine for a game idea I have. The 3D stuff is a bit processor intensive right now, and causes considerable lag.

And thanks for the comment on the 12 o'clock shuffle. I was just bored the day i started it. I just hope it helps new players and designers out.

Thanks, MD, I know this is a busy time of year. I appreciate that you're willing to take suggestions!

BTW, would you give us a hint about this trick you're surprised hasn't been discovered yet?

Mouzi wrote:Some ideas I got when I was playing aroung:

• - Random rotation for parts
  - Part list (for selecting parts that can't be clicked)
  - Multiple switch parts (all parts listed need to be destroyed to destroy targets)
  - Triggers (when part A is destroyed part B starts shooting/rotating)
  - Shortcut keys for making parts bigger/smaller
  - Downloading levels for offline play (saving/loading levels to/from text files maybe?)

I just wanted to do shoutout to some of my favorite suggestions here, and toss out some others so MD could chew on them too.

I -really- like the idea of a TriggerMove switch, one that will trigger a piece to rotate (it initially won't) once a piece is destroyed.
Horizontal/Vertical move also is a nice idea.

one that I wanted to add was Make Invisible (and TriggerVisible?). Like Invincible, only a part doesn't interact with the player at all, and is invisible. It's basically a 'phantom' that can't be seen, and is used to engineer some tricks involving parent/child movements. It would be used only for whatever movements it does, and for calculating piece HP.
It'd also be interesting if killing a block could trigger the visibility of invisible ones (or possibly vice versa, if already visible?)

Anyway, just some more potential thoughts

Another thing I just thought of that would be nice to have added to the editor.

A button or two that would flip the current piece you are working on.

Like: Flip horizontal and Flip Vertical.

Instead of having to use the 'z', 'x', and 'c' keys to create a new cloned copy that has the opposite values, and then deleting the original. (I can't seem to get the negative values working for some reason. The editor doesn't seem to like when I press the '-' key when in the part info box.)

Since I have played every level at least once, and the better ones a lot more than that, I thought I would stick my two cents in and offer my suggestions and feedback. I love this game!!!!

-Make the forcefields optionally invincible through scripting, not automatically as they are now.

-Improve my auto fire accuracy over long distances, so that if some lamer puts a one pixel sized core with TRF, I can stand some chance of destroying it from a distance, where the spread of his fire gives me a better chance of evading destruction.

-There are many times when I keep getting whacked and loosing lives as soon as I get resurrected because I don't have invulnerablity and my gun is firing (even though my finger is off the trigger). Can you fix it so that I'm not automatically coming out with guns blazing?

*EDIT* Removed issues that have been fixed.
*END EDIT*

Zeta Flow is a terrific game and there are a bunch of extremely talented designers offering some outstanding levels. Best of luck and a Merry Christmas to all of you.
http://mikedoro.com/MerryChristmas2007.htm