The Video Game Solution CD/The VideoGame Solution CD.iso/extra/pro78/edittips.doc

Text File | 1993-11-29 | 25.4 KB | 524 lines

TIPS FOR CREATING/EDITING SPEAR OF DESTINY DESIGNS
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The following information cannot be considered a definitive work
on this subject, but should help most people avoid some of the
pitfalls associated with translating their floor design ideas into
a working, error free floor.

This short manual does not explain the workings of any particular
editing program used to transfer your design to the computer.

The information was gleaned from many hours spent playing and
editing the custom floors. Some designers may have lacked this
knowledge or their editing program wasn't full-featured and the
results may have been disappointing to them. But it didn't effect
the quality of their floor layouts, only the action.

Floor Codes

Design problems seem to center around a misunderstanding of the
relationship of floor "codes", doors (locked and unlocked variety),
and hidden doors. First, an explanation of the use of floor codes.

There are a number of unique "codes" to use when mapping out a
floor. These codes are used to isolate areas of the overall floor
from one another such that enemy guards can be made to engage in a
fight or not, depending on how you assign floor codes. One of the
more common problems is failing to assign floor codes in all floor
space, or assigning them haphazardly. The results of either
practise are unpredictable, but some of the effects are:

- Certain sound effects may be missing.
- Hidden doors won't always open all the way.
- Stationary guards become living statues and won't fight.
  (This includes Super Guards - or Bosses, but these guys have an
  advantage).
- Moving guards won't fight either and will move in place or in
  crazy ways.

Unless your floor design has a very large number of rooms, there
are usually sufficient unique floor codes to assign each room its
own code, although this isn't always desireable. In general there
are 3 approaches to assigning floor codes, according to what you
want to accomplish.

1) Assign a single floor code to all floor space. Unless you take
other measures, this will have the singular effect of alerting
every guard on the floor as soon as the first shot is fired. This
can lead to some interesting fire-fights, but it isn't always the
most desired approach because the action usually (not always) ends
quickly (either they're all dead or the player is) and he's left to
wander through a bunch of empty rooms that offer no further
challenges (or restart the level).

2) Assign a unique code to each individual room. In this scenario
guards in the next room are unaware of any carnage in the current
room  - unless something causes the door between the rooms to open.

3) Assign unique codes to contiguous or non-contiguous groups of
rooms. This offers a microcosm of approach number 1) above, but is
more controlled and often the most interesting and suspenseful
strategy.

Special Floor Code and Enemy Guard Eyesight

There is one floor code that has a different effect from all the
rest. This is floor code '6a', or the code which designates a guard
as being "deaf" or "steadfast". Such a designation means 2 things:
the guard will not react to shots being
fired in the area until and unless he sees the player, then he
responds just like any other guard. But his eyesight is much better
than other guards as he can see in every direction (that isn't
blocked by something) including one square behind. These guys can
even see between the cracks of wall cubes that are joined only at
the corners. (It's kind of eerie to hear a guard sound off that
can't be seen anywhere). By contrast, guards on all other floor
codes can only see straight ahead but will be alerted regardless of
their impaired vision after the first shot is fired on the same floor
code.

Changing Floor Codes

Another common error in floor design is to change floor codes when
going from one area to another but not separating the 2 areas with
a door. Doors are used as "switches". When the player moves from an
area of one floor code to another with a different floor code,
without having to open a door, the guards in the moved-into area
will not be "armed", i.e., they appear to be in a trance, until
fired at. This may be an interesting effect to create for
approaching a Super Guard, but as soon as the first shot is fired,
the player better move out of the way fast, because the "statue"
just came to life and he doesn't like having his sleep interrupted.

Hidden Doors and Rooms

Hidden door placement is important. In case you don't remember, the
official version of Spear of Destiny (SOD) places no guards in a room
entered through a hidden door. This is because a hidden door, unlike
a regular door, is not used as a "switch" to arm any guards on the
other side. But the problem is a bit more complicated than that.

If guards in a hidden room are somehow set in motion, they can
block the movement of the sliding door. This condition is
detectable by the sound of 2 notes for each push of the space key,
as opposed to the normal sound of trying to open a door that
doesn't exist. (These 2 notes also sound if you try to push a
hidden door from the wrong direction).

The guard(s) can be made to move away from the door and it will
open, particularly when the player moves far enough away and can
get back in a hurry before the guard does. But often, when the door
does move, it only moves part way. As you will soon see, there is
a way to get a hidden door to move more than once. (Personally, I
wish the SOD engine had been designed to cause a sliding door to
crush anything on the other side, with appropriate sound effects of
course. This would be more like real life).

The first rule of thumb when dealing with guards in secret rooms is
to be sure the secret room has the same floor code as the room from
which it is entered. In addition, the room outside the secret room
must have a normal door (locked or unlocked).

To resolve the problem of guards getting in the way of a sliding
hidden door, choose one of the following three methods.

One way is to design the hidden door entrance so the door slides
side-to-side. Such a design will also permit the door to slide
forward. You can also place an ordinary door in the opening behind
the hidden door, which has the advantage of not having to be
concerned about guards moving about in the secret room. Its main
disadvantage is that if it is used too often, players may start to
recognize the existence of this type of hidden door configuration
unless you use many such configurations that don't have hidden doors
and the one door then is disguised by being only one among a crowd.

Another way is to use multiple hidden door object codes such that
a sliding wall will move into another hidden object code and can
thus be moved again, in any direction you choose. (The hidden door
object code can exist in open space as well as in a wall). This
opens up all sorts of possibilities. However, there's one drawback.
Extra hidden door object codes, which are often not used, prevent
the player from getting the bonus for finding all secret areas.

The other way to use guards effectively in a hidden room, and you
want the sliding door to move inwards only, is to make sure the
guards are standing on a "steadfast" floor code so they won't be
moving around the room.

If you want more rooms beyond the hidden room, and you want them to
have normal doors, then the floor codes of these additional rooms
must either be different from the hidden room (and not be used
elsewhere on the floor), or the guards in these added rooms must be
made "steadfast" if you want to use the same floor code as the
hidden room.

One more word about hidden doors. There appears to be a problem in
Spear of Destiny in that sometimes a door will move 3 squares
and the next time, only 2 squares, even when there's unrestricted
space in which to move. What this means is: to avoid intermittent
problems assume a hidden door will only ever move 2 squares, but
always leave room for 3. Another way of saying it: if you want to
assume a hidden door will move 3 squares, then be sure the player
can still get through if the door only moves 2 squares.

Moving vs. Stationary Guards

All guards except the Super Bosses can be made to move in a
predetermined direction and path. This device is quite useful in
creating unpredictable action upon entering a room with one or more
moving guards. Since a room is never entered at exactly the same
instant each time the floor is played, the guards will be in a
different position and may or may not see the player right away.

In addition, guards can be made to move through doors to adjoining
rooms with or without the same floor codes. This is always
interesting. While you are busy teaching manners to the guys in one
room, in walks an oaf from another, which sets off alarms in the
next room or rooms with a different floor code as they will hear
the fighting and become concerned. Lesson #1: Always try to keep
your back away from all doors (including the one you entered!). By
the way, Guard Dogs are always on the move - there are no
stationary dogs. (I guess Id didn't want to design a graphic of a
dog sitting and panting for water or food - ever notice how many
rooms dogs are in that have no food or water in them? - It's a
wonder the animal rights activists haven't been on their case <g>).

It's generally a waste of time to place moving guards in a room and
not lay out a path for them to follow, although there is a trick or
two that you can use with a moving guard who has no assigned path.
(Tricks are discussed, but not explained, in this section). Also,
unless you assign the "deaf" guard floor code to an entire room, it
doesn't do any good to put a moving guard on the deaf guard code.

Moving Guards

If you choose "moving" guards in and around rooms, you should provide
them with paths to follow (there are arrows for this purpose). But
there are a several points to note when laying out paths for guards
to follow.

1) Don't put dogs in the same paths with other guards. Dogs move
faster than other guards and will quickly overtake them. Since the
dogs won't be able to pass (around or through) whomever they overtake,
the movement will simply cease and all moving guards will ultimately
stand and mark time in one place (usually against some wall).

2) Be very careful about using intersecting paths. Once again, unless
movement is synchronized, guards will eventually clash at some
intersection and all movement will, as noted above, come to a halt.

3) It is not possible to move more than one guard up and down a narrow
(one square wide) hallway, unless they are carefully synchronized not
to be in the narrow hall at the same time.

4) Don't start a moving guard next to an outside wall facing out.
This will generate an error when you play the level.

5) Moving guards cannot be made "steadfast" or "deaf".


Using "CLIPPING" to Check Up

You can generally check on how your moving guards are doing by turning
on "Clipping" (in debugmode) and wandering through walls to see how
everything looks. Dogs are the toughest to check on. Most guards will
not be aware of your presence if a door isn't opened somewhere (either
by yourself or a guard whose path takes him through a door). But dogs
will quickly sense your presence and come after you and will often
activate any other guards in the room. If you shoot anyone while
"clipping" is on, every guard on the level (except deaf ones) will
come alive. (If there are guards in the first room, remove them before
you start the level as they will always be active when you enter the
room).

To check on dogs, you need to carefully inch through a wall (double
thick is best) and stop just as you first view the interior of the
room where the dogs are. If you're very careful they probably won't
sense your presence. If you go in a fraction too far, then it's all
over.

One final note about "clipping". You will not be able to pass through
the two thicknesses of walls that comprise the level's perimeter. This
is to prevent you from wandering outside the level.

The Effect of and on Activated Guards Moving About the Floor

Activated guards will mostly move to the point where the player is
currently located. Their progress in locating him can be slowed and
often stopped by complicated room patterns; by putting solid
objects (barrels, etc.) in their way that they have to move around;
or by sheer distance.

Some activated guards have a tendency to move away from an
immediate threat by going into other rooms and waiting at a door in
ambush or simply refusing to come out, waiting instead for the
player to come in. All this means is if a large body of
"overheated" guards is encountered, one way to counter their threat
is for the player to move off in some other direction. This will
often cause them to begin to scatter, but may make it easier for
them to be engaged in ones and twos later on. Of course the main
disadvantage to this tactic is it is not known where they'll be
when next seen,  unless they're in a bounded area. Always good for
a laugh though!

The other thing about guards moving from room to room while
searching is that they will often open a door into an unrelated
floor code and if a shot is fired at the time the door is open,
even more guards can become involved in the search. Heh, heh! I
love finding dogs in rooms where they shouldn't be. Took me a while
to figure out how they learned to open doors.

Effect on Play of Guard Choices vs. Design Decisions

While sitting at your computer testing a floor design, you
may not always recognize what the effect of your choice of guard
types will have on game play when viewed against your design
decisions.

As you already know, the tan guards move slowly and react the same
way.  The blue SS guards are a bit quicker and more deadly (takes
3 or more shots to bring them down, depending on distance between
player and guard).

The white uniformed "officers" move much more rapidly, will swerve
to make a player miss and are more intelligent acting. Finally, the
mutants are the greatest threat of all (except for the Super
guards).  The mutants move silently and shoot more quickly than all
other guards.

The effect on design of using officers and mutants is important
because of how quickly these latter guards can react.

When your floor design is played, the player must be given a way to
defend himself, especially from officers and mutants, or be
provided a way to attack without being totally overwhelmed. A niche
in a wall, a narrow room with no cover, or no way to back off, is
inadequate in those cases where the player will have to defend
against a host of attackers.  Conversely, a medium to large room
with enemies everywhere, no cover afforded, and with nowhere
else to go, should also be avoided.

The most critical example is designing an opening sequence which
has the player standing in a room 1 or 2 squares deep and 1 square
wide with the a door immediately in front.  As soon as the door is
opened, and a shot is fired which alerts numerous guards, the
player will be overwhelmed.  Particularly if the guards are
officers or mutants and a better defensive position cannot be taken
by moving out into a larger area.

The problem is exascerbated by how doors are programmed to open. As
far as the program is concerned, the door is considered open the
instant someone (the player or a guard) signals it to open. The
program does not wait for the door to physically move far enough so
actor and player are visible to each other.  The mutant guard
shoots so fast that the player won't even see the door start to
move before the mutant's shot arrives to kill or maim. There's no
defense except to try and kill a guard in the doorway so the door
will stay open. But if nothing but officers and mutants arrive
first, there is little hope of doing this. Besides, guards don't
usually try to enter the room before shooting unless the player is
out of sight.

Review your designs carefully and take this information into
consideration. The game is played to be ultimately won by the player,
not by the game's designers.

Elevators

I don't know if most people notice it, but all elevators in the
official game are oriented east/west. No elevators are entered from
the south or north. This is to ensure that when an elevator is
entered, the control will always be directly in front of the
player. (When you're hurrying, you don't want to have to stop and
look for the switch!) Entering from the north or south will provide
two controls on the left and right as the player enters - one of
these can be safely eliminated in your designs.

Also, if you place an elevator control in a wall with a single
thickness, the control will be available for use on both sides!
You need to put something on the outside to prevent use of the
outside control if you don't want it used, or else put a second
thickness of wall behind the elevator.

Finally, when you create an elevator to go to the Secret floor,
don't forget to use the floor code inside the elevator that
signifies you want the player to go to the secret floor when the
switch is thrown.

Secret Floors

Elevators to secret floors must be placed on designated floors in
SOD: 4th and 12th floors. This is so the player will return to the
correct floor.

Inaccessibility of Objects and Acquiring Bonus Points

There are basically 2 approaches to playing SOD. One approach
is for the player to get through a floor quickly enough to beat the
Par time so as to get some bonus points. Such an approach
automatically ignores the need to kill all guards, find all hidden
doors, and get all the treasure. These last three items constitute
the other approach, i.e., taking time to kill everyone, open all
doors and get all the treasure, which also earns bonus points.
(Once in a great while, a player might be able to do both!)

If you design a floor that makes it impossible to award bonuses for
using the latter approach, then you have chosen to award only those
who use the former approach of getting in and out as quickly as
possible. How do you do this? By making treasure, guards and hidden
doors inaccessible. One other way is to use the "ghost" guard on any
level except the final one. The "ghost" is considered to be a guard,
but is invincible. No matter what guards are used on the secret floor
(or "boss" levels), the player will be awarded 15,000 bonus points
just for getting there and out. There is nothing wrong with denying
bonus points in chosen situations. This is just to make you aware
when designing a floor what the effects of your choice will be.

Trickery

The official version of SOD employs no "tricks" to fool you.
However, if you design and edit enough floors, you'll soon learn
about the "tricks of the trade". Guards can be made to walk through
walls (which the player can then walk through). Objects can be made
transparent, and so forth. Although purists may debate the point,
I personally think a trick or two adds a new, and interesting
element to the game as long as it's done sparingly.
It's probably fair to warn the potential user of your custom floor
that you've added a trick or two without telling them what or
where.

Balance

When designing a floor, you should strive to achieve a balance
among the various skill levels. For example, don't overload with
skill 1 & 2 guards, nor fail to add skill level 4 guards. SODEdit
allows you to quickly see not only what the balance looks like from
the STATS, but you can individually view the placement of all skill
level guards. Plus you can isolate the display of treasure, ammo,
and health items, and Super guards (bosses).

Narrow vs. Wide passages.

This'll seem obvious to you old hands. But for those just creating
their first floor(s), it's probably worth reminding you that
creating narrow passages slows the player who wants to set a record
for going from entrance to exit. Of course, every player who uses
that same hallway will have the same problem, but it's worth
considering. Interestingly enough, a narrow passageway seems to
make it a bit easier to nail Super Bosses, if forced to follow the
player down the passage. The reason is, a narrow passage creates an
environment for a better aim and actors that are hit squarely will
not be able to shoot back if they can't move out of the way.

Why do narrow passages slow progress of the player? Any enemies
hidden in niches off a narrow hallway can impede movement by just
being there. The player won't be able rush by them without engaging
them in battle. If you want to hide someone off a long hallway,
place him at least two squares deep or widen the hallway, if
possible.

Weapons

If you design a series of floors, be sure to leave a machine gun on
several of the floors (also a chain gun). Don't assume that all
your floors will remain together.  Also, when someone has to start
a floor over after being killed, they need to find a machine gun in
a hurry. (I know, they should've remembered to save their game at
the start of each level, but....)

You can either hide a machine gun somewhere, or else place an SS
guard near the start. When he's killed, he'll drop his machine gun
for the player to pickup. Extra weapons become ammo if not needed.

Over Designing - or Too Much of a Good Thing.

While there's a limit on the number of static objects (anything on
the floor except walls and guards) that can be placed on 1 floor
(400), if you try to place too many in one room/area, the game will
suffer from screen background clutter. This means that actors that
are in a room with too many other objects will literally be
invisible, as will some of the objects, depending on the angle of
vision of the player. This is also true if too many actors come
streaming out of a room. You'll lose 1 or more as your display screen
will not be able to refresh quickly enough to catch all of them
moving through the door.

There is a tendency for designers to load up a room or rooms near
one of the Super Bosses with ammo and first aid so the player has
a chance of surviving. As long as the player keeps these objects to
his/her back, there usually won't be a problem. But if the player
backs up too far and exposes lots of objects on the floor between
himself and the actor, the actor may flicker on and off the screen.
Not good!

One other example worth mentioning is a room filled with barrels
that are placed so as to provide an intricate pathway through the
area. Depending once again on the angle of view, many of the
barrels will disappear from view. As the player turns they'll reappear.
Any actors on the other side of the room will be invisible until
the player can get closer (if he/she survives that long).

So if you find you've got a room like those described above,
redesign it to limit the objects to a smaller area of view. Use
walls for partitioning off parts of the room or use smaller rooms,
or just eliminate some of the objects by placing some of them
elsewhere if you think you need them all.

Wrapping it up

It is hoped the above tips will help you design your floors with
greater confidence and fewer errors. At least you should be able to
recognize the symptoms when, for example, you come across a guard
in a trance, or doors open and close without sound.

Floor designing isn't difficult, only time consuming. Just get out
a large sheet of graph paper and grow your design. Then use the
SODEdit program to transfer your design to the screen. Next, test
it, fix it, test it, fix it, etc., etc., until you're satisfied
with the results. This is obviously an oversimplified explanation.
Your floor has to be saved to disk, then merged into the GAMEMAPS
file of a running game to test it.

All floors occupy an area 62 x 62 squares in which to layout your
designs. (The actual area is 64 x 64; the extra 2 squares in either
direction are the peripheral wall which has to be there. You can
add designs to it and change its color if you want). Try to leave
some space for your name to be added somewhere, and a floor title,
if you want one.

What To Do With Your Spear of Destiny Designs

If you already have 1 or more floor designs or would like to try
your hand at creating them, I would like to include your designs in
future episodes of SOD. You will get full credit for your work by
having your name placed in the floor design (if desired and it isn't
already there) as well as listed in the credits in any accompanying
docs. If you want to include any hints, put them in a small file for
inclusion in the manual.

Your designs will not normally be tampered with unless something in
them presents a problem. You will be contacted to see what you want
to do, or you can trust me to resolve the problem for you. Actual
inclusion into an episode will depend on, among other things,
factors such as complexity and originality, as judged by myself.
You will be informed if your design needs more work before being
included.

All designs remain the property of their designer, but cannot be
withdrawn after distribution. You're free to distribute your designs
in any other form, but I reserve the right to exclude them from my
package, if appropriate.

Cost of transmitting or mailing the file to me will be borne by
you. Diskettes will be returned if you include sufficient postage
(usually two 29 cent stamps are enough for one diskette). Contact
me in advance for my mailing address.

Warren Buss

Compuserve ID: 71044,3477