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Blockworld Project!   1 | 2 | 3
AquaShee

AquaShee
Belgium  


  2/17/2010

I'm currently working on a very simple Metaroom that you can build yourself!

The land in this room is made out of blocks. When you go into 'edit mode' you can move the blocks around and build your very own room! When you're finished, you can click the edit button again and send in the Norns!

Currently the only two blocks I have are plain dirt and fresh water. Next on the list are all other types of soil and water, and special blocks that can emit CAs like heat, light and moisture.

I'm also thinking of adding even more special blocks to allow you to build elevators, doors, teleporters and more!

I was wondering if you guys like the idea so far, and perhaps have special suggestions for certain block types?
I'd also be interested if someone can come up with some fun designs for the blocks, they are in a 50x50 format.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Pann
Small Birb

Pann


 visit Pann's website: Heck Yeah, Creatures!
  2/17/2010

Wow, that's an awesome idea! For additional blocks maybe there could be flowers or trees. :)

Small bird who lives here sometimes, and wanders other times.

Got Creatures related content to share? Submit to Heck Yeah, Creatures!

Icon by gettehld on twitter!


 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/17/2010

You mean as decoration or actual growing ones? Either way those would be neat. Perhaps I can add in leaf and wood blocks so you can 'build' your own tree. :)

The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Melody

Melody



  2/17/2010

This sounds like a great idea! :D Will it be for DS, C3, or both C3 and DS?


 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/17/2010

Currently it's DS or Docked only, since it uses a few bits that only DS can do.

The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Laura
Tea Queen

Laura

Manager


 visit Laura's website: CC Chat
  2/17/2010

Hmmm... Block ideas... Blocks to make mountain peaks? Tiny blocks to make snow and rain, if weather was included? Blocks to make clouds? Block birdies? Block critters? Blocks to make toys? Stepping stone blocks to walk across water?
 
Ghosthande
Prodigal Sock

Ghosthande


 visit Ghosthande's website: Breeders Beware
  2/17/2010

Now why am I suddenly thinking of LEGOs.


 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/17/2010

Ooh, weather blocks would be cool, and blocks with a layer of snow on top.
All blocks should be the same size though. I'm not really planning to have a whole ecosytem going, it'll just be floors and doors and elevators. :)


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Laura
Tea Queen

Laura

Manager


 visit Laura's website: CC Chat
  2/17/2010

Block bridges. :)
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/17/2010

Ooh, yeah! Bridges would be great. :)
I guess it'd be cool for some blocks to be able to overlap, so you can put snow on top of dirt or a bridge on top of water.

Some blocks would have to be animated too I supposed.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Pann
Small Birb

Pann


 visit Pann's website: Heck Yeah, Creatures!
  2/17/2010

Yeah, those build your own tree blocks sound good.

Small bird who lives here sometimes, and wanders other times.

Got Creatures related content to share? Submit to Heck Yeah, Creatures!

Icon by gettehld on twitter!


 
scoota94

scoota94



  2/18/2010

*Apologises for being late* :P

This idea is awesome! Could there maybe be a block egglayer? :)

I am so glad I finally got DS now!


Don't be worried about who is right, Just follow you heart...
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/18/2010

A block egglayer would be kinda beyond the room's purpose, but heat blocks for faster hatching should be doable!

There would also be lots of decorative blocks to build the background and foreground, and make walls and fences. If I can get around to making those.

Right now I want all the basic blocks done (ground, water, concrete and wooden bridges) and have a decent GUI interface for adding blocks.

Currently blocks are added by just picking them up and putting them somewhere else. It's a bit laborious, so I was thinking of being able to 'paint' blocks. Good idea or not?


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
ylukyun
Patient Pirate

ylukyun

Manager



  2/18/2010

Very nice. Vendor blocks of some kind would be good, the properties of the food would change depending on how you built the vendor.
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/18/2010

I'll toss the vendors on the "Future Expansion" list.

The main goal right now is making the player able to place everything creatures, plants and critters need to survive and get around. So that's floors, water, doors, elevators, teleporters and emitters.

I can always release additional agent packs to add life and food to the room, but right now the player will have to get his vendors and plants somewhere else.

I uploaded a screenie in the Screenshots gallery by the way. The graphics are lame right now, but I'll improve those soon.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
SpringRain

SpringRain



  2/18/2010

Sounds like an awesome idea! We can build our Norn's world? Cool. :D


I'm back after 11 years. Holy dooley!
 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/18/2010

Maybe triangles? That are not really blocks, but you could build slopes with them.

Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
Pann
Small Birb

Pann


 visit Pann's website: Heck Yeah, Creatures!
  2/18/2010

Maybe make toys out of blocks. :3

Small bird who lives here sometimes, and wanders other times.

Got Creatures related content to share? Submit to Heck Yeah, Creatures!

Icon by gettehld on twitter!


 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/18/2010

Slopes are impossible I'm afraid. The room system Creatures uses doesn't allow for triangular rooms so I can't place slopes on a grid.

Now I'm trying to give the room a useful interface so blocks can be placed easily. So far I can only drag around blocks that I inject with CAOS, which is a pain.

The blocks look a lot nicer now though!


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/18/2010

But room-pieces in shape of distorted retangles are possible. I saw that by using the room changer :P

You might make it a pseudo-triangle. That what looks like an edge is then a side with a size of... lets say 2 pixels.


Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/18/2010

I can't put distorted rectangular rooms on a grid either. It's a grid on which square blocks fit, putting in other shapes would make the whole system break down.

A 'pseudo-triangle' with a 2-pixel high edge would not work either. Norns wouldn't be able to walk onto this edge. Play around with the map editor or look at the Creatures map with CAOS, once you understand the room system you'll see what I mean.
Type "mapd 1" in the command line to see the map. "mapd 0" hides it.

If it makes you happy, I can easily add triangular blocks for decoration purposes or edges. But there will be no walkable slopes.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/18/2010

Hmm, okay. It was just an idea.

Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
Gumbo

Gumbo



  2/18/2010

[late] this has to be one of the best ideas ive ever hearrd of. i fully support you and god luck! if i have ideas ill post them.[/late]

Edit: Idea: in response to the screenie, maybe smaller blocks/grid, and in the final version include lifts, and kind of meld two blocks that are side to side together.



in the spring you gotta let the flowers fully blossom

 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/18/2010

Smaller grid would kill the game I'm afraid. It already locks up for a few seconds when switching between edit and normal mode (since it has to recalculate all rooms)

The elevators you speak of are already planned though! You'll be able to put blocks down that turn into elevators as soon as you leave edit mode. Elevator blocks placed in the same column will become stops for the same elevator.
Teleporters will be similar except your Norn will be able to poof between them at will, cycling around the room.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
RisenAngel
Sanely Insane

RisenAngel

Manager


 visit RisenAngel's website: The Realm
  2/18/2010

This sounds pretty dang awesome. This'll be a nice place to hold a few wolfling runs, I'd imagine.

Just out of curiosity, when it's finished, will you be able to make more blocks, so that you could, say, completely flood the room, or are you stuck with the blocks the room gives you?


~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog


 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/19/2010

You'll get as many blocks as you want. But the more blocks you use, the longer switching between edit mode and back will take.

Then again, it's best not to switch between edit mode and normal mode a lot since almost all agents and norns get into serious trouble when the floor suddenly disappears.

[EDIT] I finally managed to get a basic interface working! Now you can open up a panel and select which block you'd like to place. Then you can just keep grabbing an infinite supply of your chosen block.
The game now also pauses when placing blocks, making stuff a lot easier to manage.
Oh, and there's a new screenie up, go have a look!


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Ghosthande
Prodigal Sock

Ghosthande


 visit Ghosthande's website: Breeders Beware
  2/19/2010

Cool. I really like the look of the blocks.


 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/21/2010

Dumb question: what would happen if any player who likes to experiment #whistles and tries to avoid looking in your face# would place a block outside of Blockworld? Would it still affect the room-piece it is in as it does in Blockworld, would it autokill, horribly mess up everything or just doing nothing?

Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/21/2010

As things are right now, it would float in the middle of the room you put it in and behave much like it would in blockworld. It would get a few things wrong, but nothing major. Depending on where you put it some map stuff might break, but it won't cause any serious issues or crashes, just a bit of a messed-up map.

Eventually, blocks will just disappear when placed out of the room system.


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/21/2010

Hmmmmm... maybe you could make a securety-request to prevent that by checking the position or the room ID of block? When it is outside of Blockworld it is simply... well, a block that floats anywhere.

Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  2/21/2010

Yeah, but any extra block would just slow down the switch between edit and not-edit mode. I'd like to keep blocks in blockworld for now. I discovered it's not even possible to take the blocks out of blockworld already. Can't switch between metarooms in Edit mode. :D

The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Papriko
Peppery One

Papriko



  2/21/2010

Oh, then is good ;)
Just wanted to go sure that you make Blockworld safe enough for such jerks like me XD


Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis...
 
scoota94

scoota94



  2/21/2010

Just curious, in your screenies the background is a sky. Are you gonna make background blocks? Or just keep the background a single picture? :)

Don't be worried about who is right, Just follow you heart...
 
AquaShee

AquaShee



  7/19/2010

I'm going to keep the background clouds I think, or maybe provide support for multiple backgrounds to choose from...
But I'm also going to add scenery blocks that sit in the very back of the room and don't do anything but look pretty. So you can puzzle together your own background. :)

EDIT: As you all probably know, the Blockworld project has been quiet lately, so I'm considering releasing an Alpha version so people can play around with it and make suggestions and stuff.
So far you can add dirt, concrete and water blocks. It's rather limited, everything else is still too buggy. Do you think this would be enough to play around with, or should I add a few more things first?


The Community Scribble: make (y)our own metaroom!
 
Liam

Liam


 visit Liam's website: Spellhold Studios
  7/19/2010

Yes, please! I would love to muck around with it. I say release it now--you can always make additions later, and maybe we can help out somehow. :)

- Liam / K'aeloree

Spellhold Studios, a Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion Modding Community

 
Draconorn

Draconorn



  7/19/2010

This is such a cool idea, Aquashee!
I'd quite happily play around with concrete and water blocks, so if you want to release an alpha that would be neat :D

 

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