[Original Game] Microbes!

[_wb_]

The select waves is implemented. Use shoulder buttons to change the setting of the selected wave (in the epidemics editor).

If you can replicate the crash, please let me know!

 

[Askarus]

Tested shortly.

Some impressions.

1:

The screen  which explains what the units do is great.

Problem here:

You cycle through pages with Up and Down but on the right upper corner there are left and right arrows.

2:

It's just my impression but I dislike not every unit being available within the first level pack.

Maybe you could make some "out of story - free to play" level pack which allows every unit in every level (of course only after clearing the story mode)

Or every level will be unlocked in the free to play mode after it's finished in the story.

3:

Somehow the healing unit didn't heal properly.

Some units got some boost by an other unit and mast cell wasn't able to heal them.

Is his intended? Mast cell's effect circle was adjusted right.

4:

Pressing "Y" to heal units is a nice idea.

5:

Left nub has the perfect speed now.

6:

Holding down D-Pad to move faster is also nice.

Maybe you could decrease time a little until it starts to move.

7:

Player is somehow forced to go into speed mode.

I don't like to give speed mode such a big impact.

Some less impact is enough I think.

(Only my personal opinion)

8:

Is it possible to add a unit that increases Energy just by standing somewhere and doing nothing?

Like "factory" in other tower defense games?

This unit could also give more energy if an enemy gets killed near by.

Just an idea.

Nice game.

I'm looking forward to see some more level packs here.

Maybe different themes as well.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

In pause, when i want to think about the level, it's annoying to have the "Pause menu" right on the level.

 

[_wb_]

Tested shortly.

Some impressions.

1:

The screen  which explains what the units do is great.

Problem here:

You cycle through pages with Up and Down but on the right upper corner there are left and right arrows.

Left and right arrows also work (as well as left and right shoulder buttons). I could make it so that up and down do nothing, but I don't think it's a problem that you can use multiple ways to do the same thing, even though only one way is shown with the guihints. For example, in the menu, the guihint says you have to press B to select an option, but if you press X or Y or enter or start it also works.

2:

It's just my impression but I dislike not every unit being available within the first level pack.

Maybe you could make some "out of story - free to play" level pack which allows every unit in every level (of course only after clearing the story mode)

Or every level will be unlocked in the free to play mode after it's finished in the story.

Hmyeah, I could add that, but I kind of like the extra challenge to complete levels with only a limited set of units.

3:

Somehow the healing unit didn't heal properly.

Some units got some boost by an other unit and mast cell wasn't able to heal them.

Is his intended? Mast cell's effect circle was adjusted right.

This is strange and should not happen. Can you reproduce this? If you could send me instructions on how to reproduce it, or a replay file (they're in appdata/microbes/replays), that would help.

Maybe there was a blocking wall (yellow or blue/yellow) between the healer and the damaged unit? Those walls don't just block your bullets, they also block healing.

4:

Pressing "Y" to heal units is a nice idea.

This is not a new thing but maybe you only discovered it now because of the "controls" help screen.

6:

Holding down D-Pad to move faster is also nice.

Maybe you could decrease time a little until it starts to move.

Maybe a little. I want to avoid accidental repeat-moves though.

7:

Player is somehow forced to go into speed mode.

I don't like to give speed mode such a big impact.

Some less impact is enough I think.

(Only my personal opinion)

In the easy difficulty settings it is not really needed to use the energy-saving speed mode I think. I could make the energy bonus smaller, but that would make the levels harder unless I also make the units cheaper. I don't want to change the balance too much at this point.

8:

Is it possible to add a unit that increases Energy just by standing somewhere and doing nothing?

Like "factory" in other tower defense games?

This unit could also give more energy if an enemy gets killed near by.

Just an idea.

I could add such a unit. Probably not for the compo release though.

Nice game.

I'm looking forward to see some more level packs here.

Maybe different themes as well.

Thanks, and feel free to contribute more levels!

@Linux-SWAT: yes, that is intentionally annoying because that pause screen is meant for pausing the game while taking a break, not for thinking. If you want to see the level and think about it, and even start building units or heal them, you can activate the "Build while paused" option. This makes the game a bit easier (less rapid-thinking and rapid-acting skill needed), so when this option is activated, the game is in "simple mode" and you can only get silver stars for completing levels, not gold ones. Maybe I should make this the default?

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Well, "Build while paused" or not, it's frustrating not to be able to simply watch the map :/.

 

[_wb_]

Besides using "build while paused", you can also watch the map by loading it in the level editor

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I can also take a snapshot with fbgrab...

 

[Askarus]

As I don't have much time only some comment:

1: If left and right while unit explanation works then I didn't press the D-Pad correctly  .

2: For the balancing and controll stuff: I had time to test only one level. So it's just some first impression.

3: I'll try to reproduce the healing error. But it'll be late today as my time is verry limitted to do such things.

 

[b_o_b]

The select waves is implemented. Use shoulder buttons to change the setting of the selected wave (in the epidemics editor).

If you can replicate the crash, please let me know!

Great! Maybe I will be able to send you one additional level with this feature. No promises though.. busy busy... 

6:

Holding down D-Pad to move faster is also nice.

Maybe you could decrease time a little until it starts to move.

Maybe because you have a 1Ghz device? On my Pandora (600Mhz - not overclocked) the speed is perfect. 

 

[Askarus]

Checked the healing problem.

Forget it.

There was some blocking wall between big mast call and target unit.

It was the corner of the first level in Microbes 1.

I forgot that there can't be any healing over blocking walls. Also it was just a corner so I didn't see it properly.

Everything's fine.

The select waves is implemented. Use shoulder buttons to change the setting of the selected wave (in the epidemics editor).

If you can replicate the crash, please let me know!

Great! Maybe I will be able to send you one additional level with this feature. No promises though.. busy busy... 

>6:

Holding down D-Pad to move faster is also nice.

Maybe you could decrease time a little until it starts to move.

Maybe because you have a 1Ghz device? On my Pandora (600Mhz - not overclocked) the speed is perfect. 

I think it's rather your impression than the unit.

Speed's fine for you but not for me.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

The plasma cell crashed the game twice at the same position:

level pack microbes 2 , level surrounded, position at right of the right "10".

 

[b_o_b]

I think it's rather your impression than the unit.

Speed's fine for you but not for me.

Impression can differ, but if you see a too fast response I really think you see another speed then me. There is very noticeable delay pushing the d-pad on my Pandora and you really need to push it longer and wait than one quick push before it moves. Response is currently perfect, but if we needed to choose between - make the response faster or slower - I would definitely choose faster. 

Maybe an other player can comment on this too. I will try Microbes on my 2nd Pandora to see if there is any difference.

 

[_wb_]

I think it's rather your impression than the unit.

Speed's fine for you but not for me.

Impression can differ, but if you see a too fast response I really think you see another speed then me. There is very noticeable delay pushing the d-pad on my Pandora and you really need to push it longer and wait than one quick push before it moves. Response is currently perfect, but if we needed to choose between - make the response faster or slower - I would definitely choose faster. 

Maybe an other player can comment on this too. I will try Microbes on my 2nd Pandora to see if there is any difference.

I think you both want it to start repeating faster (which means the repeat-delay has to decrease a bit). I'll do that.

The plasma cell crashed the game twice at the same position:

level pack microbes 2 , level surrounded, position at right of the right "10".

You're not supposed to have plasma cells in that level pack yet. Strange. I'll try to reproduce this.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I finished all previous levels, also from previous pnd. Maybe got a hidden unlock :^).

 

[_wb_]

Ah, the problem is that I forgot to add something to the runscript to update the levels between rc4 and rc5. If you delete appdata/microbes/levels, then at least the problem of "too early plasma cells" should be solved.

Now I'll try to reproduce the crash. Are you building any other units?

 

[Askarus]

I think it's rather your impression than the unit.

Speed's fine for you but not for me.

Impression can differ, but if you see a too fast response I really think you see another speed then me. There is very noticeable delay pushing the d-pad on my Pandora and you really need to push it longer and wait than one quick push before it moves. Response is currently perfect, but if we needed to choose between - make the response faster or slower - I would definitely choose faster. 

Maybe an other player can comment on this too. I will try Microbes on my 2nd Pandora to see if there is any difference.

I think you both want it to start repeating faster (which means the repeat-delay has to decrease a bit). I'll do that.

He got it.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I'll check that.

Also, it's difficult to distinguish the mast cell from the big mast cell.

 

[b_o_b]

Indeed, I see now. I misread Askarus... Anyway, response speed is fine for me 

I already mentioned that I thought the highscore was hidden too much in the menu, but I now realize what I am really missing. That is seeing the highscore before starting a game. I always like to see what the score is before starting a new game so you know what you are aiming for. 

Would it be possible to add a highscore subroutine by clicking on the right shoulderbutton when you are in the menu? The highscore showed should then be the high score of the 'play level'. Doesn't have to be fancy.

Also it would be nice to see the level 'status' before playing a game. Maybe add the difficulty after "Play level X"? So "Play level 10 at Normal" 

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Deleted folder. Same problem happens with the plasma cell. I also build dentrics-things linked to them.

Last time, it crashed the game at the first virus. Now it takes 4/5.

 

[_wb_]

Indeed, I see now. I misread Askarus... Anyway, response speed is fine for me 

I already mentioned that I thought the highscore was hidden too much in the menu, but I now realize what I am really missing. That is seeing the highscore before starting a game. I always like to see what the score is before starting a new game so you know what you are aiming for. 

Would it be possible to add a highscore subroutine by clicking on the right shoulderbutton when you are in the menu? The highscore showed should then be the high score of the 'play level'. Doesn't have to be fancy.

Also it would be nice to see the level 'status' before playing a game. Maybe add the difficulty after "Play level X"? So "Play level 10 at Normal" 

There are stars shown on top of the level previews for this purpose. Is that enough?

It's a good idea to have some indication of the currently selected difficulty. Maybe I could add silver or gold stars to the "Play level X" menu item.

Deleted folder. Same problem happens with the plasma cell. I also build dentrics-things linked to them.

Last time, it crashed the game at the first virus. Now it takes 4/5.

If you deleted the appdata/microbes/levels folder, you shouldn't be able to build plasma cells at all. Are you sure you are using the latest version of Microbes? Do you have briefings in the info submenu?

I have tried to reproduce the issue by cheating so I can build plasma cells in that level, but I still couldn't reproduce.

Could you perhaps try to make a screenshot of the game situation prior to the crash? You can use "Z" in the game to make screenshots (it's an undocumented feature that I forgot to take out in the rc5 release), they will be saved in appdata/microbes/ (you can make as many as you want in one session, but if you start making new ones in a new session, they'll overwrite the old ones).