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[ElTipejoLoco]

Hooray, Synnah! That does sound like something you haven't tried before.

I'm curious if there will only be music for one of the three robots (since the premise was to make the game a bit of a "one has eyes, one has ears, and the other has something else), or if the music will be different/drowned out for each robot.

Like a kitten in a catnip store- ohboyohboy!

[Synnah]

Hmm, now you mention it, that's something worth considering. It depends mostly on the number of robots there will be in the end, and what their functions will be. Also, I'm not sure what Hempuli is coding this in; We could either layer MP3s based on which robot is active, or perhaps just apply a filter. Thus the non-hearing bots would get muffled versions of the audio.

Although, thinking about it, I think the premise of the game is that you're controlling the robots externally, so the ambient audio could be said to be what you're hearing, and not the robots. It's worth thinking about, anyway.

[Hempuli‽]

At first I planned there to be 4 bots: One with ears, one with arms, one with eyes and one that can't even move, but can sense electrical power. The music would've probably been the same for everyone, but the eary one could've also heard things like water rushing and doors opening and such. Lately I've been thinking if the 'eary' robot fits the game well enough though, I can't think of any clever puzzles that require ears (AND are doable with this engine)! 

Since I use MMF 2, I'll probably convert any song I get to an OGG; otherwise they must be as external files. This means that this 'muffled' version should be a totally separate OGG file. However getting that thing to work wont be hard; very easy actually.

[Synnah]

Lately I've been thinking if the 'eary' robot fits the game well enough though, I can't think of any clever puzzles that require ears (AND are doable with this engine)! 

How about some kind of control panel on a wall with a speaker, and if you're using the hearing robot you'll hear a 4-digit code being repeated from it, which is used to open a door. Standard key/door scenario. I'm having trouble envisioning any other audio puzzles, though..

Other ideas: In Dungeon Master, sound was a pretty important part of gameplay, as it often gave you an early warning when there were monsters nearby, or when the switch you'd just pressed had opened a door, or when a timed door was closing, that kind of thing. If there are enemies, you could make them quite vocal, so that the hearing robot becomes useful for detecting them. Although... it can't see, can it? Hmm.

[Hempuli‽]

Although... it can't see, can it? Hmm.

This is what made me think of not having it. Since changing quickly from bot to bot isn't probably what players want to do.

[Synnah]

Hmmm. How about this then: The bots that can't 'see' will at least have a basic view of the environment, in the form of a wireframe display, and perhaps blobs to represent enemies and other bots. They wouldn't be able to see details on walls, though, and other features, which is where the seeing bot comes in.

Would a wireframe display be easy enough to implement?

[Hempuli‽]

Hmmm. How about this then: The bots that can't 'see' will at least have a basic view of the environment, in the form of a wireframe display, and perhaps blobs to represent enemies and other bots. They wouldn't be able to see details on walls, though, and other features, which is where the seeing bot comes in.

Would a wireframe display be easy enough to implement?

It would, but I'm not exactly sure if I'm happy with that idea, since it would affect quite a lot some puzzle concepts. It could be maybe easier to just integrate the 'ear' -ability to one of the existing bots, like the one that can see.

[ElTipejoLoco]

There are a lot of interesting puzzles I can think of due to my extensive and useless knowledge of riddles and cliché "adventurer's intuition moments" knowledge.

For example, to detect doors, you could listen for the wind blowing through the edges/a crack or something.

There's also the possibility of overhearing conversation between guards (assuming there are any) to receive hints or simply to add to the atmosphere. Clanks and such could help aid in detecting approaching enemies and moving away from them. If you have any way to manipulate stereo/surround sound, you could implement something like that, as well.

But maybe that's all too farfetched... I dunno.

Anyway, right, class time. Off I go!

[Hempuli‽]

There are a lot of interesting puzzles I can think of due to my extensive and useless knowledge of riddles and cliché "adventurer's intuition moments" knowledge.

For example, to detect doors, you could listen for the wind blowing through the edges/a crack or something.

There's also the possibility of overhearing conversation between guards (assuming there are any) to receive hints or simply to add to the atmosphere. Clanks and such could help aid in detecting approaching enemies and moving away from them. If you have any way to manipulate stereo/surround sound, you could implement something like that, as well.

But maybe that's all too farfetched... I dunno.

Anyway, right, class time. Off I go!

I can affect to from which speaker the sound comes from, what is the balance and how loud the noise is.

Hmm, I should probably try this out. Let's see.

[Traveller]

I just want to throw my support behind the "slightly different music for each bot" thing.  Dynamic music is one of my most favorite things ever, even if it's just slight variations on a theme for each bot (see: your different advisors in Alien Legacy).  It's done best of all if you can switch from track to track in the middle.  Heck, that would practically be an automatic vote from me, because it improves the experience -so much- IMO.

[Hempuli‽]

So, it's up to Synnah if he can compose 4 songs from the same theme. x)

[mrfredman]

So, it's up to Synnah if he can compose 4 songs from the same theme. x)

[ Synnah Endorsement]
Oh I'm sure he'll come up with something incredible that will totally make your game, he's always come through with greatness for me!
 
[/Synnah Endorsement]

[Synnah]

Oh man, geez  . Thanks mrfredman!

I should be able to do it, yes. I'll PM you soon with the specifics, Hempuli, but it shouldn't be too much extra work to create 4 versions of the same ambient track, each with different tonalities and with certain sounds specific to them (Like the electricity-sensing bot, which could have most of the sounds muted and added... electric-y noises). If you can get MMF2 to switch between OGGs, and still keep the track position, then we're cool. Even better would be a cross-fade.

[Zaknafein]

> Lead Ye Bots.
You can't lead ye bots!

And then you're left to wonder why on earth you can't lead ye bots...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Hempuli‽]

> Lead Ye Bots.
You can't lead ye bots!

And then you're left to wonder why on earth you can't lead ye bots...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Eh Heh HEH

I worked a little more on the control panel. I'll start creating the different robots after this. I've also planned a bit the puzzles/room layouts.

[Evil-Ville]

Those arms are the best thing ever

[Hempuli‽]

I must try to resist to not spoil everything in the game; but I just HAD to post this one. I've created the different robots, the next thing will be pickable/pushable objects, along with the robots themselves.

The screenshot show's how the game area is different for different robots.

[Synnah]

Looking nice! And I do really like the arms.

[Hempuli‽]

I made the "objects" viewable today, so now you can see the other robots and pickable objects. Next thing is to create the arm robot to be able to pickup stuff. Currently there's a very annoying bug that causes the objects to go behind the wall textures. I'll try to fix that too.

[fiber optic asparagus]

whoa, that dudes got a strechy sweater.