itch.io

you're welcome! feel free to make requests if there is anything you'd like to have in the set.

thank you!

it should be downloadable now!

this is a lovely game, thank you for making it! btw in case it is useful on your end, i thought i would let you know i found a bug in the gamepad support. specifically, nintendo vs xbox button IDs is causing mirrored face button defaults, and control remapping doesn't seem to be working at present so you can't work around it (windows). happy to send details if it would be helpful!

i have considered adding a "return to surface" key in case people get stuck- currently you have to use the ladder / tunnel "cheat" keys to extricate yourself (which might not be desirable, and currently isn't always a fix).

this is all very accurate!

i will answer any of the "not figured out" questions you'd like, though i don't want to spoil it if you're getting something out of working them out on your own.

thank so much! i'm glad you got something out of it. to clarify the digging behavior: you could think of it as having a pocket which stores exactly 1 stone. (the little circular indicator shows if your "pocket" is full.)

thank you- i would be curious to hear about how people feel about figuring out the game. the goal is for it to invite curiosity rather than being confusing or inaccessible. 

RE: saving- i agree, and am definitely considering it as a later addition.

https://lorenschmidt.itch.io/strawberrycubes

https://lorenschmidt.itch.io/soup

https://lorenschmidt.itch.io/luminous-corridor-0

https://lorenschmidt.itch.io/strawberrycubes

this has really lovely visuals + spaces. thank you for making this. the music is wonderful as well.

to reply, apologetically very late, to your question: the programs were all written in javascript. there is a bit more detail about the approach in a passage at the end of the book.

dungeon decorator v. 1 update

things are coming along! i've done most of the heavy lifting, and am working on integrating the new text tools into the editor and adding a couple of much requested features. as soon as everything's working i'll post the new version publicly!

estimated release date: later this week.

text tools

• signs - working! still need some editor tools
• characters with dialogue
• environmental text - working!

expanded character roster

• platformer character (moves along ground + jumps) - working!
• crawly (moves along ground) - working!
• bat (flies, ricochets off of walls) - working!
• shuttle (nongravitational, path guided by environment) - working!
• chicken imp (flaps to fly short distances, like flywrench / birds in joust) - working!
• all characters can either be autonomous, or player controlled - on the to do list

additional features

• revamped save format (more human readable, also can store environmental text)
• pushing tiles (can be used for water currents / wind / one way passages / gravity zones) - working!
• ladders - in progress

i just wrapped up a few other features, and have started working on ladders! they'll be in the v. 1 release

neat, this has such a rambling, mazelike quality. i enjoyed wandering around in it. thanks for sharing!

if it's not too much trouble, i'd love to see the link you used when you ran into the garbling today.

thanks so much for your help testing.

i'm pleased to report that i found a fix for the partial map load error! if you had a map in progress which was affected by this issue, your map file will now work with the editor here:

http://vacuumflowers.com/dd/editor.html

and the player works as well.

if it's the bug where only the upper part of the map loads, my hope and suspicion is that it'll load correctly after the fix. the bug is likely caused by a tile with weird data in it which somehow breaks the rest of the load process. if so, once i add a proper error handler for that it will be able to read past the erroneous tile with no issues.

it works in chrome on my end (windows 8). this is neat! i found the invisible platform maze pot and the waterfall pot. i'll have to give it another go later. do you mind if i retweet this? i bet other folks would like to play it.

this is so neat. are the tile garbling issues still present? my attempted fix is in the verison here:

vacuumflowers.com/dd/editor.html

thanks for sharing! i like the part where you drop down the waterfall.

good point!

(p. s.- there is an animated water top sprite above the white square which is functionally identical)

ladders:

i'm planning on adding ladders! i have the same feeling about vertical movement. i plan on adding at least one character who can't jump at all (something in the vein of lode runner) and i think ladders would be useful both for that character and for the other characters.

i think the way i'll implement it is by adding a ladder to the entity palette. any tiles you paint ladders in will be climbable. ladders will have a default appearance, but you'll be able to swap in any sprite you desire, so you could make climbable vines, bones, etc. if you desire.

i'm also currently implementing tiles which push you, which can be used in various ways to move upward.

i'll file the mushroom growth beam idea for future reference

hello folks- i've been fixing various bugs, such as the focus issues, tile garbling, etc., and i'm working on a fix for the bug where part of the map doesn't load. i'll be uploading a build shortly (to both itch and my own site) which contains all of these fixes. i'll post here as soon as i upload!

thanks for letting me know about the avatar issue. did you place a player when you were in the editor, or were you playing using the one automatically placed?

re: differences-

yes, i've been updating the version at vacuumflowers.com/dd/editor.html quite frequently, and i've been updating the one here on itch.io only when i have more major builds.

thanks again for the bug report!

i believe it would be possible to build an offline version! i'm actually about to learn how to do that for another project. i could make an exe of this while i'm at it.

thanks for the suggestion!

thanks for your response. agreed- for a while i was planning to incorporate new tiles as i added them, but i've decided to keep versions separate so as not to mangle people's creations. so i've reverted the version at vacuumflowers.com/gardener to the original tileset, and the next version will be at a separate url.

it will always be possible to take your save files from an older editor and open them in a new one (and then manually tweak whatever is necessary due to changes between versions)

i hope that makes dealing with a pre-beta tool more pleasant and predictable.

i've fixed several bugs (including the nasty tile garbling bug) and i've rolled out a new version at vacuumflowers.com/gardener which incorporates these fixes!

apologies, i rolled out some changes to the tileset prematurely! i've reverted the player + editor to the original tileset

the v. 0 editor here will work with the current player

vacuumflowers.com/gardener

when v. 1 comes out later this week i'll put it at a new address so as not to break anything folks made with v. 0!

dungeon decorator v. 1 (out later this week)

text tools

• signs
• characters with dialogue
• environmental text

expanded character roster

• platformer character (moves along ground + jumps)
• crawly (moves along ground)
• bat (flies, ricochets off of walls)
• shuttle (nongravitational, path guided by environment)
• chicken imp (flaps to fly short distances, like flywrench / birds in joust)
• all characters can either be autonomous, or player controlled

dungeon decorator v. 0 (out now)

vacuumflowers.com/gardener

groundwork on engine + editor programs

live edit

platformer character

tile editor

• flip + rotate tiles freely

• share easily via datauri
• save offline to .png file

if you're curious about upcoming features or what dungeon decorator will look like on down the road, i've laid out a road map for future development!

thank you for the info and the links! someone else seemed to have the same issue and suspected the same thing as you earlier. i have a hunch it is due to rotation- that would make sense. i'm terribly sorry, this is such a tragic bug. i'm working on a fix right now, and i'll upload it tonight. hopefully that will be the end of the tile garbling bugs.

this is a new bug- thanks so much for reporting it.

i get your "first row only" error 100% of the time on my end, which bodes well for finding a fix quickly. thanks for the file! i'm looking into it.

thanks so much for your feedback. i'll try to make these things more intuitive over the next few releases. in the mean time, i'll try to clarify:

the keys are a partially implemented feature- they will be a multifunction key / collectible in the next release.

there's currently a bug which can cause tiles to be solid (or nonsolid) which shouldn't be by default. i'm working on a fix, but in the mean time, should this happen, you can fix tile solidity by holding the shift key and clicking.

you're correct- signs aren't implemented yet (but will be in v. 1, later this week!)

(your game is coming along nicely, by the way)

oh thank you- the clear function predated the tile rotation and didn't reset it! i'll fix that.

i have a lead on a fix for this. i think it may be (at least in part) due to incorrect handling of tile rotation- possibly it ends up with rotation values outside of the 0-4 range (which is fine internally, but won't save correctly). i'm looking into this right now actually, and i'll upload the fix tonight. i sincerely hope that will address all of the save corruption issues. that's such a tragic bug; by far the worst bug on the list. fixing that is my highest priority right now.

oh wow, gamepad control is a lovely idea. thank you so much! i'll integrate this when i get a chance.

i like the areas outside of the playing field filled with mysterious items + an observing demon