Boulder Dash Forum

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 2:43 am**

G'day All

Well this is my "100th Post" since joining and I thought I better make it a good one, it will also mean I'm the Last Post on every Forum

Screenshots can be purchased from the Front Desk

To my question:
As I've played more and more BD Games I have noticed something about the Cave Times which makes me wonder....Why???

Some Caves have very Short times and you have to run around like a One Legged Naked Man in a Porcupine Farm to complete them. While other Caves have a Long time, so much so you could complete the Cave go make a coffee get some cake and return before it times out.

I was wondering, do the Creators have a lot of control over the Cave Times or are there only pre-set Times they can use???

Regards
John

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:10 am**

johnomg wrote:I was wondering, do the Creators have a lot of control over the Cave Times or are there only pre-set Times they can use??

The creator can set any time they want to - the maximum amount depends on the game engine, but nothing stops someone from setting 127 or 243 seconds if they so desire.

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:04 am**

RTADash wrote:The creator can set any time they want to - the maximum amount depends on the game engine, but nothing stops someone from setting 127 or 243 seconds if they so desire.

Thanks for the enlightenment RTA

I have noticed some Caves are lower/higher though, like RTAD05 Cave02 it's 120 seconds and Cave 03 is 255 seconds, both outside what you specified above, I assume that's the engine difference your refering to???

Anyway, that then begs the question, why are some Cave times considerably longer than they need to be???

Using one of your Games as an example, RTAD05 Cave 03 has a time of 255 seconds, I complete it around the 200 second mark (give or take a bit).

Why so long??? Intentional, Oversight or am I just getting better at this???

I only use your Game as an example because I just completed it and it's fresh in my memory, I have noticed this in other peoples Games as well.

P.S.
Since it just sprung into my mind, RTAD04 Cave 01, I took the 2 Diamonds and went

when I saw where the Exit appeared, very very nice surprise

I loved it

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:28 am**

johnomg wrote:I have noticed some Caves are lower/higher though, like RTAD05 Cave02 it's 120 seconds and Cave 03 is 255 seconds, both outside what you specified above, I assume that's the engine difference your refering to???

Those were just examples to show that you could set it to any value, and not just multiples of 5, 10, etc. Earlier engines BD1, BD2, PLCK, and so on have a cap of 255, but later engines like CrDr can go up to 999.

johnomg wrote:Anyway, that then begs the question, why are some Cave times considerably longer than they need to be???

Using one of your Games as an example, RTAD05 Cave 03 has a time of 255 seconds, I complete it around the 200 second mark (give or take a bit).

One word: Leniency

(just to take the pressure off when said pressure is unnecessary) That particular cave is just a fun one - no hurry.

Also, some timelimits are geared toward the player who's figuring it out for the first time and likely to take much longer than someone who already knows what to do in that cave.

johnomg wrote:P.S.
Since it just sprung into my mind, RTAD04 Cave 01, I took the 2 Diamonds and went when I saw where the Exit appeared, very very nice surprise I loved it

Thanks! I was extra careful to make sure you had to all the way around the cave to unearth it.

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:44 am**

RTADash wrote:Those were just examples to show that you could set it to any value, and not just multiples of 5, 10, etc. Earlier engines BD1, BD2, PLCK, and so on have a cap of 255, but later engines like CrDr can go up to 999.

Ah my mistake, I took your response too literally

One word: Leniency ..... some timelimits are geared toward the player who's figuring it out for the first time ....

Fair enough

Thanks! I was extra careful to make sure you had to all the way around the cave to unearth it.

Your Welcome and I can see your turning into a Evil LogicDeLuxe with your games

Thanks for the further clarification RTA, appreciated

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:25 am**

johnomg wrote:Thanks for the further clarification RTA, appreciated

Always glad to help!

johnomg wrote:Your Welcome and I can see your turning into a Evil LogicDeLuxe with your games

Some day I may dream to be anywhere near Logic in my proficiency and design.

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:55 am**

RTADash wrote:Some day I may dream to be anywhere near Logic in my proficiency and design.

Maaan!!! Could you please adjust your timeframe for morphing into another Logic to 3 years please

That's how long I figure it will take me to finish the CrDr Series

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:41 am**

johnomg wrote:Anyway, that then begs the question, why are some Cave times considerably longer than they need to be???

Apparently, the challenge of those caves are concentrated in other aspects than time constrains.
Maybe, you noticed even some caves which are set to 1000 seconds. That's because in PLCK you only can set values between 0 and 255, and 0 underflows to 999 being the only way to have more than 255.
Another reason for slightly long times may be a game made for NTSC and played on PAL which gives you 20% extra (timer is slower), though only a small minority is made for NTSC.
You do play my games on PAL, don't you? They are all designed for it. You may facing problems when playing them on NTSC.

RTADash wrote:Some day I may dream to be anywhere near Logic in my proficiency and design.

Are you talking about the Crazy Dream games, or does this include the games before that? I consider my older games more like experimenting, with many caves which don't play that well. One day, I will make a remixed game with the more interesting caves of those old games put together, probably slightly redesigned in order to have a fair game. Either this or Crazy Dream 10 could be my first XDC powered game.

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:02 pm**

Thanks for the extra information Logic

Challenges instead of Time Constraints, I can see that being true as some of your Caves are certainly challenging for me and don't need the added pressure of a short time as well.

I don't think I have seen a 1,000 second Cave, I have certainly seen a 999 second Cave (I can't remember which game though), at the time I thought it was just an error/mistype that had slipped past the Creator but after your explanation I can see it was intentional and why.

As you know I'm still learning and PLCK doesn't mean anything to me at the moment, I assume it's a Design Tool???

Yes I play your games using PAL (it's the standard in Australia). With your games Time isn't so much an issue for me, it's trying to work out what Crazy Dream you had the night before that inspired the Cave

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:20 pm**

johnomg wrote:As you know I'm still learning and PLCK doesn't mean anything to me at the moment, I assume it's a Design Tool???

It's both, a tool and an engine. We have a list of common acronyms here: http://www.boulder-dash.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=107
And for some differences and internals, see my FAQ: http://www.gratissaugen.de/erbsen/BD-Inside-FAQ.html

Posted: **Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:36 pm**

Thanks again Logic

I had read the Acronym List here awhile back but skimmed over the ones relating to Techincal Items and didn't look into what they actually are.

Wow!!! That's some FAQ on your Site

I read through the PLCK section, to be honest the technical side is way and I mean waaaaaaay over my head. However, I have saved the Link and as time permits or I don't know something I now know where to look first

Posted: **Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:47 pm**

LogicDeLuxe wrote:Are you talking about the Crazy Dream games, or does this include the games before that?

Mainly the Crazy Dream series, and just your level of knowledge in general.

Posted: **Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:31 pm**

RTADash wrote:Mainly the Crazy Dream series...

Cries at the thought of another Series similar to CrDr

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