[Game] Glitch [1.2.4]

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[Game] Glitch [1.2.4]

by Wuzzy » Post

Glitch is a story-driven platformer game where you play a bit that is lost in cyberspace. Collect electrons, unlock sectors and find your true destination.

Proud winner of the 2022 Minetest Game Jam.

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Old versions:
[spoiler]
Download version 1.0.1 (version submitted for the 2022 Minetest Game Jam)
[/spoiler]

Links: Credits:
  • Idea, design, coding, writing, graphics, models, sound effects by Wuzzy
  • Music by Visager
  • Spanish translation by ost1 (2022).
  • Translations by various people (see README.md
Last edited by Wuzzy on Wed Nov 29, 2023 19:15, edited 16 times in total.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.0.1]

by Wuzzy » Post

I am currently planning to update this game to do stuff I could not do during the game jam time. Basically, I want to bring Glitch to the state I originally intended to complete within the game jam time. Although I already came very far with Glitch during the game jam time, and it is basically a complete game already, it is still not quite my vision for the game.

The future release will follow a 2-step model:

The first planned release 1.1.0 is mostly a bugfix release to fix the biggest known bugs in the game and improve usability a bit. I plan to release it very soon.

The second planned release 2.0.0 is larger and meant to be a content update. I plan to add a bit more to the story, and add a few more sectors. Especially I want to add sectors to explore a few underused abilities a bit more, and basically to add "buffer" zones between the Hub and the ability sectors. Add a few more characters here and there. Also, more secrets. However, there will be no new abilities. The core game mechanics will also not change.

Version 2.0.0 will hopefully be the true version of Glitch, after which no major updates will follow (only bugfixes / maintenance). After that, I will probably call it a day and move on with other projects again.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Glitch 1.1.0 released!

This is an important usability and bugfix release. It is the first release after the game jam.

Most importantly, it (hopefully) fixes the very-much reported problems with powersliding, but I still recommend to read the (new, updated) instructions carefully. The Powerslide Master will tell you more.
Powersliding should now work more reliably, there were indeed some situations in which it was broken. But remember to hold down Aux1 *before* pressing Forward, this is very important.

Note that powerslide never works when you are too far over the edge of a block. This is intentional and remains unchanged.

A status indicator at the bottom tells you when the powerslide ability is available. This should hopefully deal with most confusion.

Another major bugfix: You will now collect electrons even if you go very fast. The bug was that you failed to sometimes collect the electron if you went too fast. Very frustrating for the large sectors! For mysterious reasons, nobody has reported this bug to me. Anyway, this is now fixed at well.

Changelog:

Bugfixes:
  • Fix electron sometimes not being collected if you go fast
  • Fix powerslide not working in many circumstances (slopes, bad timing, etc.)
  • Fix powersliding sometimes stopping you completely when sliding up slopes
  • Fix sky color sometimes changing
  • Fix player being anable to move if you left the game in the wrong moment during the intro
  • Fix typos
Usability:
  • Add ability status indicator at the bottom of the screen
  • Improve explanation of powersliding (when you talk to Powerslide Master and in the inventory tooltip)
  • Show "Electrons saved!" message slightly longer
  • Change order of abilities in inventory screen
Graphics/sound:
  • Don't play music during glitch animation (when you fall out)
  • Change fog color in "Transport Pipes" sector from green to gray
Other:
  • Add partial Spanish translation by ost1
  • Add ch(e)at command "unlock_gateways" (unlocks all gateways)
  • Hide some F5 debug info (can be bypassed if you don't have the "debug")
  • Add other developer commands
  • Remove a bunch of unused features (for example: turned-off lamp, "carry" ability, gravity nodes, some developer commands)
  • Add description to all mods

Please give feedback about what you think about the powerslide and/or status indicator. I want to make sure players can use it properly.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by v-rob » Post

Powerslide feels much better. The status indicator at the bottom of the screen is really intuitive, and I like how it shows for more things than just powerslide. I'm glad it works properly on slopes now.

Something I'm curious about, however: why must Aux1 be held before Forward for powerslide? I never encountered any bugs with either order. In fact, holding Forward first makes you powerslide a little faster, which the only way I could find to get back from the electron beside the exit gateway in the Climbing Sector. Specifically, I held Forward first and used powerslide towards the cable I'm pointing at in the screenshot. Holding Aux1 first makes the powerslide too short, and it can't reach. I'm not sure how else there is to get back.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Thanks for the feedback on the update! This is really important to me because I want to make sure the game machanics aren't too odd/confusing/broken.

A big reason why powerslide felt so wrong is because not only was it somewhat unituitive / poorly explained (especially the fact that powerslide is not possible close to the edge was not clear), but also just flat out broken at times. Fun fact: Because I added the status indicator, I was actually able to see what was broken. It accidentally turned out to be a debugging feature as well. XD

As for Aux1 before Forwards or vice-versa: You're right, both orders work, and I was aware, but I only documented one use because it's less text. :P The important part is you have to keep the keys pressed for a moment because a short key press might not register. Unfortunately, detecting inputs in Minetest is tricky. I use on_globalstep to poll the input state with get_player_control() but this only works reliably for keys that are held down. If the player presses a key only briefly, it might not register as "pressed" in the globalstep. :-( And I don't know of any better way to detect a keypress right now.
(I should probably post a Minetest issue about this.)

But it is true that if you powerslide while moving forwards, you go further. Right, I didn't really think about this and it's not really incorporated into the level design (I think you can still get all electrons with the regular powerslide). But I think it still makes sense to explain the difference. Noted for v2.0.0.

As for the screenshot: Oh wow, you actually found a way back in the Climbing Sector. Nice one! :D You were not really supposed to go back once you're on the final "island" (similar to Powerslide Sector), since you can take the gateways to Transport Pipes and then the gateway right behind you to quickly go back to start. Maybe I just add a 2nd gateway to return to the start directly (like in Powerslide Sector). But I think your stunt is cool, I keep it in. :D

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Desour » Post

Some suggestions:
  • I've had movement_gravity set to 9.81 in my minetest.conf, which resulted in a much weaker trampoline. This lead to some confusion:
    Spoiler
    Are you supposed to get stuck at the bottom in Far Lands? There's a teleporter back to Far Lands that needs 448 electrons (from Launching Sector I only need 256), and a trampoline that lets you jump 2.7 nodes high (would need to jump up 3 nodes to get back).

    Also, the lower trampoline in Data Cube center only gives me 26.7 nodes height, by far not enough to get back up.
    To fix such issues, you could at least give a warning if the settings are not as you expect them.
    You could also at the start of the game, or on join, store the old values (possibly nil), set the settings, and on shutdown restore the previous values. (And store the old values in modstorage, to not loose them in case of crashes.) (It's possible that this only works for a few of the settings (those where the engine uses its settings watcher thing).) (Btw., we finally need proper mod-set per-world settings.)
  • Disable clouds. x)
  • An ability (maybe available from the start on) to shortly drastically increase deceleration would be nice. It is too hard not to overshoot with the powerdash, especially if there are no walls.
  • You could use items for abilities, on_use is more reliable than player_control stuff in server-step.
  • You could place some sort of invisible liquid on top of platforms, and different ones on trampolines, and again different ones in mid-air. The ability items (as mentioned above) would then be liquids_pointable. The client then sends the pointed thing, so you can detect client-side if the player was still on ground or on a trampoline when the item was used.
  • Edit: Otherwise, to be more forgiving against running off trampolines, you could set the jump player attribute when on trampoline, and remove it when off it.
    Also, you could allow powerslide if the player was on ground in *last or current* (as opposed to only current) globalstep.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by LMD » Post

In the case of gravity, you could use physics overrides to "normalize" gravity to what you expect (since it is a single player game): player:set_physics_override{gravity = expected_gravity / (minetest.settings:get_float"movement_gravity" or 9.81)}
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by v-rob » Post

Wuzzy wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 15:29
You were not really supposed to go back once you're on the final "island" (similar to Powerslide Sector), since you can take the gateways to Transport Pipes and then the gateway right behind you to quickly go back to start.
Ahh, I tried that, but must not have saved my electron for some reason. Very probably I fell off a cliff in Transport Pipes or the Climbing Sector and lost it before saving without realizing it, and then assumed that you had to stay within the sector to collect and save it. I guess I found the super cool way when the right way was right in front of my face :P

A funky control thing I found while playing is that holding Jump while just moving about causes friction to decrease drastically, so that it seems that you're sliding on ice. You can't powerslide while holding Jump, but if you powerslide first and immediately start holding Jump down, you slide super far on flat ground. I can cross Transport Pipes in nearly two powerslides with this technique. It's honestly pretty cool, but probably a bug (although one of those bugs I almost didn't want to report :-). Betcha didn't know this trick, Powerslide Master!

One other quick question: is it intentional that this launchpad in the Tower and the one across from it are less powerful than the other two? You can't reach the next platform from these ones.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Ugh, that demonstrates how hard we still sometimes have to fight against the engine to get things working. :-(
I've had movement_gravity set to 9.81 in my minetest.conf, which resulted in a much weaker trampoline. This lead to some confusion:
At least I can write it in the README. It is a real bummer that the game's `minetest.conf` becomes useless once the player has set a config. Some settings should not be player-overridable IMHO.
In the case of gravity, you could use physics overrides to "normalize" gravity to what you expect (since it is a single player game): player:set_physics_override{gravity = expected_gravity / (minetest.settings:get_float"movement_gravity" or 9.81)}
It's a hack, but it might be a hack that might actually work with no real downside. Good idea, I check it out.
You could use items for abilities, on_use is more reliable than player_control stuff in server-step.
True, but I don't want to have a hotbar. And on_use sadly only detects the punch key. Punching to use an ability feels wrong. I rather wait until Minetest has something better; I don't want to spend my time with this game forever anyway, it seems the controls work "well enough" for now (unless someone still finds a serious problem). All I really need to do now is to clarify that keys need to be held down (rather than just pressed briefly). In this case, it seems to work 100% now (but correct me if I'm wrong).
So before I add any more hacks, I just wait for the real solution: Minetest offers a better input detection (issue was posted).
Disable clouds. x)
Nah. It's cloud computing! XD But for real: I just wanted to have some simple outside decoration, and not having any decoration just looked too bland for me. I might add some other decorations in a later version, too.
You could place some sort of invisible liquid on top of platforms, and different ones on trampolines, and again different ones in mid-air. The ability items (as mentioned above) would then be liquids_pointable. The client then sends the pointed thing, so you can detect client-side if the player was still on ground or on a trampoline when the item was used.
I don't like this hack because the nodes are literally pointable then, the client will see the pointed outline. And if you add this node everywhere, you could no longer interact with the helpers since you can no longer point them. Very very hacky.
Edit: Otherwise, to be more forgiving against running off trampolines, you could set the jump player attribute when on trampoline, and remove it when off it.
Also, you could allow powerslide if the player was on ground in *last or current* (as opposed to only current) globalstep.
You mean the launchpads? Your solution doesn't sound too reliable tho because the launch might be available even if you have completely slided off. I want to be strict with the launchpads, after all. But what I *could* do is to increase the area in which you are still counted as "on the launchpad".

And checking for only 1 extra globalstep might be too short to make a difference (not tested, however).

------------------------

Yeah the awkward ice-like sliding is known and annoys me as well: https://codeberg.org/Wuzzy/Glitch/issues/4
I can't do anything about it for now.
It seems that Minetest thinks you're in air (and thus applies air movement physics) if you hold down the jump key, even if jump strength is 0: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/13030

Setting disable_jump=1 to solid nodes does not help either (and also prevents you to climb to the top for some reason).

Yes, the weaker launchpads in Tower are intentional.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Lone_Wolf » Post

I played again, this time power sliding worked every single time, but jump node detection is still failing. Walking halfway up a slope and pressing jump seems to fix the issue for a jump or two
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

The awkward sliding bug has just been fixed in Minetest. It will work properly in the next Minetest version (probably 5.7.0).

As for using launchpads: Make sure your center is above the jumppad. If you're too far off, it won't work. Also, you must hold down the Jump key, a single key press might not be detected (this is another Minetest limitation).

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Lone_Wolf » Post

Wuzzy wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 03:57
The awkward sliding bug has just been fixed in Minetest. It will work properly in the next Minetest version (probably 5.7.0).

As for using launchpads: Make sure your center is above the jumppad. If you're too far off, it won't work. Also, you must hold down the Jump key, a single key press might not be detected (this is another Minetest limitation).
I stood in the direct center, held jump for 20 seconds, and gave up after that.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Did you collect the Launching ability yet (the inventory will tell you this)? Did you try being on the yellow launchpad (it doesn't work anywhere else)? Did you try the Aux1 key (which is an alternative option)? Which Minetest and Glitch version do you use? Do you hear the "bounce" sound? Do you have custom "movement_*" settings in minetest.conf?

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Lone_Wolf » Post

Wuzzy wrote:
Mon Dec 12, 2022 15:32
Did you collect the Launching ability yet (the inventory will tell you this)? Did you try being on the yellow launchpad (it doesn't work anywhere else)? Did you try the Aux1 key (which is an alternative option)? Which Minetest and Glitch version do you use? Do you hear the "bounce" sound? Do you have custom "movement_*" settings in minetest.conf?
I was doing everything correctly. But after updating from Minetest 5.7.0-dev-e1eb007bd it seems to be working perfectly now

I did have this set, but it wasn't the cause of the issue:

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movement_acceleration_air = 1.6
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Your warranty is void if you use a -dev Minetest version. XD
Minetest 5.6.1 is supported.
I never support -dev Minetest versions for any of my games and mods.

Oh, and overwriting a movement_* setting in minetest.conf is definitely a problem (but probably an unrelated one); the game does NOT like that (in fact, many games don't). The game needs the setting you mentioned to be unset in player minetest.conf because it uses a custom value of 0.5 for "sluggish" air movement. Your custom setting won't break the game, but it'll change the gameplay in an unintended way; which is technically cheating.

IMHO this stuff shouldn't be a player-configurable setting at all but my game can't really prevent it. :-/

Anyway, a workaround for this movement_* setting confusion is planned for the next version. Thanks for reporting!

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Mizn » Post

thankyou for nice game. please tell me the way to update with the game data of old version.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

If you got the game via ContentDB / the "Content" tab, you can find an update button in that tab for games you have already installed. It's backwards-compatible.

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Mizn » Post

Wuzzy wrote:
Sun Dec 18, 2022 08:47
If you got the game via ContentDB / the "Content" tab, you can find an update button in that tab for games you have already installed. It's backwards-compatible.
thanks!

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Hybrid Dog » Post

I like this. It looks like Minetest has reflections:
Image

I've reduced the value of my dedicated_server_step setting which, I think, should increase the frequency of globalstep execution.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Desour » Post

Hybrid Dog wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 09:19
I've reduced the value of my dedicated_server_step setting which, I think, should increase the frequency of globalstep execution.
AFAIK, that setting is not used in singleplayer. There, the server steps are as fast as the client steps, 60 Hz.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by v-rob » Post

DS-minetest wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 15:58
Hybrid Dog wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 09:19
I've reduced the value of my dedicated_server_step setting which, I think, should increase the frequency of globalstep execution.
AFAIK, that setting is not used in singleplayer. There, the server steps are as fast as the client steps, 60 Hz.
It is respected in singleplayer; for instance, you can make Advtrains much smoother and nicer by increasing the frequency. It would be nice if it were always full-speed in singleplayer, but that's not the case.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Desour » Post

v-rob wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 18:38
DS-minetest wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 15:58
Hybrid Dog wrote:
Sat Dec 24, 2022 09:19
I've reduced the value of my dedicated_server_step setting which, I think, should increase the frequency of globalstep execution.
AFAIK, that setting is not used in singleplayer. There, the server steps are as fast as the client steps, 60 Hz.
It is respected in singleplayer; for instance, you can make Advtrains much smoother and nicer by increasing the frequency. It would be nice if it were always full-speed in singleplayer, but that's not the case.
Ok, looked a bit into the src. It seems like it affects the network send interval.
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by zargulthewizard » Post

Yo, my family has been doing a lot of Minetest recently, and they really like this game. Really excited to see it’s one by you, PTL! Anyways, this wouldn’t happen to have been based on TRON 2.0, would it? I mean, the theme is similar, but then some of the rooms even look recognizable (I’m just watching over my siblings’ shoulder as of yet, though).
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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by Wuzzy » Post

Who is PTL? I thought I made the game, but what do I know? :D

No, this game is not based on TRON 2.0 at all. I didn't even see it. The theme is loosely based on a vague cyberspace-ish idea and abstract geometry.

But I'm glad you liked the game!

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Re: [Game] Glitch [1.1.0]

by MisterE » Post

Having made this game, you should definately see tron.

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