Leaderboard Bug? (or: I've lost WiredWorm!)

Yak · Post by **Yak** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:06 pm 0

The PZ is supposed to start to come in at the moment you release the trigger after a jump, or when the maximum hover time expires and you land.

You're only cheating if you land and then deliberately hold onto the trigger to keep the PZ out, something I've never done in normal play.

Googer · Post by **Googer** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:30 pm 0

Thanks Jeff - that's the way I interpreted 'intended' behavior as well - the power zone should remain fully extended until the exact moment you start to begin to return to the web, whether that's from releasing the trigger, or (and this is the part that's currently missing from check to begin the PZ's return to 'normal' behavior

) you hit the max jump length time.

ManicMiner · Post by **ManicMiner** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:38 pm 0

ah ha! Thanks for the clarification there then...

that's good to know... I haven't cheated as much as I thought then, though I'm still likely to have done it a tiny bit

choddo · Post by **choddo** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:51 pm 0

Yeah that is good to know, that's a bit more forgiving than I had thought. A relief since it's how I've been playing as I've always landed "deliberately"

Not that my paltry score of 60mill proves anything.

choddo · Post by **choddo** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:54 pm 0

l1n3n01z wrote:
ManicMiner wrote:you still don't seem to be understanding the full essence of the problem...

By design, you can hover during a jump for a period of time... This is quite useful on the later levels, when finding a safe landing spot can be tricky, and the volume of enemies may mean they require a bit of "gentle persuasion" to clear off out of your way... so you hold the trigger to hover...

When, after the initial trigger pull, should the PZ start receding? I suspect by the original design the answer should be "immediately", but that's not what happens at the moment, meaning any time any of us has "hovered" at all, we have unknowingly cheated.
This is a good comment and you should prolly add it to the bugs thread.

Eh? This bug is the reason the patch is being released in the first place, what's the value in adding it to that thread?

drivenstorm · Post by **drivenstorm** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:21 pm 0

U-B wrote: Well, only the devs know for sure - but I would disagree. I believe that's the meaning of the tutorial message that TodaysForgotten misunderstood - that the power zone will stay extended during the jump, but will start receding again when you land. In which case, you would only be "cheating", if you kept jump held down after landing.

We'll see when it gets patched I guess ...

I agree with you, that's my understanding of the bug.

Tetra Elemental · Post by **Tetra Elemental** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:58 pm 0

Yak wrote:The PZ is supposed to start to come in at the moment you release the trigger after a jump, or when the maximum hover time expires and you land.

You're only cheating if you land and then deliberately hold onto the trigger to keep the PZ out, something I've never done in normal play.

Phew, my score is legit!

It's weird how other people play. I never hold the trigger down after a pod, even after a hover, because I want to be able to launch the next pod when I need it. I hardly ever hover tbh. Not on the levels I've been on so far anyway. The only time for me to jump is when some of the nasties get to the top and you hear the "Danger" warning.

I'm amazed people even noticed this tiny bug was happening.

Zoot · Post by **Zoot** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:13 am 0

Tetra Elemental wrote:
Yak wrote:The PZ is supposed to start to come in at the moment you release the trigger after a jump, or when the maximum hover time expires and you land.

You're only cheating if you land and then deliberately hold onto the trigger to keep the PZ out, something I've never done in normal play.
Phew, my score is legit!

It's weird how other people play. I never hold the trigger down after a pod, even after a hover, because I want to be able to launch the next pod when I need it. I hardly ever hover tbh. Not on the levels I've been on so far anyway. The only time for me to jump is when some of the nasties get to the top and you hear the "Danger" warning.

I'm amazed people even noticed this tiny bug was happening.

I never use the pods at all (other than collecting them). However, TF discovered the "feature" after playing through and, to be fair to him, misinterpreting, the tutorial. The "feature" is, indeed, tiny, but the consequences (if used deliberately) are immense.

TBH, I am slightly sad that my hard-won (especially at the beginning) score is going to be hosed, but it is made so much easier to bear because:

1. I want this game to be succesful for Yak & Giles

2. It is the best game since Mario Kart on the DS

3. It is almost as good as Ancipital (ya, boo, sucks!

)

4. I love SG to bits

5. Even without the "feature", I was in the top 100. To put this in perspective, I am 47, pretty crap at games (especially according to my nephews!), but I was so motivated by SG that I just wanted to play.

What does that tell you?

Bounty Bob · Post by **Bounty Bob** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:37 am 0

Glad to realise that I made it to the heady heights of 11th, (now 15th), playing legit.

Yak · Post by **Yak** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:54 am 0

And let's face it, even if we reset, all it takes is one good game to reset all those start bonuses. And you can build a better curve playing all the way through. I'll try doing a LNLM again just to piss off the Rev and th8s time I'll probably be beaten before I even get there

.

Good times with the giraffe

.

Zoot · Post by **Zoot** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:59 am 0

Yak wrote:I'll try doing a LNLM again just to piss off the Rev and th8s time I'll probably be beaten before I even get there .

Ta

Bounty Bob · Post by **Bounty Bob** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:00 am 0

I was just thinking that as soon as the scores are reset Jeff will no doubt be popping up with an even bigger score.

I'm all for it myself and see no problem whatsoever.

Yak · Post by **Yak** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:06 am 0

Bounty Bob wrote:I was just thinking that as soon as the scores are reset Jeff will no doubt be popping up with an even bigger score.

I'm all for it myself and see no problem whatsoever.

Of course I will

.

Not only will you lot have the experience and skillz to beat me before I've even got there, the same will be true then as it was on the first day out - I make these games because I want to play them.

In fact if I hadn't set a score on day 1 I'd've expected people to ask me why the hell i wasn't playing my own game, and that would have been much more of a valid reason for concern than the Rev's upheaval at the fact that I was

.

TodaysForgotten · Post by **TodaysForgotten** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:34 am 0

U-B wrote:
TodaysForgotten wrote:
U-B wrote:To me, that jumping mechanic seems very clear and obvious, and, to be honest, I struggle to see how you misunderstood it.
it's quite simple my friend. Go to the tutorial and it clearly stats hold down such and such button to extend so and so longer. So, when you hold down the said button for longer and the ya know stays...
To me, it's seems obvious because it wouldn't make any sense for the mechanic to work the way you used it - but maybe that's just because I'm a programmer myself. If I had accidentally encountered the same thing while playing, my immediate thought would have been: hang on, that can't be right.

But, anyway, I'm not actually having a go at you - it'll be fixed soon hopefully, and it's then a moot point anyway

I didnt think you were. Thats where you and I differ is how our analytics and logic work. I went to school originally for programming. As much as i enjoyed it, i was no good at it. I can think like that, but i choose not to. I learned of this bug via the tutorial game. I did my jump and had my finger on the button still. I was like, oh sweet, it stays extended. I never thought, oh shit, im cheating.

I never followed the progress of this game from start to finish. I didnt even know about this message forum until i was receiving messages from Giles. Others immediately "hounded" me saying, this cant be right and how they have been following the game since its inception. I felt i was doing nothing wrong. Well, because i technically wasnt. Sucks, as i thought i was owning buns at this game.

A lot of people are saying this ruins the game. I didnt think it did. I thought it was really fun. It's a whole different way of playing. New methods and strats need to be implemented. But, im not going to be mad when the game removes this feature. I will embrace it and prove my worth is legit

l1n3n01z · Post by **l1n3n01z** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:02 am 0

choddo wrote:
l1n3n01z wrote:
ManicMiner wrote:you still don't seem to be understanding the full essence of the problem...

By design, you can hover during a jump for a period of time... This is quite useful on the later levels, when finding a safe landing spot can be tricky, and the volume of enemies may mean they require a bit of "gentle persuasion" to clear off out of your way... so you hold the trigger to hover...

When, after the initial trigger pull, should the PZ start receding? I suspect by the original design the answer should be "immediately", but that's not what happens at the moment, meaning any time any of us has "hovered" at all, we have unknowingly cheated.
This is a good comment and you should prolly add it to the bugs thread.
Eh? This bug is the reason the patch is being released in the first place, what's the value in adding it to that thread?

Until Yak's clarification it was not clear whether or whether not the power zone should start to recede on button press or (button release || stop of hover). So this would have been valid input in the bugs thread.