z2

Posted: **Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:26 pm**

I was fooling around in the editor and noticed that torches and passages (stats removed) both show up on dark boards. So if you set the foreground and background colour as the same, you can see the forms of walls on a dark board...

...provided there is a padding of solids to make sure the player doesn't either get unwanted torches or warp to the title screen.

Is this new or has it been around forever? If the latter, which games have used it?

Posted: **Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:39 pm**

I've seen that before. There's also ZZT's monochrome mode, which changes how some items display.

I don't know of anyone who has used it, though.

EDIT: Thought you were talking about something else. I haven't ever seen the trick that you're describing used in a game - it could definitely spice up dark games, graphics-wise.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:42 am**

It's hellova lot safer than blinking black text space.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:42 am**

hey, that is neat.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:42 am**

that's a terrific idea

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:21 pm**

that is a really good idea. i wish i'd thought of it!

of course, then there's nothing stopping the player from ?zapping a few times to get a lifetime's supply of torches. it's a risk worth taking, mind you!

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:49 pm**

Zenith Nadir wrote:that is a really good idea. i wish i'd thought of it!

of course, then there's nothing stopping the player from ?zapping a few times to get a lifetime's supply of torches. it's a risk worth taking, mind you!

Then use passages and laugh at the player when they get zapped to the title screen. Eheh.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:42 pm**

Zenith Nadir wrote:that is a really good idea. i wish i'd thought of it!

of course, then there's nothing stopping the player from ?zapping a few times to get a lifetime's supply of torches. it's a risk worth taking, mind you!

If they're going to cheat they'll just use ?-dark

Unless they're playing a Penis Gaydir game. :drussrox:

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:46 pm**

Zenith Nadir wrote:of course, then there's nothing stopping the player from ?zapping a few times to get a lifetime's supply of torches. it's a risk worth taking, mind you!

I see no reason not to use statless passages like Raze suggested. Even with torches, you could always have an object like this:

Code: Select all

#take torches MAX_TORCHES restart
#endgame

Actually, torches might have a really good use if you used a custom font where the yen symbol was a dithering pattern (

). That would allow for even more detailed graphics. If you didn't mind passages looking like dithering chars too, you could modify

as well.

Posted: **Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:08 am**

wouldn't be a problem if you made all your passages have the same background and foreground color.

Posted: **Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:15 pm**

What should this effect be called?

Posted: **Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:13 pm**

kangaroo

Posted: **Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:26 am**

Jur wrote:kangaroo

Making ZU article on the kangaroo effect now

Posted: **Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:59 am**

It does fog/mist pretty nice too

Posted: **Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:44 am**

I can't believe that some new technique has actually been discovered ZZT-wise.

Anyways yeah it is neat.