It's just too confusing and too many people would abuse it.

even if it was so easy to not abuse it?

If we could limit custom tiles, and we could find an effective way to tell you about the tile and how it works, then yes, I wouldn't mind custom tiles.  It's just that I think there are too many options.

woot? b/c all of that is already taken care of in my plan.

Effective way to tell you about the tile:
Simple lists of all the custom tiles, and it appears in the jump-to-start screen and the pause screen for quick references. Descriptions for the tiles are written by the creator of the level (b/c it's easier to read a human description than to read a list of all its properties). Plus, naturally, it'll be up to the creator to introduce their tile in a decent way, rather than throwing it at you in the middle of a trap.

Too Many Options?
There will be no options at all. When you make a level, all you do is pick the tile and then maybe select different modes(subclasses) for it. That's it! But if you want to have something more advanced, you can go to "Make New Custom Tile", where you can then make your own tile from scratch, or base it off of another tile. This is where all the advanced options are hidden. Hopefully, the user will assume that if you're making you're own custom tile, naturally there would be a lot of options, so they are not disoriented or confused at all, as long as we design a decent user-friendly interface.

After you have created your custom tile, you can add it to your level just like any other tile.

Now isn't that simple?

If you're confused, tell the person who made it and get them to make it less confusing.

Anyway, I've had enough of this discussion.

Custom tiles aren't a good idea guys. (that is what you're talking about, right? Sorry, but I'm too lazy to read through the whole thread)

Just make a bunch of pre-built ones (more than in HatPC) and leave it at that. Don't allow custom anything, except levels and titles.

why not? You can do a lot with custom tiles. And if you don't like them, you won't have to use them....

The main tile set will be pre-built, and then if you want to, you could make your own tile. That way, you could combine different functions and stuff to make some really creative things, or even change how tiles look.

That sounds cool and all, and if someone worked hard at it, they could definitely make some crazy features.

However, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Imagine playing The Cascades, almost winning, and then seeing a block that has a bubble on it. You touch it, and it picks up the door and flies away. It would be cool, but it's not a good idea.

What I recommend you do is make an easy way for YOU or other selected people to make custom tiles. That way you wouldn't have trouble updating the game with new features. Don't, though, make it so that everyone else can do it.

That's just my two cents though. It's on you, but if you want my opinion, they're a no-no, no matter how cool they are. If everything is familiar to everyone, then creativity can show through a level more, and more people would have fun, as they don't always find themselves playing a new game each time.

I...am...so...sick...of...these...Aeon...discussions...

then don't pay any attention to them.

I am trying not to.
But I am still sick of them.

well, it depends on how often people use the feature. I don't think every other level would feature custom tiles. And it would really prolong the life of the game, b/c you would be able to do things beyond the normal scope and stuff. And I dunno, I really don't see how adding it would be more of a bad thing than a good thing. And it wouldn't be all that hard to program, either, since it would take advantage of how I've already programmed other things.

Well, it's up to you guys, but I personally don't like the idea. However, if you do it, more power to you; I could very well be wrong.

Just think of HatPC though. Look how many people like it, despite its simplicity. Do we really need to go beyond that? Sure, extra features are always awesome, but if there are TOO many, why do it?

What if you kind of mixed both sides? You could mix certain tiles (arrow + dynamite = arrow that explodes on contact) and the box would feature both icons, so no one is ever confused. I still think it would be better to just make new icons that are built into the game, and left there. Trust me, I know how it feels to want to keep adding to something... but there comes a time when enough is enough. More isn't always better.

btw, I was also thinking of adding a feature where you could even draw your own tile faces using the in-game icons.

And I was thinking that if we did add something as huge as a custom tile maker, then it really would change the game completely. Not only could you make simple levels with the in-game tiles, but you would also be able to take it beyond that, if you wanted to, and make things that were never possible in HATPC. It wouldn't just be a HATPC remake then; it could be its own game with its own character and uniqueness. I think that such a change would be very beneficial for the game and attract more kinds of people.

I really don't want to overwhelm people with all the stuff you can do, or all the different kinds of things there are, so I've been coming up with tons of ways to keep things as simple as possible and to sort of place the whole custom tile feature in its own little section.

And isn't it the end result that counts when you make a level? If you can make levels that are generally more fun to play, but not as limited-and-creative as levels in HATPC, which game would you rather play?

And I've heard of games where large communities have built around them because you could make almost anything with them. The good thing about Aeon would be that it'd have a really decent set of in-game features, and then you could jump into the community and use all of the custom objects people have been making, and the different terrain and background patterns, and characters and stuff. Probably the biggest part of it, I think, would inevitably be the ability to upload your own graphics.

In such cases, I don't think the creator would use customs so poorly as to make the player confused of what's going on. He/she would at least try to design their levels and its presentation to be easier to play and understand.


I also think it would be beneficial if our game wasn't so much like HATPC. Remember that if we release this game, it would run alongside with HATPC on the Interguild. So maybe if you just like the simpleness of HATPC, you can still play it? All this assuming you don't think that this custom idea would ruin Aeon or something...

And then comes the bill for hosting when the site gets popular, right?

that's what ads are for and besides, my dad bought his own server (he has two actually, b/c his site is pretty big), and he hosts himself.

hey wait, was that post meant to discourage the custom object idea?

No, I was just wondering...

What site does your dad run?

www.livio.com the biggest portal on the Internet for all things related to the Dominican Republic. My dad's middlename/nickname is livio, and he named the site after himself, not me.

Have I been saying your name wrong? Livio?

Wow, that's kinda messy...
Interesting, though...

lol it is messy, but everyone keeps telling my dad that if he tries to organize it, then suddenly they wouldn't be able to find anything on that page anymore.

what you mean? My name is Livio, and it's pronounced like "liv-e-oh" 0_o

I have been typing Livo; no second "I".

I hope you're right. Think of all the "big" popular games' levels though. Fantastic Contraption, Crush the Castle, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Hannah and the Pirate Caves... they don't allow custom pieces. Sure, custom pieces could definitely add a cool feature, but unless you do a really good job of designing them, I don't think it would be very fun to play. Games like Legend of Zelda are different; you have a lot of life, and are continually encountering new enemies. If you gave your Aeon game multiple hits to death, it would take away form the strategy and fun-level. However, if you didn't allow multiple hits, a big complex level with original features would just be a pain.

Why NOT remake HatPC? Sure, it won't be the exact same, but remember, this is a FLASH game, not a big sell-for-money console game. Simple and fun is better. Have you ever tried playing a flash game, but found it too complicated, and quit? I sure have. Flash games are fun to just open, play, close. Not open, learn, practice, play, give up, lose.

well no, adding the custom tiles wouldn't take too much additional work, unless you consider the designing of the custom tile maker.

but the thing is that custom tiles aren't going to take over the game. I think the core game definitely has a lot going for it, and we don't really need the custom tile feature. So even with its option, most levels will probably have no custom tiles (in fact, we should add options that will let you search for levels with no custom tiles in them, and vice versa).

And the core game is simple and enjoyable enough, but the custom tile thing is more for the community and those who actually stick around with the site. More than likely, someone passing by will try the main levels, and hopefully get addicted to it. Note that the main levels will obviously not have custom tiles (maybe some bonus levels but probably not). Then he/she may try the user levels, and assuming that custom tiles don't take over the user-levels (which I don't think they will), and there's nothing crazy. And even if they do come across a level that is frustratingly confusing, they will most often blame the guy who made the level, not the game. And besides, I've been trying to find ways to make things as less confusing as possible for them, so hopefully those incidents will be kept to a minimum.

But like i said, we don't really need this, but man, this game sure would be awesome with it.

That is if people would actually use the costum tiles to make the level fun. I want to bet, that out of every 10 people 9 will use the costum tiles just to create stuff like flaming boulder launchers, not to actually improve the level. Only a select few people are able to actually use the costum tiles option to create actually good tiles, and those people are generally good enough at programming to create their own games.
And remember this, just because you are able to use costum tiles, people will feel they are forced to use costum tiles. They will automatically assume their levels will be inferior to levels that do use costum tiles and will create their own, no matter how sucky they are.

Would you rather play a complicated, uncreative level or a simple, creative level.