Grab it from your Humble Voxatron Debut download page (the link you received earlier by email still works for all foreseeable updates).
New in 0.1.4:
Added: Configurable controls
Added: Mouse aiming crosshair (well, actually it's a single voxel)
Fixed: Drifting character bug
Fixed: BBS LIST incomplete / crashing on last page
Fixed: Sound switching off permanently after failing once
The controls are now in one of 3 modes:
- keyboard
- keyboard+mouse
- joystick
You can only use one mode at once, and each one can be customised separately.
The default mode is keyboard, so if you like playing with ASDW+mouse or joystick, you'll need to switch it back on in the options->controls menu.
If you're wondering why the game doesn't show up in your 'My Games' page -- Humble Bundle and I don't have a unified system for handling users yet. Sorry about that! We'll sort something out before too long.
Thanks everyone who emailed me with bug reports and feedback. I'm a bit behind in responding, but I'll get to you all eventually..
The next things I'll be working on are:
- Display/Sound bugs (hopefully 0.1.4 will fix some of the no sound problems)
- Improving the BBS (search replied-to posts, sub-categories)
- A way to organise/search the BBS levels list
- Mac PPC support
- Multi-frame model editing (in preparation for character editing, and for fun)
--
EDIT: How to update:
Just copy or install 0.1.4 over the top of 0.1.3 and your existing player data will be picked up and still work. It should be pretty safe, but if you want to back up you can find it here:
Windows: C:/Users/Yourname/AppData/Roaming/Voxatron
OSX: /Users/Yourname/Library/Application Support/Voxatron
Linux: ~/.lexaloffle/Voxatron
The player profile files are called player_1.vop, player_2.vop etc.
So this is what it's like to follow an actively developed alpha... big features added at a crazy pace! Though, I do realize adding custom controls is probably an easier feature to add than, say, multiplayer or an experience & talent system. ;)
On the upcoming list... ooh, character editing, much exciting!
My pleasure
Forgot to say.. watch out you don't assign multiple actions to the same key, that can be confusing.
I hate to ask, but what's to prevent me from making enemy (censored)s and having them wander around a world shaped like a giant (censored)? Is there some moderation involved? Failing that, I reccomend an "unapproved" list, where it takes 5 "ok" votes before it gets approved or similar.
oldtopman
Hi, thanks for the update!
I noticed one regression though: When using the "keyboard only" control method the keypad 7, 9, 1 and 3 keys don't shoot diagonally like they did in v0.1.3, requiring combinations of keys to do this.
On Linux with xboxdrv, the two sticks and directions on the Xbox 360 axis can't be uniquely assigned. They all show up as Axis1-0Low/High
You're the best. Absolutely lived up to every expectation and hope I had. An excellent community game. Thank you for creating this.
Sweet! I just heard about this game yesterday and I already love it!
great update :) just thought i'd let you know about a bug though
Just letting you know that there is a visual bug in voxatron (v.1.3
and 1.4). It is causing a sort of flickering between frames which make
the game unplayable. It only happens on my netbook. It's running
windows 7 starter and an intel atom processor. I'm sure you already
know about the issue (from what you've said in your blog) but I
figured more information couldn't hurt.
I sent you an email but what the hey ;)
Hi there, Mr. White,
I would like to thank you for the fast implementation of the control schemes and letting us to configure it - it's a small feature but actually made the game enjoyable for me, because I can finaly play the way I want without using some external utilities to redefine keyboard layout.
Anyway, it is possible to add a feature of autopause after the game lost focus (e.g. in case of ALT+TABing)? I usually play games in window mode and I hate when some other application gets the focus and the game I am playing doesn't autopause or let's say in some cases I have to ALT+TAB to different window without having time to pause the game manually.
Thank you
Okay, I can jump while shooting while moving towards the upper and left directions while running and shooting, but if I attempt to do the same going right or down I can't jump while shooting. But it seems like the bugs are getting nailed, keep up the awesome work.
Kawaiido/ AFAIK it's not a bug on the side of the programmer. I assume this happens on keyboard and you are using three or more keys at once. If that's so, it's an common issue called keyboard ghosting/jamming and the solutions are to redefine keys or buy a gaming keyboard, which can handle more pressed keys at once.
Nice overall, but I miss the diagonal shooting keys. For me it's much harder to combine two keys to quickly shoot diagonally. If this is intended, I'll switch to keyboard+mouse even though it feels slightly wonky. A pity, I really liked wasd+8 keys on numpad control method.
On a related note, I can move with wasd keys, but they don't work in menu which is slightly annoying for those accustomed to them. Also in menu, it would be nice if your selection wrapped around. For instance when your "cursor" is on the "back" line and you try to move it down, it just stays there. I would prefer if it continued to the topmost line.
Speaking of mouse - I think it feels wonky not because the lack of a cursor, but because mouse is not a discrete device like a keyboard. While playing, I found myself hardly looking at the voxel "cursor" at all. The game is too fast for that, I look at my enemies.
I understand why you've made the cursor a single voxel. Anything more might pollute the view too much. But you could make it a dotted line. Say, 1 voxel, then 9 empty spaces, 1 voxel....
At this point mouse-aiming is very unconvenient. It should be done "normally" - player should be able to move crosshair freely around the screen like for example in Crimsonland.
neurasthenic:
How would you do the same with a joystick or pure keyboard ? Surely you don't want everyone else to be at a disadvantage ?
A little "bug" (or oversight): Holding the "F"-key speeds up the game, even when you have something else allocated to "F".
I like using ESDF for movement in keyboard only games. It gives me the fewest "you are pressing to many keys at once"-conflicts were my PC just stops responding to key presses.
This isn't super important but I would highly appreciate if this could get fixed sometime in the future.
If there is an option for mouse controll it should be used in the best possible way and in my opinion the "free-crosshair controll" is very convenient and intuitive for player in this type of game. Right now aiming with mouse is useless. When playing fps, mouse gives huge advantage over pad, and when playing FIFA or fighitn games pad gives huge advantage over keybard - it's normall.
There is also another option. Look at Binding of Isaac, you can move "crosshair" freely, aiming with mouse is more convenient than in current version of Voxatron, and mouse doesn't give any advantage over keyboard or pad.
oldtopman:
I want to avoid moderating levels as long as possible, as it's annoying for both people posting and the person reviewing. So far it seems the users who are posting levels are an upstanding bunch of people. If it becomes a problem, there's always the option of requiring activated accounts to post etc.
Failbot, b0rsuk:
Good point -- this should really be in the default key settings.
For now it is possible to configure the diagonal keys though. Just assign numpad-7 to both UP and LEFT, 9 to UP and RIGHT, etc.
It's not very obvious and I didn't think of it until I read your post. There is a practical reason to let keys be assigned to multiple actions after all!
b0rsuk:
I tried a few things for the crosshair, but they felt to messy to me. I still have them sitting around in the code so I'll make it an optional thing you can try in the next update.
zelgaris:
added alt-tab to the todo
PaTheGrub:
I missed that, thanks. Yeah -- I'll at least turn F off when there isn't a replay in progress, and one of the actions is assigned to F.
neurasthenic:
What b0rsuk said, and also the design becomes a little more messy than in a 2d game like crimsonland. e.g. What happens when you're aiming a spot of land that isn't the same height? The game would have to change quite a lot to accommodate it.
antman99781:
thanks for the report -- it wasn't related to the other display problem I mentioned. I'll get back to your email when I get a chance to look at it.
Oh and one little thing.
I actually really like the angle when ESC, menu appears and the angle changes to almost-top-view.
You think you can allow us to change that angle ingame or in menu?
For example in some cases (especially in BBS levels and that will happen a lot) you can enter some areas where you can't see your character at all because of the default angle used in the game, because there is nothing like transparency of materials when player is behind them.
Or/and add some kind of transparency to materials when player is partially/fully hidden behind them.
And more display modes if possible :)
About Crimsonland: I've played it, and it's a very fun game. But the aiming method has downsides. Because aiming is so easy, movement is not that important except for avoiding enemies and picking up items. (If you enjoy Crimsonland, you may also like the free game Notrium. It has the same control method but it's mostly a sci-fi survival shooter. Not survival horror*, just surviving after crash-landing on an alien planet. A fun game with many elements randomized. Multiple endings, and highly moddable.)
The old-school method used in Voxatron has "worse" aiming method, but it results in slightly richer gameplay. Aiming is not just about pointing and clicking, but it incorporates movement. Getting into position is important. And the red shooting guys have a small advantage, especially on maps with lots of lava.
Also, the more crude aiming method has room for improvement. I mean powerups like Targetting System, they could offer a form of auto-aim to shoot at any angle, even up and down. You can jump to shoot at targets located higher, but you can't look down.
- except when you have to frequently switch shooting direction 180 degrees
You are right about "crimson-like aiming method", after a though it's not the best solution, specially I forgot about 3D. But right now aiming with mouse is so terrible - it's even hard to shoot in desired direction. Maybe it's worth to try out "isaac-like aiming method" - free crosshair for choosing direction of shooting (1 from 8 possible)?
@b0rsuk: Does your nick have something in common with badger? :-)
zep, about diagonal shooting:
Thanks, I just tried and I managed to get diagonal shooting working. But seeing the "controls" screen made me assume it's just no longer possible. Only when you try to change it it informs you multiple keys can be bound. Even then, it's not very intuitive.
BUT you don't have to change it... much. It's enough to change the defaults. (7,8,9 - up, 7,4,1 - left, and so on)
zep said:
| Does no-one like cursors+ZX anymore? No? |
I do! Especially I like them more than the alternative control schemes. There's just one problem: when you want to shoot in another direction, you have to stop shooting and move in that direction before you can. This moment can be the millisecond that means your death. Everytime this happens I feel cheated by the game.
I understand your intention to make jumping a core element of the game. After all, it's got three dimensions - let's use them, damnit! Therefore I cherish your descision to add the option to switch between control schemes while leaving cursors+ZX as the default one.
I also appreciate the creativity the built-in editor inspires. Voxatron's gonna be big!
The joystick mode doesn't work properly with my DualShock3 connected through sixad in Ubuntu. It works with the buttons, but not with the analog sticks (which I would like to use). The analog sticks work fine with Blocks That Matter, so the problem would seem to be in Voxatron.
I've sent you an email but here are some other things that I've noticed in the meanwhile:
-
After having played a level in the level editor with the timeline enabled (shift-p), I also saw the timeline after closing the editor, f.e. in the menu and when playing "normal" levels.
- Bringing back Ctrl and Alt as default keys for jumping and shooting would be appreciated, for all those who grew up with arcade games that used those keys. :)
dorino, I am well aware of that. I am just suggesting to add those sensible defaults again, as they were present in v0.1.3 and felt instantly familiar.
@Saga unfortunatelly, ALT and CTRL are not that sensible nowadays, especially considering the location of ALT and CTRL near WINKEY and using ALT in combination with SPACE :/ (of course talking about running the game under windows)
Back in the days we don't have any winkeys and ALT+SPACE combination in dos games wasn't dangerous :)
EDIT: But since we can redefine the keys, I don't care whether ALT and CTRL are also default keys or not
Hey Joseph! Been waiting to get my hands on this since I saw it around a year ago! So happy to have it, but I wish the controls were more intuitive. I thought with joystick support being added to this version that my wired 360 controller would work with it, but it doesn't look like modifying the joystick controls doesn't work with the drivers for Mac OS X. http://tattiebogle.net/index.php/ProjectRoot/Xbox360Controller/OsxDriver
When you play the game, I can move and shoot with the left analog stick, but I would really like to have shooting on the 2nd analog stick and jump to any of the face/shoulder buttons.
When I go to select a new input for jump or shoot right or whatever, It just stays blank when I try and select a new button.
This is a good update, however, I can't reconfigure joystick buttons. I've tried two different game pads and neither let me reassign buttons. :(
I'm also running OS X and one of the pads is an xbox360 controller. Works fine with everything else I play. Actually it works in vexation too, I just can't define buttons and thumbsticks. I can play with the defaults using the controllers but the layout isn't ideal.
I'm another one using a PS3 pad (On Win7) - I found it let me bind the left and right sticks to move and shoot controls, but only the movement controls worked in-game. (And, I too had no problems using the same controller in Blocks that Matter.)
Also, could you make the movement controls work the menus too?
(edit) - Another thing - a quick test option (straight into arcade mode?) would be handy when fiddling with controls.
+1 @neurasthenic, like i said in my previous post.
I tried with the new version but single voxel forward the character doesn't help in any way to shoot with the mouse. I didn't try to play with keyboard only, but playing on a PC without mouse is quite disturbing. Mainly in this kind of games.
Alright, it looks like there's something fundamentally wrong with my joystick code. I'll make a separate joystick test program and post it here for anyone who's keen to provide some diagnostics.
benjymous -- yes, joystick will control menus in the next version.
Saga -- thanks, nice catch. The other problem with using Control/Alt as default keys is that some Windows machines have shortcuts for display settings that use combinations of those keys with the cursors.
zelgaris -- I've been experimenting with a slightly controllable camera. I myself use the menu view to check for pickups/placements, so should really make it a proper feature instead.
Thanks very much for the great game. I can't stop playing it, the BBS Maps idea was great! I'm trying them all and having a lot of fun.
Congratulations for all the developers, map creators, everyone!
I assume everybody know that, but if you really need to play with gamepad, but don't want to wait for zep fixing the issue, try this little utility called joy2key.
@Harest
So you should definitely at least try to play this game without mouse, especially this kind of game, where you can't shoot wherever you want, but only in 8 directions. Try WSAD for moving and arrows for shooting. Similar game, The Binding of Isaac (which is btw also the part of Humble Voxatron Debut), is using these controls.
@zep
That would be really nice :)
Awesome game!!!
Are you planing to add something like a coop mode that would make the game even more awesome.
@zep excellent news about the camera! Yeah, the fixed camera, as it is, doesn't work out that well for things getting in your way. It would be cool if you could see through voxel structures like in some modern aRPGs.
I figured out how to customize joystick keys without having to use the in game ui.
Basically if you open up the config file and go to the bottom you can edit the little matrix under the //joystick header.
Basically the columns appear to be as follows:
1: idk
2: type of control scheme: 1 - keyboard, 2- mouse and keys, 3 - joystick
3: number of command. If you look at the in game control menu, the numbers 0-9 correspond with the row number of each command on the games menu.
4: type of input. 3 = button, 4= joystick.
5: if the previous number is 4, then I think 0~3 corresponds to +/- x and +/- y axis. if the previous number is 3, then the next number corresponds to the button on the gamepad. 0 - however many buttons
I haven't played around with this too much jet, just enough to get the gamepad working. I don't know if it works with multiple joysticks like on the x360 controller. I used it with a dreamcast controller using the x,y,a,b buttons as shooting directions and the triggers to jump.
Does this make any sense?
If it helps, here is what I did:
//joystick
control_dat 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 5 3 5 0 3 4 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 6 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 7 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 8 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
control_dat 0 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Great game though once you beat adventure mode it kinda becomes easy though still love it hope you add more levels to adventure mode later.
Not sure if it is a feature already, but custom level rating would be awesome, like 5-1 star scales.
Some way to organize BBS levels would be nice, for example "Favorite". Then you could filter only favorite levels, and show them to your friend who doesn't have Voxatron.
You could even make it the online rating system. Historically, 1-5 and 1-10 rating systems get most votes in 1 and 5(10). Little in between. "Number of favorites" might be better.
@zelgaris: For The Binding of Isaac, i aim with the mouse and this is perfect. We see the cursor.
I'll try to play only with keyboard indeed, maybe it'll be a lot more playable. Until changes will be maybe done.
Should there be no sound when the minotaur is bashing the Lexaloffle logo ? The sound and music works just fine in the rest of the game, including menu screen.
I couldn't configure my PS2 controller properly on Ubuntu 11.10, 64-bit DEB package, left stick up/down axis wasn't recognized and right stick was crashing the game, until I removed libSDL from /opt/voxatron. Now it works like a charm :)
[edit: sorry for double post, for some reason preview button posted the comment, and submit posted an empty one]
I've been getting a lot of crashes. It exits randomly and a pop up comes saying that I need to exit and restart. It stinks when I'm making a level that hasn't been saved yet.
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