itch.io

So I think there are 2 issues:

1. I couldn't figure out how to avoid assigning a key to place dynamite. Similarly, I was trying to only configure the keyboard and I guess it detected I had a joystick attached so it seemed to insist I configure it while I was at it. That joystick only has a single button; so I had to abort and find a more suitable gamepad to plug in in order to complete the process.
2. I was actually eager to use a non-directional key for dynamite but I quickly realized I needed to have the old method present as a safety net while I got used to the separate key. But thinking on it, because I'll probably never stop playing classic H.E.R.O., I'll never want to stop using the old method. However, I think I could learn to use both with your series of games.

I get a sense of how you did things. Although I didn't try or realize until right now, I'm guessing that if I set a key other than "up" to make the hero fly, the previous "up" key would cease to do it.

I know button configuration is a bear, particularly introducing the logic required to interactively assign multiple buttons to an action. So, I propose that there are separate checkbox options like "up direction to fly", "down direction to place dynamite", which would both be enabled by default and could be disabled if there has been a different key / button assigned to it.

HERO is in that group of platformers where the hero can't jump. And there is also the group of platformers that require pressing up to jump. And HERO kind of intersects both. As I mentioned before, some people gag at the notion of pressing up to jump. But interestingly, I think the idea of controlling the flying with up doesn't break these rules. I bet people would really dig if you added a Pitfall style jump in addition to flying. In some alternate timeline where HERO because wildly popular, Activision created it's own console, and HERO was its Mario, I have no doubt in my mind that he would be able to jump.

Good job. I played it for a while; so I cannot say it doesn't pass the test--it feels extremely faithful and good. I can tell you spent a bit of effort to nail the physics.

I think the general aesthetic works--even kind of resembles some of the lesser box art branding for the game. But it almost seems like the artist was trying to make the art assets look bad. Why!? You did such a solid job with the game otherwise.

Clever UI control scheme once you discover it.

I would recommend at least putting the dynamite counter, if not also the lives counter, at the bottom of the screen with the oxygen (I think that's what that was?) meter. Keeping them together let's me "keep my eyes on the road", rather than darting to both extremes of the display and away from the playfield. There was one point where I was next to a wall; I looked down and didn't see any dynamites or any indication of whether I had any. I instinctively pressed down to check and I guess mentally I was not prepared to see a live stick of dynamite at my feet. Suffice it to say, I didn't survive!

Great job. It's like HERO got ported to the SNES!

It's very faithful. No complaints in that regard except perhaps when trying to go down a 2 body width hole with an enemy it was harder to avoid dying. I recall being able to not overshoot the cliff. But perhaps I'm rusty.

Being able to dedicate the dynamite to a separate button is nice. But I was a little disappointed when after doing that I could no longer press down to use one. I guess old habits never die. I could see how newer gamers (and by that I mean people who at least started on the NES) could get discouraged by accidentally using dynamite when they press down at times. Perhaps make it a separate option. Or make it obvious how I can skip a button configuration.

Keep going! Playing your game makes it very easy to think about all the cool ways HERO could get enhanced even further.

Thanks for striking up this conversation. You make a compelling argument for the inclusion of the collusion mechanic.

You mentioned you've heard me explain why it's not in MULE Online but I will state it here for anyone who hasn't.

Economics

MULE does a great job of expressing supply & demand and price competition. Collusion foils & circumvents it. It's not like collusion is unrealistic; it clearly happens and there are reasons for it. But I've never seen a collusion at an auction, where some people are barred from participating. It's perhaps a moot point because MULE's auction is more symbolic than a realistic simulation--it could be argued that the collusion mechanic / phase represents a private trade. But that's the irony, as it's not private--it almost needs to be ("hey, where did you get all that energy!?").

Sportsmanship

Colluding against a computer player is one thing, but colluding against an active & willing (to buy or sell) player feels either a bit like cheating or a way to remove a player from the game. When the game takes a plot away from you, it stinks; if the game allowed other players to take away plots from you, it's war. I don't see it as much different than Dani Bunten pushing back against the inclusion of weapons in a MULE sequel.

There are unused messages in the original game which suggested they floated ideas like stealing other players' mules as well as the ability to "go to jail". I guess such actions were considered if they had risks & consequences. But the consequence of playing unfairly against another player is simply that player decides to actually stop playing the game or promises to never play the game again, I don't know how much the insider trading was worth it.

I'm not describing a fantasy scenario--I've seen it happen; I was one of the colluders. I don't think we thought we were doing something offensive outside of the scope of the game. It likely warranted a little more maturity from the player that essentially flipped over the board game. But I do feel there is some responsibility to creating an environment which supports positive behavior. I think MULE does it well by supporting cooperation.

UX

The interface for initiating collusion is clunky and doesn't translate well to online multiplayer. I've thought about ways to better signal that a player was "pressing their button", like highlighting their planeteer's color when their button is down. But even then, the timing has to be just right. I have memories of trying to mess up players trying to collude by joining in when I wasn't invited or trying to verbally throw off other players' coordinating count-off. Although not my recommended way to play, mouse / touch controls would need a dedicated mechanism for initiating collusion.

I've gotten an overwhelming amount of feedback supporting a way to speed up the clock during auctions. I have been on the fence about that too! 'Afraid that it would bypass the opportunity for players to think & try to negotiate trades before time expires. But I've had to reflect a little that giving players the power to decide is probably best, going as far as ensuring it's a situational & unanimous decision among all players. So, I'm leaning towards speeding up the clock when all human players are not moving and are pressing their buttons.

My most recent conversation about including collusion ended with the idea of having it as a non-default option.

If I've rerouted the primary button's action to the "speed up" mechanism, then I'd need a new way to initiate collusion--which is what I really want regardless. I think there might be an opportunity in the fact that there is no horizontal movement during auction. Perhaps each player can cycle a cursor over to another planeteer they wish to trade with specifically and if the other player reciprocates, it initiates a 1 to 1 collusion.

Clearly at least one person involved in making MULE had a convincing argument for collusion. I suppose there are scenarios where the lower ranking players could use their tie breaking to prevent other players from buying from sellers when supply is very limited. In which case, something like collusion would almost be the only way around it.

My goal is to make this versino as close to MULE as possible and I try to have Dani Bunten's ideas for MULE & philosophies on multiplayer gaming in general guide enhancements. I realize omitting collusion seems a bit hypocritical in that regard. Thank you for voicing your opinion. I should bring this feature back one of these days.

Thank you for your praise. If you'd like to share any Dani Bunten anecdotes, I would totally love to hear them!

Thanks, I'm forever recommending people your Boulderdash remake.

Boulderdashtastic!

The Atari ship has been requested a handful of times. I plan on implementing it and making it the out of the box ship graphic.

No one has asked for the Atari river yet. There are technical reasons that make implementing the Atari river less likely. But I might be able to figure out something to make it possible & passible.

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks. Lots of ideas and things to come!

Version 1.9 has dropped. Includes pause when main menu is up (pressing escape, "start" button on a gamepad).

Starting v1.9.0, a BAT file is included in Windows versions which will perform the instructions above and start the game in a GLES2 fallback mode.

Hopefully, this should resolve any "blank screen but still hear music" issues anyone is having.

@Amos, is there any progress on this issue? I'm not speaking on previous version builds in a channel. It looks like it makes every previous build available for a channel's version available for installation, at least from the Itch.io desktop app. I can't think of a use case where someone would want to have them available, as they, at least in my case, are mistake builds (eg "oops, forgot to add a text file", etc.).

Does any non itch.io developer actually want to see previously uploaded builds for a version?

Yank logistical problems aside, perhaps just only show the most recent build under each version.

Awesome. You have done the original justice. Looks right but more importantly it feels right too!

I agree. I've hobby developed for the C64, NES, Apple II, and Atari 2600, but not yet for Atari 8-bit. But that's not to say I haven't studied up on it. And I purchased a copy of Mapping the Atari. I think you are right that it would suit the Atari computers. So I will give it a shot when time permits.

I immediately recognized this game--even without remembering its name. Very cool.

Thanks for the feedback. I am actually a Commodore kid, but M.U.L.E. got me appreciating its typesetting more than the one built in the C64. Your interest in the game as well as someone else's recent comment makes me think I should pursue this project as an actual 6502 game.

This game was very much inspired by Jumpman and Loderunner. The idea came to me while brainstorming for a game jam--but I didn't develop it until later. I forget the jam theme--was probably something like "between worlds". And I had this idea of phasing between a platformer and a tile based game. I'm sure you could come up with a lot of ideas to make this combination fun.

I love truly retro games. I'll check your profile and website. Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback. This game, like most of my game jam entries, I work on them a little after jam but never get around to updated them on itch.io. I definitely added some good touches to this one, to the point I should probably go ahead and update it.

If I recall right inertia exists but I tightened it up so much that you can't even tell. I think I did that to compensate for deficiencies in my AI.

Hehe. What was I thinking!? I think I was inspired to make a "chess-like". And my spin on the genre was that the proximity between different pieces allowed them to make different moves or actions. Also, I was definitely inspired by Archon and Battle Chess. It's farm themed I think probably to match the game jam theme, but you could easily substitute the farmers with mages.

Darn. That stinks. I'm sorry about that. At first thought, I'd say I haven't heard or experienced your issue. But there was a similar freeze I encountered twice many months ago--so long that I assumed it was no longer a thing and none of the playtesters every reported such.

Do you know if your sister's turn was the last in the rotation and a round event or production was going to happen afterwards? In which case, that would be the freeze I saw a while ago. It's quite elusive. If that's the case, I need to think about it more. If it's not the case, I need to *really* think about it!

Can you do send your game info & game logs to muleonlinehelp@gmail.com?

The logs are located at:
%APPDATA%\puzzud\mule\logs

And the save games are located at:
%APPDATA%\puzzud\mule\games

In the future it will be possible to resume incomplete offline games from those save game files.

Thanks for the feedback & sorry about the lost game. I spent a lot of time chasing known crashes the month before release. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Awesome--that's a big part of why I made the online capability and how you & your wife can play from the same computer with your sons who are remote.

Thanks for the feedback.

Pausing
I recently implemented pausing in offline games. It will be in the game's next update. The game will pause when the main menu is activated. And the gamepad method of bringing up the main menu will switch to the "start" button from the B button. I realize this pausing method will obscure the screen, unlike pausing in the original game. I do plan on eventually adding a pause without the main menu, complete with the clock ticking sound, but it will have to wait for some other important features to be implemented. Concerning pausing in online games--it gets complicated and I don't know of a nice way of doing it.

Collusion
There is no ability to collude, in the classic sense, in MULE Online. The decision to leave that feature out comes down to 2 things:

• Collusion goes against the free market mechanics of the rest of the game--competition driving lower prices; demand driving higher prices. The only feasible argument for collusion I've heard so far is that it's useful for when a computer player is winning. In practice, I find when collusion is used to cut out another human player, it inevitably results in hurt feelings.
• The original method of initiating collusion, as you described, does not translate well to online play. It was clumsy enough on the same machine.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the purpose of collusion. Perhaps I am missing something.

I have a very large backlog of a lot of other (better) features that I think you'll enjoy.

*OpenGL ES 3 is required but a fallback for OpenGL ES 2 and older GPUs is available. See Trouble running in Windows.

After purchasing MULE Online, a Download button will appear, revealing buttons for each OS:

After downloading the ZIP file that matches your computer's operating system, the instructions to run the install & run the game as follows:

Windows:

• Download mule-online-windows.zip
• Extract mule-online-windows.zip
• Launch mule-online-windows/mule-online.exe

Mac:

• Download mule-online-mac.zip
• Extract mule-online-mac.zip
• Select to launch M.U.L.E. Online.app
• Or drag it to Applications to install it
• Launch M.U.L.E. Online from Applications

Linux:

• Download mule-online-linux.zip
• Extract mule-online-linux.zip
• Launch mule-online-linux/mule-online.x86_64

Itch.io provides a desktop app that operates much like Steam and makes downloading and playing games very easy. And it will also help update your MULE Online installation when updates become available. Here is a link to that app:  https://itch.io/app

> you must download the itch console first to actually download the game

Incorrect. Although, in my experience the itch.io desktop app helps, especially with updates.

I think you're having an issue downloading the game, separate from the problem this thread is addressing.

Two people have reported that they cannot start the Windows version.

After troubleshooting, we were able to get it to run by launching it with the command:

mule-online.exe --video-driver GLES2

From what I can gather, this suggests a graphics driver issue and a problem running Godot's OpenGL ES 3.0 rendering engine. However, because I and many others cannot reproduce this problem, I cannot be for certain.

In the next release (> v1.8.1), I will package a Windows BAT file to assist with this fallback, as well as making various other changes to potentially address this issue.

People encountering this issue are encouraged to post a reply here with your Windows version, GPU information, and anything else you think is relevant. Thanks.

I talked with World of MULE and we spawned a Discord server that will house info for MULE Online as well as all things MULE.

Invite: https://discord.gg/eSMCJ2NGdQ

Link is also on the store page.

No. But it should be! Heavily influenced by Lode Runner & Jumpman.

Not as of yet. It's been debated. Perhaps a Discord server shared with World of MULE would be ideal. I'll discuss the idea with its admin.

Thanks. Link doesn't work. I think if you provided an "invite link" it would work.

Very feature full yet still very promising. Is there a place like a Discord channel where people can talk & ask questions?

Thanks, pal!

Very funny.

Nice game feel.

Wish I could control when the blocks disappear.

Thanks. The aerial view was a bit self serving and nostalgic. It would be a fun exercise for me to try and render the karts larger than they are on the second camera. I haven't had to do something like that yet.

Thanks. It's possible to win starting in the back. Of course, I've had a lot of practice.

Very cool. There's gotta be a way to make the controls a little less frustrating. :)

Love what you did to the assets. Would be nice to add an option to swap mouse buttons for us MOBA freaks.

Solid.

I could see how it'd be difficult to balance. The snapping mechanism you implemented works well. Maybe it should be possible to press a button to do an extended snap, like a grappling hook almost (with those vine feelers).

Fun. I love digging games. I think you should try to speed up the character movement. Perhaps swap jumping for a jetpack or grappling hook or robotic arm.