I haven't seen this so maybe it's Linux-specific or only affects certain graphics cards. There's no workaround, so unfortunately I think fixing it would require someone smarter than me fixing the game engine, or porting this fix over to 3.5.x. Thanks for the report, I wish I could do more to help!
On Windows, Godot prints errors like that to the console window. I can view the console window if I launch a command line and run the game from there
$ ./turbofat-win-v0.7000.exe
Godot Engine v3.5.2.stable.official.170ba337a - https://godotengine.org
OpenGL ES 3.0 Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2
Async. shader compilation: OFF
WARNING: Unrecognized save data version: '512b'
at: call (modules/gdscript/gdscript_functions.cpp:789)
WARNING: Unrecognized save data version: '512b'
at: call (modules/gdscript/gdscript_functions.cpp:789)
WARNING: Unrecognized save data version: '512b'
at: call (modules/gdscript/gdscript_functions.cpp:789)
WARNING: ObjectDB instances leaked at exit (run with --verbose for details).
at: cleanup (core/object.cpp:2070)
ERROR: Resources still in use at exit (run with --verbose for details).
at: clear (core/resource.cpp:417)
When trying to place a piece one space away from a wall -- experienced tetr.io players will use finesse techniques like "hold left, tap right" to play quickly using DAS (Delayed Auto Shift)
In this game, left and right DAS appear to interfere with each other, so "hold left, tap right" will move the piece several spaces away from the wall as DAS remains active, even when moving in the opposite direction
It is a minor hangup but makes the later levels more frustrating, when you're trying to play quickly!
I had a lot of fun playing this -- I don't want to be too specific and ruin the experience for others reading the comments, but I'll just say there are some levels later that aren't like the levels before, and I thought it was impressive how those different levels were still balanced and fun to play
I think a lot of people like myself see some of the stars or challenges and think, "Oof! That looks too hard for now, but maybe I'll come back and do that later." And I think this game has an interesting moral about those kinds of challenges.
Glad you had fun with the hold function! You're right, the game is not balanced for it and it makes things easier than intended - but if it makes it more fun, then go for it! I won't tell 🙊
I'm imagining the tutorial will be a few set downstacking scenarios, clear 5 lines with these pieces
There are cheats in the options menu to enable hold pieces and make the game easier, if that helps! But I agree, the game expects a base level of competence. I'll try to think of other ways to make it more accessible!
I have four or five more tutorials planned but stuff like block placement, avoiding gaps and downstacking isn't among them. I'm not sure how I'd go about teaching that!
Thanks, I've never been so sad to delete so much code! It really was a heart wrenching week undoing all the hard work I put into that mode.
When I thought about what freeroam mode was going to contribute to the final game, two things came to mind. The first is this big world where players wouldn't know where to go next, or how to find the next puzzle. The second is all this cool and funny dialog which they might completely skip over by mistake, because they didn't talk to the right person at the right time. So -- I'm hoping Career Mode will be more streamlined and ensure everyone sees the entire story if they want to.
Thanks for checking out my work! I'll have a new version up with a new story for chapter 2, although I'll have to think about how to let players rewind the story mode to experience it if they've already gotten past that point. Maybe a cheat code to undo some of their progress!?! That would be weird, ha ha~
Wow, thanks so much for reporting that! I copied and pasted the links from the YouTube description but it didn't occur to me it would be using a redirection service. I've fixed the links.
Sorry, I know people who are used to classic Tetris will want a line piece! Just like people coming from modern Tetris will want a hold piece, or people coming Puzzle Fighter will want a bomb piece. I know these things would make the game a lot easier. But, with practice the game is easy even without these.
You have a squish move, and you can use it in some clever ways which are even more powerful than a line piece! But, it takes practice to figure out -- and practice to not dig wells in ways that you can't squish down to them.
I'll add a restart button for practice mode and story mode!
Cool game! It starts out simple but then ramps up as fuel becomes more of an issue -- and then you're rewarded for riding the currents. Thanks for sharing it!
Ha ha aww that's great to hear. I wanted the game to make people smile, and I wanted the silliness to help offset the confusion some of the puzzles cause. Glad you're enjoying your time with it 😀
Wow, very charming and fun! I can't believe you made this in such a short period of time. The sounds music and visual style all match very well and the gameplay is cool too!
Wow! These are really cool suggestions, so I'll respond to them individually
> Richard Scarry's busy little town illustrations and Where's Wally books
This is a cool idea, but I want to avoid it because I want to have a lot more frogs and sharks. Currently it takes me about 5 minutes to draw a new frog, so I could probably add like 50 frogs in a day if I really went at it. ...This suggestion makes it harder to add new frogs because at a mininum, I'd have to have new graphics for each frog without the 'card' outline, and logic for where each frog belongs. But to actually make it look good -- I'd probably want to have logic to make sure you don't drop a scuba diving frog in the sand, or a weighlifting frog in the middle of the sky. So I'd have to choose between having 100-200 simple frogs like I have now, or 20-30 cool Richard Scarry frogs.
> It'd make sense to have a place (a separate scene maybe?) for sharks too
I love this idea. I have ideas for a frog artist who draws you pretty frog pictures as you find more frogs. Maybe there can be a shark artist too!
> I'm a big fan of inviting players to reflect rather than compete
I greatly respect your ideas on this. It's discouraging to repeatedly look at a high score you set months ago, or to be faced with the implication that every playthrough is pointless if you didn't set a record. A "recent N playthroughs" idea is intriguing but seems like overkill when there are 20-30 different levels to chart, so I'd lean towards something simpler
These are all good ideas! I was originally going to have the cards flip over like playing cards, although now I like the snappiness and surprise of just having them "Pop". I still think a little squash stretch or scaling would be a good addition. I don't want to overdo it because I think the understated subtlety of the UI adds to its charm -- but just a little!
> I'd love to see the "progress summary" screens be interactive... I'd also love to see a "return to menu" option
I think both of these could go together. Maybe a "bye bye" button in the bottom left to return to the main menu, and a "fast forward" button in the bottom right. The fast forward button could skip to the next level -- or if you found a shark, the fast forward button could spawn more sharks and make them run faster.
> if the sharks had a small chance to trip
Ha ha, this is a very cute idea. ...I don't think it would be hard to add. ...Actually, when I was first making the game, I considered letting the player keep their finger if they avoid sharks for long enough. But, it feels like it might turn what's currently a cute easter egg into a tedious mandatory experience.
Thanks for all your suggestions! I'm going to turn most of these into change requests and enter them into my backlog for the final game. They're very good!!
It's hard to design puzzles which aren't too simple to figure out, and which aren't too trivial once you know how they work. ...I think maybe I pushed it too far with that one! But I appreciate your patience.
Thanks for the suggestions! There are a few advanced techniques I haven't put in a tutorial yet which cover some of the things you asked for. You can instantly squeeze a piece into place by tapping "down", and you can actually instantly squeeze a piece and lock it by holding "down" and "space" at the same time. You can also drop, rotate or move pieces immediately after they appear by holding the appropriate keys. ...There is a fast way of doing everything! But, at the start it is hard enough just to remember the slow way.
If you want a taste of the faster/snappier modes, they're available in Practice Mode if you pick the harder difficulties. The various expert difficulties snap pieces into place way faster, and Marathon/Master approaches Tetris Grand Master speeds if you can survive long enough. I'll eventually work these into the main mode. ...Maybe by the end of November if I'm lucky. I have some big plans!
Wow, it sounds like you really explored the game fully! I didn't expect anybody to find or notice all that stuff I snuck in.
I have something like a "Sticker Book" in mind for the full game! I think two big things missing to make this a full game are 1) a longer series of trials to advance through, and 2) a sense of progress where you can show off how much you've played, your best times, your best scores, which frogs you found, and things like that.
I have some ideas for how to fix each of those! And based on your sticker book idea it sounds like maybe you have some ideas too. But mostly, I'm thinking about a series of many, many worlds which each introduce 2-3 new puzzles at a time, and which intermix those puzzles with ones the player's already seen (like a 50/50 mix of old and new stuff.) And, some little things like the sticker book idea where the player can relax and look at all the cool stuff they did.
If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them! Thanks so much for playing frog finder. And good job on finding so many frogs 🐸
I think it's really cool when the player's cursor becomes a game piece. It's something you can throw in almost any game and it makes players go, "Wait... What is happening!!"
I'm glad you enjoyed the game, and that you didn't find it too difficult
Thanks for the feedback -- I agree it's really unfun when you're stuck on one type of puzzle, to not have an opportunity to practice it again until solving 5-6 puzzles you already understand.
I'm brainstorming some ways to address this as I stretch this into a bigger game, like having different sections which focus on specific puzzles. I think playing the same exact puzzle over and over is slightly too repetitive, but maybe something having it be about 40% would be OK.
If players have not played a Tetris game before, they will adjust. Additionally, up to hard drop is practically required for some very advanced moves which will eventually be explained in a tutorial.
Thanks for the feedback! ...I have an idea for how to make this puzzle easier to understand without changing the rules. I'm going to give it a try later.
