1# Enable objects/tiles to be pushed in a direction

Remember those top down games like Boulderdash and Repton where you have to push blocks in order to progress but opening up a new path often meant hostile creatures could get out and wander the level looking for you. The trick was you had to let them out but set up a trap for them giving them only one way to go or let out two enemies that are hostile to one another hoping they will attack each other and thin their numbers down etc It was a puzzle for the player to solve pushing blocks here and there but being careful not to trap themselves (eg. you cannot push two blocks side side one another in the same direction, and pushing a single block there has to be a space adjacent to the direction you are pushing in order to move it) to try and trap those enemies in order to bypass them ideally you design a level so that there is chances the player might end up trapping themselves because they ran out of spaces to move the blocks or did so in the wrong way hence the puzzle aspect. We could make animations for the PC moving the object to make it a little more immersive.

I think having this functionality in this creator would be a great feature for those that want to create similar games and puzzles because RPGinABox fits right into that being a voxel game in that pushing or pulling tile blocks would seem a natural fit. This would be another play style that other types of games might use some of that for a puzzle in some places where there might be four blocks in a small space you have to move around in order to escape the hidden treasure room or get into a treasure room etc.

2# Destroy tile/object

Also adding the abillity to make a tile/object disappear eg. lets say your PC has limited dynamite and they place it on the block and a timer script runs and explodes where you have an animation for the explosion which the tile/object is removed at end of animation, this could fit easily a game about pushing blocks. Perhaps explosions can cause the enemies to head in the direction of the explosion though. An objecting being removed by certain conditions could also be for revealing a hidden treaure room, maybe you have to activate in sequence some other objects (tomb raider style) and a entrance way appears. Also why not add the ability for a block to appear when a tile is stepped on which might block the only entrance way in to a room or instead of a object appearing why not a hostile NPC? as if it was invisible and now appearing.

3# Be able to push/pull a block at bottom of stack

Not sure how difficult it would be to add basic physics or fake it, but imagine three tile blocks (since objects cant stack) stacked on top of each other and the PC pushes the bottom one out and the other two drop down by gravity but remain stacked, this would allow you to add more blocks in an area (remember two blocks side by side cannot be pushed together in a direction) so having stacked blocks/tile blocks means you can think carefully about which way you are going to push the bottom blocks out and setup somewhere. If this functionality isn't implement then it would the creator will have to place less blocks to avoid traffic jams as it were. But it would be more fun if the player has to avoid that themselves as they can choose how many blocks to move out from a stack if its added in to gameplay. Perhaps there could be two types of push moving into the block and pushing it or kicking a block where you remain where you are and the block moves in kick direction. Why not also allow a block to be pulled as well? some of these could be properties that you can in the object/tile creator check eg. Object can be pulled etc so in a script you can check if the player can do that.

Getting more blocks from a stack the player could set up path directing enemies which will breakout of an area the player needs to enter to progress the level when he pushes the block away from its enterance, and they pour out and go down the path he shaped by pushing blocks to cover other passage ways. Maybe the NPC enemies will need a script to move randomly in a realative direction as currently they might leave the enclosed room even if a gap was opened.

4# Climb

Also i think having an ability for the PC to 'climb' a tile or object if the properties for those allow it would fit with this too, that ability could be used for ladders and ropes only so the player can see where they can climb easily.

If all these are added this means the RPGinABox could be able to make interactive puzzle games very much like those old games Boulderdash or Repton. You can still have the RPG elements, but it would involve more interaction with the environment with the player, as well as adding traps and things like having entire walls disappear or appear for dynamic mazes that change every so often. This would make for exciting levels and more options for the player.

Hi! I agree these are interesting suggestions.

I think #1 can be simulated by setting up a character as a crate with a speed of 0 that you would move to a designated tile with the Move Character function. This would need to be entirely scripted though, and not ideal for real sokoban-like games. I've used this for my game The Egg.

#2 is easily achieved by using Remove Entity, or Put Entity to move the model out of view, or Play Animation to change the model's state to an animation with an empty frame. I've made extensive use of the third solution in The Egg to make platforms appear and disappear.

#3 could probably be simulated with lots of work, but would clearly require a whole new system to actually work for puzzle games.

I think #4 could also be simulated on a limited height by using timing, vertical animations and the Put Player function. Maybe using very steep stairs could also do the trick if set up properly, I guess that would require some experimentation. But yeah, proper ladders would be cool.

To sum up, at the moment, if you need #1, #3 or #4 for specific parts of your game, you can use some heavy scripting to give the illusion of such systems, this will need more development to work in a simple and user-friendly way.

Personally, I'd love to see such features in the future, they would sure blend well with RPGiaB's tiled-based approach.

Thanks for your reply lectronice i will have to check out your game The Egg and will eventually try out some heavy scripting when i get more confident with it.

Thanks Daza for the suggestions, and lectronice for the response!

As lectronice described, some of these can currently be achieved through scripting. I would like to revisit these at some point because I agree that they could open up some cool options for puzzle-type games! It's funny, because I originally planned for RPG in a Box to primarily for creating RPGs, but it has somewhat evolved to be more open for other genres like adventure. That is a good thing, though, and I hope to incorporate the features like you've mentioned in a more user-friendly way later on.