Oil Blue thoughts/bugs

[cybermouse8]

Dare I say it? The Oil Blue might have...one bug.

Not that I'm disappointed in any way with the game - far from it. It can only be compared to Ore No Ryomi 2 in its gameplay, and then not very fairly. It's like ONR 2 on steroids, with the added bonus of excellent music, graphics, and a professional and polished feel.

The Oil Derrick occasionally does this thing where there's a pocket of oil I should be able to get to. But one of the left/right arrows (I've seen both do this) is disabled when it shouldn't be. At least, when the drill isn't as far to the left or right as it can possibly go and thus, there's no way to get to that oil pocket that is clearly within range. Maybe this is supposed to happen and isn't really a bug? Help me out here, Chubs. But it seems like a bug to me since it isn't mentioned anywhere. It bugs me, anyway, lol. I guess that classifies it as a bug.

Another possible bug (this one I'm pretty sure ISN'T a bug, but it still could be) with the Derrick is that after repairing it (before the markets open) it's still disabled and it won't let me repair it again. The reason I don't think this is a bug is that I seem to remember (probably from a gameplay video) that some machines, especially if they're badly damaged, require multiple repairs. It's just that taking a whole machine out for a day wasn't quite what I had pictured when I thought of "multiple repairs." I thought it would just take longer to repair it, as in, you'd have to repair it twice before it would start up.

I am really excited about the possibility of future content updates for the Oil Blue. It's a great game as is, but I think with a few of the features that seemed to be in the game at one point or another added back in, and the ability to choose different islands to expand to (especially with a map screen where you can freely sail and explore) would put this game at number one.

One last suggestion, Chubs - add the company BP to the game, and make them the company that you always beat out. Maybe you could add a news article homage to ONR 2, which always has articles about how bad BP is doing. LOL You could also have a mini game where you have to save wildlife that's gotten stuck in the oil and you have to skim oil from the water in a fishing boat. Okay, maybe that's going a bit too far...or possibly a mini game where you play as Obama, swimming down and plugging a hole in an oil pipeline with a basketball. LOL

Just a side note here: the oil spill, and the damage it's done, really is a shame, and good people are helping to make things better. I'm not poking fun at it. I just find it slightly amusing that this game happened to be coming out right when the spill seems to be at its worst, even though the game was in the works long before the spill began. Also, Chubs, I really hope the whole oil spill thing doesn't hurt the sales of your game. It really is a lot of fun and insanely well-crafted.

[-JKR-]

Heh, I'm pretty sure BP would be pretty freaking pissed if he added that...

[UltimateAgent]

Cuz people care what BP thinks anymore.

[blueflare]

or possibly a mini game where you play as Obama, swimming down and plugging a hole in an oil pipeline with a basketball. LOL

I:T

[cybermouse8]

blueflare, I must confess that I got that from my local newspaper. It was from a satire article on the oil spill entitled "Blame It On The Boss-Obama" (instead of the song title, Blame It On The Bossa-Nova) in which the writer suggested that Obama swim down there and plug up the leak himself with a basketball. He wasn't really blaming Obama, of course.

I encountered another slight bug - just a delay, really. I was told upon reaching a certain rank that more art had been unlocked, but when I went to view it there was no new art. Later, after I played through several more work days, it became available.

Come on, now. Am I really the first person to have any thoughts on the Oil Blue? Or to have bought it, for that matter? I'm usually the most indecisive person in any given group of people and thus, usually take the longest to come to any conclusion or actually do anything but sit and think. It feels kind of weird being the first one to post about the Oil Blue here.

[dale_fan3]

Well, most of the people who normally post here were in the beta, so we've already said a lot.

[cybermouse8]

Ah, yes. I was once among the glorious ranks of the beta testers, for Spirits. This whole business about graduating from college and getting a job was not an easy can of tuna to open, as a friend once put it. Thus I wouldn't have had time for the beta anyway, but clearly my input wasn't needed to steer it in the right direction. All I can say now is I would still have bought The Oil Blue for twice its cost and without greenTech+ thrown in. I mean, come on - Plants vs. Zombies is 20 bucks! Given that there's a lot of ways to play it for free, but by jove! 20 bucks is like a month's supply of mountain dew! (Well, not at the rate some people I know of drink it, lol)

Edit: I take back everything I said about Plants vs. Zombies in that last paragraph. I have since learned that it is one of the coolest, and at least the most well-made, tower defense games out there. Other great candidates include Immortal Defense, GemCraft (and its sequel, GemCraft chapter 0), and Garden Defense.

On a side note, Kablooey is actually my least favorite Vertigo Game (yes, including the Wal-Mart SUV Parking Lot Challenge). Because it makes me feel like a complete moron (heck, maybe I am). I think I got maybe 5 combinations and that was about it. I must have played through the first two hours for a whole day. It took me forever to even make anything happen. I was so proud when I finally made the "breakfast combo." I'm curious, did anyone else find it that difficult? It was everything I could do just to make one new thing happen during each run through the whole day.

[LostOverThere]

Kablooey is actually my least favorite Vertigo Game (yes, including the Wal-Mart SUV Parking Lot Challenge). Because it makes me feel like a complete moron (heck, maybe I am).

I want to write up a "post-mortem" on Kablooey, and talk about what worked and what didn't. It's a bad idea because I'm rather lousy at game design, but I think it'd be interesting to do an analysis of the game.

[Illari]

On a side note, Kablooey is actually my least favorite Vertigo Game (yes, including the Wal-Mart SUV Parking Lot Challenge).

What about Nocturnal Emmision?

I'm curious, did anyone else find it that difficult? It was everything I could do just to make one new thing happen during each run through the whole day.

For me, Kablooey was boring at first, then after finding a few combos it became fun for a while and about halfway through impossibly hard and boring again. The whole game felt like an obvious beta in desperate need of playtesting.

[chubigans]

Yeah, Kablooey didn't turn out very well did it? Learned quite a bit from coding it though, but on the whole, a missed opportunity.

I plan to shake it up on the next beta and invite different people next time, so don't feel too left out if you weren't an OB tester.

I took a lot of steps to fix that left/right oil drill bug and I thought for sure I fixed it. Sorry to hear that it can still happen. I'll look though the code and see if I can't figure it out.

I'm not sure about that badly damaged derrick bug though, that's the first I've heard of it. All machines, no matter how badly damaged they are, should only need one repair and then they get back into action. Can you go into more detail on that one?

The beta testers wanted a fake news feed too, but ultimately I didn't add it. I'm sorry everyone, but time just got the better of me.

Anyways, I'll comb though the code and if I can fix these bugs, I'll email everyone who bought a copy a new patch and post here.

[video game]

Yeah, Kablooey didn't turn out very well did it? Learned quite a bit from coding it though, but on the whole, a missed opportunity.

Kablooey's actually my favorite of your games. The replayability is a bit low, and it's kind of hard to get into at first, but once I got past the second hour I loved everything else.

[cybermouse8]

I'm not sure about that badly damaged derrick bug though, that's the first I've heard of it. All machines, no matter how badly damaged they are, should only need one repair and then they get back into action. Can you go into more detail on that one?

It's definitely a bug then. Basically the drill gets to 40 or 50 stress level then I go to repair it like normal the next day. But after repairing it, it says it's badly damaged as if it hadn't been repaired (or if it had shut down from reaching full stress). Then if you go back above the water to click the tab and try to repair it, the tab isn't lit up so that doesn't work either because no repair thing pops up. What's REALLY odd is that the day after that, without being repaired, it works just fine. Like it didn't even need repaired. This only seems to happen with the Derricks though. All other machines have worked perfectly (aside from having me operating them, lol).

On a side note, Kablooey is actually my least favorite Vertigo Game (yes, including the Wal-Mart SUV Parking Lot Challenge).

What about Nocturnal Emmision?

Lol, I considered mentioning that one. I considered it very briefly. So I guess Kablooey isn't at the VERY bottom. It has decent graphics, at least.

[chubigans]

One more question...would you happen to remember which derrick it was? The first, second or third one going down?

[cybermouse8]

I believe it's happened with both the first and second derricks. I guess I hadn't fully grasped the terrifying possibility of having to manage three...since by sheer luck it hasn't occurred yet.

[chubigans]

Ah, I will check that out then. I should have a patch ready by tomorrow and will email all BMT Micro members by then hopefully.