What should it be? Power Boxes or Fuel Cells? Or something else entirely?? Discuss.

I agree.

1. You should make a poll.
2. I also support fuel cells. The term powerbox has broad functions, and doesn't seem like something hi-tech enough that space-traveling animals would collect them.
3. I still think we should include Powerboxes in Aeon, like to electricute stuff or something.

I agree 100% to the post above this one

poll added.

and if we're adding electrocuting boxes, they should be called Electric Crates.  

something else. but let's worry about that *after* the game is ready?

I was suggesting both could be the treasure, but they would work differently. The fuel cells would float... like tutorial arrows, while the power boxes would behave like treasure. The collection animation could show a fuel cell coming out?

I think we could have Fuel Cell Boxes for that effect, CSD. I don't like the idea of power boxes either. We need either fuel cells, or some other fancy, glowing energy source. Like Iron Man's chest thing.

Lol, I don't care what the name is.

Thats what I was thinking, but then...

"The aim of each level is to collect all of the/a certain number of the things that you need to collect and get to...  "

Doesn't sound very good.

I really like Fuel Cells and how how they look more like collectables than power boxes.

but so far, I haven't seen a good argument for having power boxes. And I certainly don't think we could have both because that could be confusing. Better to keep it simple.

Well fine. Let's have... "Fuel Cells" and "Fuel Cell Crates". Oh wow, confusion gone. Seriously, I could care less what they're called. "Power Boxes", "Fuel Cell Crates"... It's all the same, as far as the game-play is concerned.

Some people wanted the collectibles to behave like treasures (Quirvy) and some didn't (Dando), so I'm saying we could have both ways, by having the fuel cells sometimes be out loose and sometimes inside a crate.

I'm not really thinking of the name, I'm thinking of whether we should have this: or something like this: or

And I'm saying that the one we call "fuel cell" is better.

CSD: I wasn't talking about the name. I meant, one that's standalone, and one that's in a, say, metal crate. That way, it's obvious how each works.

I support this.

It does look much more like an incentive than the power box which looks as likely to kill you.

this
is no doubt the best option, imo. but the background, you know, the area that is not *in* the circle but still inside the rectangle that blocks it(as in, the coordinates rect. ) should be transparent(sp?), and i dunno how to get that one done.

1. It is transparent already.
2. Get any image editor except for Paint (I use Paint.net, very easy to work with and completely free), and set the color to transparent, save as .gif or .png.

Has anyone provided a reason for why we cannot have both? I've suggested this in the chatbox several times, where the type of collectible item is dependent on the type of door, yet no one has really given any feedback to the idea.

The way I see it, the collectible items should should stand out from the rest of the objects in the cave, but at the same time, they shouldn't stand out from the overall mood of the cave. The Powerbox does indeed accomplish this by having a unique shape, two lights, and the bolt, which make it stand out from the other crates, making its function look totally unique


Which of these the above images does not fit?

If we change the collectible, but still keep the power box, we would have to:
Change the concept of the power box, as it is no longer a collectible which is required to complete the level.
Change the name of the power box, as the current name, "Power Box" was meant to imply that the object is used to bring power to doors which require electricity to open. This is especially true if we're making it a hazardous object, as "Power" does not have a discouraging sound to it. Instead, it would be renamed something like, "Shock Crate"
Probably change the graphic of the power box, because, if we are making it have a different role than a collectible, it should fit in with the normal crates, and would probably just be limited to just a lightning bolt.

In this process, we would not be keeping the power box, but instead, we would probably be implementing the electricity crate that kroto suggested, which does have a lot of potential, regardless of whether or not we keep the Power Box.

As for the Fuel Cell, I'm not totally against it, but with the graphic that you guys are supporting, there are issues that come up which no one has thus far mentioned.



If the above is meant to be freely collected, then it does not appear to be a stackable at all, but rather a static, non-solid object floating throughout the levels. If this is so, what happens, when it is on the ground, and a crate lands on it? Does it disappear? How does the player know that its still there? Does the crate just land on top of it, or maybe the crate gets destroyed. But if thats so, how would it make sense for the player to be able to collect it?

I'm not a fan of the idea of a free-floating collectibles, as I believe they should be stackable. If we go with the encased glass one, I still believe that the graphic needs to be redone, as I think it stands out from the rest of the tiles too much, and makes it look entirely foreign.

Also, I believe it should be Energy Cell, as opposed to Fuel Cell, as I think the word "Energy" better suits it, and I personally think that the color blue would better suit it.


As I said, in the chatbox, the levels don't take place on rocket ships. They take place on a war-torn planet. That logic is entirely invalid.

Again, this isn't something by choice, this is something supposed to be forced upon them by their unfortunate situation of landing on a deserted, war-torn planet. The collectible should have absolutely no connection to the level of technology that the main characters would have had in their little space ship.

Ok, after reading Quirvy's post, I'll remodel my opinion. He is sorta right. The planet is supposed to be totally screwed over by war, so they'd have to use rudimentary objects, like when you're on a deserted island, you build your escape boat out of driftwood, not stainless, light weight steel.

So I now suggest that in the earlier levels we use Powerboxes, but farther in the game, you'll collect fuel cells because you're getting closer to the crash site, which most likely had fuel cells on board when it crashed(?).

Seeing those crates next to each other, I can't help but admit how amazing they look. You did a really good job with them HB. Except for the two white crates, but I think we dismissed that idea already. The images on them could also need some work.

As for "it needs to look like a collectible", we have a tutorial level. As long as it isn't a copy of the metal crate, people will recognize it.

I like the idea of calling it an energy cell, and I'm fine with recoloring it.

Also, Quirvy, I was thinking that they could be free-floating. If something lands in front of it, it's hidden temporarily, but still there. This could make interesting traps, where you have to hurry before the crate blocks the cell or something.

However, I think we should also be able to put it in different types of crates, which when destroyed, provide you with the energy cell. For example, if you want stackable ones like in HatPC, you could put them in a fragile crate. This mechanism could also allow for some other interesting levels. It would definitely remove a lot of the limitation in puzzle and trap design.

If you guys want me to recolor it, I can.

I like the idea of putting energy cells inside different crates. However, by default, they should act like Treasures.

I also like the idea of finding a new name and purpose for the power box. Probably that Shock Crate we've been talking about.

Also, what if we renamed fuel cells to some kind of raw resource, like Aeonite. It would make more sense.

And maybe the gems can be more refined resources like fuel cells which fell straight out of the ship.

And yes, we do need to try to make this thing look better:

Livio, as I said before, we can't keep the graphic concept of the powerbox if we change its function, because otherwise, it should become a crate, and the current graphic concept of the powerbox does not fit in with the crates.

BTW, you still haven't provided a reason for why we can't have multiple collectible which are dependent upon the door type.

What could be done, is in most levels we use the power boxes, but in the final city level, they need to collect the fuel cells to get the spaceship to work. Would fit in with the theme concept.