I got my copy of Edge. There's actually a number of subtle but interesting revelations in there not yet reported, AFAIK. I'll just list them in no particular order of importance:
- "We've made a couple of tiny tweaks but there won't be anything instantly obvious", says Healey re. Sackboy's default controls
- Music for 'Tower of Woop' level is Deodato's rendition of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra
- Sackbots can be set to avoid danger, enabled (or disabled) to switch planes and jump, or be afraid of heights...all ways of binding them to specific areas.
- Edge says it's possible to spawn 20 or 30 sackbots in a level.
- Evans explains some changes more generally regarding thermometer "We're trying to allow a lot more of everything but it will crucially be a lot more balanced. Before you'd hit your switch limit and you'd be done because it had a limit. Now we trade memory and CPU - lots of sackbots are fine, you just have to skimp elsewhere."
- To answer a question I had about Sackbot behaviour, sackbots can have one behaviour set...
- ... or on a more intermediate level can be set to switch between preset behaviours e.g. benignly patrols until player nears, whereupon they can electrify and chase after them...
- ... or on a more advanced level can be controlled by microchips which house existing types of logic, and new types of gadget to ease creation of common electronic processes.
- Two of these new gadgets are mentioned:
a randomiser ("I hope no one gets annoyed with the random gadget", says Healey. "People have spent ages making their random devices and now its a single object.")
- The other gadget suggested at in a picture caption is
a gadget for 'control tweaks'; see below for a bit more on that, one suggested later seems to be a momentum control gadget.
- The disco scene uses the randomiser; 3 cameras with different properties and transitions are hooked up to a randomiser, leading to a pulsing series of shots. Camera transition options include cross-fade and zoom-fade.
- Matchmaking now tries to match you with players with similar taste in levels based on your stream etc.
- Someone asked if 'burning' would look better; it's one of a number of improvements they've made in the rendering. Evans says "Play the Darkness story level - same content, but fuck me it looks different" With the transparency changes they cannot guarantee 100% that all levels that use exploits will work properly.
-
You can wire multiple sackbots/direct-seats to one controller if you want ("some to tilt, some to thumbsticks if you want"). Or multiple controllers to one sackbot.
- Some of the direct-seat vehicles Healey's made include a flying robot chicken with feet from which he's programmed sackbots to hang; a hairy caterpillar (the one viewed from top-down) that grows when it eats score bubbles, Snake-style; and the metallic fly with the laser gun.
- You can finesse handling as you wish; Edge notes that the fly handles with 'beautifully damped inertia'. Evans says "There are things you can attach to control momentum".
- You can limit the amount of time a player spends in a direct-seat, count the number of attempts made. Edge asks if a direct-seat controlled sackbot can enter a direct-seat. MM says they haven't tested that 'but yeah...'.
- Another camera option, for cutscenes, seems to be 'fade audio'.
- Browsing levels now seems to be via a list...when a level is highlighted, the creator's moon is shown in the background.
- They suggest that a class of player will emerge that everyone will want to follow in their stream...people with a knack of highlighting and finding great content. They say these people will be rewarded with 'community points'.
- You know those 'other new gadgets' MM won't reveal yet? Edge says it spied perhaps two of them in the pop-it: '
Magic Glove' and '
Bag'. I think I know what the latter does, at least...
- New filters added include x-ray, and 'vectorise' (e.g asteroids style outlines) These can be applied locally, to specific areas.
Annnnnd...that's it, I think.
