Another update already?

Well, it’s been a few months since PlatinumQuest first started and what a few months had they been! There’s definite excitement all around but there’s no doubt everyone’s disappointed that we haven’t shown more of PlatinumQuest. We have to make up for that and what a better way if not… a video!

A few words of advice – none of what you see here is complete, some parts are in fact in alpha stages, some in beta and some only have a few things to iron out. We are not promising what you will see in this video will in fact be in the final version, or a Demo build if one will exist.

What we are promising is that each of the levels you will see will make it to the release build of PlatinumQuest and you will get to play them, but they may differ in one way or another from what you see.

We are also showing everyone a major peek at several game modes (some unannounced!) and several new features which are obviously unannounced. We are NOT going to tell anyone what is featured, rather we’ll leave it to you to guess what everything is.

Stay tuned for more updates,

- The PlatinumQuest Staff

Hi all, I hope nobody stressed out from the newsblog not showing a few minutes ago (if anyone at all noticed) and wondering what might’ve been going on. I was in the process of upgrading WordPress to the latest version, 3.0 – [thankfully] it was successful!

Phil

Hey there fellow Marble Blasters!
Last time we left you all with a challenge; to create a level for the Quota game mode of PlatinumQuest. Since then, we have received a number of submissions and have discussed each of them in detail. What interested us the most was that none of the submissions were in fact designed for the Quota game mode… did people forget?
As such, there was no winner of the Quota game mode Level Competition, but one of the submissions did fit into one of the other game modes of PlatinumQuest. As such, we’re happy to announce that RDs.Empire had won with a fantastically fun filled level, and even though it’s not Quota at all, you will meet it as a different game mode.

Now that we have our feet in the water, let’s dive right in with another level competition! This level competition is open for the Hunt game mode only. The Hunt game mode requires you to collect as many gems as possible from the random spawns that will appear within the level which will therefore give you your final score. The gems available to use are Red, Yellow, Blue and Platinum, which in the same order are worth 1, 2, 5 and finally 10 points respectively. Two levels will make it through to PlatinumQuest, so you have a greater chance to make it in.

Your task is to design a level which answers the following guidelines:
• Level must include whether it uses a definite starting point (start pad) or a random spawn point (please indicate on your level where spawns are, preferably with an Easter Egg on each spawn point. You may add your own Easter Egg to the level if applicable).
• Optional: level may use time travels to extend the period of time of gameplay, but please do not use them excessively (the less the better) and think about their usage and how much they should be worth.
• Par Time has a maximum of 2:00.00 minutes. Your level can feature a much lower Par Time.
• Difficulty can be anywhere from beginner to low-expert (Marble Blast Platinum level difficulty rating)
• Level must be fun and replayable; levels that won’t answer these criteria are most likely to be rejected on the spot.
• Level is original and creative; levels will not be rejected if you can’t come up with new ideas. However, if we find these factors to be too low, we will reject the level.
• Level does not need any scenery. That will be handled by us.

The due date to submit your level is 19th September, 2010. Unlike the previous level competition, you may also build your level in the Level Editor but cannot use any custom interiors. Usage of default interiors such as 1×1, 2×2, 3×3 and the sort are fine.

You are to submit the following:
• A mission file (.mis) which contains a Par Time, Author, Description. Optional: start help text.
• Any interiors you used (.dif) (if you use QuArK/Constructor)
• A map file (.map) (if you use QuArK/Constructor)
• You may also submit non-DIF material such as shapes (.dts) with their source files (e.g. .blend for Blender files) so that we may modify them appropriately.

Please submit all of these in a ZIP file that is uploaded to mediafire, rapidshare, localhostr or any other file upload service. The download link along with your real name OR nickname, level and description should be submitted to Matan (click here to submit) via a Personal Message. That means you have to register on MarbleBlast.com in order to send the Personal Message.

As a reminder, you cannot release your level until winners have been determined, and winners themselves cannot release their level to the general public at all. Finally, you may submit more than one level to the competition.

As before, we realize that as we progress with new updates you might find that you want to add more to your level or even change some parts. Winners may update their levels accordingly while maintaining or raising the quality of the level as they deem fit. The winners’ names will be posted here on the site at the next update after the competition closes. The next update will be at some point in either October or November.

For those that do not know, Alex Swanson was the main level designer for many of the Marble Blast titles, including Gold, Gold (Xbox), Ultra (Xbox 360) and Online. Alex Swanson has kindly donated two unreleased levels of his own to PlatinumQuest and we’re honoured to have them alongside the levels of our staff. The first one has been seen before in pictures, but never as a final build. As you have most likely guessed, this level will be used for the Hunt game mode.

Original:

PlatinumQuest (in-progress):

Stay tuned for more updates,
- The PlatinumQuest Staff

Hi everyone,

I’ve written a fairly simple application for Windows which should help simplify and take some of the tediousness out of exporting, moving and testing MarbleBlast levels. You can download it here as a .zip file. MarbleBlastMap2Dif (an official tool by GarageGames) is included as part of the .zip file for those who don’t have it.

When you run the app for the first time, you’ll need to set up where your main level-building directories are located. A screenshot can be seen to the right – I don’t think it should be that overwhelming to understand this interface at first.

Once you’ve correctly set everything up, simply select a .map file from a generated list filtered to show only .map files (based on the directory you define) and the app will take care of automatically exporting the map, placing it in the game’s marble/data/interiors/ directory and then runing the game to do an interior test.

There are several benefits to using this application as opposed to manually doing each step when exporting and running your map. See below for a full list:

Features

• Ability to list a selected directory containing .map files – the app will report if no .map files exist
• Ability to either use your game’s interiors directory for where Map2Dif will search for textures (this removes the need to make a copy of your game’s textures!), or you can use a directory of your choice.
• Handles exporting the .map file, moving the exported .dif file (handled by a command-line option in Map2Dif and testing the resulting level in-game.
• If you feel that something has went wrong or if you’re not sure, you’re able to view the program output of Map2Dif by clicking the “Command Line Output” button. Popup errors such as the common ‘Vislink cannot be coplanar with a node’ error will pop up as normal after attempting to export.
• Application settings are automatically saved at the end of each session (thanks to a neat  feature present in the .NET Framework that was very easy to implement!)
• Although very very minor, Map2Dif has a weird tendency to force the mouse to the bottom-right of the screen. This program will attempt to reset the position of the mouse back to its original position after exporting the map.

Requirements

• .NET Framework 2.0 or higher
• A full version of MarbleBlast (interior testing not supported in demo)
• MarbleBlastMap2Dif (bundled with the app)

Final Notes

Let me know (email: phil [at] philsempire [dot] com) if you experience any sort of problem, or if you can recommend anything I should change in the interface or code to make it easier for the user.

I hope you’ll all find this to be a useful tool during your level building

Phil

Hey there fellow Marble Blasters!

After months of work with no updates about the development of Marble Blast Platinum 1.50, we decided to give you a double update, which will explain in more detail as to what you are to expect in 1.50.

Firstly, we are proud to present the official name of our project: PlatinumQuest, or PQ for short. This new exciting expansion pack for Marble Blast Platinum is a mod on its own with loads of new content. Although we had covered a few things about it, we thought to give you more information about it.
Please note that not all information is final, so what that is given out is not necessarily what you will see in the final version.

• PlatinumQuest is easier than Marble Blast Platinum in general; you’ll find that completing levels is an easier task than it was in Marble Blast Platinum. The maximum difficulty rating that you will encounter is of low-expert levels in Marble Blast Platinum.
• Levels are thoroughly tested to ensure that players of lesser skills and experience will notice a little bit of difficulty, but nothing too challenging.
• All levels have a Par Time. In order to keep levels short yet cover many guidelines that our level designers are required to pass, the maximum Par Time is 2 minutes. Not all levels will feature the maximum Par Time either.
• PlatinumQuest missions are specific to PlatinumQuest. For example, levels that have a defined Game Mode cannot be run in Marble Blast Platinum’s custom levels section.
• PlatinumQuest official levels differ from others in that they are more fun and replayable while offering an innovatively unique and creative design; you will keep coming back to them.
• Unlike Marble Blast Gold and Platinum, PlatinumQuest will feature a different and more restricted implementation for skipping levels – more details on this in a future post. You are limited to your own skills.

The second update is the announcement of our very first Level Competition!
These level competitions are your chance to build a level, that if chosen, will feature as part of the official levels of PlatinumQuest.

Our first level competition deals with the Quota Game Mode. Your task is to design a level which answers the following guidelines:

• Par Time has a maximum of 2:00.00 minutes. Your level can feature a much lower Par Time.
• Difficulty can be anywhere from beginner to low-expert (Marble Blast Platinum level difficulty rating)
• Level must be fun and replayable; levels that won’t answer these criteria are most likely to be rejected on the spot.
• Level is original and creative; levels will not be rejected if you can’t come up with new ideas. However, if we find these factors to be too low, we will reject the level.
• Level does not need any scenery. That will be handled by us.

The due date to submit your level is 15th June, 2010. You are to submit the following:

• A mission file (.mis) which contains a Par Time, Author, Description. Optional: start help text.
• Any interiors you used (.dif)
• A map file (.map)

Please submit all of these in a ZIP file that is uploaded to mediafire, rapidshare, localhostr or any other file upload service. The download link along with your real name OR nickname, level and description should be submitted to Matan (click here to submit) via a Personal Message. That means you have to register on MarbleBlast.com in order to send the Personal Message.

You cannot release your level until a winner has been determined and the winner himself/herself cannot release his/her level at all to the general public as it is released in PlatinumQuest. People who did not have their levels selected may opt to release them to public or wait until PlatinumQuest is released in order to have their levels properly functional (after all, this is Quota Mode the level is designed for).
If you release your level before the results are announced (or if you have won and you released the level), you will be disqualified.
Please do not ask anyone else to test your level, we will provide the feedback necessary when you submit your level.

Finally, you may submit more than one level to the competition.

However, we realize that as we progress with new updates you might find that you want to add more to your level or even change some parts. Winners may update their levels accordingly while maintaining or raising the quality of the level as they deem fit.
The selected level will be modified by PlatinumQuest staff to have the new textures and content used as appropriate and we will fully cooperate with the winner to ensure that he is happy with the changes. There may be cases where we will modify the actual level itself in order to raise its quality if we believe it will improve the level; again, this will be done with full knowledge of the winner.

The winner’s name and his level name will be posted here on the site on the next update after the competition closes. The next update will be at some point in July.

Stay tuned for more updates,
- The PlatinumQuest Staff

Sorry for the lack of updates, or tips for that matter! As a thank you for the patience, we’ll explain to you a little bit about the Quota Game Mode that is coming in version 1.50.

Currently we all play Marble Blast under two Game Mode categories:

• Levels where you go to the finish pad and you don’t need to collect any diamonds
• Levels with diamonds that are required to be collected in order to finish.

The Quota Game Mode category (if defined in the mission file) creates a new breed of level:

• Levels where you need to collect a certain amount of diamonds (out of a larger pool) in order to finish. For example: a level with 40 diamonds might require you to collect only 28 diamonds in order to finish.

The Quota Game Mode is great for pathfinding while making levels both easier and shorter.

We hope that major additions like these will really change and extend upon the ways that we play Marble Blast. Stay tuned for more updates to come!

We have lately started working on a cool project for MBP. For the sake of keeping the name secret and stuff, we’ll name it by its current version number. Let’s call it… Marble Blast Platinum :: Version 1.50.

What does it have? Well, our staff don’t like to say info until intended release dates where we say some things but we’ve came to the conclusion that some info has to be given out.

• At least four new game modes. You heard us right! What are they? Quota, Haste, Consistency and Hunt. What do you do in them? We’ll keep you waiting, but you can probably guess if your English is good.
• Over 100 creatively new levels from not only the Platinum staff, but a number of guests as well! Oh, and did we mention you’ll have a chance to have your level released as one of the officials?
• A whole new game: Platinum takes itself to the next level with new features that will change the way you play Marble Blast.
• An epic new environment setting to blow you away.
• Release date? 2011. Why so late? Because Version 1.50 has a lot in it, and is going to be awesome.

Matan, and the Marble Blast Platinum Team.

Hey everyone!

The Mac version of MBP has now been updated to version 1.14, which includes several types of bugfixes. A detailed list can be found in the Changelog. A version will be uploaded onto the website soon. You can download the new patch below:

http://philsempire.com/?view=mbp&mbpview=download

There are a couple of known bugs in this version, which are listed below:

• Search function is broken
• Custom levels directory is grey-coloured instead of orange

Also, this version’s patch installer has been written by Joe Berria from Nexes Development. Consider sending a small donation for his hard work here.

Enjoy the new patch,

Phil, PF, Matan and the rest of the MBP Team.

Hey all,

After some months of work, we bring you Patch 1.14! Update to the latest version, as it includes some small changes (read the changelog for more detail)

The Mac version of the Patch should arrive in a couple of days time.

Meanwhile, the Windows version can be downloaded from this page: http://philsempire.com/?view=mbp&mbpview=about

Enjoy!

Phil, Spy, Matan and the rest of the MBP Team.

Hey all,

Just making another post to let you know that the Leaderboards are now again up and running, along with the release of Custom Level Packs 13-24! Now’s your chance to rack up even more points in the Leaderboards

Phil, Matan, and the MBP Team.