What's new in elarel 1.2
Aug 30, 2018
- Levels:
- Four new levels with new types of puzzles (levels 8, 9, 10 and 13).
- Replaced the bottom-right puzzle in level 21 (The Reflecting Rooms) with a better one, and made various changes throughout the level to make it less finicky.
- Reorganized levels for a better difficulty curve.
- Fixed a bug in level 24 (The Frozen Archipelago) that made it unsolvable (due to a change in mechanics from v1.1). (Thanks to Nisa.)
- Fixed a bug in level 26 (Steppin' out over the line) that made it unsolvable (due to a bug from v1.1). (Thanks to Nisa.)
- Fixed a bug in level 29 (Her Last Bow) that made it unsolvable (due to a bug from v1.1).
- An internal system was implemented to automatically ensure solvability of all levels and user levels before release.
- Small changes made to levels 30 (The Old Laboratory) and user level 12 (Tricks 'n Traps) to support the updated object mechanics of this version.
- Level 13 of previous version ("Gravity") moved to user level category.
- Five levels are now unlocked by default instead of four.
- Object mechanics:
- Objects can now be pushed onto rafts, and spiders can move onto them.
- Carts will now touch neighbouring balls, arrows, and balloons while moving past them.
- An object going through a conveyor belt will now try to push any object in its way in the belt.
- If there is an object at the exit of a conveyor belt, any object going through the belt will try once to push the object and any objects in front of that object.
- Blackballs can now be directed by fast-forwards even if they would move in a direction contrary to gravity (except exactly opposite).
- Carts can no longer fall down holes if the cart contains a treasure chest.
- Graphics:
- If a slanted wall is diagonally adjacent to a door, the tiles will now seamlessly connect.
- If a laser beam hits into a closed door, the beam will now continue until the edge of the door.
- Fixed a bug where a drawbridge would not face the proper direction, depending on neighbouring tiles.
- Fixed a bug where a dangling laser beam would remain if a laser was toggled and the new beam hit the player.
- Fixed a bug where a laser on a cart that is destroyed in a hole would not remove its associated laser beams.
- Updated some death animations in the Halloween tileset for a more consistent look.
- Objects being pushed by a conveyor belt or fast-forward and who are not in their initial object state will now always maintain their correct image during animation.
- Misc. bug fixes:
- The player will now correctly interact with the ground square after moving to pick up a chest or other board object.
- Conveyor belts can no longer be pushed offscreen.
- Fixed a bug on Windows where a 'not responding' dialog would temporarily display during long conveyor belt/fast-forward sequences.
- More accurate detection of infinite movement loops (fixed a false positive).
- Fixed a bug where clicking on an ice square would make the game unresponsive.
- Fixed a crash that occurred when a group of blackballs fell together with gravity horizontal.
- Fixed a rare bug that sometimes improperly loaded levels with object connections.
- Fixed several bugs with level solution loading.
- Fixed an improper memory handling issue that occurred when picking up a pickaxe.
- Other:
- Editor now has a wider toolbar to remove the need to scroll down to see more objects.
- The lever toggle sound will now only play if the player has toggled it.
- The 'bump' sound that plays when a player tries to move into something that can't be moved is now played more consistently.
New in elarel 1.1.1 (May 26, 2018)
- You can now click on a square to have elarel move to it, taking the shortest safe path. If a safe path does not exist, the regular "move in direction of click" behavior will still apply.
- Fixed a bug with loading the secret level.
- Fixed a bug where the end screen wouldn't appear.
- Fixed some crashes happening on the main menu.
- elarel no longer walks on the text on the main menu.
- Fixed some unexpected behavior with tileset toggling.
New in elarel 1.1 Build 1106 (May 16, 2018)
- Features 3 new mind-boggling levels for you to explore:
- Try your hand at Level 11: Carts & Lasers, which introduces the main new puzzle objects.
- Watch your step in Level 18: The Reflecting Rooms, a medley of laser and cart puzzles.
- Do you dare to discover the secrets of Level 27: The Old Laboratory? Featuring a brand new spooky tileset!
- Levels:
- Three new levels with new puzzles and objects (Levels 11, 18 and 27).
- Reorganized levels for a better difficulty curve.
- Level 23 of previous versions ("The Thing") moved to user level category.
- Small changes to Levels 2, 6, 7 and 25.
- Object mechanics:
- Arrows, blackballs, and balloons now appear to rest slightly on the block they are trying to move into.
- Balloons can now move through one-way doors and slide on slanted walls.
- Arrows can now switch levers if they hit into them.
- All objects now continue updating until none can make any more moves.
- Objects can now interact with other objects while moving through a conveyor belt.
- Blackballs falling on top of other blackballs can now fall to the left/right even if there is a slanted wall in that position, if the slanted wall is in the appropriate orientation.
- Bug fixes for infinite movement loops (arrows, blackballs, players, etc., using slanted walls, conveyor belts, fastforwards, etc.).
- Graphics:
- Big update to Halloween tileset.
- New black & white tileset (you can switch tilesets by pressing 'T' in-game).
- When a player switches a lever or stands on a pressure plate, the affected objects will now be briefly highlighted onscreen if they are far away (unless they have a special animation, e.g., drawbridge).
- Contrast of several tiles was updated for cleaner look.
- Small graphical changes (transitions for slanted wall corners, ice sides, updated pushbutton & pickaxe images, and more).
- Internal changes:
- Updated save-game format (save games from older versions will not be compatible).
- Improvement to level format to allow for easier connections between objects (see help page on website for details).
- Editor now has support for connecting objects, a "paint can" tool, flip vertical option, and can now set default level tileset and object tool size.
- Bug fix for occasional crash due to improper memory handling.
- Bug fix for improper loading of certain levels introduced in last version.
- Sound effects added for generic object pushing and for toggling conveyor belt.
- Support for loading a regular level using the open dialog box (instead of just loading saved games).
- Simplification of large parts of game engine code allowing for easier coding of new objects.
New in elarel 1.0.7 Build 1058 (Dec 28, 2015)
- Added several images for the winter and Halloween tile sets.
- Added an image for the player holding the pickaxe.
- More objects are now able to be toggled by the lever (slanted walls, arrow passages).
- Animation on main menu.
- Fixed several small bugs.
New in elarel 1.0.6 Build 1049 (Jun 1, 2015)
- Two new user levels (11 & 12) added.
- Reduced processor & energy usage when playing the game & while in menus.
- Mouse input.
- Small changes to levels 6, 10, 14, 22 and 25 to correct errors identified using anonymous user solution data.
- Fixed a crash that would occur when pushing an icy pushblock into a fire (thanks to Michel G. & hedin41).
- Various minor bug fixes.
- Various minor graphical enhancements.
- A few new & changed sound effects.
- Games are now animated on the level select screen.
- Checking for updates and sending anonymous usage data no longer creates small pauses in menus.
- Statistics about player deaths are now sent to us if data sending is enabled.
New in elarel 1.0.5 Build 1030 (Sep 29, 2014)
- Two new levels with new puzzles and objects! (Levels 15 and 25)
- Achievements! You can view achievements and challenge friends using the button at the topleft of the main menu.
- Big changes to Levels 11 & 12, and small changes to Levels 3 & 6.
- Multiple saved games per level! Press V for save and L for load. You can also continue using Q and E for quicksave & quickload. (Thanks to Matt W. for the suggestion.)
- French translation.
- elarel will now check for updates and send anonymous usage data to us periodically, if you give it permission. It will ask you after you have completed three levels.
- Animation when entering/exiting a level.
- Three levels instead of two are now unlocked by default. (Thanks to Matt W. for the suggestion.)
- Level 17 (Frozen Archipelago) will now use the winter tileset by default.
- Reorganized levels for a better difficulty curve.
- The gravity switch button now has a 'middle' position to indicate that gravity is zero in that particular direction.
- The quicksave for a level is now deleted after the level is beaten. (Thanks to Stalph for the suggestion.)
- Fixed a bug where an arrow could go into an infinite loop. (Thanks to Stalph.)
- Fixed a bug where the game would crash if a pushblock was pushed into a broken floor. (Thanks to Stalph and Buffy B.)
- Fixed some other minor bugs.
- Several minor graphical enhancements.
New in elarel 1.0.4 Build 980 (Dec 12, 2013)
- A new winter tileset for the game has been added! You can cycle through the available tilesets using the T key in-game.
- A new level has been added, featuring the new Icy Pushblock! This new level is level 17 of the default levelset. The prior level 17 has been pushed forward.
- Several minor graphical enhancements.
- Fixed some minor bugs.
New in elarel 1.0.3 Build 967 (Oct 23, 2013)
- Some images in the game have been styled for Halloween.
- A second new tileset has been created, available by pressing the 't' key in-game.
- Minor changes have been made to certain levels.
- The sounds for bumping into a wall and using a pickaxe to destroy a block have been changed.
- Graphical bug fixed on level select screen.
- (Mac) Support for OS X Mavericks.
New in elarel 1.0.2 Build 954 (Sep 25, 2013)
- Level 12 is now accessible by default.
- Levels 2 and 3 have been switched.
- Level 2 (formerly 3) has been made significantly easier.
- A new introductory message is displayed when you first start your first level. This message includes basic information on how to play the game. Although this information was already included on our Controls screen, we hope that more players will be able to see it as soon as they start playing by adding this new introductory screen.
- Sounds for bumping into a wall and using a pickaxe to destroy a block have been changed.
- Sound effect volume has been lowered.
- Various minor bug fixes and enhancements.
New in elarel 1.0.1 (Sep 5, 2013)
- The on/off-type generator has had its image changed. The new image better conveys what the object does.
- A bug has been fixed with the on/off-type generators.