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Map Editor, Photoshop Tool Coming To Braid

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-things-in-time dept.

Erik J writes "Braid creator Jonathon Blow has revealed that a map editor and image tool will be added to the popular puzzle game. First, though, Braid will receive a patch to fix some issues players have reported. Blow explains: 'After I get a new version out in a few days that fixes the problems some people are having, and when more people have played/finished the game, I am going to post some documentation for the editor. The way it works is you can make levels with the editor (up to a full game, potentially) and run that with -universe later... also a tool will be released that lets you take Photoshop files and import them into the game, if you want to put new graphics in your levels.' It is unclear if these capabilities are coming only to PC or to the Xbox 360 version as well."

34 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. "Photoshop files"? by FooAtWFU · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like .psd files? Or, um, normal image jpeg gif png et cetera like the rest of the world uses?

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    1. Re:"Photoshop files"? by fake_name · · Score: 1

      The import tool may make use of photoshop layers to simplify the process of moving from your image work to actual level; it could also be able to make use of alpha maps and similar extra channels that more common image formats like jpeg lack.

      If the tool already exists for the developers, and it already is designed to work with .PSD files (because that is what they use in their workflow) then it might not support other layered image formats.

    2. Re:"Photoshop files"? by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      .PSD files are normal image files.

      More normalized than tif.

      Also file format support is available in many other applications. Except for the default OS image viewer pretty much every image app I use can read and write PSDs.

    3. Re:"Photoshop files"? by Goaway · · Score: 1

      It just feel wrong to call that complete and utter mess of a file format "normal".

  2. Are we still talking about Braid? by popo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why do I get the feeling that many more people discuss this game on Slashdot than actually play it?

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by orkybash · · Score: 3, Informative

      Considering that the long-awaited PC version was just released a few days ago and people who didn't have access to XBox Live are just starting to play it, this game isn't exactly old news to some people even though it may be to you.

    2. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Sardak · · Score: 1

      Considering that the long-awaited PC version was just released a few days ago and people who didn't have access to XBox Live are just starting to play it, this game isn't exactly old news to some people even though it may be to you.

      I had to look it up on Wikipedia, as I had never heard of the game before (I refuse to own or play an Xbox, which may have something to do with it). I can't see what all the hype is about, though. It looks like a fairly standard Mario-clone that copies the time reversal mechanic from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The graphics aren't particularly good, I've seen better looking Flash games. Is there something I'm missing that should make me even care that it exists, let alone that I might be able to mod it?

    3. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Nightspirit · · Score: 1

      The music fits the environment perfectly and some of the puzzles are pretty clever. What more do you want for $15?

    4. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      It looks like a fairly standard Mario-clone that copies the time reversal mechanic from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

      Braid's time mechanic is more complex. You can go back and forth in time freely; some objects react to the reversal, some keep going forward; in some levels, time flows according to the player's movements. It's really interesting and fun.

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    5. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Amouth · · Score: 1

      funny you should say that.. i've never heard of it till today.. i was listening to some collections on magnatunes today and heard the songs from the game.. it caught my ear and when i went to find more by the artist i found it was a game sound track.

      i acutly have the Steam page for it open in another tab and was debating if i should buy it and try it out.. I think i will now - the sound track is exceptionaly well made - if it does flow well into the game then the it should be quite enjoyable

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    6. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Anenome · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It actually is quite deep in its quality of gameplay. The gameplay gimmick isn't simply 'rewinding time', as some have dismissed it. The game begins adding layers to the onion quite quickly as each level introduces a newly added concept to the stable of gameplay.
      -The first level is, simply, time rewinding. But unlike Prince of Persia the amount of rewinding is infinite, and if you rewind too far, simply fast forward to the spot you missed.
      - The second level introduces items which aren't affected by time reversal, leading to significantly increased puzzle-platforming.
      - The third introduces the idea of, how would one describe it, shadow-gameplay? Where what you do is mimic'd by your shadow after you do it, allowing you to accomplish two things at once, effectively.
      - The next gimmick is to tie your lateral movement to the movement of time. So if you're moving to the right, time advances, but if you're moving left time rewinds for all characters and items onscreen.
      - Later you're given a ring that is capable of slowing the local passage of time to a near stand-still. You can drop this ring wherever you want and do things like massively slow the number of cannonballs fired from a cannon in a minute, or cause enemies to bunch up in place. Almost like a miniature black-hole, because the time dilation radiates outward and then get faster and faster the further away you are. One puzzle that was really crazy, near the end, had you manipulating a series of three piranha plants (there are more than a few similar nods to Mario) using time reversal in order to allow a series of time-immune enemies to walk past these plants, and the tough thing was that you needed two of them in a row to do the move.
      - The last gimmick had time running in the backwards entirely. So, enemies would fly up onto the screen where they were shown to have just been scorched by a fire-bed and then would be quickly sucked into a cannon where it came from, and using this feature you could interfere with that process and neat things would happen, it was fairly crazy.

      The boss battles were especially creative and enjoyable without being overwhelming. The end of the show was also extremely well thought out, and I will not give-away the end for anyone :) I will say that the books detailing the 'story' along the way are exercises in deliberate confuzzlement, they don't particularly make sense, I think they tried a bit to hard to be profound and then just ended up like so much gibberish, and the end acknowledges this fact at least. The final prognosis is that Braid is the latest in a series of well-thought out and perfectly executed 'short games', much like a short-story that began with, arguably, 'World of Goo' and have dramatically upped the ante for originality in platforming and the question of 'what is a game?' and what makes one fun. Another recent win is 'And Yet It Moves' which moves the world around the player in order to accomplish platforming goals and tiny integrated minigames. We may be entering a new golden age of gaming where a single producer finally has enough technological leverage to create wonderful titles like these and come out on top. This is the avant-garde of the game industry. Braid's great, try it and buy it.

      --
      "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist"
    7. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by DeadDecoy · · Score: 1

      Hmm...I haven't really played Prince of Persia, but I'm playing Braid and I'd have to say the levels are fairly well crafted. The time mechanic isn't simply a gimmick but essential in beating all (but the tutorial) levels. Not to mention, that the story, artwork, and music blend together for a nice ambiance. I'd probably liken Braid to Portal for it's ingenuity rather than Mario + Prince of Persia for its mechanics.

    8. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Malenfrant · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't bother. I have also only just heard of it, so I downloaded the demo. Not even worth the time it took to download and install. Also, I absolutely detest games (or any software really) that doesn't close when you select quit. Forcing me to watch some stupid exit sequence is NOT going to persuade me to buy your game.

    9. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by interkin3tic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A shorter way of saying what Anenome is getting at is: you can't judge a game by a wiki page.

    10. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Why do I get the feeling that many more people discuss this game on Slashdot than actually play it?

      I get that feeling about most games. All threads concerning games on /. quickly turn into DRM discussions. Even when there is no DRM.

      I guess that was a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy there...

    11. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by EvanED · · Score: 1

      Just to counter the other reply, I would say that I, all of my friends, and most of the people who I've heard opinions of second-hand have said it's just a great game. Personally, I felt largely the same sort of "wow, this is really cool" feeling I got when playing Portal. (Not quite the same because I didn't get the same sense of "this would be really cool to do in real life" or anything like that, just from a gameplay sense.)

      (And the soundtrack is not an integral part of the game from a gameplay sense, but it is great from a ambiance sense, and the way it works into the time mechanic is just really well done.)

    12. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Robmonster · · Score: 1

      That might just be the demo. There isn't any exit sequence in the full game, or at least there isn't for me on the Steam version.

      --
      I have no sig yet I must scream.
    13. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Barny · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you can't judge anything by a wiki page.

      There we go, fixed that up for you.

      It really is a great game, just onto world 3 (the second one) and am really starting to get hooked, worth the cash for it at any rate.

      Steam clicky

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
    14. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by orta · · Score: 1

      the boss battle was kind of a pig-dog king that you had to knock chandaliers onto (btw thats not a spoiler) you fight it twice using different manipulations of time. Its pretty clever.

      --
      my band is more brutal techno punk than yours
    15. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by bFusion · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is no exit sequence in the full game on the Steam version.

    16. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by bFusion · · Score: 1

      I found this game on Steam last weekend. Purchased it and beat it over the next day or two. It's not a terribly long game but WELL worth $15 for the quality (of graphics/music/puzzles/story) you get. It's quite an exceptional game.

    17. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by bFusion · · Score: 1

      I guess it was only dull to you because you didn't get to shoot people's faces off with a shotgun? Otherwise I'm guessing you're just a troll. Any reasonable "gamer" would appreciate this game simply for all the levels of meaning and interaction inherent in the game.

    18. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Amouth · · Score: 1

      well too late i bought it - and i'm impresed with it..

      yes it is a rip off of so many older games - the music to game interaction is just wonderful - along with some of the puzzles are quite fun and and when you get them almost face palm moments.

      and i really love the start of the game.. you run it.. and your there.. you think your at a loading screen but no.. your ready to play.

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    19. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by sammy+baby · · Score: 1

      Bastard. Now I'm going to have to try it again.

    20. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by Amouth · · Score: 1

      it really is a fun game.. and the way they did the time aspect and it's integration with the music is truly wonderful

      (broke down and got it last night)

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    21. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by TheSambassador · · Score: 1

      Remember, "better" is a subjective term.

      I think the game is absolutely gorgeous... the backgrounds especially, but the entire pastel look is really cool. Show me a flash game that has something that's actually beautiful, not just "zomg 3d flash!"

      Not to mention that the levels actually make you think. Did Mario do that for you? Prince of Persia maybe, but the time reversal mechanic of Prince of Persia was essentially just an extra life. In Braid you use it in... SO many ways. Get past world 1 and maybe you'll see.

    22. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by TheSambassador · · Score: 1

      ZOMG DRM SUX. It only hurts the customer experience! Pirates won't be stopped by it!

    23. Re:Are we still talking about Braid? by $1uck · · Score: 1

      I rather enjoyed the game. My one complaint though is damn it's hard and the difficulty curve is steep. Maybe if the game had 3 times as many levels, with varying degrees of difficulty that helped you learn what you needed to do, I could finish the game. Portal is a game that goes from easy to insanely difficult, but working through each level "trains" you up to where the end is achievable.

  3. Re:My main concern by erroneus · · Score: 1

    To be fair, "sabotage" is a French word. What would "sabot" and "-age" be in Italian anyway? (Sabot is a kind of shoe I believe... -age... no idea)

  4. Re:Interesting? by orta · · Score: 2, Informative

    Even though this has been answered a few times in the comments, Braid really is a game worth playing. The puzzles are genuinely intelligent and nearly all of them have an 'ah' moment when you suddenly get it. You can skip levels and come back for them later, once you've got a better grip on some of the mechanics. And the storyline is engrossing if you're the thinking type. Its not a long game, I think I completed the entire thing in a 5-6 hours session, but its not a game I'll forget anytime soon.

    --
    my band is more brutal techno punk than yours
  5. Photoshop tool? Let me be the first to say ... by tomhudson · · Score: 1

    "Fark that!"

    What, you thought I was going to make a "We welcome our photoshopping overlords" comment? The overlords are dead - netcraft confirmed it. That's what you get for basing your borg on bsd.

  6. Am I the only one... by BlitzTech · · Score: 2, Insightful

    who thought Braid left a little something to be desired? It was fun for about 2 hours, but the last hour or so I felt was a bit tedious and not nearly as interesting as the first two. Unfortunately, since it's a static puzzle game, there's very little replay value (except the challenges), though that's not something I'd really fault it for. I guess I was expecting something more for the way people talked about it. I certainly haven't recommended it to anyone I know further than a pithy 'it was interesting'.

    In my opinion, Portal (mentioned above) was far superior in quality. The challenges were more than time trials (ever tried to complete the Fewest Portal challenges? Talk about tricky!), and the overall gameplay was more challenging. Admittedly, there was a team behind Portal and only John B. behind Braid, but for two similarly priced games ($20 for Portal vs $15 for Braid), I would have expected reasonably similar quality.

    Just wanted to express my $0.02 with respect to what I perceive as a slightly overhyped game.

    1. Re:Am I the only one... by Peganthyrus · · Score: 1

      There's a very hardcore skill challenge in Braid: Find all the stars and make the constellation light up.

      --
      egypt urnash minimal art.
  7. Re:My main concern by Zerth · · Score: 1

    I believe the italian form of -age is -atico or -aggio, so it could be sabotatico or sabotaggio. Probably the latter.

    -age is both a way to make a collective noun or to "something" related to the base word. E.G. foliage is a bunch of leafy stuff(foille+age), voyage is the thing that happens when you go somewhere(via-age)

    Thus sabotage is "that action we have no word for that you do with noisy wooden shoes". If it had been german, it'd probably be "destroyMachineswithShoes"(zerstörenMaschinenmitSchuhen?)

    Anyway, a linguist will be along shortly to rip me a new one.