A warning about the High Score Logging MOD

#1 Ok, super.

However, I can confirm that all of the current high scores are attainable without cheating, because I always come within 2-5 seconds of them myself. :( On Will o' Wisp, JESUS CHRIST, I got SO DAMN CLOSE, I BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD . . . . and I log on, and someone evidently did the same as me, and boom. Cut my high score by 4 seconds.

:(

But seriously, this mod has probably been the most fun I've had since marble blast entered my life. THIS is the part that will entertain me for years -- tweaking, tweaking, tweaking, and execution!

#2 Oops, hehe. Sorry to mess with your times with my little powerups mod; its just another fun way to play :)

#3 I haven't used that mod, and given that Got Milk? is one of the biggest high scorers, I'm betting he hasn't either.

I will probably be able to recreate every high score except the Hop Skip and Jump one . . . that one was just mad luck. :)

#4 Oh I don't doubt the scores.... It's just that when people see such low scores they get tempted to "fudge" things so they can be number 1.

I'm just eliminating the fudge factor...

Not to mention base scores should be displayed seperately from MOD scores.

#5 Also, what about custom maps?

And is there any security against people changing the map itself? Ie, putting all the gems at the start line, or something fiendish like that?

#6 Q. Also, what about custom maps?
A. Custom Times

Most likely there will be some delay in time for when a custom map is released and when I'll be able to securely support the Scores in the future.

Q. And is there any security against people changing the map itself? Ie, putting all the gems at the start line, or something fiendish like that?
A. That's exactly what I'm adding this weekend.

Other features that I am adding:

1. Verification of Score Logging MOD version.
2. Verification of Marble Blast Version.
3. Loaded MOD checking.
4. Something on the MainMenu to show that the MOD is running.
5. Auto-Updateing of the MOD.

#7 Excellent, Smithers.

#8 You might not be surprised to find out Got Milk has been playing the game for over 4 months. Hint, Hint

#9 There was a Got Milk? on the Tribes dev team too, as I recall.

I'm kind of wondering about recording demos in Marble Blast. Making a movie with Fraps is VERY hard-drive consuming if you don't get it right on the first try. The best solution (like in Tribes) is to record a demo of it, which takes up less space, and when you get it right, capture the movie from playing back the demo.

I wonder because obviously you can play back demos, but there doesn't seem to be a mechanism for recording them or selecting which ones to play back. Are those features there, but just not in the GUI? So someone could make a mod that lets us do that?

Cool beans. Oh yeah, and I can't wait for the new High Score mod. Gonna be a lot more people on it when you can assure them that people aren't cheating. :)

#10 Got Milk? on the Tribes dev team and on the Marble Blast one... coincidence?

Well, the demo recording feature does work, sort of, in Marble Blast - but there's no gui for it, and you have to be careful about how you do it - basically, from the level select gui, bring up the console with the ~ key and type

$doDemoRecord = true;

When you select and play a level, the game will record a demo to the file:
/marble/client/demos/demo.rec

You can then rename the demo from the explorer or whatever, and it will play from the main menu if you leave the game idle for 10 seconds (along with all the other demos). To play a demo directly, from the level select screen bring up the console and type:

playDemo("marble/client/demos/demo.rec");

The demo recorder will record all the way up until you go back to the level select screen, so if you want a one-time through demo, make sure you exit out each time you fall off.

If I get some time I'm going to make the demo recorder a lot more robust, but that'll be after the release of the mac build and such. Also for now demo files are not guaranteed to work between different versions of the game, so when I do the next release (really soon), it might break any demos you have.

#11 That's ok, I was just looking into it as a means to record gameplay for later conversion to an avi or something; you could make video tutorials on how to pass a certain level that way, or to show off a particularly impressive technique.

#12 I gave that a try, but for some reason the .rec isn't showing up! Aaaaargh! I've tried it up the wazoo, but it isn't working! It seems like it's recording it, no error messages or anything, but it DOESN'T SHOW UP, and I searched the whole HD for .rec files. Muaaaargh, and I got a GREAT run that I *thought* was recorded, too . . . . . MUARRRRRGH.

There are only 3 .rec files in the directory, the ones that ship with the game -- survival, finale, and threefold.

#13 Oops... my bad -

you need to set $doRecordDemo = true;

not doDemoRecord... sorry Luc!

#14 Ah, excellent excellent excellent! thx