When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

mutantdevle · 2017-08-29 10:48:13

I think most people can agree that invisible blocks and gravity are a huge annoyance. They can easily turn an otherwise great level into a very detested one. Invisible gravity and blocks are commonly used without warning and in most cases there is nothing to indicate you are about to be screwed over by something complete out of control. To me, they just seem to be a play thing of new users who like to make their levels as bs as possible. At least, that's the use I've mainly seen them for. It's very rare that I see an experienced level designer use invisible gravity.

Invisible blocks do often have the use of making the in game art remain neat but they can also be quite annoying if there is nothing to indicate they will be used. Other secret blocks also have their uses but does anyone really enjoy those invisible maze minis? On the other hand I don't think invisible gravity has much of a use at all. In most cases invisible gravity can be replaced with the regular variant and maintain it's gameplay purpose. Unless of course you are using invisible gravity to deliberately make the mini annoying in which case you should probably just burn it.

These are the scenarios in which I think it may be okay to use invisible gravity:

Transporting a player somewhere (through "pipes" etc.) - Whichever gravity you use here doesn't really have much difference.
To make systems look neater - This is pointless in my opinion as systems almost never look neat anyway.
To maintain the quality of the in game art - Almost never done right. You shouldn't be sacrificing gameplay to make the world look slightly nicer. Though, if you can change the gravity to invisible without the gameplay suffering, then I am all for it.
For a gameplay purpose - A prime example is when the background indicates that there is invisible gravity there.

So what do you think? When is it okay to use invisible gravity (or blocks) if at all? Do you use invisible gravity in your own worlds? I'm also interested to see if anyone has an example world where invisible gravity is used effectively.

LukeM · 2017-08-29 11:21:11

IMO it is ok when it can't cause you to fail, like in your art situations (if you're just going past them, and not doing minis) or when t is obvious that they are there, e.g. when a whole area is filled with them, although you don't need to do that anymore now we have the gravity effects (well I guess there is no slow dot effect)

tl;dr; aesthetic reasons, where you can't be tricked by them

Norwee · 2017-08-29 11:21:31

When you trick the player into thinking he can get the crown but then you block it off with invisible arrows.

LukeM · 2017-08-29 11:31:59

NorwegianboyEE wrote:

When you trick the player into thinking he can get the crown but then you block it off with invisible arrows.

I kinda like these ones XD:

mutantdevle, Latif, MartenM, Norwee, TaskManager, Xfrogman43, RavaTroll, N1KF, sapizza, Vinyl Melody, Jedpogi

Latif · 2017-08-29 11:38:47

destroyer123 wrote:

NorwegianboyEE wrote:
When you trick the player into thinking he can get the crown but then you block it off with invisible arrows.
I kinda like these ones XD:
https://image.prntscr.com/image/ey0fvTU … WZbtgw.png

That's just very evil

kreacher · 2017-08-29 12:41:32

For water, for example in need for steed (campaign level)

mutantdevle, 21Twelve

peace · 2017-08-29 15:46:57

when popushing a player one blcok higher wihtou placing a nugly arrow

Pingohits

Luka504 · 2017-08-29 16:05:21

Invisible gravity is only really only annoying if they lead to an unfair death. If you jump on a platform that looks safe only to be pushed off by invisible gravity and die in a pit of spikes. That's bad design. However if your world has conveyor belts that push you with invisible gravity, then if you jump on the conveyor and get pushed into a pit of spikes, then it's fine. You know that conveyors push you and you shouldn't jump on them. So it's mostly about telegraphing where an invisble arrow could be.
However sometimes you want to push the player into the next part of the level. Let's say you are playing a story world and you are being chased by a monster, you reach a cliff you think you can jump over, you jump and the arrows push you into the cliff. However, the player is meant to fall off the cliff to continue the story. That is fine.
If you ever add invisible arrows to your world, ask yourself: "If I was the player and this was my first time playing, would i know those arrows were there?" If its a no maybe it's better to just use regular arrows.

mutantdevle, MartenM, LukeM, kreacher, Xfrogman43, sapizza, CommanderKitten

peace · 2017-08-29 16:42:01

Luka504 wrote:

If you ever add invisible arrows to your world, ask yourself: "If I was the player and this was my first time playing, would i know those arrows were there?" If its a no maybe it's better to just use regular arrows.

troll worlds exist where everything is a mistery

Tomch · 2017-08-29 18:03:04

^^

The only worlds I make are misery-inducing. Oh well.

Slabdrill · 2017-08-29 18:15:54

Whenever you can tell that it's there, or they're part of the gimmick (I've done this in at least 2 worlds)

Even if it's for art purposes, I likely still won't know it's there - and as such will promptly rq. However, a dot-filled room I can probably guess will completely be a dot-filled room.

For stuff like invisible walls to prevent going OoB, i usually prefer using secret blocks (pretty much the only time i'll use them).

Sensei1 · 2017-08-29 18:17:00

Sure it's fine to use them. Many people use them to make art look cleaner, but you just have to remember to make sure that the player knows where the invisible gravity/blocks are (Or that the invisible stuff is completely harmless). Here are some of my uses for them:

Planets: http://everybodyedits.com/games/PWe-bF5HaicEI
-Dots in pipes, just to make them look better
-Inv wall on the left from spawn to make sure you don't fall

Co-op: http://everybodyedits.com/games/PWZE2RkXA9cEI
-Inv blocks to make bg "solid". There are just two colours so it's clear which bg is solid and which is not.

Last Room: http://everybodyedits.com/games/PWFaUW1qzYb0I
-This world uses inv blocks for actual gameplay. It's memory based minis basically.

mutantdevle, CommanderKitten

PiotrGrochowski · 2017-08-30 11:54:50

destroyer123 wrote:

IMO it is ok when it can't cause you to fail, like in your art situations (if you're just going past them, and not doing minis) or when t is obvious that they are there, e.g. when a whole area is filled with them, although you don't need to do that anymore now we have the gravity effects (well I guess there is no slow dot effect)
tl;dr; aesthetic reasons, where you can't be tricked by them

Slow dot is climbable, like ladder/chain/rope/vine. Wouldn't it be weird to have climbing gravity?

peace · 2017-08-30 14:08:38

PiotrGrochowski wrote:

destroyer123 wrote:
IMO it is ok when it can't cause you to fail, like in your art situations (if you're just going past them, and not doing minis) or when t is obvious that they are there, e.g. when a whole area is filled with them, although you don't need to do that anymore now we have the gravity effects (well I guess there is no slow dot effect)
tl;dr; aesthetic reasons, where you can't be tricked by them
Slow dot is climbable, like ladder/chain/rope/vine. Wouldn't it be weird to have climbing gravity?

we have the small dot

PiotrGrochowski · 2017-08-30 14:18:04

peace wrote:

PiotrGrochowski wrote:
destroyer123 wrote:
IMO it is ok when it can't cause you to fail, like in your art situations (if you're just going past them, and not doing minis) or when t is obvious that they are there, e.g. when a whole area is filled with them, although you don't need to do that anymore now we have the gravity effects (well I guess there is no slow dot effect)
tl;dr; aesthetic reasons, where you can't be tricked by them
Slow dot is climbable, like ladder/chain/rope/vine. Wouldn't it be weird to have climbing gravity?
we have the small dot

what do you mean?

Guest. · 2017-08-30 22:59:24

never

mutantdevle

HeyNK · 2017-08-31 00:23:44

Whenever I see invisible gravity, an unseen force pushes me to the lobby. I cannot explain it.

mutantdevle, skullz17

Official Everybody Edits Forums

#1 2017-08-29 10:48:13

When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#2 2017-08-29 11:21:11, last edited by LukeM (2017-08-29 11:22:14)

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#3 2017-08-29 11:21:31

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#4 2017-08-29 11:31:59

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#5 2017-08-29 11:38:47

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#6 2017-08-29 12:41:32

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#7 2017-08-29 15:46:57

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#8 2017-08-29 16:05:21

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#9 2017-08-29 16:42:01

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#10 2017-08-29 18:03:04

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#11 2017-08-29 18:15:54, last edited by Slabdrill (2017-08-29 18:20:14)

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#12 2017-08-29 18:17:00

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

#13 2017-08-30 11:54:50

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#14 2017-08-30 14:08:38

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#15 2017-08-30 14:18:04

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#16 2017-08-30 22:59:24

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#17 2017-08-31 00:23:44

Re: When is it okay to use invisible arrows?

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