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Welcome to the Elements Reference of Rocks'n'Diamonds. This document is part of the Rocks'n'Diamonds Documentation ( F.A.Q. - User's Manual - Elements Reference - Editor Tutorial )
This document has been written and is currently maintained by Francesco S. Carta. Your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.
Rocks'n'Diamonds has been created by Holger Schemel, from Artsoft Entertainment. The program is currently being developed and supported by its author.
If you are interested in level editing, you should take note that
this reference is mainly made up of "standard gameplay" informations.
Here you will find out what a YamYam is, but
there will be no information on how to customize its content. Read the Editor Tutorial for such kind of
instructions,
as well for a (hopefully) exhaustive guide to Custom Elements
programming.
Speaking of CEs, you should read the final
note, which applies to all non-CE elements - in other words, it
applies to all the elements of this reference.
The following abbreviations will be used all along this document,
meaning the groups of the Elements List where each element can be found:
The elements could have been grouped according to their "native games", but since a RnD level can contain any element from any game, they will be grouped mainly by their behaviour/properties.
Some elements could appear in a section of this document just
because they seem to belong to that section. For example, the fake
grass, which behaves just like a normal wall, appears in the same
section of sand and grass, that are diggable elements.
Before introducing any particular element, you may wish to read the
following section.
The Rocks'n'Diamonds World is composed by several levels, also
called maps. The levels are called caves or mines, too, but these names
are habitually used for BoulderDash-style and EmeraldMine-style levels.
The tile (also called field, case or square) is the unit of
measure of the space.
Each level has a finite size - minimum 3x3 tiles, maximum 128x128
tiles.
The edges of the level are indestructible.
Each tile can contain either:
In each level, the objects' gravity is always active, while the players' gravity can be independently set
to on and off.
The wind could blow
or not, on a RnD level: Balloons
(and eventually CEs) will move
according to the wind direction.
The "empty space" tiles are the base where everything happens - or is drawn on, if you are in the editor.
The objects, the creatures and the players can freely occupy, move
on or fall through the empty space.
The "element" category includes every single thing that appears on a
map. Rocks, gems, walls, players and
enemies are all "elements".
Some elements can only stand in their tiles (walls, sand, doors).
Some elements will fall if they have an empty tile below (gems,
rocks, nuts).
Some elements can move (any creature/enemy
in general). These
creatures will always move, or at least they will try to: they stop
moving only if they are completely surrounded by other elements (that
is, if they have no empty tiles around). Since all the movements are
either vertical or horizontal, an element is "stuck" or "blocked" when
it has an element above, one beneath, one to the left and another to
the right, just like the bug blocked by the four
sand fields shown by
the following picture:
There is an exception: the android can move
along the diagonals.
In
order to completely block an android, all the tiles must be occupied -
those at the sides and those at the corners:
In the world of RnD (just like in the games that
it includes) the players have the ability to "fly". In other words,
they don't fall down as gems and rocks do. The players are Rockford and Murphy.
The "players' gravity" concept has been introduced by Supaplex (all
the other games didn't have such gravity, they used only the "objects'
gravity").
In RnD, a player falls down if its "player's gravity" is active or
not.
Usually, the "player's gravity" is simply called "gravity", as the
"objects' gravity" is alway present/active.
The gravity can be active or not, when a level starts, and the
gravity will be switched on or off when a player passes through a
gravity port.
As said above, each player has its own gravity, so, if player 1
passes through a gravity port in a map where there is gravity, the
gravity will be turned off only for player 1, while any other player
will keep falling down.
The gravity for each player can also be changed by a CE.
Any player can:
Any player will:
Due to the fact that RnD uses different game engines, the presence of a
particular element on the level (during the gameplay) depends on the
engine that is being used for that level.
As of today, RnD has its own engine (which supports all elements) and an EM engine (which supports only EM/EMC elements).
Apart from the elements they can handle, there is also a difference
of timing, between these two engines. The
RnD engine behaves more like the real world, where any thing can move
at any time. The EM engine, on the contrary, forces any movement to
start according to a clock that ticks every 8 frames (50 frames equal
to one second). This process is called synchronization. RnD is an
asynchronous engine, while EM is a synchronous one.
The word "synchronous" means "having the same time", while the word
"asynchronous" means "having different time" (these words are derived
from Greek language).
If the engine can't recognize some of the elements found in the map, they will be shown as question marks during the gameplay. The engine choice can be made in the INFO page of each level.
This section includes all the tasks that are necessary to successfully complete a level. Each level requires one or more of them.
Most of the levels you could ever play will ask you to collect Gems until the Emerald counter of the gameplay panel reaches zero.
Nice and harmless, kind and sweet, Penguins get killed quite easily. Your task is to rescue them.
The CheckPoint concept is represented by Switchable Lamps. You have to light up all of them.
If there is any Sokoban object on the map, you have to bring it to its relative field.
If there is an Exit Door on the map, you must pass through it in order to complete the level.
Standard Sokoban levels have no exit door at all.
Falling rocks can smash Players and Creatures. Falling rocks also crush EM-style Diamonds, Pearls and Switchable Lamps, and they can open up Nuts with Emeralds.
A falling rock can turn on and off pretty all kinds of switches (like those that control the Light, the Conveyor-Belts and the Switch Gates).
Rocks can pass through the Quicksand.
EM
Normal rocks can be pushed only in one way: the player pushes the rock moving towards it, finally occupying the place where the rock originally was.
BD
BD-style rocks can be pushed normally, and they can be also snap-pushed: it means that you can push these rocks without moving the player. Snap-pushing is done by holding the snap key and pressing a direction key.
During the gameplay, BD-style rocks will look like normal rocks: you can distinguish them trying to snap-push them.
From inside the editor, the BD-style rock can be distinguished by its "flat" appearance.
SP
The zonk behaves just like a normal rock (that is, it can't be snap-pushed). A zonk is somewhat lighter than regular rocks, so it can be pushed faster. In SP, some tricks take advantage of this "faster" kind of rock.
Zonks cannot pass through the Quicksand.
In RnD there are different kinds of gems. All the gems can fall, are slippery for any other falling object and, exception made for the pearl, they will smash the player. All gems are collectible and snappable.
The unit of measure used by the RnD gameplay panel is the "emerald".
The exit door of a level/cave should open up
when the emerald counter gets to zero. Any gem counts as one or more
emeralds.
Follows the list of all the gems, grouped by value.
BD
BD-style Diamonds can smash Fireflies and Butterflies. BD-style Diamonds can be found
inside Butterflies as well
inside the
standard BD-style Amoeba.
EM
Emeralds can be found inside Bugs and Nuts. They can be found inside the green player, as well.
RnD
Colored gems can be found inside Players and
Moles.
SP
Infotrons can be found inside Murphy and
inside Electrons.
EM
A diamond counts as three (3) emeralds. Any falling rock will crush
the diamond. Diamonds can be found inside Bugs.
They are sometimes found inside Amoebas.
DC2
A pearl count as five (5) emeralds. Pearls are very fragile: they break up when they fall or when they are smashed by rocks. Unlike the other gems, a falling pearl will not smash the player.
Crystal, DC2
A crystal counts as eight (8) emeralds. Crystals are indestructible.
All the gems can be found enclosed in normal walls:
EM
RnD
DC2
Destroy the walls to free the gems.
Emeralds can be found inside nuts:
Nut with emerald, EM
Drop a rock onto a nut to open it and free the enclosed emerald. Nuts are destructible. If you destroy a nut you lose its emerald.
There is another, more detailed section about Players, here are some other details:
When killed, players explode over a 3x3 area of tiles.
Rockford leaves 9 gems after its explosion. Murphy leaves 9 infotrons when smashed, but not when killed by an enemy.
If a level has a limited amount of time/steps in order to be completed, at the end of the time/steps the player explodes.
Standard Supaplex levels have no time limit, but it is possible to set it from the editor, so you could find Supaplex levels that actually have a time limit.
The time limit can be overridden from the Setup > Game menu.
Yellow Rockford, player 1
Red Rockford, player 2
Green Rockford, player 3
Blue Rockford, player 4
Murphy, player 1, SP
Murphy is the player used in Supaplex levels. Original SP levels have been designed for one player only, but you can put Murphy together with a player nr. 2, 3 or 4, in a RnD level. Notice that you can't put both Murphy and the Yellow Rockford on a level: only one of them will be used as player 1.
All exit doors are destructible and are not slippery, just like normal walls.
Any closed exit door will open up when the emerald counter reaches zero.
The RnD engine recognizes the Sokoban elements: if there is any Sokoban field on the level, it must be filled/occupied by a Sokoban object, otherwise the exit door won't open.
The RnD engine recognizes the Switchable Lamps: they are sort of check-points, which use the same graphics of the SB objects (the light bulbs). You have to turn on (by pressing them) all Switchable Lamps in order to open the exit door.
Sometimes, you will actually pass through an open exit door, but you will not successfully complete the level. This can happen only in one case: there was some Penguin on the map, and it didn't exit from that door before the player.
Sokoban elements, Switchable Lamps and Penguins will be ignored and replaced with regular walls by the EM engine. Using the EM engine, any closed exit door will open up as soon as the emerald counter reaches zero.
Standard
exit door, closed and open, BD
SP
The Supaplex exit door looks the same regardless of being closed or open.
Notice that you can put/find all the three types of exit door on a level: open doors will allow exiting (completing) the level regardless of having accomplished any particular task (collecting gems, switching lamps or filling SB fields) - you should still take care of any Penguin, if present on the map.
All closed doors will open as soon as the needed tasks are accomplished. SP doors start the gameplay in closed state, unless the emerald counter is already set to zero.
Sometimes you could find a level that has no exit door at all, and then you are facing one of the following cases:
Diggable elements can be digged by the player (and also by some enemies/creatures). Some elements, like the Amoeba, can grow into diggable elements.
Players can snap-dig a diggable element using the snap key and the direction keys.
All diggable elements can be destroyed by an explosion (either caused by a dynabomb, by another explosive or by smashing an enemy/creature). The "fakes/traps" listed below are destructible too.
Sand, BD, EM
The Mole leaves back sand fields.
Grass, EM
Base, SP
Fake
Grass, EMC
The fake grass looks like normal grass during the gameplay: it can't be digged but it can be bombed away. To distinguish them in the editor, the black and white picture above will be used. Note that the b/w image above is used also for the invisible sand.
During the gameplay, the fake grass turns to b/w for a short time when the player collects a Magnifier.
Land Mine, DC2
If you can see some kind of circle, in the sand field of the above picture, then you can spot a land mine. Land mines can't be snapped, and will kill any player stepping onto it.
Trap
(open
and closed), DX
When a trap is open, it will kill the player. When it is closed, it behaves just like normal sand and can be safely digged. A closed trap can be recognized by the small black cross shown in the middle of the sand field.
Buggy base
(active and inactive), SP
An active buggy base will kill the player. When it is inactive, it looks like a normal base and can be safely digged by the player.
Snapping a trap or a buggy base is always safe. If they are in normal state, they will be snap-digged; if they are active, nothing will happen.
There are two main kinds of wall: normal walls and steel walls. The first are called so because they can be destroyed by an explosion (either caused by a dynabomb, by another explosive or by smashing an enemy/creature), the second are completely indestructible.
Normal walls are destructible and are not slippery. Walls with gems are all normal walls.
BD
RND
EMC
EMC
EMC
TXT
RnD contains a special section called TXT, which holds punctuation characters, letters and numbers. They are all considered as normal walls, so they can be destroyed and they are not slippery.
The Text tool of the editor allows "typing" these elements on the level using the keyboard.
BD
The rounded-style picture above will be used only in the editor. During the gameplay, the BD-style slippery wall will look like a normal wall.
EM
EMC
SP
Steel walls are indestructible and are not slippery.
BD, EM
Note: In original Emerald Mine and Emerald Mine Club games, emeralds and diamonds do slip off the above kind of steel wall, although other elements that can fall down (like the Nut with Emerald) don't slip off it. The behaviour of these gems (whether they should slip off or not) can be configured in the level editor.
DC2
SP
SP
EMC
DC2
Magic walls can change some elements into some other. Magic walls get activated when they are hit by a falling element, and this element must be one of those they can change.
Infotrons, zonks, pearls and crystals can't pass through any magic wall.
Once activated, the magic walls stay active for a fixed amount of time (which is around ten seconds, by default). The amount of active time, given in seconds, can be set in the configuration pages, from within the editor. If you set the time to 0 seconds the magic wall stays active forever.
There are two separate timers, one for the BD-style magic wall and another for the EM-style magic wall. All the magic walls of one given style get activated at the same time. When a magic wall gets deactivated, it can't be activated again.
If an element is inside the magic wall when the "magic time" ends, then the object will be caught by the wall.
Magic walls are destructible just like normal walls.
BD
Changes to
to and so on
Even if BD-style magic walls should change only BD-style rocks to BD-style diamonds and vice-versa, actually they can change also EM-style rocks, emeralds, EM-style diamonds and colored gems.
The result of a change will be always a BD-style rock or a BD-style diamond. This can be very important, because an EM-style diamond counts as three emeralds, and passing through a BD-style magic wall, it loses its value.
EM
Changes to
to
to and so on
As above, EM-style magic walls should accept only EM-style rocks, diamonds and emeralds, but they will actually accept also BD-style rocks and BD-style diamonds, as well as the colored gems. Even if a BD-style diamond counts as an emerald, when it enters an EM-style magic wall, it will be changed into an EM-style rock, not into an EM-style diamond.
All the growing walls are destructible, and they will look like normal walls during the gameplay.
Inside of the editor they will use the following pictures:
BD-style growing wall,
horizontal
The BD-style growing wall grows on both the left and the right sides. Nothing can definitely stop its growth.
RnD-style growing wall,
horizontal
and vertical
RnD growing walls stop growing if they meet another wall, and won't grow anymore even if the blocking wall is later destroyed. Sand, gems and other obstacles will stop the growth of these walls only temporarily.
RnD-style growing
wall,
all
directions
The all-direction growing wall can't die-off, even if surrounded by walls. This growing wall will take all the adjacent free tiles it faces to, anytime.
RnD-style growing
wall,
horizontal,
visible
Both ends of this growing wall are "incomplete" like in the picture above, as a hint to the player. This wall can die-off just like the horizontal and vertical RnD growing walls.
All the creatures can be killed by dropping a rock onto them. Most of them will explode over a 3x3 area (their own tile plus all the surrounding tiles).
Some creatures will simply explode, and any destructible thing in their explosion area will be destroyed, either disappearing or exploding on its turn.
Some creatures will leave some kind of content after their explosion:
Most creatures get involved in chain-explosions, if they are next to each other at explosion range. Some of them will not chain-explode: they simply disappear if caught in the explosion range of another element. For each creature is reported if it can chain-explode or not.
Most of the following creatures are available in five different versions: there is a different element for each of those versions, in the elements list of the editor. Four of them start in their respective directions, one of them will start at a random direction.
A creature starts moving in two cases: at the beginning of a level and at the moment it is put in the level for the first time: in fact, some creatures, like the YamYam, can contain other objects/creatures that are put in the level after they are smashed.
A creature always tries to move, even if it is stuck in a tile because it is surrounded by other elements/creatures. If a creature uses different graphics for each direction, then you can see where it is heading to, even if it is stuck. Some creatures use the same graphics for all the directions, so you can't tell where they will go once they get free to move.
All the following enemies are deadly to be touched by the player.
EMC
A Plant can't be smashed and does not move around (roots aren't made for walking). It can be destroyed by explosions, though.
EM (4 directions), RnD (random start)
Bugs move following their right side. Smashing a bug you get 1 diamond and 8 emeralds - just like shown by these pictures. Since no explosion can affect an indestructible thing like a steel wall, if you smash a bug when it is besides of a steel wall you will get less emeralds. This rule is valid for any other creature with content.
Bugs get involved in chain-explosions.
EM (4 directions), RnD (random start)
Spaceships move following their left side. Spaceships do not chain-explode.
BD (4 directions), RnD (random
start)
Fireflies move following their right side, and they do not chain-explode. They can be smashed with BD-style diamonds - as well with any kind of rock.
BD (4 directions), RnD (random
start)
Butterflies move following their left side, and they do not chain-explode. If a Butterly is smashed, either by a rock or a by BD-style diamonds, it leaves 9 BD-style diamonds.
If it is caught in a DynaBomb explosion, it will turn into one BD-style diamond. If it is caught in any other explosion, it simply disappears.
All the following enemies are deadly to collide with. This means that you can touch them, but you can't run towards them and you can't stand on their path, otherwise you get killed.
EM (random start), EMC (4 directions)
YamYams can move both vertically and horizontally, and move straight until they hit an obstacle.
They can eat EM-style diamonds, and they do not chain-explode.
A YamYam is one of the most interesting creatures of all the standard bestiary of RnD, because the content of a YamYam can be customized. Furthermore, YamYams can be set to contain different series of other elements (up to 8 different series, which will be used in a cyclic manner).
This means that you can kill a first YamYam and get 9 emeralds, you can kill a second YamYam and get 1 exit door and 8 crystals, you can kill a third YamYam and get 9 YamYams and so on until you run out of series, which will start over from the first one.
RnD (random start + 4 directions)
Pacmen can move both vertically and horizontally, and move straight until they hit an obstacle.
They eat the amoebas, and they do not chain-explode.
RnD (random start only)
Dark YamYams can move both vertically and horizontally, and move straight until they hit an obstacle. They can eat pretty anything, from gems to sand to other creatures too. They do not chain-explode.
SP (random start only)
SnikSnaks move along their left side, and get involved in chain-explosions.
SP (random start only)
Also the Electrons move along their left side, and they do chain-explode too. In addition, each Electron leaves 9 infotrons after its explosion.
EM
Robots move towards the closest player. They do not chain-explode. Robots can be destroyed by Springs.
EM
This is not an enemy, but some kind of weapon against Robots. Pressing a Robot wheel, it starts spinning. All the Robots will then ignore the players and will head to the spinning Robot wheel.
The Robot wheel spins for a limited amount of seconds. Once it has
stopped, you can activate it again. Pressing a spinning wheel will not
restart its timer.
You can also find different wheels on a map: touching them in sequence, the Robots will be attracted by the last spinned wheel.
When the last wheel stops spinning, the Robots start chasing the players again.
Robot wheels are splippery for falling objects and get destroyed if caught in explosions.
Some of the following creatures can directly help the player, some other will do their best against the player.
Notice this difference: Pigs steal the gems (that are lost as if they had been destroyed) while Penguins collect the gems for you (they will count as if they had been collected by the player).
All of them can be safely touched, walked over or pushed (if possible).
RnD
Pigs eat any kind of gem they can get their teeth on.
Pigs move following a wall, but they can switch side to side when they hit an obstacle - for example, if a pig enters in a corridor with three bends, it could come back at the first bend, as well, it could go on until the end of the corridor. It could also go back and forth between the second and the third bend for a short while.
Pigs are walkable over by the players, but only when the pig is not moving.
RnD
Penguins are sort of hostages of the level. Your task is to lead them all to the open exit door, taking care that none of them get killed on the path.
They always move towards the players, and the players can walk over them. They can collect any kind of gem for you.
If they are smashed, they explode leaving one gem. Since they explode 1x1 (that is, they don't extend the explosion to the surrounding tiles) they can't chain explode.
Remember that if you let die even just one single Penguin, you won't be able to successfully finish the level.
RnD
Satellites move quite fast towards the players. Their target is simply to obstruct the path of the players. They explode if smashed and they can chain-explode. One single satellite can be pushed by the player.
RnD (random start only)
A Dragon can move both vertically and horizontally; it moves quite randomly and aimlessly. It breathes fire every now and then, and this fire will destroy almost any destructible thing (rocks, diamonds, other creatures).
The players can walk over a Dragon, and its fire is completely harmless to the players.
Dragons can chain-explode.
RnD (random start + 4 directions)
The Mole can move both horizontally and vertically, moves straight until it reaches an obstacle and gets involved in chain-explosions.
This creature is quite useful: it can eat up the Amoeba and it always leaves back sand fields, also, it contains 9 red gems, that get disclosed after its explosion.
As an homage to its sacrifice, RnD has a cartoon depicting the:
Mole's Soul Ascending to Heaven
which is never shown on the map - souls are usually invisible.
EMC
The Android is quite peculiar among all the creatures: it is the only one that can move diagonally. It usually moves towards the player, but it can also move away from it.
Androids can clone (duplicate) some elements. The elements that an Android can duplicate can be configured from within the editor. An Android must be close to the element in order to duplicate of it.
Androids can't be smashed by rocks, and they can be pushed. If caught in explosions, they simply disappear.
Amoebas does not move around, but they can grow.
Most enemies will explode touching an Amoeba. Some enemies can safely touch an Amoeba (YamYam) some others can eat it (Moles, Pacmen and Dark YamYams).
Amoebas get destroyed by explosions.
RnD
Dead Amoebas do not grow but are still deadly for enemies.
RnD
Normal Amoebas attempt to grow (either on empty spaces or on diggable fields), if they are surrounded, they die. Any Normal Amoeba stays alive as long as it touches a player, doesn't matter if they are both surrounded by rocks or alike.
RnD
These Amoebas behave just like Normal Amoebas, but once they die, they leave some kind of content - usually EM-style diamonds.
BD
BD-style Amoebas behave just like the "Amoebas with content", with the following differences:
EM
Dripping Amoebas never die. They throw out Amoeba Drops every each now and then.
EM
An Amoeba Drop can fall and can kill enemies by contact. Amoeba Drops can smash the player - but can be touched safely.
Amoeba Drops turn into new Dripping Amoebas when they land.
EMC
A Dripper behaves just like a Dripping Amoeba, but it is normally invisible during the gameplay. In order to see the Dripper, you have to turn on the Light Switch or collect the Lenses.
All the following goodies are destructible. If not otherwise specified, they will all hold their position on the map without falling, and they will all be slippery.
DC2
Mail envelopes can contain some text, that is shown when the envelope gets collected or snapped. All the envelopes of the same color contain the same message, but there can be a different message for each color. Mail Envelopes are not slippery.
RnD
The Speed pill doubles the speed of the player. This process can't be reverted - the player can't get to move at the previous speed anymore.
Bonus Time, pickup, DC2
This pickup increases the available time/steps by ten seconds/steps. This value can be changed in the level editor.
Time Orb, press-and-go, RnD
The press-and-go Time Orb is not a pickup. You have to press it in order to get the 10 seconds/steps: simply touching it is not enough.
It can fall and it can be pushed by the player.
Empty (used) Time Orb, RnD
The amount of seconds/steps given by a bonus time element can be set from the editor.
Normal shield, DC2
The normal shield protects the player against all kinds of danger, making it indestructible. The normal shield is represented by a pulsing blue circle around the player.
There is one important exception to this rule: the player can still fall into the Acid.
The shield expires after a certain amount of time (which is configurable from the editor) but the duration gets increased for each pickup taken by the player.
Deadly shield, DC2
The deadly shield is a normal shield that can kill the enemies. The deadly shield is represented by a pulsing red circle around the player.
These two shields can be mixed together. The deadly-shield time will be used first, the normal-shield time will be used last.
EMC
The Lenses turn on the light for some time (usually ten seconds). The Dripper and the Invisible Objects become visible when the light is on. The light can also be turned on and off by regular Light Switches. The Lenses are not slippery.
EMC
The Magnifier shows the Fake Grass and the color of all Gray Doors. The Magnifier stays active only for a limited amount of time (usually ten seconds). The Magnifier is not slippery.
Dynabombs are special kinds of bombs that once picked up for a first time can be dropped as many times one wants. The number of dynabombs is not related to those of regular dynamite. Nonetheless, they are dropped using the same key: if a player picks up both dynamite and dynabombs, the dynamite will be dropped first, and the dynabombs will be dropped last.
RnD
This is the real dynabomb pickup. If you pick one of them, you will be able to drop one dynabomb on the level, but you can't drop another one until the first one has exploded. If you pick two of them, then you can put two bombs on the map at the same time, and so on picking up more dynabombs.
The normal behaviour of a dynabomb is to explode over a cross of 5 tiles (also called 3+3) as shown in the following pictures:
The 3+3 explosion range:
The explosion of a dynabomb destroys any destructible thing.
RnD
With this second pickup you can increase the size of the explosions. Each time you pick one, the explosion range will be increased by one unit:
RnD
This pickup increases the power of dynabombs so that the explosion does not stop at the first obstacle, but goes on over the entire explosion range. This is the result of a "dynabomb range 2" explosion without the power-increasing pickup:
This is the result of the same explosion with the power-increasing pickup:
All the following bombs/dynamites explode over a 3x3 area, just like in the pictures shown below, and will destroy any destructible thing:
Steel walls and crystals are indestructible, of course:
All the following pickups increase your dynamite counter by one.
Drop them using the drop key. Every time you drop a bomb, the dynamite counter gets decreased. This means that you can run out of dynamite. This does not happen with Dynabombs, that are sort of "infinite" bombs.
If you pick up different types of dynamite, you'll drop them in the inverse order that you have picked them up. So if you pick up - in this order - a normal dynamite, a red disk and an EM-style dynamite, you will drop the EM-style dynamite first, then the red disk and finally the normal dynamite.
All the dynamite pickups hold their position without falling but they are not slippery. All dynamite pickups get caught in chain-explosions.
Dynamite pickup, EM
EM-style dynamite pickup, EMC
In order to drop an EM-style dynamite, it is not enough that you press the drop key: you have to hold it for a little while. Be ready to run away as soon as the EM-style dynamite is burning on the map.
Red Disk, SP
Red Disks behave just like normal dynamite.
The first two dynamite packs shown above can be found already burning, and there is no way to turn them off:
Burning dynamite, EM
EM-style burning dynamite,
EMC
There is no "burning red disk".
Bomb, EM
A Bomb can be pushed, can fall and is slippery. It explodes if smashed by a rock, if it falls or if it's caught by another explosion.
Stable bomb, DX
A Stable Bomb behaves just like a normal Bomb, but it is not slippery.
Orange Disk, SP
An Orange Disk behaves just like a Stable Bomb, but is somewhat lighter and can be pushed faster.
RnD
The Black Orb Bomb holds its position without falling and it is not slippery. It explodes only if caught in another explosion. The chain-explosion of Black Orb Bombs is really fast.
Yellow Disk, SP
The Yellow Disk holds its position without falling, it can be pushed and it is not slippery. It explodes when the Terminal gets activated and also if caught in another explosion.
Terminal, SP
Press the Terminal to detonate the Yellow Disks. Terminals can be destroyed.
Passages include Doors, Gates, Ports and Tubes. It could be handy to
show the similarities, as well as the differences, with some sketches:
all the passages will be first
grouped by their behavior - walkable,
passable only, one-way only - and then they will be
shown and detailed one by one, starting from Doors.
The following images show all the possible locations of a player around - and inside - of a "walkable" passage like a RnD style door:
The player can freely go back and forth from/to any room.
+=
The player can be seen while standing over the door.
RnD-style doors are "walkable over".
The same is valid for a 4-ways tube - exception made that you can't
see the player while it is inside of a tube, as tubes are "walkable
inside"
So here are all the possible positions of a player related to a
4-ways tube:
The player can freely go back and forth from/to any room.
+=
(meaning something like
)
The player can not be seen while standing inside of a tube.
This image is
used only for
descriptive needs. Well to be precise, there is a moment when the
player is visible over a "walkable inside" element like a tube. That's
when the player drops a dynamite pack or a dinabomb. In such cases, you
will see the graphics of the dynamite over the graphics of the player
and over the graphics of tube, just like the following picture:
The green player
shown in this picture should be already running away, because the
dynamite is about to explode and the tube will not protect the player.
By the way, the same is valid for any other walkable element, like the RnD-style Doors. The
only chance to survive while standing in the middle of an explosion is
having a Shield on.
There are also 3-ways and 2-ways tubes. One example for all of them:
The yellow player can freely pass the between the left room and the
bottom room.
The green player and the red player cannot exit from their own rooms.
In contrast to the above here are the two mutually-exclusive situations of a player related to a 4-ways port:
The player can pass from right to left and back.
--- OR ---
The player can pass from top to bottom and back.
EM-style doors and locks work just in the same way:
The player can pass from right to left and back.
--- OR ---
The player can pass from top to bottom and back.
Gates are "passable-only" just like the above ports and doors.
In order to to pass a "passable-only" passage in a "L" way - that is, from top to left, from left to bottom and so on - you need to be able to walk around it on the opposite sides. A sketch will explain it better than words:
In order to reach the emerald, the player must walk right through
the green
gate and the pink gate, walk around the exit door, walk up through the
pink gate, go left and finally down, through the green gate.
Important note: the field on the other side of a passable-only
passage (gates, ports, EM-style doors and locks) must be empty,
otherwise the player won't be able to pass trough.
Example:
The player will never be able to pass through the gate, because the
exit field is blocked
One-way ports are those ports that can be passed only in one
direction:
The player can pass only from left...
...to right:
There is no way to pass a one-way port "backwards". Only one
entrance, one exit and two indestructible surfaces at the other sides.
Here you have the list of all passages grouped by appearance.
All the doors are indestructible; they are not slippery. Some doors
allow only the players' passage, some others allow the players to stand
in them.
All the keys are destructible, they hold their positions without
falling and they are not slippery.
In order to pass through a "passable-only" door or a port, the field on the other side must be empty.
The first two styles of doors behave differently, but they have interchangeable keys. This means that collecting a red key (of any style), both the RnD-style red doors and the EM-style red doors will be open for the player.
The gameplay panel shows the colors of the collected keys.
RnD
RnD
RnD-style doors allow the player to stand in them. A player inside
of a door can move to any field around that door, regardless is the
field is empty or not. In fact, the player can also snap, snap-dig,
snap-push, press and switch any object or field around the door.
Players can also drop dynamite and dynabombs
All the doors are available in their "evident" version (the doors shown above) and in their respective "hidden" (gray) versions below:
RnD
The Gray Doors use the above "half color, half gray" graphics only in the editor. During the gameplay they will be all gray - you won't be able to distinguish their color.
Gray Doors show their color when the player collects the Magnifier.
EM
EM
EM-style doors allow only the passage of the player - that is, the player can't stand inside of the door.
As above, there are Gray Doors for the EM-style doors too:
EM
EMC
EMC
Locks use different colors respect to the doors, and their keys are not interchangeable.
Locks' keys are not shown in the gameplay panel, so you should set
in mind which keys you have already collected.
Players cannot stand inside Locks, they can only pass through.
There are Gray Locks too, that get visible using the Magnifier just like Gray Doors.
EMC
The following gates and their switches are all indestructible and they are not slippery. The players can not stand inside gates, they can only pass through.
Switch Gate, open and closed, DC2
Switch Gate Switches, DC2
There can be one or more gates on a map, and they can be independently open or closed. When a switch changes of position, any closed gate will open, and any open gate will close; all the other switches will change in that same time.
The position of the switches does not mean anything in particular, they can be found in both positions in the same time.
Falling rocks can change the position of these switches.
Time
Gate, open and closed, DC2
Time Gate Wheel, DC2
There can be one or more gates on a map, and they will be all in the same state (all open or all closed). They stay open only as long as one or more Time Gate Wheels are spinning, and they stay close otherwise.
Once activated, the wheel spins for a limited amount of time, ten seconds by default.
You can spin more wheels in sequence, but you will not get the sum of their times: you just have ten seconds (for example) starting from the activation of the last wheel.
You cannot restart the time of a spinning wheel: you must wait for it to stop and then spin it again. These wheels can be activated only by the players.
Players can not stand inside any of the following ports, they can only pass through.
Ports are indestructible and are not slippery.
One-way Port, leading right, SP
One-way Port, leading down, SP
One-way Port, leading left, SP
One-way Port, leading up, SP
One-way ports have one single entrance and one single exit.
SP
Gravity ports work just like the above One-way Ports. Additionally,
they will toggle the gravity each time the player passes one of them.
The blue elements shown above are used only in the editor. During
the
gameplay, gravity ports are painted in red just like normal one-way
ports.
Two-way Port, passable
vertically,
SP
Two-way Port, passable
horizontally, SP
Two-ways ports can be passed in both directions.
Four-ways Port, SP
Four-ways ports can be passed either vertically or horizontally, but they can't be passed in a "L" manner. The entrance and the exit will be always on opposite sides.
Tubes are indestructible. They allow the players to stand inside of them, and they protect the players against any kind of danger.
You won't see the player while it's inside of them, so be careful not to lose your path.
Two-ways
Tube, straight, DX
Two
ways Tube, bend, DX
Four-ways cross Tube, DX
Three-ways cross Tube, DX
Unlike Ports, you can choose both the entrance and the exit of a Tube. You could enter a four-way cross tube from the left and exit it from the top. You can also exit from the same side you have entered it.
Acid, EM
Acid
Pool, EM
The Acid destroys anything falling into it, players included.
The Acid, just like the walls that compose the Acid pool, is indestructible. The Pool edges are slippery.
Invisible steel wall, RnD
Invisible normal wall,
RnD,
EM
Invisible sand, DC2
The invisible elements will be visible (with the above graphics) only when the light switch is turned on. Invisible elements will be always visible in the editor. Invisible elements behave just like their corresponding visible versions, so you can destroy an invisible normal wall and you can snap an invisible sand field, doesn't mind if the light is switched on or not.
There is another invisible element that becomes visible when the light is turned on, and that's the Dripper.
Light switch, off and on, DC2
Light switches are indestructible and can be switched by falling rocks.
To turn on the light you can also collect the Lenses.
Living Walls are destructible. They are made by kind of living
cells that can be set to survive or die depending on different amounts
of neighbor cells. Here we describe the default settings. Cells
appear/disappear every each half second.
Conway's Game of Life, RnD
The Game of Life elements follow these rules:
Biomaze, RnD
The Biomaze is a variation of the Game of Life that tends to build labyrinths. Players do not count as cells for the Biomaze.
Switchable Lamps, also called CheckPoint Lamps, hold their position without falling; they can't be pushed. They are slippery and they get destroyed if caught in explosions or if smashed by rocks.
Unvisited
CheckPoint, lamp off, RnD
Press it to turn it on.
If you destroy any unvisited CheckPoint, you won't be able to complete the level any more.
Visited CheckPoint, lamp on,
RnD
You can safely destroy a visited CheckPoint. They can't be turned off.
You can find both visited and unvisited checkpoints on a level, your task is to visit all the unvisited ones, then any closed Exit Door will open up for you - if you have accomplished all the other needed tasks, if any.
Sokoban
Object, SB
Sokoban Field, SB
The only task required by a standard Sokoban level is to fill
all the Sokoban Fields with the Sokoban Objects - which can be pushed
by the player. Once all the SB Objects have been arranged in their SB
Fields, the level is complete - the time stops and the player
disappears.
A standard Sokoban levels must follow these rules:
)
and
the invisible steel wall ()
can
be used to build the map;If there is any other element on the map, then it will be considered
as a standard RnD level, and, as such, there should be an exit door
somewhere.
If there are more SB Objects than SB Fields, the level needs an exit
door, that opens as soon as each SB Field is filled by a corresponding
SB Object. The exceeding SB Objects can be safely ignored.
On the contrary, if there are more SB Fields than SB Objects, the
level should be unsolvable - and it wouldn't be a valid Sokoban level
anymore. In any case notice that you could find a SB Object inside of a
YamYam,
so the level could actually be solvable.
Sokoban Field with
Object, SB
When a SB Object is on a SB Field, together they will show as
depicted above. You can always push a SB Objects away from a SB Field.
All Sokoban elements are destructible. You can safely bomb away "SB
Field with Object" elements and all the SB Objects that exceed the
number of SB Fields - remember that you can find a SB Field inside
of a YamYam, so be careful when bombing.
Actually, if a SB Field is inside of a YamYam, you could avoid
smashing the YamYam, so you won't be asked to fill it with a SB Object.
EM
Regular rocks can pass through the Quicksand, but the rocks that will exit from the Quicksand are always EM-style rocks. Under this aspect, the Quicksand behaves like a Magic Wall, because it can change BD-style rocks into EM-style rocks.
Quicksand with rock, EM
The "Quicksand with rock" can be distinguished in the editor because it lets see the contained rock. It will look like normal Quicksand during the gameplay.
This section includes all sort of automated objects that are recognized by RnD.
Magic Ball, EMC
The Magic Ball is another of those interesting elements (along with
YamYams and Amoebas) that can contain/produce other elements.
In particular, the Magic Ball spawns around its content at a
constant rate, once actived.
Magic Ball Switch (on and off),
EMC
All the Magic Balls and all the Magic Ball Switches get
activated/deactivated at the same time. They all hold their positions
without falling and they are all destructible. The Magic Ball is
slippery.
Spring, EMC
Spring Bumper, EMC
Springs can be pushed by the player: once a spring starts moving, it
will continue until:
Springs can pass over Robots, destroying them.
Both the Spring and the Spring Bumper are destructible, and they are
not slippery.
DC2
DC2
Conveyor belts can transport any kind of falling object. They can move the elements to the right or to the left, and they can also stay still. All belts of the same color move at the same time and direction.
The conveyor belts can be destroyed and are not slippery.
The switches for the conveyor belts are indestructible; they show a lever and a green light. It is all pretty self-descriptive:
Active, moving to the left, DC2
Inactive,
no movement, DC2
Active, moving to the right, DC2
These switches cycle through the 3 positions/states in a PingPong
way:
left, inactive, right, inactive, left...
and so on.
If a switch starts the gameplay in inactive position, it will change to "moving to the left" when switched for the first time.
These switches can be changed of position by falling rocks.
Notice that there are three separate elements for each belt:
L+ C+ R =A realistic belt.
They all work in the same way, independently. They use different graphics only for aesthetic reasons.
Notice also that you can mix up the colors in a single belt:
Each section will move according to its relative switch. The physics could look quite unnatural, though.
Balloon, EMC
Balloons move according to the direction of the wind, which can blow
or not. If there is no wind, the balloons will hold their position.
Balloons can be pushed by the player, and they are not subject to the
wind as long as they are being pushed. This means that you
can push a balloon upwards even if the wind blows to the left, but as
soon as you stop pushing the balloon, it will float to the left.
The initial direction of the wind for a level can be set in the INFO
page, from within the Level Editor.
Sets wind-blow from right to
left, EMC
Sets wind-blow from left to
right, EMC
Sets wind-blow from bottom to
top, EMC
Sets wind-blow from top to
bottom, EMC
The side at which you press these Wind Controls makes no difference at all: each element controls one single wind direction.
EMC
The all-directions Wind Control sets the wind-blow direction depending on the side you press it at.
For example, if you press it at the right side, the wind will blow from right to left. This means that you will press the left direction key, and the wind will push all the balloons to the left side of the map.
You can build some kind of "wind-pad" using the single-direction Wind Controls:
It is not the "top" as ease of use, but it is better than the all-directions wind control, as you have to turn around of it to change the wind direction. The wind-pad shown above (or variations of it) can actually be found on some levels.
EMC
Press this element - at any side - to turn off the wind.
CE
Custom Elements can be programmed to be and do nearly anything.
There is no much chance to explain them with few words - the final note tells just a bit more - in any case
you can read the tutorial, which tells you
what a Custom Element is,
besides of some other things.
GE
Group Elements are just placeholders. They are used to group
together
different other elements and/or CEs.
From within the Editor,
select a GE and open its Property
Page at the Config tab to set or view its current content.
If you fill the GE with one "rock", one "emerald", one "sand field"
and one "empty space", in this way...
CONTENT:
[-]4 [+] NUMBER
OF ELEMENTS IN GROUP
CHOICE TYPE: [RANDOM
[v]
...and then you fill a 8x4 area with this GE...
...you should get something like this - assuming that you have left
the default "random" choice method...
...but if you change the choice type to "pingpong 2", you will get
exactly this...
The tutorial discusses a bit longer what a Group Element is.
All the informations, hints and descriptions given in this Reference
are valid for standard elements only. Since in a RnD level there could
be
one or more Custom Elements, and since
Custom Elements can be or do
nearly anything, you could find something that seems to be a
standard element, but which behaves differently. You could find
objects or creatures that are completely different from standard
elements. Finally, you can find standard elements that use different
graphics from those depicted in this document.
Update Log
December the 9th, 2006
~ Planned to add a "tips, tricks and cheats" section.
+ Added the "RnD World" section.
+ Added CEs and GEs sections.
+ Added an elements-list style index showing (almost) all the elements.
! Fixed some broken links.
+ Added navigation links in each section (directory-style).
+ Several other small changes (a word here, a comma there).
--------------------------
December the 4th, 2006
. Release of the first draft of this documentation.