runouw.com

Ok. Several people said that they want to play, but have no idea what is going on, so I wrote this guide to help. This will give you a thorough overview of the game, and what you can do with it. Enjoy!

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Table of Contents

• What is EE, and how does it work?
• How do I get around and what is all this stuff?
• Playing the game
• Crew Specific Info

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What is EE, and how does it work?

EE is a massively multiplayer online sandbox game. What that means is that it is a sandbox game, like Minecraft, where you can create whatever you want with the tools that they have given you, it is only playable when you are online, and you are playing at the same time and in the immediate presence of hundreds of other players.

EE is a 2D tile-based engine, where you have a set number of blocks available, and you set them up on a grid. This is similar to how tiles work in SM63 and LL. The difference is that there is no separate design and test modes - it all happens at the same time, in real time, with other people running around doing the same thing. This makes for some interesting dynamics, where people can be building simultaneously, and cooperatively, or even competitively.

Several styles of play have evolved out of this dynamic. One is that a player can earn the right to edit a level, by beating it and getting to the edit code, or merely impressing the owner and being given edit rights. Another is that games can be played where the world is edited by the owner, and other players must react to the changes that are happening. This can be done by a script ("Bot"), or an active owner running the game themselves. Mini-games have also become very common where a level is chopped into 20 to 100 block squares, and some sort of maze or jumping challenge allows passage to the next block.

The nuances of the gameplay engine have also been the source for a number of block arrangements that require precise timing of button presses to coax the engine to move you in a certain way. Hook jumps (literally, jump one direction, and change directions mid-jump to land directly above where you started), different variations on precise jump placement (short jumps, one block gaps, running long jumps), headroom clearance challenges (don't jump too high, or you hit spikes or bump your head and miss your jump), and gravity confusion (can you adjust your instincts to timing things when you are upside down, sideways, or navigating a sea of gravity warping areas), are all common challenges. Many times, especially in mini games, there will be a set of gravity boosts lining the bottom of the area, waiting to sweep you back to the beginning of the area if you miss a jump or other obstacle. Also of note is the fact that the engine is set to gently slide you into alignment with the grid, so that you can line yourself up with one-block gaps (since your hit-box is precisely one block, it makes fitting through there problematic, otherwise). Some obstacle types are specifically designed to work with this mechanic, either forcing you to line up for a number of jumps through small gaps, or giving you a platform with a lot of one block holes in it, where the aligning mechanic will force you into falling through the holes.

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How do I get around and what is all this stuff?

When you first log in, you will begin in your lobby. This is where you have access to the list of available worlds on the left, and various aspects of your account on the right.

On the left, you can see the worlds that other people are playing, and details about how popular those worlds are. The list can be sorted in a number of ways, including listing just your worlds. If you have marked any worlds as your favorite, you can switch the listing to just those worlds, and sort THAT list in a number of ways.

On the right is information about you and your account.

• The first tab is a listing of your friends. This is pretty self-explanatory. It shows if they are online, and where they are, so you can join them.
• The next tab is your crew. You can own 3 crews, be a member of 10, and each crew can have 25 people. It will have different amounts of buttons on the top, depending on how many premissions you have in the crew. At the very least, Members will show you who is in the crew, Worlds will show you which worlds the crew are allowed to work on, and Switch Crew allows you to bounce between the different crews you are associated with.
• The next tab is your worlds. You can buy worlds in the shop (and you are given one when you sign up). Here you can see all of your worlds, in the order of most-recently-played on top, and the thumbnail is the mini map for the given world.
• The next tab is an inbox, presumably for a private messaging system, but it hasn't been created yet.
• The last tab is your news feed. News from the EE staff on upcoming events and changes will be listed here, as well as alerts created by the owners of worlds and crews that you have subscribed to.

Back at the top of the screen, you will see three tabs. We have been exploring the Lobby tab thus far. The next one is Campaign. This will be lots of fun later, but the system is not finished yet (only beta testers can use the system properly - I wouldn't really worry about this just yet). The last one is the Shop. This one's important.

The shop lets you spend energy (which is listed at the top-right of the screen, and refills automatically as time passes - whether you are logged in or not - at 1 energy every 2 minutes and 30 seconds) to buy things for your account. There are 8 tabs.

• The first tab is Featured buys. Newly added items of all kinds will be listed here for a while. Other common stuff will always be listed here as well, like Builder's Club and Beta Tester status, and gems (which are the in-game representative of real money you have spent on the game.)
• The next tab is Smilies. you are represented by a smilie as you wander the worlds, and this is your opportunity to buy a different face to put on.
• The next tab is Blocks. Here you can buy different elements to use to create your worlds. This can be block sets with different graphical themes (space, jungle, carnival, etc.), or individual elements that are more powerful, like spawn points, checkpoints, cake, signs, portals, etc. Seasonal sets are also common, as well as holiday sets.
• The next tab is Worlds. Here is where you can add some Worlds to your collection where you can go and create. Worlds come in many shapes and sizes, from tiny 25x25 worlds (625 total blocks) to massive 300x300 worlds (90,000 blocks). Bought worlds can be assigned to crews, or you can just build them as you please. One block, the World Portal, actually allows you to put a block in each world that will allow travel between worlds, so you can create a giant interconnected map, if you want.
• The next tab is Auras. When you are working in a world you own (or have edit rights in a crew world), you can go into "God Mode", which allows you to fly, and pass through solid blocks. When you are in this mode, there is a glow around your smilie. Here is your chance to change the color of that glow.
• The next tab is Classic. When a seasonal block set or smilie is released, but you do not buy it in time, it will go here, where you can buy it for gems.
• The next tab is Crew. Here is where you can buy a slot to create your own crew, or buy things for a crew that already exists. If you want to buy things for a specific crew, go to your lobby, and switch to the crew you want to buy for. Then return to the shop, and your purchases will go towards that crew.
• The final tab is Services. Builder's club, Beta, and gems are available here for sale.

At the very top, the last tab is your account settings, and it is the Gear symbol up there. Here you can turn your word censor on or off, pick your default smilie, aura and badge, and other settings.

Now that we've covered the menu system, it's time to jump in and get designing and playing!

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Playing the game

All right. Let's get to it. Go to your Lobby, and select the tab with your worlds. click on one of the ones displayed.

Now, you're in the main game itself. Generally, without a spawn point set (it's a block), you will start in the top-left corner, and fall all the way to the bottom of your empty world. (Or if you clicked on a world with some stuff in it, you will fall until you hit a solid block.) Across the bottom of the screen we have a bunch of buttons:

• The first button on the left is "Goto Lobby". This just backs you out of the level, and sends you back to the main menu system we were just discussing. Be careful. Clicking this means that you are abandoning all progress you have made in this level. Coin counts are reset, and you begin at a spawn point. If you have earned any Magic Coins, you keep those, but all else is reset. Also, if you have edit rights or own the world, and you are the last one there, and you have not saved the world, leaving the world means that you will lose all your edits since the last time it was saved.
• The next button is the Share button (looking like a box with an arrow coming out of it). This opens up a pop-up with a direct link to the level. This can be used to share the level, or create a bookmark.
• The next button is "God Mode". This allows you to fly and pass through solid blocks. Note that you cannot hit keys when in God Mode. Also, God Mode is separate from Edit rights. You can have one and not the other, through a variety of methods. This may not always be available. (When it is not available, it is simply not present, and the next button after Share is this:)
• The next button shows your current smilie, and allows you to change to any other smilie that you own.
• The next button is the Aura button, and looks like a white glowing ring. This is where you can choose any aura that you own. (Also simply not present, if you do not have God Mode rights in the world.)
• The next button is the Chat button, and looks like two speech bubbles. Clicking on this brings up the chat entry box. (You can also just hit "t" on the keyboard to bring it up.) The box allows you to type whatever you want, and it will show in the world chat to the right. Across the top of the chat entry box are a bunch of buttons for common things like "Hi", "Help", "Thanks", and others. Note that these do NOT show up in the main chat log on the right, and only show up as a bubble over your head.
• The next area is the Block Shortcut Bar that says "Level Bricks" on the top. What is normally shown is a selection of 10 of the blocks that you have available, as well as the eraser on the left. you can choose between these blocks with the number keys (1-9 and 0) across the top of your keyboard (no, the Numeric Keypad does NOT work with this). At any point, you can click to place the currently highlighted block, or hold Shift to use the eraser (it will switch back to the previously selected block when you let go of Shift). To the right of those is an up arrow/triangle with the word "More" next to it. Pressing this brings up the Block Picker (and changes it to a down arrow and the word "Less"). This has several tabs that show you all the blocks you own. If you want to put a block on your shortcut bar, simply drag it down to one of the numbered positions, and it will replace the previous selection. (Note that if you are using one of your blocks NOT on the shortcut bar, and then close the picker, you will default to the first block on your shortcut bar.) Your blocks are broken down by function and then by theme.
  • Blocks: These are the solid blocks that make up the walls, floor, and ceiling that you explore in a level. they can be decorative, but their main purpose is to create the physical structure of the world.
  • Action: These are the functional blocks for your level. Gravity, keys, and key gates/doors are available for everyone, and You can purchase more gates, hazards, teams, music, liquids, portals, and more.
    
    Gravity is fairly straightforward. Arrows point in the direction that gravity has turned to (while you are over an up arrow, you will "fall" up). The dots nullify gravity completely. You will just sit there over any dot tiles. Note that you cannot jump, while over dots. You also have more momentum while over dots (you will take more time to come to a stop once you let go of the button). There are two complete sets of these. The yellow versions are always visible, while the grey ones disappear after a few seconds if you go over them, and are normally invisible.
    
    Keys will flip-flop the same-colored Gates and Doors for 6 seconds, when a player touches them (gates are closed - become solid - and doors are opened). Note that these exist across instances, so someone else can hit a key in a level you are playing, and the gates and doors will respond for you as you are moving through the level (other people can open a door for you, or close a gate). This is NOT the case for the purple switches. Only you can hit a switch to open or close a purple gate/door (it only exists in your instance). There are also coin doors and gates that will only open/close when you have collected a certain number of coins (written on the door, though the door will list how many you have remaining, not the total - it counts down, and these also are only in your instance - other people cannot open/close them for you).
  • Decorative: These are blocks that are purely for decoration. Most of them sit behind you, and a few sit in front of you, but cannot be in the same square as a solid block either way.
  • Background: These blocks are not solid, and actually exist on a second layer behind the whole level (one grid position can hold a solid block and a background, or a decoration and a background).
• The next button is the World Options Menu, and reads "Modify Level". Here is where you can save, reset, load, or clear your level, or access deeper properties, like title, background color, and edit password, and turning spectating on or off, or if the level is visible, or open to guests. (This button will also only be visible if you have World Management permissions.)
• The next button is "Add to Crew", and simply connects this world to your currently selected crew. Currently, there is no way to undo this. (This will also not be visible unless you have World Management permissions.)
• The next button is Like or Favorite, and looks like a heart and star with a line between them. You can "Like" a world, and this is how you vote for a world to be considered popular (this is the heart). You can also "Favorite" a world, and it will be listed in your Lobby for easy access from now on (this is the star). (Again, this will only be visible on worlds that you do not own.)
• The next button is the Mute button, and looks like a little speaker with sound ripples coming out of it. It will mute the sounds made by the game (no ripples).
• The next button is the Fullscreen button, and looks like two overlapping rounded rectangles. This will make the game fullscreen (and flash will usually ask you if this is OK in a pop-up). Pressing Esc will pop you back out of fullscreen.
• And the last button is the Mini Map, and looks like a compass rose. This is how you can get an overview of the whole level. Anyone else playing the same level at the same time will be a moving white dot, and you will be a moving green dot. Many people have spent lots of time and effort making their world not just work well, but also look good in the mini map.

Aside from all of that, you can move around with either the arrows, or WASD, jump with space, and add blocks by clicking. On worlds where you have Edit rights (like the ones you own), you can click and drag, and you will lay down a line of the selected block. On Open worlds, you can only place one block at a time. Switches, keys, and such are simply activated when you touch or pass through them.

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Crew Specific Info

Ok, certain things have become clear about the Crews.

1. You can donate one of your own Worlds to the Crew through the same menu that you save.
2. Once the world is contributed, all crew members have automatic edit permission, and can do almost everything.
3. The only thing they cannot do is use the tiles marked "OWNER-ONLY" when you hover over them. These things are all in Action, including cake, all portals, spawn and continue points, and the ending win-the-level cup (also switches, teams, timed, hazards, and signs, and probably more that I don't own yet...).
4. This means that the only person who CAN place those tiles is the "Host", which is why the host is now listed on the World List above. You want that stuff in the level, you'll have to make sure the host is around.

I know we've all had our EE phase, and wandered away, for all the problems it had, but they've recently unveiled their rewrite (EE2.0), and it has solved SO many problems. Adding friends doesn't require sharing your email address, working together is MUCH easier with crews (you can set up a group of people as owners, essentially), and many more blocks has opened up the design possibilities.

I've been poking around in EE since that first round, and I think it's worth giving it another try.

I'm on there as "Doram", and I've already bought a crew slot for us to use, so if you want, I can add a bunch of us to a crew, and we can all edit. The old Runouw Playground is still there, and maybe the time has come to put it to some use!

9/15/2015
The logo world has been bought, and filled. Many thanks to Megar for the work he put in on that. Check out the crew profile to see it!

Also, I've donated 3 worlds that I bought, but never touched. Another Great World (400x200), a Large World (100x100), and a Low Gravity World (100x100). Links in the Crew Status section below.

And, finally, I've written a Guide to EE for all the new people.

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9/18/2015
I renamed the other available worlds, and I added a few things I forgot to my Every-Puzzle-Type-Known-To-EE Challenge.

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9/25/2015
I FINALLY finished paying to unlock faceplates, and now we get to decide which one to buy.

The options are: Swirling Fog (10 colors), Splashes of Paint (10 colors), Stripes (10 colors), Confetti, Dots (10 colors), or Electric (10 colors). I have no problem buying multiple sets for us to try out, but I was curious which one you guys wanted me to buy first. (There's a poll up there now, and in the mean time, I will work on buying Profile Colors.)

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9/28/2015
Crew Profile Colors are well past the halfway point, and I think I'll end the poll for the faceplates on the 30th. In the mean time, we have new Worlds to play in!!

Megar has donated a Wide World, appropriately named Mega's Project. His goal is to have a nicely decorated (also looks cool on the mini-map) above-ground world, with a night theme.

And Venexis has donated a Great World, aptly named Test Please Ignore. A number of people before this point contributed to several mini games (including me - that's my pipe maze). Feel free to play around with it like the Runouw Playground.

Finally, there is now a new section to the Guide to EE - Crew Specific Info (BTW, the link only works is you've already opened the spoiler, and mostly this covers new stuff we've figured out, like being able to donate worlds, and the limitations that brings.)

10/1/2015
The time has come, and I'm ending the poll on the Faceplates:

Swirling Fog (10 colors) 1 14% (3rd place) Electric (10 colors) 4 57% (1st place) I have no idea. Let's buy them all and play around. 2 29% (2nd place)

Percentage Ranking
Splashes of Paint (10 colors)	0	No votes
Stripes (10 colors)	0	No votes
Confetti	0	No votes
Dots (10 colors)	0	No votes
Don't care.	0	No votes

This means that the Electric faceplate will be the first bought, and if we still want to check out our options, Fog is the next choice. We will also try for all of them eventually.

Also of note, Goldy has made an EXCELLENT suggestion, and The Great Void has become Runouwians' House. I've run with the idea, and I've chopped the world up into smaller plots. Everyone now has a chance to claim a 100x50 plot and make their house in it. Megar helped me with the logo on the lower-right, and I went ahead and made my own house as an example. You can do whatever you want with your own plot, though. Please do not go outside the borders of your plot (and get in the way of the transportation system). If you really want more than one plot, please ask here. So, get out there, and get creative!

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10/4/2015

Someone has blanked two of the Great Worlds (400x200) - Test Please Ignore, and Runouwians' House. Until I can find out who did it (or if it was a glitch), and whether it can be fixed or not, Members have been brought down to just Edit permission, and Current Runouw Staff (plus Megar) have been moved to a new rank - Full Member (previously Guest), which has the same level of access as Members used to have. Since the system seems to be automatically giving the second rank to new members, I figured it was the best use of the additional rank. If anyone wants to have Full Member rank that does not have it, we can discuss, but only after I figure out what happened here.

I have posted in The official EE forums to see if I can get a response from a mod: Crew & possible trolling question.
UPDATE-EDIT: The short answer on restoring what was there is no. Not possible. Sorry, guys. Read the official response here.

On a happier note, Megar has generously finished paying for Profile Colors. (And I set them to some Runouwey blues. If we want to change them, we can, though. changing the colors again is a measley 200 energy.)

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10/6/2015
Well, in the aftermath of the blanking thing, we have tightened up security a bit, and gotten to work on remaking what was destroyed. From now on, I am also taking screenshots of the minimaps, whenever I am on, so that we have SOME kind of backup if anything should happen. The gridwork is back in Runouwians' House, and you guys are free to go back in there and set up house as you see fit. Mega and I put names in the spots that people had already claimed before the blanking, so, if you had a spot claimed already, your plot is waiting for you. I've also adjusted which worlds are shown on our profile, and right now, it's just the Runouw Playground. As we finish stuff, I can mark it as visible on the profile, and we can start to build our portfolio.

Also of note, Mega has provided that last shove that we needed, and the Electric Faceplate has been paid for, and installed. Check out the crew profile to see it!

Also, some thread maintenance. I'm moving the Old News down to a lower post, so that it can have the room to stay organized, but isn't making things up here too cluttered. I've also added links to the crew listing for everyone's Runouw and EE profile pages.

And, finally, we welcome two new members to both the forums and the crew, ShadeRaider, and visyIII. They've posted in Welcome already, and have been approved to the crew, so give them a warm greeting.

Ok. Everybody back to work!

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10/25/2015
Hoo. I've been busy with finishing up the RO and getting other stuff done, so not much news for the rest of October. Everyone's been enjoying the Halloween forums here, much less the new Halloween Campaign on EE. Finished buying a few other things before all my energy went to buying the Halloween EE stuffs before it disappears into Gemland.

Two things of note:

1. I bought Crew Descriptions, so we can all put a small blurb next to our name in the crew listing on the profile. It's only 100 characters, though (that includes spaces, punctuation, and the like). If you want a description, post it here, and I'll put it in the listing.
2. Spacey seems pretty much done (it's a small world anyways). Do we agree that it's pretty much finished, and put it on the back burner? Do we want it on the profile? Poll is above.