Topic: Banjo-Kazooie: N&B - Update: My carousel is a winner!

[Quemaqua]

This game really grabbed my attention.  It's one of those things where I wish I had the budget of a year or so ago, because I'd totally have bought it then... but now I just can't afford anything superfluous.  Still, maybe when the price drops.  It's very tempting.

[gpw11]

It retailed at budget price didn't it?  Anyways, good job Cobra - Microsoft should see about hiring you for PR.  This game went from under my radar to something I really really want to get my hands on.

[Cobra951]

I see more comments like yours all the time.  The game's brilliance is hard to reach.  It doesn't hit you in the face up front.  This is why my thread-starting comment was so negative.  It looks like child's play, but it isn't.  Finding the right market won't happen right away, if ever.  I've put the equivalent of a work week just into the vehicle creation, and I'm still learning.

[gpw11]

I found this amusing.

[Cobra951]

The fix for text readability on SDTVs is out.  It's not obnoxiously bigger, but the font is thicker and there has been some tweaking to the text backgrounds.  Nice job.


Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

[gpw11]

Ahaha, awesome.

[Cobra951]

I got a friend request and this message on my Xbox today from gamertag "MGS Rare":

Hi there - Rare calling! We're happy to tell you that the dev team is currently reviewing your Banjo contraption entry along with the 13 other finalists. Please could you e-mail via [I guess I better leave this out, on GP]@rare.co.uk so that we can get some contact details from you?

!!!

I knew that all pictures uploaded to the Showroom were going to be looked at for this purpose, but I really never quite expected this.  Don't know why.  My stuff is good, but there's a lot of good stuff there.  Damn.  I'm kind of excited.

[Quemaqua]

That's awesome!  Recognition is always fun.  Congrats!

[W7RE]

Wow, that's pretty cool!


I tried, multiple times, to get into the demo for N&B but I just can't. I get to the point where I'm set free to start finding things and I wander for 5 minutes then get bored. I thought about just buying the original BK from the arcade, but I'd probably do the same thing. Just not something I'm into anymore I guess.

[Pugnate]

Awesome Cobra!

[Cobra951]

Thanks guys. 

I got another email from Rare's community manager George Kelion today, detailing things and sending me a release form.  I guess the way it will work is that the top 7 out of the current 14 finalists will have their creations appear as DLC for the game in the future, complete with credit to the authors.  I still don't know what of mine they like that well, since I submitted pictures of several things to the showroom before the Jan 4 deadline.  I fired off a couple of questions back to him, and I hope to know by tomorrow.

I'm competing with some very talented people I've gotten to know at Rare's forum, as well as others that have not spoken up yet, or perhaps never post on the forum.  But the odds are 1 in 2 rather than 1 in 14 at this point.  I'm paying closer attention now that I know that.

This also marks the occasion of the first docx file I've had to deal with (the release form).  I found the compatibility tools at MS for Office before 2007, but of course it refuses to install without SP1 for XP.  Yeah, I know.  You're right.  I should have resolved this issue by now.  My mother's PC has SP1, so that's how I converted the stupid thing.  I also downloaded Open Office.  I will be installing that shortly, unless it too refuses to install without SP1 or 2.  I highly doubt it, since there is no reason why SPs are absolutely necessary for any app, and they're not going to be pushing Microsoft's agendas.

What's postage for a normal letter from here to England.  Anyone know?

[Quemaqua]

I should know, but I don't.  Don't work with the mail that often anymore, even though I used to manage a mailroom.  Anyway... not that expensive, one way or the other.  Probably 2 bucks and change.

[wizall]

Try this.

[Quemaqua]

Says $3.34 for a 3.2oz regular letter to the UK.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, 1st class international letter.  I'll probably go to the PO as soon as the weather cooperates here.  Won't be tomorrow in my car.  I could slap all that postage on the envelope here and let the mailman deal with it, but this seems like something I should let the PO handle.

Thanks.

[Cobra951]

Got another email from Rare.  Looks like it's this contraption they're interested in (click for 720p version):



This is a relevant part of the email I sent back to George K.

The carousel was my first successful attempt to think outside the box in vehicle creation.  I wanted to probe the flexibility and robustness of the physics rules.  I was elated with the result.  There are 2 principles in play here.  One is that 4 balanced horizontal thrust vectors at right angles to the center and to each other will cause steady, reliable rotation of the entire vehicle.  Another is that towbar pairs act as nearly frictionless bearings. 

Banjo sits on a vertical central shaft which remains motionless as the carousel takes its passengers for a spin.  The balloons on top keep the shaft taut with the towbar bearing at the bottom.  On level ground, the behavior is perfect.  The carousel is balanced radially, and spins on its central axis without drifting, while Banjo oversees without moving at all.  The vehicle can be transported as a helicopter by unfolding the vertical propellers.  It does work as a taxi, and it can provide some interesting snapshots in the Taxi of Terror mission, among others.  The radio is intended to play the Springtime Click Clock Wood theme while in carousel mode, and the Freezeezy Peak tune while in hover-flight mode.

I'm not sure why, but today this just feels weird.  When I was younger, I would have been a lot more excited.  Not that I don't care, it's just that I can't get as giddy about such things anymore.  Now if there was a fat paycheck in store, that would be something.   

[Quemaqua]

Just be excited for the hell of it.  You accomplished something, and that's pretty cool.  Same reason someone might be proud for building a cool level in LittleBigPlanet.  It may not shake the earth, but it's something cool that will inspire and enrich the lives of others, even if only in a small way.  That's more than some people ever accomplish in real life or in play.

Neat design, in any case!  I like it.  Do you have a profile where you can see all the stuff you've made?

[Cobra951]

Yeah, each connected player gets a gallery at the Showroom.  Clicking on any image will take you to an individual page for it.  Clicking on it again will let you download the full-sized picture.  My most recent 4 pix are a tribute.  It should be obvious for what. 

They were supposed to only let your 10 most recent pictures stay up, but they have yet to delete anything.  You'll see expiration dates that are over a month old there, yet the images remain.  Even pictures I intentionally deleted earlier still have working links, if I happened to save them somewhere.

The script is a bit dodgy.  If you try to back out of a link, you'll go back to the first 4 images every time.  I've gotten used to opening links in a new tab to avoid that.

[Quemaqua]

I gotta' say, I'm a fan of the Extreme Bus.  The dice in the mirror are a nice touch, along with the Union Jack and the fishbowl.  Mumbotnik is awesome too, and the Model T.  They're all quite cool... wish I had the game, a hard drive, and net access for my 360 so I could actually check them out.  Either way, I'm impressed!

Also, you really need to stop making me want this game.  Every time I see it I get tempted....

[Cobra951]

Ahaha!  It's only fair, after you making me want Fallout 3 so bad.   

Honestly, I get obsessive about things like this.  Most people would have moved on long ago, and they wouldn't have had all the time I did to sink into it.  I'm running out of steam on it now.  Once in a while I discover something new, but everything is starting to feel samey now.

[Ghandi]

Good luck! I'm rooting for you. I've been following this but I haven't had anything new to add.

Is there a place that I can view all of the entries? Or are they super secret?

[Cobra951]

They're not secret, but the few of us posting about it here are still wondering who and what is all involved.  I figure Rare themselves will publish this somewhere at some point.  I still haven't been asked to submit my vehicle.  I think the next step happens early February.

That site is a bit restrictive, so I'm not sure if you can see that link OK or not without registering.  If you can, everyone posting there I think goes by gamertag.  So if you're interested, you can search by gamertag at the showroom and see if you can find what they're talking about.  I know of one kid with an AA turret that spins, and another with a working swing set.  Someone made a house too, I think.  Then there are a couple of people with very impressive stuff that have not posted one way or another about the contest.  I'd be surprised if "BusierDonkey" isn't part of this.

[Cobra951]

I did it!  I won a spot in Rare's update to Banjo-Tooie's stop & swop feature.  Finding the right secret egg in Tooie will unlock my carousel in Nuts and Bolts.



Full story here.  I'm #6 of 7 alphabetically, so scroll down unless you want to check out the other nifty winning machines.

This magical carousel really impressed with its sheer originality and innovative use of the detacher. In fact, disconnecting the top part of the carousel and reattaching it is a mini-game in itself! Best of all, the whole contraption acts a bit like a helicopter, able to float in the air and make taxi runs. If you’re looking for a unique ride to ferry Jinjos around the various game worlds, look no further.

I'm too excited.  Yayz!

[beo]

congratulations - that's awesome!

[Ghandi]

Congrats, Cobra! That's really cool that your vehicle is now a permanent part of the game. I'd like to see it in action.

[W7RE]

Wow, nice!

[idolminds]

Good job!

[Xessive]

Sweet Cobra! a.k.a. HypnoticCoqui

It looks pretty funky!

[scottws]

Wow!  Congrats!

[Cobra951]

Whoa.  Lots of replies since last I looked.  Thanks guys.  I felt like a little kid about it yesterday.  It still feels a bit unreal today.  I was going to get Banjo-Tooie on XBLA anyway, but the ironic thing is that in order for this to work, I also had to spend $5 on DLC for Nuts & Bolts, and that I wasn't going to do otherwise.  Haha!  So not only did I not get any money for this, I had to spend money to see it in action.

[Quemaqua]

That's too funny.  But congrats, man, that's great!  There's something special about winning a contest of achievement for something you really like.  I felt pretty great when I got the honorable mention and bonus prizes that I got for the Witcher comic I did, and your creation here is far cooler than that.

Great stuff.  =)  Now if only I had a wireless dongle and a hard drive so I could use XBLA...

[scottws]

Heh, funny how things change.  I came on here to hopefully get some help from Cobra, and I'm seeing my old posts saying I'd never buy this game.

Anyway, I started playing this game again and I just got the horn/siren for the trolley.  It's action on the trolley seems to have replaced my float action.  I don't seem to be able to sink any more.  This is a problem because there is a box with a ghost on it in the center section near the Terrarium of Terror levels and the only way I've found to get there is to take the tunnel at the base of that area, which leads you underwater.  So it seems impossible to get that box because I can't go underwater.

Is the float control permanently lost now that I have the siren/horn?  How do I get that box?

[Cobra951]

Whoa, it's been a long time.  You can only map 3 actions at a time, so what happened is that the horn took the place of the floating/sinking toggle button.  I can't remember exactly how to remap the controls, but it isn't too hard.  Check the menus carefully.

Edit:  Found an answer for you:

When you have special features added to your vehicle, you can choose to have up to three active ones saved to hotkeys (X, A, and B).  To set these, use the Left, Right, and Down on your D-Pad to cycle through each of them and choose which you would like.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/935846-banjo-kazooie-nuts-and-bolts/faqs/54843

There's another way to do it in the menus, but this one is the quickest.

[scottws]

Cool, thanks.

And yeah, I realize it's an old game.  My stepson was playing it and asked for my help with something.  It was over after that.

[Cobra951]

Heh.  It's so damn addictive.  Good luck putting it down once you get into creating stuff.

[scottws]

Oh, I already have 50 vehicles.  I make a specialized on per challenge, generally.  Plus I've made a few others.  Like I've made a trailer one similar to the one ou have in your sig.  Speaking of which, how in the hell?  Mine is impossible to fly.  I put non-powered propellers on it and that helped level it out rather than dangling but it seems to put a lot of weight onto the tow bar and it dips badly there.  But I have a propeller driven aircraft as the tow-plane.  Haven't tried it with a powerful jet aircraft.

[Cobra951]

See the flat piece below, between the 'O' and the 'B'?  It's a wing, attached underneath the trailer.  That makes the trailer act like the airplane.  It follows the plane without a hitch, banking included.  It's all you have to do.

[scottws]

I tried putting folding wings on mine previously, but the trailer would swing around like it wanted to fly backwards.

[Cobra951]

I'm not sure why you're having that problem.  I modded my semi truck with 4 folding wings on the cab, and 2 more on the trailer (plus 4 jet engines on the sides of the cab) and the sucker works like something out of a fairy tale.  Don't have pix of the flying truck, but this is the original:



Are you sure you put the wings on facing the right way?  Note that you can't build your trailer backwards or sideways, or up on end in the blueprint.  The behavior of parts like wings will be adversely affected.

[scottws]

I could double-check the wing orientation, but I'm pretty sure it's right.  I did have to build the plane and the trailer side-by-side because the overall length was too long.

I had a weird bug yesterday where the game recorded all of my new and modified blueprints, but did not save my new crate, jiggy, and jingo acquisitions.  My newest blueprint had an exclamation point next to it and when I looked, several of the super cubes were that wobbly red when you have a part defined in the vehicle that you don't possess (such as when you buy a Humby blueprint yet don't have all the necessary parts).  I thought that was odd.  It turns out that I had only 50 of each super body part (instead of 100) and was missing all the other super objects I'd located: fuel, engine, seat, ammo, and wheels.  I'd also lost a couple of jiggies, back down to 91 from 93.

At first I was trying to figure out why it didn't save, but then I realized that it had to.  How else could I have built those vehicles, whose blueprints were still present, with the super parts in the first place if I didn't have them?  Perplexing and I didn't want to have to worry about it so I just beat the game last night.