Just Some Johnny Saucep'n

I've realised that there's probably a few game design decisions that the 'classic' players might be confused by. Here's a rundown, along with rationales.

First and foremost, I think Repton works best as a puzzle/strategy game, leaving the arcade action to Boulderdash. So many of the changes are to do with slowing the game down, or making it more predictable. I realise that other might not agree with this - if there's enough outrage over this, I'm happy to change it.

1. No time limit. This was a difficult one, as it makes a couple of the Repton 3 levels incredibly easy (I might even remove them from the list). Maybe it's just me, but I like to be able to take my time thinking about the problem. Obviously, this change necessitates removal of Repton 3 time capsules (which reset the timer) as well. Those have been converted into diamonds.

2. Slower monsters and spirits. Although I like having the 'action elements' there, I think they should be more down to timing than reaction speed. It's all too easy, especially in Repton 2 and 3 levels, to find yourself staring down the barrel of a loaded spirit with nothing you can do about it. Also, being able to run a little faster than monsters gives you a chance to outwit them even in the open. This may be a problem in Repton 2, where spirits often have to traverse a long distance in a level, but I'll cross that when I come to it.

3. No random element to monster movement. This may make things harder in those cases where you're trying to coax them out into a corridor, but again I like to be able to plan ahead, and not get smoked because of a random twitch.

4. Monsters pass through earth. I had to choose to go with this method - which is the way it works in Repton 3 - and the Repton 1-style, where monsters can't travel through earth. I went with the former, partly to compensate for the slower movement and non-randomness, but also because it's less likely to muck up the Repton 3 levels.

5. No crowns - why were these even brought into Repton 3? They don't serve any game purpose that diamonds don't already serve. You have to collect one of these on each level to complete it, but then you have to collect every diamond anyway, so what's the purpose except to get a few extra points? Just award those points at the end of the level and have done with it! Converted into diamonds in this version, as they allow rocks to roll off them.

6. No timebombs - partly because of the time limit removal, also because, like crowns, they solely act as diamonds that must be picked up last. If I ever reinstate the time limit, I might reinstate these too.

You might guess at this point that Repton 3 gets the short end of the stick - it's just that Repton 2 got all the coolest innovations! At least I kept in the fungus, yes?

7. Repton 1 scoring system - 1 point for earth, 5 points for diamonds, 5 for caging spirits, 20 points for killing monsters. Can't remember what Repton 3 scored for killing monsters, but I seem to remember it was quite low. Since I didn't make killing monsters compulsory in this version (which would make some Repton 1 levels impossible), it makes sense to award large bonus points for managing it. Also, I wanted to make sure players got some points for collecting earth - I like nice, tidied up levels!

8. If and when I convert Repton 2, you won't have to kill all monsters, use all transporters and collect all earth sections to complete it - to make it consistent across Reptons 1 and 3. The aim of the game remains simple - all diamonds and nothing else. Despite liking tidied levels, I think making the earth as valuable as diamonds is unnecessary!

There's definitely differences in rock behaviour in Repton Fusion and Repton 3 - if I ever find a way to fix this, I will. It should only affect areas with large numbers of rocks falling simulatneously, effectively colliding with each other in mid-air. In the mean time, I'm going to have to rely on testing each and every level by hand to ensure there's nothing blocking level completion.