Frequently Asked Questions - Information for new members!

[Xiagan]

Hello and welcome to the Free Lunch Design forums!

We will try to answer most of your questions here, so read it carefully before you make new or derail other topics.

Make sure to have a look into the rules first, it will tell you how to stay here without getting banned.

The FAQ has different categories and everyone has a single post below.

The categories are:
- The forums 
- Icytower 
- Happyland 
- Alex the Allegator 4 
- Other FLD Games 
- Miscellaneous stuff 

We hope that this topic can help you, if not, you can try the forums search. If it isn't helping you either, don't hesitate and write a pm to somebody or open a new topic.

Have a nice staying here!

PS: The answers and tips in this topic are a joint venture/team work of the members of the forums. Most of the active (or been-active) members wrote something for it.

If you think that there is something important missing, post it in this topic and we'll maybe add it.

~This FAQ was created under the cooperation of: Aurel300, Crux, Dragoon, Geti, Johan Peitz, Jordz da man, Miketinovic, Mush Man, John Beak, TomyT, Wiggin15, Xiagan, zmathue.~
 (Write something meaningful in the topic mentioned above and get added here!)

[Xiagan]

The forums:


How to put up an Avatar (the picture under your name on the left side of your post)

This is one of the most frequently asked questions here so here's how to do it! The guide will be modified if anything seems unclear!
An avatar is the picture that is shown to the left of all your posts under your user name. Screenshot

Step 1: Get an Avatar
Firstly, you should get or make an avatar. You can find one off the net like in Google Images. You can also make your own or edit an avatar. But that's up to you. But your avatar must not break the rules. Your avatar must be on your computer and prefferably, not on the net. You must have an avatar that is 100 X 100 pixels or less. I also recommend that your avatar is in .PNG format and is not more than 100 KB. To check this, have your mouse over the file that is your avatar. Screenshot

Step 2: Upload your Avatar
Once you have your avatar, you must upload it somewhere on the internet. The most popular website is Image Shack, the faster one may be Willhostforfood. Click the link if you have your avatar. Now you are at the Image Shack page. Here's a screenshot. Once you've uploaded it, copy the link in the Direct Link to Image section. Screenshot

Step 3: Show your Avatar
You're almost there now! Here's the final step. Go to your profile. Screenshot. In the Modify Profile box to the left, click Forum Profile Informaion. Screenshot. Now select the I Have my own Pic bubble and put your code into the text box. Click Change Profile when you're done! Screenshot. Go to another page and check the top right corner to see if your avatar works!


- Can guests post?

Guests are not allowed to post at FLD. Guest posts are done either by:
1) Guests who posted before guest posts were disabled.
2) Users who deleted their account.
3) By Johan Peitz' Cheesebot


- When is double-posting okay?

Double-posting is ok, if there was already a good time since your last post and the one you are going to post AND you have something important and/or actual to say.

- When is the reviving of old threads okay?

You usually shouldn't revive topics which are older than a few weeks because they are most of the time not longer interesting (problem solved, discussion finished, died away a year ago...).
It is okay to revive a topic IF you have a problem/question/something to say and there is already a topic for your concern BUT it is no help to you or you have something really interesting to add.

- Why are there so many members who have zero posts?

Some people register just so that they can use functions like

[Xiagan]

- How to use Codes

Code bar - Used to represent codes used by the forum, like below.
How to...
Type [ code ] without the spaces. Then the code you want to enter. After, end with [ /code ] without spaces.
Looks like...

Code:

Code goes here.

Quote Bar - Used to quote somebody else.
How to...

Code:

[quote author=Author goes here. date=Date & time goes here. link=Link to the post goes here.]
Author, date and link are optional.
Quote goes here.
[/quote]

Looks like...

Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Images - Used to show an image in your post apart from smilies. Got your own image? Upload at Image Shack and code the top code given to you and paste in the post area.
How to...

Code:

[img]www.websitehere.com/imagename.gif[/img]

Looks like...


Hyperlinks - Links to other web pages on the internet.
How to... Basic

Code:

[url]www.websitehere.com[/url]

Looks like... Basic
www.freelunchdesign.com
How to... Advanced

Code:

[url=www.websitehere.com]Text here[/url]

Looks like... Advanced
Free Lunch Design

Tables - Used to align different objects with results.
How to...

Code:

[table]
 [tr]
  [td]
   Row 1, Collumn 1   
  [/td]
  [td]
   Row 1, Collumn 2
  [/td]
 [/tr]
 [tr]
  [td]
   Row 2, Collumn 1   
  [/td]
  [td]
   Row 2, Collumn 2
  [/td]
 [/tr]
[/table]

Looks like...

Row 1, Collumn 1	Row 1, Collumn 2
Row 2, Collumn 1	Row 2, Collumn 2

Coloured Text - Used if you want your text to look all nice and colourful. And if you don't live in America, can you please spell colour without a u? Thanks.
How to...

Code:

[color=Blue]Text goes here.[/color]

Looks like...
This text is blue.

Subscript / Superscript - Used occasionally for competition places and science elements. Not that there's too much science here.
How to... Superscript

Code:

1[sup]st[/sup]

Looks like... Superscript
1^st
How to... Subscript

Code:

H[sub]2[/sub]O

Looks like... Subscript
H₂O

Teletype - Used if you want a different "font".
How to...

Code:

[tt]Text goes here.[/tt]

Looks like...
Teletyped text!

[Xiagan]

  Icytower

- Where is the "characters" folder located on my computer?

    - double click the "my computer" icon, either in the start menu or on the desktop.
    - double click the "drive c:\" icon, or the name of your HD
    - double click the "games" folder that IT is usually installed in
    - open the "Icy Tower 1.3.1" folder and then open the "characters" folder.
    - you are now in the "characters" folder. Put all characters in here and they will work (if   
  made properly).

This is only by default. If you installed Icy Tower to another location, your characters folder will be there.


Where do I find more characters?

Check the IT Community-site, Mizi Mace's Character Collection
and IcyTower.cz's characters page.

I downloaded a character. Why isn't it working?

Make sure that the character is not located in double folders like:

C:\games\icytower1.3\characters\somecharacter\somecharacter\

Make sure that the frames (see below answer) for the character have the same name as they do in the txt file. Also make sure that the txt file has the same name as the directory it is located in.


How do I make a character?

To make your own character you need three things. Frames (images of the moves that the character can do), sounds (what the character can say (and music)) and finally a script that tells the game what is what. The sounds and music are optional, and do not have to be created.

CUSTOM CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE

    Start by coming up with an idea for your character. It might take some time to come up with a good one, but that's how it is. The whole process will be a lot easier if you have planned what to do before hand.
   
    Now, first make a copy of the directory named 'template', but call it the name of your character instead. Enter the directory and rename the file 'template.txt' to whatever you called your character.
   
    Example: if you renamed the directory to 'jolly_joe', the new name of the text file should be 'jolly_joe.txt'. This is very important, if the directory and the text file don't have the same names, it wont work. (Make sure you can see the file extensions on the files, or you might do something wrong.)
   
CHARACTER GRAPHICS
   
    Let's start with the graphics. First off, since the graphics in Icy Tower is palette based, you need a paint program that can handle palettes. Not all programs can handle palettes, but here's a list of a few programs that can:
   
       Graphics Gale
       ProMotion (from Cosmigo)
       NeoPaint
       Autodesk Animator
       Photoshop
       Gimp
       
    Once you have started your paint program, locate the directory  you created above and open the 'template.pcx' (or .bmp) file that is in there.
   
    You will see 15 frames containing outlines of Harold. Below each
    frame is a short description. Here's a more informative description of the frames:
   
     IDLE1 - 3   These frames are the animation that Harold
           performs when the player isn't moving him.
           The sequence for one cycle is 1-2-1-3. Then it
           restarts.
             
     WALK1 - 3   This is Harold's walk animation. You have three
           frames to play with, they will be flipped in
           the game when Harold changes direction.
             
     JUMP1 - 3   These are the frames used when Harold makes a
           medium jump. They show his way up, hanging in
           air and down. They will also be flipped if needed.
           
     JUMP      The frame for the normal straight up jump.
     
     CHOCK      The frame shown when Harold is close to scroll
           off the screen.
           
     ROTATE      The frame used for Harold's cartwheel jump.
     
     EDGE1 - 2   The animation Harold performs when standing on
           an edge.
     
     
    There you go, now you know how the frames will be used. Start  overdrawing the frames of Harold with your own character. Don't forget to save!
   
    A note on using a palette based program. You cannot use just any colors, you only have 256 color to your disposal and half of them are already used by the game. Open up a view of the palette, you will see a large chunk of cyan colors (color 144 - 223). These are unused and I suggest you use them for your character. (Ie you can change them into any color without affecting the game.
   
    Be warned! If you change a color outside the cyan chunk, it will affect the game. If you know what you're doing you can create special environments for your character, but if you don't you will mess up the game. Caution is advised!

Some infos about the palette:

• 01:
  • 01-01: the index of transparency
  • 02-16: letters on the built-in highscore list, letters in the replay browser, bone-like floors, cloud-like floors
• 02:
  • 01-16: the tower (walls near the edges, walls in the background, etc.)
• 03:
  • 01-02: Harold

[Xiagan]

- Mods

- How do I create a mod for Icytower?

Part 1. Graphic and Music mods
1. Get Allegro Grabber - http://www.allegro.cc/depot/Grabber/
2. Type in the password for your icytower version in the password box


   version  1.3 - gostflor
   version  1.2 - wazup
   version  1.0/1.1 - There is no password

3. Open up the data.dat(or a backup of it)   -    Data.dat is normally stored at C:\games\icytower1.3\data
4. Double Click aaapal to set that as the correct palette (so it shows up and exports with the correct colours)



5. Right click on an image and select export, then specify a path for it to save to.
6. Edit the image with your favorite image editor.
7. Right click on the same image and click grab, then select the newly edited image.

For music do the same but with sfx13.dat

Part 1.2 Importing Image Hint

This took me a while to figure out but it will help you a lot.
Normally when you try to import an image it will take you to a fake directory where Johan originally stored the icy tower graphics on his computer. Now that may be annoying for you to have to go through all the directorys to find your image.
To prevent this open the .dat file and go to the file menu and select save stripped then strip all grabber info.



Now reload the file you just saved and do your modding!

Modding is ok. Please do it. But it is not allowed to hack the EXE.

[Xiagan]

- The Secondary categories

Category (name) - description

NML (N00b Masters League) -  Highest floor reached without making a combo - combo has to be 0 at the end of the game.
UNML (Ultimate N00b Masters League) - Jumping floor-by-floor - each floor has to be touched
JC2 (Jump/Just Combo 2??? - no official name) - Combo where each jump is a 2-floor jump
JC3,4,5 (...) - The same as JC2, but the jumps are 3-floor, 4-floor or 5-floor, depends on a category
RRML (Radical Rejumpers Masters League) - The jump must be pressed exactly once per game - that means you turn on Rejump in the options, start a game and hold jump till you die
FML (F00l Masters League) - Lost combo
CCC (Clock Crush Challenge) - Highest floor reached before you get the Hurry Up message (clock ring)
CCCx (...) - Highest floor reached at xth Hurry Up
TF (The Fastest) - CCC1+CCC2+CCC3+CCC4+CCC5 in one game
NBJ (No Bounce Jump) - Game without touching walls
TOR (Total Outcome Ratio) - Score/100+Floor+Combo in one game

Training mods (only version 1.2):
ProFloor - Special mods with shorter floors
FastFloor - Entire game runs a bit faster (~120% game speed)


- Tournaments and Individual Matchpoints

...

[Xiagan]

- Tips for playing

Tired of falling before reaching 400 floors or 200 combo? Or tired of not beating your personal best?
Visit Mizimace

[Xiagan]

- Troubleshooting

If you've found a couple of bugs in Icy Tower or if it won't work at all, just post it in our forums and we'll try to help. Don't forget to search before posting.

Known errors/FAQs:

Q: Icy Tower won't work.

A: Keep your drivers updated (DirectX), and don't run any programs while playing. This also goes for memory resident programs.

Q: When starting Icy Tower, at the main menu screen the menu is just rapping around and around like holding the up-key all the time. Any ideas?

A: Try to unplug your gamepad/joystick.

Q: I get a blue screen of death with the error message "BAD_POOL_HEADER" and a long memory address. Any suggestions?

A: Try to look for older versions of Icy Tower, you can download them here.


- The floors in Icy Tower

Floors 1 - 239: the length of the floors is different

Floors 240 - 999: all the floors are the same length (one left segment, one right and 5 middle segments)

Floors 1000 - 1499: the floors are shorter than previous by one middle segment (4 left).

Floors 1500 - 1999: the floors are shorter than previous by one middle segment (3 left).

Floors 2000 - 9999: the floors are shorter than previous by one middle segment (2 left).

Floors 10000 - x: only one middle segment

The floors in profloor are as same as the 1500 - 1999 floors.


- How to unlock new floors

There are 10 start floors (11 floors actually but you can't start on the last). They are...


Now, your highest floor is 200+ right? Well, to unlock the next start floor isn't just a matter of reaching it. You need 300 to unlock Metal floors. Since you start on Wood, you need to reach and beat Metal and beat Ruby to unlock Metal. In other words, you need to reach Bone if you start on Wood because when you do that, you would've climbed 300 floors, which is the requirement to unlock it. Also, Invisible Rainbow isn't unlockible. You can still see it ingame, but it's not unlockable.

- The rewards

You get a reward if you finish a combo. Here you can see which reward for which combo.

4-6 Good! minimal score 16
7-14 Sweet! minimal score 49
15-24 Great! minimal score 225
25-34 Super! minimal score 625
35-49 Wow! minimal score 1225
50-69 Amazing! minimal score 2500
70-99 Extreme! minimal score 4900
100-139 Fantastic minimal score 10000
140-199 Splendid! minimal score 19600
200-more No Way! minimal score 40000


- IT Community

This is the site for everything Icy Tower! Here you can upload replays to participate in constant and monthly highscore lists, share and download new characters for the game and much much more.

- The IT-music

The music that plays in the main menu is a version of "Man of Constant Sorrow", an American folk song. It is classified as "traditional", which means that anyone is free to make their own interpretation of the song. If you search the web you should find half-a-dozen versions or so.
If you knew the song before reading this info, don't think you were the first to know.

[Xiagan]

Alex the Allegator 4

- How do I beat this level?

For a walkthrough with spoilers (we warned you!) look here.


- How does the editor work?

Here are all of the controls how the level editor works...

• File handling
  • load map----------shift + L
  • save map----------shift + S
  • map properties-----F1
  • quit editor----------ESC (twice)
• Tiles
  • draw tile-------------left mouse button
  • pick tile--------------right mouse button
  • browse tiles----------Z/X
  • tile palette-----------P
• Tile types
  • player dies--------------Q
  • level exit----------------W
  • roll activator------------E
  • breakable block----------R
  • water-------------------T
  • water surface-----------Y
  • alex start, left----------A
  • alex start, right---------shift + A
• Items
  • 1 up-------------1
  • star--------------2
  • cherry-----------3
  • egg--------------4
  • heart------------5
• Enemies
  • grunt--------------------shift + Q
  • spear grunt--------------shift + W
  • crusher------------------shift + E
  • spike fish-----------------shift + R
  • jellyfish-------------------shift + T
  • cannon-------------------shift + Y
  • boss, spike truck----------shift + U
  • boss, ground pounder-----shift + I

To remove tile types, enemies or items, you can either replace them with a different object, or you can place the same object again at the same position and it will disappear.

- I heard of a colour-version, where do I get it?

You must already have the original Alex 4 to play the coloured one!
You can get the colour-version here or here.
Just unzip all files in the original Alex 4 folder and you're done!
The colour-version was made a long time ago by Tim Wright (aka Argh!)
Besides colouring the game, it improves the Editor and adds more options!

- Where do I find more levels?

You can find more Alex4 levels at Preno's site.

[Xiagan]

  Happyland

- How do I beat this damn hard level?

For a walkthrough with spoilers (we warned you!) look here.


- I forgot a level password and don

[Xiagan]

Spacehog

- How do I use own levels in spacehog?
  This is the easy part. 

  1) Put your level in the same directory as the rest of spacehog.
  2) Start spacehog.
  3) When at the start menu, open the console (TAB+ENTER).
  4) Type 'load level' end press ENTER.
  5) Type the name of your level and press ENTER.
  6) If you did everything right the console will tell you. If you did
     something wrong, you will also be told. Try again.
  7) In case everything went OK, leave the console and start the game.
 
Play your level.

 If you want to set the next level to play after your first, start the
 console _while_ playing the first level and repeat the nessessary steps
 from above.

[Xiagan]

Miscellaneous

- How to upload files

1) Go to a website such as Badongo or Files-Upload.
2) Browse your computer and locate the file you want to upload.
3) Once it's uploaded, copy the direct link and paste it where you want to put it.