Robbie the Assistant

[RaptorParkowsky]

Robbie. I was thinking about how bring her back to the GOLD project and how she would do her thing in EPSITEC style. As all of you know, in original Colobot game the developers cut her from the final product and left some already developed stuff alone in game's source code and files. Some ideas about her character, animations technique and even probably the voice was used later in another EPSITEC's game - BuzzingCars.


I reccomend firstly to familiarize with a little thing that her character's name probably links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_the_Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ptHtb7RPRw

So if there is such popculturar 50's sci-fi icon like "Robby the Robot", wouldn't we just introduce our own mascot in Colobot: Gold Edition as a "Robbie the Assistant"? Most of required stuff has been already developed and exist in the game, so we don't need to do so much, especially when we're still in alpha stage.



This is what we can do now to give her stable life in the game:


1. Give her official object category

I propose RobbieAssistant.



2. Rename her official tooltip object name

Now there's original "Robbie" but I think better will be to know, what exactly her role in this game is. "Robbie the Assistant" should be enough clearer, as she already links to SatCom when the player/user click on her.

EN: Robbie the Assistant
PL: Asystentka Robbie
FR, DE, RU needs someone more

3. Add her in all Exercises levels

Code:

CreateObject pos=0.0;0.0 dir=0.0 type=RobbieAssistant

I think this code should working and looking fine everywhere. At the beginnig of the level she will be animated to the camera due to the "Instructions from SatCom" message.





And... for now that's it. That's all, there's nothing more to do with her for now. The game is still in alpha stage, so some things about her will change in future development of the Colobot: Gold Edition and she will be naturally evolving like rest of the game.



Future development of the Robbie the Assistant


4. Model changes

Well, there's some changes that needs to be done. Especially with texture from the Radar Station that contains characteristic arrow.



5. More animations

When the models/animations refactoring will be done, there will be probably a lot of space for creativity. So we can try to develop some more funny animations for her.



6. Voice

She is probably "more alive" than even the astronaut in this game, especially because of her facial expressions. But something is missing. That's of course her voice. In the future we will add her some one-liners that depends of the messages or some situations in the Exercises. We can possibly use some open-source voice synthesizers or even record somehow all quotes when we will be able to do that kind of things.




So what do you think about adding her oficially into the game? What's your ideas?

[tomaszkax86]

We can add her or whatever it is. But... How about we add an option in menu to enable/disable Robbie the Assistant? Not everyone needs such help. Adding it to every level with CreateObject is not necessarily good idea so me might want to find another way. Wasn't there MissionType or something in scene files? And there's probably no need for separate category as it's completely pointless to radar() Robbie.

[tomangelo]

1) It's he, she, or it? How it was described in Epsitec sources?
2) Where and how it could be implemented? I don't think that Robby/Robbie would have a place in main story (but maybe when we'll turn on solution?), I don't see it in freegame too, it would be hard to add this in exercises or challenges. But definitely it could be available in custom maps.

[krzys_h]

I'm not sure about the name. I always called it "Robby" for some reason, I just checked and that's only German translation of this name, it actually is named "Robbie" in original...

1. Give her official object category
I propose RobbieAssistant.

Not needed. It can't be used in CBot anyway, it's blacklisted from all functions like radar() etc.

2. Rename her official tooltip object name

Now there's original "Robbie" but I think better will be to know, what exactly her role in this game is. "Robbie the Assistant" should be enough clearer, as she already links to SatCom when the player/user click on her.

++

3. Add her in all Exercises levels

Code:

CreateObject pos=0.0;0.0 dir=0.0 type=RobbieAssistant

I think this code should working and looking fine everywhere. At the beginnig of the level she will be animated to the camera due to the "Instructions from SatCom" message.

This is not how this was meant to work. There was some code somewhere that created this object independent of level file. Since it's NOT a normal level object, I think we should kinda stick to this way of creating it, maybe through some other parameter like

Code:

Level robbie=true

Of couse, we must bring back the TotoMode option (maybe under a diffrent name) that was supposed to turn this assistant on and off. Some people may prefer to stay in classic Colobot style and disable it.

6. Voice
She is probably "more alive" than even the astronaut in this game, especially because of her facial expressions. But something is missing. That's of course her voice. In the future we will add her some one-liners that depends of the messages or some situations in the Exercises. We can possibly use some open-source voice synthesizers or even record somehow all quotes when we will be able to do that kind of things.

That sounds kinda cool

So what do you think about adding her oficially into the game? What's your ideas?

I'm still not sure about officialy bringing him/her back (I still can't decide if it's "he" or "she". For some reason it looks more like a boy to me...). In my opinion it doesn't really fit in the Colobot universe.

EDIT: I feel like I'm so slooow... Two new posts while I was writing this one
Robbie is actually already mostly implemented in the sources, there is only no official way of spawning it. You can do that manually in any level with:

Code:

produce(301);

EDIT2:

I don't think that Robby/Robbie would have a place in main story (but maybe when we'll turn on solution?)

That's actually an awesome idea. It's perfect as a solution assistant, doesn't make much sense to add it anywhere else.

[Simbax]

Robby could be flying in one of the screen corners at the beginning of each mission (except Amnesia for example), along with the "press F1" message. Maybe she should repeat it (with real voice in the future) until a player actually press it and then disappear after the player returns to the game.

Also, she could be a very interesting tutor and commentator in the main story. If I remember correctly, we were even considering putting her in the first Earth tutorial missions. I would like to see her at least there as it would give a little refreshment and make problems with (bad, for now) tutorial easier to solve. I personally know too many people, for whom the first missions were not obvious and boring. Robby would make the introduction to the game much more interesting, and the first few minutes are probably the most important part of the game (this is the moment of fight, which will end up with a player being interested in the game or uninstalling and forgetting it forever).

[RaptorParkowsky]

How about we add an option in menu to enable/disable Robbie the Assistant?

Well, I don't like this idea, because Robbie for now is doing nothing than spying the user/player and providing a link to SatCom. That shouldn't disturb the user/player in the Exercises that much like if we would implement her in every Mission. In future her role may change more and she will probably be more helpful and important in the Exercises, so turning off her would be not a good idea.

It's he, she, or it? How it was described in Epsitec sources?

Formally she's a robot, so "it". But the "Robbie" name clearly belong to female, so character of that robot is rather female. She probably would sound like Blupi or musician robot from BuzzingCars so it even fit to name it "her".

Where and how it could be implemented? I don't think that Robby/Robbie would have a place in main story (but maybe when we'll turn on solution?), I don't see it in freegame too, it would be hard to add this in exercises or challenges. But definitely it could be available in custom maps.

As I said, for now I propose to add her to only Exercises as a hint for the user/player to hit F1 or click on her to get the information about the exercise. Probably she will make also an appearance in the first missions on Earth as a guide, but not now. This will need the possibility to program her in CBOT == future development. For now, I would use only her already implemented features so the Exercises (as they aren't in the main story) are good and easy to implement place for her.

Not needed. It can't be used in CBot anyway, it's blacklisted from all functions like radar() etc.

In the future her movement and animations should be somehow programmable, especially when we will use her as assistant in the first missions, so I would treat her as half-normal object in the scene, which must be created somewhere and then do some scripted stuff. radar() also should be able to find her.

This is not how this was meant to work. There was some code somewhere that created this object independent of level file. Since it's NOT a normal level object, I think we should kinda stick to this way of creating it, maybe through some other parameter like

Code:

Level robbie=true

When she will somehow programmable and doing other things than spying the left corner of the screen, that may become important to where she must be placed first at the begin of the level.

Of couse, we must bring back the TotoMode option (maybe under a diffrent name) that was supposed to turn this assistant on and off. Some people may prefer to stay in classic Colobot style and disable it.

Again, I don't like that idea, because for now even I don't 100% sure what her future development would like to be and how she will be important in the Exercises after levels refactoring. If that's enough easy to implement, so ok, but that will probably need another option in level's scene file that determines it over CreateObject pos=0.0;0.0 dir=0.0 type=RobbieAssistant.

In my opinion it doesn't really fit in the Colobot universe.

Well, for me it fit really good. She's very EPSITEC'esque.

Robby could be flying in one of the screen corners at the beginning of each mission (except Amnesia for example), along with the "press F1" message. Maybe she should repeat it (with real voice in the future) until a player actually press it and then disappear after the player returns to the game.

That doesn't really fit into the plot in every mission. Only in the first mission there's good place for her existance, but in the space and beyond, far away from Earth, the Astronaut should be alone.

Also, she could be a very interesting tutor and commentator in the main story. If I remember correctly, we were even considering putting her in the first Earth tutorial missions. I would like to see her at least there as it would give a little refreshment and make problems with (bad, for now) tutorial easier to solve. I personally know too many people, for whom the first missions were not obvious and boring. Robby would make the introduction to the game much more interesting, and the first few minutes are probably the most important part of the game (this is the moment of fight, which will end up with a player being interested in the game or uninstalling and forgetting it forever).

Totally ++ && ++.

[krzys_h]

Not needed. It can't be used in CBot anyway, it's blacklisted from all functions like radar() etc.

In the future her movement and animations should be somehow programmable, especially when we will use her as assistant in the first missions, so I would treat her as half-normal object in the scene, which must be created somewhere and then do some scripted stuff. radar() also should be able to find her.

No, radar() should NOT be able to find her. At least at the current stage, where she is just an element of the UI, not part of the game's world. It should be also somehow blacklisted from retobject().
(BTW, my recent fix to the animations has a side effect that you actually can do this if you do radar(301), but it's not going to be detected by radar(Any))

This is not how this was meant to work. There was some code somewhere that created this object independent of level file. Since it's NOT a normal level object, I think we should kinda stick to this way of creating it, maybe through some other parameter like

Code:

Level robbie=true

When she will somehow programmable and doing other things than spying the left corner of the screen, that may become important to where she must be placed first at the begin of the level.

If won't since she is immediately teleported to the camera position.

Of couse, we must bring back the TotoMode option (maybe under a diffrent name) that was supposed to turn this assistant on and off. Some people may prefer to stay in classic Colobot style and disable it.

Again, I don't like that idea, because for now even I don't 100% sure what her future development would like to be and how she will be important in the Exercises after levels refactoring. If that's enough easy to implement, so ok, but that will probably need another option in level's scene file that determines it over CreateObject pos=0.0;0.0 dir=0.0 type=RobbieAssistant.

There MUST be an option to disable her in every level where she is not a part of the gameplay (for example the planned first missions on Earth). That's really easy to implement.

[RaptorParkowsky]

No, radar() should NOT be able to find her. At least at the current stage, where she is just an element of the UI, not part of the game's world. It should be also somehow blacklisted from retobject().

Ok, you're right, for now there's nothing to do with radar(). This is of course for future development, when we will need that to implement with first Missions and as a official, programmable object for userlevels.

If won't since she is immediately teleported to the camera position.

That's not teleporting. It's just flying to the position with a random speed that depends of situation. I think it should be able to react in the same way for the goto() in the future.

There MUST be an option to disable her in every level where she is not a part of the gameplay (for example the planned first missions on Earth). That's really easy to implement.

It still depends what the Exercises will be in the future. For now it's ok that player/user will be able to turn her off as she is going to be for now almost only decorative object in the Exercises.

[krzys_h]

Ok, maybe it doesn't teleport but moves so fast that there is really no diffrence. It just feels wrong to put UI element in CreateObject. For the same reason, LevelController script is not created using CreateObject, but using a dedicated line in level file.
PS. It actually does teleport, when you close SatCom

[tomaszkax86]

I don't like the idea of Robbie being important in any exercise. SatCom is all I should need to complete everything, including exercises. Besides, I find it annoying when something is spying or watching over me. What is this, space NSA? I thought I was sent alone to find new Earth. I'm pretty sure not everyone wants an assistant so there has to be a way to disable it. Let's not turn Colobot into Microsoft Office with even worse version of Clipper.

[Simbax]

Nobody complains about GLaDOS observing nearly every move in Portal, but everyone loses their minds because of a friendly flying robot.

Any voice will make the game more attractive, especially in programming levels. I don't mean that she should be explaining everything and replace SatCom, but at least make funny comments or give hints. Also, she doesn't have to be always visible. It's a game for children after all, not IDE for serious work.

[tomaszkax86]

There's a huge difference. GLaDOS is a major part in Portal games and her observing the player is part of the story. Robbie has never been added officially to Colobot and adding it may change the gameplay experience. Nintendo added Navi in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and many players found it very annoying with all her "Hey listen!" interruptions. I'd hate to see Robbie acting like Navi or Clipper from Microsoft Office.

If we want to add Robbie officially to the game let's do it right. For me it's just a silly addition that doesn't help in any way. If it helps young players, fine for them. I'd rather have it disabled. And no, it's not a game for kids. It's a game for everyone. I still play Colobot despite the fact that I'm 24 years old. Programming AI in CBot is very inspiring for me.

[Simbax]

Well, of course it's for everyone, but generally it is supposed to teach programming, especially for children, as they love computer games, so we should think about them in the first place. Additional features and possibilities for serious programmers are nice to have too.

Assistants are a hard subject, and you are right, Robbie needs to be well made. Otherwise, it won't be worth putting into the game. I'd rather no see it at all than to see a next example of annoying AI assistants.

[tomangelo]

I think that it could be existing like out-of-universe object, I mean that Robby/Robbie doesn't even exist in game world. It's only visible for a player. It wasn't send by Houston, Me don't actually know that there is little flying "toaster" around his head. It would give some tips, tricks or another help for a player, like "You can control your character by arrow keys", or "Sniffer can check, if ground is flat". It would be especially efective in exercise levels, where it could talk about some (for example) good programmistic behaviours.

[RaptorParkowsky]

PS. It actually does teleport, when you close SatCom

Well, if the source code said so, so ok.

I think that it could be existing like out-of-universe object, I mean that Robby/Robbie doesn't even exist in game world. It's only visible for a player. It wasn't send by Houston, Me don't actually know that there is little flying "toaster" around his head. It would give some tips, tricks or another help for a player, like "You can control your character by arrow keys", or "Sniffer can check, if ground is flat". It would be especially efective in exercise levels, where it could talk about some (for example) good programmistic behaviours.

Well, the all Exercises is somehow out of the actual world of the game. And of course, Robbie should talk to the user/player, not to astronaut, so she can talk everything about controls, UI, programming, strategy, enemies, objects, etc. Just a short hints. And of course, she should comment messages like:

Error: Place occupied
"Oh no, let's find another place!"

<<< Well done: mission accomplished >>>
"Cool! You did great job!"

Building completed
"New Radar Station just started looking for aliens!"

I don't like the idea of Robbie being important in any exercise. SatCom is all I should need to complete everything, including exercises. Besides, I find it annoying when something is spying or watching over me. What is this, space NSA? I thought I was sent alone to find new Earth. I'm pretty sure not everyone wants an assistant so there has to be a way to disable it. Let's not turn Colobot into Microsoft Office with even worse version of Clipper.

There's still no script for that, what the Robbie is gonna talk about. Of course every important information will be in SatCom.

Well, there will be a lot to record, so if we will be able to record that with any voice actor/actress, we should do this in one session, when the Colobot: Gold Edition will be in Release Candidate or late Beta stage. In Alpha or Beta, when we will be polishing the script, we will probably using voice synthesizers to check how it will be sound.