Difference between revisions of "Getting Started Guide"

Revision as of 20:52, 4 September 2014

Play Mode

Puzzle/Contraption Browser

The play browser is separated into three main sections: Official Puzzles, Community, and My Stash.

Official Puzzles
This is where you play and solve official puzzles for Contraption Maker. Because this is the Alpha, there are only a few test puzzles for examples. The main focus of the game right now is in making your own creations in the Maker Lab. As the game gets closer to the final release version, expect to find over 100 official puzzles here to solve.

Community
This is where you browse everything uploaded by other players in the Steam community. Right now, there are two types of uploads to browse: puzzles and contraptions. Puzzles have a set goal, and you are given specific parts to try and solve that goal. Contraptions are just cool things that people made and want to share. These don't have goals, and they have no limitations on what parts you can use.

My Stash
Your stash holds puzzles and contraptions that you have uploaded to and downloaded from the stash. If you subscribe to a puzzle from the workshop, you can come here later to play it.

Playing Puzzles

Puzzles in Contraption Maker give you a partially completed contraption that is missing some parts. You are given a goal to complete such as "turn on the light," or "launch the rocket." You are given a handful of parts that you can place anywhere in the contraption to try and make it work.

Everything in a contraption remains frozen in place until you turn it on.

1. Playfield
This is where you place parts to try and fix the contraption. Everything that is already in the playfield when you start the puzzle is locked in place. They will still move once you run the contraption, but you aren't allowed to personally pick up and move any of the parts.

2. Parts Bin
These are the parts that you can place into the playfield. Put them in the correct spot to fix the contraption and solve the puzzle.

3. Play Controls
Click the green arrow to start the contraption. The purple fast forward button allows you to change the playback speed.

4. Goal / Settings / Restart
If you forget the goal of the puzzle, you can click the flag to being it back up. The gears will bring up the game settings. The arrows will restart the puzzle and move all your parts back into the bin.

5. Record
This will record a video of your contraption running. While recording, the game will not run in real time. This is normal, and when you play your video back it will run at a normal framerate. You can adjust recording settings to record faster, but it will lower the quality of your video output.

Videos will output to .webm format. This video format is small, and can be uploaded directly to YouTube. Evetually, you will be able to upload to YouTube directly from the game.

6. Zoom & Pan
Zoom in and out, or pan the camera around.

Using Parts

Grab a part from the parts bin to put it into the puzzle. Once a part is placed, it has a number of different options available. Not every part has all of these options:

[previewicon=1471029;sizeThumb,inline;contextbutton_help_idle.png][/previewicon]Part help: This brings up a window showing and explaining what the selected part does.

[previewicon=1471027;sizeThumb,inline;contextbutton_flip_idle.png][/previewicon]Flip: Flip the part through different set orientations.

[previewicon=1471031;sizeThumb,inline;contextbutton_modify_idle.png][/previewicon]State Editor: Some parts can have their starting state edited. For example, the toaster can be set to make light, medium, or dark toast. This will change how long it takes for the toast to be made.

[previewicon=1471032;sizeThumb,inline;contextbutton_trash_idle.png][/previewicon]Trash: Throw the part away and remove it from your contraption. You can also throw a part away by dragging it out of the puzzle.

[previewicon=1471033;sizeThumb,inline;selectionhandle_rotate_idle.png][/previewicon]Handles: There are a few different handles for parts. These allow you to rotate & scale certain parts.

Make

Maker Lab Overview

[previewimg=1470994;sizeFull,inline;Maker-Lab-Numbers.png][/previewimg]

1. Contraption Area
This is where you build your contraptions. You can zoom in/out and pan around to make contraptions any size you want.

2. Play Controls
[previewicon=1470995;sizeThumb,inline;Play-Controls.png][/previewicon] The play controls are used to run your contraption. Click the green play button to begin the simulation. Once started, hit the stop button to stop the contraption and reset everything. The fast forward button on the right allows you to run your contraption at 2x and 4x normal speed.

3. Parts Bin
The parts bin holds all of the parts available for you to use. Drag a part from here to your contraption window to use it. The tabs up at the top separate the parts into different categories for easier browsing.

4. Scenery Bin
Like the parts bin, but for scenery pieces. Drag pieces from here to your contraption window to place them.

5. Layer Panel
This is used to organize choose the different layers of your scenery. This is explained in more detail in the "Background Tool" section.

6. Contraption Menu
[previewicon=1470992;sizeThumb,inline;Contraption-Menu.png][/previewicon] All of the options here are associated with the contraption they are attached to. The options from left to right are:

• Record: The red button on the left will record a video of your contraption running. While recording, the game will not run in real time. This is normal, and when you play your video back it will run at a normal framerate. You can adjust recording settings to record faster, but it will lower the quality of your video output.

Videos will output to .webm format. This video format is small, and can be uploaded directly to YouTube. Evetually, you will be able to upload to YouTube directly from the game.

• Save: Save your contraption.
• Share: Share your creation to the Steam Workshop as either a puzzle or a contraption.
• Contraption Options: A more detailed contraption options dropdown.
• Undo/Redo: Undo or redo a mistake.
• Zoom In/Out: Zoom the contraption window in or out. This can also be done with the mouse wheel.
• Minimize/Close: Minimize your contraption out of the way, or close it.

7. Toolbar
[previewicon=1470996;sizeThumb,inline;Tool-Bar.png][/previewicon] The toolbar allows to to access different tools. More options will show up here as more tools are added to the game. The buttons from left to right are:

• Pan/Select: Switch your cursor from select to pan. This can also be done temporarily by holding down the spacebar.
• Parts Bin: Brings your parts bin to the front incase you lose it behind other windows.
• Scenery Bin: Brings your scenery bin to the front incase you lose it behind other windows.
• Layer Panel: Brings your layer panel to the front incase you lose it behind other windows.
• Settings: Opens up the game settings. Here, you can adjust a number of different things like the game volume, key bindings, and recording settings.

8. File Bar
[previewicon=1470993;sizeThumb,inline;File-Bar.png][/previewicon] From left to right, the file bar options are:

• Home: Leave the Maker Lab and return to the main menu.
• Open: Open a saved contraption.
• New: Create a new contraption.
• Quit: Quit Contraption Maker and return to the desktop.