Where Do I Start?

  • asianEmpire
    2nd Jan 2016 Member 0 Permalink
    This might not be the right place to post this thread but I'm new to Powder Toy and the website. I would like to know where to start. I mean, I know you can build bombs, destroy cities, and create virtual-CPU's and stuff but there's so much I don't know what to do. First of all, is there a goal to Powder Toy? Do you have to do anything? Contribute to the community? I would just like to hear some feedback on where a beginner should start learning/creating. Thanks.
  • Mrprocom
    2nd Jan 2016 Moderator 4 Permalink
    @asianEmpire (View Post)
    First of all, let's look at the interface of the game:
    image
    Let's not focus on what each thing does, most of them are straightforward and when you hover your mouse over a button, most of the time it will show the description of what that button does.


    The controls you should be aware of:
    Left click: Draws using the element that is highlighted in red.
    Right click: Draws using the element that is highlighted in blue. By default, it's the Erase particles tool located in the special section (the star).
    Middle mouse click: Draws using the element that is highlighted in green. By default, it's the Sample tool located in the tools section (light bulb?).
    Scrolling mouse wheel: Changes the size of your brush.
    Ctrl+Z: Undo the last action.
    Ctrl+X: Cut.
    Ctrl+C: Copy.
    Ctrl+V: Paste.
    Holding Z: Makes a square area appear that shows a zoomed version of what the area near your mouse looks like. While you are holding Z, you can scroll your mouse wheel to change the size of the zoom box.When you left click somewhere, it will place that zoom box in that place. You can remove that zoom box by pressing Z again.
    Holding Ctrl+Left/Right click and moving mouse cursor: Draws a square using the selected element.
    Holding Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right click and moving mouse cursor: Draws a line using the selected element.
    Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right click: Fills the area with the selected element.


    First of all, as a beginner, your main goal is to get the hang of the game.
    The way I did that is by going to every single element section and trying literally every single element and learn what each element does. The element description is also useful, it will help you a lot. The electronics section could be complicated for you, so don't worry about it, it will take some time to learn electronics.

    Another useful thing to do is to read the Wiki: https://powdertoy.co.uk/Wiki.html it has a very detailed description of every single element.


    About the goals, TPT has no goals, it's a sandbox game, you make your *own* goals by yourself. Most people like publishing fun saves, others like helping people, others like introducing new concepts to the community, others like publishing saves to get them to the Front Page, which is the first page you see when you browse published saves.


    Good luck!

    Edit: Oh, and if you are confused with something, make sure you search for the problem using the Search feature: https://powdertoy.co.uk/Search.html?Search_Query=
    If you can't find the solution to your problem, make a new thread about it and wait for help.

    Edit 2: Almost forgot, make sure you follow the rules: http://tpt.io/:17088
    nobody likes to be banned :P
    Edited 2 times by Mrprocom. Last: 2nd Jan 2016
  • Omega29
    2nd Jan 2016 Member 0 Permalink

    Also you may be interested in the Console.

     

    The console is a feature that allows you to change properties of the elements quickly
    (Using Lua) Without the PROPERTY tool.

     

    The console usually takes the format !set [Element name] [Property] [Value]

     

    There are many console features, and the properties the console have can be seen here.

     

    • temp - Set the temprature of the set elements
    • tmp - tmp is basically a function that controls elements. Quite different from element to element, please check the wiki (Link in @MrProCom's Post) for detailed explanations about each element and what they do when their tmp is changed. For example DEUT increases it's volume when it's tmp increases.
    • tmp2 - another tmp to set a new variaty of properties. Same for tmp, although fewer elements actually use it, such as WARP.
    • x - the horizontal location of the element.
    • y - the vertical location of the element.
    • vx - the horizontal movement of the element. The numbers indicate the speed. set a plus value for going right, set a minus value from going left. 0 stops the element from moving horizontally.
    • vy - the vertical movement of the element. Same as vx.
    • type - !set SOME type THING changes all SOME's on screen to equal values of THING. All designates all elements on screen.
    • life - although it designates the time the elements stay on-screen, many elements take life=0 as staying indefinetly. A element that uses LIFE (example) is PROT.

    Exact console usage can always be found in the wiki.

     

    You can also execute LUA scripts, if you know Lua.

     


    Have a nice day

    Edited once by Omega29. Last: 2nd Jan 2016
  • Mrprocom
    2nd Jan 2016 Moderator 0 Permalink
    @Omega29 (View Post)
    Actually these have nothing to do with Lua, these are normal console commands. Any command that doesn't start with an exclamation mark (!) counts as a Lua command.

    So for example:
    !set type metl watr is a console command.
    print("Hello World") is a command written in Lua.

    Anyway, the console is too complicated for a beginner to learn :P
    Edited once by Mrprocom. Last: 2nd Jan 2016
  • jacob1
    2nd Jan 2016 Developer 0 Permalink
    @Mrprocom (View Post)
    Really good tutorial :O

    For the picture, 'Modes' might be 'quickoptions', and the thing on the bottom I just call the 'bottom bar' lol. And yeah, the tooltips describe each of them.

    @Omega29 (View Post)
    I agree with @Mrprocom, better to learn how the game actually works before you try and go into the console ... I only started learning the console because I already knew some basic programming. Also it's "Lua" not "LUA". Well, your stuff wasn't Lua at all though :P.

    @asianEmpire (View Post)
    For now I guess just browse online saves and leave votes and comments, that is a good way to contribute and start learning how saves work. The first stuff I ever did was just blowing stuff up ... but you can start wherever.
  • johnpears
    4th Jan 2016 Member 0 Permalink

    The Powder Toy is an awesome physics simulation game, similar to some Java games online (but better!).
    The Powder Game now has an online, community driven creation sharing system built right into the game!
    To get started, just download it! Registration is not required, but if you want to share your own creations, tag
    creations, or vote, register an account (Registration is completely free, no strings attached)!

  • Omega29
    5th Jan 2016 Member 0 Permalink

    @jacob1 (View Post) I just wanted to emphasize the name :P Also my first interaction with Lua wasn't on TPT

     

    Once you're done with TPT itself, you can try out other mods made by the community.