Tokens and group editing

With update 1.48, the token item was added to the level editor. Adding tokens to your leve allows players to finish it simply by collecting all the tokens. An indicator in the upper right side of the screen shows how many tokens you've collect out of the total (although when using the moped couple, the power meter overlaps it–whoops).

TIP: When adding tokens, place them about as far off the ground as shown in the picture. Tokens are only collected once the head or chest touches them, so limbs don't count. That said, Irresponsible Dad can eject his so to reach those inconveniently placed coins.

FUN FACT: The coin illustrations appear to be a skull, a slice of pizza, a pentagram, a battle axe, a bowling ball and pins, and a peace sign.

In addition to the new item, you can now edit within groups. This is extremely helpful when making complex levels. Just double-click a group to edit it. The background will become grey. Once you're done editing it, double-click outside of the group to exit it.

It also appears the unfixed triangle bug has been fixed.

Breakable Glass

When Jim originally mentioned breakable glass I wasn't too excited, but now that I've seen it in action, I think it's very cool. The glass shatters in a seemingly natural fashion and the shards can then stab a character (optional in the level editor) or break if impacted. You can expect more destructible level items in the future.

The Harpoon Gun

A harpoon gun complete with optional retracting rope has been added to Happy Wheels. It's a special object under the hazards category. It auto-aims at your character, fires once you're within a certain range, impales your character, and then sticks into stationary objects like walls and the floor. It's quite fun and shows a shift towards aggressive hazards. You can expect to see more things of this nature and it's likely Jim will add a timer to the harpoon gun as it's pretty difficult to escape.

Why your character ideas won't make the cut

It seems like everyone is suggesting ideas for characters in the Happy Wheels forums. Some of them are funny and would make sense with the current character lineup and some of them are just silly and illogical. Based on the current set of characters, here are some guidelines you can expect future characters to follow.

First off, the character must follow most of the laws of physics. Happy Wheels uses the physics engine Box2D. It's mentioned in the game's credits. Many other games use this engine. It's efficient, relatively easy to use, and pretty realistic. All of the current characters follow Netwon's first law of physics: shi* don't move unless something makes it move. The wheelchair guy is propelled by a jet engine, the dad pedals his bicycle, the segway has a motor, and so on. So it's pretty safe to say that future vehicles must have something pushing them forward. The upcoming character is on a moped which is powered by an engine.

So, when everyone and his mom suggests the next character be a guy on a skateboard, you have to wonder, "How does this skateboard move?". Sure, it's easy to say, "A skateboarder moves by using his legs", but it's highly difficult to create a walk cycle using a physics engine (have you ever tried crawling in Happy Wheels? It's not exactly easy). It's way more reasonable to expect a jet engine attached to a skateboard (Please, Jim, pleeeeeease). But then you'd have to consider how the character would be standing, since they are forward-facing. It could look really dumb. In short, the vehicle needs to have wheels (or a skid or at least something smooth to slide on) and something needs to make it move.

Second, the character must be fairly generic. It's not going to be Osama Bin Laden riding a missile or the Olsen twins riding a mechanical bull. Sure, it could be a black guy, asian girl, or middle eastern guy. In fact, the game maybe needs a bit more diversity, but it's not going to be a celebrity or public figure. Happy Wheels is a great game and does not rely on making parodies of funny or tragic public figures.

Third, it's probably going to be a human. Not a dog. Not a horse. Maybe a bear (because bears are human-shaped). Jim's a busy guy and if you know anything about programming, you'd understand why he would reuse the current code for humans before creating non-humanoid characters. All that falling apart and intestines spilling out and bursting... that stuff takes time to program. He's going to reuse whatever he can before jumping species.

So, those are my thoughts on character guidelines. I expect some really cool as the game has plenty of room to grow. However, I do secretly wish for a hobo wearing rollerblades propelled by a jetpack.

We all have dreams.

Video tutorial 1: How to make a vehicle in Happy Wheels

I've seen a lot of people asking how you create a vehicle. Here's a simple tutorial that will walk you through the process. More videos to come...

From the horse's mouth

It looks like the next character may be a guy and a girl on a moped. A moped is basically a tiny motorcycle with pedals. Or maybe it's more like a BMX with a tiny motor. Many of them were built in the 70s and 80s. They can look pretty funny carrying one person and even funnier carrying two. Jim mentioned this possibility in some comment.

New Vehicle Rumor: Akira Motorcycle!

I'm not the only one to discover this bug (or easter egg), but if you go to the level editor, select the character and manually type "5" in the input field to the right of "default character:", you will see the motorcycle from Akira! Although you can't test your level or play using this vehicle, it suggests this is a possible upcoming vehicle. When asked to comment on this, Jim Bonacci, creator of Happy Wheels, had this to say:

"EAT F***ING S***"

Seriously.

[UPDATE: With the release of the Moped Couple, this trick no longer works]