View Full Version : 16: BattleTechst
Gazza_N
06-09-2007, 05:39 PM
Yes, I know, I said I wouldn't enter. I'm a hypocrite, and Dis is pure evil for coming up with such awesome comp concepts. That said, I may not finish this game, but I'm going to try my utmost to because IT ARE COOLZ. Thanks to GLDM for the inspiration.
BattleTechst (a name for which I'll be sued to oblivion) is a turn-based mech game based on an oldskool command line interface. It consists of an overhead view displaying obstacles and enemy mechs, and all the rest is conveyed and controlled through a command line at the bottom of the screen. I only have a very vague idea of how I'm going to write a text parser, but it's a good coding exercise.
Game Mechanics so far may be as follows:
The player can only perform a single action per turn. Actions available to the user are MOVE (to move North, South, East or West), SCAN (to obtain info on targets), LOCK (to lock onto a target) and FIRE (to select a weapon and fire at a locked target). If a target moves after a lock has been placed on it, the lock is broken. I'm aiming to have a small selection on weapons to outfit your mech with. Whether you hit a target will be determined by a dice roll. Once all enemy targets have been destroyed, you win. Unless you blow up first.
As mentioned, don't expect much, but keep an eye out on this thread for possible developments. The text-only limitation that I thought had stymied me may become my saviour...
EDIT: Itsa done! See (currently) final post for link.
ShellShok
06-09-2007, 05:42 PM
But wouldn't this game require proper graphics?
Gazza_N
06-09-2007, 05:47 PM
Um... No. :p All you need is a rough overhead view like I described.
CiNiMoDZA
06-09-2007, 05:50 PM
Lol BattleTechst! Sounds interesting, looking forward to some kinda release!!!
DrDeth
06-09-2007, 05:55 PM
Whether you hit a target will be determined by a dice roll.
Are these Mechs, or retarded bunnies?! Mechs have UBER-KILLER TARGETING SYSTEMS! They dont miss. ;)
So, what I'm trying to say is that I reckon if the opposing mech hasnt moved once you've locked on, it should get a beating. :)
Thinking about scans... if it works like a radar or sonar, you should make enemy mechs show up when they do a scan, or the turn afterwards to simulate 'ping'.
Gazza_N
06-09-2007, 05:59 PM
Nice idea. A new command: PING, which displays all mechs in visual range. I'll see how that works, if I get around to it.
Chippit
06-09-2007, 06:13 PM
Gazza, once again you have proved that there is art in the name.
I hereby propose that, in the future, games are judged not only by their content, but also by their name. :P
CiNiMoDZA
06-09-2007, 06:36 PM
Are these Mechs, or retarded bunnies?! Mechs have UBER-KILLER TARGETING SYSTEMS! They dont miss. ;)
Not these, they're American mechs!!!
Gazza_N
06-09-2007, 07:06 PM
Not these, they're American mechs!!!
An unwise statement to make, given that we've got some awesome Americans in this forum.
Anyway, no further debating here please? Mechs > * ;)
Cyberninja
06-09-2007, 07:44 PM
Gazza's mech games are always made of win. This sounds awesome. I eagerly await the demo. ^_^
UntouchableOne
06-09-2007, 08:03 PM
Glad you decided to enter the comp. Sounds like a sweet idea. I see that you have a thing for mechs :)
Gazza_N
06-09-2007, 08:06 PM
[sings Megas XLR theme]
I dig giant robots
You dig giant robots
We dig giant robots
Chicks dig giant robots
[/singing]
And I may not finish, remember? ;)
@Cyber: Thanks muchly, but note that none of my mech games are actually finished yet...
Thaumaturge
06-09-2007, 11:28 PM
Aah, excellent! I'm very glad to hear that you decided to enter in the end!
If you do indeed finish then I very much look forward to playing the final product - it sounds liek a lot of fun! ^_^
*grins* And you will finish. You will finish and you will like it... >: )
Evil_Toaster
07-09-2007, 12:35 AM
Damn, like, when Retrotoast eventually has lots of money, I'm going to have to contract you to come up with the game names. ;)
Fengol
08-09-2007, 10:19 PM
You gotta have at least 3 buttons that are marked "Destroy the World"!
Gazza_N
09-09-2007, 09:56 AM
*grins* And you will finish. You will finish and you will like it... >: )
*Gulp* Yes sir! But waaaaait a minute - you're down in Cape Town! What could you possibly do to me from down there?
Damn, like, when Retrotoast eventually has lots of money, I'm going to have to contract you to come up with the game names. ;)
Lately I've been on a naming lucky streak, it seems, but just wait til I get Namer's Block... You'll cry when you see the state of the wastepaper basket (or undo buffer, whichever comes first).
You gotta have at least 3 buttons that are marked "Destroy the World"!
And one marked "Save the world" that doesn't work. Or dispenses coffee instead, cos, like, coffee is a life saver sometimes.
And now, a quick update:
Some may be glad to know that work has in fact started on BattleTechst (Yay!), and that I've nailed the command line quite nicely thanks to GM's varied and robust string manipulation functions that I didn't know existed until now. Now, while I appreciate that the idea is simply to substitute normal graphics with text in whatever game you like, I've decided to try and recreate an old-style DOS game as closely as possible, just for the stylistic flair of it. This means that the game is all text, all command-line, just like Ye Gaymes of Olde. Unlike Ye Gaymes of Olde, though, you won't have to guess which commands to use. ;)
*Takes to the skies* Expect a demo sooooooooooon! (<----- Sorry, the new Ask a Ninja stipulates that I do random stuff like that to avoid getting killed)
dislekcia
09-09-2007, 03:48 PM
Gazza, if you colour text as it's being input to show that it's a valid command (or part of a valid command), that would be too awesome!
... AUTO-COMPLETE!
-D
Thaumaturge
10-09-2007, 09:11 PM
Now, while I appreciate that the idea is simply to substitute normal graphics with text in whatever game you like, I've decided to try and recreate an old-style DOS game as closely as possible, just for the stylistic flair of it. This means that the game is all text, all command-line, just like Ye Gaymes of Olde. Unlike Ye Gaymes of Olde, though, you won't have to guess which commands to use.
Ooh, excellent! This game is sounding better and better! ^___^
Demos! I demand demos! :P
Will you still be representing a form of map in ASCII, as I understood your original plan, or will the positions of enemy mechs be described in text instead?
[edit] I very much second the inclusion of command highlighting and auto-completion!
*Gulp* Yes sir! But waaaaait a minute - you're down in Cape Town! What could you possibly do to me from down there?
*grins again* Have you forgotten already?
I have but one word with which to remind you:
"Meteor".
(Which, of course, is technically a misnomer, but it rolls off of the tongue rather better than "meteorite", I feel.)
UntouchableOne
10-09-2007, 09:17 PM
I too want a demo Gazza! Your game sounds very interesting to say the least. Demo or we riot! :)
Gazza_N
10-09-2007, 09:20 PM
Urk... Time to move to the meteor shelter again... *sigh*
To clarify: The overhead map will still be there, but everything is represented by single digits, and this view will only represent relative positions and obstacles. All other detail (such as enemies firing weapons, your taking damage, etc) will be conveyed by descriptive text.
@Dis: Autocomplete does sound awesome, and I have a good idea of how I might do it. I'll look at tacking it on once everything is working properly. ;) And not everything is working properly yet. :(
Thaumaturge
10-09-2007, 10:32 PM
Aah, excellent - this definitely sounds very good! ^_^
Gazza_N
10-09-2007, 10:58 PM
Well, I certainly hope that it lives up to expectations. ^^;
@Everyone asking for a demo: If all goes well, I might have something done by the end of the week. Barring some slight rework due to lazy coding, this game's proven pretty easy to build so far. All that remains now is some AI, and then I'll display it to the firing squad.
Gazza_N
11-09-2007, 08:41 PM
Double posts FTL, so apologies for this one. I'll probably be forgiven though, becaaaaaaaause......
*POP!*
Good gravy! A demo has appeared! (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=192) (2.1 MB)
Gameplay is simple: punch in a command to get a result. It's you versus everyone else - kill or be killed. Hit F1 in-game for a list of the commands. The game is unbalanced, so you can't die yet (although you can blow as many enemies up as you like), but it works well enough for me to be comfy posting it. I've assumed that the game is easy enough to understand without a long complicated readme, but if some things don't make sense feel free to ask!
C0M3NTZ PLZ.
EDIT: I should also add that the game doesn't technically end yet. Just restart it once all the enemy mechs are gone.
Cyberninja
12-09-2007, 04:01 PM
That's cool man! (I'd love to see a version with actual mechs in the distant future..wink) Nice work Gazza! ^_^
Gazza_N
12-09-2007, 09:25 PM
Thanks! As for the version with actual mechs... *cough*Deathbringer*cough* ;)
UntouchableOne
12-09-2007, 11:57 PM
Ooooh, a demo. I'm quite busy, can only play it tomorrow. Looking forward to that.
Thaumaturge
13-09-2007, 05:49 AM
I like it - it's a good start, and fun thus far! ^_^
I do have a few suggestions:
- It would be nice to have some indication of whether the player's target is within weapons range - perhaps colour the various available weapons green when in range.
- Instead of preventing movement for a turn after jumping, perhaps allow for only a limited number of jumps, either absolute or recharging over a number of turns.
Gazza_N
13-09-2007, 08:27 AM
Post-demo update:
There are several things I want to change after having tested the version I posted. The first is movement. The map is quite large, and having to type in a move command every turn to traverse it is pure tedium. I'm going to set it up so that a move command is one-shot - you keep going in that direction, one unit per turn, regardless of what else you do. If you want to stop or change direction, you punch in a new move (or stop) command. If you smack into something, you take damage, then stop ;). You can still jump, but this causes you to stop moving when you land. I might even stick in the old MechWarrior-style DFA move. All of this is much better interface-wise, and it adds more dynamics to flesh out the gameplay.
Secondly - randomly generated "terrain". I want to make up a bunch of standard terrain peices and instantiate them randomly across the map to keep things interesting. I don't want to have to go through the hassle of designing a bunch of maps, so this is both easier in the long term and lets me try out some procedural generation skillz.
Thaum, your range indicator is win. I had no idea how I would do that, and getting the "out of range" message every time I wanted to fire was getting quite annoying. Thanks!
Oh, BTW. I've come to realise that a text parser needs more than your average amount of idiot-proofing. As a result, I'd like everyone to try to break the text parser. Seriously. Punch in the wierdest combinations you can think of, then, if the game crashes, PM those combos to me. I've already tried to break it in every way I know how, but you know how it goes with the average user. ;)
cairnswm
13-09-2007, 11:58 AM
Why not have a small text based control panel - N, S, E, W type compass that when clicked does a "Move North" command etc, and even have other "buttons" that do FIRE, LOCK etc.
CiNiMoDZA
13-09-2007, 02:06 PM
:'( When I try run it it just brings up an error???
Gazza_N
13-09-2007, 05:26 PM
:'( When I try run it it just brings up an error???
I'd love to help, but "an error" doesn't really help me identify the problem. ;) Given that nobody else has had any trouble, I assume it's not a problem with my game, and I don't use any external files... Are your other GM games working?
@Cairnswm: You're 100% right - I could use buttons. But I don't wanna. :p Stylistically, the game works well with a command prompt, given the all-text theme of the comp. I also just wanted to try something other than a mouse-driven GUI as an interface. Look, I'm not exactly wasting hours of my life debugging this thing, and the parser pretty much catches everything I can throw at it right now. I just want to identify any potential niggles that I may have missed. ;)
Cyberninja
13-09-2007, 07:43 PM
Thanks! As for the version with actual mechs... *cough*Deathbringer*cough* ;)
Heeeyy! Deathbringer is a FPS. I meant a game with this sort of gameplay mechanic, where you have to wait for the opponents to attack. (Worms-Style) But with giant mechs and big explosions! and destructible terrain! and......Ahem. Sorry got carried away. :D
NB: Did you get my invite on Facebook btw?
Gazza_N
13-09-2007, 07:59 PM
Heeeyy! Deathbringer is a FPS. I meant a game with this sort of gameplay mechanic, where you have to wait for the opponents to attack. (Worms-Style) But with giant mechs and big explosions! and destructible terrain! and......Ahem. Sorry got carried away. :D
NB: Did you get my invite on Facebook btw?
Ahhhhh! My bad ^^; That's actually a really good idea, and with the demise of FASA (*sob*) I owe it to the community to make more mech games. I'll keep it in mind for my next project.
And... er... While I appreciate the invite, I'm not actually on Facebook. Must be a different Gazza_N. I know there are a couple of us out there (I googled it).
Cyberninja
13-09-2007, 08:02 PM
Oh! my bad! :D Yeah, more mech games..now now! <Cyber now promises to stop derailing the thread...>
Evil_Toaster
13-09-2007, 09:02 PM
Eenteresting! So it's sorta like rogue with guns. ;)
Are the enemy mechs invincible too? I was shooting the crap out of one for ages and it didn't die. (Unless of course my mech is actually mech 0, in which case I shot the crap out of myself)
Gazza_N
13-09-2007, 09:06 PM
Eenteresting! So it's sorta like rogue with guns. ;)
Are the enemy mechs invincible too? I was shooting the crap out of one for ages and it didn't die. (Unless of course my mech is actually mech 0, in which case I shot the crap out of myself)
Heh, no, your mech is the green asterisk. I really should have put that in the help ^^;. As for taking six eternities to kill the enemy mechs, I'm working on that!
Thaumaturge
13-09-2007, 10:51 PM
The features and changes that you have mentioned sound very good indeed to me. ^_^
Will the terrain have an effect on the ranges of projectile weapons, and on line-of-fire?
By the way, what is the "DFA move"? I think that the only Mechwarrior manoeuvre that I know is the "Circle of Death"... ^^;
Thaum, your range indicator is win. I had no idea how I would do that, and getting the "out of range" message every time I wanted to fire was getting quite annoying. Thanks!
*bows* I am glad to have been of service. ^_^
I will try to remember to have at the parser later tonight.
Gazza_N
14-09-2007, 07:53 AM
Will the terrain have an effect on the ranges of projectile weapons, and on line-of-fire?
Well, in a way. By "terrain" I really mean "hunks of wall tiles". Doing multilevel terrain is not something I want to try at this point, although it is a great idea. Maybe when I work on Cyber's idea...
By the way, what is the "DFA move"? I think that the only Mechwarrior manoeuvre that I know is the "Circle of Death"... ^^;
"Death From Above", a tricky maneuver that involves jumpjetting onto an enemy mech's head for a potential instakill. Very difficult and very risky to your own mech, but oh-so-satisfying. ;)
UntouchableOne
14-09-2007, 09:19 PM
I finnaly got to try out your demo Gazza_N. It looks sweet. I can?t wait to see what the final product looks like :)
Gazza_N
19-09-2007, 09:22 PM
Beta 1 released! (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=199)
Hit F1 for help. I've changed some commands and gameplay specifics, all covered there in the help. Any comments or suggestions welcome, and thanks to all who have commented so far - it's all helped to make the game better (although I'm seriously starting to doubt whether it's actually any good after seeing the other entries ^^; )
Does anybody think that autocomplete or command highlighting is really necessary given the simplicity of the commands? I'm more than willing to add them, but if they're redundant then.. well.. they're redundant. Comments on that please.
Chippit
19-09-2007, 09:42 PM
I think, even if it is redundant, is certainly adds to the coolness factor. And, needless to say, coolness factor is cool.
Gazza_N
19-09-2007, 10:01 PM
Can't argue with that logic. ;)
OH! If you're reading this, Fengol, I put in that button you wanted... Everyone else can use it too... [/cryptic hint]
Chippit
19-09-2007, 10:17 PM
Besides, if you don't want to use it, I'll be the first to steal the idea for myself.
MUAHAHAHAHA :P
Thaumaturge
19-09-2007, 11:03 PM
Very cool indeed, Gazza! this has definitely improved, I feel.
I'm very glad to see range highlighting, and the inclusion of obstruction damage is good. ^_^
I think that you can safely exclude autocomplete and command highlighting due, as you say, to the simplicity of the commands. They would still be cool features, I feel, but rather include features that add more before you include those two, I would say.
As to comparision with the other entries, based on those that I've seen thus far (my own included), I would say that you have a competitive entry here. ^_^
I do have a few questions:
Firstly, is there a "repeat" button, by any chance? There are occasions on which one might want to repeat the last command without re-typing it.
Secondly, has the jump command been removed completely, or will it be making a return?
I love that button that you mention, by the way. *grins*
However, I did encounter an error:
"ERROR in
action number 1
of Key Release Event for <Enter> Key
for object CommandLine:
In script ParseCommand:
Error in code at line 101:
else{CommandLine.Text="You can only activate the jammer again in "+string(3-Player.Jamcounter)+" turns.";}
at position 85: Unknown variable Jamcounter"
Apparently it doesn't know how to enumerate confections. :P
*goes back to blowing up Mech 0, Mech 1 having fallen to autocannon fire*
UntouchableOne
20-09-2007, 05:06 PM
Great game so far Gazza. I think it has a lot of potential to be recreated using graphics, that is after the comp if you still have the interest and inspiration for the game. The current game is pretty cool non the less. I like!
Gazza_N
20-09-2007, 05:48 PM
@Thaum: Looks like I was in a bit of a jam - thanks for picking up that bug. It has been duly squished. ;) I've also added a facility to repeat the previous command by hitting spacebar while the command line is empty - another excellent idea from your side! :D As for the jump, I'm still experimenting to see whether it actually adds anything to the game. You'll know whether I've kept it when I release the final version.
@UO: Thanks! I really don't know if I'll graphicize the game after the comp, but it is something I'll keep in mind, :)
CiNiMoDZA
21-09-2007, 12:04 AM
Very nice Gazza, just maybe you could make the mechs move a little faster, it takes a while when you last opponent is at the far end of the map!!!
Gazza_N
21-09-2007, 05:49 PM
@CiNiMoD: Aaah, good! I see you managed to get the game up and running! I was wondering about that. :)
Quick development update:
Changes made so far, for your perusal and possible commentage:
>Improved AI: No more blind fire from these guys - they mean business. However, a randomly assigned aggression modifier ensures that they aren't all lethal mechacidal monsters.
>Sprint mode: Yes, I agree that traversing the map can take far too long. As a result, I've implemented sprint mode, which triples your movement rate at the expense of not being able to fire weapons, and at the risk of uber damage should you ram into a wall. Use with care. (BTW, this replaces jumping for now)
>Command repetition: As mentioned two posts back. Useful for skipping multiple turns without bruising your fingers.
>Repair packs: Five non-replaceable repair packs are available for use, each one repairing a random amount of your mech's damage. Don't use them all at once!
I'm beginning to like working in text because you can make major changes to a game with very little time and effort. :D I'm aiming for a final release by Monday so that I can spruce Deathbringer up for rAge.
Thaumaturge
23-09-2007, 04:35 AM
These updates sound excellent, Gazza, all of them. ^_^
I look forward to trying my hand against the new AI, and the sprint mode sounds very useful indeed!
Gazza_N
23-09-2007, 10:51 PM
It is done.
BattleTechst: Final version (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/data/files/205/BattleTechst_Final.zip)
It's a pretty simple and unremarkable little game, but it's quite fun to play, especially for the older gamers. Hit F1 in game for detailed help. I've ironed out all the bugs I could find (not that there were many in a game this simple - touch wood), but if anybody does find any glaring errors, please let me know - preferably before Friday? ;)
A couple of final notes: Mechs can run through each other. This is intentional due to the complete lack of pathfinding on enemy mechs, but it doesn't impact the game very much. Also, the random level generator will very infrequently generate an unwinnable level, where you or another mech are completely enclosed by terrain. This has only happened a tiny fraction of a handful of times during testing, but if it happens to you, just use the "restart" command to regenerate the map.
Good luck to the other entrants. I don't lie when I say that the competition is fierce yet again. Seems to be a characteristic of Game.Dev comp entries. ;)
Oh, and Chippit? The autocomplete is yours to use. ;)
UntouchableOne
24-09-2007, 08:59 PM
Great release Gazza. I like the new "sprint" command, it helps a lot. This turned out to be a pretty cool game, and to think that you wasn't going to enter this comp :P
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