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Insomniac
02-06-2009, 02:34 PM
DarthPenguin and I came up with the idea to turn Worms into a boardgame.
Unfortunately we don't have much to post yet as I'm in deadline crunch mode at the moment...curse you dislekcia for distracting me ;) but after the weekend we will place a full post along with hopefully something playable.


UPDATE
Both versions are now available, note the PC version serves as a demo to the real boardgame.

PC Version (http://www.box.net/shared/1j6g5pivc9)


Boardgame Assets (http://www.box.net/shared/yahf4vm747)

edg3
02-06-2009, 02:42 PM
Epic. Thats all.

dislekcia
02-06-2009, 03:59 PM
Whoa, nice idea :)

I suggest looking into how boardgames handle attacks over range already and taking the concepts you feel will work best for Worms from there. Look at how the FASA Mechwarrior boardgames do it, Warhammer tabletop, even card-based distances like that Pirates game (which is super rad btw) where your ship can move in straight lines in any direction, but only in specific multiples of the long and short sides of an info card.

Kensei
02-06-2009, 05:11 PM
Sounds interesting, look forward to a more detailed spec soon

Darth
07-06-2009, 08:41 AM
Hi all..

So we got together yesterday, and our game system is pretty much finalised. Our basic rules are following the DnD 4e concept... very basic rules, but lots of exceptions.

We are still working on getting our demo up and running. We just getting it together to work on the pc nicely.

At first we were using different sized dice and even had wind in play, but in a goal to keep the game fun, we dolled it down a little... we now only use a D6 (your normal dice)... it still rocks though. Albert Einstein says our game defies E-mc2... so its pretty awesome :P

This is a basic idea of how our game works:

Your worm can move 5 squares before it attacks and 2 after it attacks.
Each square has a movement cost tied to it, so moving over defficult terrain does take longer.
Each tile on the floor also offers attack and defensive bonuses.
When you attack, you take the attack mod from the square you're on, the defensive mod of the square you are attacking, and the mod for the type of attack you're doing for the distance from your target you are. You then roll your dice, add your mods, and if your roll is higher than a certain number, you hit, if its lower, then you miss.

I played one quick version with Insomniac 2v2 yesterday, and it worked. Our battle went like this:

Darth Worm 1 = DW1, Darth Worm 2 = DW2, Insomniac Worm 1 = IW1, Insomniac Worm 2 = IW2

DW1(100HP): Climbed up the mountain using it to get a nice attack bonus, and fired a bazooka at IW1(100HP-50HP=50HP).

IW1(50HP): Climbed up a hill and fired a bazooka at DW1(100HP-50HP=50HP).

DW2(100HP): Walked a little closer to and threw a cluster grenade at IW1(50HP-40HP=10HP).

IW2(100HP): Walked over to and Dragon punched into the water DW1(DEATH).

DW2(100HP): Walked over to and Dragon punched into the water IW21(DEATH).

IW1(10HP): Shot 2 shots with the shotgun at DW2(100HP-30HP-30HP=40HP).

DW2(40HP): Tried to shoot IW1(10HP) with a shotgun, but missed both shots.

IW1(10HP): Shot 2 shots with the shotgun at DW2(40HP-30HP-30HP=DEATH).

Insomniac wins.

These are the type of games our boardgame offers. I played a few more with another friend last night and it works. We'll have a playable demo up soon.

The final version will feature:
A 28x24 play field
4v4 worm combat
25 weapons and utilities
Crates, mines & barrels

Kensei
07-06-2009, 10:01 PM
Ooooh nice :D

I like this, a lot

AndrewJ
08-06-2009, 08:44 AM
*smile* when reading Darth's description of play.

Darth
08-06-2009, 09:14 PM
Hi all... a little update if you will... I present you the prototype of our health bar:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/DarthPenguin_ZA/102_3369.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/DarthPenguin_ZA/102_3369.jpg

I'm going to be making a few more changers.. but thats basically it (add the pictures of the worms in the big squares... and then have it for all 4 worms)

The green bar is a slider, on the left is the little pulley thing that you pull out and push in to change the health. As you pull it back, more of the squares become red. The whole thing is very sturdy as it is laminated.

If things go as plan you can expect the demo tomorrow, and then from there its a lot easier and we can start adding a lot more and a bigger map.

dislekcia
08-06-2009, 10:40 PM
Whoa, neat idea on the laminated slider thing! Sweet.

Do get sent one for judging? ;)

DukeOFprunes
08-06-2009, 11:23 PM
:o

You bloody clever bastards. I'm loving the boardgames coming out of this comp, this one's my fave so far. Might also have something to do with me having a soft spot for blowing up soft little wormies ^_^

That health slider is a wicked idea, be sure to put photos up of your other assets too.

Darth
08-06-2009, 11:44 PM
Whoa, neat idea on the laminated slider thing! Sweet.

Do get sent one for judging? ;)

Yeah, you'll get a whole set of our board game.

We don't want you printing it all out and making a shoddy version of our game. :P

Expect a lot of picks by Sunday of everything but the final board, and then next weekend we should have our final board ready!

Darth
09-06-2009, 06:55 AM
Sorry for the double post...

But just so you all know, we are making two versions of the game.

We are making the board game version. When we are finished we'll upload all the pieces for anyone to print out and make their own version of if you want (we'll be sending a nice version through for judging though). This is our "main" entry as such.

We are also making a pc version of the board game. This will play out in the exact same way, except the pc will handle all the processing for you. This is because I know 90% of you can't print it all out and make a board version, yet we want you all to see and experience our game. This is the version we are releasing a "demo" of this week, and might possibly release updates of as we get further into the development of our game.

FuzzYspo0N
09-06-2009, 10:26 AM
Sounds good. Cant wait!

AndrewJ
09-06-2009, 01:35 PM
That health slider is a wicked idea, be sure to put photos up of your other assets too.Dude, that's disgusting!!!

Darth, if you guys pull this off, I'll have a new "social" board game to play for weekends! Really, this looks absolutely fantastic. Well done (so far)!

Darth
09-06-2009, 04:40 PM
Darth, if you guys pull this off, I'll have a new "social" board game to play for weekends! Really, this looks absolutely fantastic. Well done (so far)!

Thanks for the positive words guys!!!

Trust me... we want to pull this off. I want to play this game as well :P

Insomniac
09-06-2009, 08:32 PM
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone!
Unfortunately progress on the PC version has been slow due to some really weird bugs. Like really, really weird, an if statements block and else statements block both executing weird. I have got the movement all working now and thought I'd post a screenshot until the prototpye is ready for release.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1493/screenshot3hrl.th.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot3hrl.jpg)

Insomniac
10-06-2009, 11:43 AM
Update with a more interesting screenshot.
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9732/screenshot4oqg.th.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot4oqg.jpg)

H2O
10-06-2009, 02:25 PM
looks great when do you plane to ralease the prototpye

Insomniac
10-06-2009, 02:31 PM
looks great when do you plane to ralease the prototpye
As soon as it's ready ;)
At the moment all the worms do is move on their turn, I just need to include a few weapons and give them a retreat phase and then a few other things here and there and then it will be ready. We're hoping by the end of the week.

AndrewJ
10-06-2009, 02:41 PM
If a worm is pushed back will terrain affect movement? If a worm is on a plain and is pushed back, say, five squares, will a hill on the first square remove three "movement" points so that the worm is only moved back two squares, the hill and the square beyond? Similarly, will movement be increased going downhill? Will movement modifiers be calculated before or on each target square?

Definitions:
On = the square the worm is currently on.
MP = movement points.
Next = the target square for movement.
Result = where the worm will end up after the calculations have been completed.
Altitudes: Plain = 1, Hill = 2, Mountain = 3, Dip = 0, Sea = -1. 1MP per altitude difference plus 1MP for movement. Therefore:
To Plain from Plain = 1 - 1 = 0MP + 1MP = 1MP for the move to that square.
To Hill from Plain = 2 - 1 = 1MP + 1MP = 2MP for the move to that square.
To Dip from Plain = 0 - 1 = -1MP + 1MP = 0MP for the move to that square so the worm still has 1MP worth of "momentum."

Examples:
1)
On: Plain
MP: 1
Next: Plain
Result: Worm on new plain square.

2)
On: Plain
MP: 1
Next: Hill
Result: If calculations take place after the worm moves onto the tile, then altitude won't be taken into account and the worm would be on the hill. Else the worm stays where he is.

3)
On: Hill
MP: 1
Next: Plain
NextNext: Plain
Result: The worm would be on the second plain tile because of "gravity" adding 1MP per altitude difference.

4)
On: Hill
MP: 2
Next: Plain
NextNext: Mountain
Result: The worm would be on the mountain tile because of "gravity" adding 1MP per altitude difference.

Get my drift? And no I'm not driving.

Darth
10-06-2009, 02:52 PM
Never thought of it like that... simply because I was trying to keep it simple. All I plan on doing is the following.

Some squares will have particular outlines on them. High surfaces, for example, will have a white ring around them. If you move off a white ring for any reason besides movent, you take extra damage.

This is to keep calculations simple. We want it to be a fun game, thats simple to pickup and play without lots of rules, kinda like the pc version is.

The spirit of the worms game is that they are simple fun, easy to pick up and play. Making a complicated replica will take the spirit of the game away... and I really feel that its more important to make the game again keeping its spirit than copying it in a different format.

dislekcia
10-06-2009, 03:05 PM
AndrewJ, that sounds like it's making something far more complex than it needs to be: Simply say it costs 1 MP to move 1 square in any direction and 1 MP for each block of height upwards. Altitude is useful presumably for weapon range, whilst being up against a steep gradient (on plain, mountain next tile on path to enemy worm) is useful for defensive purposes. No need to complicate movement on the "down" path when you already have other advantages involved.

Then have worms that are pushed or smacked around move irrelevant of terrain, they are being "flung into the air" after all. That would feel pretty "juicy", plus might give players reason to attack their own worms as movement initiators for better position ;)

AndrewJ
10-06-2009, 03:21 PM
Then have worms that are pushed or smacked around move irrelevant of terrain, they are being "flung into the air" after all. That would feel pretty "juicy", plus might give players reason to attack their own worms as movement initiators for better position ;)Nice idea dis!

Darth
10-06-2009, 04:47 PM
AndrewJ, that sounds like it's making something far more complex than it needs to be: Simply say it costs 1 MP to move 1 square in any direction and 1 MP for each block of height upwards. Altitude is useful presumably for weapon range, whilst being up against a steep gradient (on plain, mountain next tile on path to enemy worm) is useful for defensive purposes. No need to complicate movement on the "down" path when you already have other advantages involved.

Then have worms that are pushed or smacked around move irrelevant of terrain, they are being "flung into the air" after all. That would feel pretty "juicy", plus might give players reason to attack their own worms as movement initiators for better position ;)

Well.. we have movement costs. So moving from a tile onto another tile costs the movement cost on that tile, regardless on how you get onto that tile. Keeps it simple, so you can have more fun on the game.. like trying to control the mountain.. you get good advantage from that :P

AndrewJ
10-06-2009, 05:10 PM
Oooooooooooo idea! "King of the Mountain" game variation: Have at least one worm alive on the mountain at the end of x turns. Make sure less than two enemy worms are on the mountain at the end of those x turns. The winning team can have a bonus, like extra sheep or girder ammo or something, the next KOTM round when the roles will then be swapped.

OOOooooooooooo please try this game mode out Darth! I hope it works cos it sounds like fun!

Darth
11-06-2009, 12:15 PM
Oooooooooooo idea! "King of the Mountain" game variation: Have at least one worm alive on the mountain at the end of x turns. Make sure less than two enemy worms are on the mountain at the end of those x turns. The winning team can have a bonus, like extra sheep or girder ammo or something, the next KOTM round when the roles will then be swapped.

OOOooooooooooo please try this game mode out Darth! I hope it works cos it sounds like fun!

I like I like it a lot...

Will definitely have a version in the board game rules... and we'll see if we have time to put it in the pc game of the board game version as well.

But great idea!

Darth
13-06-2009, 02:25 PM
This image makes the double post acceptable... right?......... right???

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/DarthPenguin_ZA/Screenshotofawesome.jpg

We still ironing out bugs for our demo.. but here is a screenshot to keep you busy so long..

Nandrew
13-06-2009, 02:38 PM
Looking very much forward to seeing this in action!

Darth
16-06-2009, 10:10 PM
A little update for you all....

Sorry this is taking so long.. but we really trying hard to get something solid and freaking good out. I think i've just found my new favourite board game..

First of all.. the good news... we will finish on time!!!

We just got back from a nice little building session. Finalised the design and made the final final version of the health bar. It looks awesome, the green sliders slide in and out with such ease and don't slip out of their places.

Our cards are done (well the crates and health pack ones) and look amazing. They nice and solid, really are of a level much higher than what you would expect.

The list of things left for us to do for the final board version are as follows:

Make the Weapon Bars and sliders for them
Make the map
Make the grid location cards
Make the manual

That is it! I've already printed everything out for the weapons, just have to cut them out and laminate them. Will post photos of us playing the game having a blast by the end of the week (this is a definite).


The PC version is almost finished. We just ironing out a few bugs and adding in a few last minute changes.

The PC version will be a demo of the boardgame.

AndrewJ
17-06-2009, 07:59 AM
<innocent>
Where do you live Darth? Don't worry, I'm not planning on breaking into your house and stealing the game or anything...
</innocent>

Chippit
17-06-2009, 05:57 PM
Nandrew and I were having a nice chat earlier. We decided that, when the two of you are done with this, you'll be writing about it for Dev.Mag. Because you've done a pretty stellar job on the genre-transformation, if this thread is evidence of anything.

We asked nicely! :P

PS. Nandrew has a pet predator under his bed. When he's not influencing Nandrew's thought patterns (http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/showthread.php?t=10934), he acts a little bit like The Luggage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Luggage). Although all he carries around are decapitated heads. Of the people who don't do what Nandrew wants. He's loyal like that.

Insomniac
17-06-2009, 06:05 PM
Haha thanks again for all the positive feedback everyone, I've never been so excited about a project before, we've really hit onto something good. It's really cool that whenever I test the game I can't wipe the stupid grin off my face over how much fun I'm having.

We will be more than happy to do a writeup for Dev.Mag once it's done Chippit :)

Darth
17-06-2009, 09:39 PM
Thanks for mentioning our game on the VERGE!!!!!

Gave me an extra burst of energy to spend on the game!

dislekcia
17-06-2009, 09:56 PM
Thanks for mentioning our game on the VERGE!!!!!

Gave me an extra burst of energy to spend on the game!

Putting in work deserves to get noticed ;) I'm going to see if I can organise a slot to pimp the eventually winners next month too.

Fengol
17-06-2009, 10:29 PM
Putting in work deserves to get noticed ;) I'm going to see if I can organise a slot to pimp the eventually winners next month too.

Hmm, gonna have to polish L4D up then to a mirror shine to get mentioned.

dislekcia
18-06-2009, 12:59 AM
Hmm, gonna have to polish L4D up then to a mirror shine to get mentioned.

It did get mentioned you twork.

Fengol
18-06-2009, 06:24 AM
mentioned as a winner I mean :)

AndrewJ
18-06-2009, 02:09 PM
Verge? What Verge?

dislekcia
18-06-2009, 02:38 PM
Verge? What Verge?

Try this... (http://tinyurl.com/nq6qst)

Insomniac
22-06-2009, 12:36 PM
Finally something playable!
Here is the PC version
WormiesTheBoardgameV0.1 (http://www.box.net/shared/s5o7tftxki)
It's still work in progress but should hopefully give you an idea of how the game dynamic works.
Please let us know of any bug or thoughts you have about it, here's my list of stuff I know I still need to address:
Need feedback animation explosions.
fix bug where you can shoot with another weapon after shooting once with shotgun
fix bug where if worms left are all on same team
fix dragonpunch to handle worms in the way
Better menu
Shift turns around to make it even after death

Hope you guys enjoy :)

We also did some playtesting over the weekend with friends and made some useful gameplay balancing changes. A few pics of the 90% complete boardgame are below, we still need to make markers for the Worms and Mines but otherwise eveything you see is pretty much final.

The map, at the top left are the health and weapon crates which are periodically dropped, near the top right are the health and weapon bars, scrumpled pieces of paper are mines :P
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/538/p1030158small.jpg (http://img30.imageshack.us/i/p1030158small.jpg/)
Closer view
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/163/p1030159small.jpg (http://img30.imageshack.us/i/p1030159small.jpg/)
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3438/p1030161small.jpg (http://img30.imageshack.us/i/p1030161small.jpg/)
Edit: Just to let you know you don't need a laptop to play, it's only there as the cards for generating where crates are dropped aren't ready yet so the laptop was there running a Python script for crate drops :P

AndrewJ
22-06-2009, 02:19 PM
I can only give a more definite answer to you after I've played the board game version, but guys, seriously, this is a whole bunch of fun!!!

Gazza_N
22-06-2009, 09:24 PM
I'm a bit late in reading through the entire thread, but Holy Holy Hand Grenades, Batman! This looks... well... bloody amazing. Can't wait to give it a shot. Very nice work!

dammit
22-06-2009, 09:28 PM
I call hax. And awesome. And stuff.

Darth
23-06-2009, 09:33 AM
Thanks for the comments guys :D

I'm still making the actual manual and then I'm going to post a pdf with all the different parts to make the actual board game!

This has really been the most fun i've ever had working on a project.. and definitely the most fun I've had playing one of my projects!

AndrewJ
23-06-2009, 01:56 PM
Is the map made out of individual map tile cards so that we can make our own maps, cater for table size etc?

Darth
23-06-2009, 03:31 PM
Is the map made out of individual map tile cards so that we can make our own maps, cater for table size etc?

That map is made out of 12 tile pieces... the only 12 I made :P

You can click them in together and unclick them as you please. Once it is built, you can hold any corner of the map and shake it or swing it around or do whatever you want and it doesn't fall apart.

No stickyness needed.. just clips.

I should mention that we laminated each piece.. the map, when unclipped, is a pile of A4 pieces, so its easy to store.

dislekcia
30-06-2009, 03:07 PM
The game arrived this morning, just opened it now.

Speechless guys... You put so much work into this :D AWESOME! Gonna play it with some friends from the Lazygamer podcast tonight.

Insomniac
30-06-2009, 07:12 PM
The game arrived this morning, just opened it now.

Speechless guys... You put so much work into this :D AWESOME! Gonna play it with some friends from the Lazygamer podcast tonight.
We sure did and it was totally worth it :)
Wow our game being played with the Lazygamer guys...that's so cool!
Thanks and we look forward to your feedback after you've played.

AndrewJ
01-07-2009, 03:59 PM
I can has PDFs pleez?

(Like, seriously dudes, please?)

Insomniac
01-07-2009, 10:29 PM
All assets and PC version are ready to go!
Here is the link to the assets with instructions and rules to make the boardgame
Assets (http://www.box.net/shared/yahf4vm747)
and here is the link to the PC version which serves as a demo to the real thing
PC Version (http://www.box.net/shared/1j6g5pivc9)
We've had a blast making this and can't wait to hear what you all think.

Fengol
05-10-2009, 11:11 AM
I know this is Necro but why Darth didn't use it in Comp 23 I don't know.

Anyways! I played it TWICE at rAge and loved both times. It really is a unique game and well worth your time trying if you get the chance.

There were a couple of suggestions regarding: starting equipment, effects of some weapons and board/map creation which I've already shared with Darth.

When can we expect the next update?

Insomniac
05-10-2009, 01:38 PM
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it Fengol :)
I unfortunately couldn't make it to rAge this year, again, to play it with you guys but I'm looking forward to hearing from Darth what suggestions everyone had.

As for an update it's hard to say as the two of us are really busy at the moment but from December we should be getting back into the dev mode. By the very least I'm sure we will have a new, awesome'er version for everyone to play at the next rAge.