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Project: "Tank Game"
Project Started: 15th March, 2010 Last Update: 14th December, 2010
Project Owner: HitmanN Project Members:
Project Type: 2D turn-based strategy Project Progress:


 

Public Forum ::. Cool! I have some suggestions...
 

Posted By Message

LB



Registered
  08/08/2009
Points
  25

Wii Owner
17th March, 2010

This looks really cool! I have some suggestions, though:
-maybe 3 actions per turn? Or is it time-based turns?
-destructable terrain?
-online FTW!
-random variation
-weather effects & changing the physics of the game slightly

Good luck! I can't wait for this!

 
Just found this old account from when I was 15 lol

HitmanN

What's this

Registered
  12/09/2009
Points
  3002

360 OwnerVIP MemberGOTM February 2010 3rd Place WinnerComputerGOTW WINNER MAY 2010!GOTW WINNER JUNE 2010!Ornament RedOrnament GreenOrnament Gold
17th March, 2010

'ey. About your suggestions:

Actions/Turn
Unlike in Worms and Scorched Earth for instance, you can use all your units in one turn. They have a limited amount of Energy they can spend either on moving or shooting. The maximum amount of energy does not refill completely in one turn however, and some weapons will require saving some energy from previous turn to be fired. To generalize, you can either:
1. Move a short-to-medium distance, but not shoot.
2. Shoot once with a weak-to-average strength weapon, and possibly move just a notch.
3. Save some or all energy for next turn.

This way single unit assaults will be nearly impossible, because no unit will be able to fire devastating weapons every turn. Two units of pretty much any kind is always better than one. Except maybe two scouts vs a heavy tank. The scouts can shoot and move fairly efficiently though. Also, to get better weapons for your units, you need to unlock them separately for each one, with gold you've collected. To build two tanks, or to build one tank and give it a powerful weapon... there's always choices like that to be made. Leaving a unit for defense with full energy is also very effective countermeasure against enemy strikes, since the enemies have most likely moved recently, and are thus low on energy, and easier to fight against, especially with high-energy weapons.

Destructible Terrain
The levels are made from tiles, so yes, some of it will be destructible, tile by tile. The current test level is running at about 700 active tiles, which doesn't seem to be a problem. The core level layout is made from backdrops however, so you can't break the general layout, just uneven the surfaces a bit. Good way to slow down tanks and other heavy ground units. Add some mines and it's a nasty route to take.


Online
For future versions I will most likely attempt adding that. For now this is 1on1 on same computer, but it'd be a shame to not add multiplayer options. I just haven't tried the MooSock/OINC/Lacewing stuff before, so I'd better save that for later. I usually learn pretty quick though, so I'm optimistic.

Random Variation
Not sure what you mean by that, but I'm hoping to add randomized capturable objectives, and possibly randomly spawning crates. These give bonus stats, resources or units.

Weather effects & changing the physics of the game slightly
Definitely a possibility. Things such as wind, rain, snow and lightning should be interesting to explore. These are not a priority thing at this time though. I gotta get the core game working first.


Actually, the core game does work already. Just needs more stuff to build and use, and there are no victory objectives yet, so it's all sandbox at this point. The biggest problem at this time is the custom movement I'm using for the units and some of the ammo. Lots of fastloops and gets heavy with lots of fast stuff flying around. I'm trying to think solutions to deactivate the unnecessary loops and event groups. There's some progress, but it'll probably take a little while to get everything arranged efficiently. Might need to let the ammo run with less collision checks or something.

Anyways. Steady progress, so should be playable soon enough, maybe a few weeks.

 
"He who controls the chicken, controls the egg!"

LB



Registered
  08/08/2009
Points
  25

Wii Owner
18th March, 2010

Cool! Great to hear that everything is going good.

I'm pretty good with the online stuff for when Jamie itsn't around to help with Lacewing. So you can add me to the list of people to count on for some quick help.

By random variation I mean if you fire the same way two times they will land in just slightly different placs, assuming absolutely no weather has been added yet. Doesn't have to be done but I think it may or may not be a nice touch.

Good luck!!

 
Just found this old account from when I was 15 lol

HitmanN

What's this

Registered
  12/09/2009
Points
  3002

360 OwnerVIP MemberGOTM February 2010 3rd Place WinnerComputerGOTW WINNER MAY 2010!GOTW WINNER JUNE 2010!Ornament RedOrnament GreenOrnament Gold
18th March, 2010

About the variation part, for the sake of skill having a role in the gameplay as well, the shots will always travel the same route.

You're not likely to benefit from two projectiles fired the same way though, since:

1) You're likely out of energy to fire again in the same turn, unless you play passively/defensively.

2) Direction of aim is chosen with mouse cursor, and when you fire, the screen will follow the ammo, and return to viewing the unit a short moment after hitting something. The view may be off a few pixels from the last time, so it makes finding the same angle slightly harder, even if you've kept mouse still the whole time.

3) Artillery-type weapons have a velocity bar, which you'll fill by holding left mouse button pressed (like in Worms, for instance), so you actually need to hit the exact same velocity each time you fire, coupled with the direction, of course.

4) Even if you can fire two shots in the same place on the same turn, they're most likely weaker weapons, and not able to kill a unit, unless it's already low on HP.

5) Exception: Weapons that fire short distances (and the screen doesn't follow the ammo, like machineguns and rocket pods for instance) usually spread a bit, so there's some of that random variation in those.

So basically, the stronger the weapon, the more skill is usually involved in deciding the angle and velocity. And you're unlikely to fire with the same weapon again in the same turn, because of high energy costs. I'm still testing all this balance-wise though.

Last time I playtested, I tried rushing with scouts and gunships (fast units with weak weapons), against combat drones and upgraded heavy tanks (slow units with more powerful weapons). The weak units captured most goldmines and kept producing more scouts at a really fast rate, but the weapons were no match against the other player once the units had unlocked Explosive Shells and other powerful weapons. Certainly the scouts can always fly past and just focus on capturing goldmines, but once we have turrets to build as well, even that will be become harder. The heavier units moved so slow though, that it was hard to use them on offensive, so it kinda felt fairly balanced already. Scouts can overpower in numbers, but heavy tanks blow 'em to bits with one well-placed Explosive Shell. Quite cool.


I'll look into the Lacewing stuff (I assume that's the latest craze in online extensions, right? ) once I've got enough content to justify the feature.

 
"He who controls the chicken, controls the egg!"

LB



Registered
  08/08/2009
Points
  25

Wii Owner
18th March, 2010

Awesome work!! I am really, REALLY looking forward to this! I always liked tank games, and this is definantly sounding like the next level in tank game action. Keep up the good work! I'll follow this project closely.

 
Just found this old account from when I was 15 lol

HitmanN

What's this

Registered
  12/09/2009
Points
  3002

360 OwnerVIP MemberGOTM February 2010 3rd Place WinnerComputerGOTW WINNER MAY 2010!GOTW WINNER JUNE 2010!Ornament RedOrnament GreenOrnament Gold
19th March, 2010

Cool. Should see steady progress.

Today I started working on the first turret, a machinegun one. It fires at a random enemy in its field of sight during turn exchanges. Not very effective, and really just more of a way to keep scouts and other annoyances at bay while your mobile units are elsewhere.

Having some problems with them though. I think a fastloop is faulty somewhere. Half of the turrets fire at correct targets, the others ignore line-of-sight, shoot at other turrets' targets or whatever. Ah well, that's what you get when trying to work this late (or early). 5am...

Need... sleep...

Fix... turrets... tomorrow...


[EDIT]
With that said, I worked for another fifteen minutes and now I think I have working turrets. At least they all happily killed a bunch of gunships correctly. Now I just need to make 'em buildable... on land. (They currently spawn in air and look a bit like Daleks from Doctor Who, haha.)

 
"He who controls the chicken, controls the egg!"

LB



Registered
  08/08/2009
Points
  25

Wii Owner
19th March, 2010

Heh, good to hear, just don't over-work yourself! I find that being really tird has similar effects as being drunk. I've never been drunk, but the things I do when I'm tired are just like the things people do when they're drunk, besides bad decision making, that is. I mean in terms of making mistakes.

Don't under sleep, please.

BTW, I donated all the points I have to you.

 
Just found this old account from when I was 15 lol

HitmanN

What's this

Registered
  12/09/2009
Points
  3002

360 OwnerVIP MemberGOTM February 2010 3rd Place WinnerComputerGOTW WINNER MAY 2010!GOTW WINNER JUNE 2010!Ornament RedOrnament GreenOrnament Gold
19th March, 2010

I know. Bad habit of mine to want to finish something before going to sleep, especially if it's just a few lines of code away. ^^;

Anyways, turrets seem to work nicely now. They're buildable, and unlike the original plan was, they now react to enemy movements during enemy turns. Makes securing those gold mines from gyro scout visits much easier.

All units also now have a weight value, which affects the amount they bounce from explosions, etc. Needless to say, Heavy Tanks hardly budge.

Oh, and thanks for the rather, umm, large donation of TDC points. Not sure what I'll do with 'em though, haha.

 
"He who controls the chicken, controls the egg!"
   


 



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