STRAMASH WIP Demo

Hello,

This is a demo of Stramash in it's current form. It's by no means complete but I'm at that stage where it would be good to know what others think before I decide whether it's worth spending more time on.


GAMEPLAY
========
The game is turn based strategy for up to 4 players.
The concept if similar to worms in that the ultimate aim is to kill the opposition by any means necessary.
At the start of each turn the controlled guy has a set amount of 'force' which he can use to manipulate objects which are within his 'force radius' ( the dotted circle around him ).
Think of 'force' as your telekenisis power.
He can also send power to a shield which will protect him until he's next being controlled.
Objects require different forces to move and do different damage.
Some are breakable after a certain amount of punishment.
When your 'force' is used it's the next guys turn.
Members of the opposing team are almost impossible to manipulate.
At the beginning of each game, every player starts with 75% shield.
You can kick, punch, squash, drown, electricute, feed them to the animals to get the job done
Players have a limited air supply and lung capacity when underwater.
Water level rises every time a team has a go.


PLANS
=====
Better starting positions for all objects
Better balancing
More Objects / methods of killing
There'll also be bonuses to pick up - double force, quad damage, teleport etc...
Built in level editor ( 80% complete )
CPU AI
Better particles / animation etc..
SOUND!!!
Better level design

IMPORTANT OBJECTS
=================
Alien Suicide Bomber - Explodes on contact
Mine - Explodes on contact
Electric Heater - causes electrocution to nearby objects when in water.
DragonFly - heals on contact

CONTROLS
========
Mouse Left - Grab Object
Mouse Right - Charge Shield
Move cursor - Zoom In / Out
Mouse Left ( Double click ) - quick Zoom in
SPACE - Reset Level
F1 - FPS
F2 - disables force usage
TAB - Switch to next team


Please quote FPS and usual info. In the demo there are 125 objects and it limited to 60fps.




All feedback welcome.

Screenie


The Demo
http://www.steviegoodwin.plus.com/TD2.zip

Wait - this is my game!

Here is the proof:

I rest my case.

Screenshot didn't load.

Puki, I've deleted that old picture, now sod off ! ;)

EDIT: Actually I see the similarities now!
EDIT2 : Ok, you win!!

lol

*respect* (lol)

So, is anyone going to test our game?
http://www.steviegoodwin.plus.com/TD2.zip

brilliant steady 60fps here :)

yep. good here too.

so... what do you do?

@Fuller - are you blind? Read Gameplay above.

Nice engine. It runs smooth here.

If it was my engine I would do something between "Alisia Dragoon" and "Strider" :)

really nice i was wondering what you were going to do with this, its coming along well.

One thing: Why do the people move so slow? The particles move at a normal speed but its just when you drag your person around.

I've played a solid hour with this. It's very hard to understand at first what we can do with the various objects. The harp is funny when you get to use it and the fishes just rush out of the way and bang into anything... Also the other object wich seems to act liek a bomb! Pretty efficient. I've never managed to kill a shark.

Any hints on the playing?

They move slow 'cos even I would struggle to move and throw things at a higher speed. It's deliberate. The gravity will be changable though.



Harp!! That's an electric heater ;)



The test level is a bit naff to be honest as all the objects appear in mid air so invariably congregate in the water. This doesn't allow for much strategy. I plan to have everything on terra-firma at the start in future versions and more intricate levels.

The only tips I could give atm are :

* Zoom out every go and plan ahead to see what objects are available.
* Alway charge at least some shield
* Keep an eye on the force gauge
* Try and remember the order of the teams and members.
* Pull Piranha between opponents legs in water - it'll just keep eating away
* Trap opponents legs in the big tar ball and you can drop them in water to drown.
* Trap the spinny disc inside the tar ball and the ball'll spin causing more damage.

There's load of other things .. just a case of messing around in GOD mode - F2 + Charge Shield to full.

great gameplay, refreshingly new. My two children thought it was fantastic fun and had a great laugh playing it. I think you're onto a winner..... Yes it's hard to understand at first but still fun chucking stuff around.

there is quite a good explanation at the top of thread though:-

Seems to all work nicely. If I had a suggestion to make right now it would be to have a way to finish the level. May it be killing all the big eyed monsters, or all the sharks... Something that's rewarding, with a "congratulations!" :P

Thanks folks! The reason I released a demo was I wasn't sure whether anyone would find it fun and whether it was worth spending my little free time on the final push. I'm still not 100% convinced so open to suggestions on gameplay changes - improvements to make it 'just one more game' etc.. I know that CPU AI is going to be tough.



Once your the last team standing ... the winning team hld their arms aloft?! I guess you never got that far 'cos you were playing in GOD mode?

Stevie

Once you get the AI cracked, how about a demo mode at the start where folk can watch (in essence four cpu players) have a go at each other, or alternatively have a captured run through of yourself playing it, showing of the ways to kill opponents?

This is quite good Stevie but I find a lot going on to start with ... maybe some tutorial levels. Keep going!
Jim

Yeah, I'll make sure everything is on ground before the game starts. It's all very busy atm. This was more of a stress test to allow folk to mess around with alot of the game features to be honest. Once the AI is done you'll be able to see what to do just by watching the cpu play itself.

I'm interested on a larger concensus as to whether the concept is worth continuing with?

Well, I don't know if this is anything to go by, my kids have played a LOT of games and are quite discerning about what they want to play. We went out today to a theme park, and stopped of for something to eat on the way back. Stramash came up in their conversation in the restaurant. There isn't any demo games that've sparked their interest so much - keep going.