Serving LRS off a real server went very well...performance seemed fine, and the game was at the player max all the way up til now, 3:30AM.
And I was delighted to have a couple of big-time Wiz-War fans in the game, who, like me, had discovered Wiz-War through an online version on the old TEN system, then bought the board game, then waited for another computer version to come out. They said they are going to tell others in the Wiz-War community about the game -- the perfect validation of our efforts! And a fulfillment of our desire to attract a broader audience to BYOND. Now we just need more board games for such people when they arrive! Recent efforts by the likes of Xooxer and Hedgemistress should help in this regard.
Using the server also made development easier...I could test changes and upload fixes without having to lag the game...yay!
Here are some of the changes made today. I'm likely to start posting daily updates of these, since people are now familiar with the ins-and-outs of the game, and need to be informed of changes:
- Committing suicide to drop your final power supply on your base no longer works! This was a stylish way to win, but Elation pointed out a problem, which was if someone killed you while you were standing on your base, your power supply drop would trigger a win for you before your death triggered your loss.
- Using Tractor Beam to drag a power supply onto your base for the win will now work.
- Boosts/Infusions used to be handled in a confusing manner. They are now calculated as expected: Regardless of the order you choose the boosts/infusions in, the total increase will be calculated correctly.
Much, much more to come!
Ooh, ooh, card idea!
Change of Hearth Any firewalls one tile away from you allow only you to walk through them without taking damage. I rarely play LRS, so I don't know if there's a better way that card could work. I think the name is clever, at least. :P | |
Heheh. I like this game. I might host it on my server for a while (once I have the permission or they release hubfiles).
But first, I'd test its performance on my server, of course. ;) | |
Recent efforts by who? :P I never did anything in my life that required the least bit of effort, and I would resent the allegation if it wasn't so much work.
| |
Thanks, Zaole, I've made a note of that.
As for performance I'm pleasantly surprised...it only takes up from 0-2% of CPU on my Windows machine. and looks to be around the same on Linux. I did notice once after several hours that something had it up to 30% on my Windows machine...dunno if that's my fault or some BYOND glitch, but the game now auto-reboots every five games to clear up any hassles like that. Auto-rebooting also turns out to be convenient while in development mode, since I can upload code changes and know they'll take effect before too long. | |
oh i have ideas for new modules.
1. Dial Up- the targeted robot who gets hit with this looses 1 movement space permenantly. 2. DSL - targeted robot hit with this cant attack on their turn and loses one movement space for that round. 3. Cable- defensive mod that boosts def by 5 and get to go after the next person after you. can only be used once and counts as an attack. 4.Shockwave - every player loses 1 point of damage. 5. Level design - Every robot is randomy moved one space from their current position. bypassing any walls. counts as an attack 6. Remote control - take control of one robot in line of sight and push or pull them 2 spaces (not at once). does not bypass normal walls or force fields. 7. File sharing - Every player on the field has one module randomly exchanged among one another. counts as an attack 8. Power Jacking - takes a power supply from a robot that already is holding one. when taken your turn is over. counts as an atttack. thats all i can think of right now. im watching tv o_o | |
So long as we're throwing out card suggestions at random I think there need to be more modules that affect modules, especially since you can do so many things that would be impossible (or at least severely impractical) in a real card game. So here's a couple odd ideas:
Encryption: A defense that negates any attack that affects your modules. (This might be mostly redundant with the Firewall suggestion, depending on how far Firewall stretches) Backup Archive: A defense that creates a copy of any module(s) that are lost/stolen/destroyed by another player. Rush Development: Draw 3 modules when played (subject to normal module limit). CD Burner: Gives a copy of any module in your hand to another player. (If possible, this card should only be active for games with 3+ players, as its sole use is helping out one enemy to enable them to hurt another enemy). Open Source: Either name/pick at random a module from an opponent's hand. Everybody else immediately draws a copy of that module. And in the interest of being "fair and balanced", Design Patent: Name any module in the deck. For 1 turn or the boosted amount, nobody except the patent-holder can use the patented module. | |
Just a note, I was disconnected for a moment in the middle of a game. When my service returned several seconds later, I attempted to return to the game, only to find that the player limit was reached.
I'm not sure if you can do anything about this, but I found it wasn't fun to see [Player limit reached. Latest action: Mage_man's turn.] or somesuch as I failed to get in... | |
1. Dial Up- the targeted robot who gets hit with this looses 1 movement space permenantly. Dude, that was my idea, I posted it on my blog. >=| | |
You know, I was unaware of the possibility of "victory through defeat" by dropping a power cell through dying... but is the fact that it allowed you to win even when another player was eliminating you really a bad thing? It just adds another (I would think uncommon) element to strategy, and makes attacks that cause movement as well as damage (I believe the technical term is "water thingy") a potentially surprisingly valuable trump for a very close game.
| |
Hydrated Air, or Projection Beam.
And yeah, you could be right. Hah, you got me thinking! How about: Gravitational Harness: Makes your robot unmoveable by attack (from another robot) for 1 turn or a boosted amount. | |
There is a scenario in which I think the "victory through defeat" bit can give what I would consider an unfair advantage: if you should somehow get knocked onto your base on another player's turn without dying, you could self-destruct and claim a win out of turn. Admittedly this is an obscure scenario, but the scenario you describe is essentially an even more obscure extension of it.
| |
Leftley I'll get back to you on the card suggestions, they do sound interesting.
Busy busy! Gonna post now on today's changes. | |
Wireless Network
General Any damage taken in while this module is in play is transferred equally to the opponent selected when activating the module. However it also works in reverse, in that any future damage taken by the target of this module is transferred equally to the user. Either a fixed amount of turns, or 1 turn/boosted amount. Evil Twin (Defensive Variant) Defence Works exactly the same way as Evil Twin, only it activates when attacked. The result is that you can switch with another robot to take the attack for you (providing the switch succeeds due to other robot's defences, etc). Internal Weaponry Upgrade Active Non-Defensive Module Upgrades the basic 'Zap' attack to 2/3? damage. Holographic Projection Based on WizWar's Astral Projection after looking at some of their cards. Use a line of sight module on anyone, anywhere on the board. Reflections do not affect the user. | |
Maybe call "Evil Twin (Defense)" as "Castling", so as to not cause confusion with the existing one? Or "Bodyslide", which is what they call it when Cable of X-Force does it. :P And is the only thing about that character I like.
| |
That is a fun one! Have to figure out what to do in 2-player case. Of course, could always not have the card show up for 2 players.
| |
Another possible name for "Evil Twin (Defense)" could be "Quantum Entanglement". Although now that I think about it, the name would be more appropriate for the "Wireless Network" card.
| |
That would be quality irony, if you attacked someone who targeted you with that defence. That would be the ultimate counter for BSOD and Spyware.
| |
At the moment there's quantum mirror which reflects the damage back to the attacker. It can be very funny.
In one game there were two robots both very low on power(about 3 power each) with a superheated wall between them. One used tractor beam on the other, but quantum mirror reflected it back, pulling him through the superheated wall and causing his untimely demise. :P | |
Yay!