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Posted By
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Message
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Tauman
Registered
15/09/2004
Points
129
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Hit me with yer worst.
For great justice, and indeed pie.
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Assault Andy
Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered
29/07/2002
Points
5686
    
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Fun for a few minutes! I am a massive fan of zombies, so anything zombie related is good 
Creator of Faerie Solitaire:
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=7792
Also creator of ZDay20 and Dungeon Dash.
http://www.Jigxor.com
http://twitter.com/JigxorAndy
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Sketchy
Cornwall UK
Registered
06/11/2004
Points
1970
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Very basic, but still - there's definitely something about it that I really like. It has potential alright.
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To make the Zombies follow the closest player...
// "Distance_P1" and "Distance_P2" are two of the Zombies' Alterable Values.
// There's no need to find the square-roots, as we're only interested in which is closest - not the actual distance.
+ Always
-> Set Distance_P1 to ((X( "Zombie" )-X( "Player 1" )) pow 2)+((Y( "Zombie" )-Y( "Player 1" )) pow 2)
-> Set Distance_P2 to ((X( "Zombie" )-X( "Player 2" )) pow 2)+((Y( "Zombie" )-Y( "Player 2" )) pow 2)
+ Distance_P1 > Distance_P2
-> Follow Player 2...
+ Distance_P1 < Distance_P2
-> Follow Player 1...
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Changes I personally would make (feel free to disregard, as you're the one making it, not me)...
"Zombies" should move slower - it currently feels a bit more like you're being chased by a pack of dogs or something, they're so quick.
The zombies spawn too quickly - maybe I'm just not very good, but it seems to get overwhelming *very* quickly.
The way I'd do it, is make it a bit like Llamatron. I'd have lot's of uninfected people wandering around, and initially, just one or two zombies. The zombies would be able to convert the uninfected into more zombies, on contact. The player could "rescue" uninfected people, who would then follow him around, so he'd be better able to protect them. The level would naturally finish once there were no more zombies left, and points awarded for saving as many uninfected people as possible.
If you want a bit more strategy, maybe add a few scattered boxes, that you can push around sokoban-style to create temporary barricades. Just don't over-complicate it.
If it were me, I wouldn't bother adding more weapons etc. Games like this often offer you loads of different guns to use, and it's cool at first, but they really don't add anything extra to the gameplay - you're still just clicking on zombies to kill them. If anything, they dilute the gameplay with unneccessary complexity. I say keep it simple, and a little bit retro.
n/a
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Tauman
Registered
15/09/2004
Points
129
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Wow, thank you both for your comments. I wasn't expecting actual constructive feedback. 
I tried the exact events you posted, Sketchy. And many variations. It just doesn't work with a flood of duplicates like that. Making the distance check specific to each copy is easy, it's convincing MMF2 to APPLY those alterable values separately that I can't seem to get right.
You might be right about the zombie speed, but if I slow 'em down I'd hafta up the max HP to compensate and that makes testing rather tedious. Hmm, there's a thought. Putting the level generation variables in an INI for easy tweaking is planned...Mebbe I'll stick the rest of the settings in there too. No reason not to.
Yeah, that's 'cuz it's currently designed for two players. There are actually two 'zombie' objects. One is set to chase RobotronBlue and the other is set to chase MouseaimRed. Both are spawned at the same time and place. So it's double the zombie amount originally intended. But...If one player dies (like when yer playin' solo) ALL the zombies go after the remaining player.
Also you just suck at it. It's kinda intended to be overwhelming. Not supposed to be able to sit in one spot and hold them off indefinitely. Running from place to place and trying to not get backed into a corner is exactly the kind of gameplay I'm after. A sweet spot where it's juuuust a little too much to handle.
A fun idea, but not really what I wanna go for.
Had not considered block pushing! Hrm. It's probably possible to make a moveable, edible block... But it's much easier to just make an active wooden crate object with a progressively-damaged animation. Sure, I'll give it a try. Toss in a few randomly at level generation.
More weapons is pretty low on the priority list anyway.
Thanks again!
For great justice, and indeed pie.
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Sketchy
Cornwall UK
Registered
06/11/2004
Points
1970
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If you want to send the source I could probably get the AI to work if you want, but it's up to you.
Thinking about it, you're absolutely right - I'm sure it would be a lot easier if there was a second player helping (maybe you could add a 1P mode?).
Having said, it's kind of unfair as a 2P game - the player using the mouse has a pretty big advantage. Perhaps you could have the two players as different characters - the mouse player is slow/weak, but has a gun; the keyboard-only player is really fast/strong but only has a mêlée weapon (since they can't aim a gun accurately anyway). That way they're different but equal.
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Tauman
Registered
15/09/2004
Points
129
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It's an uncommented, embarassingly bad mess, but if you wanna give it a shot you're welcome to. Don't think I have any clever secrets worth stealing anyway.
I'll either go to gamepad controls for both players or as you suggested differentiate the players enough to compensate for the controls. For now it's a handy way to test both control schemes without changing anything. I likes my mouseaim, though. Probably gonna go for the latter.
For great justice, and indeed pie.
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Sketchy
Cornwall UK
Registered
06/11/2004
Points
1970
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Sure, post a download link, and I'll take a look. There can't be that many of the events related to zombie movement...
EDIT: Done 
n/a
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Tauman
Registered
15/09/2004
Points
129
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Sketchy, you are a magic man. Unless you are, in fact, a woman. Thaaaaaaaank yooooooooou.
Gaaaah. As expected the answer is stupidsimple. YER A DUMB, TAU.
Added a bit so it doesn't bug out when one player dies.
Hmmmmm. Just had an idea fer randomizing a few of the zombie stats. Might be more interesting than an identical horde.
For great justice, and indeed pie.
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Sketchy
Cornwall UK
Registered
06/11/2004
Points
1970
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Yeah, I forgot about what would happen if P1 died before P2...
Stat randomisation depends on your sprite artist.
If you only have one zombie sprite to work with, then randomising stats would be good.
If you can get sprites for different types of zombie (fat man zombie, cop zombie, stripper zombie, zombie dog etc), then that could determine their stats.
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Tauman