Wars

[bzar]

A small notification for any playtesters and other interested people here, both my servers got hacked during the weekend, so I'm gonna wipe them clean (OS only, the data will survive). It's going to take a while to get everything up again, but I'll try to get stuff up again before the holidays. I also have to change just about every single password I have ever used because the server also contained backups from my desktop computers, including everything from RSA keys to firefox saved passwords. This sucks.


If you have a server, I advise you to check tcpdump every once in a while for any suspicious activity. I saw constant two-way UDP streams going to some shady subnets (located in russia and japan) when there was supposed to be no activity besides LAN stuff. In addition there was some light hammering to several US addresses, I'm guessing DDOSing. There were some other signs as well, but I won't get into details

 

[bzar]

Good news, everyone! The latest beta of Orbited seems to fix the memory leak bug! We'll test the game for a week or so to see if the bug has really been fixed, but it looks promising judging by a few quick tests. If this is the case, I can finally not NOT recommend running wars on a public server . We haven't tested it on more than a few users at a time because of my limited upstream speed, but if anyone with the upstream is interested in running a server for this community for example, I'd be happy to help setting it up . After we make sure the memory leak is fixed.

 

[bzar]

Public test server up

 

[foxblock]

What I would love to see are "public profiles" and "leaderboards".


Basically a page which you access by clicking somebodies username (in a game).


They could show public information about the player (name, avatar, etc.), but also stats like win-streak, win/lose ratio, etc. and awards.


Awards would be like achievements basically, so for example you would get an award for winning a game and losing less than 10 units (star general) or winning a game which takes more than 100 turns (static warfare), winning 10 games in a row, etc.


Those obviously should only be awarded when not playing against oneself.


The leaderboards could show the top X (50) high-ranking players by "experience points" (determined by the number of battles participated in and win/lose ratio - so you cannot be high-ranked by just having fought 5 battles, but maybe after you won 20 in a row or played over 100 with a good win/lose ratio).


That is not affecting core-gameplay of course, but to me that point already seems pretty stable and adding awards just keeps the motivation up and generates some virtual rewards (apart from the fact that you can brag about your win afterwards in the forum).


Also it could bring some "life" to the currently pretty static game interface as you always could check your rank, other players achievements, maybe leave some line in a public message box, etc.


But other than that I already love it

 

[bzar]

^ That is actually planned, but my scoring algorithm work got kinda sidelined by first wars: commando, then panorama and now wars gamenode rewrite. There's just too little time

 

[Blue Protoman]

This looks really promising. Any plans of optimizing it in some way for the Pandora, even if it's just a PND with a neutered web browser?

 

[bzar]

^ After I've got the gamenode-based rewrite done, it should be easier to make even a native client. No plans to do a PND before that at least. If pandora had Qt 4.7 I could do a QML browser with kinetic scrolling and all in a few lines

 

[bzar]

Wars-gamenode sources are now hosted in github along with gamenode itself. It's just easier for me to work with git. Ported gamenode to the latest 0.7 release of socket.io which gives it some nice abilities and AFAICT some speed boost. This also bumps gamenode's node.js requirement to somewhere along the fourth version. Should be more compatible on the client end though.

 

[Timstertoo]

I'm in a game with Gadgetoid, Blue Protoman and OBx. It's my first turn but I can't seem to do anything. Using Firefox 5.0.


This is what I see: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WelwUuOsC-uzAhxZeDjDSA?feat=directlink


If I check the manual it seems I should see stuff I don't see. Help! :blink:

 

[Timstertoo]

I'm in a game with Gadgetoid, Blue Protoman and OBx. It's my first turn but I can't seem to do anything. Using Firefox 5.0.


This is what I see: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WelwUuOsC-uzAhxZeDjDSA?feat=directlink


If I check the manual it seems I should see stuff I don't see. Help! :blink:

Just tried it on my Transformer, works like a charm!


Strange thing is didn't work on my PC on IE either. Guess it's a true portable game in the spirit of this forum.

 

[bzar]

That picture looks like you are not connected to the game event server. This could be because of a firewall chopping long standing connections. It should all go through port 80, so a blocked port is not probable. Your browser (FF5) should work fine. I've tested it from FF3 onwards.

 

[gadgetoid]

This game is awesome. I've been able to take turns on the go using my iPhone


I think I'm going to get my ass kicked, though.


Cracking job, and very close to Advance Wars in gameplay. I wish I could shoot troops with my AA weapons, though, mu ha ha!

 

[bzar]

Well, the AA vehicle has a machine gun too


Also, thanks

 

[fusion_power]

Well, the AA vehicle has a machine gun too


Also, thanks

Actualy, the AA Vehicle only needs FLAK Cannons or Gatling Guns to shoot Air and Land Units, like in Advance Wars. Would at least make the drawing of this Vehicle much more easy.


Oh, do we really need 3 different Artilleries? I don't see much difference, light Artillery is actualy to weak and heavy Artillery to expencive. I would drop the light one, 2 different units could be enough IMHO.

 

[bzar]

First, here's some preview screenshots from the new game UI in wars-gamenode:


EDIT: GAH, the pictures are in wrong order! Check the tooltip on the images to see the number on the file name.

1. General game view
   
2. Building units in lower right corner
   
3. Building aircraft in top left corner
   
4. Chat window
   
5. Chat window, minimized
   
6. Game creation, map preview phase
   

The build menu tries to appear on the selected tile, but limits to the edges of the map. Chat glues itself to the top of the view, can be turned off or minimized. Minimized version always shows the last message, and the "show chat" button is highlighted when new messages arrive and the chat is hidden. I'm thinking about doing the "game events" thingy like this too, but on the bottom of the screen.


These screenshots also have Fusion_Power's modifications to the units, and all unit drawing is offsetted vertically 1/4 tile to give them a sense of height. I just yesterday evening tried these modifications out and the implementation isn't naywhere near final

Actualy, the AA Vehicle only needs FLAK Cannons or Gatling Guns to shoot Air and Land Units, like in Advance Wars. Would at least make the drawing of this Vehicle much more easy.

In advance wars, yes, but these are two different games . You don't HAVE to draw every single gun separately, a light tank also has a machine gun but it isn't visible on the sprite .

Oh, do we really need 3 different Artilleries? I don't see much difference, light Artillery is actualy to weak and heavy Artillery to expencive. I would drop the light one, 2 different units could be enough IMHO.

Yes. They all serve different purposes and are used in different phases of a game. Light artilleries are used in the beginning of the game to secure areas from quick attacks and provide cheap indirect firepower to the front line. Medium artilleries are used like medium tanks. They should be the backbone of your indirect attacks in any serious conflicts, since they move quite nicely even on rough terrain and deliver enough punch to seriously damage even heavy tanks. Heavy artilleries are good at sieges and base defense, since their power can take out many units even when they are in a city, and their range guarantees them the first shot against other indirect fire units if they are deployed first, which is usually all that's needed .


Advance wars doesn't really have the third phase of the game where you put down roots, so it only needs the light and medium artilleries (artillery/rocket). Wars is designed to scale to strategic level of play, not just quick tactics

 

[fusion_power]

Locks nice and clean and the GUI is on one side and not spread over the entire Window, very nice. This should make paying the game much more easy on mobile Devices.


The height of the Unit playcement indeed looks better, especialy the Planes. The Tank maybe is to high placed could be a little bit lower IMHO.

Yes. They all serve different purposes and are used in different phases of a game. Light artilleries are used in the beginning of the game to secure areas from quick attacks and provide cheap indirect firepower to the front line. Medium artilleries are used like medium tanks. They should be the backbone of your indirect attacks in any serious conflicts, since they move quite nicely even on rough terrain and deliver enough punch to seriously damage even heavy tanks. Heavy artilleries are good at sieges and base defense, since their power can take out many units even when they are in a city, and their range guarantees them the first shot against other indirect fire units if they are deployed first, which is usually all that's needed .


Advance wars doesn't really have the third phase of the game where you put down roots, so it only needs the light and medium artilleries (artillery/rocket). Wars is designed to scale to strategic level of play, not just quick tactics

Well, I guess everyone plays these games in a different way. I usualy try to buy the biggest units, no time wasting with the weak stuff. :lol: Yes, I want to finish as quickly as possible, Blitzkrieg rules.


When can we test the new GUI? And I also would like to know if something like Co-Op Teamplay is planed, for bigger maps 2on2 or so?

 

[bzar]

Locks nice and clean and the GUI is on one side and not spread over the entire Window, very nice. This should make paying the game much more easy on mobile Devices.


The height of the Unit playcement indeed looks better, especialy the Planes. The Tank maybe is to high placed could be a little bit lower IMHO.

Yes, it needs further tweaking in many fronts, but those images give a rough idea of what it might look like

Well, I guess everyone plays these games in a different way. I usualy try to buy the biggest units, no time wasting with the weak stuff. :lol: Yes, I want to finish as quickly as possible, Blitzkrieg rules.

The biggest units are not always the best option. You'll want to divide your resources effectively between your fronts. Buying a medium artillery instead of a heavy one means you can almost buy a medium tank to protect it. Also medium and heavy artilleries are not really viable alternatives to light artillery early in the game, when you're low on cash and want to spread as effectively as possible.

When can we test the new GUI?

It's not just a new GUI, it's a nearly complete rewrite of the game. You can test it on your own computer quite easily by getting a recent version of node.js and checking out the git and running the included wars.js with node.js. Everything needeed should be included and it creates a JSON file as a database by default .


I've also at times asked people to try stuff out on my development server, though it's nowhere near complete and I wipe the database and reboot it quite frequently while developing. If you'd like to try it there, PM me

 

[fusion_power]

It's not just a new GUI, it's a nearly complete rewrite of the game. You can test it on your own computer quite easily by getting a recent version of node.js and checking out the git and running the included wars.js with node.js. Everything needeed should be included and it creates a JSON file as a database by default .

Waah...Code... *hides* :unsure:


I guess I'm waiting for the binaries, I really have no clue about GIT 'n stuff. :lol:

 

[bzar]

There's no binaries since it's all javascript. You just download node.js and run the code with it, then point you browser to http://localhost:8888.

 

[fusion_power]

I could need a Testmap Editor for testing my Tiles.


However, I had some hardcore Graphics Sessions the last days and finaly, my first Tiles are nearly finished. Only Map Stuff at the moment, no units, this could take a while. Was more work than I thought, these little Pixels here. :lol: I did most of the stuff in Photoshop and some of the Buildings in Blender in 3D first. The Team Colours can be adjusted, I tried many possible blending options, some lighter, some darker, some more contrast some less. These here are the best I found yet.


Please, I would like to see the tiles in a map, can you do some Pics for me? Still have no clue if everything fits together to be honest. ^^ I also included some "Bonus" tiles, first 2 are the bridges, supposed to be placed only above Water - if possible. I also included the 4 missing river T-pieces, just in case.


I hope you like my graphics for the Game. The only disadvantage IMHO is, that I was not able to reduce the tiles to a clean and small 8-Bit graphics, maybe this could improve performance and reduces memory usage, whatever. Simply to many colours to fit all of the tiles in just 256 colours.