Stickmen Wars

[SimonH]

Tired of wading knee-deep in blood? Bored of being blown into tiny bits? Let stickmen do it so you don't have to in;

Stickmen Wars!

or phone a friend and obliterate them in;

Stickmen Wars Live!

It's not quite finished - I still have two empty deployment slots left - any suggestions? Rocket-launcher? Flamethrower? Bouncing Bunny of Doom? Hmmm... maybe not the bunny...

[Jono]

Hmmm... maybe not the bunny...

Two slots left? That's room for both the Bunny of Doom and the Holy Hand Grenade. A perfect match.

Edit: Played the game now, and it's a pretty cool look. Reminds me of Swords & Soldiers.

[Meraxupypr]

quite fun!
minelayer and kamikadze (run with bomb and explode) will be cool

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[SimonH]

Two slots left? That's room for both the Bunny of Doom and the Holy Hand Grenade. A perfect match.

Noooo! Not the Holy Hand Grenade!

[h3ckboy]

Noooo! Not the Holy Hand Grenade!

why? as long as you can conut to 3, it is fine.

[Apo]

I really like it

but more colors for the stickmen would be great to know which unit it is.

And the idea with the minelayer and the kamikaze unit would be really cool

[erikd]

It takes 100% CPU and is extremely slow on my laptop (<1fps) making it unplayable here.

Laptop with 3GB, 2GHz Core2 Duo T6400, Ubuntu 9.04
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.4.1) (6b14-1.4.1-0ubuntu11)
OpenJDK Server VM (build 14.0-b08, mixed mode)

[Riven]

Absolutely. Must. Have. Multiplayer.

(On my mobile.)

[SimonH]

why? as long as you can conut to 3, it is fine.

But 5 is right out! Lol - I love that film!

It takes 100% CPU and is extremely slow on my laptop (<1fps) making it unplayable here.

That's really strange - I can't think where the blockage could be - this is the least graphics-intensive thing I've ever written! I've had over 150 fps with frame lock off...

Absolutely. Must. Have. Multiplayer.
(On my mobile.)

I'd love that too! I wonder if Kevglass's magic i-phone stuff could help me here?

Minelayer and kamikaze seem to be the popular choices for the empty slots, but I can see I'll need to get it right or I could throw the whole game balance out...

[zoto]

Could you add info about the differences between the units?

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[h3ckboy]

haha that was so much fun!

I agree multiplayer would be awesome

[Mike]

Very nice, the rifleman/mortar combo is too overpowered though compared the the archers/swordsmen (as they would be in real life too, but maybe change the proportion a bit, give 5 archers and two swordsmen maybe?

[pjt33]

I don't seem to be able to summon fencers. There's also an interesting bug with your test code - if I summon a base (press B) right next to the enemy one, then when they destroy it I win the level.

[Riven]

When you win, and just idle around, and the remaining blue forces destroy your castle, you lose!

[SimonH]

I'm getting 'multiplayer' from you guys in big letters, but how? I mean, what sort of multiplayer? What the best way to go?

When you win, and just idle around, and the remaining blue forces destroy your castle, you lose!

I know now - I didn't when I was testing! I had a game that was really tense, my base got hammered down to 1% but I managed to drive them all off and I finally won, but my last archer died as he fired the winning shot. I sat back thinking 'wow that was difficult' and as I watched, the last blue archer went across the map. I didn't have 'click to continue' then & I couldn't request an airdrop, so he shot my base and I lost! Loooool! I haven't laughed so much in ages! Moral: 'Don't take victory for granted!'
I'll have to change it I guess, but I really did like that twist in the tale!

Very nice, the rifleman/mortar combo is too overpowered though compared the the archers/swordsmen (as they would be in real life too, but maybe change the proportion a bit, give 5 archers and two swordsmen maybe?

The soldier/mortar combo is pretty powerful. Now it's 2/1 soldiers/archers, how about 1.5/1? I think the swordsmen are strong enough already? (I've been wiped out by 1 swordsman against many archers/mortars as they can't hit him easily).

There's also an interesting bug with your test code - if I summon a base (press B) right next to the enemy one, then when they destroy it I win the level.

Lol! That'll teach you to press random keys! You'll lose if any base but your original one is destroyed.
Can't think why no fencers tho... Does the box highlight?

haha that was so much fun!

 

Could you add info about the differences between the units?

Base: health:100 damage:1-3: accuracy:66%
Infantry: cost:1 health:1 damage:1 accuracy:66% speed:medium
Archer: cost:2 health:1 damage:2 accuracy:33% speed:medium
Mortar: cost:6 health:1 damage:0-5 (based on range from shellburst) accuracy:33% (of direct hit) speed:slow
Swordsman: cost:6 health:10 damage:3 accuracy:100% speed:fast
Engineer: cost:10 damage:0 accuracy:100% speed:medium

There's no predictive aiming. Base, infantry, swordsman and engy all need line of sight, mortar and archers don't.
Reload and 'dither' times also factor. Ranges and speeds both vary slightly (to spread the troops out visually).

I do need to add this info to the game, but it's tricky being concise with all that data...

[h3ckboy]

I'm getting 'multiplayer' from you guys in big letters, but how? I mean, what sort of multiplayer? What the best way to go?

what you could do is have a tcp relaying server. and then the licnets send a pakcet whenever they buy a units. and tehn it is relayed to their opponent, and then they both proccess independently. Only problem is that they might get different accuracy, so then sutff my die at idifferent times, and it might get out of sync.

[Mike]

Lol! That'll teach you to press random keys! You'll lose if any base but your original one is destroyed.

Read his post again, what you say make sense, what he wrote sounds like a bug (I win)

I'd change the values to:
Base: health:100 damage:1-3: accuracy:66%
Infantry: cost:1 health:1 damage:1 accuracy:66% speed:medium
Archer: cost:1.5 health:1 damage:3 accuracy:50% speed:medium
Mortar: cost:6 health:1 damage:0-5 (based on range from shellburst) accuracy:33% (of direct hit) speed:slow
Swordsman: cost:6 health:15 damage:3 accuracy:100% speed:fast
Engineer: cost:10 damage:0 accuracy:100% speed:medium

Seeing as almost everything has 1 life the extra damage archers do compared to infantry makes them quite bad. Increase the damage (making them good against swordsmen and base) while increasing the accuracy and decreasing the cost would make the 4 archers about as good as the 6 infantry except they'd have a different use.

Swordsmen's extra damage is only necessary against other swordsmen and base so bumping their life a bit would make them more dangerous (actually reaching their target more of the time).

[Phear]

Great Gameplay. 2D RTS with all AI controlled units. Excellent!!!
Randomly generated (?) maps also increase replay value. Me like

I like that the terrain affects what will be the best strategy (hills provide cover for archers/mortar and flat areas are good for infantry).

I would like to see a sniper (slow, long-range infantry (100% to hit?)) and a flamethrower (slow, short-range splash-damage). Burning units could start to run back and ignite other units close by.

[Riven]

The AI is really no match, I rare end the ballte with any damage on my castle.

Anyway, in multiplayer, it would be nice to have much longer levels.... maybe 4 times as long. You could add real mountains, and dense forests. Then it's really about strategy, and the battle can take quite long.

This is realyl such a great concept. It should be trivial to make a 'lot' of money out of this when it is released on mobile devices...

[PaulReeves]

Wow great game, Very addictive. Although the AI could do with improvements and multi player would be great as everyone has already mentioned

[Eli Delventhal]

Details and polish, all the way. This game is very well done and a lot of fun.

+1 point if the game installs and uninstalls correctly
+1 point if the game doesn't crash ever
+1 point if the game has "good" graphics that suit the game
+1 point if the game has "good" sound that suit the game
+1 point if the game's overall style is "good"
+1 point if the game is original or brings a great new original twist
+1 point if your judge enjoyed playing the game
+1 point if you don't whine and you demand nothing of the mods (simply saying "can you rate my game please" is fine)

8/10, featured!

I think you could easily get those other 2 points (presentation and completeness) just by continuing to work on this. I felt that the overall presentation was a little too stark, mostly I was thinking about the lack of a tutorial. The numbers above the units didn't immediately make sense to me, nor did I understand what they corresponded to. If you just touch everything up a bit to make it easier to know what's going on (when you first start playing), then I think that will help quite a bit. As for completeness, I feel this is missing a bit - I still feel some sort of hole in the gameplay, mainly having to do with the pace, I think. Guys were coming a little too slowly, and I didn't really feel like I had any way to get a leg up on the computer until I finally cheated. And even though I took quite a bit of damage (as did the computer) our engineers quickly made that a non-issue because the time between waves that can actually reach the bases is pretty long.

[Eli Delventhal]

Also, as for a new unit type, I think a very expensive one that you can control would be very cool (like a superhero unit). Also, some sort of "blood harvester" would be neat - they collect blood off the ground and after they have a certain amount they perform a devastating attack. And maybe they heal from blood they pick up also.

I think either way having the ability to throw in a very expensive monster/hero unit who is head and shoulders above everyone else and just insanely powerful would be really fun. You'd really have someone to root for.

The new units you put in should not fit into the whole "rock paper scissors" thing that you have going already - they should be something totally different, like a mine layer as suggested, or a healer, or one of the guys I mentioned.

[erikd]

Just tried it again on a windows machine and it worked fine.
Wow, this is really fantastic in concept and style, thumbs up!
Strange it failed on Ubuntu/OpenJDK tough.

[SimonH]

I think. Guys were coming a little too slowly, and I didn't really feel like I had any way to get a leg up on the computer until I finally cheated. And even though I took quite a bit of damage (as did the computer) our engineers quickly made that a non-issue because the time between waves that can actually reach the bases is pretty long.

Thx for feature & comments! I did play with the wave timing and unit speeds quite a lot, and I settled on this speed as it gives the player a chance to actually watch the combat without constantly worrying about what the enemy will throw next: when I sped the game up I found myself just watching the AI airdrop zone in order to respond fast enough... I'm also a little worried about latency in multiplayer if the game's too fast.

The two extra units; lots of great ideas coming in here! I like them all;

Minelayer - (whole map or just near enemies?)
Kamikaze - runs at enemy and BOOM!
Sniper - long range, high accuracy, slow reload.
Leech - heads for enemy sucking up blood. More blood==bigger boom when it gets there.
General - lurks behind frontline & boosts speed and accuracy of nearby units.
Medic - as general but heals nearby units.
Machine gunner - slow, weak, but obliterates swordsmen!
Bazooka - basically a line of sight mortar.

It's gonna be tough choosing! My instincts are towards the last two as the most familiar, but a sniper would be really niiiice.
I'm a little short of spare time ATM but if I get a chance maybe I'll do a version with all of the above available, then narrow it down from there.

@Mickelukas Thx for the weighting suggestions - I'll try them out!

[Riven]

Why add another unit? Simplicity is... worth a lot.

[Eli Delventhal]

Man, this really makes me want to make a simple game like this and just make tons of units.

[dishmoth]

Excellent stuff!  (And I finally managed to win without cheating!)

One tiny detail: the smoke in the background appears before the fighting starts.  Maybe save it for later in the game?

Why add another unit? Simplicity is... worth a lot.

There is something to that...

Simon

[h3ckboy]

Why add another unit? Simplicity is... worth a lot.

yeah for the first play or two. But then after that it is kinda easy and boring. so if you have more units the gameplay becomes more in depth aka more fun. but becareful not ot make it TOO complex.

[Riven]

yeah for the first play or two. But then after that it is kinda easy and boring. so if you have more units the gameplay becomes more in depth aka more fun. but becareful not ot make it TOO complex.

I think this isn't the case in multiplayer. Even with 1 unit it would be thrilling, because then suddenly the focus lies on timing, and predicting the other guy, which can be hard enough. It's like playing checkers... 1 type of unit, lots of complexity.

[Epitaph64]

Pretty fun game! With more modes and less of a proto-type feel to it, it could be pretty awesome. It kind of reminds me of games I played on my calculator in high school, but much higher quality of course