Moo4k [Completed]

[MetalBeetle]

So I thought I'd make a turn-based strategy game, as I haven't seen much of that kind of game in the contest. Moo4k is a stripped-down space strategy game, more like a board game in that you get one action a turn.

Play it here

(Detailed manual further down that page.)

Thoughts?

[ra4king]

So complex and feature packed!!! I love it!!
Can be a bit confusing to get going at first but the more you play, the better you get

Is the game supposed to end anytime soon?
All my planets got captured and the game kept going on and on. There should be a Quit button, if you can fit it in.

Great job!!

EDIT: I think you win the prize for longest time to play an online game.
EDIT2: You should make it harder to raid and be raided. Maybe make raiding harder the more defences you have.
EDIT3: Is it possible to move your fleet to another planet?

[MetalBeetle]

All my planets got captured and the game kept going on and on. There should be a Quit button, if you can fit it in.

EDIT3: Is it possible to move your fleet to another planet?

I'm glad you like it. I'm afraid it's within a few bytes of 4096, so while those two would be very useful additions, they don't fit without some re-engineering.

I *am* writing a cleaned-up version of it that supports proper multiplayer and some more stuff though.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[ra4king]

I would love the play the multiplayer version with some friends! Make sure to post the link

[Mickelukas]

That was great

Mike

[CaptainJester]

Very well done, but I found it too hard. Once I get to about 4 or 5 planets the other players are already everywhere else and easily take over my planets.

[ra4king]

Very well done, but I found it too hard. Once I get to about 4 or 5 planets the other players are already everywhere else and easily take over my planets.

Really? I found it too easy
Once I got the hang of it, I easily won every single game I played.

Tips:
1. Raid and tax a lot!
2. Build up defenses as much as possible when you invade and capture a planet.
3. Try to invade planets with that color's fleet on it since half of their fleet is destroyed upon the invasion.

[Addictman]

Holy.... I loved it. So much nice gameplay in such a small package. Good job!

[MetalBeetle]

ra4king has got it pretty much perfect strategy-wise. I would only add to that that it's a lot cheaper to colonise than to invade, so at the start of the game, rapidly colonise anything that isn't Poor or Barren, and fortify each planet just after colonisation - as otherwise the computer will grab it from you.

The other thing worth mentioning is that the formula for how many ships you lose when attacking means that if you want to lose no ships at all, the number of attacking ships must be three times the number of the defences. (Planetary defences plus any fleet present.) And you can lose up to half your ships when attacking, so don't get into too many narrowly won battles, or you'll spend all your time rebuilding your fleet.

[ra4king]

ra4king has got it pretty much perfect strategy-wise. I would only add to that that it's a lot cheaper to colonise than to invade, so at the start of the game, rapidly colonise anything that isn't Poor or Barren, and fortify each planet just after colonisation - as otherwise the computer will grab it from you.

The other thing worth mentioning is that the formula for how many ships you lose when attacking means that if you want to lose no ships at all, the number of attacking ships must be three times the number of the defences. (Planetary defences plus any fleet present.) And you can lose up to half your ships when attacking, so don't get into too many narrowly won battles, or you'll spend all your time rebuilding your fleet.

Actually, from the many games I played, fortifying your current planet first is important, THEN colonize since if you colonize too much, you will not be able to afford defenses and your planets will be snapped up quickly by the enemies

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[Localhorst]

Really cool game, a bit way to easy, but i enjoyed playing it. Just a question: Do you have a less cleaned up version somewhere? I tooked a look into the source and its damn hard to read I really like to improove it a bit for my own, so...

Regards

[ra4king]

Really cool game, a bit way to easy, but i enjoyed playing it. Just a question: Do you have a less cleaned up version somewhere? I tooked a look into the source and its damn hard to read I really like to improove it a bit for my own, so...

Regards

Source code? Where? I wanna take a look at it!

[Localhorst]

Javadecompiler produces a quite near to the original code. This does not include the Variablenames and also the Comments are missing, but it helps to understand the application.

Regards

[MetalBeetle]

I've submitted the source code along with the game, so the code will be be available shortly. Not that it will look much different than the decompiled code, I fear.

[ra4king]

Javadecompiler produces a quite near to the original code. This does not include the Variablenames and also the Comments are missing, but it helps to understand the application.

Regards

How do you decompile the game?

I've submitted the source code along with the game, so the code will be be available shortly. Not that it will look much different than the decompiled code, I fear.

Thanks!

[Localhorst]

This is simple, extract the .class file from the jar (or if you have a pack'ed version use unpack200 for extracting) and load the file with this tool:
http://java.decompiler.free.fr/?q=jdgui

There are some other decompilers available, but their result is less reliable and readable.

Cheers

[ra4king]

This is simple, extract the .class file from the jar (or if you have a pack'ed version use unpack200 for extracting) and load the file with this tool:
http://java.decompiler.free.fr/?q=jdgui

There are some other decompilers available, but their result is less reliable and readable.

Cheers

Wow thanks!

[MetalBeetle]

As promised, here's the source: https://gist.github.com/848867

[SwampChicken]

As promised, here's the source: https://gist.github.com/848867

Appreciated.

[MetalBeetle]

(Have fixed up the indentation to be less mountainous.)

[Localhorst]

Hey, sorry that your game did not come up to one of the first positions. I love it that much that i ported it to Delphi. No kidding, but the cpu fan on my laptop is extremely nagging while using java.
It seems to be working like the original, but somehow the ai is much too passive. I guess there is some sort of typo, maybe you could have a look?
I uploaded the source and the binary to:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sbhb1n0sjfnql9s

Peter

[MetalBeetle]

I'm flattered.

Have you considered replacing the targeting code with something like "attack the first planet you can attack" and then building up from there? My code is fairly terrible anyway.

BTW, try the code at https://gist.github.com/848867/ - it should now be much less of a drain on your CPU, as it will only update when needed.

[Localhorst]

I did not considered changing the algorithm at all, at least unless i find the reason why the ai is not working similar like in the java original. My guess is that it might be caused by the loops and goto constructs you made. Since i stopped dealing with basic (15 years ago), i tried to avoid labels

The new update code should help a bit, but in my case the fan always start once java is loaded. Its java related i guess