TIGSource: Arsecast Episode 3

Arsecast Episode 3

Tim — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:28:00 +0000

Practically the best indie game podcast right now, because the rest of the competition just closed shop and disappeared.

You’ll hate listening to the programme if you make crap games and throw a tantrum when receiving constructive feedback. Others will enjoy the honesty, something most indie game sites lack.

(Photo stolen blatantly from oddbob’s blog)

"Arsecast Episode 3" by The Arsecast Host

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:44:15 +0000

Ta! I talk in a British accent?! I shall have to curb that disgraceful behaviour IM-MEDIATELY! ;)

"Arsecast Episode 3" by Ryan A

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 11:16:12 +0000

Neat podcast, but I had to rewind a few times because the Arsecast Host talks extremely fast and in a (British?) accent.

Awesome though, I went back and listened to previous episodes. Keep up the good work. :)

"Arsecast Episode 3" by The Arsecast Host

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:54:57 +0000

Hmm, I think the main problem with charting turns is that it’s reliant on knowing what the zombies are going to do which again would require them to have very predictable behaviour (not that that’s bad as long as there are multiple elements which create emergent situations) OR the units would still require a degree of autonomy like the auto-defending soldiers. What I think you need for your game if you want to have large crowds of units and single-hit kills is have the zombies move in a manner which makes sense. Have them reliant on line-of-sight (although they’d share information with any other zombies they could see), or smell (this could be simplified to a kind of radar if you’re within X units). I just think that at the moment your game is almost on the level of cellular automata rather than a game as everything is so simple in it’s patterns.

"Arsecast Episode 3" by Alan Gordon

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:09:32 +0000

Hmm….

How do you think it would affect the issues you address if you had the option to: -Chart multi-turn paths for units, which they would follow automatically each turn until they reached the end? -Set soldiers (and possibly other units) to ‘guard’ mode, where they stand still, automatically attacking the strongest adjacent zombie each turn?

I ask this because I am considering submitting this to the IGF Student Showcase Competition, and need to get it as good as I can before then.

"Arsecast Episode 3" by The Arsecast Host

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 02:28:53 +0000

Righty, that’s it! removes gloves

I think that attrition is fine in games as long as you don’t have to deal with fiddliness, too. Like if you could have some of the units automatically try and acquire ground and automatically replenish themselves if their clogs got popped, etc. It’s just your game almost feels like an RTS with the essential RT bit missing, which just adds fiddly tedium (for me, anyhoo). It’s kinda’ like it falls between the two stools of real-time and turn-based games.

"Arsecast Episode 3" by Alan Gordon

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:25:57 +0000

Just for the records, how dare you insult my awesum gaem I worked hard on it so i am better than you etc etc etc.

"Arsecast Episode 3" by The Arsecast Host

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:12:58 +0000

Glad you took it better than some of the people last month, Alan. I sincerely believe there’s massive potential for a visceral zombie tactics game set in a city, but for me it’d have to have really tight level design and more strategy to it, like Laser Squad or X-Com. Oh man, imagine X-Com with zombies… droooool

Love the concept art, mind.

"Arsecast Episode 3" by Alan Gordon

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 10:55:22 +0000

I get bashed in here! To be fair, the points he makes are pretty valid, but some of us LIKE massive wars of attrition. Right? Right?

"Arsecast Episode 3" by The Arsecast Host

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 01:21:09 +0000

If you do use it for the same purpose, I’ll rip the piss out of you as well. ;)

And I agree! TIGSource podcast! TIGSOURCE PODCAST!

"Arsecast Episode 3" by NO!

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:34:03 +0000

We want a TIGSource Podcast!!1! Weeee

"Arsecast Episode 3" by Shabadage

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:59:06 +0000

Well that’s wierd; in Lethal Judgement 3 there’s a BG (The cityscape) that I was going to use for the same purpose. It’s actually one of my favorite BG cityscape images I have.

Oh well. LJ3 is a fun game btw, a bit heavy in the DL size, but fun none the less.