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[eigenbom]

Update: Guardian is a finalist in Mozilla's GameOn comp.

https://gaming.mozillalabs.com/games/finalists


I've been working on a project lately for Mozilla's Game On competition (https://gaming.mozillalabs.com/), and thought I might start a small log here and get some feedback.

The game is tentatively called 'Guardian', and is a multiplayer adventure game that runs in the browser. The game will eventually incorporate a large world to explore and change, in the same spirit as nethack/dwarf fortress/etc.





The game runs in the browser using javascript, and some latest browser tech like websockets. It needs a really new browser (works fine in Chrome 10) in order to run properly. (mainly due to websockets).

Play the game here: http://labs.bp.io/guardian/  

I'm trying to clean up the system for the competition deadline. I've submitted it to the competition.

You can move around using the arrow keys. Walk into something to attack it. p/d picks up and drops items. 's' lets you say something. 'c' shows the console. You can fire a pistol by selecting it in the inventory (press the number corresponding to its slot), followed by a direction to shoot.

NOTE: The game server is unstable and crashes occasionally, so the game may not work when you try it.

Comments/crits welcome!

[blundis]

Looks sweet! Unable to play though, being at work behind a firewall.

What are you writing the server part in?

[eigenbom]

Cheers, it's written in haxe. The server-side runs on Neko.

It's a shame you are unable to run it.

[AndrewFM]

Pretty interesting. Sort of reminds me of a low-fi version of Realm of the Mad God.

The only main problem I had with it is it's difficult to tell when you're getting damaged. I be running around thinking I'm doing good, then I look down to find half of my health gone already.

Though, one time I did randomly, spontaneously die with 9 Health left, and there weren't any enemies near me. A med-kit had spawned on top of me... not sure if that had anything to do with it. Or perhaps it was an enemy that spawned on top of me, and we both died instantaneously from a hectic glitchy brawl

[eigenbom]

Thanks AndrewFM.

Realm of the Mad God: cool thanks for the link. I remember playing this back during the assemblee competition, it's come a long way since. In fact, I was using the same sprites by Oryx in an earlier prototype of my game, but it changed direction and so I drew my own lower-fi art.

As for health, I agree. Maybe for now, I'll just add a solid red health bar along the bottom or top of the screen, and maybe have it flash when it gets low.

I've never encountered the bug you mentioned, I'll check it out. I've also seen a bug where you are able to shoot yourself if you move quickly in one direction while shooting in the other.

[eigenbom]

A big health bar is now at the top of the screen. You can also use Health Packs. I have also changed the map for testing purposes.

[BlueSweatshirt]

Hi5 to you!

We need more HTML5 games. good ones 

[simono]

very cool! plays smooth.

i should do something with websockets again. I'm doing a html5 RPG myself but no multiplayer so far...

[eigenbom]

Thanks guys!

[eigenbom]

A simple scoring mechanism is now implemented. Makes the game slightly mre competitive.

[eigenbom]

Some updates...

- drones/zombies are now harder to kill
- clusters of drones occasionally appear surrounding a player
- server-side daemon reboots the gameserver if it crashes
- less medpacks, but drones may drop medpacks on death
- indicators show direction of other logged in players
- a footer shows credits, links to fb discussion page, etc.

[eigenbom]

With the first iteration out there, I can't work on it much until I've submitted my thesis. 

Until then, ideas will be percolating in my brain, like the following:

[AndrewFM]

Very cool. A teamwork system like that would make this game truly spectacular.

[superflat]

With the first iteration out there, I can't work on it much until I've submitted my thesis. 

Until then, ideas will be percolating in my brain, like the following:

That's a screenshot that really excites me.  Will you be adopting the pseudo-3d look?  I think it works well.

[eigenbom]

Jasper: Yep, I hope to do something like this.

One of my main design points for this game was to be able to have 3d spatial elements , e.g., a bridge over a river, or the ability to climb a building and shoot from the top of it. The main problem is visual representation, see through objects, etc, and I think the oblique style shown in the mockup might work. One disadvantage of this projection, is, for example, the black character is horizontally aligned with one of the red enemies on the screen, but really he is one unit behind the enemy in the world coordinate system. I'm not sure if this would be confusing when the sceen is dynamic, but it's a bit confusing in a static screenshot.

[eigenbom]

A mockup of a cleaner style (left) vs older mockup (right)

[Inanimate]

CLEANER STYLE

DEFINITELY CLEANER

[Xion]

I am undecided. Would have to see more situations with the smooth gfx.

[Oddball]

The white sparkles on the blue beam is a nice touch, but I still prefer the blocky pixel look.

[Nugsy]

I vote the cleaner style for lasers etc., but with the pixelated particle effects.