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[Hempuli‽]

The last one happens if the player is engineer. It's a stupid piece of code I made at a time when I thought only 4 classes would be needed. I'm slowly working on these.

[lapinrieska]

More suggestions:

-A bat glider: A hand glider, that turns invisible when a ninja rides it. It could function like the airplane, but be a little slower and shoot slower. Great for stealth bomb drops.

-A stationary teleport tower thingy: A thingy that you could teleport to.

-More block types with the builder: let us make some upside-down ramps with it.

And then some visual improvements:
Make the flag change the direction it's facing, when the player moves.
Same thing with the little missile icon on the missile launcher.
Make a snowy level type... Please?

[Hyper Emerson]

-More block types with the builder: let us make some upside-down ramps with it.

Also, how about spiked blocks?

[Ozeotropo]

I really like the animated gifs you used in the 1st post (also, the game )
What program did you use to make them?

[PiJoKra]

What about holograms?

[Hempuli‽]

-The glider is a neat idea I guess, but on the other hand they don't really that much variety to the game, since they're 'ninja airplanes' by definition. Also I wouldn't want to add any items that are worthwhile to exactly one class.

-I like the stationary teleport, but on the other hand it wouldn't probably add that much new to the game. Such teleport would be needed to be guarded by players, and it could wreck any other teammate trying to use a hand tele for some other purpose than teleporting to the stationary teleport.

-I'll add upside-down ramps, at least.

-The flag changing direction wouldn't really make sense, though - since it flaps in the wind, it should always flap to the same direction. Not that it really makes a difference, the game isn't exactly the most realistic one, heh.

-I'll do that with the missile box, yeah.

-The different level types are something that I've been meaning to add for quite some time. I'll try to do the effort.

Ozeotropo: I recorded them using Camstudio and then just opened the .avi -files in a GIF editor (Animation Shop in this case, don't really recommend it though).

PiJokra: How would they work?

[lapinrieska]

I am just overflowing with ideas now:
-A key item: A key to unlock vehicles immidiately
-A scanner turret: A turret with a scanner; countermeasure for ninjas
-Antidote grenade: something my friend wants for countering the poison gas
-A tank-like thing that could travel up walls and disarm mines by driving over them.
-Let other players use the engineer as a field fabricator
-The ability to ban people for the server host?

[nahkranoth]

I am just overflowing with ideas now:
-A key item: A key to unlock vehicles immidiately
-A scanner turret: A turret with a scanner; countermeasure for ninjas
-Antidote grenade: something my friend wants for countering the poison gas
-A tank-like thing that could travel up walls and disarm mines by driving over them.
-Let other players use the engineer as a field fabricator
-The ability to ban people for the server host?

I like the idea of the tank. Slow moving, heavy armored, heavy gun. Riding up walls, or maybe short flight like the digger (thats easier in programming). Disarming mines is also a nice aspect, but maybe his armor takes a bit of damage.

- using the engineer as field fabricator is cool; i dont have the feeling engineers are overpowerd. But maybe the answer is that engineers should drop a lot of items around
- ban is also a good thing.



 

[PiJoKra]

PiJokra: How would they work?

1) person buys an hologram
2) person pressed "Z"
3) person walks to the place were the hologram should be setted
4) an hologram of the person wich places the hologram will be displayed
5) the hologram will be there for 2 minutes...

 

And maybe some sort of bomb that you stick on a vehicle, and when someone enters the vehicle, it explodes causing a lot of damage...

-The ability to ban people for the server host?

+1

[mokesmoe]

I think a hologram that works closer to the Halo Reach hologram would work better. When you press the button it runs in the direction you are currently moving, standing still if you aren't moving. If it takes damage in any way, it flickers.

If you have to stand still for a while to use it, it would be useless in battle. Also, 2 minutes is way too long.


Scanner turret is pointless, just put a scanner next to a turret.
If people in the field want something from an engineer, ask the engineer to make it for them. We want to encourage teamwork.
Poison should be countered by scientists, not a grenade.

A glider could be useful to other classes if it was really cheap. Maybe a glider item instead of a vehicle? Have it give a slower fall, and bonus speed while falling. Probably a bit cheaper than the jetpack.

[Hempuli‽]

I quite much agree with mokesmoe's points, though at the moment poison is stronger than scientist's heal (I'm not sure if this is so with level 3 healing, though).

-I wouldn't want to add that key, because since most players anyway start the games with billions of money, the tactical part added by the locks would become useless. In ore race, for example, the fact that neither team can just rush and instantly steal the opposing team's digger adds some fairness to the mode.
-Many people have suggested the tank, so I guess I'll think about it.
-I'm afraid "real" banning isn't entirely possible due to Lacewings slightly lacking features, but I will add a simple system for easy banning.
-The hologram is a neat idea, but since it'd need to inherit all the features of the player, it'd be somewhat tough to code. I guess I'll give it a try.

I'll try to get a version with at least the banning and bigfixes out today.

[lasttea999]

I think a mode where everyone's on the same team and the objective is to defend against waves of AI enemies (kinda like Paradise Fort?) would be fun. With a mode like that, you'd all be able to cooperate and make an awesome base! I think a lot of Masjin's fun comes from what I'll call "anthill mechanics"--- that is, building stuff and digging--- and I don't really think any of the current modes allows full enjoyment of that.

Also, I think I may have said this a while ago, but: for some of the modes, such as ore race and score, I think it'd be fun to have free-for-all games, where everyone has his own score and just a single player wins. Currently, matches often become unfair and unfun because of uneven numbers of players on each team. A free-for-all option might add a fun diplomacy aspect to the game.

Also, some issues:

-The dirt bomb can't make dirt within a base, so I think they should remain throw-able when they're thrown in a base. Currently, when you throw a dirt bomb in a base, it just disappears... This change would make the dirt bomb work like the mine--- if you try to throw it, it just gets dropped without being set.

-EDIT: I still think there should be an option to make everything free, and to start with all upgrades. Currently, my friends and I typically start the game with 9999 minerals (why is there a cap...?) and get all upgrades right off. And if it's a long game we do run out of minerals for buying items and vehicles.

It may be useful to think of resource management to be an additional competitive aspect to the game, alongside the physics and the building and stuff, rather than something that always has to be attached to them. They're effectively not attached to them, so we might as well be spared of the trouble of having to scramble for the shop at the start of the game.

-EDIT: Do turrets aim for vehicles yet?

[lapinrieska]

I like your way of thinking mokesmoe. But the scientist doesn't heal himself at the rate he heals others, so he is left taking the full force of the poison. I was just thinking a healing AoE thingy which could heal sicentists too.

[Hempuli‽]

lasttea999: Both of those game mode ideas have some immense problems with implementing, though. Free-for-all would suffer from the fact that the level changes over time, thus making it impossible to make spawn points work without bias. Using the current layout would of course be impossible as well. Fending off against hordes of monsters is a neat idea, but ultimately has the same problems as the free-for-all; it'd require a redesign on the bases (basically removing both and placing the players in the middle) and otherwise forcing recoding of large parts of the gameplay code (you see, the current system isn't quite fit for showing several NPC characters move around for every player).

-I'll fix that dirt bomb thing, good catch. I'll consider the 'no money' -mode; I guess players who just want to build stuff peacefully would rather not have a hard limit on their building. For competitive modes a 'no money' setting would seem just really pointless in my opinion, especially with the implementing of the engineer class. I think the limit of starting money is somewhere near 32000 due to the fact that the money amounts are sent as signed integers (In order to allow both adding and subtracting).

-Turrets *should* aim for vehicles, I'll need to check if I actually remembered to fix this, though.

[lasttea999]

How about just using different layouts for those modes? Have a couple different layouts, and use whatever works for each mode. Like, a map with several small (indestructible) spawn points and random spawing.

Although, I could totally see network-related programming being a pretty big deterrent, yes.

Also, for the defense game I was thinking of something like, having the base to one side and having the enemies swarm from the other. It'd be like defending against a siege.

Again, I would consider what resource management brings to the game, and whether it should be a necessary thing for all players to enjoy. Some people just want to enjoy the combat and building aspects with no restrictions, I think, although I guess the engineer would be pretty good without that restriction. Still, he already suffers from things like not being able to shop while around enemies (because he'll get killed while shopping), and only being able to hold one item at a time.

By the way, the last time I played this game was a while back, and I really like some of the usability improvements you've made, such as the tutorial, the explanations of the modes, and the score display. And despite what I said, I really like being able to make items with the engineer.

[Hempuli‽]

Thanks.

Version 1.8 is like, totally out. Changelog:

• Added banning! Banned players are put into a blacklist in the game folder, so you can conveniently remove them if needed. Type '/ban USERNAME' in-game to ban a player. Due to me using an outdated version of Lacewing, bans are username-based so they're VERY easy to dodge. Working on that; I'll try to update Lacewing and hope it doesn't break everything.
• Mucus grenade buffed significantly, maybe even too significantly!
• Engineer's shop changed a lot; now you need to stand still a while before you get to the shop, but at least the prices are back to normal.
• Added two more slopes to the builder.
• Joining a game should be much less of a hassle. I fear though that there might be bugs in this.

FULL VERSION 1.8b GET!

edit: the joining bug became even worse! Let's see if a b-version can help.

[PiJoKra]

Added banning! Banned players are put into a blacklist in the game folder, so you can conveniently remove them if needed. Type '/ban USERNAME' in-game to ban a player. Due to me using an outdated version of Lacewing, bans are username-based so they're VERY easy to dodge. Working on that; I'll try to update Lacewing and hope it doesn't break everything.

Is that ban only for a day, for an hour, or for one round?

[bamcquern]

I played a bit tonight (as "Bryce"). The game could use a manual of some kind, although I know this could be a problem since the game is a work in progress. It was fun and pretty addicting; it reminded me of Anamaton.

Could there be a pick-up that would give a gun upgrade? I kept feeling overpowered when I wasn't a fighter.

Things that happened to me that are not necessarily bad or good:

- I had trouble climbing out of the mines or I had trouble going across the overland.
- I frantically jumped around a lot shooting in close quarters.
- My team ran out of money.
- I didn't use any bombs or bomb-like things.
- My lifespan was fairly short.
- Sometimes I was confused about how to win, except in the last game which was a King of the Hill game.
- I found a robot but it was stuck somewhere.
- I got in the builder and built things, but I don't know if they were useful.
- I became invisible and hid from people.
- I had a standoff with a ninja.
- I was talked to in a foreign language that showed up as gibberish characters.
- I used a jetpack a lot.
- I found it easier to get to an enemy base through the tunnels.
- I wasn't sure what to do when I got to the enemy base.
- I shot a lot of ships down with the turret.
- I didn't really fly planes because it felt selfish.
- I played a doctor but only healed myself.
- I played an engineer but I didn't build much.
- I played a miner and got killed a lot.
- Can you shoot down your own vehicles or was someone using that cloak thing on me?
- I built walls around enemy vehicles, but I think it wouldn't have been a big deal to use a change loyalty thing on them.

That's all I remember now. I played for about an hour.

[Bood_war]

Gratz Hempuli, you got featured on RPS.

[shojin]

Gratz Hempuli, you got featured on RPS.

Teehee, even got a mention of the music in the comments.