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TIGSource ForumsCommunityJams & EventsCompetitionsOld CompetitionsCommonplace BookRat King [prototype]
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isaac
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« on: October 18, 2008, 07:26:14 AM »

Quote

73 Rats multiply and exterminate first a single city and then all mankind. Increased size and intelligence.


Like Katamari Damacy but horrible. Drive your swarm of rats around a city and eat people.



Rat sprite:


Unlikely that I will actually finish/seriously attempt to finish this... but might as well clutter up the forum anyway.

UPDATE 19/10/08:
Made quick, dirty prototype:
http://isaacwilliams.net/uploads/ratking/proto01/

UPDATE 20/10/08:
Second prototype, with human eating:
http://isaacwilliams.net/uploads/ratking/proto02/
« Last Edit: October 19, 2008, 06:23:25 AM by isaac » Logged

sergiocornaga
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« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2008, 07:39:13 AM »

I love it. You'd better release something.
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team_q
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« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2008, 07:52:54 AM »

Fuck rat kings so so goddamn creepy!
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« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2008, 05:02:29 PM »



Another tmnt game sweet.
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isaac
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« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2008, 12:40:49 AM »



Prototype of rat swarming. Played with a bunch of different methods, none of which I was very happy with. This method is pretty simple -- the rats just chase after the mouse, but can't get too close to each other:

http://isaacwilliams.net/uploads/ratking/proto01/

Click to add more rats. Please let me know how many rats it takes to make the framerate drop, so I can balance for people's setups. My year-old iMac can happily handle up to 175-200 rats, so I figure I'll keep the maximum around there.
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Hideous
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« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2008, 12:56:52 AM »

~150.
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William Broom
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« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2008, 12:59:56 AM »

My computer started to lag at around 215, and it went rapidly downhill from there.

Right now the rats look kind of uniform, not so much a swarm as a regimented army. If you could add a bit of randomness, say in how fast they walk or how far apart they stand, then it would probably look better. Still, it's already quite a fun prototype to mess around with. Just like the prototype of Buddy Base II. What's with that?

Oh, and the swarm kind of screws up if you drop lots of rats in the middle of it, but I'm guessing that won't be an issue in the final product because you can't just make rats whenever you feel like it...?
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« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2008, 01:06:14 AM »

Started rapidly crapping out at around 180. Let me try it once more with Flash 10 installed (still using 9)
edit: Oddly enough it crapped out SOONER using Flash 10, at around 170. This suggests to me that the problem many not necessarily be with having too many rats, but possibly a bug that gets more likely to happen and slow things down the more rats are on the screen. Maybe something to look into.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2008, 01:15:01 AM by Kobel » Logged

deadeye
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« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2008, 01:21:54 AM »

I'm on my crappy(er) computer right now and the fps starts to dip into the 20's at around seventy rats.

I can give a number from my better computer later (this one's mainly just for browsing).

Nice prototype though.  I like the almost gooey feel of the rat-blob.  I agree it could use a little more randomness from individual rats.  Like some of could maybe be not as "in tune" with the rest of the swarm and might take a second or so to realize that everyone's going that way now, or maybe when the swarm is at rest a couple might just sort of wander around in the general area of the swarm.
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« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2008, 02:16:01 AM »

First issues at 190 Rats, but still perfectly playable. Occasional dips to 28 fps.

Occasional problems at 210 Rats, but continues to be responsive. Constantly in the 20's.

Exponential decay from then on. 222 Rats ~4 fps.
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Johan Peitz
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« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2008, 02:24:53 AM »

I'm getting around 100 - 120 rats before fps starts to fall (rapidly). It looks really cool with a lot of rats but as mentioned earlier it also looks a bit static. Maybe look into boids (not the best looking version bu you get the idea) to get more natural moving rat packs?

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« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2008, 02:30:45 AM »

ha ha, i love it already!
the way the rats move feels good.


anyway, it started to slow down at around 220 rats, and finally became unplayable at around 250.
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medieval
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« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2008, 03:19:03 AM »

slowed down at 180, became unplayable at 190
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« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2008, 03:22:48 AM »

Frame rate dropped below 30 at 320 rates  Grin
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increpare
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« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2008, 05:06:56 AM »

from about 220 it occasionally dips below twenty, but only does so for extended periods at 250.
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« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2008, 05:56:11 AM »

~400
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isaac
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« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2008, 06:22:22 AM »



Thanks for the feedback guys. Here's a new version, with less uniform rats (which look much better) and human eating. Just crash your rats into humans to reduce their health & eat them. The faster your rats are going, the more damage they do.

http://isaacwilliams.net/uploads/ratking/proto02/

At the moment you get a rat for every person you eat. I'm considering having a 'human flesh' resource that you can use to buy rats (and get more eldritch kinds), but it might be a bit counter to the game's point (driving a swarm around fast).


Maybe look into boids (not the best looking version bu you get the idea) to get more natural moving rat packs?

Boids was one of the flocking methods I tested before I settled on this simple method. It's kinda cool looking but kinda slow and almost impossible to guide with player input. They just want to do their own thing, instead of doing what the player wants.
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« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2008, 11:07:12 AM »

For more Lovecraftian rat inspiration, try the story, The Rats in the Walls.  It was the first Lovecraft story written by the man himself that I read to completion.

There's a Wikipedia entry about it, too, for more details.
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deadeye
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« Reply #18 on: October 19, 2008, 11:52:02 AM »

The new version is much better as far as swarm behavior is concerned. Beer!

I've noticed though that it's rather hard to eat the humans when they're trapped in corners.  Perhaps you could add a secondary eating function that ticks a human's health down slowly when they're in contact with the rats?  That way if the swarm pounces on a human, they'll die quick, but if they're trapped and you can't get enough speed to ram them you can just swarm around them and nibble them to death.

Also, I guess my "good" computer isn't that much better than my crummy one when it comes to Flash, I still dip into the 20's at around 70 rats as far as fps is concerned.

I can't wait for the munching and screaming sound effects, and the blood, it'll add quite a bit to the game Wink
(That is, I assume there will be munching and screaming and blood...)
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« Reply #19 on: October 19, 2008, 11:54:53 AM »

Ooh, I just had an idea as far as new rats spawning.  How about there are trash cans and sewer grates and stuff around the level, and when your swarm "levels up" the new rats spawn there and run to join the group?  Like they're heeding the call of the Rat God or whatever.
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