Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

 
Advanced search

1411275 Posts in 69323 Topics- by 58380 Members - Latest Member: bob1029

March 28, 2024, 08:52:59 AM

Need hosting? Check out Digital Ocean
(more details in this thread)
TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingBasilisk - unique new game
Pages: [1]
Print
Author Topic: Basilisk - unique new game  (Read 1292 times)
nicoatridge
Level 0
*


View Profile WWW
« on: January 18, 2021, 06:19:01 AM »

Try out basilisk at https://basilisk.net, a unique board-based game where you are a basilisk attempting to kill or contain your opponent, which in this case is an AI agent. Looking for feedback and suggestions on taking the game further.
Logged
mobilelast
Level 2
**


View Profile WWW
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2021, 02:48:10 PM »

Very fresh take on plumber/water pipe games. Gameplay is quite self-explanatory. Only the gray body sections (I call them pipes) took a minute or two to understand without reading the rules. My record was to win the hardest AI on 15th move (mostly with pure luck, I admit).

Some ideas:
- Animated snake movement would be nice, since both sides move simultaneously. Animation should be rather fast, though.
- I missed larger levels and longer games.
- Perhaps you could add some obstacles where snakes cannot enter, or fixed, pre-set pipes that restrict the movement.
- There could be an option to allow movement from one side of the level to another if pipes allow it (leave the board from left side and come back from corresponding pipe on the right edge, for instance).

I liked.
Logged

Avaruustaistelupeli (ATP) - a space combat game
- Free download from itch.io or IndieDB
- Dev diary here
nicoatridge
Level 0
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2021, 01:08:29 AM »

Hi thanks for the feedback. Great obs! Yea, the extra segment bit is probably what makes the game different and consequently the only thing that needs explaining. btw if you press h on the keyboard you can see some hidden commands. Interestingly when I first developed it as a potential board game, I was thinking along the water pipes idea, but when I coded it the snake idea seemed like a no-brainer.

The snakes both moving at the same time problem is something I need to work out. It didn't happen in the python version but when I ported it over to JS I found this happened. It seems to be do with JS not refreshing until you hand back control to the user, and I need to fix it but it may need me to refactor the whole program. Sad

I am working on having more complex games, more squares, obstacles (https://www.basilisk.net/obstacle.htm), a 'wormhole' so you can come in on the other side, a version where you can't fall off the edges (https://www.basilisk.net/border.htm) etc.

I am working on the AI to figure out how to make the game cleverer, but it tends not to spot a trap being laid yet, so it might need some reinforcement learning model to get to the next level. I'm also trying to figure out how to make it dumber for newbies but without making it too dumb!

I would also like to improve the GUI before I port it to iOS and Android.
Logged
michaelplzno
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2021, 03:25:58 AM »

Great game, and illustrates the point that sometimes looping around and back in a circuitous way is the only way to beat a highly optimized AI. It does seem like once you beat the AI in one case you can just repeat that solution as many times as you want? I'm wondering if the AI could change its strategy once you have a win on your hands so if you try the same trick twice it will do better?
Logged

nicoatridge
Level 0
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2021, 04:11:48 AM »

Hi Michael, thanks for the feedback. I think you are largely right on beating the AI. At level 1 it is fairly easy to work out a strategy to defeat the basilisk (although some people claim it is still too hard); the basilisk is quite myopic and single-minded. Level 2 is slightly hard, especially if the opposing basilisk gets off to a good start - the first moves are random. I'm thinking of introducing a count of winning runs (press h on the keyboard to see what hidden features are available). However I need to work on level 3 where the AI doesn't spot an emerging trap. I've been thinking about how to do it, and have figured out an algorithm, so just need to code and test it. I think it will make the Level 3 basilisk more cautious.
Logged
michaelplzno
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2021, 08:22:28 PM »

Its a fine game: to level up I would make it so you have to find a given number of unique ways to beat the thing. As in, repeating the same pattern won't add to your progress.

How do you currently level up, I couldn't figure that out?
Logged

OneSketchyGuy
Level 0
*



View Profile
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2021, 09:44:48 PM »

I sucked at this game Cheesy I couldn't get into it to make myself strategize, maybe if I spent more time with it. Although I did spend something like fifteen minutes just playing losing and retrying because it is fun.
Logged
nicoatridge
Level 0
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2021, 11:52:28 PM »

Here is an opening that almost always works, however the opposing basilisk starts. it may disappear in a future version of the game as the AI is being tweaked to make level 3 harder and level 1 easier.

Because the opposing basilisk goes second it has an initial advantage in pouncing on you, but you can negate this by capturing an additional body segment, e.g. by doing a loop at the first opportunity. This is always a good opening move. However, the advantage is short-lived since the opposing basilisk can acquire  additional segments too. It is a good strategy to set up possible traps and shortcuts, especially as the opposing basilisk, at this time, doesn't spot traps - e.g. when you lure it into a corner and close off the exit.

You can toggle the difficulty level by clicking on the left most button and cycling through the three levels. In the next release the shortcut key 'L' will work on a device with a keyboard.

« Last Edit: January 28, 2021, 12:24:59 AM by nicoatridge » Logged
lianguage
Level 0
*


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2021, 04:21:23 PM »

Just played this.

I think one thing that was a bit strange coming from slither.io was the head eating mechanic.
It took a couple of tries and reading the instructions to figure out that specifically moving your snake's head over the top of your opponent's in a given turn is the win condition. One of the things that made this not obvious was the fact that I'd lose instantly when i moved near the computer's head.

Also after figuring out that you need to loop a bit, and basically figure out the timing it's a bit unclear what more advanced strategies would look like besides a bit of luck on which pipe pieces you encounter along the way. Maybe instead of guessing which pipe angles are generated, have a tetris like list of these which indicate which ones will come along so that the moves could be more strategic.
Logged
nicoatridge
Level 0
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2021, 12:52:46 AM »

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I think basilisk has a fairly unique gameplay, so it gets a little getting used to. Not ideal, but once you get it, it is fairly intuitive. Unlike Tetris the appearance of new segments is entirely predictable, so you can look ahead to see where new segments can create traps or allow for ambushes. Initially the AI gives the opposing basilisk an advantage, but there are openings and middle games (which are intended to vary by level, but more tweaking needed) to master which will favour the human player with practice. In time I hope to have more levels, and more differentiation between levels, but I have to work with the likely lowest computing power a user has available until I can develop a version that uses back-end cpu power.

A useful technique to see what moves are available to both basilisks is to click on the head, which shows you where a move to the left, right or straight ahead would take you. If one of the moves enables you to utilise additional snake segments, the highlighted cell is where you will find the snake head after your move. You can click on either that cell or the cell for the direction you want to go to land there.

Since you can also see the opponents move options, by clicking on both basilisk heads, you can see if any moves would enable the opposing basilisk to kill you, so initially it may be a good idea to use this feature to help understand how the game works. In terms of star ratings, there is a potential one star penalty for using this feature.
Logged
Pages: [1]
Print
Jump to:  

Theme orange-lt created by panic