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[Linus]

Okay, a release. Probably all I'll have time for during compo.

Lacking is a decent AI, a more graphical UI and end-game conditions. So basically it's a sandbox environment where you can build your units and fight the opposition.
Either way I'm happy I've finally produced something that could be called a game, it feels like an accomplishment.



-Early Release-
http://secretweb.org/stuff/king.tar.gz


Remember, this is a Linux release, compilation was done on Ubuntu 9.10. If you have any problems starting, you're most likely missing freeglut3 or libdevil1c2, both of which are available in apt-get, aptitude or synaptic, or whatever manager you are using.
There's a readme-file along with the game explaining controls.


Linus

[Linus]

I managed to put together a Windows release before the deadline, link is in the main post! :D


Linus

[Ipsquiggle]

It looks extremely interesting, but I'm a little confused. Here's what I've gathered so far:

Code:

X = select unit/building
--> C (on unit) = open action menu / select action
--> C (around unit) = move to that position
E = End Turn

Somehow I made a peon near the beginning. I had him build a mill, which I had produce a planter. Then I wandered my planter around and not much came of it.

Unanswered questions:

• How do I get another peon?
• What's the difference between the red and the green movement areas?
• When do I get to beat people up?

[Linus]

 - A single peon is spawned on the second turn.
 - A Peon Village is capable of building more peons.
 - Around the world there's a large amount of spawns that will spawn enemies far too frequently, if you're not seeing enemies yet, you will.
 - Red/Yellow is attack range.
 - Green/Yellow is movement range.
 - A few units have special purposes, one of these is the planter, as is the lumber mill. For survival, these are essential.

Enjoy discovering the secrets.


Linus

[William Broom]

Yeah...

I couldn't find any way to make money, or to get the planters to do anything, or to fight effectively. I think the game would be more enjoyable if you explained it a bit more thoroughly. Strategy games have big, bulky manuals for a reason, y'know?

[oyog]

Awesome game.  I've been playing it on and off trying to figure out how to build an army that can survive the hordes of greenkins and elven archers.

So far I've figured out how to make money and can defend my castle for a while before I'm overrun by greenkins and elven archers.

At first it appeared after you build a building the peon dies but eventually I realized the peon is simply behind the building and won't be selectable until the building receives orders.

As far as I can tell the first thing to build is a lumber mill, which seems to make money so long as the tiles next to it have a positive forest value(?) and a positive good value(?).  The lumber mill reduces the forest value of the spaces around it so eventually they'll become negative forest and become grass.  In order to counter this you build planters at the mill,

which seem to raise the forest value of surrounding(?) tiles every turn.  Apparently your units increase the good value of surrounding tiles whereas enemy units reduce them. This becomes a problem if you don't have anyone to hold off enemies since they'll turn your forests evil and you'll stop making money from them.

Other stuff:

-Fighters guilds don't always build the same units(?)  One game I built a fighters guild and all I could build (all I could afford) was an archer, which I had never seen available before.  Was this due to the terrain?

-Ocean level seems to rise occasionally.  Don't build important buildings next to oceans.

-Oceans and mountains are dangerous.  Your units can't swim and occasionally will eventually die if left in the mountains.

[Linus]

The only thing I can imagine that happened there was that you built the wrong building, archers do not, to my knowledge, appear in the Fighter's Guild, while Rangers and Bowmen DO appear in the Hunter's Lounge.
As an additional hint, rangers are excellent scouts.

I realise building may be a bit odd, but I never got to fixing it; the reason you find that peons go missing is that other things occupy the same tile and arrived on it later, such as the buildings they build.
You can select the next entity on a single tile by using n, allowing you to access other things occupying a tile. Secretly, buildings can also build their first unit on the same turn as they themselves are built.

As far as I know, any kind of tree will generate money.

There are some missing limitations I should have added on planters and when they can generate forests, but the general idea is that they help you by planting trees.

Another interesting tidbit is that you're not actually generating good on a tile, this is dependent on your reputation. Evil players lower the good on a tile. While this is, of course, awesome; you are in every way severely punished when playing as evil. You kill your only source of income quickly, and without mercy. There is only one reward for being evil. You need to be very evil to find this reward.
Similarly, as elves are good, they'll actually be generating good rather than evil in their surroundings.

If this isn't enough, there's also the possibility of modifying most object interactions in the resource files. Flower picking should be an easy task to add as a monetary source. There's also the possibility to add more entities, like skeletons, wolves and gnomes, should you feel inclined.


Linus

[oyog]

The only thing I can imagine that happened there was that you built the wrong building, archers do not, to my knowledge, appear in the Fighter's Guild, while Rangers and Bowmen DO appear in the Hunter's Lounge.
As an additional hint, rangers are excellent scouts.

That'd probably be it.  I was in a hurry to start defending my castle.

You can select the next entity on a single tile by using n, allowing you to access other things occupying a tile. Secretly, buildings can also build their first unit on the same turn as they themselves are built.

Hot damn!

[Pishtaco]

The readme file is missing from the windows download.

It seems like there's an impressive amount going on in this game, but I'm not sure I'm up to taking on the interface.

[Linus]

Epic facepalm.

Really sorry about that.
Can't update the contents right now, but I'll quote the contents:

Code:

The Little King That Could - Alpha
The king has settled in his new world, command, conquer and kill the opposition to take control of the lands.


Controls:
Up, Down, Left, Right : movement
z: fast movement
e: end turn
x: select character
n: next character on tile
c: execute action, context dependant.

Notes:
On the second turn, the castle spawns a peon.
Startup takes a while as the world is generated. During this time, the world will be black.
Expect everything to rapidly descend into chaos, I had no time for balancing. :D

No wonder people had problems...


Linus

[Oddball]

Liked: The humorous decrees that the king make when you issue a command.

Disliked: The interface on the right is half of the screen. I have no idea how to get anything done. I manage to make a village and a fighters guild, but couldn't make any fighters or any money? It seems like the game has a lot of depth, but without any instruction it's hard to probe beyond the surface.

Conclusion: I'll have to what for a ' how to' guide to get the most out of this one.