Another thing that's really important is bombermen should be able to pass each other. With speed ability, they should be able to trap other bombermen just like the original version.
Not a fan of that idea, superior speed is already a pretty good advantage. And I also don't like the feeling of people passing through me, makes me feel completely defenseless, having no place to retreat. At least when I'm solid I know I can always run back (unless enemy with better speed cuts me off). But it’s a feature that has been asked for multiple times already, so most likely it’ll manifest as a checkbox in settings menu.
I really like the items, although some of them could appear less frequent on Standard (auto) settings. Tracer, power up, and remote appear too frequent to be special items. If you recall from the original, power ups were the least obtainable and were exceptionally hard to find. you would only see 1 of these if you were lucky in a round, and power ups took up the space of the entire land. I want to emphasize that these items should be super rare and exclusive to 1 or 2 per round or maybe none at all.
They’re not as rare as in original to compensate for lack of other items. Once all other items are in the game (such as power glove and multibomb) I’ll decrease their spawn amount/probability in standard scheme. Once power glove is in, you can also expect negative effect items.
I'm also concerned about the in game settings before game start. I think you should have general presets instead of the host having to tweak various settings. This would make it a lot easier for first time comers who ended up being host who have no clue what to do. You can categorize then as Basic (FFA), Team, and Advanced (for experienced players who know how to tweak settings), etc. All having the necessary adjustments: map size based on players, etc. All the other game settings like ghost mode, although fun, should be kept in advanced mode.
In my experience first-timers don't go into options and launch game right away. Because of that default arena size adjusts itself based on player number at start of the game, and because of that standard scheme scales with arena size. But it's a good idea, I've been thinking myself that certain item schemes with certain settings would be quite cool.
... Allright, while typing it I realized that it's a wonderful idea. Much more fool-proof than what I have now. Thanks!
Btw, ghost mode and others are old item schemes that were before I implemented custom scheme where you can adjust powerup spawns to your liking. Most of them need to be updated/removed. If you got interesting idea for item scheme you can write it here and I'll add it to the game.
Also, can you adopt the name Bomberman instead of Bomberbot? A lot more people would come to your games if they see the name Bomberman.
Not sure, I like "Bomberbot" and people will know it's bomberman by looking into "category", which is "Bomberman". It might help those who search for "bomberman", but after failed results they most likely will try "bomber" and that's good enough. Besides, to do that now I would to remove current map, which would result in successfully screwing over everyone who bookmarked it >.>
Might be possible in HotS, but I feel that current name is better suited for map. Don't want to sacrifice it for the sake of recognizability.
I can help you through this process because I have a lot of ideas on how you can make it better. I loved the old bomberman and I know a lot of other people do as well. Its also very hard to find bomberman multiplayer online these days so I think this is a great alternative for people who want to play it. I'd love for this game to represent the original, and I feel that if they can relate to the old one then you have a good chance of gaining more popularity.
Yeah, it's pretty sad to see this franchise nearly dead (at least in English-speaking community). I really doubt that popularity is possible since overall state of bomberman games clearly states that people prefer to play other games instead :l
But hey, bomberman offers me things that other games don't, and if I can enjoy it with the help of SC2, I'll do what I can to provide best possible experience to anyone loving this game.
If you have ideas you can safely post them here, as any mapmaker I would love to read more suggestions. But I work slowly, veeeryy slow. So yeah, it'll be some time before next update.
Thanks for all the positivity guys, hopefully there will be an update tomorrow. And thanks to everyone playing on MapNight. Automaton model got more teamcolor added which hopefully looks natural on it, and I also implemented item scaling for map sizes. Hopefully that eliminates last of inconveniences that disrupt fun.
Even larger than this? Heh, but yeah, I understand where you're coming from. There are currently 7 different sizes of arenas, from standard to very big, but the problem is that host has to set them himself. I made it so that default size for 10-11 players was 3, but map-night made it apparent that it needs to be at least 5. I'm still tweaking default values, so some unpleasant surprises may happen.
About monsters and slower gameplay, it will be done, eventually. Mode in which you can relax and just solo play dungeon mode, blowing up silly monsters and going from level to level. I want it too. But before that I want SC2 to have something like . I'm not quite there yet, but after I'm happy with multilayer, I am going to create an awesome dungeon mode (I doubt it'll come before HotS though).
@zenx1: Go
It would be great to have you back for few games, funzies and ragequits :D
@Hookah604: Go
The chain of events that leads to players demise can be quite complicated at a times. Stats are interesting to see, but the only amusing stat I can think of is "hours played". Deaths and wins.. I've played a few 3vs1 matches versus newer players, and won, they suicided alot. More experienced player will obliterate newcomers just because inexperienced then to kill themselves alot. Player kill often is more than result of skill, and difficulty of obtaining win is relative. I just don't feel the need for any stat tracking. :l
I'm hesitant to make single-player before I finish all powerups.. But I suppose I could create a dungeon mode like in original bomberman where you go down 50 stages of randomly generated levels with different monsters.
And rankings.. I don't think there is anything to track down. What would you base your rank off? Kills, wins? I don't see any stat that would be an accurate representation of skill/rank, especially since game is heavily influenced by luck. It would be like making a ranking system for russian roulette game. I just don't see how it would work.
Whoa, that's a useful site to have in bookmarks. The music is also very nice. But you're right, it's not something that would fit. A shame they don't have more tracks.
Thanks for link, I'll take a look at it later.
So, an option to randomly spawn clusters of indestructible blocks in tetris shapes? Sounds good. Will try it.
Does this also mean you'll have indestructible block clusters and not just the "every other block is indy" layout?
Different layouts is something I'd like to see. But, it's not something I'm working on right now. If you got an idea for alternative layouts, post them and I'll possibly implement such option in next update. Otherwise it'll remain low on to-do list, until I get in the mood to design them.
I don't know when next update will be ready, but I want to release it before new year.
@Maknyuzz: Go
Well, I had my reasons for 4 lobbies, but with time I came to realize that first of all I'm making a SC map, not something else. If people want to play separately they will play separately. But if they all play same map, they probably want to play together, which means that multiple lobbies do nothing other than:
confuse newer player;
add extra bytes of map space;
disappoint players who play with low shaders due to methods I used to make lobbies.
In next update there will be only one lobby. First player to click the button will setup games parameters (but I guess with this I also must add an option to usurp host of his powers if he proves to be incompetent).
Player amount in map should be balanced by ability to set arena to different sizes. Final arena size is as big as 4 regular arenas combined, which is enough to house 12 player company. (I won't decrease player amount because I enjoy thinking about chaos created by 12 player bomberman match. But if I see it as issue in the future I might split map in 2 modes, one with 8 players and another one with 14); I know that some colors are too similiar, but cannot remove them due to player amount.
Music.. got any advice where I can look for free tracks? About camera, did you try to turn it off or turn auto-follow back? Also, what is your screen resolution? Thanks for feedback, it seems that different bomber models is something that people would enjoy.
I certainly feel what you're saying. I initially disabled it because it generated too much noise (from every player planting bombs), but that issue could have been handled better. An excellent suggestion, I love those little things you mention, because I'm usually more concerned about "bigger" problems, which makes me vulnerable to not noticing little flaws.
The feelings are mutual, those games were awesome. If only I didn't suicide as often as I did >.>
And KenLaszlo is simply unreal. You guys provide a great challenge, I'm looking forward to playing with you again.
Arena sizes suggest amount of players for that size. I think that "This map size is good for 13player combat" is clearer than simple " 23x29". Though I admit that I didn't spend much time on that part, map sizes/start locations were meant to be improved later on.
I plan many things. And I look positively towards personalization. As of now I don't think that model variations could hurt the game, so It'll probably be in. Also, there is no need to limit available models to mech, I for example would love to play as orange or lemon, an innocent fruit eliminating unfortunate foes (well, okay, maybe a fruit model is a little overboard, won't know until I see it in action :D).
Since I'm cutting multiple lobbies, I've decided to improve/change menu UI. If anyone has any complains, or suggestions on what he/she would like to see added/improved, now is the best time to let your voice be heard.
Yeah, you can play vs AI opponents. In game, enter lobby and press "+" near to empty player slot, it will be filled with AI opponent. They were one of first things I coded, so they don't make any use of advanced powerups, but even so they can be quite a challenge. They offer a good learning partner if player is completely new to game and make a fun addition when you play 1 vs many allied AIs. So feel free to try the map :D
I think that SB5 got plenty of fun powerups, after that game I can always check x-box version, or revisit starutn bomberman (I heard that it was the best bomberman game out there). But a big amount of available ideas shouldn't stop flow of innovation, right? ;D
I didn't research problem of hacking, but my skepticism comes from the fact that "Haven Forces" map had cheaters after signatures were implemented(and I'm sure that author used signatures (who wouldn't)), and if you use google to find hacked banks you also discover that apperently there is a tool called "banksigner".. It's not a core feature of map, so I'm not convinced that it's worth implementing it.
And.. I'm letting lobby system go, finally players with low shaders option won't suffer because I decided to use decals for ground textures :D
@SoulFilcher: Go
From SNES Super Bomberman, mostly from Super Bomberman 5. I'd like to implement all powerups from that game, but it takes time and thinking about how to transfer them from joystick control to keyboard control (and sometimes I make silly mistakes in design/coding which hinder my progress and force to take breaks). Which unnknown bomberman games do you have in mind? :D
P.S. if you do play it, please only use 1st lobby and stay away from others (until I fix everything).
Well, it would not hurt to have more suggestions/feedback/bug reports. :D
I don’t know about ranking system. I want this to be a fun party game and implementing ladder would mean to take away some of “carefree” and replace it with “competitiveness”. If you want to find out who’s better just play a 10-win deathmatch. For fun and glory, no attachments to numbers, no obligations to be super-serious.
Or maybe I just don’t want to do anything related to protecting banks :D
Solid single player won’t be coming until I’m finished with all powerups and satisfied with multiplayer experience. But it doesn’t mean that there won’t be a multiplayer game mode to fight vs monsters (if I can figure out how to do it properly). Right now closest you can get to single player is to play 1vs4+ AI.
Edit:
Update. Apparently a party of 8+peoples joined the game through fun or not or something like that happened. It seems that use of multiple lobbies completely wrecks the game. To such state where I would go to call it "a piece of junk" if I were a player. So, use only one lobby and don't touch others = everything is fine, do something with other lobbies = kill game (get constant array out of bounds and other omens of slow crash-down). Another common trend with newer players seem to be that they scatter around different lobbys and play alone, which makes them confused and sad. Since any sort of visual indication is not an option, and since the root of all current evil seem to be the lobby system, I'll probably disable it for a while, until I can figure out If I really need such thing and if I think it's worth it.
@LoneImmortal: Go
Thanks for kind words. I agree, It’s a lasting experience for me and I don’t foresee marking it as “finished” anytime soon.
I find gameplay pace to be good, but I’m curious about what you think could slow it down. Less powerups? Less bomb-enhancment type powerups?
Not a fan of that idea, superior speed is already a pretty good advantage. And I also don't like the feeling of people passing through me, makes me feel completely defenseless, having no place to retreat. At least when I'm solid I know I can always run back (unless enemy with better speed cuts me off). But it’s a feature that has been asked for multiple times already, so most likely it’ll manifest as a checkbox in settings menu.
They’re not as rare as in original to compensate for lack of other items. Once all other items are in the game (such as power glove and multibomb) I’ll decrease their spawn amount/probability in standard scheme. Once power glove is in, you can also expect negative effect items.
In my experience first-timers don't go into options and launch game right away. Because of that default arena size adjusts itself based on player number at start of the game, and because of that standard scheme scales with arena size. But it's a good idea, I've been thinking myself that certain item schemes with certain settings would be quite cool.
... Allright, while typing it I realized that it's a wonderful idea. Much more fool-proof than what I have now. Thanks!
Btw, ghost mode and others are old item schemes that were before I implemented custom scheme where you can adjust powerup spawns to your liking. Most of them need to be updated/removed. If you got interesting idea for item scheme you can write it here and I'll add it to the game.
Not sure, I like "Bomberbot" and people will know it's bomberman by looking into "category", which is "Bomberman". It might help those who search for "bomberman", but after failed results they most likely will try "bomber" and that's good enough. Besides, to do that now I would to remove current map, which would result in successfully screwing over everyone who bookmarked it >.>
Might be possible in HotS, but I feel that current name is better suited for map. Don't want to sacrifice it for the sake of recognizability.
Yeah, it's pretty sad to see this franchise nearly dead (at least in English-speaking community). I really doubt that popularity is possible since overall state of bomberman games clearly states that people prefer to play other games instead :l
But hey, bomberman offers me things that other games don't, and if I can enjoy it with the help of SC2, I'll do what I can to provide best possible experience to anyone loving this game.
If you have ideas you can safely post them here, as any mapmaker I would love to read more suggestions. But I work slowly, veeeryy slow. So yeah, it'll be some time before next update.
@Taintedwisp: Go xD
Thanks for all the positivity guys, hopefully there will be an update tomorrow. And thanks to everyone playing on MapNight. Automaton model got more teamcolor added which hopefully looks natural on it, and I also implemented item scaling for map sizes. Hopefully that eliminates last of inconveniences that disrupt fun.
@Zolden: Go
Even larger than this? Heh, but yeah, I understand where you're coming from. There are currently 7 different sizes of arenas, from standard to very big, but the problem is that host has to set them himself. I made it so that default size for 10-11 players was 3, but map-night made it apparent that it needs to be at least 5. I'm still tweaking default values, so some unpleasant surprises may happen.
About monsters and slower gameplay, it will be done, eventually. Mode in which you can relax and just solo play dungeon mode, blowing up silly monsters and going from level to level. I want it too. But before that I want SC2 to have something like . I'm not quite there yet, but after I'm happy with multilayer, I am going to create an awesome dungeon mode (I doubt it'll come before HotS though).
is cool. I've had it on youtuberepeat a few times during games. I'm not sure if it's fitting though. I'll see what I can do ;]
P.S. I updated first page with . Hopefully my next attempt will be better :D
@zenx1: Go
It would be great to have you back for few games, funzies and ragequits :D
@Hookah604: Go
The chain of events that leads to players demise can be quite complicated at a times. Stats are interesting to see, but the only amusing stat I can think of is "hours played". Deaths and wins.. I've played a few 3vs1 matches versus newer players, and won, they suicided alot. More experienced player will obliterate newcomers just because inexperienced then to kill themselves alot. Player kill often is more than result of skill, and difficulty of obtaining win is relative. I just don't feel the need for any stat tracking. :l
Or do I? >:]
@Hookah604: Go
I like it too <3
I'm hesitant to make single-player before I finish all powerups.. But I suppose I could create a dungeon mode like in original bomberman where you go down 50 stages of randomly generated levels with different monsters.
And rankings.. I don't think there is anything to track down. What would you base your rank off? Kills, wins? I don't see any stat that would be an accurate representation of skill/rank, especially since game is heavily influenced by luck. It would be like making a ranking system for russian roulette game. I just don't see how it would work.
@Nebuli2: Go
v0.2NA = v0.8EU.
Update details:
Merry Xmas!
@kuvasz88: Go
Whoa, that's a useful site to have in bookmarks. The music is also very nice. But you're right, it's not something that would fit. A shame they don't have more tracks.
@kuvasz88: Go
Thanks for link, I'll take a look at it later.
So, an option to randomly spawn clusters of indestructible blocks in tetris shapes? Sounds good. Will try it.
Different layouts is something I'd like to see. But, it's not something I'm working on right now. If you got an idea for alternative layouts, post them and I'll possibly implement such option in next update. Otherwise it'll remain low on to-do list, until I get in the mood to design them.
I don't know when next update will be ready, but I want to release it before new year.
@Maknyuzz: Go
Well, I had my reasons for 4 lobbies, but with time I came to realize that first of all I'm making a SC map, not something else. If people want to play separately they will play separately. But if they all play same map, they probably want to play together, which means that multiple lobbies do nothing other than:
In next update there will be only one lobby. First player to click the button will setup games parameters (but I guess with this I also must add an option to usurp host of his powers if he proves to be incompetent).
Player amount in map should be balanced by ability to set arena to different sizes. Final arena size is as big as 4 regular arenas combined, which is enough to house 12 player company. (I won't decrease player amount because I enjoy thinking about chaos created by 12 player bomberman match. But if I see it as issue in the future I might split map in 2 modes, one with 8 players and another one with 14); I know that some colors are too similiar, but cannot remove them due to player amount.
Music.. got any advice where I can look for free tracks? About camera, did you try to turn it off or turn auto-follow back? Also, what is your screen resolution?
Thanks for feedback, it seems that different bomber models is something that people would enjoy.
@kuvasz88: Go
I certainly feel what you're saying. I initially disabled it because it generated too much noise (from every player planting bombs), but that issue could have been handled better. An excellent suggestion, I love those little things you mention, because I'm usually more concerned about "bigger" problems, which makes me vulnerable to not noticing little flaws.
The feelings are mutual, those games were awesome. If only I didn't suicide as often as I did >.>
And KenLaszlo is simply unreal. You guys provide a great challenge, I'm looking forward to playing with you again.
@kuvasz88: Go
Arena sizes suggest amount of players for that size. I think that "This map size is good for 13player combat" is clearer than simple " 23x29". Though I admit that I didn't spend much time on that part, map sizes/start locations were meant to be improved later on.
I like greying-out suggestion.
@kuvasz88: Go
I plan many things. And I look positively towards personalization. As of now I don't think that model variations could hurt the game, so It'll probably be in. Also, there is no need to limit available models to mech, I for example would love to play as orange or lemon, an innocent fruit eliminating unfortunate foes (well, okay, maybe a fruit model is a little overboard, won't know until I see it in action :D).
Since I'm cutting multiple lobbies, I've decided to improve/change menu UI. If anyone has any complains, or suggestions on what he/she would like to see added/improved, now is the best time to let your voice be heard.
@SoulFilcher: Go
Yeah, you can play vs AI opponents. In game, enter lobby and press "+" near to empty player slot, it will be filled with AI opponent. They were one of first things I coded, so they don't make any use of advanced powerups, but even so they can be quite a challenge. They offer a good learning partner if player is completely new to game and make a fun addition when you play 1 vs many allied AIs. So feel free to try the map :D
I think that SB5 got plenty of fun powerups, after that game I can always check x-box version, or revisit starutn bomberman (I heard that it was the best bomberman game out there). But a big amount of available ideas shouldn't stop flow of innovation, right? ;D
@Hookah604: Go
I didn't research problem of hacking, but my skepticism comes from the fact that "Haven Forces" map had cheaters after signatures were implemented(and I'm sure that author used signatures (who wouldn't)), and if you use google to find hacked banks you also discover that apperently there is a tool called "banksigner".. It's not a core feature of map, so I'm not convinced that it's worth implementing it.
And.. I'm letting lobby system go, finally players with low shaders option won't suffer because I decided to use decals for ground textures :D
@SoulFilcher: Go From SNES Super Bomberman, mostly from Super Bomberman 5. I'd like to implement all powerups from that game, but it takes time and thinking about how to transfer them from joystick control to keyboard control (and sometimes I make silly mistakes in design/coding which hinder my progress and force to take breaks). Which unnknown bomberman games do you have in mind? :D
P.S. if you do play it, please only use 1st lobby and stay away from others (until I fix everything).
@Hookah604: Go
Well, it would not hurt to have more suggestions/feedback/bug reports. :D
I don’t know about ranking system. I want this to be a fun party game and implementing ladder would mean to take away some of “carefree” and replace it with “competitiveness”. If you want to find out who’s better just play a 10-win deathmatch. For fun and glory, no attachments to numbers, no obligations to be super-serious.
Or maybe I just don’t want to do anything related to protecting banks :D
Solid single player won’t be coming until I’m finished with all powerups and satisfied with multiplayer experience. But it doesn’t mean that there won’t be a multiplayer game mode to fight vs monsters (if I can figure out how to do it properly). Right now closest you can get to single player is to play 1vs4+ AI.
Edit:
Update. Apparently a party of 8+peoples joined the game through fun or not or something like that happened. It seems that use of multiple lobbies completely wrecks the game. To such state where I would go to call it "a piece of junk" if I were a player. So, use only one lobby and don't touch others = everything is fine, do something with other lobbies = kill game (get constant array out of bounds and other omens of slow crash-down). Another common trend with newer players seem to be that they scatter around different lobbys and play alone, which makes them confused and sad. Since any sort of visual indication is not an option, and since the root of all current evil seem to be the lobby system, I'll probably disable it for a while, until I can figure out If I really need such thing and if I think it's worth it.