I never played BPM, but I'l play it, it looks fun like hell!

Two things:
1- Finish the map!
2- Leave french alone you english-speaking people

I've made some good progress this weekend, finishing the air boundary stuff and gotten most of the unit tracking stuff in, although I need to give some more consideration to the crystal/sunken colony side of things here (will do that later tonight). Need to re-work some of the air boundary stuff once I have the unit tracking stuff complete, but that will simplify the triggers and make it more resilient to bugs.

I'll do a proper update tomorrow night, after I've got some more things crossed off.

As for this 'newer' version of BPM that includes a beacon in the 2nd section, could you PM me a copy of that map? I'd be interested to see how it differs from the BPM that I based mine off.


Also, to give people the three main drivers behind my work:
1) Remove annoying bugs and limitations from BPM
2) A very professional, polished map that aims to explain or make clear to the players what is going on at all times (compare BPM where the hero system is not explained, enemies can use "kill enemies" power up and you suddenly die with no explanation, etc)
3) Add a lot of depth to the game in terms of little quirks that an expert experienced player will be able to exploit. This keeps the game 'fresh' with new things to learn and try.

Examples of #3:
1. Gas is used for hero upgrades. With a probe, you can build an assimilator and mine gas from the depleted geyser in the north section. Obviously you're devoting time to gain gas at a slow rate, but if you're ahead, it could be wortwhile.
2. You can upgrade protoss shields at the forge for 2 gas (+2 per level) up to lvl 5. This is a modest increase, but can make the weaker protoss units more formidible, not to mention the Archon with 350 shields.
3. You can build a comsat station (once, for 10 gas) to steal 5 gas from each enemy player, if you build a command center on the map somewhere.
4. Zerg can build nydus canal (for 5 gas, requires creep! have to find some on the map...) once to gain a bonus lap.
5. Destroying the 'no-fly zone' and 'h8ter temple' gives all players bonus gas, and the player that landed the killing blow gets a free lap (good if you're falling behind...)
6. If you manage to infest a command center, you gain free automatic queen upgrades for the rest of the game, 10 bonus gas and an instant kill enemies (infested command center is the 'kill enemies' building).

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jan 31 2010, 9:54 am by Lanthanide.

I can hardly wait!

This is the kind of game that I've been looking for - endless replayability. ^_^

lawls wtf @ tikels...
Though I doubt Birth.Buzz didn't make the original ver....
U should still give credit.. it's just a good thing to do..

The byline I'm doing is:
Created by Birth.Buzz
Edited by [whomever]
Overhauled by Lanthanide

Just a quick update, I'll hopefully do a more in-depth one tomorrow.

Bit of a setback with development, I am now where I wanted to be at the end of last night. I went down a long path of implementing the player tracking system (as mentioned a few times before), only to find that I couldn't get it to work in 1 specific case, even though the triggers all looked fine. Then it dawned on me that I didn't need to be doing it this way at all, and I could just adapt the system I had thought of to handle mind-control to be more general and use that instead, which would be much simpler and less prone to error. So that's what I've done, and it works well. Now that it is mostly out of the way, I should be able to make fast progress through many items on my list tomorrow.

I've had an idea and I'd like to get some feedback on it.

Right now when you spawn a new unit, it can be quite hectic working out which new unit you actually got, especially when there are many other players spawning at the same time. Even more hectic when they all start killing each other automatically - often if you spawn with a critter, which is a weak unit and can't be click-drag-selected, its dead before you even know what happened.

So I had a couple of ideas on how to remedy this:
1. When player spawns a unit, send a transmission so that the circle around their unit blinks, as a visual clue.
2. When player spawns a unit, show their talking portrait briefly, as a visual clue.
3. When player spawns a unit, play the unit creation sound for their new unit, as an auditory clue.
4. When player spawns a unit, automatically select it for them, as a direct control mechanism.

I'm pretty sure #4 is impossible, which is a pity. I think #1 and #2 seem like things I'd definitely want to do.

As for #3, presently I have no sound when a regular unit is created, and the terran tank annoyed sound (might be #2, where he goes 'da da da dah dah, da da da dah dah') is played when they get a hero upgrade, along with a display message saying they got a hero upgrade.

Perhaps I could use the regular unit creation sound for regular units, and a different sound from that unit for the hero upgrades? For things like Zealot I can use "my life for auir" for the regular, and some sound from fenix for the hero. For things like shuttle -> dropship hero, I can use shuttle creation sound vs dropship creation sound. But what about for things like zergling -> crackling (devouring one), should I just use a different/unique sound from the zergling sound set, like one of the annoyed sounds?

Doing a default sound for unit creation vs hero creation will require my hero upgrading triggers to be re-done (I have then written in a very generic manner at the moment), but I think it would add a good polish to the map and help make it less bewildering what is going on during a massive spawn-fest.

from post #22.. I fear that your changes may be too subtle to be noticed.

This is also the case about the problem you're addressing....

Just play a random sound that the unit would say... it'd be funny too. But I think this is absolutely unnecessary...

Playing a sound would probably work best. It would help greatly if you muted unit sounds. Also, displaying in ALL CAPS with glaring color which unit they have would help. I know some people can't/don't read anything that pops up onscreen, but it's worth trying.

Or you could consider ignoring the problem. This game is supposed to be random, isn't it?

Yes, I do realise that all of the things are not immediately noticeable, and none of them are really big changes. But they are all things that you don't find in existing BPM. I am also adding mind control and spider mines, and persistent broodlings, which are big noticeable changes, as well as several new units and abilities (like cloaked ursadons/mutalisks, shuttle hero etc).

These extra small changes will help to separate the good/experienced players from the newbs, and hopefully make people want to play the map more than once to discover all the possibilities.

If you've got any other ideas for things I can add, please suggest them.

Actually playing a random sound for a particular unit is much harder than just playing the same sound for that unit.

Unnecessary, yes, but then all 'polish' is unnecessary, but appreciated when present (or at worst, ignored).

Any ETR? I know that most projects don't have an estimated time of release due to real life uncertainties, but can you make an educated guess?

I had been hoping to get all development complete sometime during next week, but it's looking more like the start of next weekend.

Then it'll need some playtesting and balancing, and hopefully no major bugs will be found. Actually it is likely that any bad bugs will arise from strange/uncommon events that I don't handle, as all the basics should be covered. I may have a playable version this weekend that is missing discrete features (primarily new units and some heroes and some of the abilities).

Ok, progress update. I'm at work so don't have a list of other minor things I've done (which is at home), but here's an update to the To Do list. I'll also edit the OP with this new progress.

At the moment the map playable - you can spawn units, run around the map, kill each other, complete the race etc. The hero system is in place and working, except for the unfinished heroes, which includes the critters. The abilities mostly don't work as I've changed quite a few things around since I first implemented, and the triggers (and locations) have rotted such that they don't work. So I could run an alpha-test of the map as it is, to sort out balance issues, if people were keen.

By the end of the weekend I want to have everything above "mind control support" on this to-do list finished, and barring unforeseen problems, I think I can achieve that.

Tasks completed

• Converted air boundary system to use location grids
  
• Implemented player tracking system (simpler than originally anticipated). Handles broodlings and spider mines correctly.
  
• Simplified handling of special behaviours for units (Click! Click!, Rust Bucket, King of the Sky, Terrorist Bomb, Constipated)
  
• Player H8ter now use 20 protoss shield upgrade, instead of setting shields to 100% constantly (easier to understand)
  
• Replaced CPU No-Fly Zone (overmind cocoon) with sight-limited CPU spore colony. Much simpler triggers and more understandable for players. Looks more professional.
  

Tasks To Do (priority order)

• Replace CPU Aldaris & Zeratul @ south section with random floor trap system
  
• Implement gas for finishing sections, +2 for sections 1-3 and +3 for final section (+9 gas per complete lap). Add +1 gas for finishing maze with a ground unit, and extra gas for finishing with slow units (overlord, reaver, civilian, 'enjoy the ride' etc)
  
• Implement unit sound, transmission selection circle flash and talking portrait. Requires overhaul of hero triggers (simplification, less prone to error)
  
• Finish up map terrain, sort out player fog and map revealers.
  
• Implement final plan for player abilities:
  - Re-roll: Build a zealot (instant) for 15 ore (maybe 10 - players get 1 ore for killing enemies). Re-creates your character back at the start area for the section you're on
  - Kill enemies: Does what it says on the tin (units only, including mines & broodlings, not buildings). Lift-off infested command center, player begins with 1 and gains a second after 40 kills.
  - Invulnerability (20 secs): Unit gains invincibility so cannot be targetted by spells. Will also prevent regular "kill unit" triggers such as terrorist bomb and 'Kill enemies' from affecting unit. Carries over to newly spawned units for this player. Lift-off starport, player begins with 1 and gains a second after 60 kills.
  - Trap enemies: Combines elements of the previous 'trap' and 'freeze' abilities: spawns immobile CPU critters around enemies and prevents movement. Now affects air units, where previously 'trap' only affected ground units. Prevent enemies from re-rolling while trap is in effect. Only 1 trap can be in effect for any player at a time. Lift-off science facility, player gains after 20 kills.
  - Impose patience: Replaces all enemy units with a slow overlord in-place. Prevent enemies from re-rolling until their overlord is killed or reaches the end of a section (and therefore dies). Lift-off factory, player gains after 80 kills (may swap factory for science facility).
  - Steal gas: Initiated by building a comsat station on a command center that a player has built somewhere on the course with an SCV; the comsat is immediately destroyed upon completion. Comsat costs 10 gas to initiate construction and takes 10-15 seconds to complete, during which time enemies can destroy it (and you lose your 10 gas) - possibly allow enemies to 'pillage' 5 gas for destroying a comsat. When the comsat is complete, it will steal 5 gas from each enemy player and transfer it to the owner. So if you do this in a 7 player game, you net back 25 gas. If an enemy player only has 3 gas, then you only get 3 gas from that player (so gas is not created out of nowhere). Gas leaderboard is cycled periodically while playing, so you can see status of enemies' gas and best time to build this. Players have control of a disabled academy (so cannot research stim packs/range), so once they have created a comsat I'll destroy the academy to prevent player from building another.
  
• Implement mind control support
  
• Implement new units/rolls:
  - Sick patient - spawn an irradiated firebat + a medic. Medic must keep firebat alive by healing it so that firebat can get over the finish line.
  - Cloaked Ursadon hero - need to stress-test to ensure crash-proof.
  - Cloaked mutalisk hero, can morph to cloaked devourer or guardian - need to stress-test to ensure crash-proof.
  - Give defiler 'victims'. Starts with 0 energy, must consume burrowed defiler victims to gain energy. If victims are unburrowed, they die.
  - Enjoy the ride: Player spawns as a powerup, probably Kyahdarin crystal and cannot move. A CPU-controlled worker (probably scv) is created that the player has no control over. The CPU-controlled worker can wander off course at intervals. Possibly allow other players to kill the CPU unit and pick up the powerup themselves, if they do and bring it to the finish line they might get some special bonus?
  - Create new dropship hero that spawns with 'bombs', which are Aldaris' (otherwise unplayable unit). Unloading Aldaris replaces them with ragnasaur that is killed ('bomb' death animation) and damages (kills?) nearby enemies. Investigate DDS to see if you can hide the scarab splash effect.
  - Implement resurrection kitty and finish kakaru decoy hallucination effect
  - Skip forward to next section / re-do previous section. Possibly put in some limits so players cannot get more than +2 sections in a streak (eg +2 must be followed by -1).
  - +2 bonus gas / +5 bonus ore.
  - Sort out what to do with the spider mine 'hero' situation
  
• Update hero selection area to demonstrate extra effects for certain heroes (eg Kakaru will spawn hallucinated decoys, ressurrection kitty will constantly die and respawn, King of Sky will have explosion effect etc)
  
• Finish map start up - hero selection + instructions, spawn players with their chosen critter hero for the first lap and start the race.
  
• Rationlise all player messages with a consistent colour scheme for messages: White are banning/race status, Red for events, Green for resource events, Cyan for hero upgrades, Yellow for player abilities.
  
• Implement winning ceremony (low priority)
  

None of those will take longer than an hour by itself, but taken together you've got quite a lot to do yet.

I'm not going to try setting deadlines for other people's projects... but I'd appreciate it if this was done within two weeks.

I'd appreciate it if I could play it

Progress update?

Also, which units are you not using?

Progress has been really really slow, unfortunately There's no way this is going to be ready by the weekend.

To implement the new transmission system took longer than expected (especially since I kept being distracted by my friend playing SC on Sunday), however it has turned out looking really slick and I'm very glad I did it. The ability systems have taken *far* longer. The arbiter trap movement system I envisioned almost worked, but failed in one key aspect (the bounding box of firing turrts vs disabled turrets is much larger, screws the arbiter up) that I then tried spending 2-3 hours to get around, to no avail. So I'm going to have to scrap that system as it had been planned. I had the day off work today (sick - genuinely) and have worked on this map for basically 10 hours and still haven't gotten to where I wanted to be at the end of the weekend.

While I have crossed several items off the 'to-do' list, I have also fixed up several niggles (primarily around Crystalline Entity), so the items shown as being done here doesn't include the full extent of the work I've done. Any many of the new ability systems had many quirks and niggles that had to be iterated through to get working properly (Lurker Eggs don't count as 'men', go figure...).

Anyway, here's an update of the 'done' items, and I'll update the OP with the full status, as well as 2 shots of the map as it currently stands.

Tasks completed

• Aldaris & Zeratul system partially replaced, have an idea for what I am going to do.
  
• Implemented gas for finishing sections, +2 for sections 1-3 and +3 for final section (+9 gas per complete lap).
  
• Add extra gas for finishing with slow units (overlord, reaver, civilian)
  
• Implemented unit sound, transmission selection circle flash and talking portrait.
  
• Map terrain largely finished, just tidyup right area (spawn area, unit management etc). Sorted out player fog.
  
• Implemented player abilities:
  - Respawn character: Build a zealot (instant) for 15 ore (maybe 10 - players get 1 ore for killing enemies). Re-creates your character back at the start area for the section you're on.
  - Freeze enemies: Units are halted in place for 16 seconds with a disruption web cast underneith as a 'freeze' graphic. Prevent enemies from respawning while freeze is in effect. Only 1 freeze can be in effect for any player at a time. Lift-off factory, player gains after 20 kills.
  - Invulnerability (30 secs): Unit gains invincibility so cannot be targetted by spells. Will also prevent regular "kill unit" triggers such as terrorist bomb and 'Kill enemies' from affecting unit. Carries over to newly spawned units for this player. Lift-off starport, player begins with 1 and gains a second after 40 kills.
  - Kill enemies: Kills enemy units including mines and broodlings, but not buildings. Does not affect players that have invulnerability from the invulnerability ability. Lift off infested command center, player begins with 1 and gains a second after 60 kills.
  - Impose patience: Replaces all enemy units with a slow overlord in-place. Prevent enemies from respawning until their overlord is killed or reaches the end of a section (and therefore dies). Lift-off science facility player gains after 80 kills.
  
• Spider mine hero situation resolved - single hero upgrade to Raynor w/ spider mines (vs previous 2 hero upgrades). Replace previous vulture speed upgrade with zealot speed upgrade (see below).
  

New tasks outstanding

• Complete south section gun trap system.
  
• Add +1 gas for finishing west section (maze) with ground units
  
• Finish map revealer locations
  
• New unit: Firebat hero is now going to be Constipated instead of diseased (with irradiate + medic). This allows zealot hero to now be a pure speed upgrade (previously Constipated).
  
• Add new Zerg bonus building: spire for 8 gas that gives the player observer and shuttle speed upgrades permanently.
  

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Feb 10 2010, 10:23 am by Lanthanide.

Post a damned beta or something DDD===!!!

I wanna play this.

This, with emphasis.

It'll be ready when it's ready

It is now actually approaching the stage where I could make playable betas with discrete functionality disabled (namely hero purchasing - free upgrades still work, no critter heroes properly implemented, old heroes such as constipated zealot still present) as I've mentioned being possible in several posts in this thread already. I'll see how I go on it tonight, and may have a playable version ready this weekend.

Tasks completed

• Added +1 gas for finishing west section (maze) with ground units
  
• Steal gas ability completed
  
• Proof of concept Zerg spire implemented, need to tidy this up (won't take much time at all).
  

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 11 2010, 11:34 pm by Lanthanide.