Robot Combat prototype in progress

[Jules]

This is very cool, Jules.

What have you build this game in?

Thanks brother.

I'm using the Unity3D engine and writing the code in C#.

I think pretty soon I'm going to make a more official topic including a checklist of what I have done so far (some things that may appear easy were super hard and vice versa) , what I think I can get done in the next week or so, what I may be able to get done in a month, and so on.

I also need some type of name before I post any sort of prototype.

[Jules]

I decided I would post a few unedited videos to show how the prototype is truly functioning, as opposed to showing just when it works the best.

In this video I tried to illustrate that the spike can 'sink' into certain materials but not others (I haven't assigned every object yet, so not all function as they should)

It's easier for the bot to grab a hold of certain objects with the spike. Heavier objects are harder to hold on to and are much more likely to fall off if they are lifted. The longer any object is attached to the spike, the more likely it is to slide out of the grasp.

This system is nowhere near done, but I am very happy with the progress I made on it just working on it today.

I got held back on a lot of progress today due to a bug that suddenly arose with my spinning motors when the game was built as an .exe which wasn't there while running it in the editor.
You might notice the wheel on the right side of the clamp bot is kind of jumpy / bouncy. I don't know what is causing it. Very frustrating....

I'm probably going to post 2-3 more videos tonight.

Let me know what you all think so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKM6SCdDuzM&feature=youtu.be

[Shield]

I like it!

[G.K.]

The ability to do that kind of picking up is really cool, it's a shame to not have that RA2. The way you're constructing the mechanic sounds good too. And I see you can take components off in this, a big thumbs up from me there.

Can't really pick out anything from that piece of footage that I'd particularly say needs changing, assuming that there was a reason for most of the bots not moving - other than the lack of a Mako-style bot so far :P

[Jules]

The ability to do that kind of picking up is really cool, it's a shame to not have that RA2. The way you're constructing the mechaninc sounds good too. And I see you can take components off in this, a big thumbs up from me there.

Can't really pick out anything from that piece of footage that I'd particularly say needs changing, assuming that there was a reason for most of the bots not moving - other than the lack of a Mako-style bot so far :P

Mako will live... soon...
Thanks a ton.

There's no AI yet, all of those bots were just controllable with keyboard controls (aside from the 4 wheeled bot who's motors are set to rotate automatically for now)

Here's a quick MP match I filmed last night. My brother is a germ freak so he had his own keyboard plugged in. It is an old PS/2 connector which seems to have caused glitches in the interpretation of our inputs which is why it probably looks like we are controlling like idiots at certain points. (also, tank controls, which neither of us are too comfortable with)

I'm going to be busy for the next day and a half or so, but once I am free I am going to go all out on getting a playable 1 v 1 demo with one player vs one AI bot in a simple hazard-less arena. The AI bot will likely be a hammer or flipper bot. Any requests for the player bot?


https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U

[Avalanche]

Clamp bot for player pls. Also,is the clamp automatic in how fast and how far it goes up and down ala Razer from the Robot wars games?
Also, heres a link that doesnt link to the users youtube account vids.

[G.K.]

That link didn't help but I found it

The gameplay only goes to make me look forward to your demo. I'm really enjoying the physics and the collision mechanics. Again, this clamp bot is really cool - I liked the clamp manouvre at ~0:30 - reminiscent of some of the action we've been getting with bots at BattleBots this year. As with Avalanche, in an ideal world I'd get to play with that clamper in the demo, but if not either is cool.

Are you planning on having any other camera modes? The one you've got is good but a couple more perspectives would be ace.

Tank controls are different but you get used to them - we had the same thing with botApp, which was a similar thing we found a few years back but never really got past an initial alpha. I'm not worried about the driving glitchiness at the moment, you're still in the middle of the development stage.

Other than that, I'm wondering on the scope you're planning - will this have multiple arenas or a builder mode etc? (Not that it would matter if it didn't, because it does the combat so well)

Also, I'm intrigued by the 'secret' button.   

[G.K.]

Also, I've answered your questions from that post the other day - see the spoiler.

I could release a demo now, but I'd rather wait a week or so to get some more systems in.

In the meantime, I'd like to ask you guys a few questions so I can get some opinions on some stuff.

What do you guys want in a damage / scoring system?
       Do you guys want points to accumulate based off of weapon stats and collision speeds? Or keep the damage behind the scenes and simply score off of number of weapon strikes, orrrr... What? I'm open to ideas.

Should I focus on having components fail realistically, or go the same route as RA2 and have the bots auto-lose after the chassis has taken a certain amount of damage?

What kind of stage hazards do you guys want to see in the demo level? (This question is obviously less important but I should he able to implement whatever)

-Your accumulation idea sounds neat but I will have a think about this.

-Realism would be cool and a clear difference between this and RA2, provided it's not too technically difficult.

-Hazard wise, I'm a fan of the stuff you've got in there atm. What's the thing in the bottom left? A pit would be cool but not essential.

[Jules]

Woops. Sorry about that bad link guys.

Clamp Controls-
 if you are pressing a button it is going down up to a certain limit. If the button is let go, it is on it's way back to the start. I could easily change it so that one button brings it down, one button brings it up, and if no buttons are pressed nothing happens. I'm just liking this way for now.

Camera Angles-
For right now, it's just the camera angle that you can see. But given a few hours I am 90% sure I could replicate and implement all of the camera angles seen in RA2. You can see in the gif one I just added (currently the camera angles are only controlled via button in the pause menu)

That Hazard-
It's a flipper! I currently have a trigger zone, if an object enters it, it waits a second and then fires. It then waits a few seconds before returning to it's starting position. See gif!

The Scope-
I think I will make a new post about this in the near future with more detail. I have realistic goals. Everyone loves building bots, but I am focused on fun gameplay for now.
Having said that, I do have some ideas for implementing a building system, and I don't think it is an unrealistic goal or anything like that.

I'd appreciate it if you guys could spread the word. I'd love more opinions and advice!

I would also be willing to do a developer blog type thing where I would share what I am currently working on, go into issues I am experiencing etc if there is enough interest.

For example, tonight, I am about to start working on the count out system and after that, a system that allows for wheels to be damaged and knocked off their axis like what happened in Stinger vs Warhead in episode 3 of this season of BB. (Instead of having the wheels either be okay or completely off)

[CodeMoose]

Looks cool. Any thoughts on making it open source on github (or similar)? I'm sure quite a few people would be interested in issuing contributions.

[Jules]

Looks cool. Any thoughts on making it open source on github (or similar)? I'm sure quite a few people would be interested in issuing contributions.

Thanks.

I haven't really put much thought into it.
For the next few weeks Im going to have a ton of free time so I will likely be working on it a lot. If a point comes where I don't have time to work on it, I would likely hand it over.

I would gladly accept and inpliment models, textures, menu graphics, sound effects etc, but for the time being at least, I'd prefer to work on the code alone.

[Jules]

Here's a new video that shows off a basic arena with a pit, a bot, and the KO count out system.
It still needs some tweaking, but I can easily modify how far a bot needs to move, and how long it takes for the countdown to appear.

How do you guys feel about having the hud display the bot names and the KO count down? I'm not sure how I feel about it.

[Thyrus]

I imagine it to be hard to always have an eye in the corner to check if you get counted out or not

[playzooki]

I imagine it to be hard to always have an eye in the corner to check if you get counted out or not

A way to make it more obvious would be to play a sound or something when a robot is being immobilized

[G.K.]

I think it's quite cool in the corner there. How exactly does it work - what sort of mobility do bots need to show to break the count?

[Jules]

I will have it play a sound effect at each tick of the counter with the noise becoming more urgent as it nears zero.
All of the hud and menu graphics are placeholders FYI.

Currently, It just keeps track of how far the bot has moved.
To put it simply, I have it tuned currently so that the bot has to move 1 unit every 20 seconds to be considered active (The timer is only visible once it reaches 10)
This means they must move 1 unit away from an initial point. It can't move back and forth .5 units.

For reference, the cube in this gif which shows off the pit is 1x1x1

[Kungfooey242]

If only i was that good with unity ;(. This is what i made after a whole week: https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php?topic=17322.0

But anyways... good work! It looks very nice. Perhaps RA 3 confirmed? Lol

[Jules]

Just a quick update in case anyone is following along-

I haven't been working on the project too much lately cause I've been busy and kind of frustrated with it.

I've run into problems with having a horizontal spinner configured like Tombstone keep traction on it's wheels realistically instead of being spun from the spinners force.
I've also run into joints and connections not being stiff and perfect like they should be (which would obviously be a problem with a rapidly spinning weapon etc.)

Instead of getting stuck on this and not making progress in other areas I've decided that over the next few days I'm going to implement a system that deals with collisions between objects that...

-Plays different sounds and visual effects depending on the materials (IE: Metal hitting lexan will make a different sound than metal hitting metal - which would also create sparks)
-The collision speed will determine the sound played, the volume of the sound, and will change the properties of the visual effect.

[Avalanche]

For immobilisation, maybe half the units needed? Slow bots or pinned ones will have a hard time.
Good luck sorting out the traction and joint issues, and the effect system sounds really good.

[tomgsx]

I am curious if you would be willing to share this project in it's current state, or explain how you went about the weaponry. I previously attempted this in Unity and ran into many issues with the joint system Unity provides. The hinge was never rigid enough to use it for weapons like hammers/flippers. Alternatively, I would certainly be willing to assist you with this project.