Many of you probably wonder where I’ve been… what strange and exotic experiments might I have been performing? Did V succumb to the Creeper? Has he been adrift in Rift Space? Perhaps he has been otherwise occupied in a different time or spatial domain? True as these things may be from time to time, none of them explain my whereabouts over the last few months.
No, the explanation is far more interesting… I’ve been hold up in the Knuckle Cracker development bunker doing the People’s work. How could I rest knowing that the Loki are still menacing the observable universe?
What proof do I have of these important labors? Why some screen shots of course! Game 3 in the Creeper World saga is well underway and I’ve some important details to reveal…
Game 3 Stats
- Top down view.
- Three zoom levels: Tactical, Strategic, Theater.
- Awesome graphics. From unit animations to detailed terrain textures, beveled edges, explosions, weapon trails…
- Scale from tiny worlds to massive worlds with 16 times the surface area of a CW1 map.
- More terrain levels to match the increased surface area.
- Advanced and varied weapon and infrastructure systems.
- Creeper containment and management… the best of CW1 and CW2 plus some new brand new stuff.
- Terraforming… that’s right… modifiable maps!
- And of course some sneaky new enemies that will yet again redefine the strategy genre….
- All written in Unity
Now things are still very early in development… I’m not even comfortable calling my current builds ‘alpha’ yet. But, steady progress has been made and I am working hard to get this game released later this year. With the wind at my back and if I can get some cover fire against approaching Creeper, I should be able to pull off a delivery in 2012.
Below are some screen shots. Keep in mind that everything is subject to change. Things may come, go, both, and neither. But, you can at least get an early idea of what I’m working with at this stage. Thanks as always to MadMag for some awesome textures and unit design. His talents are untouchable.
So, enough byte typing and onto the images. There are three worlds below and they are three different sizes, small/medium/large. The first is just a simple test world for testing some game mechanics. The second looks like a “Last Ruins” kind of fight. The third I call “Purgatory Island”… it’s where all the Academy cadets go for Spring break. Remember that you can click on each image to get a bigger view (these are large images). Or, you can right click and save the image for a full view while offline (or a desktop background….)
Simple test world 128×84 in size. Note the group movement and auto-parking of units around walls.
“Last Ruins”. 180×100 in size. Check out those flying units and the formation movement.
“Purgatory Island”. 240×123 in size. Ten levels of terrain and awesome performance scale.
sweet! i loved both CW1 and CW2. now there will be CW3!
is there any way for normal players to get in on testing? i have a knack for finding glitches.
I would definetly partake in beta testing if available. I love both CW 1 and 2.
I loved CW1 & CW2 as well and I’m guessing they did CW3 as a cimbinshion. Now we can have the fun of building an awesome base, stafers, neralizing, and anti-creeper!
One word: Epic!
Two words: Very Epic
The return to top-down is nice. Not that I didn’t like CW2, but I preferred the play style of CW1.
I enjoyed 1, couldn’t stand 2 (sorry, it was well done, just didn’t like it.
But this looks like it would make me buy it.
I think you would like CW2 after playing some of the great custom maps that have been made. And the first ten or so missions [i]are[/i] rather boring…
Well-known forum members are sometimes invited to the beta group. It depends on their general behavior and contributions on the forums. With a few exceptions of course. 🙂
I love that it’s in the top-down view. I wonder, will there be/are you planing to implement excavation? e.g. underground emitters?
There will be terrain modification (dig it up and move it around). I’ve not yet decided if there will be buried emitters….
Totaly dislike, sorry 🙁 Unity is bullsh.., air worked under my linux, Unity not. 🙁 Still cry about not been able to play CW3.
Adobe has dropped support for AIR under Linux as well… so CW3 wouldn’t work under Linux even if I stayed with AIR. Unity actually expands the number of places that the game will run….
Creeper world 3 looks awesome I cant wait for it.
Thanks Cpt. Obvious! ;P
Well then. I like to state the obvious at times. 😛
SWOON!
WOW… this looks like it could do some damage to my brain….. I can not wait until the map editor is out! Gonna have so much fun 😉 so, as far as i can tell from the second image, you will be able to specify ‘textures’ of terrain, and the terrain is also got a sort of ’roundout’ feature. LOOKS EPIC! 😀 so happy for how this is going. It is sad however, if you plan to put it out on iOS devices, unity is pretty unstable. Hopefully that might be fixed, because that would be epic. In fact, everything looks epic. SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! 😀
Good observations…
Yes, you can use multiple textures on the same map. I also apply a smoothing algorithm to the terrain. It still has a “geometric” feel, but looks much better.
I plan to integrate the terraforming tools right into the game this time around. In fact the whole custom map system is integrated into the game in a more immersive way… More details to follow…
it had ben Nice if you could create your own Creeper World Map 😀
you can like go online and chat, and Rate others maps 🙂
and it had ben nice you KC could like make more games like Command and Conquern Games 🙂
i had LOVED it 😀
Will it run on the iPad? Will there ever be any versions of cw1 or cw2 on the apple store, it would make a killing!
I do plan to release a creeper world title on the iPad. The game has to be a bit more tactical since the screen size is small. There are plenty of pixels, you just have to be able to touch things. So units and things have to be big enough for this. But I will solve all of those problems I due time…
Android as well?
Possibly… android tablets vary greatly. But Unity allows publishing to Android with manageable fuss, so it is possible I will also target Android tablets.
Looks awesome, I can’t wait to give this one a shot!
I just realized theres no network lines. Will we be seeing those? Maybe for high speed connections, like it’s faster to travel these connections then the network. I just miss my networks.
Yes, I intend to have a network. I don’t yet have that implemented yet which is why you don’t see it in these screen shots. I also plan to have a kind of network for the transport and containment of anti creeper ( and other things)
i smell a new twist in the air……
Woo, finally I get some screens of CW3, I’m glad that top down is back, as well as plans for networks, that was the one thing that kept me playing CW1 for so long, was the networks, and with their return, will be my OCD over them. 😛
o.O Looks epic, Will the story-line dialogue be text-based or will there be audio? Will you be including more then one piece of music , and the option to chaneg the background music in editor? Ever thought of blending the top-down view of cw1 and the side-scrolling view of cw2, i.e. you can see the game from multiple angles? I bet there will be lots of cool new stuff , and units- maybe have shield generators that give your units longer durability against creeper until the generator is destroyed or the shield runs out. Will there be more enemies besides drones, emitters, phantoms, and nexus’s? Will there be some sort of RPG-based between mission interface, I.E. you walk around in a spaceship/base and interact with various NPCs for saving, trading, that sort of thing. Will research be implemented I.E. you build structures to unlock new units in levels(only for that level)?
Sorry for the whole load of questions 😛 trying to get ur creative juices flowing even more 😉
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS
In CW2 didn’t we wipe em all out… 😛 , what could possibly explain their return o.O ?
SPOILER END
We killed the nexus. What about the styglek? What about the other Loki?
How will CPU usage be affected compared to CW1 & 2 with the “awesome graphics” and large maps? I’m pretty concerned as my computer was considered outdated 4 years ago.
Since I’ve switched to Unity, I have a great deal more room to play with. The graphics advantage comes from using a “3d” accelerated pipeline. Memory access is also at least 100 times faster than memory access in AIR… so I can support much larger maps. My expectation is that a 4 year old system should be just fine for at least the majority of maps.
As far as I can tell the Unity engine runs very smooth and can handle a lot more action compared with AIR..
YAY THERE GONA BE CW3:D
i guess my comment in earlier blog posts came true:)
also whens gonna be cw3 fourm topic
Cool I guess I can put off trying to convince my dad for a new computer for another couple
Of years
Great, can’t wait. Loved CW1 & 2, still playing CW2 custom maps all the time. Sign me up if you need any playtesting!
me too please
You mentioned earlier that it would run fine on an older pc, but what about graphics cards? After all, Unity is a 3d tool…..
The game does require 3d acceleration, and there will be minimum system specs… But nearly every PC made in the last 5 years should meet those specs.
Looks great, I hope you use some of the multi-threading in unity. I can’t wait! really…. can you run it as a Paid Open Beta. After your hard work on CW1&2 I would’t mind even PAYING early to get in on the beta. A CW1&2 addict.
Unity 3.5 does use multiple cores to improve the pipeline performance. I’ve developed the game currently under 3.4 (while 3.5 improves stability) and already have outstanding performance. By the time the game ships, 3.5 should be much more stable and any extra performance boosts will just be a bonus at that point.
by the way how will u terra form?
will u use energy to “generate” terrain?
oops sorry for double comment but i was thinking…
is there different “kinds of terrain”? or is it more like cw1 with only one kind?
this looks awesome!
from what I’ve heard about unity, it sounds like this’ll be CW3D?
different sized maps will be great!
Do those screens look 3d?
I’m a fan of creeperworld – keep up the good work!
I had a thought of how to make things more interesting:
Sometimes stop building of certain types of units. I’ve found that by attempting the same map with out for instance building any blasters it adds an extra challenge. You could build this in to a sequence of games – sometimes stopping use of certain types.
I’m sure you’ve got plenty of ideas but just thoiught I’d suggest!
Adahus
by the way i hope there could be multiplayer…different types of games:1.players start out as a single base, doubled player stats(energy stores,production) but doubled creeper strength.2. players START out as different bases and have seperate energy. once players connect their networks the energy and bases will join. hopefully there will be a lobby server and we will be able to chose game type, and map(campaign or ramdom/code)
by the way 2-4 players perferable(if theres 4 players just 4x the difficulty:D)
Oh man! You are prolific!
I bought both CW1 and CW2, and will buy CW3 also.
Personally, I liked the top view gameplay from CW1 better than the layout of CW2.
If you would just please, please, pretty please with sugar on top abandon Flash/Air (whatever it’s called). My machines are not fast enough to run those games, which made me play CW1 and CW2 a lot less than I would have wanted. (the further in the level you get, the slower the game becomes. Writing it in C/C++ would GREATLY improve the speed).
Actually, virgil states in the comments that he switched to “Unity”. This will run much faster than air and will work better on different machines.
Ill take a blaster with a side of anti-creeper please.
Make “sample games” for people who cant play the full game.Plllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssee.
there will probably be games on kongregate and other flash game websites (mostly kong now, as its in unity) that will eventually get a ‘training simulator’ (as it was in cw1)
Certainly…. I will do spin-off versions for at least Kongregate since they take Unity games. I’d like for other game portals to take Unity games as well….
It is technically possible to compile a Unity game to flash… but Adobe has thrown that into question from a business perspective recently, so I’ll have to see how things shake out over the coming months.
yay
Add anti-creeper.
Amongst other interesting and new additions….. 🙂
You know what I would like to see? Some kind of warship, like Thor, but much less powerful. Now that would be pretty awesome!
While I have played both CW1 and CW2 loving both games greatly I am extremely concerned with the use of Unity for the 3rd game. Our group was working on a game in Unity till we learned of the flaw in the engine code that makes it very easy for people to steal your source code. At that point we stopped all work in Unity and moved our game to another engine. There is talk of a program that helps to fix this Unity engine flaw but we were not willing to test it. I hope you have taken the necessary steps to avoid this flaw.
This is likely true because of the use of mono. But… I come from a world where I have published two big time games in AS3 (flash/air)… It is even more trivial to decompile an AS3 app. So from that perspective, I’m no worse off with Unity. That said, code obfuscation may still be a thing in my future…
(EDIT: This has turned into a suggestion post, which I didn’t intend. Basically, I would very much like to see a more complex peer-to-peer style structure in the networks players build. The structure of a network centralized around the city gets a little boring after a while, while a decentralized network opens a lot of strategic development.)
Has there been any improvement to infrastructure? I’m a man who things in networks and connections, and so I have loved CW and all its incarnations, but . . . . . . .
It’s always seemed boring that all resources come only from the city. Has there been any increase in the potential strategy in where you can store various resources? For instance, if storages dispatched resources FROM the storage, you would almost totally eliminate the need for packet-speed upgrades, while forcing the player to think more strategically. (Though I would recommend keeping speed upgrades at higher cost – some players play-style is better suited by speed and simplicity.)
I would very much like to see structures that increase in cost (like research facilities in CW2) so that they must be used strategically, with different facilities to dispatch different resources to the front lines.
I’ve had many of the same thoughts. So, I can say with high confidence (nothing is ever 100% till it ships) that game 3 will have multiple sources for packets. I spent a good bit of time working on the logic for this and it supports multiple points of generation as well as separate networks. Energy sharing is also accomplished when networks merge and packets get dispatched from the nearest source. I also have implemented ‘storage pods’ so that they store energy ‘on the map’. It’s a subtle difference but the storage pods hold the energy instead of just increasing the storage capacity of the city/packet producers.
I also intend to handle AntiCreeper in a similar fashion. One of my design goals this time around is to make everything a ‘physical’ part of the game. This means that AntiCreeper gets created straight from mines and then piped around and used for various things.
The cost system is something still in play. For sure there will be fixed cost assets, but some things will also likely be priced progressively.
I’ve got to say, I like it, I like it, I like what I’m hearing.
Everything you’ve mentioned are thoughts or desires that I’ve had regarding Creeper World I especially like the idea of creeper mines, though there’s even more room for strategy there if it has to pass a refinery first, (requiring the refinery to have access both to easy energy, and creeper mines.
I hear that sometimes well-known forum geeks get invited to a beta group – I am cursing myself for being a mostly passive forum observer. -_-
Are you kidding? I loved creeper fields! You can do almost anything with them, up to and including making creeper-monsters that try to invade you. You can make creeper try to block you defensively with creeper-barriers, or try to act intelligently or unpredictably to pierce your defenses.
CW3 better have some creeper fields! I would miss them sorely. Only having to plan for what I already know will happen gets boring.
It would be nice if they were easier to design than CW2 fields were. Working with fields in the editor was a can of headache.
Unity is a 3d engine, so it’s not out of the question that there may be some elements that are at least visualized or rendered in 3d.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(game_engine)
make mini cities so you can make more than 1 grade.
i ment to say grid.
IDEA ALERT,IDEA ALERT.Will there be house and a barrack buildings to make soldiers eg.lazer gunner and/or grenadiers.Lazer gunners destroy creeper and grenadiers destroy emitters.Just an idea please reply.
Hush now…. You had me at 3
with the new features, are you DELETING any structures
Ex: Drones were taken out of CW2
Packet speed upgrades may not work the same way. So that might go away and be replaced by something else. CW1 style drones will actually be expanded… there will be different types.
I like that you are returning to the top down view. I absolutely loved cw1 for its tactical awesome simplicity. You lost me in cw2 although I did enjoy alot of the features. One thing I could do without is the cursed gravity fields that made creeper move unpredictably, or atleast it should be made much clearer so you can be tactical about it.
Keep up the great work, awaiting cw3 in anticipation 🙂
It sounds like he already plans to.
Hi, I have a dream of what I wanted to do with the creeper of both cw1+2. But I just imagined it instead since I couldn’t.
*
I goes like this: when you fight off the creeper on the surface, there are still little holes where creeper pours out of; no matter how much firepower you hit them with. When this happens you have to go DEEPER.
You break apart the earth and destroy a hidden creeper emitter…
Or you delve into the earth CW2 style and clean up the strange labyrinths of creeper that have formed under the planets crust!
So you go from CW1ish top down view to CS2ish up/down, maybe some side to side, scrolling. And have “two games in one”. That could make for some really long games and epic story missions (maybe).
Purge the planet of creeper inside out!
BTW what happens to oceans when the creeper comes, are they creeper oceans!? ….*shudders*
I can’t wait for this game! I might not be able to buy it at first, but after a while I might be able to get the game, when it comes out, that is. Can’t wait! The built-in editor will be very nice! 🙂
I notice in those screenshots . . . . . . no nodes.
Is there no network-building at all in CW3? I know you mentioned separate networks, but I see no structures at all that could act as relays to pass energy to some of the outlying structures. (True of every screenshot.)
Without structures to relay energy, how could a ‘separate network’ independent of the city’s power source exist? I am confused . . .
Or are many of the structures in some of those screenshots operating on stored power, without having a resupply in range?
The network just wasn’t implemented yet in these screen shots. I’ll be posting some new shots very soon…
I have an idea.The creeper is a liquid right?So could there be a frost tower to “freeze”the creeper for like 10 15 seconds?
Hip hip hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!we can save games.
Yeah Virgil! maybe there are some people who dont want to buy the game becouse they cant afford it! (THEMSELFS) MAKE SAMPLE GAMES LIKE YOU DID FOR CW1!
Will there still be a 60 packet per second rule or can we have that upped in CW3. If 3 went beyond that we could make custom maps that are so much harder and make the campaign easier if we want to spend the time building stuff like me. I love building stuff and having all kinds of resources but it sucks having a limit so low.
Hot off the presses: Unity 4 will support Linux. Perhaps everyone can enjoy this game now?
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/06/18/1748206/unity-4-adds-linux-support
Woot! That’s awesome news. I was hoping I bet on the right horse, and this is definitely making me feel it….
Hi, great article it’s exactly the point
Greate!
I have CW2, played CW1. Now i want CW3!
How can i get cw3 beta?
WIth best regards!