What would happen if something really really large hit a world? It wouldn’t be pretty, but those emitters are so tough they would remain on some of the planetary pieces that were left. And that just won’t do.
Not on our watch…
This week you’ll get to watch me take on a couple emitters who think they are safe on their little rocks.
First on vid and blog!! Woot! And as I said in the vid, I hope you get done soon.
I was this close!! THIS CLOSE!!! Why?? How did you…?
Okay, serious now.
Interesting changes to the gui, loving the variety of units. Gameplay seems to progress slower than either previous game, though.
Talk to MadMag. He’s already done this mission in less than 9 and a half minutes… and is on his way to 7 minutes.
I got to it 7 minutes from it’s publishing. I was speedy and didn’t wait until the end of the vid to comment.
I didn’t either! I was less than a minute after you!
Now I have to justify that with game questions…
Will conversion bombs make a reappearance? If so, in what form? (their own unit, launched by a special type of mortar/bertha/whatever, something else?) How about crystals and remnants? Will we finally be able to change unit graphics in custom maps?
Lovely, although the creeper building up on the islands seems strange to me….
The game needs to be able to support both flooding and contained modes for the creeper I think. It could be entertaining to see the Creeper much more easily escape and asteroid. But it can be equally fun when it doesn’t.
Pethaps if gravity from nearby land would try to pull creeper across smaller gaps
I do like the HUD and graphics!
Fractured islands seem like they’d be great for tutorial levels and perhaps somethings related to what ever story you have in mind.
I’m uncertain if the explosions (from mortars and nullifiers) actually work with the asthetics from the rest of the game. You seem to have taken a rather simplified style with hard lines and large contrasts of colour. The heat explosions, however, are closer to ‘realism’ than stylistic. I’d suggest something closer to what you have with the cannons (the white growing circle of lines), and perhaps making it more of a pure energy type effect as that is what the mortars run on.
Thank you for posting this video, I’ll be looking forward to more!
Yeah, the explosions will all get proper treatment as I advance to beta. The ring explosions for the Pulse Cannons worked out well. I’ll be choosing something similar to that style for other effects as well.
Huzzar!
Also, are the ring effects of ex-emitter places final?
Effects are not… but the concept is something I like and will probably keep.
I thought this too, about the explosions. Too realistic- I find explosions that look like that are kind of tacky in video games that don’t have realistic-looking graphics.
I agree: this is the future, we’re not supposed to have regular explosions
To oppose what 42ah42 said, this felt a lot faster to me. However, I’m the type to spend 30-40 minutes per mission 😀
As for the subject of flooding and contained modes- Could you make a sort of gravitational, field, so that when creeper levels are at x, it escapes from the asteroid? Could be interesting if you had it spill out of an asteroid, only to be pulled towards another.
Static fields like that will be supported (they already are). It’s just a matter of adding editor support.
the mortar graphics in the vid. were Super Cool!
Monsters…… Lovely
Nice video, I really enjoy these, can’t wait for the game!
I really like the new HUD. Much better than the last one.
Ok, so a few things:
– Does the ore have to be processed at the base? It’d be cool to have some ore processor buildings which turn the ore into anticreeper, so we can make the whole process a little faster by making those buildings near ore and where we need the anticreeper.
– Graphic resolution. When you zoom really near, you see pixelled lines and graphics. Is this going to be final? I’d appreciate some HD textures and stuff, even if it has to be an option so slower computers can run the game fine as well.
Also, how would the creeper spread to other asteroids?
Anyways, this is getting really cool! Can’t wait to play it 😀
He used to have that, but then decided it would be done at the Command Node
-Command Nodes are the only units that have NanoLathe and AC refining capacity. In other words, only a Command Node can turn energy into packets and ore into AC.
-Zooming down is basically doubling the resolution. There is a trade off in how far down you can zoom and the fidelity of the graphics that can be maintained.
-Spreading to other asteroids depends on the map design. The ‘void’ between worlds can either be nearly impassable, or it can allow the flow of Creeper.
Well these kinds of missions seem interesting…
If I may suggest one thing, could you maybe try and round out the corners of the normal “square” maps? Because this map feels like lots of chunks of rock floating in space, that might make the one-piece maps feel like rocks floating in space instead of weird square chunks… Which seems a little immersion breaking if you’re going to include fractured-maps too.
However, I love the fractured map. Keep making awesome game-ness 😀
Maps can be any shape, rounded corners, nothing but corners, checkerboard, triangular, circle, etc.
I know that. What I’m saying is that a completely square map with sharp corners would seem a little out of place when juxtaposed with other maps like this one and rounded ones…
Awesome, can’t wait for release!
Maybe there’s artefacts that do things with the creeper to move it between islands? Maybe some force that blows/sucks creeper over small distances, or a teleporter type of thing. Maybe it can be nullified.
This could make a map where’s 3 emitters flowing into a sink that spils out on your base island, or one emitter that flow from multiple exit.
Awesome map! I will assume that there are more titans now that they have a separate tab. I like the direction the air support is going. Instead of a single bomber, we get that in addition to fighters and two support craft. Plus top secret stuff that you won’t let us see yet. I’m guessing they will make spectacular explosions. The only things I’m not liking are the lack of energy and ore storage and usage and ranges on the weapons. I’m guessing these will come soon.
Question: can Guppies transport AC packets?
There are energy storage pods already. Ore is made on demand, and AC is stored inside the Command Nodes.
Range indicators will be added soon.
Guppies and changing into generalized ‘Transport’ vehicles that can move any resource in the game.
I love it so far!
quick question though, if guppies can transport anything then why do you need the ore drones? couldn’t you have built regular refineries using guppies for energy then later to get the ore?
They are being merged into a single transport craft that can haul any of the 4 resources.
So, does that mean guppies will have separate bars for packets, AC packets, and energy?
Also, will you be adding hotkeys soon?
Only one type at a time can be transported. So only one bar at a time.
Keyboard shortcuts will be added before release…
Will the bars be different colors to tell which resource is currently being held?
How can we choose which resource is being held?
If the new ‘Transport’ vehicles will carry any resource in the game, shouldn’t there also be a storage device for ore? Like if you had a remote mining facility, and 2+ transports, one (or more) carrying energy to the miners, and one carrying ore back to the main network, the miners would send the ore they collect to the storage, and the storage would drain into the transport when it returns.
Derp! I phrased that terribly. I meant numbers, like +36.5 energy, 26 depletion, +9 ore, 5 depletion. I didn’t mean if there are storage units. I’m not that inattentive. Usually.
Yeah, numeric displays of information will be added towards the end of the dev cycle.
Liking the progress here and the clip use.
Abel Toy makes an interesting point about buildings that could process the AntiCreeper faster, but I frankly don’t see that happening. That’s because the AC economy doesn’t really sound much like an economy if the process of using AC is so quick and streamlined like that.
Question: Is it supposed to take more time for the AC to be processed, employed, and used like it is in the clip? If so, then nice touch.
Also: Is that the reason why you got rid of the refinery?
One more thing: Where did you get the idea of the harvesters? They are as cool as the guppies.
Yes, it creates an overall more consistent and clear game flow if Command Nodes are the sole converters of resources to packets/AC. It also creates a better scenario for use of logistical assets. In particular, you have to think about establishing a base around each command node, then getting resources to that base, and produced goods to the front lines. Eliminating the refinery as a separate unit drastically streamlined this flow.
Harversters and being merged with the guppy currently. This will produce a generalized transport craft that can haul ore, packets, AC, or energy from to different locations on the map.
So if you have collectors that aren’t connected to your command node the new transport would be able to take that back to the command node and get it turned into packets?
Yes… it’s a tough thing to implement but the new Transport can land on an isolated network, charge up with energy over time, then fly back to a command node and act like a charged up storage pod.
Also, will the new transports still be able to mine ore like the harvesters or will you need to set up ore mines and use the new transports to supply them and bring back the ore?
You will need to build a regular ore mine and a transport pad connected to the ore mine. This means you will need a Transport to carry over some packets. But it also means that you only need one transport to carry the ore back for all of the separate ore mines (not one harvester per ore deposit).
How does the energy-holding part of the new transport craft work?
Think of the Transport as being a big capacitor. It will charge up over time and can then discharge when it returns home. Useful for collecting energy from a remote island that has lots of land.
candy cane
just a few questions
is there a way to store anti creeper other then a command node?
will there be anti creeper emitters in the editor like in cw2
and finally, how do you get more command nodes, earn, or build
A single Command Node can store a vast amount of AC. But if you really wanted to you could create storage areas on the map (giant storage lakes).
There can be AC emitters, though you won’t find them in typical missions.
Additional Command Nodes are both earned and paid for.
nice! i hope turtling around will be an option in creeper world 3.
It will. This is a game mode that has a quiet fan base…. Many people like to play in a less stressful mission, build their forces, then move in for the assault. If they fail, they want to be able to build more forces and try again, not lose the mission. The test map I made the video with this week is like that. But, for others who like imminent threats, there will be plenty of those missions as well.
So, is it when the volume of creeper gets too high, or does the emitter have to be powerful enough, to break out of the asteroid?
Depends on the mission design. Missions can be created where Creeper won’t escape the asteroids. Note that if the background is changed and the shape of the asteroids changed, these things can become land masses separated by great valleys, or island on the sea… etc.
One big issue with what I have seen so far is that there seems to be little defense in the game.
Spores are interesting but seem to be a side mechanic. I would love to see the creeper get more offensive ability in comparison to 2, or even 1 really.
I’d like to see maps that are about survival instead of attacking sometimes.
although I know that this is probably an unbalanced test map. Just wanted to put my word in.
You haven’t seen some of the monsters I’ve experimented with….
Perhaps what I really meant to say was that after you get a line of defense against the creeper it is you who are doing the creeping.
Perhaps there could be a game mode where the creeper slowly builds to the point that setting up turrets can only slow the creeper down for a time.
Perhaps large experimental units could serve the purpose of actually pushing back the creeper, and dissipate after use. Combining the two, along with the totems from CW1 that you used to warp out could perhaps create a sort of situation where you really do feel like you are living on borrowed time instead of simply fighting a purple blob?
I know what I am saying, but I don’t. Creeper World is awesome, and you have done very well with it.
Looks like you’re developing my new favourite game. Can’t wait!
Could you make the creeper have a sort of packet setup? they can have vacuums to take creeper from the surroundings and make them into packets to send to different stuff like the spore tower. and maybe make the spore tower not make creeper, but just use what it’s given by the Creeper network and have the emitters able to use them too. maybe make it so that as emitters get more packets, they become stronger and make more creeper.
I’ve experimented with a system not that much different from that…
One small detail that I still find interesting and annoying that with 1 or two cannons you basically can contain a creeper emitter. Love to see a little AI that if a emitter node is being contained but not necessarily nullified that in creeper world 2 it could call in phantoms or robots from a portal as reins. That or just start emitting MORE creeper after x minutes. I know in CW that after 60 min the emitters would go nuts but sometimes that felt way to long. since the phantoms seemed to have the best AI in CW2 that not always honed in on the mother ship.
This is true only for weak emitters. Very strong emitters can’t be easily contained by just a handful of units.
As to the effects of the power zones where emitters used to be, I seriously think their concepts should be kept.
The effects for friendly units in them probably could use some tweaking if necessary, but the idea of emitter remains giving extra power to what seems like anything in them really ought to stay because it clearly opens more strategic options for what to do next against the enemy and the whole Creeper World series looks like it revolves around various strategies and tactics to employ.
Also: I noticed that there are 4 completely different diagonally aligned fourths of the Command Node Including the portion that turns ore into AntiCreeper, what do the other three Command Node quarters represent?
The upper left hand corner spins faster based on the total network energy production. The upper right and lower right are related to AC refinement. They are a smoke tower and a large piston like pump. The lower left hand corner is unused.
Out of curiosity, what would happen if a piece of ground was to be terraformed higher but there was either some creeper or AntiCreeper on said ground?
(would the C or AC still be there, flood downward as the ground was being terraformed higher, disappear, or something else?)
The AC goes along for the ride, like you would expect. So if you raise a tower in the middle of AC, the AC will get pushed up and run off.
The game seems to be coming along nicely ^.^
If there are two emitters close to each other, and you nullify one, you get a power zone.
What would happen if i put the nullifier on the power zone to take care of the other emitter?
A PZ placed nullifier has double range and charges for half the energy.
That will make the fields of close packed emitters some map makers like a lot easier.
Virgilw,you realy must find a way to make game 3 more ” intresting ” you see what i mean-destroying creeper all three games is kinda ” boring, ” ( no offence ) you have to make a new game mode or something,so you dont have to fight only creeper.
I wish I had your crystal ball…. I actually play and create the game daily yet still wonder what’s coming next 🙂
is there a building that will just put AC besides bombers, like the makers
that would be nice
Not yet implemented, but I will likely add another unit that directly uses AC.
virgil said he might experiment with this mixed with a blaster, we will just half to wait and see!
virgil- when you place some units on power zones, they grow. If two power zones are close enough togther that when you place a unit and it grows, could the second power zone affect it? That sounds confusing so ill try and draw it out 🙂
0 X 0
0=power zone
X=growing unit on a power zone
Units don’t physically get bigger, they just get enhanced capabilities.
I think you answered this in the comments on another blog entry but is the pulse cannon heating up just cosmetic or does it have an effect on gameplay?
Nevermind, found it: http://knucklecracker.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/pict-of-the-week-beam-me-up/#comment-9180
I can see what the corners of the Command Node are for now that you mention it.
By the way, I also noticed that there is some sort of green bar on top of the AntiCreeper piston pump that looks like an indication of something like the red bar on top of the center of the Command Node is for the network’s energy amount.
If the green bar does indicate something, what might that be?
Not sure about that. There isn’t a green bar above the piston. The piston is really just eye candy that shows the ore being processed into AC. It’s just one more animation that plays when this is happening.
I don’t have any experience on developing games, so i really have no idea of how hard is to develop a complicated game as CW3, but how much time will it last until you advance into beta, and then until you release?
I’m working hard to have the beta ready by the end of Aug and the release ready before the end of the year. Developers are notorious for missing deadlines, though. And I’m not special in that regards 🙂 So take anything I say as a goal and a guideline.
Imagine-you have taken half of the map back from the creeper,you move you’r units to retake it completly but some ” Mistical power ” prevents you’r units from moving forward,Creeper has setted a shield system and to destroy it you will have to use Hack-O-Bot (you can rename it if you want) there is a panel of some sort,you place your hacker right next to it and it will start hacking the system.After about minute or two hacker will diasable the shield and activate self destruction. * Idk probably there were loads of viruses xD *
So . . . . . . . . like a nullifier.
Maybe the hacking could be a mini game, but i like the idea of enemy shields.
Before the CW2 came out I had ideas for Weapon Upgrades. An ability to freeze creeper, or release Anti-Creeper from within the attack. Though the frozen creeper would just sit still and have to be attacked to diminish, and wouldn’t melt back to normal Creeper, but that could be changed. I had other idea’s, but they escape my memory at this time.
These idea’s are the revised versions from since then, of course.
Frozen Creeper is something I have on my TODO list…
I just had a thought:
Is it possible that the attack vectors of strafers and bombers could be CURVED paths?
This starts to drastically complicate things for the player… and for the flight physics. It also isn’t really necessary 99.9% of the time. The current system works really well without creating an interface burden for the player.
Two questions:
1. The tians tab, is that similar to Thor from CW1?
2. What is the orbital tab?
This build looks great nice job!
The Titans tab holds extra powerful units (like the Bertha).
The Orbital tab represents the ship in Orbit (what you visit each world in). It is where you carry the Command Nodes and drop them from.
Will there be other things there?
ive wondered this for a while now, but why do the nullifiers always blow up after destroying an emitter?
go ahead and answer in the story of the game!
That’s how they destroy the emitters (according to the lore). They phase shift the emitter into a parallel reality them detonate like a regular explosive, sending an energy pulse down the beam to destroy the emitter.
Besides, otherwise you would be able to build them and move them around (reuse them) and that would mean you launch a really fast attack on an emitter without having the hold the ground for a minute or so.
ya that makes sense
now why do normal buildings get destroyed instantly though weapons can take damage, in a realism sense I understand in game play way
The weapons are on the front lines and need to be able to withstand some punishment, but the other buildings don’t usually need that, so the people don’t waste the added resources on extra armor
Do you lose instantly if all your command nodes are destroyed? What if you have a nullifier charging to destroy the last emitter (and it is being supplied by a transport)?
Also, how big are command nodes? I would guess about the size of the liberation ship from creeper world 2.
I was thinking something about creeper structures and power zones…
Currently – If when you nullify an emitter or a spore tower, you get a power zone, right? If you think back a bit on how an emitter came to be there – what if it was constructed on a power zone in the first place by creeper flood?
That gives an option to have unoccupied power zones which, if creeper floods them, can start constructing a new emitter or spore tower. (of course – this would use up some creeper to construct).
It would be interesting that creeper can take it’s power zone back if you lose it, and create a new creeper-structure.
Excellent thought! I could imagine a situation where a single blob of creeper lands on a planet that’s all ready been “cleansed”. There would be a few power zones here and there giving the player a head-start if they can get to it BUT it also give’s the creeper a foot hold! if the creeper got there first (and was given some time) the power zone would be come an emitter giving the creeper reinforcements!
This could create some very interesting situations!
And would ensure that a player would have to clear the area of creeper be fore destroying the emitter!
Will the CW3 story be detailing what happened to Abraxis and Platius after CW2 ended and Platius said that he was “needed”?
the only thing anybody knows about the story is that it happens in the far future, way after cw2. Virgil didn’t say how far…
In creeper wold 2, when there was enough anti creeper on a single unit, a phantom wouldn’t destroy or damage the unit. Will this still be in effect in game 3?
Could there be missions in ” past ” where there was no creeper? Like there is city everything is quiet….AND SUDDENLY 3 EMMITERS TELEPORT IN AND PEOPLE ARE DYNG LEFT AND RIGHT,THE CITY GOES BOOOOM……but….before it does….it launches…escape ” city……ODIN CITY…..and thats where cw1 begins
just wondering, how much pressure IS required to leave the remnants?