60 Tons - better collisions, solving a problem
by kcpdad · 12/28/2013 (4:56 am) · 2 comments
60 Tons is a Windows only multi-player team FPS tank game. The project is a personal hobby of mine in which I get to scratch my programming itch.
You join one of four teams as a tank in first person mode to battle the other teams. There are bases with flags to be captured but most of the fun is shooting the other tanks with various weapons. The tanks aren't realistic, for example you can cloak them and they even fly if you equip the right module.
The main design goal is to reward and encourage team play while discouraging solo play. Tanks can take a fair amount of damage which means it takes a while for a tank to be destroyed one on one. A very good tank player has little chance against two mediocre players so grouping and collaboration are essential for survival.
The project status is tracked using Trello. Trello is a great tool and I recommend it for small projects.
The new build, 0.35, has improved tank vs. tank collisions. No more tank overlaps or driving through each other. All the improvements in the build can be seen in the Trello list called Live Build.
This build I solved some technical problems with a gameplay change. Each team has a set of drones that guard the base. The drones can be called out of base by a player using the Drone Control module. The drones have been modified to fly straight up, traverse horizontally across the arena and then lower vertically to a spot 20 units above the tank's position. I had problems with drones bunching and getting stuck to each other when called too quickly. I worked on solutions where drones would detect other drones and building and move around to avoid them. That was a bit of a hassle so I tried disabling collisions between drones so they would simply overlap which I thought would be a simple engine fix but my initial attempts were fruitless.
Finally i took the easy way out and changed the gameplay so if drones collided with each other they would simply explode. My feeling is that a skilled drone operator would avoid this problem so this would reward the better player.
See it in action.
Here is a Intro on how to join and play. When you join, go to the white arrow and hit enter. That will place you in the "pit stop" where you can equip your tank. Try any of the 10 preset configurations to get started fast.
I'm always looking for feedback. Testing events are usually held weekly and announced on the Facebook page, Twitter, the forums and an email mailing list.
Thanks for your time and support!
Home Page
Twitter
Forums - Use the tank name Vanguard to register
Facebook group
Youtube channel
You join one of four teams as a tank in first person mode to battle the other teams. There are bases with flags to be captured but most of the fun is shooting the other tanks with various weapons. The tanks aren't realistic, for example you can cloak them and they even fly if you equip the right module.
The main design goal is to reward and encourage team play while discouraging solo play. Tanks can take a fair amount of damage which means it takes a while for a tank to be destroyed one on one. A very good tank player has little chance against two mediocre players so grouping and collaboration are essential for survival.
The project status is tracked using Trello. Trello is a great tool and I recommend it for small projects.
The new build, 0.35, has improved tank vs. tank collisions. No more tank overlaps or driving through each other. All the improvements in the build can be seen in the Trello list called Live Build.
This build I solved some technical problems with a gameplay change. Each team has a set of drones that guard the base. The drones can be called out of base by a player using the Drone Control module. The drones have been modified to fly straight up, traverse horizontally across the arena and then lower vertically to a spot 20 units above the tank's position. I had problems with drones bunching and getting stuck to each other when called too quickly. I worked on solutions where drones would detect other drones and building and move around to avoid them. That was a bit of a hassle so I tried disabling collisions between drones so they would simply overlap which I thought would be a simple engine fix but my initial attempts were fruitless.
Finally i took the easy way out and changed the gameplay so if drones collided with each other they would simply explode. My feeling is that a skilled drone operator would avoid this problem so this would reward the better player.
See it in action.
Here is a Intro on how to join and play. When you join, go to the white arrow and hit enter. That will place you in the "pit stop" where you can equip your tank. Try any of the 10 preset configurations to get started fast.
I'm always looking for feedback. Testing events are usually held weekly and announced on the Facebook page, Twitter, the forums and an email mailing list.
Thanks for your time and support!
Home Page
Forums - Use the tank name Vanguard to register
Facebook group
Youtube channel
About the author
Hobbyist working on a tank game when time allows. Play the prototype at => http://www.sytrept.com/60tons/
#2
12/31/2013 (4:31 am)
Thanks Steve. Yes, there are a lot of bindings mostly so you can activate the different modules separately. 
Associate Steve Acaster
[YorkshireRifles.com]
Nice idea about the signal strength being dependant on friendly/captured areas.