22: TF2 Goldrush as a Puzzler

[dammit]

Honestly, although I followed the theme of the competition, this game was simply meant to be a practice run for me. Now, somehow, I've been wangled into sharing it. So here it is.

[final]
TF2 Puzzler


Please note: These are simply the introductory rooms/levels. They're not challenging (I know!) but they were (a) meant to get me used to the basics and understand how GM works and (b) meant to give the player some idea of what those squiggly sprites were intended to represent.

I haven't yet got a medic working the way I want him too and I haven't yet figured out how to set up an Engineer, but working on both of those.

Controls are simply the arrow keys and there is score deductions for being killed. Points are added for finishing the level. I still need to put a score deduction in for not finishing the level before the time runs out.

Also: no sound just yet. My apologies for that.

[Fengol]

This is SO FANTASTIC! What an awesome puzzle game! The spy and the scout feel a little samey, so maybe at once the player has reached the spy level you can already start throwing in different enemies together and say something like "Watch out for that spy". I love the way he de-cloaks when he's near even if he misses you, and the fact that you just need to touch the cart to make it move forward as supposed to pushing it in the right direction.

Can I make a suggestion that you maybe change the Heavy to turning/spread-type shot (i.e. fire a bullet, quickly turn 22 degrees and fire and repeat 4 times for 90 degrees then pause a bit before starting again) and make the sniper shoot one long, thin bullet like the Heavy's current movement pattern?

If you want to make the demo a little more animated, maybe put a timer on the bombs that they naturally explode after a time, then make a moving bomb that moves from the demo to the place the last bomb exploded.

[Nandrew]

Hehehe.

"Meet the Chippit. He's a dick."

It's turning out to be an impressively solid offering for a first project, to be sure!

[dammit]

^__^ Thanks, I'm quite proud of it myself. And yes, I was very tempted to replace scout with "Chippit".

Originally Posted by Fengol

This is SO FANTASTIC! What an awesome puzzle game! The spy and the scout feel a little samey, so maybe at once the player has reached the spy level you can already start throwing in different enemies together and say something like "Watch out for that spy". I love the way he de-cloaks when he's near even if he misses you, and the fact that you just need to touch the cart to make it move forward as supposed to pushing it in the right direction. Can I make a suggestion that you maybe change the Heavy to turning/spread-type shot (i.e. fire a bullet, quickly turn 22 degrees and fire and repeat 4 times for 90 degrees then pause a bit before starting again) and make the sniper shoot one long, thin bullet like the Heavy's current movement pattern? If you want to make the demo a little more animated, maybe put a timer on the bombs that they naturally explode after a time, then make a moving bomb that moves from the demo to the place the last bomb exploded.

You can thank Gazza_N for the way the cart moves. I wouldn't have a had a clue how to do it otherwise. I also just transferred that same workings to the spy to make him de-cloak. I like your ideas with the demo. I must admit I wasn't sure how to work him, because I wanted him to be quite different to the others.

Will definitely look into adjusting the heavy and sniper. Next update will actually involve some puzzles with friendly team members.

[Chippit]

:<

[Azimuth]

But you are a dick, Chippit.

[Chippit]

:<

[edg3]

Epic. :D nice dammit! Only thing i disliked is sometimes the collision bugs and i have to walk away from the wall and back again to get through some spaces.

[dammit]

Originally Posted by edg3

Epic. :D nice dammit! Only thing i disliked is sometimes the collision bugs and i have to walk away from the wall and back again to get through some spaces.

Hmmm, sorry about that. Not sure what that could be from. Perhaps I should use smaller sprites for the walls and thus make a more detailed level.

Edit: Edg3 wasn't it you who, at rAge last year, told me anyone can make a game? Turns out I decided to test that theory. :P

[dammit]

Originally Posted by Fengol

This is SO FANTASTIC! What an awesome puzzle game! The spy and the scout feel a little samey, so maybe at once the player has reached the spy level you can already start throwing in different enemies together and say something like "Watch out for that spy". I love the way he de-cloaks when he's near even if he misses you, and the fact that you just need to touch the cart to make it move forward as supposed to pushing it in the right direction. Can I make a suggestion that you maybe change the Heavy to turning/spread-type shot (i.e. fire a bullet, quickly turn 22 degrees and fire and repeat 4 times for 90 degrees then pause a bit before starting again) and make the sniper shoot one long, thin bullet like the Heavy's current movement pattern? If you want to make the demo a little more animated, maybe put a timer on the bombs that they naturally explode after a time, then make a moving bomb that moves from the demo to the place the last bomb exploded.

Okay, so, I took your advice about the heavy and it's working well. It's much trickier to get past him now. The spy is also a total dick now, as he should be, so that should be more interesting. I've edited the demo as you suggested too, with the stickies exploding every now and then. I'll let him throw some grenades around too.

This weekend I'll finish engy, and hopefully sort the medic out too (really cannot figure out whats going wrong with him) and add some more exciting levels with some friendlies. ^__^

[Fengol]

the medic should stand by another enemy and build up uber. When full charged he and the enemy go invuln and the other enemy does it's action without a pause. So the heavy would spin a couple of times completely round, the sniper would fire a couple of shots in succession, the scout runs faster, etc. Basically the medic forces the player to run and hide and "sit it out" until the uber is over.

The engy should sit next to his sentry and the sentry only fires a missle when the player passes in front of it (so it's not timed like the sniper or heavy)

[dammit]

Originally Posted by Fengol

the medic should stand by another enemy and build up uber. When full charged he and the enemy go invuln and the other enemy does it's action without a pause. So the heavy would spin a couple of times completely round, the sniper would fire a couple of shots in succession, the scout runs faster, etc. Basically the medic forces the player to run and hide and "sit it out" until the uber is over. The engy should sit next to his sentry and the sentry only fires a missle when the player passes in front of it (so it's not timed like the sniper or heavy)

That was pretty much my plan with the medic, however, i could not for the life of me get him to follow the heavy's rotation. He'd do the 270 degrees and then refuse to jump to start or jump to xstart, ystart. Not a clue why.

Good plan with the engy. Will work on him this weekend.

[Fengol]

why can't he stay where he is, and you explore how to do particles so you can show the healing gun stream between the heavy and the medic? If particles are difficult have the medic just continuously shoot the heavy but, of course, don't deal any damage just delete the bullet on collision.

[edg3]

Originally Posted by dammit

Edit: Edg3 wasn't it you who, at rAge last year, told me anyone can make a game? Turns out I decided to test that theory. :P

Maybe, but then again, th whole of Game.Dev were saying that werent they? (unless Im a black sheep of course) Its great that you're joining us though :D

[dammit]

Originally Posted by Fengol

why can't he stay where he is, and you explore how to do particles so you can show the healing gun stream between the heavy and the medic? If particles are difficult have the medic just continuously shoot the heavy but, of course, don't deal any damage just delete the bullet on collision.

Well, I wanted the heavy and the medic to be a spefic team and with the heavy rotating, I wanted to keep the medic behind him constantly. It makes more sense to me that way, and I can't figure out why it isn't working :<

I could definitely give the medic a 'healing bullet/beam' but again, if he isn't rotating with the heavy he'll be static and the heavy will shoot through him, which will look odd.

Originally Posted by edg3

Maybe, but then again, th whole of Game.Dev were saying that werent they? (unless Im a black sheep of course) Its great that you're joining us though :D

Probably, but I think you were the only person I actually believed. ;)

[Fengol]

nah, I don't think it's that hectic if the heavy shoots through the medic and in reality, the medic doesn't always need to be behind the heavy

[dammit]

Update: There is now a rotating (courtesy of Skinklizzard) medic who also ubers at this point, once per rotation. An engineer with level 2 sentries has been added too, and the final level also involves friendly team mates which are almost vital to solve the puzzle for the level. There is now a score board at the end.

Let me know if there are any problems.

Known issues:
1. If you finish the game, it loops the high scores, showing it indefinitely. This will be fixed in the next one I upload.
2. Sniper apparently moves through the walls on occasion. Will get this fixed asap.

Above issues and some others fixed [see first post].

Epic collective fail: No one who has tried it out had seen the spelling error in "Time Remaing" :P Gazza pointed it out just now. It's now fixed. :P

[zakeroph]

I must say i really enjoyed it :P
also seeing as it seems to be the standard...Chippit is a dick
sorry it's the peer pressure I didn't want to say it, really i didn't

[dammit]

:P Thanks zakeroph.

Just an update: what has been fixed (definitely, I've double checked this time)
- The looping of the high scores is a thing of the past. Ending the game will bring you to the first page where you can either replay it or exit.
- Sniper no longer moves through walls
- Scouts now move better
- "Time Remaing" changed to "Time Remaining"

I've just finished a second more complex puzzle, and hoping to get two more done over the weekend. And then, when I'm done, I'll be neatening up the exact locations of the bullet spawns as well as some non-vital elements.

Expect a new version fairly soon.

Up to 14 levels total, with two being true "puzzles" however, the last level is giving me a few hassles and I'm getting some repetition of messages for no reason I can figure. Will hopefully have this sorted by the weekend.

[dammit]

Well, to my mind, the game is as finished as it's going to get before the deadline but I'm outta cap so I'll upload the final version on the first. Prepare for Awesome and Win and Stuff.