Space Hulk

Game Play & Game Design
#1

I’m playing around with a game based on the board game Space Hulk. The demo is currently here:

http://www.cokeandcode.com/hulk/v2/ (few megs here)

I’m a bit stuck, in the board game there are 3 types of counter on the board, Marines (MD2 Model), Genestealers (MD2 Model) and Blips. Blips represent the marine’s scanner detecting an arbitary number of genestealers (bad guys). So… here’s where I’m stuck… how do I represent the blips in the 3D world? Do I represent them in the 3D world?

Any ideas/suggestions appreciated…

Kev

#2

I’m still getting ‘cokeandcode could not be found’… :’(

#3

Eeep, noone ever got www.cokeandcode.com couldn’t be found before… games.cokeandcode.com yes, but not www…

Double eeep!

Kev

#4

Maybe this’ll work…

http://www.newdawnsoftware.com/~kevin/cokeandcode.com/hulk/v2/

Looks like someone killed the name srever on the local box… lovely. Now I get to wait for a few weeks before sort themselfs out again!

Kev

#5

What do you mean, “windows only” ? >:(

Anyway, blips were copied from the scene in Alien with the motion-detector, it’s just that in a board-game, having a separate motion detetor is a PITA.

It would make a lot of sense for you to have a separate panel, just containing a green-on-black grid, + plan of known rooms + blips.

#6

A minimap… yes, just been discussing that… makes alot of sense. Actually the way the game works the whole map has to be known initially… as though you scanned the hulk before you got there…

Red transparent spheres seem to be the best idea so far.

Kev

PS. Yeah, sorry about windows only… I’ll sort that right now.

EDIT: Ok, linux and macos should be available now thought I can’t test it form here.

#7

[quote] Blips represent the marine’s scanner detecting an arbitary number of genestealers (bad guys).
[/quote]

[quote]how do I represent the blips in the 3D world?
[/quote]
With an arbitrary number of genestealers? :stuck_out_tongue:

I loved the old Space Hulks fps/tactics type game from years ago ( Vengeance of the Blood Angels ?? ) where you told people where to go and then their bolters got jammed and they died.

“BethOR’s bolter is JAMMED!!!”

Happy days.

#8

Ah, but you’re not to know how many genestealers a blip represents until you can see the location.

Kev

#9

And if you can’t see the location, how would you see it’s representation in the 3D world?

I would keep the blips on the map.

#10

In the board game you can see the whole base at all times I believe, as though you scanned it before landing…

Yes the blips will appear on the map, but translating the map in your mind and mapping it on to the 3d world so you know where they’re actually going to be is just going to be annoying during play.

I’ve got for a flashing green circle on the floor (can now been see in the demo).

I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have bothered thinking about this at all :slight_smile:

Kev

#11

I see- for some reason remembering the one I played in the past was making me think it was a first person view…

me == dumbass.

#12

Ah ha! An old commerical conversion was indeed first person (with 5 cameras).

I’m really considering the board game as source though.

Kev

#13

Use fog of war. Black out any map that’s not been seen.

Cas :slight_smile:

#14

Its actually part of the game to be able to see the rest of the world. I think you’d have to play the board game to understand…

Although, by the sounds of it, everyone here thinks I should change the rules to fit more into the existing game of this type…

Kev

#15

I think you should have a toggle to bring down a little screen. Like a glass-like cover that slides down over the screen. When that’s down, you see the red blips pulsing in their respective areas. So you say, “hmm… one or more bad guys are over that way, ahh ok, this is what I’ll do…” then you press the button again, the screen slides back up, you continue playing.

#16

[quote]I think you should have a toggle to bring down a little screen. Like a glass-like cover that slides down over the screen. When that’s down, you see the red blips pulsing in their respective areas. So you say, “hmm… one or more bad guys are over that way, ahh ok, this is what I’ll do…” then you press the button again, the screen slides back up, you continue playing.
[/quote]
I agree, but allow gameplay to continue with the overlay down.

#17

woah thats cool! I wish someone would write a space invaders 1001: how to animate your 3D alien models ;D

I may be a bit confused about how this is going to work, but if you are going to be viewing these ‘blips’ in order to locate enemies then it sounds like you will be navigating while looking at the mini-map/radar/thing. If thats true then I would stay away from doing the overlay idea. I hate having a map or whatever over my game while I’m playing 'cause if its available I tend to want it showing at all times. I’d prefer it was off in a corner so I could still enjoy the game’s graphics while playing (I’m thinking about the map in the old doom games and on diablo II, diablo gave you the option to make it small and put it in the corner though).

#18

You could check out

I just came across it by chance in sourceforge whilst searching for something else and right after reading your post … eeeery.

Its turn based (as i presume yours is, haven’t played the demo) and 2D top down. Little pulsating green blobs mark the progress of the genestealers in the map itself.

D.

#19

I’ve still got the game, mate :wink: One of my favourites ever. Except Dark Future. Which was the b0mb.

Cas :slight_smile:

#20

Hmm Malohkan’s idea here might be quite nice. It’d make it a bit different anyway.