The Gamer's Quarter

[player 2]

So I'm making a Robotron clone (remaking an old game of mine, actually), and I'm looking for inspiration (reference material).

Here is the old game.

I'm looking at lots of games as source material. Shock Troopers is one. So is Smash TV. Total Carnage would be a third. None of the games has that thing that I want. Shock Troopers lacks real ballsy. Smash TV is too gameshow. And Total Carnage isn't gay enough. I think Contra Hardcorps is more along the lines of what I want to make, but it's... not the right kind of game!

The aesthetic is right, though. And the bosses, yeah, they're right, too.

Anyways. List Robotron clones. Or list games with crazy crazy atmosphere. Or movies or comics or whatever.
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Harveyjames]

I played a bunch of Robotron clones when I was checking out what was on Xbox Live Arcade. I can't really remember the names, but I remember thinking they all missed the point a little by leaving out the humans you have to rescue. The humans add so much to how you have to play- it means you have to sometimes weave in and out of the enemies a little to get the humans, because if you just blasted all the enemies surrounding them you might kill them by mistake. The humans create a lot of situations. It's a shame most Robotron-derived games leave them out really.

Jeff Minter did one called Llamatron which is probably worth checking out.

[dessgeega]

you should play battlegirl. it's all about chasing and rescuing little hostage-creatures while evading an on-going assault from an army of enemies and an evil overlord who taunts you from the center of the screen. like a lot of old arcade games, it manages to look like how the future used to look.

robotron x is still one of my favorite remakes, even if the camera sometimes makes it hard to see where you're going. the game makes it up to you the tempest 2000 way: giving you lots of bonus lives.
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[Harveyjames]

I love things that look like the future used to look. This is the primary reason I'm looking forward to stuff like Warioware Wii. It's a timeless look!

Robotron 64 nearly achieved that, but it narrowly misses and somehow becomes the most ass-ugly commercially released game I've ever played. It might have been ok if they'd left the background black, instead of the greeny-purple virtual light synth they used instead. That game was a big let down. Not recommended.

[dessgeega]

aww, james.

bangaioh is robotron with level design. which is none too shabby.
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[SuperWes]

Neo Contra should have been a Robotron clone but controls kinda badly because it's not. It definately falls in line with your Contra Hardcorps name drop (and not just because of the Contra title). If you haven't played it yet you should!

I'd be interested in seeing a version of Robotron that's based on the modern ideal of what the future will look like as inspiration. But then, I guess the only real difference between that and the past ideal is that everything is chromed out instead of black and blue.

-Wes
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[Harveyjames]

I suppose the modern ideal of what the future will look like is exemplified by Chris Cunningham's video for All Is Full of Love (i.e smooth, clean lines and white, pared down and functional forms). It's a fair assumption, since this look is evident in today's modern hi-tech appliances, like the ipod, Wii, and DS Lite. But all of this kind of takes its cue from 60's spacecraft design, Stanley Kubrick etc, so there's still an element of retro futurism in there. I wonder what would be the 'true' modern vision of the future, say if we had an equivalent of the Italian futurist movement working today.

I think this aforementioned aesthetic is familiar ground for games now, perhaps (see PN:03, Portal).

[player 2]

Futurism?



YAY
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Lackey]

Kenta Cho when he isn't using black backgrounds, pretty much.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[xvs07]

I'm still holding out for a glossy, glassy, liquid-curvy, classic black future, at least once a sufficiently scratch-proof plastic is invented. Lexan is *almost* good enough..

As for Robotroids with heart, check out Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Also possibly Ghoul Patrol, its sequel.

Blacktape itself looks pretty good, so I'm excited to see what you come up with.

[Harveyjames]

[player 2]

[squidlarkin]

[Cycle]

http://www.puppygames.net/ultratron/

That one has a retro-future look. The creator didn't listen to me when I asked for a hyper mode, unfortunately. It takes way too long for the action to pick-up.

You could also play all the Geometry Wars clones, like Grid Wars (none are as awesome as the original though).

I see someone else already suggested Battle-Girl > : (

Serious Sam is pretty much Robotron in first-person!

I'm sure I have other suggestions (robotron is one of my favourite games) but I can't think of any right now so I'll come back. Perhaps.

Also, you can play the original (and a much of other great miway arcade games) online at the midway arcade. Great ports.

http://www.midwayarcade.com/MAT2/MAT1/classic.php

[simplicio]

my favorite thing about the puppygames thing is that they created a series of remakes all in the same style. My favorite is the Space Invaders one.

[dessgeega]

[player 2]

Man, I just played Alien Syndrome on MAME. Wow.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Lackey]

Have you played Destruction Carnival?
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[player 2]

!!!!!

D.S. Troy is my homie. In fact, DC is part of the reason why I made Gearbolt way back in the day. Charles keeps telling me to finish it, and I keep telling him that the way it was isn't good enough. He's kinda excited for this version, though.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Cryoburner]

[dessgeega]

it's kind of adorable how they label it "new controller for playstation 3".
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[Harveyjames]

[OtakupunkX]

The Monster House game on DS is a Robotron clone. Don't ask me how I know this.

[Lackey]

[Cryoburner]

I just tried that "blacktape" game you're remaking, and it's rather fun. The weapons remind me somewhat of C-Dogs. Speaking of C-Dogs, I always liked how various explosive objects were often scattered around the environment, leading to the occasional large chain of explosions. The molotov's also made for great fun. : )

Another suggestion would be for a more interesting variety of environments. The background was not exactly captivating, and it would be nice to have background graphics change between levels.

Also, do you currently have a web site? Neither the one listed within the game, or that in your profile, appear to be working.

[Lackey]

Wait, do I know Gearbolt, Player 2? It is like Blacktape? Have you posted Blacktape before? It seems really familiar and it does remind me of DC a lot. What's the aesthetic you're going for?
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[player 2]

Haha, Blacktape, Gearbolt Rage, and Destruction Carnival have a lot to do with each other. They even control the same.

Basically a game called Factor X came out and was heralded around the Klik community as an amazing game. I thought it was trash and said Destruction Carnival was better - and then I said I'd make the best overhead shooter in an hour. I took old sprites I had lying around for a Tactical Espionage Action game (Metal Gear), threw together an engine, and that's when Gearbolt Rage started.

This summer I worked at a summer camp teaching Multimedia Fusion to kids - Fusion is Klik & Play's great-grandchild. I got ancy and wanted to make games, so I dropped money on Fusion 2 and ported GBR over to Fusion. I then saved it as Blacktape :-p. The name Blacktape is just the company name I wanted to use for that version.

Anyways - Destruction Carnival is a big influence on me. Charles is a friend of mine, and we talk about this new version of GBR almost everday. I want to release it commercially, so I'm making professional graphics for it. That's why I'm scrapping the old project :-p and starting all over.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[kirkjerk]

Alien Syndrom on that collection was one of the few vaguely worthwhile bits.

I was a big fan of the original, though don't remember getting all that far. I thought the graphics on the C=64 were kind of intertesting in a pixelart sort of way, especially the little troopers, http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/c6402/aliensyn.html

But Bangai-O.. yeah, wow, that game is fantastic. It has this awesome charged up attack mechanic, where the more stuff that's about to hit you, the more bullets fly out in the attack, so if you're daring enough, you have an extreme offensive weapon. And the game gave huge bonuses to how many explosions you get on screen at once.

I actually wrote a walkthrouugh for that game,...
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/dreamcast/game/196683.html

[dessgeega]

[kirkjerk]

[Lackey]

I appreciate how clear of an axis you're defining your tastes on, kirk; at least it's consistent!

p2, that actually clears up a lot, thanks. I wasn't sure if I was looking at an echo from the past or if I'd just hallucinated it.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[kirkjerk]

[Lackey]

A microcosmic perspective is a good place to start for game design, I think.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[player 2]

Tara Donovan is one of the "hot" artists of the day. She examines the multiplicity of simple everday objects in interesting ways. It's a lot like creating a game, I think.

Also: are there any robotron clones where objects interact with each other? I can't think of good/simple ways to get my enemies to interact with each other. They all act indepndently and gang up on the hero just by coincidence :-\
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[dessgeega]

have you played the crossroads games? they're not really in the vein of robotron - they're closer to wizard of wor. but the enemies all interact with each other in interesting ways.
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[Lackey]

Nice reference. This is absorbing. Her work (which I glanced at, briefly) reminds me a bit of another artist named Tom Friedman.

I can't think of any Robotron games where the other charaters interact, but I imagine it would be a bit like Crossroads without the maze. Unless you count the humans in the original? In any case I'm a big fan of autonomous enemies. Good luck making it work!

edit: Way to preempt me, dess! As appropriate as that may be.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[kirkjerk]

[Cycle]

[quote="kirkjerk"]

[player 2]

The last Gauntlet game is actually pretty fun.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Cycle]

Well! Maybe it is, I haven't actually played it. It's just what I heard. Maybe I'll try it out after all.

[player 2]

Hey you guys - I just uploaded a full screen version of Destruction Carnival. You can download it here. It's a classic game that doesn't get enough classic game love, I think. Try it out, it's probably the best Robotron-y game I've ever played (not to mention the inspiration for my own game).
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Six]

[player 2]

Ok, so I've gotten pretty far in the remake of GBR. The one problem I'm worried about is that I'm not sure how it will run on other people's computers. If anyone would like to see a work in progress:

The original:
http://www.fivehit.org/blacktape/blacktape.zip

The new version:
http://www.fivehit.org/blacktape/gbrd.zip

I changed an important game mechanic. If you tap shift (action button 1) while overlapping an enemy, you will knife them. But touching an enemy will alert them to you and they will attack soon (exclamation points ala MGS). This makes enemies like the dog more vicious because upon a succesful attack he will repeat. So make sure to let go of shift for strafing and use it for melee combat.

Also, you can't die.

And it's pretty hard.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[purplechair]

I'm so tired I can't even read right now, but I'd just like to say how much I love Gain Ground (Arcade, Master System, Genesis, etc).

It's not a true Robotron clone (with independant shooting controls and that), but it's a top-down area shooter thing. And it's fun.

[dessgeega]

i've been playing gearbolt rage finally and it's really really good.

just so you know.
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[player 2]

Thanks Dess, I was actually wondering what your opinion would be. Maybe I'll contact you about testing/developing the new version as soon as I have something more substantial.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Six]

It's pretty different from what you're doing in tone and style, but Gamma Bros. is one of the better Robotronish games I've played in recent memory.

Also, I just realized I forgot to say it before: I tried GBR, and it's a helluva lot of fun. The remake is shaping up nicely, too.

[player 2]

[dessgeega]

[SuperWes]