Thoughts on a shooter clicker...

[Callan S.]

I'm fiddling around with the idea of sort of emulating some of the aspects of a fps, if only in terms of aiming and firing (no running around a landscape). Indeed probably more toward operation wolf.

Obviously it being a browser game it's not going to be split second timing (more like split minute timing!). But all the same I'm looking for alternatives to 'click to fight...click again', so even if I can't get the break neck action of operation wolf, if I can atleast get somewhat away from 'click till you get rsi' I'm happy. Obviously the further away, the happier.

I've made this little mock up, which doesn't do much more than show a basic graphical grid and an icon at the moment
http://www.driftwurld.herobo.com/gridder/gridder.php

First off I'm wondering about resource use - I intend to use a few different squares in the background. Usually though once the computers loaded them, it draws from the cache rather than download it all again, right? So it shouldn't be a huge drain if I mostly repeat the same graphic tiles?

Onto gameplay, the idea is that you don't just click on the icon, you lead the target - it'll flash the leading distance at the bottom, then you have to remember how many squares it is as it goes away until it next changes. It'll change ever so often (not all the time) during battle, so it's a bit of a memory game. Might even have different distances for left and right, just to make it harder!

I'm also thinking that sometimes an enemy flashes a certain colour or something, and if you shoot him, it gives you a chance at a power up - latter there will be another guy of another colour - click him and you get the power up. This keeps you watching out for this and works your memory.

Also you only have X amount of seconds to click - otherwise the enemies keep going (well, to be exact the next time you call on the database, it will calculate the number of turns the enemy would have had in between now and last time, then run them all!!).

Any thoughts on resource use or other ways of trying to get at that operation wolf action, are appreciated!

Also I'll take that example down in a few days, if it's too resource hungry

[Jackolantern]

I think this is a very interesting idea. To my knowledge, the images should cache and load quickly. They did for me at least.

Now I am not a CSS wizz, but could you create a style to add those repeated attributes to so it isn't repeated a hundred times on the page? That could save some critical moments of loading. Also, you could perhaps add a bit of Javascript to make the page refresh after the time the player has to hit the enemy has expired. Of course you would still need to actually calculate it and keep track of it on the server, but the JS counter to refresh could just be a convenience to the player.

[hallsofvallhalla]

your mock up is in PHP but you will have to do this in Javascript. The refresh per shot would not go over well and no movement would take place.

It is very easy to do it in JS though. Make the images randomly move or move in the direction you want with loops, make the onmousedown for the image run a function.

http://www.quirksmode.org/js/events_mouse.html

[Callan S.]

Hi Halls,

Well, you can do movement (one grid position at a time) because I've got the grid in a session array, and can add to it or move what's in the array, then it renders.

Is javascript able to send info back and forth from the database? I tried googling for some examples of a shooter or shoot 'em up game to draw on, but didn't find any actual scripts listed.

Currently I'm just going with what I already know and works to some degree.

[Jackolantern]

Is javascript able to send info back and forth from the database?

Yep, that is AJAX You can send text, XML, JSON or other formats back and forth from Javascript to the web server with AJAX. Just be sure you don't have your shooting fail/success calculations in the Javascript.

[hallsofvallhalla]

Well, you can do movement (one grid position at a time) because I've got the grid in a session array, and can add to it or move what's in the array, then it renders.

but that's not real time like the example you showed. Maybe I am confused on what you are after.

[Callan S.]

Well, I don't currently know how to do something like operation wolf, so I'm going for split minute rather than split second action It's not real time (well, whatever frames per second a program runs at (anything over 24 and people treat it as real time )), but it will be timed. Bit of fast pace to it, bit of difficulty.

But if I could figure out how to have something like java run a game and it'd send data back to the PHP on each click, cool. But I suspect it's well beyond what I know right now, and I'd rather shoot for something I can make in a couple of weeks and then have some fun with rather than try for something that would be completed in several months time. I try to make games because I like playing them, rather than just like making them, I guess. So there's a priority on soon.

Anyway, I'm rambling.

Moving on I'm thinking of not using leading, but having aiming icons that show up randomly on screen at random times. If you click on them in a proper sequence, you get increasing bonus damage, but go out of sequence and you lose all bonus damage. Also I think I'll have it that you have an aiming recticle and can only move it so far each click, thus making positioning/aim important. I toyed with a draft which just shows the icons at the moment, but using the draft as if it were enforcing the rules I have in mind, it was engaging: http://www.driftwurld.herobo.com/gridder/gridder2.php

Needs more, but it's got some engagement now, I think. Rambling again...

[Gustava]

I tried out the example and it has potential

I actually had an idea to make something like this about a year back but I was in the middle of something..Always thought it would be a nice addition to a game where you could create a type of 'skill' element. Even if it was something simple, beats the normal repetition of clicking around

[Rastan]

I like this idea. I don't have much to offer in terms of help with it but it does sound like it could become something interesting to play.