cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (12/13/89)
Well, I've been looking for it for a while and I finally found it. There
was this game on the Apple II way back when that was called something
like BattleRobots or something. Anyway, the player would write a program
in the Robot language and pit it against other robots which were also
programmed. The goal was to have your robot survive. This was, in my
opinion, an excellent use of the simulation ability of personal computers.
Now Origin Systems has updated the concept (their Tanks now) and called it
OMEGA. The new features are that you can pick your chassis (you`re funds
limited until you reach "OMEGA" level), pick your weapon, pick your
scanner, and pick the size of your gas tank. Then you program this thing
and when you are satisfied it is ready, you apply for advancement.
The motif of the game is that you are a top secret cybertank designer and
you get promoted based on how well your tank designs do. When you are a
pro (omega class) designer you get to take on the world. Also Origin is
running a contest to compete in with other human built tanks.
Strengths of this version :
The battlefields are much more detailed, having both immovable and
blastable obstacles. They are also larger than the old battlerobots fields
so the navigation part of the program becomes more significant. The execution
of the game, the editor, simulator, jokes are all pretty well done and it
can be installed on a hard disk which is a big plus.
Weaknesses of this version :
The early advancement tanks aren't to tough to beat. I used the
sample tank "alpha" that I built in the tutorial and it stomped the challenge
tank "dinky" 9 battles to 1. Also the supply of ammo is unlimited so a lot
of successful programs just blast, blast, blast. Differences in the options
on the tanks don't translate well into battlefield advantages. Generally
you want the most you can afford of everything. The weapons are all about
the same from Turbo Laser up through Nuke. I was suprised you had to hit a
tank the same number of times with a Turbo Laser as you did with a nuke to
kill it. This seems non intuitive, but since the laser was cheaper and fired
faster than the nuke, I use them in all my designs. :-)
Overall impressions :
I like this game a lot. I started writing it a couple of times
because the Amiga didn't have one available. I'm not sure if my version
would be better, I suspect the detail I would add (like explosive armor,
missles) would not work well. Clearly a big feature would be the ability
for people to exchange tanks and see how they did against each other, I
haven't tried that yet. For people who liked the Apple II version this is
a must buy, if you are more into arcade games you can skip it.
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@Eng.Sun.COM
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
"If it didn't have bones in it, it wouldn't be crunchy now would it?!"jonasf@kuling.UUCP (Jonas Flygare) (12/13/89)
From article <129150@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>, by cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis): > Overall impressions : > > I like this game a lot. I started writing it a couple of times > because the Amiga didn't have one available. I'm not sure if my version > would be better, I suspect the detail I would add (like explosive armor, > missles) would not work well. Clearly a big feature would be the ability > for people to exchange tanks and see how they did against each other, I > haven't tried that yet. For people who liked the Apple II version this is > a must buy, if you are more into arcade games you can skip it. > > I have to agree, the game is VERY nice, but I have some gripes.. First, when I got home to try the game several of the examples in the manual wouldn't compile, especially it seemed that the examples with multiple includes barfed. Then I noticed the name of the diskette was "COPY OF OMEGA" which got me wondering as to how untouched it was when I bought it. Needless to say, I returned the game (with much regret as I did like it) and they promised to call the general agent here in Sweden and ask about the things. (Yeah, I believe in Santa too.. :-) Soo.. I'm now sitting writing on my own version, so it'll work.. :-) One thing I didn't like with Omega was the graphics, I'd prefer vector graphics instead, so you'd see things from your tanks view. Wonder if it would be possible to make it fast enough..? Anyway.. If these problems are due to me getting a bad copy, then I recommend the game very much, otherwise, wait for them to fix the bugs. Comments, Chuck? -- jonasf@kuling.docs.uu.se : "Doedth eddydthig dthrike you adth dthrayge Jonas (flax) Flygare : aboud dthidth houdth?" -- Dirk Gently
cfg@grad10.cs.duke.edu (Christopher F. Gandy) (12/14/89)
I too find this to be an interesting game. I agree that the early advancement challenges are not too tough, I made it through the first 5 or 6 levels with a bare-bones tank using prewritten routines. I did something different though, rather than calling the routines with an "include" line, when editing my tank's AI I loaded the routine directly to the AI editting screen. That was quite enlightening. While the code written to perform the pre-written modules works, they are far from the most efficient way to do the tasks at hand. Loading the module put all the code in a spot where I could modify it and get improved perforaance without having to design the program from scratch. This might be a way around any problems with includes. (though I would suspect the "copy of" to be a tipoff that you did not have an untouched game). While the graphics could be a bit better, and a first-person point of view might be interesting, I think the current setup is quite enjoyable. I find myself constantly thinking of little tweaks to defeat a particular tank, and then have to incorporate them into an overall design. A pleasant break from programming PROLOG list recursion. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * I won't grow up, not a penny will I pinch | Department of Computer Science, * I will never grow a moustache, or a | Duke University, * fraction of an inch. | Durham, NC 27706 * Cause growing up is awfuller than all the | * awful things that ever were. | ARPA: cfg@cs.duke.edu * I won't grow up, never grow up..... | CSNET: cfg@duke * Not ME! (P. Pan & cfg) | UUCP: decvax!duke!cfg -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (12/14/89)
In article <1292@kuling.UUCP> jonasf@kuling.UUCP (Jonas Flygare) writes: >I have to agree, the game is VERY nice, but I have some gripes.. >First, when I got home to try the game several of the examples in the >manual wouldn't compile, especially it seemed that the examples >with multiple includes barfed. I noticed this too until I wrote the program with <tab>include <name> they didn't work. I also switched to all upper case and after that no problems. > Then I noticed the name of the diskette >was "COPY OF OMEGA" which got me wondering as to how untouched it was >when I bought it. Needless to say, I returned the game (with much regret >as I did like it) and they promised to call the general agent here in >Sweden and ask about the things. (Yeah, I believe in Santa too.. :-) Mine too! It didn't seem to affect the game tho. An interesting feature of this game is that a) It doesn't multitask and it doesn't disable A-M and A-N so you can bring the workbench screen to the front and see that the game is using the workbench screen memory for it's own memory. Bogus since there is no way in hell why this games shouldn't multitask. >Soo.. I'm now sitting writing on my own version, so it'll work.. :-) >One thing I didn't like with Omega was the graphics, I'd prefer vector >graphics instead, so you'd see things from your tanks view. Wonder if >it would be possible to make it fast enough..? Well if you are writing your own copy allow me to suggest some of the things I had in mind. Vector graphics would indeed be fast enough, I've found though that after the first few battles I want to run lots of high speed battles (using the satellite view) to fully understand my design. Things that could be changed : Make the computer a factor, allow someone to buy a 1 mip, 2 mip, 3 mip etc computer. Separate engine, armor, and treads on the tanks so that you can design a light tank or a heavy tank which moves faster or slower etc. Amphibious vs non amphibious, treads vs tires, ... Make the use of the scanner more realistic. Meaning in particular that a "passive" scanner should be available that would detect someone else using a scanner. Much like radar today. Missles would be good, allow a tank to hold a rack of 4 or 8 with types being selectable from RADAR to IR to dumb. Mines would be nice too, if you could set up a program to move around and set them up then wait for an agressor. Differing terrain, OMEGA is pretty good at this, but stuff like mud should slow you down, and grades should be able to hide you. Defiladed tanks were one of the best weapons the Israllies had in the 6 day war. I keep coming up with ideas as I talk, so I'll stop and rest. If you do build something let me know, I would be very interested in testing it. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@Eng.Sun.COM These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you. "If it didn't have bones in it, it wouldn't be crunchy now would it?!"