Brett_Gaylor@mindlink.UUCP (Brett Gaylor) (04/07/91)
I know I'm getting anoying, but what's RoboSport? E-mail me cause I'm dying to know.
rsvp@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (R. Scott V. Paterson) (04/11/91)
Last Friday I purchased a new game that I found to be a heck of a lot of fun to play. RoboSport, by Maxis (SimCity, SimEarth), is a game in which you control four robots. In the most basic game, Survival, the object is to destroy before being destroyed. You program the robots movements and actions and then watch as they perform. The graphics are excellent. Last night I played a truly awesome game; RoboSport on an appletalk network against other human controlled teams. The money spent on this game was well spent. just a review. Personally, I loved SimCity, didn't find SimEarth as entertaining, and mark RoboSport as a "BUY." -rsvp
Brett_Gaylor@mindlink.bc.ca (Brett Gaylor) (04/16/91)
I hate SimEarth as well. Lets phone them and give 'em crap. What I want to know is: Is RoboSport another stupid "Program them and watch their icons slam each other without you doing it" game? I heard Armor Alley is good as well. Help Me!!!!!!
dawg6844@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Race Bannon) (04/18/91)
Brett_Gaylor@mindlink.bc.ca (Brett Gaylor) writes: >I hate SimEarth as well. Lets phone them and give 'em crap. What I want to know >is: Is RoboSport another stupid "Program them and watch their icons slam each >other without you doing it" game? I heard Armor Alley is good as well. Help >Me!!!!!! NO. RoboSport is NOT another "write a program in some cheesey BASIC" type of robot game. It is much more akin to an electronic version of Squad Leader. You give your robots (a team) their orders for the next N seconds of game time by directing them around with the mouse and clicking icons. At the same time, your opponent(s), be they human or computer are doing the same thing. Then it generates a movie of those N seconds of game time, including color animation and great sound. Then you repeat. Several different objectives are available: Survival BaseBall Capture The Flag Free the Hostage etc. Until the objectives are met. -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Dan Walkowski | To understand recursion, Univ. of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci. | you must first understand recursion. walkowsk@cs.uiuc.edu |
pdubois@tornado.Berkeley.EDU (Paul DuBois) (04/19/91)
In article <1991Apr18.064640.12350@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dawg6844@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Race Bannon) writes: > (quoted complaining excised) > >NO. RoboSport is NOT another "write a program in some cheesey BASIC" type >of robot game. It is much more akin to an electronic version of Squad Leader. >You give your robots (a team) their orders for the next N seconds of game time >by directing them around with the mouse and clicking icons. At the same time, >your opponent(s), be they human or computer are doing the same thing. Then >it generates a movie of those N seconds of game time, including color animation >and great sound. Then you repeat. Several different objectives are available: >Survival >BaseBall >Capture The Flag >Free the Hostage >-- >_______________________________________________________________________________ >Dan Walkowski | To understand recursion, >Univ. of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci. | you must first understand recursion. >walkowsk@cs.uiuc.edu | I took a look a demo of this in the computer store. It only comes with three different map layouts; can you create more? When you look at the reduced map the scale along the sides of the screen seems to indicate that huge playing fields are possible, but none of the three sceneries included a really large one. Is there an editor somewhere maybe, or is Maxis planning on releasing "scenery disks" for $24.95 in a couple of months? (coming next... SimRoboSport!) pdubois@ocf.berkeley.edu
dwade@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Doug Wade) (04/19/91)
In article <1991Apr18.190203.4131@agate.berkeley.edu> pdubois@tornado.Berkeley.EDU (Paul DuBois) writes:
%I took a look a demo of this in the computer store. It only comes with three
%different map layouts; can you create more? When you look at the reduced map
%the scale along the sides of the screen seems to indicate that huge playing
%fields are possible, but none of the three sceneries included a really large
%one. Is there an editor somewhere maybe, or is Maxis planning on releasing
%"scenery disks" for $24.95 in a couple of months? (coming next... SimRoboSport!)
%
%pdubois@ocf.berkeley.edu
Actually, there are 24 playing fields in 3 "flavors". Some are
quite large. One thing to recall is that there's the idiot-mode where
you select one or two things and it picks a good sized field for
what you're doing and a good team and suchlike, but after you get the hang
of it you can change all kinds of garbage about the game. I found that with
even odds the computer's pretty easy to beat, so I just spot him an extra
robot or three depending on the scenario. Worst case if you get really good
you just play against two computer opponents. Or three.
I especially like the crevices. You have full visibility and firing
across them, but can't move across them. I also like the online help.
There is a manual-based copy protection, but it's the least obnoxious
I've seen (each page has a little set of three icons by the page#. You have
to click on them in order.). No hunting for the exact line, at least. I'll
probably have to assign each icon a letter and type them in to a file simply
because I tend to travel and forget the manual at home, though.
The license agreement states you need multiple copies puchased to
play on a network, but I haven't actually tried it see if it checks. Other
than in the license agreement there is no mention of this...Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com (04/20/91)
The license agreement states you need multiple copies puchased to play on a network, but I haven't actually tried it see if it checks. Other than in the license agreement there is no mention of this... From: dwade@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Doug Wade) From Me: This is legally true. In other words, it is illegal to makes copies of a program for ANY other reasons than to back it up. This is particularly true with network games. If the program is running off of more than one machine, then additions copies of the program must be purchased to be running legally. corey_lynn_nelson@cup.portal.com Voice (415) 373-7638 BBS (415) 373-0873 FAX (415) 373-7639
dawg6844@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Race Bannon) (04/21/91)
pdubois@tornado.Berkeley.EDU (Paul DuBois) writes: << My explanation of RoboSport deleted.>> >I took a look a demo of this in the computer store. It only comes with three >different map layouts; can you create more? When you look at the reduced map >the scale along the sides of the screen seems to indicate that huge playing >fields are possible, but none of the three sceneries included a really large >one. Is there an editor somewhere maybe, or is Maxis planning on releasing >"scenery disks" for $24.95 in a couple of months? (coming next... SimRoboSport!) >pdubois@ocf.berkeley.edu Yes, if you go into 'custom game' mode, there are 12 (18?) more sizes of playing fields available. They still fall into the three categories of Rubble, Computer, and Suburb, though. Since the terrains are stored in small extra files, I wouldn't be surprised to see more terrains coming out soon. Again, RoboSport is an excellent game. -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Dan Walkowski | To understand recursion, Univ. of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci. | you must first understand recursion. walkowsk@cs.uiuc.edu |
robertj@unreal.uucp (Young Rob Jellinghaus) (05/03/91)
I just got Robosport, and I have to admit, I like it a lot. I've
always been intrigued by these sorts of small-unit-tactics games,
and Robosport's the first one I've really been able to play--I
used to buy an occasional SSI game on my Apple ][ and always got
sick of typing numbers to move the cursor around and then waiting
years for the computer to move. Robosport does it right. I'm
not brutally addicted, but I think it's gonna have a lot of staying
power.
The main drag with it is some bugs in the RoboPlayer program. See,
you can record the progress of an entire game and save it as a
"movie", and then you can use this other program to play the movie
back and review your tactics. Which is fine, except on my Mac II
with 8mb and 6.0.5, RoboPlayer is real buggy. The main problem is
it sometimes fails to erase robots when they die, and sometimes
loses track of robots that get hit--so every now and then a robot
will appear out of empty space. The actual progress is correct--
i.e. things happen the way they did during the game--but after a
while there are enough robots littering the screen that you can't
tell what is going on. Kind of makes it useless for reviewing
tactics.
Once those bugs are fixed, though, I'll be playing it even more than
I am now. It's a nice game. Anyone else have any especially good
stories? (Don't you hate how if your missile robot's shooting too
close to a house it's easy for it to miss its target and hit the
side of the house? And what about the ease of taking eight stupid
computer robots with four of your guys? But Capture the Flag versus
a ferocious computer is pretty nasty--the computer uses bounding
overwatch pretty well....)
--
Rob Jellinghaus | "Next time you see a lie being spread or
Autodesk, Inc. | a bad decision being made out of sheer
robertj@Autodesk.COM | ignorance, pause, and think of hypertext."
{decwrl,uunet}!autodesk!robertj | -- K. Eric Drexler, _Engines of Creation_Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com (05/07/91)
If there are any problems with any of the game/programs from Maxis, please call their Technical Support number in the documentation. They are very good at helping you figure out the problems and releasing updates of code, if necessary. Let them know you're problems with all the information on your software/System and equipment and maybe there is something they can help you with. Thanks.
dave@cprmtn.ogi.edu (05/11/91)
In article <12116@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, unokirs@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: > >By the way, have any other Robosport players noticed that the computer seems >to better in the suburbs? I find that they don't do as well in the rubble >arenas because of the irregularness of terrain. I haven't had much experience >with the computer areans, yet. > >rob Could it be that humans know how and where to hide in the rubble whereas there are not many places to hide in the suburbs? Just a thought. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Heinen Cooper Mountain R&D 16340 SW Nora Rd. Beaverton Oregon 97007 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
tfarring@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Tim Farrington) (05/19/91)
Is RoboSport any good? Also, will it work in 16 colors on an LC? Send replies through mail. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------* * Tim Farrington ' "Ack!" - Bill The Cat * * Mac Guy, Programmer-at-large. ' "P.C. is the fad of the 90's" - me * * tfarring@eniac.seas.upenn.edu ' "Life *is* hard. Anyone who says * * ***SPACE DESIGNED TO WASTE 'different is selling something" -Westley,*
fq4@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) (05/19/91)
In article <43493@netnews.upenn.edu> you write: >Is RoboSport any good? Also, will it work in 16 colors on an LC? Send replies >through mail. Yes - I think that it is a good game. I'll tell you what I think is lacking. 1) Arena editor. RoboSport comes with 3 types of Arenas and 8 configurations each. That makes for 24 playing fields. I wish that they would have included an editor so we could create our own. The files look relatively small. In the future, I suspect they would sell an editor (much like the terrain editor for SimCity) or sell additional arena sets. 2) Apple-talk bug. There is a bug in the multiplayer apple talk option. The macs can never recognize each other. This is serious because we can never get a game started. The serial or modem link works fine. If the multi-player apple talk game goes the same as the serial link game, it would be AWESOME. 3) Robot editor. It would be nice if we could create our own robots. i.e. create a heavily armored and armed "Ogre" style robot vs. 8 light armored missile robots. THE GOOD STUFF. Multi-player, multi-mac games are handled very well. Players don't have to wait for there "turn" to program their robots. Everyone does it at once. The turns are then sent to the primary computer. After all turns have been received, the primary computer starts generating the new turn. It sends the turn back as it is being generated. After generation is complete, each player may then view their own movie. As with programming of the robots, players don't have to wait for each other to view the movie. There are many types of games that may be played. The list includes: baseball - touch all bases to score points, prevent enemy from doing so. survival - kill enemy while trying to survive. treasure hunt - capture gold coins hostage - rescue teammate held hostage by enemy capture the flag - capture enemy's flag while defending yours. Configurable teams are a plus. You can choose types and number of robots in each team. Robot types include rifle, auto, burst, missile, and stealth robots. There are a maximum of 4 teams. Once teams are selected, each team must choose a side. These makes for many possible aliances. For example, one could play against 3 computer teams, 3 computer teams could duke it out, two humans can team up against two other humans, or every team could be independent of each other. Good movie graphics. When reviewing your turn, you enter a window with VCR like controls. You then view a movie of what happenen - rewind, fast forward slow motion, fast play are all supported. Overall, I think that RoboSport is worth the money. It is copy protected. I won't comment on that because I don't want comp.sys.mac.games to fireball. rob -- Robert S. Unoki unokirs@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (standard disclaimer, please)
davoli@natinst.com (Russell Davoli) (05/21/91)
In article <12511@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, fq4@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: > In article <43493@netnews.upenn.edu> you write: > >Is RoboSport any good? Also, will it work in 16 colors on an LC? Send replies > >through mail. > > Yes - I think that it is a good game. I'll tell you what I think is lacking. >[stuff deleted] > 2) Apple-talk bug. There is a bug in the multiplayer apple talk option. The > macs can never recognize each other. This is serious because we can > never get a game started. The serial or modem link works fine. If the > multi-player apple talk game goes the same as the serial link game, it > would be AWESOME. I've gotten Appletalk to work. We had to take our machines off the network and local network them directly. We've used only two machines, and have found that sometimes RoboSport hangs when trying to transfer info from the primary to the secondary machine. The workaround we use is to simply switch the primary and secondary machines. > > 3) Robot editor. It would be nice if we could create our own robots. > i.e. create a heavily armored and armed "Ogre" style robot vs. > 8 light armored missile robots. YES!! This is something I'd like to see, too. Seems like some sort of point or "money" scheme could be used where each team has so much money to spend on developing the team. Each robot body has a basic fee, then all the options like shielding, weapons, stealh, etc. would cost more. An additional thing on my wish list: Be able to review all the robot programming steps for all the robots all together, and have them line up in time. Being able to see the paths is good, but what's really needed is to be able to see the programming steps and step through the to make sure everybody is going where you want them to. I remember seeing on CNN's Science and Technology Week a system for dance choreography that let the user review the sequence of dance steps by controlling a slider or something that indicated time. If someone could do this for dance, surely our favorite RoboHackers could do this. Russell Davoli
jcocon@hubcap.clemson.edu (james c oconnor) (05/30/91)
What about having a robot repair shop? Maybe you could have a rifle robot that destroys a missle robot take the parts back to the repair shop and get an upgrade? Broken robots could go to the repair shop to get fixed up (so long as they can get there under their own steam). I'd like to have smarter opposition (computer brain). I've played a few survival games and a capture the flag game in (standard/campaign) mode and haven't had any trouble beating the computer. I've lost maybe a 2 out of 15 games. Ancient Art of War has some really neat things in it (like tough opponents, resupply of troops, etc) that I'd like to see. I think RoboSport's advantage is multiple players and really tough graphics. I hope they read here, because I like the game and don't want to grow tired of it before the Money Back period runs out. (I don't expect them to add these things THAT fast, but knowing that it was coming would give me reason to hang on to it longer). Jim
bernard@apple.com (Bernie Bernstein) (05/30/91)
In article <0B01FFFF.fnnkhhm@cprmtn.uucp>, dave@cprmtn.ogi.edu writes: > > > In article <12511@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, fq4@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: > >In article <43493@netnews.upenn.edu> you write: > >2) Apple-talk bug. There is a bug in the multiplayer apple talk option. The > > macs can never recognize each other. This is serious because we can > > never get a game started. The serial or modem link works fine. If the > > multi-player apple talk game goes the same as the serial link game, it > > would be AWESOME. > > What are you running? CDEA`s INIT`s I don`t havt that problem. > What I hate is that you have to set up the opposing team from the > primary computer. > I have heard the the problem is with appletalk networks with multiple zones. I haven't been able to start a game here either, but people with single-zone nets work ok. o, ,, , | Bernie Bernstein | , ,, L>O/ \,/ \ ,| Apple Computer, Inc. |/ \,,/ \ O./ ' / . `, / | (408) 974-8802 | / ` \ ,. ,/ / , ' | email: bernard@apple.com | / '' \ Disclaimer -> Apple takes no responsibility for what I just said.
s902113@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Luke Mewburn) (05/30/91)
dave@cprmtn.ogi.edu writes: >In article <12511@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, fq4@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: >>In article <43493@netnews.upenn.edu> you write: >>>Is RoboSport any good? Also, will it work in 16 colors on an LC? Send replies >>>through mail. >> >>Yes - I think that it is a good game. I'll tell you what I think is lacking. >> >>1) Arena editor. RoboSport comes with 3 types of Arenas and 8 configurations >> each. That makes for 24 playing fields. I wish that they would >> have included an editor so we could create our own. The files look >> relatively small. In the future, I suspect they would sell an editor >> (much like the terrain editor for SimCity) or sell additional arena >> sets. >> > yes!! it gets kind of boring after you have played them all. They > would have to get stranger like : mall - hide behind clothes and blast > away robots, and maybe even shoppers; maybe site files from Sim Earth > or whole Sim Cities. Well, I'll agree here. >>2) Apple-talk bug. There is a bug in the multiplayer apple talk option. The >> macs can never recognize each other. This is serious because we can >> never get a game started. The serial or modem link works fine. If the >> multi-player apple talk game goes the same as the serial link game, it >> would be AWESOME. > What are you running? CDEA`s INIT`s I don`t havt that problem. > What I hate is that you have to set up the opposing team from the > primary computer. Nope, I think the reason here is that they are running on a server with more than one node. I had the problem too, and we had to take the server down to play robosport :-( Anyway, I would like the ability to handle nodes on Robosport (for obvious reasons...) >>3) Robot editor. It would be nice if we could create our own robots. >> i.e. create a heavily armored and armed "Ogre" style robot vs. >> 8 light armored missile robots. >> >> >>THE GOOD STUFF. >> > >deleted< > I agree whole-heartly. Worth every cent! Me too. >>rob >>-- >> >>Robert S. Unoki >>unokirs@mentor.cc.purdue.edu >>(standard disclaimer, please) >> >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >Dave Heinen >Cooper Mountain R&D >16340 SW Nora Rd. >Beaverton Oregon 97007 >----------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ____________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Luke Mewburn (Zak) | This side for lease... | | s902113@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | (No disclaimer, can't afford it:-) |
cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) (05/30/91)
In article <13735@goofy.Apple.COM> bernard@apple.com (Bernie Bernstein) writes: [on Robosport's Appletalk multiple zone bug] >I have heard the the problem is with appletalk networks with multiple >zones. I haven't been able to start a game here either, but people >with single-zone nets work ok. This is the case. In my original article I failed to mention that the we tried on a network with multiple appletalk zones. Has anyone found a solution to this problem - short of detaching 4 macs from the main network? rob -- Robert S. Unoki cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu (standard disclaimer, please)
stanger@otago.ac.nz (Nigel Stanger) (05/30/91)
In article <1991May29.172448.17903@hubcap.clemson.edu>, jcocon@hubcap.clemson.edu (james c oconnor) writes: > What about having a robot repair shop? Maybe you could have a rifle > robot that destroys a missle robot take the parts back to the repair > shop and get an upgrade? Broken robots could go to the repair shop > to get fixed up (so long as they can get there under their own steam). Hey, I like this. Something that a friend of mine would like to see is some sort of simple conditional processing, i.e. "scan and fire for 5 seconds. If I am shot at during this period, run away to x,y instead." I'm not sure how you would fit that into the visual programming paradigm though. > I'd like to have smarter opposition (computer brain). I've played > a few survival games and a capture the flag game in (standard/campaign) > mode and haven't had any trouble beating the computer. I've lost maybe > a 2 out of 15 games. Try this then: set yourself up a custom game in the suburbs. You term should have maybe four robots. The computer should have at least 6 and maybe eight. Give all your robots wimpy weapons, give the computer tougher weapons. That should make life much more interesting... ;-) -- See ya Nigel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Nigel Stanger, Internet: stanger@otago.ac.nz c/o University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Phone: +64 3 479-8179 Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND. Fax: +64 3 479-8311 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "If I had a quote, I'd be wearing it." -- Bob Dylan ----------------------------------------------------------------------
cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) (05/30/91)
In article <1991May30.115329.446@otago.ac.nz> stanger@otago.ac.nz (Nigel Stanger) writes: >> I'd like to have smarter opposition (computer brain). [...] > >Try this then: set yourself up a custom game in the suburbs. You >term should have maybe four robots. The computer should have at >least 6 and maybe eight. Give all your robots wimpy weapons, give >the computer tougher weapons. [...] Want the ultimate Robo-challenge? Set up a custom game where your team has 4-8 robots. Set up the 3 computer teams with 8 robots. Give them everything you got to be fair. Now, put the the 3 computer teams on the same side (i.e. all on side 2) and select the ferocious persona for all computers. Good luck 8-O Get ready to hold down the fort! rob -- Robert S. Unoki cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu (standard disclaimer, please)
barr@Apple.COM (Ron Barr) (05/31/91)
cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: >In article <13735@goofy.Apple.COM> bernard@apple.com (Bernie Bernstein) writes: >[on Robosport's Appletalk multiple zone bug] >>I have heard the the problem is with appletalk networks with multiple >>zones. I haven't been able to start a game here either, but people >>with single-zone nets work ok. >This is the case. In my original article I failed to mention that the we >tried on a network with multiple appletalk zones. Has anyone found a solution >to this problem - short of detaching 4 macs from the main network? I just bought Robosport (an amazing game & well worth the $), and it had a sticker on it pointing out that it doesn not support nets with zones. It sounds like they at least acknowledge the problem. Ron >rob >-- >Robert S. Unoki >cbn@mace.cc.purdue.edu >(standard disclaimer, please)
Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com (06/01/91)
Yes, Multilple zone networks don't work with RoboSport, that is true. I believe that Maxis is working on that with Apple, though. =========================================================================== Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com * That is the saving Voice (415) 373-7638 CompuServe: 73617,3476 * grace of humor, if you fail BBS (415) 373-0873 GEnie: c.nelson17 * no is laughing at you. FAX (415) 373-7639 * - A. Whitney Brown Mail: P.O. Box 2229, Livermore, CA 94551 ===========================================================================
pdubois@sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU (Paul DuBois) (06/04/91)
In article <0B01FFFF.fnnkhhm@cprmtn.uucp> cprmtn!dave writes: > >In article <12511@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, fq4@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Robert S. Unoki) writes: >>In article <43493@netnews.upenn.edu> you write: >>>Is RoboSport any good? Also, will it work in 16 colors on an LC? Send replies >>>through mail. >> >>Yes - I think that it is a good game. I'll tell you what I think is lacking. >> >>1) Arena editor. RoboSport comes with 3 types of Arenas and 8 configurations >> each. That makes for 24 playing fields. I wish that they would >> have included an editor so we could create our own. The files look >> relatively small. In the future, I suspect they would sell an editor >> (much like the terrain editor for SimCity) or sell additional arena >> sets. >> > > yes!! it gets kind of boring after you have played them all. They > would have to get stranger like : mall - hide behind clothes and blast > away robots, and maybe even shoppers; maybe site files from Sim Earth > or whole Sim Cities. > Poke around with it in ResEdit; it appears to _already_ have a level editor which has been crippled/disabled. I flamed about this a while ago but I guess that was before a lot of people had it and knew what I was flaming about. Flame flame. I hate crippleware. (don't have the energy to get hotter right now. Well, maybe it's not crippleware but I wish they hadn't disabled that editor. Other points deleted > >>rob >>-- >> >>Robert S. Unoki >>unokirs@mentor.cc.purdue.edu >>(standard disclaimer, please) >> > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >Dave Heinen >Cooper Mountain R&D >16340 SW Nora Rd. >Beaverton Oregon 97007 >----------------------------------------------------------------------- pdubois@ocf.berkeley.edu