bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Tobish E Smith) (04/05/91)
Here's the description of our new game, Robot Battle (not related at all to Maxis' RoboSport), which is now available via anonymous ftp from sumex-aim.stanford.edu, under info-mac/game/robot-battle-101.hqx: This is version 1.01 of Robot Battle, by Blue Cow Software. Robot Battle is a game in which the players program robots using a language called RIPPLE (very reminiscent of Apple ][ BASIC, i.e. easy to use), then watch the robots slug it out on the battlefield. Features a built-in text editor, comprehensive debugging windows for each robot, and a very nice Mac interface. An unbiased user wrote "With the recent flood of robot battle games, this one looks like it would stand out..." This program is a fully-functional version of Robot Battle. However, it does not include the full complement of weapons that are available with the commercial version. It is completely usable as-is, however; the additional weapons just add more strategy. Toby Smith bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu
jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) (04/05/91)
In article <111384@unix.cis.pitt.edu> bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Tobish E Smith) writes: >Here's the description of our new game, Robot Battle (not related at >all to Maxis' RoboSport), which is now available via anonymous ftp >from sumex-aim.stanford.edu, under info-mac/game/robot-battle-101.hqx: This sounds _EXACTLY_ like Robowar, which is another PD robot against robot game available from sumex. Is sumex going to be filled with Robot games soon? It's getting out of hand... On a related note, will someone who ones RoboSport please get Robowar and Robot Battle and compare them all? This would be interesting... | J. Taggart Gorman Jr. | "I'm a no rust build up man myself." | | -Christian Slater | jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu | in 'Heathers'
bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Tobish E Smith) (04/05/91)
Robot Battle _is_ similar to Robowar (and Core Wars, etc) in that they are all derivative of the original Apple II game, Robot War, by MUSE. However, Robot Battle shares basically nothing with Robowar. Robowar's language is much more low-level than Robot Battle's. Robowar allows many robots to go at it at once; Robot Battle is strictly one-on-one. In Robowar, you see the whole battlefield on-screen, and the robots are represented by relatively small user-definable icons which move about; in Robot Battle, you see a small section of the battlefield in closeup (the robot pictures were created using Super3D) and a radar view of the whole battlefield. You select what section to view in closeup by dragging a rectangle around the radar view, the rectangle representing the area to be viewed. Robowar has a free-form battlefield; Robot Battle is grid-based. Robot Battle has lots of digitized sounds... ;-) On a more non-frivolous note, however, Robot Battle is a very Mac-friendly program; it looks and feels like a good Mac interface. It will even continue to play battles (at a slower rate) as a background application. Robot Battle has humans, which roam around the battlefield and lob grenades at robots who remain stationary for too long. If you want to compare RB with another program of the same genre, it is more similar to Omega than Robowar, but I wince even as I type that because RB's really not like Omega, either, but it's certainly not much like Robowar. Yes, there are several programs of this type lurking about now, but the genre has a lot of potential, and all of these programs pursue that potential in different ways. Tob bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu
drinkard@bcstec.boeing.com (Terrell D. Drinkard) (04/08/91)
We are not allowed ftp privileges here, so would someone please mail me Robot Battle?!? I've played C-Robots on the IBM's, and loved it! I've also really hated the IBM format, so I'd like to check out the Robot Battle, and even Robowar if you have it, too. Thanks in advance! :-) -- Terry drinkard@bcstec.boeing.com "Anyone who thinks they can hold the company responsible for what I say has more lawyers than sense."
Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com (04/09/91)
Is Robot Battle only available on Apple II? corey_lynn_nelson@cup.portal.com Voice (415) 373-7638 BBS (415) 373-0873 FAX (415) 373-7639
bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Tobish E Smith) (04/09/91)
In article <41054@cup.portal.com> Corey_Lynn_Nelson@cup.portal.com writes: >Is Robot Battle only available on Apple II? > Actaully, it's only available for the Mac. Works on all Macs that we've tested it on, and is in color on machines that have it. It's on sumex as game/robot-battle-102.hqx. >corey_lynn_nelson@cup.portal.com >Voice (415) 373-7638 >BBS (415) 373-0873 >FAX (415) 373-7639 Tob & Chuck bluecow@unix.cis.pitt.edu