Post by CodeSilver23 in Robot Rumble 2 comments

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Just downloaded and played this game, and I am very excited to see the finished product when it comes out. I do have some questions and suggestions about the game though:

1) I absolutely love the BotLab. It is very easy to use and create almost exactly what you want. The one minor issue I found was when I was trying to make a low-lying robot. I made the wheels positioned so that the chassis was the lowest it could get without touching the ground, but when I tested it, the robot made almost no movement whatsoever. I ended up just making it have a higher ground clearance, which is okay for me, but in the future there could be some people that might get upset by this, because a higher ground clearance would equal being more liable to flippers.

2) I understand that this is only the Alpha Build, but I still find it a little upsetting that I wasn't able to test our robots in actual matches, and instead have to test it against a demolition bot and some boxes. I feel that if it were added to the Alpha Build, then there will be more people to notice and report some glitches, therefore allowing you guys to be able to fix them quicker, or at least reduce the frequency of them occurring again.

3) Since we are now in 2019, do you guys have a better estimate of the beta release?

4) When the game is completed and officially released, will it cost money? If not, that will be amazing, but if so, I can't be angry with you guys, considering how great this game will be.

5) I would absolutely love to be a beta tester, but I would like to have more information as to what the requirements are and what I would be doing, before I signup.

6) One last thing. I noticed that the camera angles seem really wonky, and I would recommend adding a birds-eye view and an over-the-shoulder camera. I've looked through some of the comments and noticed you talking about some issues with the over-the-shoulder camera, but I would like to point out that even games like GTA 5 and Fortnite tend to have minor issues with it not always following perfectly, so there is no shame in not being able to perfect it.

Again, this game looks great. I wish you good luck with the game, and I hope to hear from you guys soon!

Nerd Island Studios, LLC5 years ago

Thanks for the feedback, and I'm glad you are excited. I am too! :)

1. In the Robot Workshop you can expand out the x/y/z position menu on the right side of the screen. This will allow you to position objects to the nearest millimeter by typing numbers directly. I put this onto our Trello board as something that we can hopefully make a little more clear to users.

2. We should have a second Alpha build out by the end of the month that allows you to do matches with any combination of 4 robots, including robots you have built in the Workshop, as well as ones that we have pre-made.

3. Last year I took a guess at a March, 2019 closed Beta release on Steam. We are nowhere near feature-complete at this point, so instead we will be releasing a public Alpha build here on itch.io. We should have a bunch of new features to sink your teeth into on this Alpha. I'm frantically trying to get user-scripted AI up and running. It is coming along well, and I'm hoping to put it into the next release.

4. Yes - this is a commercial project, but no word on price yet.

5. We would love to have you as a Beta tester! The signup form is on www.robot-rumble.com.

6. I will put the follower camera back on the Trello board. No promises, but I do still like the idea. Implementation is tricky though.

CodeSilver235 years ago (1 edit)

This is all great news. I can't wait until the end of the month. Makes sense to not make it closed beta yet, considering that the robots don't even have visual damage, except for the parts that fall off. I also have a few more questions/suggestions, I'd you don't mind:

1) Do you have a list of all the new things for the next alpha build that you could post or have already posted?

2) I have a few ideas for game play customization, like being able to change the control buttons, or have the game be compatible with gaming controllers. Also, If you make a game play setting, you could maybe add sliders to adjust the time limit, bot speed, overall bot strength, bot size, gravity, arena size, and A.I. difficulty, among other possibilities.

Thank you for making the robot fighting community proud with this game. You deserve a round of applause. Also, I'm sorry if I seem pushy at times, I am just excited about the game development. Hope to hear from you soon!

-CodeSilver23

Nerd Island Studios, LLC5 years ago

1. Most likely the tournament system won't be ready, even in a rudimentary form. We literally just started it a few days ago, and right now all it does is randomly generate matches between two robots. It has a LONG way to go before we are ready to show it. I'm hoping we can get the tournament system to a presentable state for whatever release happens after the this next one, but out of all of the key pieces of the game, the tournament system is the longest ways off.

2. I like the ideas for gameplay settings. One of the ideas that got the axe due to time concerns, at least for now, was a user-made arena builder. Your idea is a significantly scaled back version of this, where the existing arenas are at least somewhat tweakable. I'm putting these ideas on our feature request list.

> Thank you for making a robot fighting game that is actually a good game. Sorry if I seem pushy at times, I am just excited about the game development. Hope to hear from you soon!

I don't know about "good". I'm shooting for a just plain "game" at this point. :)

Hopefully the "good" part will come after lots and lots of player feedback and refinement. It helps to have an encouraging community though. I'm hoping that the community will really sink its teeth into AI and component modding once the tools are available for these. Get the word out -- the more people that know about this project, the richer the game will be!

CodeSilver235 years ago

1. That makes sense. Kind of sad it will take a while to get it computer generated, but it's always easy to just make your own on pencil & paper, so it'll be okay.

2. I saw the arena builder/editor on an older Youtube video, and it definitely didn't look user-friendly.

Already, and especially with the new alpha build coming out soon, this is already one of the best robot combat games out there. The only other one that could be considered an equal is RA2, but you have better graphics, and graphics are everything nowadays. Also, I have been trying to spread the word, and so far I've gotten a couple of people to be interested. Keep up the good work!

-CodeSilver23

CodeSilver235 years ago

How long does it take to receive a conformation email for the beta testing? I signed up 2 days ago, and haven't gotten anything back yet. Just hoping it didn't disappear. Also, is there a name that I can use for you, other than just "you"?

Nerd Island Studios, LLC5 years ago

I just realized that I had an un-checked box for "Send a Final Welcome Email" in the signup form setting. I just checked the box, which will only send the email for future subscribers.

In your case, if it gave you a web popup, you should be signed up.

Sorry about the lack of introduction - my name is Chris. I'm the project lead for Robot Rumble 2. Nice to meet you!