Internet Troll Assault was my 2nd game for the 1 Game a Month project.
My main inspiration for Internet Troll Assault was the “one dimensional RTS” game, like Swords & Soldiers:
I was interested by the scenario where you can spawn troops yourself, but you don’t have any control of the troops beyond that point. They run in & fight on their own. This requires some additional forward-thinking on the player’s part, as you can’t “build up” a large force for a huge assault, and have to think about what the front lines will look like by the time the troops get there.
I wanted there to be more to do for the player, so I added some additional mechanics:
- When enemies they die, they release bits of money you move the mouse over to pick up. This means you’ll want your mouse in the battlefield for big fights.
- To spawn units, you have to hold the spawn button down for a set amount of time. This is twofold; it prevents saving up money and spamming a large number of units instantaneously, and it makes the player decide whether they want to spawn units, or collect money in the field.
- For times with low money and low units, I added a cannon to the player’s home base that can shoot in the field. I’ve found that having some direct level of interactivity can avoid some frustration in games where all the combat is being done by proxy. If your base is being torn down with no units and no cannon, it feels much more helpless.
Avoiding Bunch up
I wanted the battlefield to be in 3D, as it’s more natural for Unity. The problem is that it doesn’t make sense for units to stack on top of each other like they do in 2D games, but units generated in sequence tend to form a straight line and “bunch up”, and then the guys in the back can’t reach the enemy.
I added a Cluster Manager, which adds a small desire for all units to move away from other nearby units on the same team; the more units, the stronger the repel. This causes the first few units to “spread out” around the target, allowing the later units to come within range. The repel has to be weaker than the desire to advance on the enemy, though, as we don’t want units walking away from the enemy just to get away from each other.
Still unfini
Like my previous game, I spent so much time working on the mechanics and engine that I didn’t make enough content to make this feel like a full game. I have plans for the march game, and it’s MUCH simpler than anything I’ve done. I’m hoping this will give me time to revisit these earlier games. They have a lot of potential, and just need some TLC.