Shells, rockets and turtles

Ninja Dodo · 05-08-2005, 04:20 AM

Turbo Turtles is here!

http://turbo.ninjadodo.com/

a cartoony multiplayer arcade game with rocket-powered turtles

- up to 3 players
- Battle mode (crash into your opponents) and Tag mode (avoid explosion)
- 3 different playable characters
- 4 levels

Me and some fellow students have just finished work on this game so I thought I'd post it here and see what you guys think.

Tobbe · 05-08-2005, 06:03 AM

Downloading, looks really promising!

Ninja Dodo · 05-08-2005, 12:22 PM

By the way, though it works fine for most, a couple of people have had trouble running the game, so if anyone can't get it to work it would be great if they could let me know what happened so we can maybe fix it for the next version... for example, it turns out if you try to run the game directly from the zip file you get a Visual C++ error message. The game has to be unzipped properly for it to work.

Any gameplay suggestions would be more than welcome as well of course. We pretty much ran out of time on this so there's already a lot of ideas and refinements that we didn't get to implement but will probably make it into the next version, and there's plenty room for more.

In case you're wondering before braving the rather hefty download, the game kind of plays like a cross between Asteroids and Mario Kart (battle)... but with rocket-powered turtles.

The idea is you bash into your opponents with your head in your shell to hurt them and you can hide in your shell for defense as well. Health is indicated by smoke coming from the rocket-pack; No smoke is full health, light grey smoke is two lives left, dark smoke is one life and black smoke is death.

Then there's a powerup that allows you to hit opponents even when they're hiding in their shell. That's Battle mode...

In Tag mode, one player start with a bomb strapped to his back and 60 seconds to go... He can transfer it to other players by crashing into them with his head in his shell (the momentum sends the TNT flying) and whoever has the TNT when the time runs out loses.

We were going to implement rounds for three player mode, but didn't have time, so instead there's two bombs when you play Tag with three. A bit crazy, but it sorta works...

Ninja Dodo · 05-09-2005, 09:09 AM

It seems my webserver is down at the moment making the game temporarily unavailable...

So has anyone played it yet?

insane_cobra · 05-09-2005, 10:15 AM

I'd love to play it, but it'll have to wait. It seems I'll be stuck on dial-up till fall

so 32MB (if I remember the size correctly) is just a bit too much right now. But at least you'll have enough time to refine it till then

Ninja Dodo · 05-09-2005, 06:21 PM

WOOH! My webserver is back up! Thing is I can't read my email either when it's down. Anyway, those brave enough to download the full 37 megs (or those with broadband) can now once again download the game.

I will try and see what we can do about the filesize though. Maybe there's some way we can compress the images better or something. I've already made sure there's no superfluous development stuff in there. It was 42 MB before...

Intrepid Homoludens · 05-09-2005, 06:24 PM

[PETA] Were any turtles harmed during the making of this game? HUH? WERE THEY? ANSWER ME!! [/PETA]

Ninja Dodo · 05-09-2005, 07:04 PM

If you mean toasted in lava, blown up with TNT and generally assassinated in a whole range of colourful ways, then yes... sadly some turtles were harmed in the making of this game. Of course all you do is hit "Rematch" and they're back again... so no harm done, really.

Ninja Dodo · 05-14-2005, 07:30 AM

If 37 megs was a bit much, maybe 22 MB is a little more reasonable:

http://ninjadodo.com/downloads/turbogame.zip

The game is now much better compressed and comes with a simple installer, making the whole process a bit more straightforward. Anyone played it yet?

Maquisard · 05-14-2005, 10:05 AM

I've had the zip file for almost a week now. Installed it today. Looks like fun, it's just a shame that there's no one around to play it with at the moment.

insane_cobra · 05-14-2005, 10:36 AM

If you use rar or, even better, ace instead of zip and set the compression level to high, it will be even smaller

Okay, I'm asking for too much now, I'll download it tomorrow and give it a try.

05-08-2005, 04:20 AM	#1
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	Shells, rockets and turtles Turbo Turtles is here! http://turbo.ninjadodo.com/ a cartoony multiplayer arcade game with rocket-powered turtles - up to 3 players - Battle mode (crash into your opponents) and Tag mode (avoid explosion) - 3 different playable characters - 4 levels Me and some fellow students have just finished work on this game so I thought I'd post it here and see what you guys think. Share Share this post on Twitter

05-08-2005, 06:03 AM	#2
Tobbe Living with my love Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 1,453	Downloading, looks really promising! Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ ''My names George. It means... Well, its just a name'' George Stobbart-Broken Sword

05-08-2005, 12:22 PM	#3
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	By the way, though it works fine for most, a couple of people have had trouble running the game, so if anyone can't get it to work it would be great if they could let me know what happened so we can maybe fix it for the next version... for example, it turns out if you try to run the game directly from the zip file you get a Visual C++ error message. The game has to be unzipped properly for it to work. Any gameplay suggestions would be more than welcome as well of course. We pretty much ran out of time on this so there's already a lot of ideas and refinements that we didn't get to implement but will probably make it into the next version, and there's plenty room for more. In case you're wondering before braving the rather hefty download, the game kind of plays like a cross between Asteroids and Mario Kart (battle)... but with rocket-powered turtles. The idea is you bash into your opponents with your head in your shell to hurt them and you can hide in your shell for defense as well. Health is indicated by smoke coming from the rocket-pack; No smoke is full health, light grey smoke is two lives left, dark smoke is one life and black smoke is death. Then there's a powerup that allows you to hit opponents even when they're hiding in their shell. That's Battle mode... In Tag mode, one player start with a bomb strapped to his back and 60 seconds to go... He can transfer it to other players by crashing into them with his head in his shell (the momentum sends the TNT flying) and whoever has the TNT when the time runs out loses. We were going to implement rounds for three player mode, but didn't have time, so instead there's two bombs when you play Tag with three. A bit crazy, but it sorta works... Share Share this post on Twitter Last edited by Ninja Dodo; 05-08-2005 at 12:55 PM.

05-09-2005, 09:09 AM	#4
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	It seems my webserver is down at the moment making the game temporarily unavailable... So has anyone played it yet? Share Share this post on Twitter

05-09-2005, 10:15 AM	#5
insane_cobra gin soaked boy Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Virovitica, Croatia Posts: 4,093	I'd love to play it, but it'll have to wait. It seems I'll be stuck on dial-up till fall so 32MB (if I remember the size correctly) is just a bit too much right now. But at least you'll have enough time to refine it till then Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ What you piss in is yours for life.

05-09-2005, 06:21 PM	#6
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	WOOH! My webserver is back up! Thing is I can't read my email either when it's down. Anyway, those brave enough to download the full 37 megs (or those with broadband) can now once again download the game. I will try and see what we can do about the filesize though. Maybe there's some way we can compress the images better or something. I've already made sure there's no superfluous development stuff in there. It was 42 MB before... Share Share this post on Twitter Last edited by Ninja Dodo; 05-09-2005 at 07:06 PM.

05-09-2005, 06:24 PM	#7
Intrepid Homoludens merely human Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 22,309	[PETA] Were any turtles harmed during the making of this game? HUH? WERE THEY? ANSWER ME!! [/PETA] Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ platform: laptop, iPhone 3Gs \| gaming: x360, PS3, psp, iPhone, wii \| blog: a space alien \| book: the moral landscape: how science can determine human values by sam harris \| games: l.a.noire, portal 2, brink, dragon age 2, heavy rain \| sites: NPR, skeptoid, gaygamer \| music: ray lamontagne, adele, washed out, james blake \| twitter: a_space_alien

05-09-2005, 07:04 PM	#8
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	If you mean toasted in lava, blown up with TNT and generally assassinated in a whole range of colourful ways, then yes... sadly some turtles were harmed in the making of this game. Of course all you do is hit "Rematch" and they're back again... so no harm done, really. Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2005, 07:30 AM	#9
Ninja Dodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 2,459	If 37 megs was a bit much, maybe 22 MB is a little more reasonable: http://ninjadodo.com/downloads/turbogame.zip The game is now much better compressed and comes with a simple installer, making the whole process a bit more straightforward. Anyone played it yet? Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2005, 10:05 AM	#10
Maquisard Citizen of Bizarro World Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Htrae Posts: 4,219	I've had the zip file for almost a week now. Installed it today. Looks like fun, it's just a shame that there's no one around to play it with at the moment. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ By no rocket’s blue shade am no shells dead down there, Gave no proof all day long that the flag was unwhere! No say does am spar-strangled shroud hang limply! Under land of no free! Am us home coward-leeee! ~Excerpt from the Bizarro Anthem

05-14-2005, 10:36 AM	#11
insane_cobra gin soaked boy Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Virovitica, Croatia Posts: 4,093	If you use rar or, even better, ace instead of zip and set the compression level to high, it will be even smaller Okay, I'm asking for too much now, I'll download it tomorrow and give it a try. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ What you piss in is yours for life.

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