Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 27 Mar 2011, 15:41

After a long period of laziness the first version of Dr. West is finally up. The game is GPLv3 and like my previous game (Black Obelisk) uses HTML5 canvas. That means to play it you will need a decent browser - Mozilla Firefox 3.5+, Opera 11, Google Chrome or latest Safari.

The game is about a half-crazy genius bent on proving that the dead human body can be reanimated after injecting a properly prepared chemical solution into its veins. The good doctor has a working theory but not enough practice. And therein lies the problem - he needs more specimens (the fresher the better) in his lab to mix and test new solutions. But where to get them? One thing that comes to mind is the local cemetery - and that is the first source of specimens available. The other one is much more gruesome...

https://www.in-fi-del.net/static/drwest/index.html

Skip through the manual at least once, it describes essential stuff which is not that simple to discern from the game itself.

Comments and general feedback are welcome.
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Dr. West v1
Last edited by starinfidel on 07 May 2019, 11:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 27 Mar 2011, 16:10

very cool.

you should mention sooner that this game is played with SPACE and left-clicking. Some might figure out what to do by hovering (the info what is below cursor is very far from cursor, i had trouble making that connection) and clicking around and pressing SPACE.

i gathered that there are different levels of 'quality' in humans and police, which you currently encode in color. you might want to dipslay that too in game on hover? would have made it easier for me :)

otherwise: cool stuff. Z Z Z Z Z Z aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 27 Mar 2011, 17:49

and you seem to block IE completly?

IE9 has canas, it might Just work (tm). if often does for me, and i write awful anti-MS JS :)
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 27 Mar 2011, 23:18

oberhamsi {l Wrote}:very cool.

you should mention sooner that this game is played with SPACE and left-clicking. Some might figure out what to do by hovering (the info what is below cursor is very far from cursor, i had trouble making that connection) and clicking around and pressing SPACE.

i gathered that there are different levels of 'quality' in humans and police, which you currently encode in color. you might want to dipslay that too in game on hover? would have made it easier for me :)

otherwise: cool stuff. Z Z Z Z Z Z aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh


Thanks.

I will make some crucial hints about gameplay below the map window in the future.

The quality is displayed in the hint bar like "human (BQ 2) *" - BQ is body quality and * is the amount of hit points. Or you meant you'd like tooltips?
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 27 Mar 2011, 23:23

oberhamsi {l Wrote}:and you seem to block IE completly?

IE9 has canas, it might Just work (tm). if often does for me, and i write awful anti-MS JS :)


No, I don't specifically block anything, there is a small bit of test code at start:

var map = js.Lib.document.getElementById("map");
if(!(map).getContext) js.Lib.window.alert("No canvas available. Please use Mozilla Firefox 3.5+ or Google Chrome.");

The default is IE 8 in Windows 7 currently so I'll wait for when IE9 will be pushed through the Windows Update to test anything. Though if anyone can clarify...
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby richardjames13 » 28 Mar 2011, 07:03

My IE8 in windows 7 comes up with that dialog box.

It says version 8.0.7601.17514

EDIT
Oops you meant IE9, downloaded and tested it and it has the same problem.

It says version 9.0.8112.16421 64 Bit

EDIT

In the console of the developer tools it says
SCRIPT438: Object doesn't support property or method 'getContext'
drwest.js, line 1385 character 2

And line 1385 reads
var map = el.getContext("2d");

The debugger records the el object as type DispHTMLUnknownElement
And it's constructor as an Object

In firebug on Firefox it reports el to be a canvas#map
And it's constructor as a HTMLCanvasElement{}

Maybe the solution lays in something like this
http://jquery.pupunzi.com/questions/228/jquery-html-5-canvas-element-in-ie
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby TheAncientGoat » 28 Mar 2011, 10:37

Hmm, slightly irritating that SPACE is somehow mapped to pagedown in my chromium, so every turn I have to scroll up to the top of the page. Interesting otherwise though :)
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 28 Mar 2011, 13:52

richardjames13 {l Wrote}:My IE8 in windows 7 comes up with that dialog box.

It says version 8.0.7601.17514

EDIT
Oops you meant IE9, downloaded and tested it and it has the same problem.

It says version 9.0.8112.16421 64 Bit

EDIT

In the console of the developer tools it says
SCRIPT438: Object doesn't support property or method 'getContext'
drwest.js, line 1385 character 2

And line 1385 reads
var map = el.getContext("2d");

The debugger records the el object as type DispHTMLUnknownElement
And it's constructor as an Object

In firebug on Firefox it reports el to be a canvas#map
And it's constructor as a HTMLCanvasElement{}

Maybe the solution lays in something like this
http://jquery.pupunzi.com/questions/228/jquery-html-5-canvas-element-in-ie


That was the whole point - I didn't want to waste time writing IE-specific code :)
I'll try to insert this initialization part, though. If it won't work after that, I think I'll pass on IE compatibility.

> "Actually, I think half of my problem in IE is coming from calling a method that must not exist in excanvas, fillText()"

I hope they fixed that, I use that a lot.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 28 Mar 2011, 14:34

TheAncientGoat {l Wrote}:Hmm, slightly irritating that SPACE is somehow mapped to pagedown in my chromium, so every turn I have to scroll up to the top of the page. Interesting otherwise though :)


Argh, that's because the hints make the page bigger than the screen. And SPACE is like PGDN in all browsers.

Lol, completely forgot E also acts as End turn. I had remove SPACE, because none of the hacks for stopping event propagation work anywhere. But I put in a nice big END TURN button instead :)
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 28 Mar 2011, 15:02

yes i would love tooltips or maybe just expand BQ to body quality - i didn't make that connection. barbecue? and *? well in a rogue like, maybe - no offense hehe

writing IE specific code sucks. I didn't want to suggest you do that. But at least for the stuff I do, IE9 is about as compatible to the w3c spec and ecmascript enhancements as chrome & safari - not as far as firefox ;)

starinfidel {l Wrote}:
TheAncientGoat {l Wrote}:Hmm, slightly irritating that SPACE is somehow mapped to pagedown in my chromium, so every turn I have to scroll up to the top of the page. Interesting otherwise though :)


Argh, that's because the hints make the page bigger than the screen. And SPACE is like PGDN in all browsers.

Lol, completely forgot E also acts as End turn. I had remove SPACE, because none of the hacks for stopping event propagation work anywhere. But I put in a nice big END TURN button instead :)


You can do that with `event.preventDefault()` - that will cancel the event and thus stop it from bubbling. Like scroll or start search, etc. I had the same problem, this code works for me:

https://github.com/oberhamsi/gamejs/blo ... nt.js#L190
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 28 Mar 2011, 21:30

Okay, my "mistake" was using onkeyup instead of onkeydown. However, it does not work in Opera as intended. Googling the problem says using onkeypress in Opera for that. But that breaks Firefox. Argh. I'll leave it at "slightly broken in Opera" stage...
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 28 Mar 2011, 22:04

starinfidel {l Wrote}:
richardjames13 {l Wrote}:Maybe the solution lays in something like this
http://jquery.pupunzi.com/questions/228/jquery-html-5-canvas-element-in-ie


That was the whole point - I didn't want to waste time writing IE-specific code :)
I'll try to insert this initialization part, though. If it won't work after that, I think I'll pass on IE compatibility.


Well, IE8 fails on "if (window.G_vmlCanvasManager)" part, saying that this property is null. I spent half an hour trying to google the problem some more, but it seems that IE support will have to wait :)
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 29 Mar 2011, 08:05

starinfidel {l Wrote}:
starinfidel {l Wrote}:
richardjames13 {l Wrote}:Maybe the solution lays in something like this
http://jquery.pupunzi.com/questions/228/jquery-html-5-canvas-element-in-ie


That was the whole point - I didn't want to waste time writing IE-specific code :)
I'll try to insert this initialization part, though. If it won't work after that, I think I'll pass on IE compatibility.


Well, IE8 fails on "if (window.G_vmlCanvasManager)" part, saying that this property is null. I spent half an hour trying to google the problem some more, but it seems that IE support will have to wait :)


Don't worry about IE8. Once IE9 is here it should just work.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 29 Mar 2011, 13:50

We're all hoping for that since... 99? :D
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 29 Mar 2011, 17:43

Yey, space to end turn is back :)

What do you think about end-game statistics: like '50 bodies re-anmiated, 2 police inquiries adverted... ' stuff like that. would make individual games feel more 'special' and my efforts more glorious!
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 29 Mar 2011, 21:23

Nice idea :)
I've got two more, and as soon as I'm done with the first one, I'll put that below the "game over" words.

Humans killed
Police killed
Bodies reanimated
Reanimated destroyed

Anything else comes to mind?
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby qubodup » 29 Mar 2011, 23:35

these can be turned into achivements by reaching a limit

100 Reanimated destroyed -> Hardass Baddie (They beat you and beat you again, but if you won't win it this time... you will rule the world in the sequel! Definitely!)
500 Humans killed -> Slaughtermind ("Ruling the world? Do I look like a politician? I started this for the blood and gore you know!")
0 Police killed and won game -> Super Sneaky Scientist (You took over without setting unrest to the establishment. No zombies moan quieter than yours!)


When writing these I realized that the motive isn't that clear to me. In evil cult it was obviously ruling the world behind the curtains.. now.. ruling the world with zombies? :) Gotta play again and read the win message.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby qubodup » 29 Mar 2011, 23:44

So the end message is "you have finished the game" which makes me feel less evil.

How about "You did it! The ultimate recepie is yours! Now nothing stands between you and world domination... except... a sequel?"
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby oberhamsi » 30 Mar 2011, 09:13

qubodup {l Wrote}:these can be turned into achivements by reaching a limit

100 Reanimated destroyed -> Hardass Baddie (They beat you and beat you again, but if you won't win it this time... you will rule the world in the sequel! Definitely!)
500 Humans killed -> Slaughtermind ("Ruling the world? Do I look like a politician? I started this for the blood and gore you know!")
0 Police killed and won game -> Super Sneaky Scientist (You took over without setting unrest to the establishment. No zombies moan quieter than yours!)


i'm not a huge fan of achievements but if you decided to do them, this might be helpful: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/GregMcCl ... gn_101.php
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 30 Mar 2011, 19:36

qubodup {l Wrote}:So the end message is "you have finished the game" which makes me feel less evil.

How about "You did it! The ultimate recepie is yours! Now nothing stands between you and world domination... except... a sequel?"


Okay, the end message is practically non-existant :) I'll try to fix that when I find out how to integrate some plot-related ideas.

About the achievements - i'm okay with them generally but can't spend time on that now. They're mostly a gimmick from my point of view and I'm still not satisfied enough with core stuff yet.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby qubodup » 30 Mar 2011, 23:57

All I can think of is a minecraft-like zombie-crafting minigame or a way to control what new zombies will be used for: defense agianst police or attacking civillians..
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 31 Mar 2011, 00:40

You mean how to expand the game?
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby qubodup » 31 Mar 2011, 10:42

Yes, these are 'things to do for the player during a game round' ideas.

I can't see how they would improve the game to be honest.. they'd rather slow it down.
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby starinfidel » 31 Mar 2011, 21:14

I've just released v2. This version is mainly bugfixes and small improvements. Game stats are now available at the end of the game. The markers are now visible on top of everything else. And there has been a big reworking of the game log. Now everything that happened during the previous turn (or when player clicked on the object) will leave a yellow ? or ! marker that displays the message once the mouse cursor is over it. When the turn ends, those markers will disappear.

http://starinfidel.co.cc/drwest/
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Re: Dr. West (casual turn-based strategy)

Postby qubodup » 31 Mar 2011, 21:41

screens!
2011-03-31-223334_1920x1200_scrot.png

test.png
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