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Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

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Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#81

Post by nexuist »

Adam13531 wrote: post #27
sportanova wrote: post #26

Full on programming as a mechanic seems overwhelming, but I like the idea of automation in strategy games I’ll give your game a try, maybe I’ll be proved wrong

There are three levels of scripting you can do: * None - just ignore the scripting and let the default AI take care of everything. There are some items that can't be used this way, e.g. Teleport and EMP, because the default AI wouldn't know how you'd want to use them. * Blockly - use the block-based scripting to control your bots. This is what I suggest as the step for newcomers who still want to customize their bots…

For the record, the "figure it out" block is what kept me in the game instead of trying it once and moving on. A lot of these strategy coding games like to throw you in the fray and start you off with a blank slate.

I know how to code, but I don't know how to win a game of BotLand. Having the ability to just start a match right away is killer.

I played a dozen or so matches so far. Really excited to see how development progresses. Also surprised at how well the mobile app runs considering it's a web wrapper (but it doesn't feel like most web wrappers do!)

Best of luck, and thanks for the game!

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#82

Post by soulofmischief »

shkkmo wrote: post #59
Adam13531 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you talking about the monetization model, or is something broken with opening salvage packs? I assume the former. The goal was always for Bot Land to be free-to-play, and there were many different approaches to monetization discussed throughout development. In the end, I settled on the one you see in-game now, but the tenets were always the same: https://share.bot.land/monetization.html For reference, salvage pac…

I appreciate your intent to make the game is not P2W and use IAP only for cosmetic items. However, why not allow users to purchase those items directly? The use of "loot boxes", even for purely cosmetic items, can create dangerous and unhealthy addictive behaviors as people buy again and again trying to get the item they want. A number of countries [0] have made "loot boxes" illegal or placed restrictions on them, so…

Should gambling be illegal? If you believe in human freedom then no, it shouldn't, so maybe you're barking up the wrong tree here. Let's focus on the fact that A) this practice is generally turning the AAA industry into grindy garbage and B) this stuff is targeted towards kids

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#83

Post by ALittleLight »

Adam13531 wrote: post #72
tardo99 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the rationale for excluding sqrt? And, do you allow Math.pow (since that's the same thing)?

> What's the rationale for excluding sqrt? That's a great question, and one with a non-obvious answer! For any potential function in Bot Land, including utility functions like Math.sqrt and Math.pow, I purposely wanted to provide as few as possible until someone expressed a desire for them, that way I could ask about the scenario they were trying to accomplish (as you saw in this thread). From there, I try to figure…

Thanks for the reply and the explanation. You're right that I was trying to calculate distance.

One thing that confused me though, when I was trying to figure out how to square root is that one of your code blocks seems to translate into Math.pow, which made me think that I could use it too.

For the same reason you gave, equality between block-based and text-based programmers, I'd suggest any function that the blocks translate into should be allowed.

If it would help you I can find the specific block I'm referring to latter today.

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#84

Post by Adam13531 »

ALittleLight wrote: post #83
Adam13531 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's the rationale for excluding sqrt? That's a great question, and one with a non-obvious answer! For any potential function in Bot Land, including utility functions like Math.sqrt and Math.pow, I purposely wanted to provide as few as possible until someone expressed a desire for them, that way I could ask about the scenario they were trying to accomplish (as you saw in this thread). From there, I try to figure…

Thanks for the reply and the explanation. You're right that I was trying to calculate distance. One thing that confused me though, when I was trying to figure out how to square root is that one of your code blocks seems to translate into Math.pow, which made me think that I could use it too. For the same reason you gave, equality between block-based and text-based programmers, I'd suggest any function that the blocks…

> You're right that I was trying to calculate distance.

Oh good! Thanks for following up on that.

> one of your code blocks seems to translate into Math.pow, which made me think that I could use it too.

The way that the blocks work is that they convert into JavaScript under the hood. This means that there's no way to do something through the blocks that you can't do in code (although the converse isn't necessarily true). This means that if there is a block that converts to Math.pow, it's broken, so I'd definitely like to know about that if you find it.

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#85

Post by trentlott »

Adam13531 wrote: post #72
tardo99 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the rationale for excluding sqrt? And, do you allow Math.pow (since that's the same thing)?

> What's the rationale for excluding sqrt? That's a great question, and one with a non-obvious answer! For any potential function in Bot Land, including utility functions like Math.sqrt and Math.pow, I purposely wanted to provide as few as possible until someone expressed a desire for them, that way I could ask about the scenario they were trying to accomplish (as you saw in this thread). From there, I try to figure…

> Another philosophy would be to just add whatever functions I can think of and see what users do with it.l

Well, the middle ground could be allowing the basic PEMDAS mathematic functions and their inverses, just to allow common manipulations

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#86

Post by Madmallard »

Adam13531 wrote: post #63
Madmallard wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been in the industry 8 years and worked on maybe a half dozen games but none of the projects was >400 hours. I don't see how to make the commitment to spend multiple years without like an income coming from it and a team to work with. By myself it just becomes unbearable after a while. I want to make a living off games. I'm almost 30 and things aren't getting easier.

Ahh, I see what you're saying. I think the answer to that is that I had set up my entire life around Bot Land. It was my full-time job, I had the stream for accountability, and I'd dumped my savings into the production of the game. I couldn't just walk away from that. Plus, it's been a lifetime goal of mine to make a successful game, and I'd always said that the one true way to definitively fail was to not finish Bot…

The barriers i repeatedly hit seem to be due to my lack of competence or inexperience at the tools im using.

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#87

Post by mizzao »

A for loop seems to be supported but there is no documentation on how to use it. I'm getting the following error when trying to use a loop index i:

Your for loop's body section is not legal. You can only use literals as a refinement on objects (when trying to index into an array[i] returned from findEntities).

Re: Show HN: Bot Land, a game where you fight others via code

#88

Post by OtherMush »

mizzao wrote: post #87

A for loop seems to be supported but there is no documentation on how to use it. I'm getting the following error when trying to use a loop index i: Your for loop's body section is not legal. You can only use literals as a refinement on objects (when trying to index into an array[i] returned from findEntities).

I looks like only the two built-in variables "array1" and "array2" can be used like actual arrays. someBot = someArray[0]; will not work but array1 = someArray; someBot = array1[0]; will.
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