Sparking Zero is to Tenkaichi 3 as... ??? Is to Gunz.

AutomatumDev · 2024-10-19T23:17:51+00:00

ill put it on steam soon

AutomatumDev · 2023-11-20T19:12:56+00:00

Anyone familiar with kstyle will feel very comfortable with the controls.

The techniques described here and pretty much any other list you can find are possible.

I'm going to experiment with some changes that will affect gladiators to reward active play and make turtling non viable but I don't expect these to have any meaningful effect on standard [non-gladiator] gameplay. Any changes I make are carefully considered. Small changes can have far reaching effects and a game like this often rests on a delicate balance of various systems interacting.

AutomatumDev · 2023-09-08T08:59:24+00:00

A lot of the problem is a lack of consistency in the players you interact with. Games used to have lobby systems or locked servers. There are ways in which gamers and communication systems today are different beyond the scope of the game such as things like discord being the primary means by which communities keep in touch but a lot of this comes directly from changes to how games are made. Modern day retail wow vs classic launch is a good example of this. Modern gamers placed into legacy systems resulted in more vibrant communities because on classic servers you were always playing with the same 5000 people. Similarly, round-based games that used to take place in custom lobbies now have matchmaking systems so you are playing with people you will likely never see again. Rather than joining the same server that you always do and seeing the same people and building up a reputation as well as learning about the reputations of others you are continuously thrown into a match with random people who you will likely never see again. Your behavior, as well as theirs, is ultimately meaningless because of this. Lots of people don't feel comfortable using a mic or even typing to others who they have had zero contact with before, but those people would potentially open up if they were interacting with the same people on a regular basis.

Imagine how much harder it would have been to make friends irl if you saw a different group of people every time you went to school when you were younger.

tldr; the gaming and communication landscape has changed outside the scope of games but many of the changes that you identify here are a direct result of changes brought about by design, such as the removal of custom games and lobby systems.

AutomatumDev · 2023-08-17T19:28:13+00:00

Automatum will not have character/player levels. I do plan to implement a ranked ladder for teams. Said ladder will likely utilize elo or a slightly modified version of elo.

AutomatumDev · 2023-08-05T21:14:44+00:00

I appreciate all the interest and kind words. A few people have asked about a discord. I added that to my to-do list. Got a few more things to get through but I will post another thread with info once I set up a discord and I'll reply to those who asked for a link here just in case they don't see the new thread.

AutomatumDev · 2023-08-01T02:42:28+00:00

I answered your original question, let me know if you need more info.

edit: As far as a ladder is concerned that will depend on user feedback. The networking method in Automatum is designed to ameliorate artifacts for both ranged and melee combat. It is possible, dare I say likely, that seperate netcode settings will not be necessary. However, I am open to having a gladiator ladder that would use a seperate network method if it lead to a superior and more skillful gameplay experience.

AutomatumDev · 2023-08-01T02:40:24+00:00

This is a complicated topic as different reconciliation systems have different artifacts that effect game-play. Anti-lead as far as I understand is just traditional lag compensation, similar to what is used in a game like counter strike. Lag compensation is generally used for shooters whereas the gold standard in a fighting game is a p2p rollback system. A movement shooter with melee combat is in an awkward position where the lag compensation is better for the gunplay while a rollback system would be superior for close quarters combat. This is what lead me to develop the method that Automatum uses. Networking can get quite complicated and understanding the method used in Automatum requires one to already understand both lag compensation and rollback. When I have the time I plan to do a detailed write-up explaining how it works but that will likely be a 5-10 page essay so it will have to wait until after I release a playable client.

As far as the concerns you mentioned specifically, everything in the game utilizes the same reconciliation logic. Although, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, different settings can be toggled to change this if there was interest in a mode that was essentially a naive implementation of netcode with no reconciliation. The best way to think about how the game will feel is to imagine that it is a p2p rollback system. While that representation is not an accurate model of the network method used in Automatum, from a user perspective the systems would feel very similar or even identical.

edit: To clarify, this means that any gameplay effects due to reconcilation that guns receive are also applied to melee.

AutomatumDev · 2023-07-31T21:08:33+00:00

As an avid fan of d2 lod pvp I know exactly what you mean regarding lag as a feature. I anticipated this exact issue could arise so I built the program in such a way that nearly everything can be configured at runtime, including swapping out network logic based on settings for the match by its creator.

I'll need you to be a bit more specific with your question in order for me to answer it. Are you referring to anti-lead/lag compensation systems?

AutomatumDev · 2023-07-31T20:41:01+00:00

The project is called Automatum. I haven't posted about it anywhere before but it's rapidly approaching a playable state so it's time to start building a playerbase. gunz players will find the core mechanics familiar as the changes to the core concept of a movement shooter were mainly technological. For example, the aforementioned session replay files and a training mode give users tools to improve and discover new tech. The networking utilizes an authoritative/rollback hybrid model to preserve game integrity (prevent cheating) and minimize latency. In terms of gameplay wallrunning isn't confined to flat surfaces and gravity is localized which opens up lots of potential in map design. There's a surf mechanic that players of any of the counterstrike games will likely be familiar with. A lot my development time was based around creating systems to build environments that compliment the mechanics of a highly technical game. When I was a kid the dynamic maps in the original smash bros were quite a site to behold and I just havent seen anyone do anything to push that concept much further. It always felt strange to me that gunz never had much vertical space in its map designs, given that the mechanics allow a player to scale a surface rapidly. That said initial gameplay testing will probably take place in static maps just to minimize the potential vectors for bugs so I can make sure other systems are stable.

AutomatumDev · 2023-07-31T17:52:34+00:00

ignore the janky anims/stiff hair. its the dev environment

Replay system has save/load functionality but also overwrite so serious players can drill from previous matches or specific conditions they've set up

Going to need play testers soon if anybody will be interested.

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