New Scenario: The Wesbowl

Discussion and development of scenarios and campaigns for the game.

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Dave
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New Scenario: The Wesbowl

Post by Dave »

I've been trying to create a few multiplayer scenarios that are a little different to the regular 'kill all enemies' affairs, and I've started with a new scenario I've just committed to CVS: The Wesbowl.

'Battle Ball' is a common 'sport' in Wesnoth used to settle disputes, or simply for entertainment. It was first invented by the Dwarves, as battle practice. Some captured orcs were once made to play it to the death for Dwarvish entertainment, and after escaping, they showed the game to their tribe, who instantly loved it.

It has since spread throughout Wesnoth and the North Lands, and has been used to entertain thousands, to train troops, and to settle disputes.

Rules of the game:

A field is chosen, which should be relatively flat, yet with some foliage and/or hills for variation. Teams consist of a dozen units each, and start lined up facing each other from opposite ends of the field. The area immediately behind each team is known as that team's "end zone".

There is generally some kind of natural barrier such as a river or range of hills down the center of the field. This barrier should be difficult to cross, but not impassable.

In front of each team is a ball. Units must pick the ball up, and attempt to move into the enemy team's end zone while carrying the ball. Doing so will score 1 point for the team. The team that ends with the most points wins.

Units may pass the ball to team mates who are adjacent to them when they move next to them. (A dialog is displayed asking if you want to pass the ball. Kinda klunky, we might make it better if this kind of thing becomes popular).

Battle Ball is played with weapons that are not sharp enough to kill, and skilled healers are always on standby to help injured players. Players that run out of hitpoints are returned to their end zone with refreshed hitpoints. If such players are carrying a ball, the ball will be dropped, and units from either team may pick it up and try to carry it to their target endzone.

When the alloted time elapses (18 turns is recommended) the team with the highest score wins.

Unfortunately the AI is too dumb to know how to play Battle Ball without serious modifications to it, so for now it's just a human vs human game.

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
quartex
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Post by quartex »

This sounds like a lot of fun! I'm not a huge football fan, but it's great you used to wesnoth units to create a whole new kind of gameplay.

Re: passing It would break the normal engine rules, but could you make it so that you could attack your own units, but the only attack you could use would be a 0-0 passing attack? It would require breaking a few rules in the engine, but it might make passing a lot easier.
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Post by Sangel »

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe David's already implemented some kind of rough engine hack to allow for passing.

Sounds interesting. I'll have to try it out!
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Post by Dave »

Sangel wrote:Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe David's already implemented some kind of rough engine hack to allow for passing.
Well it's not really an engine hack, since it didn't require any change to the engine -- simply if you move your unit with the ball next to a friendly unit, they will say "do you want me to pass the ball to this unit? (yes|no)".

It seems to work fairly well...

Oh and yes, attached is a screenshot of Wesbowl in action: the red horseman has just broken out of the crowd, after some strategic passing, and streaks toward the touchdown line!

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
Combatjuan
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Post by Combatjuan »

Sounds interesting. I'll try it when I update my CVS. But the passing system sounds clunky indeed. And what happens if you move next to two units at the same time, or move into the center of six for that matter? Does it ask you if you want to pass it to each individual unit?
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Post by Dave »

Combatjuan wrote:And what happens if you move next to two units at the same time, or move into the center of six for that matter? Does it ask you if you want to pass it to each individual unit?
Yes.

David
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Post by Dave »

After playtesting this a little with Cedric, I have added in a new rule: if a unit runs out of hitpoints, and is sent back to their home castle, they now receive an 'injury' -- on respawning, they have 25% less movement points and hitpoints than previously.

David
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AT
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Wow

Post by AT »

Wow, thats awsome. What are the special reqirements to make a Wesbowl map? it would be interesting on my Middle-Earth map (if people vote yes to it). Ie: get the Ball to Mordor!
Gandalf-"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow. You cannot pass!"
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Post by Insinuator »

Where can I find this?
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Re: Wow

Post by Dave »

AT wrote:Wow, thats awsome. What are the special reqirements to make a Wesbowl map? it would be interesting on my Middle-Earth map (if people vote yes to it). Ie: get the Ball to Mordor!
Well you'd copy the scenario file, and change the co-ordinates appropriately, and put your map in. However I think it only works well on fairly small maps, like the one I designed for it.

It wouldn't be hard to make a different 'get the ring to Mordor' scenario that uses the same type of scripting though ;)
Insinuator wrote: Where can I find this?
It's in the CVS. If you can't access CVS, you'll have to wait until the next release. (It requires code changes in CVS to work properly).

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
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Post by turin »

darn it! you got there first...i was planning on making a soccer game where the ball was a different unit, and you attacked it to kick it. Very complicated, involves a LOT of macros ...

I'm still going to work on it, though. :D
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Integral
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Post by Integral »

When will this be usable over a network? I'm trying it with 0.7.7 and the game keeps going out of sync...looks fun other than that, though :)

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Post by Dave »

Integral wrote:When will this be usable over a network? I'm trying it with 0.7.7 and the game keeps going out of sync...looks fun other than that, though :)
Hmm...it should already be usable over a network. If the game is going out of sync, then that's a bug. I will have to test it.

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
jmosher
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Wesbowl problems

Post by jmosher »

I ran into some interesting problems trying this scenario. First, if you level up, you lose the ball. Second, there is nothing to distinguish the two balls. I didn't realize that you couldn't carry the opponent's ball until I'd already destroyed mine. Third, it might be a good idea to present the rules in a dialogue as the scenario starts. It took me quite a while to figure it all out (especially the injuries).
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Re: Wesbowl problems

Post by Dave »

jmosher wrote:I ran into some interesting problems trying this scenario. First, if you level up, you lose the ball.
This should be resolved in CVS.
jmosher wrote: Second, there is nothing to distinguish the two balls. I didn't realize that you couldn't carry the opponent's ball until I'd already destroyed mine.
You should be able to pick up either ball. If you can't, that's a bug. There's nothing to distinguish the balls, because functionally they should be the same.
jmosher wrote: Third, it might be a good idea to present the rules in a dialogue as the scenario starts.
Good idea.

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
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