Buster Squad

I spent an afternoon prototyping a game mechanic spawned from years of looking at Warhammer 40K art.

http://cdn.pcgamesn.com/sites/default/files/warhammer%20slitherine%20alksdn.png

I thought it would be rad to control that angry pile of gunners. So the idea behind the prototype is that you have an AI squad that you can call into formation and take direct control of the squad as a whole. This allows you to direct all of there fire in a single direction and take on rushing hordes and large enemies. Alternatively, you can toggle into “fire at will” mode, where the ai takes over the individual squad mates and they each engage their own targets, while the hero character is direct control with melee abilities.

LATEST
8/10/14
I did a smidgen of work this week. I made variations of the base squadmate class for fun and I ended up getting some cool emergent behavior. Brutes will engage in close combat much quicker than troopers or snipers. Troopers shoot faster and snipers have more accurate and powerful weapons. We’ll see if i want to go with distinct classes like this, or go for greater variation.

Interesting idea :slight_smile:

nice Prototype! very cool mechanic.

very cool idea, if you get your game to look anything like that picture you posted I would be very interested in buying.

Very cool mechanic Spectronaut. I can’t wait to see how you progress in the development of your project. Be sure to keep us updated. Have a great day!

Very cool idea indeed!

Yup, looks interesting.
Think I would give it a try :wink:

Agreed! :slight_smile:

I did some work on squadmate and enemy AI.
For the enemies, I dipped into Behavior Trees. I don’t know if I like BT’s yet. I have patrolling and attacking behavior in, but I don’t feel like I did it right… seems shaky.
I did my own logic for the squadmates in their BP. They will attack in fire-at-will mode. If the enemy is within a range, they will run up and melee. If the enemy is within sight, but not not ranged weapon range they will run close enough to fire.
I also had a first stab at getting the “squad up” fire mode to feel mega powerful.

Notes:
-my animation skills are way sick.
-the purple and red is indicative of nothing…other than the music I was listening to this weekend.

Ah man, thanks.
Me and some buddies at work have been watching Nelo’s progress. That pace looks insanely fun.
For me, I kind of liken it to the appeal of games like vanquish…but faster.

First week of work getting the basics of the “squad up” and “fire at will” modes. And really dumb enemy AI.

Update #3

I did a smidgen of work this week. I made variations of the base squadmate class for fun and I ended up getting some cool emergent behavior. Brutes will engage in close combat much quicker than troopers or snipers. Troopers shoot faster and snipers have more accurate and powerful weapons. We’ll see if i want to go with distinct classes like this, or go for greater variation.

Great work so far Spectronaut. I can’t wait to see where this project goes.