36 replies to this topic

[Roachant]

Hi guys, I stumbled across this as I was looking for info on my upcoming ant simulation game.
Guess I'll cancel mine now, this looks pretty good...

http://steamcommunit...s/?id=343656291

Don

[Nes187]

Just try and get a updated version of sim ant on the go and I'll buy a copy, I use to play the heck out of that

[AntsTexas]

continue working on it, i'd like to c what it looks like

[Roachant]

I might continue it but now I'm not as motivated to do so since this one looks to be, at least graphically, superior.
Plus I don't have much time to work on it as I'd like so it would take a while to get it to the point I'd like it to be at. My plan is to add many different species with each having a different play style.
For example, if you choose a Camponotus, your Environment would be different than say an Atta. Different methods of food gathering and nest building and so forth.

[William. T]

Would it be cartoon drawn or would it be more realistically drawn?  

[Roachant]

Realistic but crude. Here is a sprite sheet of one of my ants.

[William. T]

Are you adding minors and majors?

[Roachant]

Yes, but not with all species. So far I do because of the way my game is set up right now. So as of now, minors are gathering resources and majors are patrolling and attacking. But my plan was to try to be as accurate as possible so people can learn as they play.

[Barristan]

Do you use spriter for animation?

[Roachant]

No, I'm using game makers built in animator. It works well for me.
The main reason why I decided to make a game like this is because I used to have so much fun playing simant and thought that a newer version was definitely needed.

[William. T]

A small question.

 

Are you going to make this a real time strategy game? Something like Red Alert 2: Command and Conquer. You would be able to make attacking columns like that of real life, use aphids for food, use logs and rocks as satellite nests as forts, capture meadows and woodland for hunting and building material. Super majors would act as tanks, while some workers could douse enemies with formic acid.  It would be more geared towards war and hunting, but you will get a lot more players, especially if it drawn realistically.

[Roachant]

Well I was planning to have rts elements in a sim style game. I got to the point where my workers can shoot acid and it looked good with particle effects. Since an ants life is violent, a good ant game would have to incorporate that and using an rts style is a good way to do that.
I'm not so sure I should abandon my project because fter looking at that other ant game, it really isn't similar to the style I'm going for. Plus I was having fun doing it!

P.s: I had aphids as one of my sources of sugar for the ants

[William. T]

Well I was planning to have rts elements in a sim style game. I got to the point where my workers can shoot acid and it looked good with particle effects. Since an ants life is violent, a good ant game would have to incorporate that and using an rts style is a good way to do that.
I'm not so sure I should abandon my project because fter looking at that other ant game, it really isn't similar to the style I'm going for. Plus I was having fun doing it!

P.s: I had aphids as one of my sources of sugar for the ants

Well, Sim Ant was a little too peaceful. Without blood and gore, you can't send a game to players outside of the ant keeping community. Look at Antzzz, the game. It's just a website! But it's all about war and getting ready for war. That's why it has so many followers. If a game like that could succeed, definitely a near completely war focused game would be nice.

 

Bravo about the aphids and formic acid. Also, how are you getting funding for this?

Edited by William. T, August 16 2015 - 12:44 PM.

[Gregory2455]

I think the makers of this game actually joined either the Yuku forum or this forum.

[LC3]

I have this thing lingering in my mind for a while.. not really a suggestion but here it goes:

You have 4 sub families you can choose (the major ones; Myrmicinae,Dolichiderae,Ponerinae and Formicinae) and you have these points (that act like currency but are DNA instead cause it makes more sense) which you obtain over time and depending on which sub family you choose you'll have different up grades, like Myrmicinae ants would have stings to upgrade and such or large heads. Anyways I never mentioned this because most game ideas involving ants are using existing species and technically inventing your own species seems a bit weird. This method can be used for both play styles (Be and ant or rts). 

 

Anyways not really a suggestion just wanted somewhere to put it. Good luck with your game.

[Roachant]

Thanks for the tips guys. Funding for this comes from me and ( what I have of) my spare time. That's why I was quite bummed to see another ant game coming out really soon when I have a loooong road ahead of me. I do have some offers for help from a few people so, there's that.

[William. T]

Here's an idea: There are three catergories of ants you can choose from: Solenopis Invicta, the Red Imported Fire Ant: Which is known for it's dangerous workers armed with chemical and physical weapons, L. Humile, the Argentine Ant, used for it's fast rate of producing workers and queens to have satelite nests and high work effiecency, and some new  Pheidole sp. from Chernobyl or Cambodia, used for it's ability to produce super major that can act as tanks, workers with sawlike mandibles to harvest food faster, as well as other specialized castes. Really, RIFA and Argentines dominate in this world, but having a third party, especially one that draws heavily from Pheidole's ability to produce it's different castes, would be interested. While ponerines have cool looking jaws or whatever, they don't conquer nearly as much territory as the invasives. I think you should stick to invasives only, since they are the most powerful.

[Roachant]

Great idea!
I wanted to have a good variety so that people can learn about how different ants live and make the gameplay different depending on what ant you choose but at this rate, maybe I should try to keep it more simple at first.

[William. T]

How's the game going?

Edited by William. T, August 16 2015 - 3:58 PM.

[Roachant]

If I continue, not for a while. It all depends on how much time I can spend on it. I was toying with maybe spending some time tomorrow but that's out of the picture. Work is very bad this summer, far busier than it should be.