TWO FLAGS was released about four years ago and since has garnered a
few awards for its
level of Artificial Intelligence.
Although the strategic elements are timeless, the game looks like the state of the art from 1990. The 2D graphics are so primitive that the main game screen could be relegated to a HUD radar in a modern 3D game based on the concept.
Over the past couple of months I have been upgrading the released version to include MULTIPLAYER (multiple human) capabilities by using Cleber de Mattos Casali's
MultiJoy plugin. I am about halfway through the modifications, having just finished the frontend interface which allows the players to set up the MULTIPLAYER mode.
In commemoration of the Windows 98SE operating system installed on my development system reaching the 5 year anniversary without reinstallation,
this is a link to the alpha 1/29 build of TWO FLAGS version 2 which has the completed MULTIPLAYER frontend for you to check out. The title sceens are skipped in the alpha version.
The MULTIPLAYER button is activated only when you have at least one joystick/joypad connected before starting the game. I have never tested it with more than 4 joy devices connected. So if anyone has such a configuration (theoretically up to 16 joysticks are supported by the OS), I'd be interested in knowing if my frontend programming operates correctly in that environment.
Using efficient flexible navigation, the MULTIPLAYER setup interface must allow:
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- optional inclusion of AI opponents in the game.
- creation of new user avatars.
- specification of the number of (human) players from 2 up to 5 (or the maximum possible based on auto detection of connected controllers).
- simultaneous selections of all user avatars.
- simultaneous selections of board positions.
- optional player specification of number of rounds and player velocity.
[screen shot from MULTIPLAYER front end]
The entire original single player version, (now referred to as the PRACTICE mode), has been very slightly tweaked graphically, and is contained within the build. Although it is supported, you don't need a joystick for the PRACTICE mode. At this point the AI in the PRACTICE mode is unchanged.
I think this will be an excellent party game since the rules are straightforward and the controls are simple. I have designed this so that a 4 year old child will be comfortable understanding the game and enjoy playing it, and even have a decent chance to win. Game strategy can be simple or complex, depending on your mindset. If the AI are not activated, then the element of luck is eliminated from TWO FLAGS/MULTIPLAYER gameplay.
Next comes converting the main game loop to support more than one human player. That implementation will come in two stages. First I'll program the (2 through 5) humans only implementation with the unselected positions unfilled by AI. I estimate this is about 25%-33% of the remaining work. For the second stage I will attempt to integrate the AI into the unused positions. (75%-67%)
I'd appreciate a description of any problems that you may encounter using this alpha build. I have included a full set of sample user avatars so you don't have to mess with the avatar creation, unless you want to. All of the game documentation can be accessed from the RULES button on the first interactive menu.
I'm unique, just like everybody else.
