101 replies to this topic

[Tahnok]

The Havoc Agency has been the top underground international carnage syndication since 1952. Recently though internal conflicts have started to tear it apart. Now, two of the top-ranking agents have appeared as the main contenders for control of the agency. Internal war has begun. Take sides and join The Havoc Agency.

Take control of an Elite Havoc Emissary in this strategic online top-down shooter. Hide in shadows, duck into buildings, run between barriers, and unleash a maelstrom of bullets onto the enemy forces! This is not a generic "run & gun" top-down shooter, it's going to take a little more cunning to defeat your enemy.

Features:
Strategic gameplay:

• Assault rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, submachine guns, and more to choose from
• Buildings and shadows to hide under
• Weapon system that discourages “run & gun” gameplay

Highly moddable:

• Click here for a page about modding this game
• Weapons can be customized and even entirely new weapons can be created
• Textures can be changed and new ones created
• All mods automatically transferred to the players
• Once the map editor is finished new maps can be created

Server side collisions:

• Cuts lag in half (especially nice for shooting)
• Does not give laggy players an advantage
• Extremely hack resistant (note: this is not a challenge to hackers)

Other:

• Reflect Games enabled, allowing you to have your own account and easily find servers (no manually entering IPs!)
• Graphics quality settings allows older PCs to play too (settings.ini)
• Super smooth texture blending system

Click Here To Download Beta 2!
The download includes both the game and server.

Go to "Info" on the main screen for controls

Additional Maps (not included in the main download!):
Desert Outpost
Route 6

Official THA Forum (hosted by Reflect Games)
Discuss the game, make suggestions, keep up to date on the latest news, and schedule matches.

Details:
Created in GM7 Pro
File Size: 6.26 MBs (includes game client and server)
Does not change screen resolution

Reflect Account Required:
This game requires that you have a Reflect Games account to play. Accounts are completely free and easy to setup. If you already have an account with Reflect you can use it to log in to this game also. Click here to register a new Reflect account!

About BaboViolent 2, Adrenaline, and other online TDSs:
I know that comparisons are inevitably going to be made between this game and other online TDSs. Please try the game first though before making any judgments. I know better than to go into competition with these great games so I've really tried to make The Havoc Agency's gameplay and style stand apart from the rest.

To-do list (not complete, just some stuff I know people are going to ask about):

• Non-circle player graphics (yes, they are temporary!)
• Game modes other than team deathmatch
• Picking up/dropping weapons
• Map editor
• More maps

Known bugs:

• The server occasionally gives an error, which can be ignored.
• Players occasionally spawn at the enemy's spawn, especially at the map "The House".

Hosting a game:
The server requires TCP port 27000 and UDP port 28000 to be forwarded if you're behind a router or firewall. Otherwise, other players will not be able to join your game.

Userbar:
If you want to support THA in your signature feel free to use the code below:

[url="http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=428230"][img]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/tahnok100/TheHavocAgency_Userbar.png[/img][/url]

Click here to see what the image looks like.

If you want to play, catch me on one of the chat programs listed in my profile. If you download/play please comment!

Thanks,
Tahnok

Edited by Tahnok, 26 January 2013 - 01:19 AM.

[MrJackSparrow2]

I love this game Tahnok. Been playing it for some time now, it's pretty fun with multiple people. Great effects, love the terrain system. They just fade into each other. Dynamic lighting and roofs are awesome too! Good job, let's play people!

Edited by MrJackSparrow2, 15 April 2009 - 07:09 AM.

[Lithium]

It's pretty cool. Will be better when more stuff is added. I like the server sending stuff, its cool and so is the terrain and lighting. Awesome game, looking forward to later updates.

[MrJackSparrow2]

Yea, it's really fun with lots of people.

[Carax]

Graphics are excellent. I don't admire how you copyed the game "Stick Arena Online," this game looks better.

[MrJackSparrow2]

Graphics are excellent. I don't admire how you copyed the game "Stick Arena Online," this game looks better.

How did he copy anything from "Stick Arena Online"?

[ChIkEn AtE mY dOnUtS]

Extremely hack resistant (note: this is not a challenge to hackers)

I take on your challenge, without "cheating".

[Chhaaiinnssaaww]

Well no one was on but the gameplay was smooth and nice and the graphics (except for the players) were excellent.
How do you go underneath buildings? How do you mod maps and weapons?

[OpticalLiam]

Well, it's a pretty nice engine you have there tahnok. Didn't have the chance yet to play it online though. One of my main gripes though is that your walls don't look right because they're not correctly lit, for some reason they're drawn above the light map and it looks a bit weird against the correctly lit terrain.

It will be cool to see where you take this, good luck with it!

[Tahnok]

Thanks for the feedback and positive comments! It's really encouraging!

[...]I don't admire how you copyed the game "Stick Arena Online,"[...]

I'm not familiar with that game. Never played it. I've maybe heard the name before, but that's pretty much it. So I can honestly say I didn't copy it.

I take on your challenge, without "cheating".

Not a challenge, NOT.

[...]How do you go underneath buildings? How do you mod maps and weapons?

Well you don't go under the buildings per say. You can walk under the roofs, at which point they fade so you can see inside the buildings. Everyone outside the building though can not see inside, so you can shoot out the doors and such. Simply look for an opening under the big roof sections.

You can only create mods if you are the server. The weapon settings are held in a standard comma delimited file in the "Server Data" folder, "WeaponSettings.csv". I recommend opening it in Microsoft Excel, but you can also open it in notepad. The first line explains the format of the lines below it. I think it's pretty self explanatory. The new weapon settings will be transferred to everyone that joins your server.

Right now the maps have limited modability. You can replace the textures in the "Server Data" folder and those will transfer to the players. Once I release the map editor (sometime in somewhat far future) you will be able to create entirely new maps.

Edit: I've added a link in the main post to a page about modding this game. It will always have the most up-to-date information on modding THA.

[...]One of my main gripes though is that your walls don't look right because they're not correctly lit, for some reason they're drawn above the light map and it looks a bit weird against the correctly lit terrain.
[...]

I know what you mean, and I played with this a ton during the early part of development when I was working on the lighting engine. Due to the shadows being cast by the blocks though, there's really no good way of pulling it off. I mean, how would you light the shadow casters? Also, I found that if they had any sort of lightings applied to them they were difficult to tell apart from the ground underneath, since they technically all use the same textures.

Edited by Tahnok, 28 April 2009 - 02:06 AM.

[OpticalLiam]

I know what you mean, and I played with this a ton during the early part of development when I was working on the lighting engine. Due to the shadows being cast by the blocks though, there's really no good way of pulling it off. I mean, how would you light the shadow casters? Also, I found that if they had any sort of lightings applied to them they were difficult to tell apart from the ground underneath, since they technically all use the same textures.

Well, it can be done if you implement z shadow casting in your light engine, but that's a bit of a hassle. The easiest way, and will probably look fine, is to simply draw all of your blocks with the ambient lighting colour instead of c_white (in draw_sprite_ext).

Anyway I played it online with a few people, and the networking seems really good, there was hardly ever any visible lag. Shooting people seemed pretty accurate. On another note, I found shooting generally difficult to do without any bullet tracers or trails, and the small indistinguishable cursor didn't much help in aiming either.

[iluvfuz]

Great twist on online TDSs. After talking to you about the game's goals, I respect your wishes for the game to be without tracers. I do, however, wish for the cursors to be changed to more standard cursors. Also, knifing is a lot harder than it should be. Realistic knifing should not be single-wielded, as it is small and mobile and always on your belt. The knife should easily be accessed with a right mouse click or another single press, and should follow the cursor around your body.

It's also hard to stalk an enemy, when they can see you coming up on them. I suggest, you make a field of vision in front of the player, following the mouse. This will make it harder for the player to see. When scoping, a circle of light follows the scope so that you can still see.

Now, with knives. The knife is a very difficult weapon to use. And usually, when you're close enough, you're frantically clicking to save yourself. You can try having the knife slash right to left, so that the player can hit enemies 45 degrees to his left and right. This will allow the knife to be a more useful weapon, along with the field of view.

When the cursor is over an enemy, it becomes red and over a friend, green. It should have about a 0.4 alpha so you can see what's happening but still see your cursor.



Lines are to show transparency.

The lighting is a big part of this game, since it implements it smoothly for the purpose of stealth. As this is not a traditional, pick-up and shoot TDS, it follows FPS inspired controls and forces more strategic decisions.

Overall: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Audio: N/A
Replay: 9/10

Edited by iluvfuz, 16 April 2009 - 12:20 AM.

[MrJackSparrow2]

I agree to the majority of what you said, iluvfuz. However, not so much with the cursor idea. Let's say I'm sniping, which I normally do. If there is another sniper, or somebody hiding in the shadows, and I happen to mouse over them, their cover is completely blown.

(PS. Sorry about earlier today.)

[Tahnok]

I've updated the main download with a fixed version of the server which hopefully wont error anymore. It turns out the error was caused when someone shot and died within the same frame, making it incredibly difficult to track down, fix, and test. So if you get a server error with the new download please let me know. The version number has not been updated since it's such a minor release.

Well, it can be done if you implement z shadow casting in your light engine, but that's a bit of a hassle. The easiest way, and will probably look fine, is to simply draw all of your blocks with the ambient lighting colour instead of c_white (in draw_sprite_ext).

Anyway I played it online with a few people, and the networking seems really good, there was hardly ever any visible lag. Shooting people seemed pretty accurate. On another note, I found shooting generally difficult to do without any bullet tracers or trails, and the small indistinguishable cursor didn't much help in aiming either.

Z shadow casting would cost more GPU than I'm willing to invest. Right now the game doesn't have very high GPU/CPU requirements, and I'm really trying to keep it that way.

I would darken the textures, but that's what I do with the ground textures to make them stand apart. If I darken the blocks as well there will be no way to tell them apart from the ground.

Thanks. I put a lot of effort into the online engine and take pride in it, so it's nice to hear it's being appreciated.

I find it interesting that you say the cursor is small and indistinguishable, because I've gotten another comment saying that the cursor is too big and should be more transparent. I think I'm going to eventually implement a system that should make everybody happy .

The tracers, or the lack thereof, is something very deeply rooted in the idea behind my game. This game is all about strategy and stealth. If you're having to dodge bullets it's too late already, someone has you in their sights and you'll probably be dead before you spot them in the shadows. You do have big red indicator arrows for when you get hit, and I think that's enough for the gameplay style.

Great twist on online TDSs. After talking to you about the game's goals, I respect your wishes for the game to be without tracers. I do, however, wish for the cursors to be changed to more standard cursors. Also, knifing is a lot harder than it should be. Realistic knifing should not be single-wielded, as it is small and mobile and always on your belt. The knife should easily be accessed with a right mouse click or another single press, and should follow the cursor around your body.

It's also hard to stalk an enemy, when they can see you coming up on them. I suggest, you make a field of vision in front of the player, following the mouse. This will make it harder for the player to see. When scoping, a circle of light follows the scope so that you can still see.

Now, with knives. The knife is a very difficult weapon to use. And usually, when you're close enough, you're frantically clicking to save yourself. You can try having the knife slash right to left, so that the player can hit enemies 45 degrees to his left and right. This will allow the knife to be a more useful weapon, along with the field of view.

When the cursor is over an enemy, it becomes red and over a friend, green. It should have about a 0.4 alpha so you can see what's happening but still see your cursor.
[...]

Again, the decision to put the knife on a separate weapon slot is something I wrestled with a lot during the early development of the game, and I finally decided that, for strategy sake, it should be how it is. Like I said over IM, it's very inspired by FPSs, which I feel tend to be more tactical. I think once I get the custom controls setup, where you can map the keys as you like, you'll find it much easier to use.

I believe the idea you're suggesting is fog of war, and again, it's something I've considered. I finally decided though that it's a better option to simply give players things to hide under. I'm not done with the stealth aspect of the game. There's still trees and whatnot to add, which you will also be able to hide under.

As far as the snipers, that's actually a plus of being a sniper. The snipers on a team are supposed to act as both snipers and spotters, directing their team to possible enemy movement. It's still quite difficult to spot people in shadows though with the scope, and they still can't see people hiding in buildings.

I like the slash idea a lot. I think I'll implement something like that eventually. I absolutely do not want something where it's omni-directional, slashing completely around the player, but having a slightly wider range in front of the player might make knife a more viable weapon.

Like I said above, I have an idea on what to do with the cursor to make everyone happy.

I agree to the majority of what you said, iluvfuz. However, not so much with the cursor idea. Let's say I'm sniping, which I normally do. If there is another sniper, or somebody hiding in the shadows, and I happen to mouse over them, their cover is completely blown.
[...]

Originally when I heard the idea of the color changing cursor I liked it. Now hearing this argument I'm not so sure. I think it's something I'll have to playtest. Maybe it will actually help to balance things out. Either way, it's worth a shot at least, since it's easy to implement.

[OpticalLiam]

Z shadow casting would cost more GPU than I'm willing to invest. Right now the game doesn't have very high GPU/CPU requirements, and I'm really trying to keep it that way.

Well, not necessarily. It just means you need to have a way of ordering the drawing of light and shadows, i.e. queue every thing to be drawn in order of Z ascending. Granted you'll have to draw the object's sprites a few times but from what I gather your light maps are pre-rendered, so this shouldn't be a problem. If the shadows are real time, then yes it's a bit more intensive.

I would darken the textures, but that's what I do with the ground textures to make them stand apart. If I darken the blocks as well there will be no way to tell them apart from the ground.

I don't think it would be all that bad. Maybe you could find a balance. As it is I still think they're too bright!

Edited by OpticalLiam, 16 April 2009 - 04:04 PM.

[BrainWare]

I played a few mins with OL and well, my opinion.
Loading took ages. In fact, I copied over the files by hand just so we could play.
The game ran very nice whilst playing, everything worked flawless! Good job!

I have to agree on liam with this, the walls are too bright. Not too sure what you can do with the walls if you want to keep those visible at all times.

Cheers

[iluvfuz]

Do you mean the walls are too bright because the shadows should darken them, or just too bright in general? I don't think shadows should affect the walls at all, because there are some dark areas in here. Downloading the host's data and images is actually a pretty cool concept too me, so that map creators are not restricted to given textures.

Anyways, I like Adrenaline. Shame on you for not hosting.

EDIT: Is it possible on the server side to change cursors for the player? I was thinking what MrJackSparrow2 said about sniping and I agree. Anyone would run their mouse over a shadow to see if they're there. Is it possible to make the cursor change to red if it moves over a moving enemy? This would eliminate problems with non-moving snipers, and if they are detected, their cover is probably blown anyways. This may sound useless if the enemy is already moving and in the open, but it would really help for me that I know I'm shooting at them, since there is no other way to see if you got them besides for ricochets and deaths.

Edited by iluvfuz, 16 April 2009 - 10:59 PM.

[Tahnok]

[...]
Well, not necessarily. It just means you need to have a way of ordering the drawing of light and shadows, i.e. queue every thing to be drawn in order of Z ascending. Granted you'll have to draw the object's sprites a few times but from what I gather your light maps are pre-rendered, so this shouldn't be a problem. If the shadows are real time, then yes it's a bit more intensive.
[...]
I don't think it would be all that bad. Maybe you could find a balance. As it is I still think they're too bright!

Shadows are pre-rendered, allowing me to make them pretty much as complex as I want I suppose. I'll consider it, but I'm leaning away from the idea right now.

I suppose there's nothing stopping me from putting a setting into the ini file that allows you to darken the blocks. It wont give you any advantage if you darken them. I think it will actually give you a disadvantage. But it wouldn't hurt anything to add it.

[...]
Loading took ages. In fact, I copied over the files by hand just so we could play.
The game ran very nice whilst playing, everything worked flawless! Good job!
[...]

I really didn't think so many people would have a problem with the file transfers, especially after playing the source games and seeing how long it can take to enter their servers. But I guess I shouldn't assume that everyone is used to that. There's still a bug in the file transfer system that can make it take forever, literally, so maybe you hit that. I'll look into the file system next time I get a chance and see if I can iron it out and get it running faster.

Thanks, glad you like it.

[...]
EDIT: Is it possible on the server side to change cursors for the player? I was thinking what MrJackSparrow2 said about sniping and I agree. Anyone would run their mouse over a shadow to see if they're there. Is it possible to make the cursor change to red if it moves over a moving enemy? This would eliminate problems with non-moving snipers, and if they are detected, their cover is probably blown anyways. This may sound useless if the enemy is already moving and in the open, but it would really help for me that I know I'm shooting at them, since there is no other way to see if you got them besides for ricochets and deaths.

The server setting the cursor for the players doesn't make much sense since the cursor style is a very personal thing that doesn't effect other players. But yeah, I'll toy with different settings on the color change thing. I'm just afraid of it getting too complicated and difficult for new players to understand.

One thing I do want to point out, that not many people seem to notice, is that the radar will show enemy positions when they shoot. I think it may be buggy though; I've not had a chance to really fully test it and put it through it's paces. It's something to keep in mind though if you're trying to figure out where someone is.

[cookie]

I really want to try this, anyone hosting?

[Tahnok]

I really want to try this, anyone hosting?

I guess I should point out for those who do not know, you can still try the game by yourself by running the server (included with the download in the server folder) and then running the game and joining the first entry on the server list (the local server). You can also IP connect to it via 127.0.0.1 (which will loop it back and connect to your server.) You can't really play the game since there's no enemies, but you can at least look around and try weapons. L is suicide by default (and can be adjusted in the settings menu), by the way, which you need when by yourself since you only get new weapons when you respawn.

Edit: Updated to have more current information.

Edited by Tahnok, 02 September 2009 - 01:14 PM.