Bacteria 2, Hard Logic Puzzle Game, *OPENSOURCE * Winner GMC comp cat .gm6 * Options

[Simon Donkers]

Name: Bacteria 2
Category: Puzzle game
Size: exe: 2.7 mb, gm6: 1.8 mb
Version: (for source registered version needed
Resolution: 640x480
Changes Resolution: No, press F4 to change res or F3 to scale screen
Download Link: direct link
Screenshots: Screenshots page

I am proud to present to you, Bacteria 2.

You are the green army. You need to destroy the red army. You can rotate a stone clockwise by left clicking on it. Even though the controlls sound simple, the game is not. It will require quite a bit of tactics before you win the game.

[EDIT 15-2-05]
Bacteria 2 is now available as opensource. This allows people to find out how the AI actually works. Please read the licence agreement with the game before using the source code

Also I have fixed several bugs within the game and made Easy AI actually easy.
Enjoy
[/EDIT]


Features

• Easy, normal and hard AI
• Multiplayer online battles
• Multiplayer hotseat battles
• Arcade mode easy, normal and hard
• Many unlockables
• Opensource

and much, much more.

Screenshots (click to enlarge)


Download link
Bacteria.SimonDonkers.com ( downloads)

Comments

Addicting, very addicting...with an incredible beginning. Almost made me think I was watching a movie - Ablach Blackrat

Best GM puzzle game around and easily up there with the best of the non-GM and commercial puzzle games. Damn fine work. Completely professional standard. - Wolverine

Game Maker wouldn't be the first thought on my mind if I found this from the internet, no sign of any of the common GM flaws - Viestituote

Very fun game. I love the multiplayer! It is such an inspiration. Everything works and works well. Thank you for making it Simon. You are a great programmer - Darthlupi

A great review by S-Chuck can be found at this post
And another great review by YoMamasMama can be found at GMG (GMG staff rating for this is 8.5. That makes this the 8th best game from the over 1000 games in the archive)

Bacteria 2 has received the H Unit seal of quality

This post has been edited by Simon Donkers: Jul 2 2005, 12:44 PM

[viestituote]

Aah. Good to see my favourite game get released. This is so far the second GM game to get to stay permanently on my computer, and not solely because I happen to actually win pretty much in this game

I thought almost everything that there was to accomplish with the engine was already there when B1 came out, but no, you managed to get all these arcade levels stuffed in and improve the AI drasticly.

I'd like to hear how many else can beat the new Hard AI, I can win against it only about once in 20 tries.

[Carnivac]

Best GM puzzle game around and easily up there with the best of the non-GM and commercial puzzle games. Damn fine work. Completely professional standard.

[gameswillem.tk]

So cool! I love the effects when you take over a big area, and when you click a 'switch'. And of course, the game concept is as good as it was in Bacteria 1.

The intro is great too, however I don't think the music fits in it. (sorry Neverest). I'll check out the other play modes later.

The game itselves is btw not very friendly for red-green colorblind people (like me). I can hardly see a difference between the red ones and the green.

I have a last question, in the upper left corner, you see a red text with the number of green switches, and vice versa. What is the reason for this ?

Overall, a very good concept, and a challenging puzzle game

*makes a shortcut on his desktop*

Willem

This post has been edited by gameswillem.tk: Dec 9 2004, 06:26 PM

[Simon Donkers]

Thank you all for the positive replies.

The game itselves is btw not very friendly for red-green colorblind people (like me). I can hardly see a difference between the red ones and the green.

Sorry, never looked at the playability for colorblind people. I have made a quick patch which changes the colors for the most important stones. Place it in the working directory:
Installation instructions and URL (1kb)
This will only change the color of the most important stones in the game. People who are not color bind are recommanded to use the default version. This patch will make the game look very bad for people who are not color blind.
Sorry once again for not looking into this earlier.

The number of stones is just an indication of how well you are doing. Has no real purpose besides telling you how good you are.

This post has been edited by Simon Donkers: Oct 13 2006, 01:08 PM

[Calle]

This is very good! I like the multiplayer mode so that I can beat my brother... MUHAHAHA...

[S-Chuck]

If you enjoyed the original Bacteria, you have got to try Bacteria 2! Bacteria 2 brings back much of the classic feel with a number of added twists, allowing for even more fun than the original.

Gameplay:
Point, click, take over your opponents stones before he, she, or the AI takes over yours... sounds simple, right? WRONG! Every move that you make must be a calculated one or, with relative ease, the improved computer AI will overwhelm you, trapping you in corners and infecting the last remaining stones that you have left. The game can have its easy moments, but the overall game in itself is by far not so simple.

The classic "Single Player" mode is back, of course, but that is only the beginning. In the new Arcade mode, you can play 30 pre-designed levels which contain new "stones" not seen in the original game. Reaching one of these stones can easily alter the outcome of your current game. Of these, my favorite has to be the "bomb" stone: the computer has you trapped where it only needs one move to take over more of your territory; you however must turn any stone two or three times to dip into the AI's area. By the time you have made that many moves, the AI may take over even more area causing you to be even more trapped... but turning toward a bomb can change all of that! In one move, an explosion not only takes over a circular uninhabited area (and the stones connected to them) but possibly some of the stones in your enemies territory, causing a chain reaction which may turn the tables in your favor!

You now have the chance to play against your friends on a single PC, over a LAN, or over the Internet for much more interesting battles. Even the most complex AI can become predictable at times. Humans, on the other hand, are not. Do not forget to give this feature a try!

Unlike the original game, the AI now has difficulty levels. If you thought that the AI was too easy before, try a harder level for a greater challenge.

Bonus levels and cheats also make for a nice addition to extend the gaming experience (but remember... cheaters never win, so don't think that you will complete the most difficult Arcade levels that way!).

Graphics:
More of the same... but more. Although the look of the motionless stones has generally not changed, the animations of moving stones and especially the taking over of your opponents stones has been greatly improved. It can actually be fun to set up take-overs now merely to watch as the stones animate much more slowly as they infest one another. The animation of the menus and the intro screen also help give the game a much more professional look. The "last move" beacon, also a new feature in Bacteria 2, has its pros and cons: it is helpful in better-knowing the last move made by an opponent but can easily become irritating to see during a fast-paced game when you are certain of the opponents moves or a series of the moves are being made close together.

Sounds/Music:
Simple and effective sound effects. Explosions, clicks, rattles, zings, blings, and of course the AI-taunt may be the only sound effects in the game, but what more is needed? Each fits the game well for its own purpose. The music, though nice, does not seem to fit the theme of the game in my opinion, however. The light-hearted nature of the music during the intro fits perfectly, but that same music during gameplay does not have a similar effect for me which I felt should have been more dark or mysterious. But this, again, is only my opinion.

Bugs/Improvements:
I have been unable to find any gameplay bugs except for a minor graphical one which may have been on purpose: you can press "V" to turn on/off the voice taunt, but there is no icon at the top-right of the menu screen which allows you to do the same (although I do see that it can be changed using the gameplay menu). It would also be interesting to see the ability to create your own customizable levels, but that is another matter for a far later version to be considered and possibly not very practical.


All in all, this is a great sequel to follow up what I consider to be a very entertaining and challenging puzzle game.

Great work, Simon (as well as Neverest for the music) and to all others who helped in the ideas, development, and testing of this great game!

S-Chuck

[Heavendragon]

Very very awesome, i sorta lost like 389-0
Great job Simon

[conrad500]

ooh bacteria 2.

u rule man.

i stink at these kinds of games but i'm still gunna dl it, WITH AOL! lol

keep up the good games.

This post has been edited by conrad500: Dec 9 2004, 11:18 PM

[mysour]

Hey, I thought at first that it was way to hard for my puny little brain but I played a bit here and a bit there, and suddenly I'm addicted, I'm getting my stratagys down, Its getting better. Good job.

[gameswillem.tk]

Thanks for the patch, I can hardly seperate the red stones from the green ones, but now i'm going to play this game without sitting 10 cm = 4 inches from my screen

Willem

[S-Chuck]

A minor sound bug found: if you turn the music off and beat a level so that the fanfare music would be playing (if you could hear it), the regular game music will begin to play again (at its appopriate time) even though you have the music still muted.

[BusterBot858]

Dude! I played this game for a long time, and I'm still gonna play it some more! You've really done it this time. I have unlocked all the way up to level four of arcade mode, and I'm still playing!

Let it be known that Simon Donkers has commited the unforgivable crime of creating an awsomely incredible game. To the hall of fame with him!

No, really. It's totally fricken' awsome. I envy you. Really.

[YoMamasMama]

I'll be reviewing this at the GMG soon.

[Spikehead777]

Saweet!!! I'm addicted to this game! I won once, so far. I just downloaded this game! I love it!

[darthlupi]

I am loving playing this game multiplayer! If any one wants a challenge Tapeworm is the man.

This is such a fun ingenius little game. Very classy. Now if you could only get the whole game to look like that 3d intro I would do a backflip for real.

Awesome game Simon. You are a certified PIMP.

This post has been edited by darthlupi: Dec 10 2004, 04:30 AM

[Yowza Corp]

Never been much over a bacteria fan o well good work on AI

[Shade]

Amazing. I just finished playing against a friend(online). It was a very long game, I had him cornered half the time, but he'd always seem to get out for a while. eventually I won, with about 440 stones. This is a keeper, I plan on playing it again.

[Spud buG]

Absolutly awsome. I love logical games that make me think.
I like the unlockables and the extra powerups.

The AI is very well done, not sure how you achived it, wonder how hard it is playing against someone online. I have yet to find out.

Best of all it's addicting and I will play it today and tomorrow and probarly untill I beat it.

Great job simon, your games are in my books.

This post has been edited by Spud buG: Dec 10 2004, 08:56 AM

[Swifty]

WOW... nothing i can realy say, its all been said, very good work.
Shadow