Trampoline Gunmen!

[Szczepaniak]

Hi all

I?m a newcomer to the site, and I?ve decided to post, in order to announce a new version of my Trampoline Gunmen games, which I have uploaded onto Pete?s site. A special thank-you to Pete for running this website, and making it so easy for people to upload their work.

Anyway?

I have finally created a simultaneous 4 player version of TRAMPOLINE GUNMEN! It?s name is Trampoline Gunmen: Quadro. It, along with most of the other versions, was programmed in PURE QB.

Since my DC programmer bailed on me AGES ago, I realised that the only way to get something done is to do it yourself. So here you have it, the first version to support more than 2 players, which I spent most of the day programming.

It?s not as fluid as the DC version, and it lacks the ability to move left and right due to using a keyboard. It may be a bit cramped to squeeze 4 people around one keyboard, but it?s quite good fun. I recommend you try and drag a couple of buddies to the PC, and give it a test.

It can be found HERE. Courtesy of Pete's QB site.

Be sure to unzip the folder before trying to run it.

BE WARNED: It made my computer crash a couple of times, for reasons I don?t understand. Make sure you save any files before running it. I find it works fine on my Windows XP laptop.

There are some cool new additions, like temporary invincibility, no more rounds, so games should hopefully be more fluid and longer lasting. Plus, there is saving again, and this time it saves the optimum speed the game runs at, so after you configure it, the next time you load the game, it should run at a decent speed (the 4P mode runs a bit slower than the 2P mode).

Let me know your thoughts, and also if you find any bugs, I only managed to get 2 other people to try it. Also, let me know if there are any additions you think it should have, since I plan to fix any problems with it. Probably.


Now might be a good time to recap the history of this series, which started back in 1999, since TG Quadro is actually the 6th version to be released. All of the DOS version were programmed in pure QBasic, without any additional assistance.

Trampoline Gunmen ? The first game, and it was 2 player only. It was originally meant to be the mattress minigame which is included in TG: Minigame$, but it evolved into two people shooting each other on trampolines. There was also a second version released later that fixed a nasty bug I?d missed.

Trampoline Goats ? Technically the official sequel to the original TG. The only difference was that I replaced the main characters with the heads of goats, and the bullets with cheese. It was a homage to and was inspired by Jeff Minter, and his use of animals in games. It also incorporated, rather unsuccessfully, a power-up system. If two bullets collided, they formed a bubble. Shooting the bubble would cause your opponent to freeze. It unbalanced the gameplay, and so was scrapped for later versions.

Trampoline Gunmen: Turbo Deux ? A proper update to the original this time, it was the first version to feature AI, which I?m rather proud of. It included a tournament against 6 progressively more difficult opponents, each of whom had their own fully animated background, which was for me another great highlight. It was tremendous fun creating an animated ocean background using only pure QB. Plus, there was even a secret hidden Easter egg that allowed you to see the ending (it?s the # of rounds you select).

Trampalien Gunmen DC ? A Dreamcast remake of the very first original Trampoline Gunmen. I did the design, artwork, music, sound effects, playtesting, etc. Voices were done by my brother. It was meant to go SO much further, but then my lousy programmer bailed on me. The worst thing is, he bailed before we had implemented the proper visuals, the Metal Slug sprite rips in there were only placeholders. Plus, I never got to implement the minigames.

Trampoline Gunmen: Minigame$ ? With my programmer bailing, I decided to make the Minigame$ version alone, again using QB. It was originally inspired by Wario Ware, and I must admit, it turned out rather damned well. I also implemented high-score saving!

Trampoline Gunmen: Quadro ? The version I bring to you today. This too was meant to be included in the DC version, and frankly, it would have rocked with 4 pads being displayed on a TV. Play either 1v1, 1v2, 2v2 or 1v3.


I someday hope to update TG with further additions that I?ve planned: Multiple selectable characters, each with their own different narratives, traits and stats (such as different speeds, ammo amounts, health, special signature moves etc). Plus, the addition of a charging power bar to pull off specials. Then of course, there are the 100 or so minigames that I?ve designed, and now just need to be implemented.

Otherwise enjoy

[Guest]

Hi all

I think that that's a rather good meathod.

[{Nathan}]

Hi all

I think that that's a rather good meathod.

#1: method of what?

#2: you spelled method wrong

#3: who are you and where did you take my cheese?

[m2j]

Oh yeah, I should probably mention I enjoyed the game, well done man!

matt

[Z!re]

Hi all

I think that that's a rather good meathod.

#1: method of what?

#2: you spelled method wrong

#3: who are you and where did you take my cheese?

You wanted a sample of the sapmbot.. you got one.. enjoy it..

[Szczepaniak]

Thanks for the comments Matt. When making free games, knowing that other people enjoy them makes it all worthwhile.