The Glory of Battle City
The story
isn’t exactly Shakespeare: you have a
tank, you need to protect an eagle statue, and the enemy is coming. You figure
out the rest.
Whereas it
is unclear whether you are a zealous American soldier, an SS Panzer pilot or
some sort of hyperadvanced Roman warrior in a futuristic warmachine, Battle
City, a classic top-down tank shooter on the Nintendo Entertainment System, was fun
and addicting and quite innovative for its time, with a local co-op mode and an
in-game level editor/creator.
The hasn’t
aged remarkably well. The limited controls, very basic AI and—shall we say—less
than impressive graphics, leave ample room
for improvement.
We aim to
provide the classic feel of Battle City, while improving on the formula. We
will try to round off the game with addition of improved graphics, full-ranged
controls, online multiplayer and an actual, functioning AI.
Improved Gameplay
The
controls of Battle City were stiff, at best. The gun of your tank could only
fire straight ahead, and your movement was restricted to the four cardinal
directions. We aim to include a 360° movement arc and independent gun aiming.
The
original game included enemies and an AI behavioural pattern. This pattern was
largely random, however, and the enemies did little but drive around aimlessly
and try and shoot the player whenever he was in sight. We aim to create enemies
that use strategy, actively seek out objectives or at least follow a certain
behaviour.
Improved Multiplayer
The local
multiplayer of the original game was almost revolutionary for its time, but nowadays,
we expect more. In addition to the shared screen local co-op, online or LAN cooperative
or competitive modes will add much to the classic game and will hopefully revitalise
a timeless oldie.
Improved Graphics
Naturally, the
graphics and sound effects of the 8-bit era bite the dust when compared to
modern standards. The least we can do is update the poor NES’s visuals (not to
mention remedy the obvious lack of pudding in the game).
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