These rules are revised from the original announcement in the following ways:
- The rules for entering and bidding have been removed since that stage of the contest has passed.
- Strategy section has been removed.
- Mimics are used instead of guards.
- Consequences of bomb kills described.
- Lame duck removal rule added.
- Handling of stalemate and similar conditions described.
- Language is briefer and less explanatory with the aim of being easier to read as a reference.
You don't need to go back and look at the old rules or q&a we had. Everything you need related to the rules should be right here. If you want something clarified, just ask, and I will try to keep the rules updated with my responses.
Summary
We'll put a bunch of smitemasters in one room and have them stab and slice until just one remains. The deadline for entering the contest has elapsed, and we are starting the contest with 57 players with an assigned sequence of movement and bid handicap.
I've created a DROD room that will contain one swordsmen for each of the entrants. Your sword-wielding character will have all of the abilities of a mimic. The goal is generally to eliminate as many of the other entrants as possible so you have a high "
kill count"
.
Each "
cycle"
of the game is comprised of these events:
1. I post the first hold in the
"Hold Update" topic. That post will include a deadline for commands to be submitted in response.
2. Players e-mail their commands to me. Commands for the cycle are accepted from the time the hold update is posted up until the deadline for that cycle.
3. After the cycle's deadline has passed, I post a complete list of submitted commands in the "
Hold Update"
topic.
4. Myself or someone else will work on the hold update for the next cycle, which involves scripting characters in the hold so that they follow player commands.
These cycles repeat until only one player is left, at which point the game ends.
Issuing Commands
As an entrant, you would control one swordsman in the room. Every two days, you have an opportunity to submit 5 movement commands.
There is a lot of work involved in updates and many ways to screw up. Please help make this tedious data entry task easier to deal with by following a very specific format for submitting your commands. An example of the desired format:
#07 q w 8 5 5 (The Spitemaster)
(Color added here to identify different parts--I'm not asking you to color-code your submissions.)
Sequence#
Commands
Forum handle
The first three letters should contain your
sequence# that was assigned based on your bid. If your sequence# is single-digit (less than "
10"
), pad it with a zero, i.e. "
#07"
instead of just "
#7"
.
Then you have your
five commands separated by spaces. Valid commands are:
q - Turn sword counter-clockwise.
w - Turn sword clockwise.
7 - Move northwest (up-left).
8 - Move north (up).
9 - Move northeast (up-right).
4 - Move west (left).
5 - Wait without moving.
6 - Move east (right).
1 - Move southwest (down-left).
2 - Move south (down)
3 - Move southeast (down-right).
Commands will be performed from left to right, so your leftmost movement code will be performed first. If your commands contain invalid movement codes, the wrong number of movement codes, or any other formatting problem that makes the command ambiguous or hard to deal with, I will substitute "
5 5 5 5 5"
for what you've given me.
Following the five commands, add your
forum name in parentheses.
This specially-formatted set of commands is just going to get copy-and-pasted into a post with other commands. I don't want to edit 57 individual commands to make it look right. That's why I'm so specific about the format.
Don't post your moves publicly--that can allow other entrants to react to your moves when they submit their's. E-mail your commands to contests@caravelgames.com. You should receive an auto-reply that says something like "
Your commands for cycle #5 have been received."
If you see an auto-reply like "
I'm not accepting commands now."
then that means you either submitted too early (not accepting commands yet for the cycle) or too late (you sent your e-mail after or very close to the deadline). For the latter case, consider that the deadline is for your e-mail
arriving in my inbox. You don't have control over our two mail servers and all the internet in between it, so I would try to get your message with commands sent to me at least a half hour before the actual deadline to make sure it gets delivered in time. If I don't get your commands in time, then you'll just be put down for "
5 5 5 5 5"
.
Turn Sequence
Turn sequence was determined in a previous contest stage. Here is the order in which turns are taken:
#1 4 StuartK
#2 4 md5i
#3 3 Abbyzzmal
#4 3 Alneyan
#5 3 Muiff
#6 3 HopelessAmateur
#7 3 The Spitemaster
#8 3 StephenForLouise
#9 3 VortexSurfer
#10 2 Rabscuttle
#11 2 Oneiromancer
#12 2 TripleM
#13 2 ClaytonW
#14 2 Malarame
#15 2 Yellow_Mage
#16 2 bradwall
#17 2 Krishh
#18 2 Jacob
#19 2 RubellaGolda
#20 2 RuAdam
#21 1 Schik
#22 1 Leus
#23 1 Mattcrampy
#24 1 trick
#25 1 Andy101
#26 1 Tim
#27 1 DelverDom
#28 1 Banjooie
#29 0 stigant
#30 0 larrymurk
#31 0 eytanZ
#32 0 RoboBob3000
#33 0 Doom
#34 0 worm
#35 0 gamer_extreme_101
#36 0 NekoIncardine
#37 0 Korgath
#38 0 Nillo
#39 0 Znirk
#40 0 KevG
#41 0 zaubberer
#42 0 Jeff_Ray
#43 0 Svante
#44 0 leroy00
#45 0 wallu
#46 0 MeckMeck GRE
#47 0 vylycyn
#48 0 cheese obsessive
#49 0 Penumbra
#50 0 agaricus5
#51 0 bdwing
#52 0 forrestfire
#53 0 techant
#54 0 Someone Else
#55 0 Crazy Ivan
#56 0 Kevin
#57 0 Mouse
For each turn, only one of the entrant's commands will be performed. So if "
stuartk"
(#1) submitted "
4 2 w w w"
and "
md5i"
(#2) submitted "
3 7 q q q"
for their commands, the first cycle would go like this:
Turn 1
Player #1's "
4"
command is performed.
Player #2's "
3"
command is performed.
Player #3's first command is performed.
...
Player #57's first command is performed.
Turn 2
Player #1's "
2"
command is performed.
Player #2's "
7"
command is performed.
Player #3's second command is performed.
...
Player #57's second command is performed.
...and then for turn 3, 4, and 5, everyone's 3rd, 4th, and 5th commands are performed.
Resolving Movement
The results of movement will be determined by the DROD game itself. Your character will be a scripted mimic NPC. Your commands will be added to the script without any thought given to their consequences. If moving up makes you hit a wall, you'll simply bump into that wall and not move. There won't be any chance for us to correct the command you gave us, even if it is obvious you intended something else than what you submitted. So it is very important for you to doublecheck your commands before submitting. Furthermore, you should probably doublecheck that we've updated the hold correctly with your move in the
"Pre-Update" topic.
One related question that has come up a few times: What if you walk into another player's sword? Your movement would be blocked and it would be the same as pressing "
5"
(wait) for that turn. Note that this follows from the "
physics"
of mimic NPCs. Adding a script command for a mimic to walk onto a square containing another mimic's sword will cause the guard to stay in his square without moving.
There is no simultaneous movement. Two players can't kill each other on the same turn. The sequence of movement is described in the previous section.
Lame Ducks
If you don't submit commands for two cycles in a row, you'll be removed from the game on the second of the two cycles. So in the first cycle, if you don't submit commands, your character would sit in place for 5 turns. And then when you didn't submit commands for the next cycle, I'd drop you from the game. You'd keep your kill count from previous cycles. No points would be added to your kill count.
There is one exception: if you are among the top three players by kill count minus your bid handicap, you
won't be removed. See "
Winning"
section for how rank is calculated.
Thes Lame Duck rules are so that there aren't a lot of easy kills laying around for the taking. I think that if this rule weren't here, players would notice an inactive "
5 5 5 5 5"
player next to them and kill them on the next cycle. And it would be really good luck (too good) to be next to an inactive player.
If you really want your character to stay put, just submit "
5 5 5 5 5"
and you won't be removed. If you're not available to submit commands at certain times, then find an alternate who isn't currently in the game to decide on and submit commands on your behalf.
Dying
Below are the different ways you can die. Except for one, they all follow from the rules governing mimics in normal DROD gameplay.
If another player's sword enters your square, you die and are removed from the game. One point is added to the stabbing player's kill count.
If a bomb goes off by fuse and you are in the blast radius, then you die, and whoevever lit the fuse will have one point added to their kill count for you. (It is possible that you lit the fuse, in which case you would get the point.)
If you stab a bomb with your sword, then you die, and one point is added to your own kill count. Also, if you kill anyone else with the blast, these are kills are also added to your count.
If there is no possible way for another player to reach you through any combination of movements which could include hitting orbs, then you die. No points are added to anyone's kill count.
You can die and still win the game, as we'll see next.
Winning
Entrants are scored by their number of kills with their bid handicap subtracted from it. So by kill count, first place winner will receive 100 rank points and any item of his choosing from
the Prize Pile, second place winner takes 50 rank points, and the third place winner gets 25 rank points. If you've never participated in any DROD contest before, and this is your first contest, then you'll get a 10 rank point "
rookie"
bonus for trying something new.
What if people have the same kill count? In that case, of those having the same kill count, whoever survived longer will be ranked higher.
Stalemate and Related Situations
I don't want to describe all the possible situations that could occur, but the gist is that the board could end up in a certain way where everything gets really boring. I.e. a middle player won't let people in from the outside, or a guy on the left side of the board needs 7 cycles to trek over to a guy on the right side. In cases like these, I may decide to move players or even put them in a new arena to keep the action alive. If your strategy is based on hiding from conflict, there will probably be an intervention.
No Private Sharing of Game Information
You can talk about all aspects of the game at any time, but it must be done
publicly in this topic or, if appropriate, the "
pre-update work"
topic. If you have a question to ask me, please ask it publicly unless it really needs to be private.
Don't provide game information privately to anyone else or even offer to--that will disqualify you. And for the sake of the game, if anyone approaches you with private game information, please tattle on him to me and I'll disqualify him. Simply
asking someone if they would like to coordinate movements with you in private or exchange any form of private game information is going to disqualify you. Unfortunately, ignorance of the rule can't excuse you, or the rule may not be effective.
-Erik
____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals |
twitch stream |
youtube archive (NSFW)
[Last edited by ErikH2000 at 10-09-2005 01:45 AM]
And earn one extra kill. 
