Trampoline Gunmen 2: Turbo Deux

A proper update to the original this time, it was the first version to feature AI. It also featured a bit of code at the start to detect your system speed – unfortunately it doesn’t work as well as it should.

The AI was actually based on a perfect algorithm which read the speed of your bullets, opponent position, speed and direction, and calculated the likelihood of a hit – so it always avoided your projectiles. It also only ever fired when it was guaranteed a hit – it would check your direction, speed and position and calculate precisely when to fire. I then slackened the parameters so the variable ranges weren’t as precise, and then I added randomisation. For the final boss it was 50/50, meaning there was a 50/50 chance that he’d avoid your shot or fire at you given the chance. Even if he did, since I’d loosened the ranges to no longer be precise, he could still miss you or mis-time his speed change. For weaker enemies this randomisation went up, and I think the first opponent it’s a 1-in-10 chance.

At first though this meant he didn’t do much, since 9-out-10 times he’d ignore the opportunity. So to give the impression of constant activity, I made the weaker enemies do random stuff in reverse proportion to when they did take perfect shots. I also tried to make the random behaviour be based on as many variables as possible – bullets held, bullets on screen, position, position minus the other person’s position then divided by the number of bullets held after being multiplied by the number of rounds won – and so on. My hope was that by layering it in ways undetectable to the player, interesting behaviour might result. It works reasonably well in giving the impression of intelligence. TIP: I could only ever get the AI for attacking to work if you’ve switched speeds either to slow or fast, mainly due to the constant variation in both players’ positions. So by keeping your speed at the default medium, you’re far less likely to be attacked or hit. Don’t play it like a shmup – take your time when firing, and play it a leisurely pace.

It included a tournament against 6 progressively more difficult opponents, each of whom had their own distinct background – it was tremendous fun creating the animated ocean background. There was even a hidden Easter egg that allowed you to see the ending (it’s the # of rounds you select). The sub-heading of ‘Turbo Deux’ I added for a number of reasons. Capcom sequels liked having Turbo at the end instead of a number, and of course there’s the film ‘Hot Shots: Part Deux’. It also sounds similar to Turbo Duo, a classic gaming system. I wish I’d made all the deaths as violent as the final boss’ death, since it looked awesome. I also wish that I’d included some kind of story mode to go alongside the AI and single player campaign. Other improvements would have been tweaking the speed (and changing the fact that t/y changes the speed parameters instead of +/-), and the front end. Otherwise I’m happy with how this turned out.

Generic dude
Easy and stupid. No background

Desert Fighter
A basic Egyptian desert background. I’m not sure why I didn’t fill the sun in – it now gives the game a creepy atmosphere. I had wanted to put an animated tornado in, but it glitched when bullets flew through it, and I was too lazy to tweak it.

Ocean Twin
You fight a mirror image of yourself against the backdrop of a constantly moving ocean wave. I love this animated background, even if it is just randomised lines. From here I find the AI starts to get tricky.

Mountain Guerilla
It’s the other guy from the original 2P game. I like to think that his first name is Mango, due to the colour of his trousers. There’s also an eagle flying around the night-time background, which is cool.

Kabuki Gunman
Your opponent here is a kabuki warrior with a painted face. Actually, I should have made his hair red in that case, since here he looks a bit like a clown. There’s a delicate background of falling cherry blossoms. If I could, I would have had the background music as a lonely shamisen being plucked.

The Ending
The final boss is an invisible enemy, which you only have to hit once. Annoying, I know, but I wanted to scare players. He’s actually not too tough. Just stick to the default medium speed and fire like mad. The ending has your character rotating and inflating to screen-filling proportions, while the boss explodes in torrents of blood.