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This is why we have Verlet integration. And why I need to make a ragdoll tutorial.

Just model each corner as a point and each edge as a length constraint. Then apply gravity to the points, and set the coordinates of the corner that you grab to the mouse when you're clicking.

You don't have to think. The model will do that for you. ;)

Hmmm, the response was slightly bigger than I expected. I mean, it's still near the top of the list. I still need more though.

I think I'll include a section on ways to use ragdoll physics in a game. :p I know there's a lot more potential for it than making throwaway preloader games.

You know how the characters in Madness Interactive have some physics? That could be done with ragdoll.

Spirited Away is one of my favorite movies.

The demo you linked to seemed really short, maybe my computer isn't loading the whole thing.

Anyway, the background kind of reminded me of Super Mario 64. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. :p Also, Kaonashi's mask seemed a little off. You might want to look at a picture of it again.

Well, I hope you do a good job capturing the atmosphere of the movie, that's the important part.

Have you all seen these games? And Ragdoll Avalanche is by the same guy. The forums there have a few interesting ideas too.

At 10/4/06 12:23 AM, Claytron wrote: Entertainment.. or a game?

If you havnt typed the code, I can send you it if you'd like?

Er, are you talking to me? I already have some ragdoll code of my own, if that's what you're offering to send me... Thanks anyway.

What kind of game would you make?

Okay, that's good. It won't happen right away though, just to let you know. I just want to know if I should start thinking about it or not.

Just out of curiosity, what would you use it for?

It seems that there is some demand for a ragdoll physics in AS tutorial. And it's a project that I have some interest in taking on.

Then again, I seem to have a knack for misjudging demand for ragdoll stuff...

Anyway, reply here if you think it's a good idea. If you would benefit from such a tutorial. Thanks.

Ner. No more contests for me. :/

Well, I'm good at programming. So if anyone has a project that won't take too much time, I'll consider coding it for you. :p If it's a good idea I might do it.

I changed the mouse control a little, so the ragdoll also follows the mouse, and the keyboard moves a little faster:
Braids
Braids NEON

What do you think?

At 10/2/06 09:48 PM, Pseudonym95 wrote: Yay! My posts are being noticed for once! Thanks, Demeaning.

Hehe. :) You sound like me.

At 10/2/06 09:41 PM, Demeaning wrote:

At 10/2/06 08:12 PM, Pseudonym95 wrote:

At 10/2/06 12:05 AM, axcho wrote:

1. WHAT THE HELL do I do? It seems like there is no point in this game.

You fight.

Exactly. It even keeps score.

2. Am I the red or the blue? Because it seems like I can control both of them. If this is

the case, it really needs a Human vs Computer mode.

It does have a Human v CPU mode, just hold space or hold down mouse.

Correct again. If you hold down space, you play as red, with the keyboard. If you hold down the mouse button, you play as blue with the mouse. If you do both, well, then it helps to have another person to play against. Either that or it's practice mode. :p

3. The instructions are crap and they don't tell me anything.

I concur with you on that.

Yeah, I know. Though of course I'm the one who has to come up with better ones.

4. The controls are just plain horrible and frustrating. Especially the mouse controls.

I also concur about mouse controls.

I'm pretty good with the mouse. :) But I will try to come up with some easier control schemes.

5. No goal to this game.

As I said before, you fight.

Right.

6. How the hell do I attack or defend?

You move the ragdoll into the other ragdoll.

To attack, point your arms or legs in the direction of the other guy's head or body. Making a circular motion can help you flip around and get enough momentum to do some decent damage. But if the other guy's coming pretty fast, you can just stick out a leg or arm and they'll run into it.

To defend, either avoid getting hit, or try to block with your arms or legs. The ends are invincible. Basically arrange to have your arms sticking out so they get in the way of the attacking guy's arms or legs. Crouching is a good defensive position.

7. The graphics are shit...

It's sticks.

Well, they're simple. But have you tried the NEON version yet? There's a link a few posts up.

8. What the hell are those coloured ropes for?

Decoration. =3

Yeah. :p It was the first thing I thought of for a background, and no one had any better ideas. So I haven't bothered to change it. If you can think of a better background, tell me so I can make it!

9. It needed more sound. The little amount of sound that was in it was incredibly annoying, too.

I also concur.

The sound is unfinished. I am still working on the music. But was it really that annoying? You can turn it off, you know, in the options menu.

10. It is so confusing.

Not really. Hold down space/mouse to be a guy, use arrow keys to move, or mouse to move.

It definitely looks like I'm going to have to redo the structure of this game. I'll do my best to make it straightforward.

11. It needs levels, and a storyline.

Once again, I concur.

A storyline? What's that? :) I could probably do levels though. What would be the difference between the different levels? Different AI or something? Or would I have to add stuff like new enemies or powerups?

12. More moves and controls would be good.

I've said "I concur" 4 times, and I will say it again. I concur.

Hmmm, what do you mean? More buttons? Special abilities? Pre-made moves beyond the basic crouch?

Thanks for the detailed, though painful, explanation of your displeasure. :p

At 10/2/06 07:35 PM, GrimAnt wrote: I found it difficult to control my player with the mouse. Sometimes the mouse was on the other side of the screen. Maybe you make the player be controller with the keyboard rather than the mouse. It worked better for some of the ragdoll games I've played.

When you use the mouse, you kind of have to move your cursor back over the ragdoll periodically.

But you can use the keyboard also, if you want. Just press the space bar to activate the red player, and you can use the arrow keys and space bar instead of the mouse.

I've updated the game a little, fixing a small bug and making the AI start out more aggressive.

But the big news is, I've added a NEON version! :D It's the exact same game, but re-skinned. See if you like that style better.

And rusender: nice to see you here, I didn't notice it was you until just now. :)

Hey, thanks for all the replies. They were very helpful.

I never realized how difficult and confusing the controls were for most people. I can assure you that once you get used to them they are extremely powerful, but that doesn't really help you at all. ;)

I will try to come up with a useful tutorial, one that explains the strategies of details of the controls. I guess the most important thing I can do is make sure the players know what they're supposed to be doing!

About the mouse control, well I know it's really weird, and causes a lot of problems. The ragdoll doesn't follow the mouse - moving the cursor 20 pixels to the right pushes the blue ragdoll's head to the right with a proportional amount of force.

Also, since the mouse button is used for crouching, I can't exactly put a menu button anywhere, or else it would be easy to click it accidentally. Instead the menu comes up when the cursor goes off the screen.

Eventually you learn to follow the ragdoll with the mouse cursor. It's pretty messed up, but once you're used to it, it's really powerful. Which, again, doesn't help you much.

Analog control sticks would be the best control scheme for this game. It would probably be a lot better on a console. But I think I'll experiment with controls where the ragdoll follows the mouse.

And let me clarify some things about the game. There is in fact an AI mode, because both players start out being controlled by the AI until someone drops in. If both red and blue (keyboard and mouse) have dropped in, then it becomes a multiplayer game. I'll probably make the AI start out better so it's easier to tell.

Also, you win by reducing your opponent's health to zero. It keeps track of the number of wins for each side, which you can reset by choosing 'new' from the menu.

And I'm still working on the sound. I'm working on programming some music that changes based on how you play.

So, once I get recorded games working, I'll release a movie of me playing against my brother so you can see what the game is supposed to be like! :p I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

After that, it's just a matter of making it easier for new players to get to that level of play.

I have to say that max0rz's comment was very enlightening for me. I realized that the game I was designing was structured differently than most games here on NG. It's designed for casual play, and it doesn't quite feel like a full game. I play it for the joy of feeling the *ahem* expertly designed physics, doing flips and handstands and such, setting up a big combo in slow motion.

Other games, even really bad ones, make you feel like you're accomplishing something. Like you're doing a lot, when you're only clicking as fast as you can, for example. I never bothered to even try to do that with my game. I didn't think of it. I just made a game that people who already understand the game and like playing it just for the fun of it, will like.

It was the first time I felt relieved and hopeful about the future of this game since its release, because it pointed towards a concrete direction for me to go with it. I need to show people how much there is to do in this game, because there is a lot more under the surface. I need to add music, to add recorded games so people can use it as an animation tool, as a social tool to show off and share their moves.

So, basically, I need to greatly improve the tutorial and controls, add the other features, and release gameplay videos and stuff to show what you can do with this game.

Thanks. And keep commenting! :)

At 10/2/06 12:09 AM, max0rz wrote: Meh. It was alright, but there wasn't too much to do. That's probably why it got low scores. I wouldn't say it needs polishing though, it just needs more to do.

Hmmm, how do you think it compares with other fighting games? Do other games have more to do? Is there anything I could add?

At 10/2/06 12:10 AM, The-Amish-Ninja wrote: that game sucked more penis than your mom on tuesday

Could you please elaborate? That comment is too general to help me.

At 10/2/06 12:11 AM, Rawrz wrote: Wow this is a pretty fun game. Idiots these days....

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks.

Try it out here on deviantART .

I added a tutorial, because I think confusion about the controls may have been one of the main problems. Keep in mind that people voting on this before did not have the tutorial.

At 10/1/06 10:52 PM, Jose wrote: Then polish it and re-submitt it. What do you want us to do about it?

I'm trying to figure out what to change about it. Apparently I missed something big, and I need to find out what it is. What I want you to do is tell me! :p Or help me figure it out.

I'll upload the file somewhere and then post a link to it in a moment. Thanks for your interest.

I recently submitted the game Braids to the portal here, for the Armor Games contest. And now I've just deleted it because of the low scores. I'm here to figure out what exactly went wrong, and how I can do better next time.

The problem is that everyone who actually wrote a review or posted in a forum about it like it! But it still got 1.8/5 in votes.

I mean, it's a ragdoll fighting game, that some people have said is even better than Ragdoll Masters! Yet most people who tried it apparently didn't like it, and they didn't say why.

According to some people on Stick Page Portal, the graphics and presentation did not seem polished enough. Another idea was that people couldn't figure out how to play or access the menu.

If you tried the game and didn't like it, I'd really appreciate it if you could explain what you didn't like about it and how you think it could be improved. Or if you didn't try it, but have some ideas or questions for me, please do post them.

Thanks for your time.

The Afro Celt Sound System.

Searching for "shakuhachi mp3" brought up some samples that might be useful to you.

And yes, a shakuhachi is a type of flute - a bamboo, end-blown, Japanese flute.