Comments on: Some Thoughts On Crane Wars

By: Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:13:15 +0000

Loved the game – found that flooding the scabs’ rear two spawn points with rubble, then pouncing on the yellow completion blocks in the middle spawn point, means they build tall stacks which they hardly ever finish and you can knock those down for points.

It’s a very addictive game.

However, I agree with Idle Threats & Bad Poetry (above) that the characters’ jibes are irritating and the switching of camera angles to show the scabs’ hurling of trucks at you is even worse. An option to switch those off would be nice.

By: Thranx

Thranx — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:57:42 +0000

Yea, sadly not up to the high quality of thier other games. LOVE raptor Safari.

By: Serondal

Serondal — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:39:36 +0000

Tried paper moon by the way, fantastic! It reminded me a lot of mario brothers for some reason in the way it was very simple yet rewarding to explore the levels and collect crap just because (not because there was any set goal)

It would be interesting to have a bit more control over the crane in this case though. For one when my tower gets high the crane doesn’t life the new block high enough and knocks the whole thing over because one corner is to low (And clips the pieces already there) If I could just make the crane lift the piece higher manually this would not be an issue.

This it is a lot of fun and I could see this getting to be very addictive. Well done guys :) Also Minotaur in a China Shop is like, the best idea for a game ever EVER

By: Shawn White

Shawn White — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:27:27 +0000

@Serondal The engine does actually support that many inputs. What doesn’t support it are most keyboards. In order to make keyboards cheaper manufacturers will often simplify the keyboard circuitry which will cause given keys to be locked out when other keys are pressed. Unfortunately, each keyboard is different and it’s difficult to work around the issue. In Paper Moon we had people complain that if they were jumping (with up arrow) and popping objects to a different layer (with spacebar) they couldn’t move to the left. That’s one of the many reasons why try to simplify controls like this.

By: Serondal

Serondal — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:48:22 +0000

Yah but you lose money if you throw your own blocks at them. Try that same trick but get your crane swinging around backwards first you can seriously launch the hell out of those cars.

I’m confused though, in the videos we were shone the cranes were moving around on trucks and there was aparently a lot more control to them. I think this would be a lot more fun if you could control the crane with left right keys, up and down to move the winch forward and back along the range, and finally maybe W and S to raise and lower the hook with space to grab and release objects. Would make throwing them a lot better IF this web engine could handle that many inputs at the same time. I know when I was playing Rocket Brauntasaurus I key getting beep noises cause I was hitting to many buttons at once :P

Minotaur ANGRY (horns burst into flames) F@#@# CHINA!

By: OldManTick

OldManTick — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:03:36 +0000

I like it, my favorite trick, hook up a block then hit the space bar. The sudden slewing of the view point will cause an awesome swing of the crane and some real good throws into the scabs.

By: Serondal

Serondal — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:40:42 +0000

I actaully did like the game. I find their little quips to be funny and the building isn’t all that hard. Instead of using the shadow you can use the guiding beams of light which help a GREAT deal. I managed to toss a truck at the enemies building and totally destroy it , it was about 8 blocks high :P

Also I figured out if you zoom the mouse round back the crane will flip out and launch stuff 60 – 70 meters easily which unlocked me some achivement goodiness!

I have to say though that I like Minotaur in a China shop MUCH better. This is possibly the best F@#$@# game I’ve ever played.

By: Idle Threats & Bad Poetry

Idle Threats & Bad Poetry — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:04:21 +0000

I want to like the game, I really do. The two characters are really getting on my nerves. How am I supposed to read their quips while I’m busy building? They are a distraction, and their gibberish makes it worse.

I am getting irritated at the other guy hurling stuff at my site so much. Maybe that’s part of the point of it, but does it really need to take the camera away from me?

I’ll probably come back to the site to play the other games, but not this one. It’s a shame, ’cause I really was beginning to like stacking things.

By: Nero

Nero — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:36:59 +0000

@simon: Have you heard of something called opinions? If not, you might have to google it.. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean people can voice their opinions of it.

Anyway, back to the game. The first times I played it I pretty much agree with what John says, dropping a building block on a building made it crash and burn etc. But as I’ve played it more (and more) I find it pretty enjoyable. At first I did make big movements, but it’s all about taking it easy with your movements and throwing some stuff now and then at the other builder for major points. Also, it got quite lovely music :)

By: simon

simon — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:12:47 +0000

I used to spend hours of my younger life on a ‘juggler’ game’n'watch, which i seem to remember my parents paying a lot of money back then for. A free game I can play for free? Thanks people! All you people criticising a game you can play for free? Put your own bloody game on the internet for free then!

By: Jazmeister

Jazmeister — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:30:39 +0000

I played it a little this morning before my google reader slog, and I didn’t really like it at first glance either. I usually come back to those kinds of games though, but it does seem a little bit of a crime that the failings are so obtuse and outside player control. Skidding off the track in pod racer was my fault. FUCK now I need to play pod racer. Great.

By: InfiniteAlec

InfiniteAlec — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:21:33 +0000

I think -maybe- some extra visualization that helps explain where the cursor is might help. (like replacing it with a 3D object so you can see where it is in world space?)

I definitely figured out the controls pretty fast, but I can see why some people might be confused. :)