+-------+
| \ |
| .---|
+-+-------+-+ 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
| |--o[ 00OO' ' ''' ' 'OO00
| o-----+---o[ 0Ooo. 'robots' Review for asciigames.org .ooO0
| | 0Oo. By: Christopher M. Hobbs .oO0
| | 00OOo. .. .o. .. . ..oOO00
| o | 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
+-----|-----+
.-=============-.
( O0000000000000O )
`-=============-'
1. Intro and overview
In robots, you are pitted agains tons of evil robots who all
want you dead! While these robots are quite evil, they are lacking in
the intelligence field and frequently walk into one another, creating
junk piles.
You remain unarmed and trapped forever in this realm of evil
robots. The only way to progress to the next level is to play off
the stupidity of the robots and attempt to get them to walk into
each other. You do this by moving about the playing field, attempting
to coax the robots to make a wrong move.
For every move you make, the robots attempt to take the
shortest distance to you. They move the same amount of spaces that
you do. If a robot runs into you, you will die. For this reason,
when any robot's next move is one that will kill you, you can no
longer move in any direction. In such an instance, you must
teleport (sometimes landing you into the hands of an EVIL robot).
Kill all robots in a level to progress to the next in a
never ending loop of evil robot madness!
2. Options and controls
Options are as follows (taken from 'man robots'):
-s Don't play, just show the score file.
-j Jump, i.e., when you run, don't show any
intermediate positions; only show things at the end.
This is useful on slow terminals.
-t Teleport automatically when you have no other option.
This is a little disconcerting until you get used to it,
and then it is very nice.
-a Advance into the higher levels directly, skipping the
lower, easier levels.
-A Auto-bot mode. Let's the game play itself.
-n Increase the number of games played by one.
Controls are very simple, and resemble vi/vim commands. Left,
Right, Up, and down are represented respectively by h, l, k, and j.
You also have the option to move diagonally with y (up left), u (up
right), b (down left), n (down right). The diagonal controls are a
nice touch, but I feel that they are a little counter-intuitive. I
often find myself pressing 'o' or 'i' for up right.
Other controls are '.' to do nothing for a turn, '>' to do
nothing for as long as possible, 'w' to wait until you or all
robots die, 'q' quits, 't' teleports, and ^L redraws the screen.
Controls and a key are included on the right hand side of
the screen, making it very easy for newbies to learn to play
quickly. This also makes for a nice reference when you are all
out of ideas!
3. Screenshots
A sample of 'robots -s' (the score file):
xm:/arpa/hm/h/hobbsc> robots -s
Rank Score User Level
1 10431 emissary 29
2 10270 fushock 28
3 10096 emissary 28
4 8516 emissary 24
5 8129 rideraax 23
6 8107 emissary 23
7 8030 fushock 23
8 6880 emissary 20
9 6802 fushock 20
10 6775 fushock 20
11 6766 drakir 20
12 6365 fushock 19
13 6153 drakir 18
14 5947 yarara 18
15 5943 drakir 18
16 5906 drakir 18
17 5653 wliao 17
18 5574 yarara 17
19 5562 yarara 17
20 5351 drakir 16
21 5186 yarara 16
22 4804 yarara 15
A new game:
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Directions:
| @ |
| | y k u
| | \|/
| | h- -l
| + | /|\
| | b j n
| + |
| | Commands:
| + + + |
| | w: wait for end
| + | t: teleport
| | q: quit
| + + + | ^L: redraw screen
| |
| | Legend:
| |
| | +: robot
| | *: junk heap
| | @: you
| |
| + | Score: 0
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
Teleporting:
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Directions:
| |
| | y k u
| | \|/
| | h- -l
| + | /|\
| | b j n
| + |
| | Commands:
| + + + |
| | w: wait for end
| + | t: teleport
| | q: quit
| + + + | ^L: redraw screen
| |
| | Legend:
| |
| | +: robot
| | *: junk heap
| | @: you
| |
| + | Score: 0
| | Teleport!
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
DEATH!:
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Directions:
| |
| | y k u
| | \|/
| | h- -l
| | /|\
| | b j n
| |
| | Commands:
| + |
| | w: wait for end
| + | t: teleport
| + + + | q: quit
| AARRrrgghhhh.... + | ^L: redraw screen
| |
| | Legend:
| |
| | +: robot
| | *: junk heap
| | @: you
| |
| | Score: 0
| | Another game?
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
After a little gameplay:
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Directions:
| |
| + +| y k u
| | \|/
| + + + | h- -l
| | /|\
| + | b j n
| |
| + + + + + | Commands:
| |
| + + + | w: wait for end
| | t: teleport
| + + | q: quit
| | ^L: redraw screen
| + + + |
| | Legend:
| + @ + |
| | +: robot
| + + + + | *: junk heap
| | @: you
| + + + |
| | Score: 302
| + + | Wait bonus: 2
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
Trapped like a rat!!!:
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Directions:
| |
| | y k u
| | \|/
| + + | h- -l
| | /|\
| + + + | b j n
| |
| + + | Commands:
| |
| + + | w: wait for end
| | t: teleport
| ++ + + + + + | q: quit
| | ^L: redraw screen
| + + |
| | Legend:
| + + + + + |
| + ++ + @ + + ++ | +: robot
| + + + + + + | *: junk heap
| | @: you
| + + + |
| | Score: 602
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
4. Strategies and hints
o Try to get the robots to line up single file near a junk heap, then
you can simply move back and forth on the same line, and they will
eventually all die.
o Should you get in line with a row of them and a junk heap like this:
@ *+ + ++ +
and no other robots are anywhere else on the screen, press 'w' to
wait the game out, and you will win with a bonus for each remaining
robot.
o Try to herd the robots into a tight group before teleporting if at all
possible. A widespread group of robots makes it difficult to teleport
without dying.
5. Conclusion
Overall 'robots' is a fun and addicting game. With very simple
controls, a great interface, and tons of progressing levels, it will
provide you with hours of fun. robots is a highly addictive game that I
would reccomend to anyone with some spare shell time on their hands!
|