Wormsmart Network

Worms World Party

Ideas

This is the idea list, originally e-mailed to Team17 on the 21st September. As there have been more details released, some parts of the idea list have become out of date, but is still worth reading for the amount of ideas for the game.

Worms World Party Ideas
By Edward Webb - 21.09.2000
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This is the large list of ideas that have been made over the Summer months, which have been split into three sections for Weapon Ideas, Existing Weapons and Gameplay Options. Suggested settings for weapons have been put into brackets. - Ed

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Worms World Party - Weapon Ideas
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1: Launchers

a) Rocket Launcher
This weapon fires at full power, and travels in a straight line. This weapon is unaffected by wind or gravity, and will keep going for 5 seconds, after which the weapon will fall back to earth. Can do up to 50pts.

b) Grenade Launcher
Works and fired like a grenade, but instead bounces on the terrain before exploding. The appearance of the weapon is similar to the icon used in Worms: DC, which has a grenade at the back of a normal
Bazooka. If it hits a worm then it explodes automatically, and does up to 50pts. (Up to 4 bounces, 60% bounce, 15 second timer)

c) Mole Launcher
A mole is fired into the terrain and digs for five seconds, allowing it to hit worms without having to walk over obstacles. Can do 30pts. (5 second timer, 66% launch power)


2: Throwers

a) Fire Bomb
Works as a Petrol Bomb without lasting fire, and is used like a Cluster Bomb. Set the timer and bounce, and once it explodes at 15pts it spreads fire from above, and in total can do around 50pts. (Fire amount at 50, spread speed set to 75 and lasts for 4 seconds)

b) Shockwave Bomb
Thrown like a grenade, when it explodes it creates a large shockwave, and all worms hit will take exactly 30pts.


3: Guns

a) Far Sight
This gun fires one shot that can go through the terrain, and uses Laser Sight automatically. A worm takes 30pts when it hits.

b) Super Shotgun
This gun fires like a shotgun, but has three shots instead of two, and each shot does up to 30pts damage. (Note: Could also do 33pts)

c) Laser
This gun fires a white laser beam towards worms, that can burn into the terrain. It fires in a straight line and lasts for 5 seconds, and can do up to 75pts total.

d) Water Gun
The high power of this gun allows it to push worms and objects away and makes the terrain slippery for a few turns, and can dampen fire out. However, it does no damage.

e) Chemical Gun
Sprays toxic fumes around a short distance for a few seconds, and the worm using this is protected while the weapon is being used. There are two ways it can do damage...

1. The fumes take off 10pts per turn.

2. The fumes start slowly by taking 5pts off, and for each subsequent turn it takes an extra 1pt off. (eg 100pts energy, 95pts, 89pts, 82pts, 74pts etc)


4: Land

a) Invisible Mine
Works as a normal mine, though once a worm has retreated it will fade quickly until it becomes invisible, unless it is next to a worm. When a worm goes near the mine, it will quickly reappear ticking down, and can do up to 50pts.

b) Randomite
Laid as a normal dynamite, with the exception that the damage differs on every use. (50-100pts)


5: Close-Up

a) Throw
Picks up a worm, and then you are able to move around until you choose to throw the worm left or right. Does no damage, but is fun to use, and lets you walk off land. The turn ends once the worm is thrown, and the timer continues while the worm is carried around.

b) Fissure
A worm that uses this jumps up, and then punches the terrain, knocking all worms a short distance away into the air.

d) Boomerang
The aim of the Boomerang is the same as the Longbow and travels in a straight line, and can knock worms away like a small Fire Punch until it goes too far, or hits the terrain. The worm who throws the Boomerang stays where he is until it returns to the worm, and does 15pts for each worm.


6: Space Bar < Click

a) Minefield
Makes up to eight new mines appear on the terrain, useful if you want to stop an enemy from approaching. The mines would appear away from where worms are.

b) Moleageddon
Like Armageddon, with the exception that moles drop down towards the terrain, and do 30pts. (Acceleration movement of Moles is at 101%)

c) Buffalo of Lies
(I have heard that there were "technical difficulties" in creating the Buffalo, surely it will appear now?)


7: Travel

a) Mini Teleport
Works as a teleport, but the range is much shorter than before. Although it does not end the turn, it does halve the amount of time remaining.

b) Dark Mole
Like the Mole Bomb, but is used by the Darkside. Digs towards a wall, it swerves around below the land, creating a tunnel for Darksiders to hide in.

c) Landscaper
Fires a fast stream of 'land balls' from a green gun, which become land once they touch the terrain, useful for making small bridges or for defence.


8: Strikes

a) Worm Strike
This the only strike that we have thought of, and even then we know that it was experimented in W:A. Please bring this back for Worms World Party, as it is very funny to watch.


9: Utilities

a) Climb
Worms can climb up or down the walls by jumping or walking into them, and holding the up or down key to move. They can jump off the walls by pressing enter, or by climbing down.

b) Cannon
As the name suggests, a worm launches high into the air using the cannon, and take no damage by falling thanks to the helmet, and can continue their turn.


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Worms World Party - Existing Weapons
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The weapons in Worms Armageddon were generally well balanced, however many of us playing Worms have expressed there are problems with how some of the weapons work. Please take a look at the proposed changes below.


Mortar
The weapon which appeared in Worms: The Director's Cut, originally calld the Grenade Launcher, was very powerful and by default was set to Infinite amount. The problem with the one in W:A was that it hardly ever did over 50pts like its counterpart, the Cluster Bomb.

What I think would work follows:

Main Weapon Damage: 20
Cluster Damage: 20
Cluster Dispersion Power: 25
Cluster Spread: 30
Dispersion Angle Amount: 60

This allows the damage the damage to go well over 50pts, has more powerful and gives more chance to do more damage. The Cluster Bomb is used as a way of causing indirect damage, and the Mortar should too with the benefit of aim but not being able to use it in all situations.


Cluster Bomb
The best way of reducing the use of cluster abuse is by setting no retreat to the weapon, which will mean that only accidental throws will cause all clusters to explode at the same time. The damage should be restored back to 30pts so it can work properly again.


Handgun
Many people (including myself) have expressed that the Handgun is used rarely, because it isn't as good to use as the Uzi or Shotgun. The poor power of the weapon is often said to be the reason for this.

As a way of changing the weapon I have two seperate weapon ideas:

1: Use three bullets, but increase the damage to 10pts and the blast power to 125%. This makes the gun more similar to the old Handgun seen in Worms: DC for the Amiga and is easier to use.

2: Decrease the time needed to fire to 375 milliseconds instead of 500, and increase the blast power to 75%. The gun will work more fluidly and be more useful than the one in W:A.

Both ideas are good, and are an improvement on the existing version.


Mine
Though the Mine is mostly used to place on a worm's head, when it is used for defence tactics it takes too long to explode, allowing worms to set off a mine and jump away. If you could allow Mines to have a countdown the same as the ones that appear on the landscape (when they do not explode after being laid), then this would give less chance for worms to retreat.


Kamikaze
The end explosion for the worm does 30pts, whereas the original version did 50pts. I'd like to see a balance of 40pts, as 30pts is too weak in my opinion.


Prod
Occasionally I have attempted to use the Prod to poke a worm into the drink, however on occasions it hasn't worked. The ability to poke worms from above would help if there is no way to do it from the side.


Dragon Ball
In a similar style, the Dragon Ball of the original Worms could hit the terrain very close to a worm and send the worm into the air, instead of the Dragon Ball disappearing.


Ninja Rope
I liked the Worms2 version of the Ninja Rope was good to use, while the W:A version was too weak. As a way of moving around the terrain it should only be partially restricted.

I think the following would be a good balance:

Rope Length: 95 (W:A has 90 and W2 has 100)
Number of Shots remaining: 2 (W:A has 1 and W2 has 3)
Bounce set between W:A and W2.

This would restrict worms from moving too far, but at the same time allow them to rope around the terrain. The time it takes for a worm to gain momentum in W:A took too long, but was very easy in Worms2, so again I think a balance should be struck between the two here.


Bungee
As the Ninja Rope has become popular the Bungee has become less useful, but if the bounce and up/down movement were increased then it would be more controllable and allow weapons to be dropped from it
properly.


Flame Thrower
I don't think that any changes are needed for this weapon, though if there was a way of preventing the fire from doing above 100pts by adding a maximum damage limit would prevent abuse. (Note: I have been able to do 225pts damage with the weapon under special circumstances.)


Laser Sight
Originally I heard the Laser Sight was to last for last 5 turns, please add this as I prefer to let it work without having to use the utility repeatedly.


Fast Walk
Same here. If could last for 5 turns (or even the whole round) then this would help.


Invisibility
If you could stop the camera from moving for opponents while it is the invisible worm's turn then it would give the worms a chance to sneak up on an opponent before using a weapon. It could have a limit of 3 turns maximum to stop worms from hiding for too long.


Sheep
The only complaint I have with the Sheep is that it often repeatedly jumps at a wall for no reason, please make it so the Sheep can turn around properly.


Sheep Launcher
In the original Worms the Sheep could jump over very high distances, and though the launcher lets the Sheep climb high, it has problems going very far. If there were more power to launch the Sheep (eg Launch at 60%) then it would cross larger areas of the terrain.


Aqua Sheep
The Super Sheep and Aqua Sheep are both very similar weapons, except that the Aqua Sheep can dive. Perhaps the two weapons could be merged so that only the Super Sheep is there, but uses the Aqua Sheep sprite while underwater.


Indian Nuclear Test
I think that it is somewhat too powerful at taking off 120 pixels. In Worms2 the amount was 62 (I think) and I think that 76 pixels would be ideal, as it would take at most 9 turns to sink the terrain instead of 6.


There are some weapons which I think have problems working in the game:

Battle Axe - Unless a worm has over 100pts then it is unused
Suicide Bomber - Because the fumes often do not touch the worm
Earth Quake - Can do a limited amount of movement
Scales of Justice - Only half the time when found is it useful
Freeze - Invincibility perhaps, but the bugs with this aren't worth using
Mole Squadron - A good Lightsider tool, but hardly ever found when needed
Mine Strike - Rarely does more damage than an Air Strike

However I won't say that they should be removed, as there is the chance that they will be useful in multiplayer missions, or already have had improvements made to them.


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Worms World Party - Gameplay Options
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As well as weapons, the options and gameplay are equally important. Though there have been a large talk on weapons the advance of the gameplay should have an equal amount of focus, and here is a list of gameplay options that could be made.


1: Terrain and Objects

Wormholes
They replace mines and float above the terrain, and allow worms to teleport to wormholes without ending the turn. The location where worms will appear depends on the order of the wormholes; Wormhole no.1 will allow worms to go to no.2, no.2 to no.3 etc.

Indestructible Areas
This allows some parts of the terrain to be indestructable, which cannot be destroyed by weapons. Worms are able to walk and travel as normal, but cannot pass through this part of the terrain.

Increased Size Terrain / Smaller Size Worms
This would allow players to play on a larger area of terrain, for example 2304x872 would have an approximate 50% increase in the playing area, which would have room for more than 18 worms. Or instead of the size of the terrain increasing, the worms could shrink to half their size.

Country Styled Terrains
Inspired from the Eiffel Tower mission in W:A, the terrains would have their own country style, for example the country's flag would appear tiled in the terrain, and the landscape would have various objects to do with the selected country.

Player Styled Terrains
Player terrains have been one of the most asked for parts of Worms, which would allow players to make their own styles of terrain in a graphics package as well as the objects on the landscape. This would also allow new styles to be uploaded and downloaded from Wormnet into WWP.

Border Walls
Players can now choose which indestructable borders are available, though the side borders work as one choice instead of having the left and right border selectable.


2: Worms and Teams

Handicapped Teams/Worms
This allows teams and worms to be handicapped by ability as well as health. For example:

Team: Highblast
Rounds to Win: 2

Worm Name: Maz
Health: 75
Turn Time: + 15 seconds
Walk Speed: 5
Gravity: Normal
Co-ordinates: N/A
Teleport Start: Yes
Artillery Worm: No
Retreat: 10 seconds
Fall Damage: 0pts
Continue After Injury: Yes
Infinite Energy: No

... and so on. This would allow teams in multiplayer to choose what advantages and disadvantages that they have instead of having the same properties. The multiplayer missions could have this for
individual worms as well.

Teams/Worms Weapons
This allows teams and worms to be able to choose their own weapons. This would allow players to choose different worms with weapons, eg Launchers would only use launch weapons, or Team 1 has powerful weapons but no movement tools.

Maximum 8 Teams
If there is more playing area on the terrain, then the option to add the amount of teams from 6 to 8 is good. LAN games and coloured team groups would benefit from this in particular.

Fast CPU
The computer worms in the original game were very fast, and the ones in Worms2 were good even with Worm Select on, but the ones in W:A were much slower. Please can you improve the speed of the computer worms thought.

6 (or more) Computer Teams Playing
I didn't understand why it was necessary to remove 6 computer teams fighting against each other, especially if the player just wanted to watch a game rather than play. Please put this back in.


3: Options and Weapons

New Options
Here are the options that could be added to the game:

Group Teams
As from Worms United, lets Worms start in group positions

Vital Worms
If a Vital worm dies, the rest of the team surrenders

Hat Worms
Worms that cannot play, but are part of a colour group team. If all Hat Worms die in a colour group of teams, the rest of the teams surrender

Diseased Worms
States when the round begins whether a worm is affected by disease and by how much

Continue After Injury
Allows a worm to continue moving, even after it is hurt

Events
From W:A's missions, but can now be added in multiplayer

Friction
Allows the friction of the terrain to be edited

Gravity
Allows the gravity of worms and weapons to be edited

Turn Countdown
Players have only a limited amount of turns to finish the game. If a game hasn't ended after a number of turns, then the game is a draw

Multifire
Can allow worms to fire a limited number of weapons

Charge Mode
Allows worms to fire multiple weapons, but have to wait a few seconds
between using each one by recharging

Improved Weapon and Option Editor
Perhaps the largest problem with W:A was the poor amount of weapon and options to choose
from, which were a step back from the one made in Worms2. This is what I think would work
best:

Weapons:

5pts Difference
Replaces the star system with the damage system of Worms: DC, that allows damage to be edited for every 5pts in damage

Weapon Amounts
Lets weapon amounts be chosen from 0 to 20 and Infinite

Weapon Delays
Lets weapon delays be chosen from 0 to 20 and Infinite

Choosing Weapons
Allows players to select the options for all non-Super Weapons

Option Amounts:

Mines / Oil Drums
This lets you set how many there are on the terrain from 0 to 16

Fall Damage
From 0 to 100pts

Water Rise
Lets the water rise be edited from 0 to 30 pixels

Turn Time
Lets the turn time to be edited for every 5 seconds

Round Time
Lets the round time to be edited for every minute

Retreat
Lets the retreat and rope retreat time to be edited for every second

Auto-Replay
Allows the replay option to select how much damage or amount of worms are needed for automatic replay

Weapon Grid Scroll
Just incase the weapon grid becomes too big (more than 6 weapons for each row), you could have the option to add « and » to the side of the weapon grid. Eg...

|| F1 |«| b | h | m | p | s |»||

This would allow players to scroll through weapons by placing the mouse over an arrow, rather than have to see the grid size increased.

Quick Setups
Allows you to store settings for the scheme, teams and landscape to use. After selecting the setup then all of the settings are ready for the player to start the game.

Play Again
Worms can continue to use the last game setup played, and is available in the multiplayer options. W:A has this option, but only when selected after a game has ended.

Temporary Schemes
This keeps "User Defined" schemes in memory until players choose another scheme.


4: Settings

1280x1024 Screen Size
As more people now have 19" monitors, the option to play with a larger resolution can help would
be appreciated.

Function Key Additions
To choose a weapon quickly, players can press and hold a F-number key and then press a number from 1 to 10 (10 represented by 0) which would bring up the chosen weapon. If players press a number with an unavailable weapon then it selects the last weapon on the F-number. This would allow players to choose a weapon faster than before.

New Music
This would allow the option to choose the Worms music that they like best, and even select tracks that people have made to play in the game, though would only be played on that person's computer.


5: WormNet

Search WormNet
The search option would search WormNet for people online and different types of games, rather than having to search rooms.

People Count
Add a counter to the side of a game being hosted before joining, for example a / b would be where a is the amount of people there and b is the maximum amount of players allowed.

Temporary Game Rooms
This could be a test room for new game styles, and if a game there becomes popular then it could stay on WormNet in its own room.


6: Graphics

Water Styles
Changes the appearance of water for the style of the terrain. For example, the Hell style in Worms had fire at the bottom of the screen.

Bridge Styles
Changes the appearance of bridges, such as the Hell style in Worms had bones replacing the standard style bridge.

Interactive Backgrounds
The background scenery would now be animated, and react to weapon explosions. For example, on the Pirate style terrains a large pirate ship with worms would appear in the background.

Special Effects
Explosion could have the option to work as they do on the console versions of W:A, where light effects replace the usual circle explosion. Also the screen can move in reaction to weapon explosions if the
option is turned on.


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