Psst... Looking for Some Droids?

One of the seminal games in Apple II history was RobotWar by Silas Warner, the same Silas Warner who designed Castle Wolfenstein-—the 8-bit shooter that inspired Wolfenstein 3D and essentially, DOOM. Published by Muse Software, the game required players to design their own scripts for the robots to follow using a special pseudo-code (very similar to Applesoft BASIC). The concept migrated to the PC and onto the earliest days of the World Wide Web as C ROBOTS. Naturally, this required one to code their robots in C. The advantage of the games was that they were always fresh, depending on the sophisticated (or non-sophisticated) level of coding that your competition could provide. It also taught some elementary lessons about coding, in general.

Droid Arena 3 is a more robust version of those early games, but instead of watching pixels move across the screen, you now see a VRML movie playback of your battle. Rather than only having programming choices (though those are there), players also have the chance to use the virtual money of the game (you can earn virtual money by performing well in the various arenas) to purchase scripts (the RSL or Robot Scripting Language used in the game) that can be used “off the shelf” or edited according to one’s understanding, strategy, or purchases. So, Droid Arena 3 is designed to jump into relatively quickly. Of course, if you’re like me, you may want to print out the 44-page RSL manual so that you can understand what’s going on.

Droid 3 Arena: Fight Cam
BEEP! BEEP! In this playback of an unsuccessful combat (my first attempt at editing the script), yours truly felt like the Road Runner being chased by a COMPETENT coyote.

It is also more interesting than those early games because, even though Computer Gaming World magazine used to have annual tournaments where gamers would send in their best scripts/robots via 5.25” disk (the largest tournament of which we are aware, but several computer game clubs throughout the U.S. had local tourneys), there was no continuity or persistence from tournament to tournament. Droid Arena 3 not only provides the opportunity to compete for virtual cash that allows one to upgrade, but also has a meta-game where you can, feasibly, sabotage or steal from other opponents. It has a research tree (with a limited number of projects per “character level”) and the opportunity to build additional structures to improve competence and income. Finally, it also provides experience points (XPs) in the manner of a role-playing game.

In fact, the progression chart for moving up in “character levels” is quite similar to that of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. After you earn 1,000 XP, you move to Level 2 and after you earn 2,000 you move to level 3. D&D’s chart is easier to remember because you always need (1,000 XP * the # of the level you are “graduating from”) + the base level of XP needed to reach the level you are “graduating from.” So, in D&D, it takes 6,000 XP to graduate FROM 6th level plus the 15,000 XP you needed to get TO 6th level (21,000 XP) to reach 7th level. The following chart shows the way it works in Droid Arena 3.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

LEVEL XP NEEDED
2. 1,000 XP
3. 2,000 XP
4. 4,000 XP
5. 8,000 XP
6. 12,000 XP
7. 16,000 XP
8. 20,000 XP
9. 25,000 XP
10. 30,000 XP
11. 35,000 XP
12. 40,000 XP
13. 50,000 XP
14. 60,000 XP
15. 75,000 XP
16. 90,000 XP
17. 105,000 XP
18. 125,000 XP
19. 150,000 XP
20. 175,000 XP
21. 200,000 XP
22. 250,000 XP
23. 300,000 XP
24. 375,000 XP
25. 450,000 XP

Your base experience is based on actions similar to the following:
Joining an arena 100 points
Each 20 points of damage dealt 1 point
Each kill 50 points
Each Fight Survived 50 points
Serving on Winning Team 50 points
Capturing “the doll” 200 points
Winning in Enemy City 150 points

Beyond the “character/robot” advancement, the game also sports, as mentioned earlier, a detailed research tree. Now, admittedly, the existence of a research or technology tree doesn’t guarantee a good game. Some games deliberately create technology trees so that you end up in research cul de sacs. Fortunately, the “tree” in Droid Arena 3 doesn’t appear to do that. However, it is constantly branching out so that players have to truly think about where they’re going. As player, you determine priorities and only hit those “dead ends” if your character doesn’t advance fast enough to open up the next section of research.
Droid Arena 3: Research Tree

RESEARCH, NOT PLAGIARISM This screenshot shows a portion of Droid Arena 3's research tree. Although you can research all of these technologies, some of them will help you to eventually "steal" some.

There is also a structural progression. Droid Arena 3 allows the construction of buildings which, in turn, provide additional income and opportunities. So, even though there is always a certain amount of “waiting” for research projects, building construction, covert operations, and arena results to be completed, there are plenty of decision points to keep strategy gamers occupied—even if one doesn’t want to learn the intricacies of the game’s scripting language. But even with all of the options, there is definitely going to be “wait time.”

Those looking for fast action and impressive graphics should look elsewhere for their strategic payoff. Droid Arena 3 is more like a Play-By-Email game with persistence. It has a real-time component in that your research (as long as you have the points to spend) projects are always ongoing in real-time, whether you are actually logged-on or not. The results and payoffs for your decisions are always somewhat delayed. If you were merely purchasing a subscription to one game, the value proposition would be a little soft, but since Droid Arena 3 is available as part of a package, you can log-in and make decisions and then zip over to another Skotos game without incurring a penalty.

More Input (Research and Robot Construction)

Remember the cute little robot in the comedy Short Circuit? Johnny-5 was always trying to get “More input!” In Droid Arena 3, you’ll constantly crave “More input!” because each research advance lets you get closer to new goals (being able to see arena blueprints in advance, being allowed to gamble virtual cash on various battles, and mounting certain operations against your opponents—to name a few). The game shows you the projects that become available as you complete other projects and you do have a time constraint because it takes roughly 60 minutes in actual “out of game/ real world” time for your projects to be completed. This means that even if you were constantly checking your droid empire, you could only complete a maximum of 24 projects per day. (With me, it’s more like 3-4 maximum.)
Droid Arena 3: Radar Blueprint

ARRAY FOR OUR SIDE One of the first choices encountered on the research tree is whether to research “Basic Construction” in order to build up your own capabilities or “Radar Array” to have more situational awareness concerning the arena environs and your opponent’s capabilities.

Of course, the more you learn about the game’s scripting language, the more likely you’ll be to refine your droid’s behavior. The printable manual for the scripting language is extremely easy to follow and offers solid examples. In fact, you can purchase a tutorial script with your virtual cash and edit it yourself. For example, I quickly noticed that the tutorial script had a routine that caused my droid to close in on a target robot. Since I had outfitted my widget warrior with a Stinger missile, I really wanted to stay at long range. Without reading the manual, I tried to program the droid so that it would stay constantly on the move. When I lost my first battle under that script without even firing at the enemy, I knew I had done something wrong.

Then, I printed the RSL manual. Even before I had completely finished it, I noticed that there were “Behavior” functions. The code will automatically run your droid according to the scout parameters (a 30% boost in speed against a trade-off of 20% less damage and 10% poorer defense), sniper disposition (20% boost in accuracy and respective 10% boosts in radar range and weapon efficiency, but with a 10% cost in speed and a 20% reduction in defense capability), assassin mode (ups speed by 10%, increases damage by 10%, reloads at a 5% faster rate, but gives up 15% in accuracy and 10% in defense), or berserker mode (increases damage by 30% while trading off 20% of its defensive capability and 10% of its percentage of accuracy). Ah, now I was getting somewhere, just typing in the code to initialize a sniper behavior took me deeper into the battle before I was shot up and helped me score better than before.
Droid Arena 3: Script

WHERE’S DA VINCI? To maximize your droid’s efficiency, you will need to play with the Robot Scripting Language (RSL), but the coding isn’t as arcane as first glance might suggest.

To make matters even more interesting, the addition of new equipment (often consistent with “leveling up”) can provide new commands, functions, or reactions to events in the scripting language. In short, as you become more and more familiar with the game, you can create more and more complex programs (or simpler, more effective programs—depending on your taste). Of course, as with any good game, there are other trade-offs. You may be able to afford that larger shield, but the robot only has so many spaces available. Big shield? Extra weapon? Targeting equipment? The choices become more interesting as you advance in levels.

The only thing I truly find missing is an adequate debugger. True, you can “take” your droid to the simulator arena and test it out, but anyone who has ever done programming can tell you that a good debugger is worth its weight in gold. Although you don’t have to “compile” your scripts, it would sure be nice to have a debugger tell you when you have entered invalid registers or invoked a routine illegally.

Covert Operations (Game Play)

Actual game play is generally restricted to making a few key moves with each log-in. Establish your construction, research, and covert operations priorities to set those in motion. Then, check out the logs (in movie, text, or summary results form) to see the details on your last arena battle. Repair, reconfigure, or reprogram your droid. Then, join another arena and log-off until sufficient time has passed to get those results.

As a gamer who likes to play war games via email, the system of Droid Arena 3 actually works. I often make my moves at night just before I return Cyberboard files of my war game moves to my friends across the country. Of course, this means that I have a significant tolerance for delayed gratification. In Play-By-Email mode, a game of Twilight Struggle (a great card-driven Cold War game that can be played in approximately 1.5 hours face-to-face) can take a couple of months to complete. In Droid Arena 3, it takes me over a week at 1-2 moves per day to move up a level (and THAT’S at low levels before the progression kicks in).

One thing is certain. Droid Arena 3 does not offer so much to do outside the arena that you can afford to keep losing the arena battles. To upgrade your equipment, you have to keep “leveling.” To get access to certain important commands or functions, you need better equipment. Your total RSL library is constrained by your equipment and you cannot build certain structures or authorize certain covert operations until you reach higher levels. This makes successful bouts absolutely vital.

To illustrate my point, let’s examine the number of research projects you can authorize at each level:

Level 1 11
Level 2 2
Level 3 1
Level 4 2
Level 5 5
Level 6 2
Level 7 2
Level 8 2
Level 9 2
Level 10 6
Level 11 0
Level 12 4
Level 13 2
Level 14 2
Level 15 6
Level 16 2
Level 17 1
Level 18 4
Level 19 2
Level 20 5
Level 21 2
Level 22 7
Level 23 2
Level 24 1
Level 25 4

A similar disproportionate progression is visible in the structure table:

Level 1 3
Level 2 2
Level 3 1
Level 4 1
Level 5 3
Level 6 2
Level 7 2
Level 8 0
Level 9 2
Level 10 5
Level 11 0
Level 12 3
Level 13 0
Level 14 0
Level 15 2
Level 16 1
Level 17 0
Level 18 0
Level 19 0
Level 20 2
Level 21 1
Level 22 2
Level 23 4
Level 24 1
Level 25 0

It’s always dangerous for a non-programmer/non-game designer to speculate on game design, but this seems like asymmetric play-balance to me. I liked the fact that there was so much to do during the first level when I was getting adjusted to the game. However, these asymmetrical development trees seem to work against rather than for a nice pacing experience throughout the game.

Blackbox Logs (Ratings)

Droid Arena 3 is a serious game for strategy gamers who really want to stretch. To be very successful in the game, you’re going to have to learn how to code. To advance in the game, you’re going to need to log on regularly. To enjoy the game, you’ll need to be willing to postpone gratification. There are no instant results here.

As part of the Skotos Network package, Droid Arena 3 is worth playing if you have any patience at all. If you’re looking for MechWarrior, these are not the droids you’re looking for. If you enjoyed the turn-based, mission-driven robot/cyborg game from Sierra, Mission: Cyberstorm, these are still not the droids you’re looking for. But if you liked RobotWars, Origin’s Omega, and C Robots, then Droid Arena 3 is your best chance to experience the same type of challenge with a broader scope and persistent world. And, if you missed those early experiences, you can try it out as part of a trial account on Skotos, even without surrendering your credit card data.

Reviewer’s Snapshot: 6 (on scale of 10)

Documentation 5 (spotty, misleading and incomplete)
Graphics 5 (mostly text, but Blaxxun VRML playback)
Design 6 (lots of options, but takes too long to get there)
Pacing 5 (can spend too much time with little happening)
Price/Performance 8 (as part of a package of 11 basic games, hard to beat)

Reviewer’s Bias: 4 (looking for turn-based BattleTech)