Jibb Smart's KarBOOM is finally gearing up for online play. KarBOOM Online plans to mix the offline shoulder-to-shoulder multiplayer it already provides with worldwide battles online. But what good is online multiplayer if no one knows about it? Grab the latest version of KarBOOM (0.1.3 at the moment) for up to 8 players of hectic car combat and warm up for online play in the coming weeks.
At about 7MB download, no setup required, and completely free, why not give it a go? Get some mates over, bust out some USB gamepads and tell them online play is coming soon. If all you've got is a keyboard, you can still play with up to 4 players. Download the game from KarBOOM's page on IndieDB, or if the latest version (0.1.3 at time of writing) has not been authorised yet, find it at Jibb Smart's website at JibbSmart.com.
Try out the different mutators to mix up gameplay:
- Tag - One player's "it", and everyone else needs to avoid that player's car;
- Sapoi - For 3-player only, think Rock-Paper-Scissors with cars;
- Weak spot - Protect your behind to keep from exploding!
Compete for victory in Time Limit, Score Limit, Life Limit, or No Limit modes.
Is that all? Well... yeah. That's all so far. KarBOOM depends on the feedback of its players to provide it direction. What mutators do you want? What's lacking? What would be cool? Player feedback has already pushed online play ahead of level- and replay- editors on the to-do list. In fact it's in the works right now. But KarBOOM needs some input from the IndieDB community as well!
And what will online play look like? Well, here are some shots of KarBOOM Online in its current stage of development:
While you're checking it out, support KarBOOM in the running for IOTY 2010! Having only begun development at the end of September and only making its way onto IndieDB in the last two weeks, KarBOOM has a late start. But that doesn't mean it has no hope for the Top 50, does it?
a micro machines online would be awsome
For sure! One thing on the to-do list is a racing mode in the style of Micro Machines and Mashed. It's probably a long way away, though, since there's plenty of other work for me to do on this game for now.
Will there be an offline multiplayer feature too?
Like 1 player uses keyboard and other one plays on joystick on the same screen.
ok, sry for this lame comment :D
You can already play offline multiplayer :)
Offline play (as it is now, on the downloads page) lets you play with up to 4 players on one keyboard (but it gets a bit crowded) as well as with gamepads. Basically you can have up to 4 players on the keyboard, up to 8 players using gamepads/joysticks, or any combination thereof up to 8 players.
As you can see in the latest screenshots, the online version will lift this 8-player restriction, as well as allowing you to mix offline and online multiplayer in the same game.
And it's not a lame comment -- I'm happy to clear up anything that doesn't make complete sense.
Thanks for info :)
I realised that my comment was lame after I played the game version from Downloads. I mean, I commented before trying the game, I usually don't do that...
But thanks for clearing it up, I wanted to know about that "mix offline and online multiplayer" too. Thats actually awesome, since such games usually don't allow you to play it like that.
Looks great so far :D.
Hey Jibb!
I like it. A lot. It is pretty addictive.
My suggestion is that you tone down the explosions in the 'weak spot' mode. The explosion tends to knock your vehicle out of the arena as well.
I think a few interesting modes could include -
- capture the flag
- some sort of 'king of the hill mode' ie one against many
James! Good to see you hear :)
It's true, explosions are serious trouble in "weak spot". After online is done there'll be level options, so a bigger arena and some barriers might make it okay, and let everyone focus on protecting their behinds rather than worrying about being knocked out.
Game mode ideas sound good! It shouldn't be hard for me to set up an area in the middle that earns you points for "King of the Hill", as well as a bunch of different flag modes.
Thanks for the feedback.