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Hello, all you Ants fans out there! Did you miss our Chatterbox Series event with Joshua Howard and then wish you could find out what went on? Well then you're in luck, because we've posted excerpts from the chat log right here! Read what he had to say about creating new maps, his explanation of Ants features and levels, and much more! The following chat was held on Tuesday, July 13, at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time in the Theater Chat Room. Our thanks to Joshua Howard for taking time out to join us for this chat.
--MSN Gaming Zone
PA_Evilant: Hi! I was just wondering why you neglected Ants for the past four and a half years.
joshuah@zone: Hmm -- tough question... “Neglected” is such a harsh word...
PA_Evilant: what would you prefer?
joshuah@zone: When we finished Ants, we wanted to do more for it -- a level editor, more maps, etc., even a full version 2.0... But we had other projects we needed to move onto.
PA_Evilant: Do you know about all the bugs/hacks?
joshuah@zone: I know what I know...
PA_Evilant: Are you planning on fixing it?
joshuah@zone: After this long, some things have become apparent that we did not find in our testing of the game. Considering that we completed the game from start to finish in seven months and the game has been live MUCH longer than that -- it doesn't surprise me that some things have been found. There are currently no plans to do another set of fixes.
PA_Evilant: Also, are you Leonardoe?
joshuah@zone: And no, I am not Leonardoe.
__Nall__: Hi, I wanted to know if when you made the maps, you realized how big of an advantage some color ants had over others. Such as in Medium, where Red has a huge advantage over Green in speed, getting food fast, and getting to the power up flower faster... Was it something you planned? Or something that just kind of happened. Also, when you made the game, were you aware of the many tricks such as bombing your own bomber, standing on hats, etc.
joshuah@zone: First part first -- did we know the maps weren't perfectly balanced?
__Nall__: Yeah, basically.
joshuah@zone: They were as balanced as we could get them in the time we had. We knew that over time certain things would be discovered that we did not think of. The fact is, no one really believed that the original levels would be in circulation so long. We planned all along to release more levels. It just didn't work out that way. To answer your second question, many of those tricks we did know about, and even specifically designed for. They were key to solving some of the “puzzles” we conceived of. Of course, some of the little tricks are things we didn't know about; but that happens.
VAC_KNIGHT: What gave you the idea to make Ants? I'm glad you picked it. I always see lots of people playing it.
joshuah@zone: The team that did Ants was chartered to do an online game for kids. We had a bunch of ideas, and Ants was the one we liked most. We wanted to capture the feel of a “straction” game (strategy action, what later came to be called RTS), but do it in a way that was easy and fast.
BBK_Dreamer: Hi! Did you ever think Ants would be such a success? Also, do you ever play the game with other people? Lastly, what do you think of ant CLANS? (I LOVE YOUR GAME! ANY OTHERS ON THE WAY?)
joshuah@zone: Did we ever think it would be such a big success? Well... we knew we had a good game on our hands. We played it a lot, and the kids that helped test it loved it. Where the game used to be, as the cornerstone of Spike's World, was very cool. Spike's World was a BIG success for what it was, but nothing compared to the Zone. Bringing Ants to the Zone, and its doing as well as it has, has been a great surprise. It's great to see our belief in the game come true. Yes, I do play with other people (though usually under a different account). I love the whole idea of clans. I've even tried out for few (and didn't make it!). I especially owe a lot of thanks to the few clans that Ants had before it came to the Zone. To see more clans spring up has been great!
FEM_NaKita: Hi, Joshua! Could you tell me why you put food in the corners of Treasure and middle of the Gauntlet map? I can't eat it! (lol) Is it there just to drive me nuts?
joshuah@zone: Yes! It's there to drive you nuts! And actually, in Treasure, you can get to the food on the edges. It's worth your while if you can figure it out, but it takes teamwork. Unfortunately, the level is over quickly enough no one had to figure it out.
FEM_NaKita: Is there a way to speed up the lil guys?
joshuah@zone: Not for players.
BBK_Fight: Ants is a really awesome game. I have never played such a fun computer game on the net before. In fact, I haven't played one like Ants ever! You are awesome! Do you plan on making more maps for Ants in the future? If so, what type of maps?
joshuah@zone: Yes! I plan on doing more maps. It takes some time to do a new map, though. As long as I am the only one doing it, they will come slowly.
BBK_Fight: Yeah...well I like the game and I like the maps! Keep up the awesome work!
joshuah@zone: Thanks!
Jackrabbit_: Are you the only one working on these new maps?
joshuah@zone: Yes. The tool we built to make new maps is VERY hard to use. There are a few people in the Zone who know how to make maps. But they all have “real” jobs: that leaves me, on my free time, to do new maps.
Jackrabbit_: Also, many people in the Ants community think the map Ocean is, well, "crappy." What are you planning on doing with these new maps?
joshuah@zone: The early testing I did with Oceans went well with players; about two dozen players got to play before it went live.
Jackrabbit_: Oh, many people don't like it at all. Are there any new ants in the process?
joshuah@zone: To hear that people don't like it now is a bit of a shame. I don't think they “get” it. We will see how the next map goes. No, there are no new Ants in the works.
NXA_Rebel: If you are making new ants, what are they going to be? You told Evilant that you were going to make map editors, a version 2.0, etc. Now that Ants has become somewhat "successful," are you planning on making them? Have you taken under consideration if you made a map editor for the use of players how many maps could come out?
joshuah@zone: No new ants. That would take new code, which would take a team working on it (even if small). The Zone has no resources to do this. There is NO version 2.0 in the works. The level editor is NOT for general use. I wish it were. I've been trying to get the resources together to get an editor built. But I don't believe it will ever happen. And it's too bad. I'd love to see what other players would have designed.
ThE_MaGsTeR: Ok, I would like a map with eight ants per person with 32 buff power ups. No food, just a death match. Or just some good new maps! Just one death map, please!! And we need a map editor!! And how did Leonardoe get to help?
joshuah@zone: That's a neat idea for a map! I'll have to put that on the list of things to try, maybe. Leonardoe was an Ants fan from long ago, when it was on Spike's World. Back then, I got a mail from Leonardoe, and we have spoken a few times since then. Leonardoe's was the first idea for a map I had seen from outside the team (and outside the early testers).
Danzig3000K: Thanks for a great addictive game! It shows that you need imagination, not lots of flashy graphics, for a good game. My first question is, what language besides ASM did you use in the coding of Ants?
joshuah@zone: Ants was programmed in C++, by people who write code for a living (not me!). Some of the work in Ants, though, was VERY cutting edge at the time. Though not flashy, it was ahead of its time.
Danzig3000K: Could you please tell us about your other projects? And whether there is a site we can go to to follow up on your work?
joshuah@zone: Ants is the only game I have designed for Microsoft. There is nowhere else to go to get stuff from me about it. I do have a non-Microsoft life, which includes more game design. But those are mostly non-computer games.
Danzig3000K: That's what I meant, more game design projects.
joshuah@zone: If you are really curious about my other game design stuff, take a look at http://www.bonegames.com and http://www.cheapass.com.
WaRrIoR_AnT9: Have you ever talked to Bill Gates about Ants, and if you did, what did he say about it?
joshuah@zone: lol... I never personally spoke to Bill about Ants. I do know he is fully behind the effort to do great games at Microsoft.
_x_zEpp_x_: Hey! I was wondering how come when you designed Ants, you put the regular ants naked? Why didn't you put any clothing on them?
joshuah@zone: I never thought of them as naked?! :)
_x_zEpp_x_: When I fight an enemy ant, how come they pop around here and there? And when I hit them, they complain it's lag. Such itchiness!
joshuah@zone: The popping around does come from lag.
_x_ACiD_x_: I want to know if you can do anything about the lag so the ants don't go “flying”into the water when an ant just touches them for instance. Lag needs to be improved. Also, is there any way to get that food on the corners in the Treasure map? It always sits there and it makes me hungry.
joshuah@zone: Each player's computer in Ants is keeping track of where ants are as best they can -- but sometimes (due to lag) one computer falls a bit out of sync. Lag is a function of your Internet provider, not of the game. We handle it as best we can, and frankly, much better than many other games available, even today. To answer your other questions, it's supposed to make you hungry!
_x_ZeR0_CooL_x_: With the new maps you're designing, do you plan to make some new ant power ups or something to add in the maps? Like a really doped-up hippy ant that makes other ants high or a steroid ant that takes off 9 points of damage. That would be sweet. =?)
joshuah@zone: New maps will not feature new ants. The ants we have are what we are stuck with. There were a bunch of ant types we considered before settling on the ants in the game. One reason why we wanted to keep going was to deliver more ants, but it wasn't to happen. :(
Xperts_jthomas4: First, will y'all make a ratings room for Ants? Second, I'm curious to know if the cheating codes that people are using are built into the software or is it something they are doing on their own? Third, could you make a way to kibitz in a game?
joshuah@zone: Rated rooms. We'd love to do this, but to do it the Zone way would require a change to the game code, something which is likely never to happen. Go use a ladder system and report wins/losses yourselves. There were no “cheating codes” in the sense that a code would give one player an advantage over the others. If there were, I'd be curious about them. Kibitzing would also require changes to the game. We planned for it initially, but had to cut it to ship on time. Remember, the entire game was coded and shipped in about five months -- VERY fast by today's standards.
Xperts_jthomas4: But people can have an unlimited score!!!
joshuah@zone: I'm not sure how people get an unlimited score. And if they do, is it a cheat? In the end, there is only so much we can do to stop stuff like that -- hacking and such. I decide to just not play with people who want to cheat.
PHEN_EvLaNT: What is your ID when you play Ants on the Zone?
joshuah@zone: The ID I am using now, and several others I won't reveal. :)
PHEN_EvLaNT: Have you ever thought about making your own clan. If so, what would you call it?
joshuah@zone: I never thought of it. I haven't the time! Not sure what I'd call it -- probably something like “Clan of the Creator.” :)
ProudBobb: Hi!... Just wondering, are there any cheats for Ants? If so, do you know the gun code? Also, did you know the ants stop when attacked? One more thing, in Island map, when my friend and I were playing, no one was using codes and each time we got candy we got 200 points apiece. Is that supposed to happen?
joshuah@zone: The “cheats” (which really aren't) are documented elsewhere on the Zone. When an ant is attacked, the attacking player's machine and your machine try talking to each other. Sometimes this takes a moment, so we stop the ant to keep it from “getting away from us.” I know of no food on Islands that is worth 200 points; but on Oceans, yes!
xXV00D00Xx2: That level editor you use is interesting. Why not give it out?
joshuah@zone: To be honest, it's awful.
xXV00D00Xx2: That's OK. I don't mind. And a map with multiple layers would be cool.
joshuah@zone: The level editor is hard to use. It crashes many machines and will let you build totally busted levels, etc. There is no way I'm giving it out as it is. Sorry.
Executor_Bandit: The jumping of the ants is ruining the gameplay now that the Zone servers are so clogged. Do you have any plans to make the games sync instead of having the ants jump? For example, make a screen come up to sync and then when it's synced, resume gameplay?
joshuah@zone: Again, it's an Internet thing. The Zone has nothing to do with it. Once you start the game on the Zone, it isn't used at all for the game. We decided that a “sync screen” was unacceptable and opted for our current solution. Most games can't handle even close to the lag Ants does.
FEM_Ashlee: First of all, I'd like to say how much my friends and I enjoy playing Ants. I was just wondering, are you currently working on any new maps? My second question is, what does that voice say at the beginning of the games? I could never tell what it says.
joshuah@zone: "Spike's World is cool" or "Spike Rules!" I miss Spike :)
Winners of the “fishing hat”were:- Fem_Nakita
- Fury3_
- Tuneland
- Caprice1482
- DarkCool
Note: We'll publish more detailed tips and hints on this game in the future, so keep checking these pages. And if you have your own strategies and tips for Age of Empires, send them in! Be sure to include your Zone ID so we can give you credit!
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