Games - Stick Soldiers

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	Games - Stick Soldiers

The Stick Soldiers series is a duo (soon to be a trio) of keyboard-based, side-scrolling deathmatch shooters in which you control a pencil-drawn stick soldier with various weapons (Uzi, Grenade Launcher, etc.) to destroy other stick soldiers in your attempt to reach the specified frag limit (in SS2, rankings are just point numbers, whereas SS1 has rankings as titles, with the first being "Cadet" and the last, "Fragmeister"). They can be found at the . Both games are very simple and addicting although some think they eventually become repetitive. is currently creating Stick Soldiers 3 (abbreviated as SS3), which will cost $20 USD for the full version, as it is shareware (although it does not have any time limit to playing; only certain features are restricted). It is possible to create new weapons, sounds, and sprites. The new version will have fully colored maps, multiplayer, more game modes, and many other features.

The webmaster for the first two games' websites was SuperRoy (Andrew Vehlies). SS1 and SS2 were created by AdmiralBinary, now fonger (Tim Cowley)—who handled the games' C++ coding— and anti_ (Dylan Allison)—the main artist and mapper of the games. Cowley left the team after SS2, having Andrew Russell replace him, and BlackjacK (name unknown) replaced SuperRoy as webmaster. Allison remains creating images and level graphics, and Russell has semi-recently hired six new programmers to the team, five of whose forum aliases are known as "Savvy", "threedot", "Hippo", "Thorium", and "ravuya".

Stick Soldiers 1

The first Stick Soldiers game proved to be a major hit at Gamedev.net, where its production was enthusiastically observed. It used modifiable .BMPs and supported deathmatch and a primitive one-way CTF mode, later receiving as a separate download a red-vs.-blue Team version as another .EXE.

Stick Soldiers 2

The next game in the series, Stick Soldiers 2 was a considerable expansion upon SS1, in that the soldiers' movement was smoothly animated instead of referred to by static .BMPs. It added more weaponry and more modability, allowing weapons' attributes to be changed instead of just graphics, having a much more versatile map editor, and many more features, although some were removed (such as ricocheting bullets, the helmet powerup, and the popular Flak Cannon weapon). See for a listing of both games' pros and cons.

Stick Soldiers 3

SS3 is currently a work-in-progress and will be shareware, costing $20 USD for the full version. (The free, shareware version will not have any time limits, but those without the full version will lose out on some features). Information on its features released to the public includes the following:

Aiming will be controlled by the mouse and a reticule, and keys can be configured;
It will have Internet/LAN multiplayer capability (mods can be distributed online);
Game modes such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag will be implemented (it is rumored that a sort of King of the Hill game mode will be implemented as well);
Map structure will consist of loose lines, unlike the other SS games' boxy terrain; and
A free, external stand-alone map editor will be released alongside SS3 for fans to create their own maps to share with fellow players.

Release date is unknown and has been unknown for years. (In fact, Russell hired six more programmers to the team since development has been crawling so slowly). Some speculate Fall or Winter 2006.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Stick Soldiers ]

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