Bokosuka Wars

Foreword

This game has a bad reputation. Is it deserved? I don't know. Admittedly I didn't understand or bother with the game at all when I first stumbled on it many years ago. After having taken a closer look at the game mechanics, and viewing the game in the context of its time, I'm starting to think that it's interesting.

The first version of Bokosuka Wars was apparently made in 1983, and it might be one of the very earliest RTS games. Like Dragon Slayer 1, it has a form of... tile based movement puzzle mechanic. All the King's soldiers move in tandem with him, so you have to use the terrain cleverly to nudge them into formation. You have to be very strategic in who you engage in combat, or how you trick enemies into getting out of your way.

With this project I want to explore the merits of the game, and also its unique art style.

Here's a five part Video Let's Play of Bokosuka Wars. Also, for reference, the sprites from the NES version. The sprites vary slightly in appearance between the different ports (Sharp, MSX, NES, PC88...). There was also a version called New Bokosuka Wars that allegedly came with the source code, but I have not looked at it.

Here I wanted to get a feel for the character designs in the game. I'm trying to use poses similar to those of the original sprites (open, sprawling poses). The heads are smaller, but I'm trying to keep the major shapes and masses intact. Color will do a lot, later on. I'll probably use the Mage (fancier robes) and the Pawns (striped belly rather than buttons) from the PC88 version as source material.

Friendly Soldiers

There aren't a lot of soldier varieties in this game. The combat information is kind of obscured to the player, and the soldiers can level up. Everyone moves in 1-steps. there's not much point in having lots of different looking soldiers which vary only slightly in their combat skill. Instead, Bokosuka Wars has only three different soldiers which vary greatly in skill, and the have some special abilities making them interesting. My versions here are slightly modified.

• A:180, D:250 SUPPORT. - Strong, but if he dies it's game over. Should he have hitpoints? I don't know. He can destroy walls, some forms of vegetation, and he can locate new troops. He could also give a morale bonus to nearby troops engaged in combat.
• A:80, D:80 PAWN. A somewhat weak soldier, but it has an advantage against the late game enemy soldiers.
• A:150, D:150 GOLD PAWN. A pawn which has been leveled up. Should levels be shown visually with a number, color change, or sprite change?
• A:150, D:150 KNIGHT. A stronger type of all-round soldier. It can destroy prisons.
• A:220, D:220 GOLD KNIGHT.

Some random ideas for other units with ore exotic behaviors.

• A:50, D:50 SQUID. If a secret item is found, half of the screen will fill up with a rather useless silly soldier.
• A:80, D:80 SUPPORT. Gives defense bonuses to nearby units.
• A:80, D:80 ARCHER. Will only attack cells 3 steps ahead. The enemy can defend, but not retaliate. The archer is not a very strong unit, but it has the advantage of distance attacks.
• A:80, D:180 PIKER. Will bump enemy back one step, if the enemy defends. This will make it difficult for the enemy to get close again. The spear guy has a high defense value.

Enemy Soldiers

(Placeholder, I'm still writing this page.)

Places, Shrines, Treasures and Traps

This is a resource that's easy to add to the game, since terrain images are simple still images. Shrines and items may disappear or change after use. Shrines and such can be both good and bad.

• Deathtrap. Kills anyone foolish enough to touch it (perhaps explodes and damages nearby cells (A:150)?), except pawns who can disarm it. Disappears after activation.
• HP refill for the King. I'm not sure if he'll have any HP though.
• Fountain. A soldier which drinks from this fountain levels up. The fountain is drained after three uses.
• Level up shrine. Everyone on screen, enemies included, level up once.
• Mystery Shrine. One use.
  • Smites the user
  • Level the user up or down.
  • It explodes and damages nearby cells (A:150).
  • It transforms into an enemy, or an ally.
  • Poisonous bushes (only cuttable by the King) spreads out from it.
  • All the soldiers on the screen are teleported around.
  • Enemy troops become friendly, and vice versa.
  • Reveals another shrine (replacing a tree or something).
  • Nothing happens.
• Inversion shrine. Inverts the levels of the soldiers on screen, which is good if there are a lot of low level guys.
• Sacrificial shrine (Mars). It kills off all of the friendly soldiers, and releases three gold knights. One use.
• Sacrificial shrine (Venus). Eats three Pawns and releases one Gold Pawn. Infinite uses.
• Armageddon shrine. Falling fire hits everyone on the screen (A:100). One use (turns into rubble?). May also destroy terrain?
• Clone shrine. It clones those who touches it, even the King. However, after 80 moves the clone turns into an enemy. One use.
• Portal. If touched, it releases 12 enemy soldiers around the shrine and then turns into a Portal II.
• Portal II. Releases 6 Knights.
• Dragon head. A large ancient stone head which scorches anyone passing one or two tiles in front of it (A:80). Maybe it spins around, allowing soldiers to get pass it. It can not be destroyed.
• Ero item. Displays an image.
• Eye of illumination. A small light beam shines on forests and places where friendlies are hiding.
• Village. Always releases a Pawn.
• Sphinx. Tests the wit of the King. If he survives an attack (A:200), he levels up to max.
• Black orb. Teleports the whole army ahead, or perhaps back.

Combat

In Bokosuka Wars, the soldiers do not have hit points, they simply win or lose. I'm not sure exactly what variables are taken into consideration to resolve combat. I think New Bokosuka Wars comes with the source code, but I haven't looked at it.

My system would take the following into consideration to calculate the combat value for each soldier.

First, figure out what a tenth of the combat value for the soldier is, e.g.

Tenth = 150/10 (=15)

Naturally, an attacking soldier is facing the enemy, but the opponent might be facing another direction. An attack bonus may be given here.

• Attacking the front: Regular attack value (ten Tenths)
• Attacking the side: + Two tenths
• Attacking the back: + Four tenths

Furthermore, if the opponent is boxed in, additional bonuses are given. Four tiles around the opponent is checked for terrain or other soldiers. Since the friendly soldier is occupying one of them, up to three tiles may be blocked, each worth a Tenth.

The same is done again, but this time we specifically look for friendly soldiers surrounding the opponent, adding a Tenth for each, again excluding our attacker.

So, at this point, if we have surrounded an enemy and attack him in the back, we could be looking at a combat value of 10+4+3+3 Tenths.

But there's more! Perhaps being surrounded by friendly soldiers gives a morale boost. Since the opponent occupies one tile, we're looking at a maximum of three tiles here. Being near the King could give an additional bonus.

The opponent (being attacked) should probably turn to face the instigator. Perhaps the two sides (armies) move alternating. Side A moves, delay, side B moves, delay, loop. If everyone moves simultaneously, it might be hard for the eye to keep track of general movements. Also, perhaps the enemy side (computer controlled) can only move after the player has made a move. This would give the player time to read the tactical situation and think.

I don't know if the movement mechanics will allow several soldiers to attack the same target, since you can only move in one direction at a time. Perhaps nearby soldiers will automatically join into combat to get free attacks. For example, a soldier could attack an opponent from the side. The opponent is surprised and turns to face his attacker. They fight. In the meantime (or after), a soldier above the opponent (who is not involved in a fight), notices the fight below him. The opponent has turned in the other direction and is unable to defend himself. The soldier above can attack without the fear of riposte.

Two rolls are made for each participant, Attack and Defense. A roll is simply a random value between 1 and the soldier's combat value, including bonuses. To win, a roll has to be higher than the opponent's.

Two participants with two rolls each (two results total after comparison) results in a number of possibilities which could be displayed graphically to make the combat look interesting.

1. Our attacker wins attack but opponent wins defense.
2. Our attacker wins defense but opponent wins attack.
3. Our attacker wins both (the opponent has failed both).
4. The opponent wins both.

^ Early prototype with combat mechanics like those described.

^ Animation test.

Each soldier type could start out in a neutral combat stance. There could be three combat frames. Attacking, blocking, and taking damage. The attack and block frames are used in situations 1 and 2. A random clink or clank sound would make the scene come to life. Attacking and taking damage frames would be used for situation 3 and 4.

I'm not sure about corpse frames. Will they fit on a tile? How do they stack? Will it look okay with troops walking over corpse images? Perhaps a blood flat splat would be better? It could accumulate in size too.

Special abilities

In Bokosuka Wars, only the King can tear down certain walls, and find new friendly troops (in trees!).

The Knights can tear down prison bars and free Pawns.

Some soldiers may have a combat advantage against other types of soldiers. In Bokosuka Wars, the normally weak "Pawns" have an advantage against the otherwise dangerous soldiers in the final castle.

I don't think there's much point in having only minor differences between soldiers, but perhaps there could be soldiers which have different attack and defense values. Perhaps the 'Golem' doesn't have a rear or side, just front sides. Maybe the Gold Pawns can build bridges.

The King could have two or three hit points, which can be replenished somehow. Nurses, or a building.

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- by Arne Niklas Jansson, 2011