CLONES

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CLONES is a Lemmings-like internet multiplayer game available for the Windows platform. It features little gray creatures named clones to which you can assign an action in real-time. The actions are similar to the ones available in Lemmings and include:

• Build
• Bash
• Explode
• Dig
• Mine
• Block
• Float
• Fly*
• Liquify
• Bazooker

Work began on CLONES in September of 2002, and by the summer of 2003 a playable demo was released. Currently, the game includes over 40 multiplayer levels and over 50 single player levels. The developers of the game have implemented a global ranking system named CloneStats which logs matches between registered and non-registered players. There is also a worldwide server which lists all active games in progress similar to games like Half-Life and Unreal Tournament and matches have been recored from all over the world.

CLONES supports multiple game modes such as Death Match, Capture The Clone, Last Clone Standing, Arcade, and Carry The Flag which can be played on both multiplayer and single player levels. There is also the ability to add objects to the landscape during a match to either help your clones or interfere with your opponents.

There are interactive objects on some levels. These are things that can either alter the landscape, or the clones themselves. They include:

• Teleport Trap
• Swap Trap
• Squish Trap
• Shock Trap
• Water Trap
• Size Trap
• AntiGravity Trap
• Moving Bridge
• Acid Rain
• Slingshot Trap
• Mushbomb
• Wall Crawler
• Frozen Clone
• Speedup
• Bonus Actions/Clones

A novel feature in CLONES is the navigation of single player levels. Instead of a linear progression through the levels the player is presented with a 3D brain which has hotspots which can be clicked to display a collection of neurons. Each neuron represents a level. Some levels can be skipped depending on which path through the brain the player chooses.

The game includes a map editor which allows players to edit any of the existing levels, or to create new ones. The levels are composed of a number of individual objects which form the terrain that the clones walk on. The map editor supports object scaling, rotation, tinting, and mirroring.

Recently, the developers announced plans to challenge other developers to come up with artificial intelligence for the game. Due to the real-time nature of the game and the large amount of choices available to the player, creating AI for the game is an extremely difficult task.

[edit] External links

• Official CLONES Website