Robot Arena 2
Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy is a computer game released by Infogrames on February 25th, 2003 as the sequel to Robot Arena, a game about creating custom robots to fight each other much like the fad of late 90's to early 00's. New features from the original game are much more customizeability as well as destructible environments using a new physics engine. There are three mods of gameplay in Robot Arena 2: Exhibition, Team HQ, and Multiplayer. This game was poorly marketed and was panned by critics, however it still has an active modding community making custom parts, bots and leagues still as of October 2014.
Contents
Robot Arena 2 and DSL: Getting the game
Since the companies who made the game are now out of business, Robot Arena 2 is more or less abandonware at this point. http://gametechmods.com has two versions of this game, Robot Arena 2 and DSL.
What's the Difference?
Robot Arena 2 is the vanilla version of Robot Arena 2. Anyone who wants the vanilla game or is new to Robot Arena 2 should get this version since it is more simpler to create bots and the AI robots are still challenging without being too hard.
DSL is a version of Robot Arena 2 that a group of community modders created a massive mod compilation of new parts and new AI bots as well as arenas for people to use in Robot Arena 2. Using this pack you get a bunch of remixed vanilla bots that are much tougher than the vanilla counterparts. This one is generally for the hardcore Robot Arena 2 lovers as it is a bit too in depth for the beginner Robot Arena 2 player.
So where do I Download Them?
Robot Arena 1.4 FULL Version DSL 2.1 FULL Version
This section is intended to help navigate and get used to what menus do what.
Exhibition Mode
Exhibition Mode is a mode where you can pick any gamemode included in the game with their own rulesets and arenas. This allows you to create a match with AI bots and/or (local) player bots.
Game Settings
This tab is where you'll find the gamemodes you can pick from as well as basic settings.
Deathmatch: This is a normal 1v1 duel gamemode where the winner is either the last bot standing or the bot with the most damage inflicted.
Battle Royal: Same as deathmatch but with 1v1v1v1 for four player combat.
Team Match: Same as above but as 2v2 instead of a FFA.
Tabletop: Similar to the Battle Royal except the arenas are on top of a platform. Players are automatically eliminated when they fall off the platform.
King of the Hill: Similar to Battle Royal except scoring is by staying in a points zone on the arena (usually at the center of the arena) where the last standing bot or the bot with the most points wins.
Weight Class: This is useful if you want to filter out Robots on the Robots tab for their respective weight classes. By default this is on All Classes, however you can choose it to one of the 3 classes to filter out the other classes.
Match Time: This is the time limit for the match in minutes. Default is 3 which means that the match will go for 3 minutes until scoring rules go into effect and a winner is decided.
Arena
This is where you pick the arena you want to fight on. Deathmatch, Battle Royal and Team Match all use a set of arena dedicated to combat while Tabletop uses platform based arenas. King of the Hill uses arenas where there is a points zone which is usually in the center of the arena. You also have the ability to enable or disable environmental hazards (sawblades, compressors, etc.) from this menu.
Robots
This is where you assign local players or AI to slots. To add a new player, click on the blue human icon, scroll through the list of player created teams and player created bots to select the bot you wish to use, then press OK. To add an AI player, click on the green computer icon and follow the same steps to add an AI bot. When the desired amount of bots is added, press Start Game in the bottom right to start the match To remove a slotted player or bot, press the eject button. You do not need to add all four slots in four player matches, you could add two slots in a Battle Royal just like a regular Deathmatch.
Team HQ
This is the area where you create your player teams, design your player bots and progress through a sort of career with your team by entering in competitions with your bots of various weight classes and gamemodes. You can create a new team by pressing the New Team button, remove a team by the Delete Team button or press Continue to use that team.
Robot Inventory
This is the area where your robots live, at least for your team. Here you can create new robots or import and export robots. By pressing the Workshop button while selecting a robot it will take you to the bot workshop where you can customize your bot.
League Standings and Event Schedule
The League Standings is where you can see your current standings in the current season. You'll gain points by winning events with your robots. At the end of the season you win prizes in game based on how well your team has done.
The Event Schedule is where you pick the events you want to do. You must complete all of these events before the season ends and a new list of events is generated.
Team History
This is where you can see how many seasons you have played through with the team, the total amount of events played, the current rank, total win:loss, events won as well as the fastest win and biggest win. This is also where your prizes you win are stored as well.
Multiplayer
This is the area where you can join other player's sessions. You can choose either via LAN or via Internet and the game also supports a direct IP connect function as well.
Building Your First Bot
TBC.
