When Battlebots Attack -- Luc Fray Reporting

Time and time over again, it has been proven that man has always been fascinated with fight games that pit one with another -- from gladiator style arenas to underground fight clubs to animal derbies to modern day boxing. Perhaps it is the thrill of bloodlust, or maybe the morbid fascination of observing one fight for survival, or perhaps just the excitement of tempting the fates and wondering if the gods will favor the one you bet on this time. Whatever it is, people would certainly want to see and experience brutal brawls.

Enter Buildables.

From the makers of robots that builds robots by mining different materials, Shark Club Gaming's creative geniuses-- Shane Nielson, Aries Westland, and Batrastard Panthar--- has thought of a new concept to introduce to SL's breeding and gaming industry. A work that has been going on for months, Battlebots [SLURL] is now about to take Second Life in a storm.

As one of the few people that was invited to a private screening of these new Buildables on Saturday, February 18, 2012, I was treated to a show of different varieties of awesome robots, as well as a sample battle between them. The players, or pilots, would have to pay first the agreed upon stakes before they can be seated on opposite ends of the ring. Once done, they can rezz out the bots that they had chosen, but both of them must choose the same type, otherwise no fight will occur. This is done so that a sense of fairness be displayed since some bots are small and some are huge, and the smaller bots will have a bigger targets on their opponents. All Battlebots also have the same animations and skills, and are also built to be on wheels, rather than legs for walking, to make movements smoother. Currently, in the first series, there are 9 types of Battlebots, but there will be new series of fighter bots released soon such as Vyper and Eve and limited edition ones are coming very soon.

At the moment, Battlebots are limited to single play only. Maybe in the future, teamplay will occur, but as for now, it's just a one-on-one competition. So far for tournaments, only single elimination boards are available. No HUDs are necessary to buy or attach to the players, as everything will be shown on that board above the ring. There is also a player stats board available that shows your wins, losses, and total prize money won from all fights. It will also show how many bots you've piloted overall that got destroyed. Speaking of which, once your robot "dies", whether from a death match or it has been defeated way too many times, it will no longer work and will disappear from the ring like smoke off a barbecue grill.

 

To win a fight, players must pilot their bots in a way that lands a punch to the opponent, which would then count for 1 point. Driving to the ropes, however, earns them 5 points, and as soon as the points accumulate, the first player that reaches the agreed number of points wins the fight. This is a skill-based system due to the fact that both pilots controls both each of their robots. However, these robots also have a retirement period and a limited fight career, and it varies from bot to bot.

Owners can hire people to fight for them using the bots they have. To own a Battlebot, you can get it the same way other Buildables are obtained -- by building them.

Development has been faster than planned and Mr. Panthar has confirmed that this new addition will hopefully be available this upcoming weekend -- March 3rd or 4th! For more information, keep your eyes glued to the Buildables website, www.mybuildables.com and read the forms.