4. Version of this game without the scripts?

Version of this game without the scripts?


  • Is there possibly a version coming out of this game where you can just use your mouse? If I right click my worker on the resource node they just say 'okay let's go mine this'?

    I'm really interested in MMORTS games, but like it is right now, it is not something I can get into. I gave it a shot but I have 0 idea of what the hell I'm doing.

    Maybe it could be learned how to write proper scripts. But I do not want to spend hours and hours to learn codes that have no value to me whatsoever except in this game.

    I know that this with the coding was always the plan when you guys designed this game. But I think there might be more people than just me who would like to play this game, but don't want to play it as a coder.


  • Did you follow the tutorial? Step by step you get explained what to do and at the end you already have harvesting up and running and even some simple attack script?


  • True, but I don't have any idea why it does what it does. And I don't really have the will to find out.

    I followed the tutorial and in the end completed it. After getting some errors here and there, no idea how I fixed the errors, at some point it did what the game wanted me to do.

    Games like this give me the creeps (haha, get it?), since I just don't know what going on.
    I do what tutorials and handbooks tell me to do, at some point it might work, but I have no idea why it works.

    While I like the idea of the game (gather resources, creating creeps, buildings etc.), I just cannot handle all this coding.

    Thing is, MMORTS is a genre that has almost 0 games, and the idea of the game is very compelling to me, but the way to control things is awful by my standards. Some people will love something like this, but I really think this is to complicated for more people than just me.


  • I sympathize. I really like the ideal behind screeps -- an MMO offers automation as an alternative to mindless level grinding. But the reality of game is that it requires a significant time commitment (not to mention knowledge of JavaScript) to develop scripts that manage your resources as effectively as you would were manual control an option. Those who started with those scripts in place have a huge advantage over those who don't. And given that it takes time to develop competitive scripts and a competitive empire, the time commitment of grinding has just been displaced by the time required to code. The question new players will be asking is whether they want to pay for an opportunity to start from position of disadvantage and to then have to race to code effective scripts before the experienced players have run away with the game. That's a big ask.

    I'd suggest that Artem & company provide a basic script set that can get players up and running. That would, I think, maximize the already small set of potential players. Being able to play without a major time investment would make the game more broadly appealing.


  • To comment on your suggestion of a basic script. The tutorial, if you copy paste your way through it, provides this. As to the task of learning Javascript. There are a ton of tutorials out there that don't take long. The language itself isn't overly complex. I recommend codeacademy as a start point. Really the only overly complicated part is learning the game's unique api, and understanding the libraries that node.js comes with. Namely lodash and underscore. But these are easily picked up later on once you have a feel of Javascript. Getting started is easy enough with the tutorial. If you need a non competitive area to learn, the simulation and survival mode are good for that. And considering the 5 day started period where your room cannot be invaded, and the large scale of the map, picking a room to avoid the major players is easy.

    Lastly, since the leader board is based on a monthly tally, new players get a fresh board to compete on each month.
    My only suggestion on that front is possibly add a second board that accounts for number of rooms, displaying an average of the upgrade points instead of raw. This way efficiency per room is also ranked.
    Seeing some other leader boards that use the other game metrics would be cool.


  • @theAemix, not correct. Those libraries are easy to pick up IF YOU ARE ALREADY A PROGRAMMER. Java script doesnt take long to pick up IF YOU ARE ALREADY A PROGRAMMER.

    But Dondergods point is that learning programming from a point of zero knowledge is difficult. And he is right. Learning any language (french, spanish, japanese) from a point of zero knowledge is difficult.


  • If you don't want to code then this may not be the MMO for you. I could be wrong but my understanding is that this is the whole point to Screeps.


  • This would be a pretty tedious game to play manually. Do you really want to manually distribute energy to all your extensions? The whole point of the game is to see who can write the best code.