Dinky Bomb

Dinky Bomb, or DB was a free multiplayer online game. Two players command 3 'Dinky' soldiers each, and take turns firing an assortment of weapons at each other in an attempt to wipe out the other player. Players have a score that is updated with every game lost or won. Players also receive a colored star to denote their relative rank, the highest of which is the much-sought-after black star.

The game known as Dinky Bomb has gone through several revisions over many years and has changed ownership several times. The more modern Deluxe version is owned by Atari, and has since been taken off the web.

History of the Game and the Website

Dinky Bomb was originally developed by David Pharo and Liam O'Donnell of spikything.com for the UK based company Gamer.tv in April of 2002. It was a highly successful, creating a loyal community of regular players (estimated at over 1 million) worldwide.

In 2004, for strategic reasons Gamer.tv decided to downsize its games branch. It moved Dinky Bomb, along with two other popular games (Oddballs Bowling and Voodoo Magic) to a new website: [http://www.weplayhere.com weplayhere.com] . When the games moved, the forums associated with the games were closed down. The community of players that had sprung up around the games, unwilling to lose contact with each other, made a few different sites of their own, the most successful of which was [http://www.gamerparty.com gamerparty.com] .

When Gamer.tv decided to totally discontinue support for the games, gamerparty.com bought the games and the weplayhere.com web domain, and began to host and service the games themselves. This team comprised of the owner, Gregg Baker, an online user called "Gaffer" (Steve) who helped move the games and who set up the new server back end, "Neo" (Damien) who designed and implemented new characters and lobby animations, and "Grampz" (Terry) who helped administer the forums.

As of early 2007, WePlayHere was sold to Atari. In June of 2007, Atari [http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=592855 dismissed] every WePlayHere moderator, precipitating a mass exodus by the long-time fans of the games. On September 26, 2007 Atari closed the WePlayHere gamesite and on September 28, 2007 closed the forums as well. It is generally believed that the site was closed because the site traffic did not justify the operating costs.

The fans who left the Atari-owned forums returned to the long unused gamerparty.com, where they maintained a community despite no longer having the games. "Grampz" took over management of the site on January 1, 2008. "King" (Stephen) joined the team and recreated the backend, thus allowing GamerParty to re-launch Dinky Bomb Original on April 27, 2008. Further development on the original game is planned.

How to Play

First, a player challenges another player to a game in the lobby by clicking on that player's name and pressing challenge. Then each player has the option of which dinky to choose--they all have the same properties, so which one a player chooses does not necessarily matter. Then, whichever player challenged has the option of which level to choose. Currently there are 12 different levels. Then, after the game has fully loaded, the challengee has the opportunity to attack first.In order to attack an opponent(or one's own dinkies), a player has the option to aim his/her shot and/or move his/her dinky. This is accomplished by the use of the arrow keys: the up and down arrows change the aim, and the left and right arrows move the dinky. Then a player presses the Ctrl key on the keyboard; the longer it is held down, the more powerful the shot is.

Notes:By pressing the buttons ctrl and t at the character select screen, a "secret" character is selected-- The terminator.

By typing in /windowsill during a game of Dinky Bomb, different weapons are used, although they have the same properties as the normal weapons. The rocket is replaced with a baby, the bomb with a cow, the raygun with a tomato, and the molotov with a cat.

Weapons

There are 6 different weapons available. All of them, with the exception of the Molotov Cocktail and Railgun, can do between 1 and 96 damage.

* Missile — The default weapon. Shoots in an arc. (unlimited ammunition)(1-92 damage)
* Ray Gun — Shoots straight and explodes at a certain distance, depending on the amount of power put into the shot. (unlimited ammunition)(1-99 damage)
* Heavy Bomb — Also shoots in an arc, but since the bombs are 'heavy' they will not go as far. (2 per Dinky per game)(1-96 damage)
* Minigun — Shoot straight. Only accurate within short distances. (unlimited ammunition)(5-30 damage)
* Molotov Cocktail - Shoots at an arc, but since the bottles are lighter, they will go farther than the bomb. Bottles can bounce off of the terrain. (3 per Dinky per game)(5-200? damage)
* Railgun - Shoots straight and penetrates all terrain. Does exactly 50 damage to any Dinky hit by the beam, including one's own Dinkies. (Ammunition for this gun is gained by doing an attack that does 96 damage or more in a single hit.)

Molotov Shots

The Molotov Cocktail weapon is different from all the rest in that it can do over 100 damage. This means that it is possible to kill an opponent's Dinky in a single hit if done correctly. Over the course of a few years, the veteran players developed and memorized a host of different "molotov shots" that could be used in each level. The hardest level is arguably "Full Tilt", which took place in a pinball arena. Players who mastered the molotov shots here were practically unbeatable

Levels

There are twelve different levels in the Dinky Bomb game:Full Tilt, Windy Antarctica, The Jungle, Snowdown, The Lab, Low Gravity, Cyber City, Toxic Factory, Rocky Mountain, Dinky World, Corny Island, and The Kid C Cafe.

* Full Tilt is a level placed in a pinball machine. This Level is largely played for fun, as it has many possible molotov shots.

* Windy Antarctica is a unique level in that it has wind. It is the hardest level to master, as the wind is unpredictable--any player can win at any time with only a little luck on their side.

* The Jungle is largely classified as the "Noob Level," as it is the easiest level.

* Snowdown is a level that was introduced as a temporary Winter Holidays level, though it is now in full use. It consists of a snowman(with a head that will explode if damaged enough), presents, and a Christmas tree on each side.

* The Lab is a level placed in a lab: there are two test tubes on the side, and a microscope in the middle.

* Low Gravity is a unique level in that it has very little gravity, so shots can go much further at this level.

* Cyber City is a level placed in a city; the dinkies are located on the tops of buildings, and there is a blimp hovering in the middle. The Blimp will explode if damaged enough.

* Toxic Factory is a level placed in a toxic factory; it has a crate in the middle, and explodable toxic barrels next to a few of the dinkies.

* Rocky Mountain is a level with a Mountain in the middle. If the top of the mountain is damaged enough, it falls down and reveals thats its center is full of gold.

* Dinky World is the homeland of the dinkies. It has a rocket in the center, and one bouncy rock on each side.

* Corny Island is a level in which there is an island in the middle.

* The Kid C Cafe, commonly known as "Burger", gets its nickname from the bouncy hamburger in the middle of the level. It has a soda on the left side of the level, and a box of fries on the right side.

coring System

Scoring

*As each player plays Dinky Bomb, he/she wins and/or loses games. If a player loses a game, he/she loses points, and if the player wins a game, he/she wins points.

* The fewer games there are on a screenname, the more points that screenname can win in one game.For Example: if a player with a score of 0 with 0 games played challenges a player with a score of 0 with 800 games played, the person with 800 games will lose 8 points if he/she loses, and the person with 0 games will win 43 points if he/she wins.

* Also, a player closer to the same score as you will lose more points if you beat him/her than a player that is far away in points.For Example: if a player with a score of 0 with 100 games challenges a player with a score of 1500 with 100 games, and the challenger wins, then the player with 1500 points will lose one point, and the player with 0 points will gain one point.

Ranking

* As a player gains or loses more points, his/her star color will change.

* If a player has a score of -1500 or below, or if the player has not yet played a scored game on that screenname, then he/she will have a gray star, the "Unrated" star.

* If a player has a score between -1499 and 299, then he/she will have a green star, the "Harmless" star.

* If a player has a score between 300 and 599, then the player will have the "Improving" star. (The color of this star is largely disputed. although most players call it yellow, gold, or orange, The actual color of this star is Dark Goldenrod.)

* If a player has a score between 600 and 1199, then he/she will have a blue star, the "Dangerous" star.

* If a player has a score between 1200 and 1499, then that player will have a red star, called the "Deadly" star.

* Last but not least comes The Black Star. It is craved by many "noobs," and even a large sum of the experienced players. A player that attains the rank of the "Untouchable" star must have a score of 1500 or above.

The Dinky Bomb and WePlayHere Community

One aspect of the game that most players find very attractive is the active community of Dinky Bombers and other gamers that socialize at the [http://www.gamerparty.com/forum GamerParty Forums] . Some players have been known to play every night for several years at a time. The game lobby and forums are actively moderated by a dedicated team of volunteers, and these "mods" can often be found in the lobby socializing with the players or trying to improve their own ranks.