Power Generators
sanwayzar
Join Date: 2007-12-27 Member: 63271Members
Join Date: 2007-12-27 Member: 63271Members
What do people think about having Power Generators on maps as a new kind of resource/control points to fight over?
One of my favorite quotes from the movie "Aliens":
Ripley: They cut the power.
Hudson: What do you mean "THEY cut the power?" How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!
Power Generators would supply electricity to different rooms on a map, could be damaged by Aliens and repaired by Marines with welding. When a room is receiving electricity from the Generator, the lights are on and Marine buildings work. If the Generator is damaged, then the lights go out, and some (all?) Marine buildings in the room stop functioning.
I did some searching on the forum and found some other threads discussing similar ideas, especially concerning light and darkness:
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=99774" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...showtopic=99774</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=102737" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=102737</a>
I think a game allowing players to control the lighting and gameplay dynamically this way would be amazing! The mood established would really keep players on edge. For the humans it would be creepy and intense when the lights go out all around them. They'll know the aliens will be coming to slaughter them in the darkness. Flares and flashlights will light up as they brace for the impending assault. For alien players, they'll feel very powerful and cackle maniacly as they know their opponents will be s-ing themselves...
As people have suggested in other threads, using light in this way will make the game feel more like the "Aliens" movie series (and to a certain degree, the game AVP2.) That is a very, very good thing. Even better, since we're talking about humans vs. aliens in the dark, NS2 could achieve the awesome creepiness of the sci-fi favorite "Pitch Black." You light up a flare just in time to see the grinning aliens circled around you savoring their meal.
The idea of Power Generators could extend beyond just the lights, by affecting marine buildings. By attacking Generators, the aliens could gain a huge tactical and strategic advantage, disabling some if not all marine equipment in a particular area of the map. The marines will then have to rush to repair the Generators to get everything working again. This could add another dimension to the gameplay, and allow map-builders to create new vital locations for players to fight over. The "area of effect" of the Generators, i.e. how many/range of rooms they power could be controlled by map-builders so they can best balance the number and location of Generators on their maps.
Upgrades could be researched by the Commander to offset this, like buildings with their own back-up power supply, and nightvision and floodlights for marines.
Another way to implement this would be to have one large central Generator that cannot be damaged. However, there would be Power Cables leading from the Generator to every room on the map. Aliens could attack the Power Cables to take out the electricity to a connected room, and humans could weld to repair the Cables. This way, power would fluctuate on a room-by-room basis, instead of taking out the power to whole chunks of the map at once.
Perhaps Dynamic Infestation will work in this way, taking out the power as it gets close to Generators/Lights/Marine Structures. It would still be nice to allow alien players to attack the power supply directly so that it is more of a deliberate action.
All of this ofcourse would affect the balance of the game and leans more heavily to the advantage of the Aliens. However, there are ways to balance this out, like reducing alien hitpoints so they die easier when you can actually hit them, making alien nightvision go blind in brightly lit rooms or when flashlights are shined at them, etc.
A feature of this nature would have a huge effect on how the game is played and experienced, so other elements of the gameplay would have to be adjusted accordingly.
What do you guys think?
Peace!
- sanwayzar
One of my favorite quotes from the movie "Aliens":
Ripley: They cut the power.
Hudson: What do you mean "THEY cut the power?" How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!
Power Generators would supply electricity to different rooms on a map, could be damaged by Aliens and repaired by Marines with welding. When a room is receiving electricity from the Generator, the lights are on and Marine buildings work. If the Generator is damaged, then the lights go out, and some (all?) Marine buildings in the room stop functioning.
I did some searching on the forum and found some other threads discussing similar ideas, especially concerning light and darkness:
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=99774" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...showtopic=99774</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=102737" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=102737</a>
I think a game allowing players to control the lighting and gameplay dynamically this way would be amazing! The mood established would really keep players on edge. For the humans it would be creepy and intense when the lights go out all around them. They'll know the aliens will be coming to slaughter them in the darkness. Flares and flashlights will light up as they brace for the impending assault. For alien players, they'll feel very powerful and cackle maniacly as they know their opponents will be s-ing themselves...
As people have suggested in other threads, using light in this way will make the game feel more like the "Aliens" movie series (and to a certain degree, the game AVP2.) That is a very, very good thing. Even better, since we're talking about humans vs. aliens in the dark, NS2 could achieve the awesome creepiness of the sci-fi favorite "Pitch Black." You light up a flare just in time to see the grinning aliens circled around you savoring their meal.
The idea of Power Generators could extend beyond just the lights, by affecting marine buildings. By attacking Generators, the aliens could gain a huge tactical and strategic advantage, disabling some if not all marine equipment in a particular area of the map. The marines will then have to rush to repair the Generators to get everything working again. This could add another dimension to the gameplay, and allow map-builders to create new vital locations for players to fight over. The "area of effect" of the Generators, i.e. how many/range of rooms they power could be controlled by map-builders so they can best balance the number and location of Generators on their maps.
Upgrades could be researched by the Commander to offset this, like buildings with their own back-up power supply, and nightvision and floodlights for marines.
Another way to implement this would be to have one large central Generator that cannot be damaged. However, there would be Power Cables leading from the Generator to every room on the map. Aliens could attack the Power Cables to take out the electricity to a connected room, and humans could weld to repair the Cables. This way, power would fluctuate on a room-by-room basis, instead of taking out the power to whole chunks of the map at once.
Perhaps Dynamic Infestation will work in this way, taking out the power as it gets close to Generators/Lights/Marine Structures. It would still be nice to allow alien players to attack the power supply directly so that it is more of a deliberate action.
All of this ofcourse would affect the balance of the game and leans more heavily to the advantage of the Aliens. However, there are ways to balance this out, like reducing alien hitpoints so they die easier when you can actually hit them, making alien nightvision go blind in brightly lit rooms or when flashlights are shined at them, etc.
A feature of this nature would have a huge effect on how the game is played and experienced, so other elements of the gameplay would have to be adjusted accordingly.
What do you guys think?
Peace!
- sanwayzar
Comments
The gist of it is a new structure for the commander to place that would allow electrification, and when damaged, it would temporarily shut off electrification, hence creating a counter to elec (since right now you just have to hit it a lot and take a lot of damage, which is sorta lame).
But the ideas and suggestions brought up in the thread could help with this idea.
Personally I'm all for more darkness and contrast in maps, especially with ways of countering it.
Perhaps have the maps start off as a brightness of about 3 (out of 10), but then have ~3 power generators throughout the map. When welded, the generator turns on, raising the lighting in the surrounding section of the map by ~5, and the rest of the map by 1. Have some alien counter, perhaps Spit etc, which takes some time to turn off the generator. You could even have a Central Hub which takes a lot of damage, but reduced overall lighting by 5 (which could lead to a 0 on the scale; there would still be visibility, but not very much).
An implementation as such would add a whole lot to the gameplay, and would especially well if Flares were introduced.
An easy way to introduce flares: on the Armory, have a Flare upgrade for 5 res. Every marine starts with one, and they cant be replaced. Have a second upgrade for 10 res which adds another flare to the starting inventory. Give them a huge radius with a medium-red tint, and dont let more than two stack, and you're golden.
I thknk it owuld be good if it didnt go completley dark in a map though, the lights would go red, but it would be a lot harder to make out objects, and also the some light could still come in through windows, sunlight if in space or even some blue moon light. (i guess there is nothing stopping mappers from doing this already) but it would be nice to have it programmed in so its dymanic.
from what i can remember though DI will already have a similar affect though, it will change the lighting and colour correction of an area, stop doors, lifts and even perhaps marines buildings.
The thing is, I think there isn't so much in the way of cords in the Marine tech, I think there is these things at play here:
AI Programs
Wireless Fidelity & Signal Strength
Nano-bots
I like to call this the nanite-grid. Its what makes the NS2 human's future work, its the difference between life and death, all that stands between a human and cosmic forces & cold hard vacuum. Its the reason humans can travel the stars and create portals on a whim and build complex tools from seemingly thin air.
The point of my diatribe is this, a firm belief that there is already a "power" resource in NS1, its in NS2 I hope to see it have more impact throughout by the absence. The Infestation has evovled to fight nanites, the very thing that keeps human tech running. In the absence of the nanite-grid functioning properly, suddenly portably generators and portable nanite grids take on a whole lot more importance.
I really liked the idea of having the generators to provide electrification and I really like the possibility of Dynamic Infestation kicking the nanite-grid's ass, changing the lighting and shutting down human parts to the map. The Kharaa have begun changing our world! We must fight back or perish!
i'd prefer structures to operate the same way the currently do - with their own inbuilt power supply. imagine building a TF, then running around with the power cord for a powerpoint?
"COMM!!! IT WONT REACH!!! DROP AN EXTENSION CABLE!!!!"
lol screw that.
the rest of the idea is good, i just think it should only effect lights and props that are inbuilt into the map
However, it might not feel like a planned out, deliberate action by the Alien team when the power goes out. Instead it may be more like a sign of how the match is going and where Alien and Marine territories are being redrawn. Power Generators or Cables (or Nanite Grid, or what have you...) would provide specific targets that players can interact with to dynamically change the gameplay. Tactics could be applied for a direct influence, while DI seems more like an indirect influence to me.
UNLESS the Aliens will have some way to rapidly generate or spread the DI at specific locations to quickly and deliberately disable lights and Marine/map structures.
Glad to hear people are still interested in this idea! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
--What do people think about having Power Generators on maps as a new kind of resource/control points to fight over?
the thing about this sentence is, i've never really thought that NS was much about holding or acquiring resources (regrettably) - because there's no real scarcity of resources/nodes. i think ns2 should be a bit more intense around the resource nodes - or perhaps power generators, or other resource points.
maybe you could, rather than increase res gained linearly (eg. one res node 1 res/s, two res nodes 2 res/s, three res nodes 3 res/s and so on), the more you have, the more resources you gain overall (eg. one res node 1 res/s, three res nodes 5 res/s) - so teams would want to try to hold as many points as possible, to gain an advantage, and deny them to the opponent team.
but i don't really know about the power generator idea.... (very CnCish) i dont like it too much.. but let's say they put it in:
--The idea of Power Generators could extend beyond just the lights, by affecting marine buildings. By attacking Generators, the aliens could gain a huge tactical and strategic advantage, disabling some if not all marine equipment in a particular area of the map.
i think this is maybe a bit much... maybe specific buildings, but not all buildings in a room - i've always seen the ns 'buildings' as basically kind of portable machines (not to say they're <b>mobile</b>) - so they'd be self-powered. but the lights sound good - but then again, they've already discussed dynamic infestation with regard to making lights malfunctioning, and then auto-restoring when the DI is cleared away.
--The marines will then have to rush to repair the Generators to get everything working again. This could add another dimension to the gameplay, and allow map-builders to create new vital locations for players to fight over. The "area of effect" of the Generators, i.e. how many/range of rooms they power could be controlled by map-builders so they can best balance the number and location of Generators on their maps.
i think generators should have an auto-repair/restore function, which would make perfect sense, moreso in the future - but marines can speed up the process by manually repairing them (could have some of those weld-line "minigames" that've been talked about)
otherwise, it'd just be too frustrating
--Perhaps have the maps start off as a brightness of about 3 (out of 10), but then have ~3 power generators throughout the map. When welded, the generator turns on, raising the lighting in the surrounding section of the map by ~5, and the rest of the map by 1. Have some alien counter, perhaps Spit etc, which takes some time to turn off the generator. You could even have a Central Hub which takes a lot of damage, but reduced overall lighting by 5 (which could lead to a 0 on the scale; there would still be visibility, but not very much).
maybe rather than this, for lighting, in some key rooms (or all?), i think they should have red back-up lights (i think you know what i mean?) to add a bit of an ominous atmosphere, and not have to be fighting completely in the dark in a normally well-lit room, but the fighting would definitely still be challenging, shooting at every little shadow that moves (and just think if FF were on <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />)
--An implementation as such would add a whole lot to the gameplay, and would especially well if Flares were introduced.
yeah, flares with a reddish light would be cool - but the thing about this idea, is it might make combat in ns2 too complex, little features are all cool, but not necessarily playable.
--I thknk it owuld be good if it didnt go completley dark in a map though, the lights would go red, but it would be a lot harder to make out objects, and also the some light could still come in through windows, sunlight if in space or even some blue moon light. (i guess there is nothing stopping mappers from doing this already) but it would be nice to have it programmed in so its dymanic.
ah, so someone's already suggested this. my bad.
--when the power goes out. Instead it may be more like a sign of how the match is going and where Alien and Marine territories are being redrawn.
i like this thought. i agree. the environment would change dynamically, and not necessarily because of a conscious alien effort to cut power. it just simplifies things.
--Tactics could be applied for a direct influence, while DI seems more like an indirect influence to me.
yeah.. this is what i'm talking about.
hmm, but really, the power generator idea we've discussed here isn't much of a 'resource' but rather, strategic 'geographical' (environmental) locations that two opposing sides fight over, for an advantage on another front
when you said power generators and marine buildings, i thought, basically Command and Conquer: it would be a secondary resource, you'd build, or hold, 'power generators', and they would supply necessary power to your buildings, if you don't have enough power, your buildings stop working - or work at lower capacity. that kind of thing. anyone that's played the various CnC series or SupCom knows what i mean.
and that would probably be needlessly irritating.
The C&C style of generators wasn't what I was suggesting, but that idea could work too. It would create a very different gameplay dynamic, though, than what I was championing.
Agreed.