Some thoughts about the egg cluster

locallyunscene · October 2008

<div class="IPBDescription">from the twitter feed</div><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Added alien egg cluster: a gooey substrate that creates eggs every 8 secs on it (max 3). Players can choose to hatch out of any of them.</div>{<a href="http://twitter.com/NS2/statuses/959792644" target="_blank">twitter source</a>}

So after thinking about this for a bit I have a lot of questions and while I don't expect them to be answered I think it would make for some good discussion. This sounds like an infantry portal for kharaa so I wonder:<ul><li> Is it limited to hive areas?(like marines)</li><li> Is is limited to DI?</li><li> Is it dropped by the commander(like marines, most likely) or generated procedurally or dropped by a gorge(unlikely)?</li><li> Is there a limited number per hive?</li><li> Is respawn always available if there is an egg or is there a separate respawn timer?<ul><li> Will/should both/either timer be server modifiable without altering LUA code(and thus making the server a "custom" server)?</li><li> If not will it scale with number of players?</li><li> Are the eggs destroyable and will they take the same firepower as now?<span style="color:red">*</span></li><li> If egg dependent timer only, how would you mitigate spawn camp scenarios?<span style="color:red">*</span></li></ul></li><li> Placable in Kharaa canals?</li><li> Placable on ceilings/walls?</li><li> How large of an area is it and how far apart will the eggs be?<span style="color:red">*</span></li><li> Can we get a screen shot? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/nerd-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::nerdy::" border="0" alt="nerd-fix.gif" /></li></ul><span style="color:red">*</span>While I think spawn camping is a viable tactic, It would be unbearably boring if you spawn from the same small egg cluster all the time.

Edit: Thx KFDM

KungFuDiscoMonkey · October 2008

*Phased* to NS 2 Gen Disc

aNytiMe · October 2008

This sound pretty cool, although I hope it isn't a replacement for the glowies.

Also, did Charlie get a haircut yet?

ryknow69 · October 2008

I agree, the glowies should fly down to these 'clusters' and form the eggs, atleast then the glowys are used.

BCSeph · October 2008

And marines can shoot the glowies to prevent eggs from forming, and thus easier spawn camping!!!

ChromeAngel · October 2008

The question that springs to mind is : How is it placed? by the mapper, but the hive commander, automatically?

Does the Hive lay the eggs (animation wise), it always looked to be inspired by the Aliens queen.

SUG : Make an official thread for each tweet, to reduce duplicate threads (you could probably automate the process)

ryknow69 · October 2008

probably(automate thing for tweet)

I think bleh to alien commander, auto sounds okish, mapper okish

The hive nolonger lays eggs, as seen, it's egg laying tube has evolved into a shriveled old...., well, you guys should know what happens to a lady after multiple births.

BCS- the glowies are immune >.>

Hawkeye · October 2008

I'd like the idea that the eggs could be destroyed. Although technically at any given point, there's likely only one or two players in those eggs who are 'hatching', by destroying all the eggs, the player would have no egg by which to hatch. It should be an advantage to the marines to limit the spawning from that hive by doing so.

Though to offset, the glowies should spawn at a slower rate than the time it normally takes to typically spawn a player from a hive normally. It'd be a disadvantage if the glowies weren't being spawned when all players are hatched, but that wouldn't be the case. The glowies would continue to place eggs until all available spots are full. In the weird case in which the entire team gets wiped out, the players would hatch from the existing eggs one by one at the normal rate until all the eggs are used up.

Cxwf · October 2008

The eggs need to be invulnerable until a player is actually ready to spawn from one. That, by the way, allows three dead Kharaa players to spawn simultaneously -- and that gives them a reasonable chance to overcome a spawncamp even if the first one to hatch is immediately gunned down.

If the marines have enough firepower in the area to handle three simultaneous skulk spawns in different places, more power to them -- they deserve to win this one.

Hawkeye · October 2008

I think they're considering like 20 or 30 eggs surrounding the hive. Unless they've got 3 marines with grenade launchers or simply 5 marines which empty their entire 250 bullet max taking out eggs without anyone there to stop them, they couldn't possibly take them all out at the rate in which they spawn.

I don't think they should be invulnerable. The idea is that they the advantage comes in number. You wouldn't know 'which' to spawn camp. You could try, but you really would have to take them all out to stand a good chance of killing the egg that will spawn the next alien. However, if you dwindle them down to 5 eggs, at any given moment, there are probably 2 or 3 Kharaa spawning, so you'd know you could kill them by killing the eggs. It's just to get down to 5 eggs, you'd have to first kill 15 eggs, which takes almost as much energy as killing the hive itself. Perhaps if you were a lone marine however, rather than attempt to kill the hive, to make the most of being in the hive room, you'd kill the eggs, so that if other marines eventually get to the hive room within the next few minutes, they could spawn camp with better efficiency.

Blitz1o1 · October 2008

What about the eggs spitting out gas that both heals the egg, and harms the marine?

That way eggs are not invincible but a little harder to kill. Marines would think twice about attacking an egg spitting out gas.

ryknow69 · October 2008

U suggested that in Suggestion Forum >_>
no

I think having the glowys slowly respawn(come out of shriveled up tube on hive is where i think they should come) and slowly decend and make an egg for a player to spawn is what we all mostly agree on.

I agree with they should never stop spawning, but always spawn in pairs of three every 1-2 minutes. The eggs should be vulnerable, but when the first 3 kharra go into the egg, you should almost instantly come out, the same speed it is tp morph into a skulk in NS, which is fast. So the hive room can have god knows howmany eggs, and every time someone dies, they wait an appointed amount of seconds before they start to gestate in the egg. Only 3 eggs can be gestating, that y glowys come in pair of 3's. After the 3 players spawn, the next 3 wait the appointed seconds, then start to gestate. The game would start with full egg count, and all players already 'born'. Glowys will start to come the 1-2 minutes after the game starts, like normal.

darktimes · October 2008

how about involing the glowies more?

my plan is that there is a fixed amount AI glowies flouting around the hive room, ca 15-20.. invinceble.
and the players spawn as glowie, dont have any attack, are just very fast and can fly around the map. invinceble in the hive area. and whit high regeneration on DI. however, they can evolve to a skulk on infestation.

so the marines see 25 glowies flouting around. and each one of them could settle down end evolve to a skulk. what they dont see is that 4 glowies fly past them, land in a vent whit infestation, and evolve to skulks who fall them in the back.

1. new starting alien. glowie. fast smooth flying scout whitout weapons or abilitys. invinceble in hiverooms and ability to evolve on DI to skulk. good for new players, to learn the map and recive a overview. 15 hp.

2. this would prevent spawncamping, which is not fun for anyone.
3. flamethrowers would be essencial for the marines, to prevent ambushes.

tell my whats bad about it.

ryknow69 · October 2008

Some things, being able to fly around the map.

I had an idea of a special 'Hive Creep' in the Suggestion Forum for a topic about chambers evolving, glowys should only be able to live while above the creep, and would slowly die when off it, 1 HP per second, out of 15 hp, so they can't travel far from the hive before forced to spawn, they are imortal to human weapons and only able to die if not over hive creep for 15 seconds.

Radix · October 2008

So you're saying that aliens would essentially get instant respawn, but gestating into a skulk would cost time?

darktimes · October 2008

@ryknow

the idea is good. i can live whit it.

@radix

no, the respawn is the same, but evolving to skulk is almost instantly (like 1 seconds or so..)

ryknow69 · October 2008

If you ever played NS in NS, which i know you have, have u ever switched back to a skulk, it takes 3-4 seconds.
so lets say it takes a marine 8 seconds to spawn as soon as he's labeled "Reinforcing", it takes a skulke 8 seconds to say "Reinforcing" but an extra 3-4 seconds, those 3-4 seconds you CAN be killed, cause you're in the egg, gestating, so rines get some ability to spawn camp, since aliens can easily camp by sitting near IP, they just have to guess the right 3 out of 20 eggs and wether an alien has already used it's 8 seconds.

Glowys are still used as 'Refillers' of the egg count, ever 1-2 minutes 3 come out and slowly decend, they're immune, and when they land it takes 3-5 seconds then they become eggs, 3 new spawn points just opened.

If u need better explenation, I think Dark understands, ask him.

Some thoughts about the egg cluster

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