Kharaa Commander Idea
Hawkeye
Join Date: 2002-10-31 Member: 1855Members
Join Date: 2002-10-31 Member: 1855Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Ideas to increase asymmetry between human and alien commanders</div>First, I'll say that the Kharaa commander <i>could</i> be an excellent idea if done in the right way. As it stands now, having a Kharaa commander which replaces the gorge and builds structures like a human commander seems to take away from the feel of the original game.
To maintain the feel of the original natural selection game, I think the 'Kharaa commander' concept needs to get thrown out the window entirely. It shouldn't be called anything close to a 'commander' (lets call it Kharaa Overlord.. forgive the starcraft reference for a moment). For that matter, I don't even think it should be a mandatory for the Kharaa to have one. Lets say that for games in which there are teams of 3 or less, a Kharaa commander would probably not even provide an advantage. Think of it as more of a leadership position rather than a building position.
What I propose is this:
Kharaa Overlord initially takes on the top-down view of a marine commander, but without the build interface.
From this view, at any point the Kharaa Overlord can choose players and possess them.
At this point the player receives a request to be inhabited by the Kharaa Overload and the player can accept or refuse.
If accepted, the player gets an empower bonus, in addition to providing all Kharaa players in the area an additional bonus depending on the chambers made available. The Kharaa Overlord gets the perspective of the inhabited player and takes control. The inhabited player takes a back seat and watches the show (also would make a good solution to players that need to be afk for example).
The empower bonus would be to have his current health doubled (max health doubled as well). If there are defense chambers, all Kharaa within a large radius would gain a regeneration bonus (structures included). If there are movement chambers, all Kharaa within a large radius would gain a movement bonus, and if there are sensory chambers, all Kharaa nearby become cloaked as if the empowered Kharaa player acted like a sensory chamber itself.
In this way, the Kharaa Overlord can sort of direct leadership by example, perhaps leading an attack on the human base or wherever else.
At any moment, the Kharaa Overlord can remove himself and find another player. The possessed Kharaa player too at any time can retake control.
In addition, creep grows directly from the empowered Kharaa player, so it would also be evident to the human team who is empowered.
The Kharaa Overlord cannot leave the empowered Kharaa player up to 5 seconds after it has been wounded (nor can the empowered Kharaa player retake control), and if the humans kill the empowered Kharaa player, the Kharaa Overlord resumes its top-down view with a counter (and perhaps a red-tinted screen) to signify a sort of temporary withdrawal, and the Kharaa Overlord cannot possess any further players for 30 seconds or so. Furthermore, all bonuses would of course drop. It would provide incentive to the human players to take out the 'ring leader' so to speak. If you wanted to further add incentive, you'd add some sort of temporary negative effect on players who were under the boon of the Kharaa Overlord and lost it for the 30 seconds.
It might seem like a huge advantage, but don't forget that the Kharaa will be out one player. While there could be potentially three hives, the Kharaa Overlord could inhabit only one of them, and if the marines take out the hive which contains the Kharaa Overlord, the other hives will go into withdrawal and no Kharaa can enter the Kharaa Overlord position for 30 seconds or so (and to be fair, a Kharaa player cannot exit the Kharaa Overlord position if hive has been hurt up to 5 seconds before and cannot re-enter once left for a small amount of time to prevent laming in this respect).
Also makes it an interesting task for the humans to pinpoint the 'master' hive and destroy it if there is more than one.
To maintain the feel of the original natural selection game, I think the 'Kharaa commander' concept needs to get thrown out the window entirely. It shouldn't be called anything close to a 'commander' (lets call it Kharaa Overlord.. forgive the starcraft reference for a moment). For that matter, I don't even think it should be a mandatory for the Kharaa to have one. Lets say that for games in which there are teams of 3 or less, a Kharaa commander would probably not even provide an advantage. Think of it as more of a leadership position rather than a building position.
What I propose is this:
Kharaa Overlord initially takes on the top-down view of a marine commander, but without the build interface.
From this view, at any point the Kharaa Overlord can choose players and possess them.
At this point the player receives a request to be inhabited by the Kharaa Overload and the player can accept or refuse.
If accepted, the player gets an empower bonus, in addition to providing all Kharaa players in the area an additional bonus depending on the chambers made available. The Kharaa Overlord gets the perspective of the inhabited player and takes control. The inhabited player takes a back seat and watches the show (also would make a good solution to players that need to be afk for example).
The empower bonus would be to have his current health doubled (max health doubled as well). If there are defense chambers, all Kharaa within a large radius would gain a regeneration bonus (structures included). If there are movement chambers, all Kharaa within a large radius would gain a movement bonus, and if there are sensory chambers, all Kharaa nearby become cloaked as if the empowered Kharaa player acted like a sensory chamber itself.
In this way, the Kharaa Overlord can sort of direct leadership by example, perhaps leading an attack on the human base or wherever else.
At any moment, the Kharaa Overlord can remove himself and find another player. The possessed Kharaa player too at any time can retake control.
In addition, creep grows directly from the empowered Kharaa player, so it would also be evident to the human team who is empowered.
The Kharaa Overlord cannot leave the empowered Kharaa player up to 5 seconds after it has been wounded (nor can the empowered Kharaa player retake control), and if the humans kill the empowered Kharaa player, the Kharaa Overlord resumes its top-down view with a counter (and perhaps a red-tinted screen) to signify a sort of temporary withdrawal, and the Kharaa Overlord cannot possess any further players for 30 seconds or so. Furthermore, all bonuses would of course drop. It would provide incentive to the human players to take out the 'ring leader' so to speak. If you wanted to further add incentive, you'd add some sort of temporary negative effect on players who were under the boon of the Kharaa Overlord and lost it for the 30 seconds.
It might seem like a huge advantage, but don't forget that the Kharaa will be out one player. While there could be potentially three hives, the Kharaa Overlord could inhabit only one of them, and if the marines take out the hive which contains the Kharaa Overlord, the other hives will go into withdrawal and no Kharaa can enter the Kharaa Overlord position for 30 seconds or so (and to be fair, a Kharaa player cannot exit the Kharaa Overlord position if hive has been hurt up to 5 seconds before and cannot re-enter once left for a small amount of time to prevent laming in this respect).
Also makes it an interesting task for the humans to pinpoint the 'master' hive and destroy it if there is more than one.
Comments
To maintain the feel of the original natural selection game, I think the 'Kharaa commander' concept needs to get thrown out the window entirely. It shouldn't be called anything close to a 'commander' (lets call it Kharaa Overlord.. forgive the starcraft reference for a moment). For that matter, I don't even think it should be a mandatory for the Kharaa to have one. Lets say that for games in which there are teams of 3 or less, a Kharaa commander would probably not even provide an advantage. Think of it as more of a leadership position rather than a building position.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think it's a good idea to brainstorm ways to make the Kharaa commander asymmetrical. Overlord isn't a bad name, it's a common enough name(and not a made up name like Zerg) that there shouldn't be any problem with using it, The original NS kharaa presence is the "HiveSight", so I would suggest "HiveMind" or "HiveBrain".
<!--quoteo(post=1690510:date=Oct 16 2008, 07:08 AM:name=Hawkeye)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hawkeye @ Oct 16 2008, 07:08 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1690510"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What I propose is this:<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not so keen on the idea of players inhabiting other players. It interrupts at least one player. Maybe the comm could first person glowies to scout though and send them out to places to create DI/RTs.
I never liked the concept of an alien comm, but hawk did make an intresting idea, but too 'bad', i wouldnt use it.