Skulk love
Grave
Join Date: 2007-12-28 Member: 63285Members
Join Date: 2007-12-28 Member: 63285Members
<div class="IPBDescription">basic concerns about skulks in NS1, wondering how they look in NS2</div>to me, ns1 was most fun when playing as a skulk. sure, cloaking as an onos was its own special brand of hilarity, but sneaking through vents and crawling along walls and ceilings was my favorite part. as i played more and more, a few things stood out that i felt made it difficult to play as the standard (/starting) alien race.
first off, all the little pieces of architechture that provided the wonderful ambience actually severly hindered gameplay. almost every hallway on a spaceship had evenly spaced segments sticking out that went around the circumfrence of the walls and ceiling, making it very difficult to navigate as a wall crawler who already has trouble crawling on walls. (you seem to fall off pretty easily. i understand you can hold shift to cling to walls, which is a godsend, but it also makes you walk. perhaps walk can be unbound from shift so that it only makes you cling, but i havent tried that yet:P) the point is, im just hoping that in ns2 they've found some balance between appearance and gameplay, specifically as a wall crawling skulk.
the second thing that bothers me is the hit box for the skulks bite attack. to me it would seem like a bite attack might have an area of affect larger than a tiny dot at the center of your screen. i imagine that if a marines body is in the way of your teeth, say, a little to the side of the center of your screen, but still pressed up against the teeth that are quite visibly on the side of your screen, they would in fact still be bitten by said teeth. even in AvP they had the aliens swipe attack hit many tiny points across the screen so that it provided the feeling of a swipe hit detection without the advances in technology we have today. i have noticed the bite has considerable range, but in a very narrow line that seems to betray the fact that you have quite a wide spread of teeth on your screen. all im saying is, if the teeth on your screen coincide with the area that a marine is occupying, they should be bit.
if anyone has any information on how these cases are appearing in NS2 (i imagine it would mostly be the devs who could answer this one, but who knows!), or how they felt about them in NS1, i would love to hear about it!
EDIT
(didnt the skulk suggestions on previous page = failed to use search engine)
but still, didnt see much regarding <b>skulk attack</b>, lots regarding movement though.
first off, all the little pieces of architechture that provided the wonderful ambience actually severly hindered gameplay. almost every hallway on a spaceship had evenly spaced segments sticking out that went around the circumfrence of the walls and ceiling, making it very difficult to navigate as a wall crawler who already has trouble crawling on walls. (you seem to fall off pretty easily. i understand you can hold shift to cling to walls, which is a godsend, but it also makes you walk. perhaps walk can be unbound from shift so that it only makes you cling, but i havent tried that yet:P) the point is, im just hoping that in ns2 they've found some balance between appearance and gameplay, specifically as a wall crawling skulk.
the second thing that bothers me is the hit box for the skulks bite attack. to me it would seem like a bite attack might have an area of affect larger than a tiny dot at the center of your screen. i imagine that if a marines body is in the way of your teeth, say, a little to the side of the center of your screen, but still pressed up against the teeth that are quite visibly on the side of your screen, they would in fact still be bitten by said teeth. even in AvP they had the aliens swipe attack hit many tiny points across the screen so that it provided the feeling of a swipe hit detection without the advances in technology we have today. i have noticed the bite has considerable range, but in a very narrow line that seems to betray the fact that you have quite a wide spread of teeth on your screen. all im saying is, if the teeth on your screen coincide with the area that a marine is occupying, they should be bit.
if anyone has any information on how these cases are appearing in NS2 (i imagine it would mostly be the devs who could answer this one, but who knows!), or how they felt about them in NS1, i would love to hear about it!
EDIT
(didnt the skulk suggestions on previous page = failed to use search engine)
but still, didnt see much regarding <b>skulk attack</b>, lots regarding movement though.
Comments
Welcome(back) to the forums! I completely agree. The challenge of playing a skulk is one of my favorite parts of NS too.
<!--quoteo(post=1697962:date=Jan 19 2009, 11:46 AM:name=Grave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Grave @ Jan 19 2009, 11:46 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1697962"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->first off, all the little pieces of architechture that provided the wonderful ambience actually severly hindered gameplay. almost every hallway on a spaceship had evenly spaced segments sticking out that went around the circumfrence of the walls and ceiling, making it very difficult to navigate as a wall crawler who already has trouble crawling on walls. (you seem to fall off pretty easily. i understand you can hold shift to cling to walls, which is a godsend, but it also makes you walk. perhaps walk can be unbound from shift so that it only makes you cling, but i havent tried that yet:P) the point is, im just hoping that in ns2 they've found some balance between appearance and gameplay, specifically as a wall crawling skulk.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Again I agree, but this time with a caveat. The architectural detail can be hindering, but the mature stock maps for NS managed to provide smooth wall running without skimping on the details. It takes extra time, but I think the maps are one of the things that made NS1 as amazing as it is so they're worth that effort.
<!--quoteo(post=1697962:date=Jan 19 2009, 11:46 AM:name=Grave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Grave @ Jan 19 2009, 11:46 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1697962"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->the second thing that bothers me is the hit box for the skulks bite attack. to me it would seem like a bite attack might have an area of affect larger than a tiny dot at the center of your screen. i imagine that if a marines body is in the way of your teeth, say, a little to the side of the center of your screen, but still pressed up against the teeth that are quite visibly on the side of your screen, they would in fact still be bitten by said teeth. even in AvP they had the aliens swipe attack hit many tiny points across the screen so that it provided the feeling of a swipe hit detection without the advances in technology we have today. i have noticed the bite has considerable range, but in a very narrow line that seems to betray the fact that you have quite a wide spread of teeth on your screen. all im saying is, if the teeth on your screen coincide with the area that a marine is occupying, they should be bit.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I understand what you're saying, but what you're experiencing is more network code than hitbox. In NS those marines you're trying to bite are moving constantly. What you're seeing on the screen is slightly behind where they actually are, and how far behind depends on lag. The skulk bite isn't pinpoint, but it may seem a bit small with the slightly off hitboxes.
the reason it looks so big is because the skulk's POV comes from inside the mouth.
I think the bit hit is fine
and thanks for the welcome back and intelliget replies unscene! i guess im just saying i want it to be a challenge, but i feel like ive gotten good enough for the reward to start shining through. so now im not focusing as much on developing my personal skill as much as i am on trying to navigate the network code and programming. maybe to some theyre synonomous, but...
anywho, thanks again!