<!--quoteo(post=1795867:date=Aug 23 2010, 10:10 AM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Aug 23 2010, 10:10 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795867"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yeah, the other Kharaa are basically mammalian in appearance, so what's going on with these guys?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I discussed this on page 9 of this thread.
<!--quoteo(post=1795910:date=Aug 23 2010, 10:54 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Aug 23 2010, 10:54 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795910"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Do you know of any other creature type that can swarm like pro's other then insects?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1795910:date=Aug 23 2010, 04:54 PM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Aug 23 2010, 04:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795910"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Do you know of any other creature type that can swarm like pro's other then insects?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1795910:date=Aug 23 2010, 10:54 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Aug 23 2010, 10:54 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795910"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Do you know of any other creature type that can swarm like pro's other then insects?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1795677:date=Aug 22 2010, 04:22 AM:name=Kurrine)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kurrine @ Aug 22 2010, 04:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795677"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well there's a difference from making an entirely different model and just adding a minor recolor or a few differing speckles or something to the already existing skin once they decide on whatever that look would be, it isn't nearly as infeasible or time consuming as whole new models and skins.
Frankly you could likely knock out a couple variations on any of the already existing skins (if they aren't 'too' different) in the span of 1-3 hours in photoshop after you have the original.
Kinda why custom skins and not models are the most common custom content of any game really.
There's my say on that topic, in the end I can just suggest and bring about ideas or support of other ideas.
I don't think it's too much to ask nobody gets snippy if you don't like it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> This. Also, with the ability to hotload skins/textures in NS2, the process should be much more streamlined and efficient. Save a change, view the change instantly, make more changes etc.
<!--quoteo(post=1795910:date=Aug 23 2010, 11:54 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Aug 23 2010, 11:54 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1795910"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Do you know of any other creature type that can swarm like pro's other then insects?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
After looking at the crag + variations I like theese 2 most:
5: I can imagine it holing up folding its 2 legs inside the crag and when disturbed it popps out and rushes at you. Not sure if I like the idea of it "swarming" tho. Works great if 2-4 of them rushes out.
7: The mole look and small tentacles makes me wanna shoot this alien looking thing as god da*n fast as possible before it can reach me dooing whatever strange alien and tentacle like thing it will as it reaches me. An attack could be extending its mouth-thingy a few centimeters spreading the tentacles somewhat.
Maybe it has ben said, but swarming and cat-sized doesn't cut it for me. I was thinking bee cloud swarm initially thinking of theese as small 1 centimeter type creatures. But as the update says:
"<i>..small cat sized critters from the various openings in the Crag’s shell which swarm around Marines, obscuring their sight somewhat, slowing them down and inflicting a small amount of damage. </i>"
Cat sized and obscuring view? *funny mental pictures* With this stated I think more of 2-6 (random variations) charging out towards the marine. For this obscure view effect: equip babblers with some kind of targeted gas cloud/venom that makes your sight blurry. Only affects 1 marine at a time not to get too messy with all the possible gas effects from gorge/lerk.
<!--QuoteBegin-Lemmings for Crag+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemmings for Crag)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Marine: "OMG they've got crags up!!! Wait, where are they going..."
<i>*marine team follows the Lemmings*</i>
Marine: "Why are they all going over the side of that catwalk into that pit?"
I think having ~3 different Babbler designs in game would look quite cool. Just so it can add to the effect of the game. More variety.
Or having 1 main model then a few models similar (Like the same species) but slightly different. The human race for example. We all have the same attributes (Arms and legs. etc.) but we all look different (Hair colour, eyes etc.)
I think I like models:
3 - Because it looks like it is going to suck the blood out of you.
5 - Because it looks interesting (How it is going to move) but disturbing at the same time.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmmmmm since Skulks will be able to eat corpses for health maybe they can also eat Blabbers ??? Kinda a nice idea =)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why couldn't they then eat any dead organic matter for that sake be it kharaa or non-kharaa. If they wanted to make it more interesting, they could even allow skulks to eat the expanding creep for slow health regen.
These things look awesome. The crags look extremely interesting and the creatures look quite creepy! Perfect :D Really wish I had stopped messing around and got into the Alpha
The crag looks really awesome. I like how the upgrade chambers will have their own names and, judging from this, a more varied look between them.
I really like the design for babblers 1 and 6, but for something that doesn't latch on to you, I'd go with 7, 9, or 11. I don't really like the other designs. Something about 4 just looks really weird to me...
It looks really close to the concept art and is also way awesome. Unique and... well, something else, but unique goes a long way in the videogame world, and especially in the Realistic Shooter Gun Metal Grey Color Scheme genre we used to know as FPS.
Using an ocean theme is pretty good for an alien race, since a lot of stuff we see in the ocean seems very alien, especially the farther down you go. Some of those things look like a platypus slapped with the weird stick. The best part is, people see ocean type stuff and recognize it as something far removed from their own life, while they see some freaky nonterrestial cubist experiment lifeform and go "What the eff?" People can recognize sea stuff as alien, but something truly alien is more jarring (distracting from the alien property).
I'd suggest using deep sea floor animals and plants as inspiration if one wants to go off the deep end for a truly alien theme. That is some weird stuff.
i would like to recommend another babbler figure: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata</a>
While I like the idea of a nest of smaller aliens that heals and attacks, I would like to see an ability or possible upgrade that could be added as someone mentioned before that parasite would work great with this. I think auto-attack parasited players with in a certain range would be a good idea. It would allow the players to 'tag' units and the commander can work on other things that may be required. The building seems cool, and I like that they have the 3 different abilities, maybe adding 2 different building right next to each other could add a 4th ability such as a sensory next to this defense gives the automated attack of parasited marines, a turret with a defense makes the turret harder to kill and makes an extra babbler from the defense tower. You could do some crazy but not over powered stuff with "linking" building abilities.
I would also like to see the swarm effect from these, and 3 sounds like a good number. My vote goes to the vampire(10), the window washer(7), and the bus(2).
I think Kharaa shouldn't have any creature that is buggy. Having some of them in the hive doesn't make sense in term of theme. (every other kharaa looks bony-and-fleshy) Perhaps some other kind of animal (such as amphibian) would work.
And imo, Kharaa looks fleshy to me, not buggy. (even though they actually "have" carapace, i still think that it's more like reptilian's scale or external bone rather than buggy carapce)
Comments
I discussed this on page 9 of this thread.
--Cory
Greek rioters
Some kinds of birds can do that. And fish.
Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds ftw
Rabbits. Snakes. Lots of stuff.
Oh god!
Rabbits.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh god!
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What's 'e gonna do? Nibble your bum?
Frankly you could likely knock out a couple variations on any of the already existing skins (if they aren't 'too' different) in the span of 1-3 hours in photoshop after you have the original.
Kinda why custom skins and not models are the most common custom content of any game really.
There's my say on that topic, in the end I can just suggest and bring about ideas or support of other ideas.
I don't think it's too much to ask nobody gets snippy if you don't like it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This. Also, with the ability to hotload skins/textures in NS2, the process should be much more streamlined and efficient. Save a change, view the change instantly, make more changes etc.
Fish, birds, bats, grazing animals, wolfs, lemmings, mice, frogs?
5: I can imagine it holing up folding its 2 legs inside the crag and when disturbed it popps out and rushes at you. Not sure if I like the idea of it "swarming" tho. Works great if 2-4 of them rushes out.
7: The mole look and small tentacles makes me wanna shoot this alien looking thing as god da*n fast as possible before it can reach me dooing whatever strange alien and tentacle like thing it will as it reaches me. An attack could be extending its mouth-thingy a few centimeters spreading the tentacles somewhat.
Maybe it has ben said, but swarming and cat-sized doesn't cut it for me. I was thinking bee cloud swarm initially thinking of theese as small 1 centimeter type creatures.
But as the update says:
"<i>..small cat sized critters from the various openings in the Crag’s shell which swarm around Marines, obscuring their sight somewhat, slowing them down and inflicting a small amount of damage. </i>"
Cat sized and obscuring view? *funny mental pictures* With this stated I think more of 2-6 (random variations) charging out towards the marine. For this obscure view effect: equip babblers with some kind of targeted gas cloud/venom that makes your sight blurry. Only affects 1 marine at a time not to get too messy with all the possible gas effects from gorge/lerk.
LOL mental image here!
<!--QuoteBegin-Lemmings for Crag+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemmings for Crag)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Marine: "OMG they've got crags up!!! Wait, where are they going..."
<i>*marine team follows the Lemmings*</i>
Marine: "Why are they all going over the side of that catwalk into that pit?"
<i>*Alien commander facepalms*</i><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Or having 1 main model then a few models similar (Like the same species) but slightly different. The human race for example. We all have the same attributes (Arms and legs. etc.) but we all look different (Hair colour, eyes etc.)
I think I like models:
3 - Because it looks like it is going to suck the blood out of you.
5 - Because it looks interesting (How it is going to move) but disturbing at the same time.
8 - Because it looks armoured and powerful.
Why couldn't they then eat any dead organic matter for that sake be it kharaa or non-kharaa. If they wanted to make it more interesting, they could even allow skulks to eat the expanding creep for slow health regen.
I really like the design for babblers 1 and 6, but for something that doesn't latch on to you, I'd go with 7, 9, or 11. I don't really like the other designs. Something about 4 just looks really weird to me...
It looks really close to the concept art and is also way awesome. Unique and... well, something else, but unique goes a long way in the videogame world, and especially in the Realistic Shooter Gun Metal Grey Color Scheme genre we used to know as FPS.
Using an ocean theme is pretty good for an alien race, since a lot of stuff we see in the ocean seems very alien, especially the farther down you go. Some of those things look like a platypus slapped with the weird stick. The best part is, people see ocean type stuff and recognize it as something far removed from their own life, while they see some freaky nonterrestial cubist experiment lifeform and go "What the eff?" People can recognize sea stuff as alien, but something truly alien is more jarring (distracting from the alien property).
I'd suggest using deep sea floor animals and plants as inspiration if one wants to go off the deep end for a truly alien theme. That is some weird stuff.
i would like to recommend another babbler figure: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata</a>
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Scutigera_coleoptrata.JPG/220px-Scutigera_coleoptrata.JPG" border="0" class="linked-image" />
cant wait to play this game with all its features!
Whatever model you do end up choosing, I still say you should have slight variations in the skins.
I would also like to see the swarm effect from these, and 3 sounds like a good number. My vote goes to the vampire(10), the window washer(7), and the bus(2).
I hope Babblers will be cool-looking and distinct!
And imo, Kharaa looks fleshy to me, not buggy. (even though they actually "have" carapace, i still think that it's more like reptilian's scale or external bone rather than buggy carapce)