Suggestions to fix never-ending end game
MadFunk
Join Date: 2002-11-16 Member: 8986Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-11-16 Member: 8986Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">4 ideas focused on both sides in Builds 203 & 204</div><i><b>Edit:</b> I appreciate I may be potentially breaking some forum rules here (one topic per post, etc.) but I feel that these ideas work best together/are specifically relevant to the current build. As such, I am posting these ideas all together to provide that context. If a mod or user has an issue with this, I will split them up into different posts and link them together or something. At the moment, this format made the most sense: I don't want to spam up this forum, and they all focus on early and late game balance, where the particular big issues of the last few builds tend to be cropping up.</i>
<i><b>Edit #2:</b> The sub-title is erroneous: there are only 3 ideas here now as I've moved one that was not as relevant (see above edit) to <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=117806" target="_blank">it's own thread</a>.</i>
I've got the full writeup on <a href="http://squad5.tumblr.com/post/21081325127/waypoint-beta-build-203-204" target="_blank">squad5.ca</a>, but I'll break it down here. Apologies if I'm hitting on old ideas, but after playing many hours in the recent builds, these 4 ideas have bubbled up as being the most likely candidates I can come up with for fixing certain 'broken' aspects of the current balance and gameplay:
I think the general isse right now is that "aliens are over-powered". This often is attributed to the addition of fade and onos to the early-game, when the aliens only have a single hive, and the speed at which the aliens can complete a 2nd hive via the production-speed increasing catalyse ability.
The question is, what can be changed to better balance the game? I have 4 recommendations, some my own, some gleaned from reading the forums or listening to others while playing the game. These changes mostly address the alien advantage, but one focuses on eliminating the overly common "Arc Train".
<b>#1: Alien max health/armour scales with the number of active hives.</b>
This does not have to dramatically alter the game if done conservatively. Each hive could increase the max health of each lifeform by a small amount, so +5/+5 for skulks, perhaps, while something more dramatic, +25/+15 for the Onos. In some cases, Base HP/AR would have to be dialed down slightly for some classes (definitely the Onos), but this change will, I believe, fix a few big issues:
<ul><li>Onos and Fade are less dangerous when early, giving the marines a better chance at a fair game</li><li>Lower-level lifeforms become more viable in the later game/Makes carapace optional, rather than required</li><li>Marines will no longer be able to hold out forever in late-game sieges, as a 4-hive Onos would have more HP/Armour than it does at present. It is not uncommon for aliens to dominate the map only to have the marines hold out with full upgrades forever inside a fortified main base, nearly doubling the length of a match.</li></ul>Subtle changes to the lifeform model art would be amazing too, but I guess let's wait till after release to start talking about cosmetic upgrades.
<b>#2: Bring Back Siege Turrets</b>
This may seem like a strange idea, but hear me out:
NS1, siege turrets provided great mini-game moments where the Marine team had to quickly set up the turret without the aliens stopping them before they have a chance. This needs to come back.
With Arcs, this particular gameplay event, definitely one of the highlights of the first game, is replaced with autonomous death cannons that require very little marine support, especially if there are no Lerks or Onos to stop them.
Siege Turrets would have to be built as they were in NS1, but with the additional commander option to "Stow" them, packing them up into compact form designed to be carried by individual marines. A single marine could then pick up the Turret and place it somewhere else, where the commander could reactivate it. To extend this feature, the same option could be available for regular turrets, which would make for some interesting new tactics. Carrying a stowed siege turret would slow down the carrier significantly, and, being back-mounted, it would not be wearable in combination with a jetpack. Perhaps STs would require an exosuit to move, and regular turrets could be carried by vanilla marines?
This, at least, would preserve the mobility option that Arcs provide while reviving the "team" aspect in their use.
<b>#3: Remove Onos stuns</b>
Instead of knocking people down, I'd like to see the very fact that the Onos is nearby slow marines slightly, scaled inverse to the distance between the marine and the Onos-- the screen quaking more and more as he gets nearer. His "Stomp" ability could be replaced with a "Lunge" ability, a short-distance charge that can knock marines away, but not disable them on the ground outright. It could also disable structures (such as turrets) temporarily, and break up and disorient tight groups of marines.
<i><b>Edit #2:</b> The sub-title is erroneous: there are only 3 ideas here now as I've moved one that was not as relevant (see above edit) to <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=117806" target="_blank">it's own thread</a>.</i>
I've got the full writeup on <a href="http://squad5.tumblr.com/post/21081325127/waypoint-beta-build-203-204" target="_blank">squad5.ca</a>, but I'll break it down here. Apologies if I'm hitting on old ideas, but after playing many hours in the recent builds, these 4 ideas have bubbled up as being the most likely candidates I can come up with for fixing certain 'broken' aspects of the current balance and gameplay:
I think the general isse right now is that "aliens are over-powered". This often is attributed to the addition of fade and onos to the early-game, when the aliens only have a single hive, and the speed at which the aliens can complete a 2nd hive via the production-speed increasing catalyse ability.
The question is, what can be changed to better balance the game? I have 4 recommendations, some my own, some gleaned from reading the forums or listening to others while playing the game. These changes mostly address the alien advantage, but one focuses on eliminating the overly common "Arc Train".
<b>#1: Alien max health/armour scales with the number of active hives.</b>
This does not have to dramatically alter the game if done conservatively. Each hive could increase the max health of each lifeform by a small amount, so +5/+5 for skulks, perhaps, while something more dramatic, +25/+15 for the Onos. In some cases, Base HP/AR would have to be dialed down slightly for some classes (definitely the Onos), but this change will, I believe, fix a few big issues:
<ul><li>Onos and Fade are less dangerous when early, giving the marines a better chance at a fair game</li><li>Lower-level lifeforms become more viable in the later game/Makes carapace optional, rather than required</li><li>Marines will no longer be able to hold out forever in late-game sieges, as a 4-hive Onos would have more HP/Armour than it does at present. It is not uncommon for aliens to dominate the map only to have the marines hold out with full upgrades forever inside a fortified main base, nearly doubling the length of a match.</li></ul>Subtle changes to the lifeform model art would be amazing too, but I guess let's wait till after release to start talking about cosmetic upgrades.
<b>#2: Bring Back Siege Turrets</b>
This may seem like a strange idea, but hear me out:
NS1, siege turrets provided great mini-game moments where the Marine team had to quickly set up the turret without the aliens stopping them before they have a chance. This needs to come back.
With Arcs, this particular gameplay event, definitely one of the highlights of the first game, is replaced with autonomous death cannons that require very little marine support, especially if there are no Lerks or Onos to stop them.
Siege Turrets would have to be built as they were in NS1, but with the additional commander option to "Stow" them, packing them up into compact form designed to be carried by individual marines. A single marine could then pick up the Turret and place it somewhere else, where the commander could reactivate it. To extend this feature, the same option could be available for regular turrets, which would make for some interesting new tactics. Carrying a stowed siege turret would slow down the carrier significantly, and, being back-mounted, it would not be wearable in combination with a jetpack. Perhaps STs would require an exosuit to move, and regular turrets could be carried by vanilla marines?
This, at least, would preserve the mobility option that Arcs provide while reviving the "team" aspect in their use.
<b>#3: Remove Onos stuns</b>
Instead of knocking people down, I'd like to see the very fact that the Onos is nearby slow marines slightly, scaled inverse to the distance between the marine and the Onos-- the screen quaking more and more as he gets nearer. His "Stomp" ability could be replaced with a "Lunge" ability, a short-distance charge that can knock marines away, but not disable them on the ground outright. It could also disable structures (such as turrets) temporarily, and break up and disorient tight groups of marines.