Alien Tech Chambers
Kelrath
Join Date: 2013-06-03 Member: 185459Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Join Date: 2013-06-03 Member: 185459Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Hey all. So I've been playing and following NS2 for a good while now, and I've finally decided to get involved in the discussion a bit more, and what better way to start than with the balance mod!
Having played a good dozen games of BT at this point, I can say that overall I really like it. It's more interesting, more dynamic, and overall more fun. (Yes I am aware this is the suggestions board. There is a suggestion coming, but first some discussion as background.) Largely I think this has to do with the greater degree of options each side has. Shade hive is now viable and desirable. Crags/Shifts/Shades can now all be dropped at any time, and can re-position themselves. Sentries are more accessible. Power surge and building on infestation allows for true ninja tactics… I could go on. But possibly the best change in my opinion is allowing marines to get to max tech on one CC. This allows for truly awesome comebacks, and helps reduce the "game is decided in the first five minutes" syndrome that I feel vanilla suffers from. But why is that? It comes down to the effect of map control.
Let us consider what wins games from a strategic perspective: Tactical Flexibility, Resources, and Tech. I’ll leave why each of these is important as self-evident for the sake of some amount of brevity. But let’s look at how each of these is obtained in the vanilla game.
-Tactical Flexibility. The ability to be where you want, when you want. This pretty much boils down to map control. No two ways about it. Enough said.
-Resources. The ability to buy the stuff you need. In NS2, resources are gathered from a finite number of nodes around the map. The more you control, the more you get. So in essence, this also boils down to map control, though time can also get you this.
-Tech. Fancy stuff that makes you stronger. First off requires resources, which means it indirectly requires map control and time. But for the really good stuff it also directly requires map control in the form of a 2nd CC or multiple hives.
So, what does this mean? It basically means that in vanilla NS2 map control is EVERYTHING. If you don’t have map control, your chances of winning are nearly nill. I agree that map control should be important, but it should not be everything. That just makes for a stale and one-dimensional experience. Now let's look at the same factors in BT.
-Tactical Flexibility. Same. And that's fine. Ninja phases and tunnels w/ infestation do mix things up a bit though.
-Resources. Pretty much the same, though the introduction of a base 0.5 res/tick is a good thing. Helps a skilled team with low RTs get enough if they can just hold out long enough.
-Tech. Aliens, same. Marines, still indirectly related to map control via resources, but no longer directly related through the requirement of 2 CCs.
For the marines this is great. Map control is important, but it is not everything. A skilled marine team can pull back from a losing scenario on one chair. If they can hold out long enough with 2 or 3 RTs, they can get jetpacks, an exo or two, and take back the game. It’s not easy, nor should it be, but it is possible. Also, they can decide at the start of the game to rush proto and get some glass cannon JPs/Exos. Still a risky strategy, but more viable on one CC than two. And in my opinion these are great things. The same cannot be said for the aliens however, and this is where my suggestion comes in.
Remove the hive requirement for alien tech. Yes, you read that right. No more Crag/Shift/Shade hives and no more 2 hives for Leap/SS/BB etc. Allow all of that on one hive. Instead, have what I’m calling Tech Chambers (feel free to come up with a better name if you like). These would be upgraded versions of crags, shifts, and shades. For, I’m guessing about 40 to 50 res, you would take one of these structures and turn them into a Tech Chamber. They would lose their passive ability, active ability, movement capability, and would be visually distinct somehow (perhaps larger with a darker color, or something). But in return, they would get extra health (like, 3x or thereabouts) and would grant everything that the upgraded hive would have: the ability to build the respective upgrade structure, the respective cloud ability on drifters, and the “hive” count towards player abilities and egg drops. These structures would basically be everything that a C/S/S hive is now, but without the need for a tech point placement. And, from a dev standpoint, they would not require a new structure model to be created; just slightly modify the existing ones.
Such a change I believe would allow aliens on the back foot to pull back just like marines can now it BT. It would be possible, though again not easy, for them to reach full strength on limited map control. We could also see the high risk/reward strat of rushing two tech chambers for a paper fade drop, again more viable on one hive than two, or other different strategies. It’s all about giving players interesting options. And we would stop seeing the aggravating situation where a Kamm is floating 100 res but can’t do squat because there is no safe tech point expansion. (Come to think of it, we might want to stop calling them tech points altogether. Huh.) And finally, before someone yells “asymmetrical gameplay!”, I would just like to note that there would still be lots of stuff that is asymmetrical, but like the res mechanics and the existence of an alien comm, this is one aspect of the game that I think should be symmetrical for the sake of fundamental balance.
Anyway, apologies for the redonkulously long post, but I wanted to be sure to explain my reasoning behind this suggestion. Thoughts?
Having played a good dozen games of BT at this point, I can say that overall I really like it. It's more interesting, more dynamic, and overall more fun. (Yes I am aware this is the suggestions board. There is a suggestion coming, but first some discussion as background.) Largely I think this has to do with the greater degree of options each side has. Shade hive is now viable and desirable. Crags/Shifts/Shades can now all be dropped at any time, and can re-position themselves. Sentries are more accessible. Power surge and building on infestation allows for true ninja tactics… I could go on. But possibly the best change in my opinion is allowing marines to get to max tech on one CC. This allows for truly awesome comebacks, and helps reduce the "game is decided in the first five minutes" syndrome that I feel vanilla suffers from. But why is that? It comes down to the effect of map control.
Let us consider what wins games from a strategic perspective: Tactical Flexibility, Resources, and Tech. I’ll leave why each of these is important as self-evident for the sake of some amount of brevity. But let’s look at how each of these is obtained in the vanilla game.
-Tactical Flexibility. The ability to be where you want, when you want. This pretty much boils down to map control. No two ways about it. Enough said.
-Resources. The ability to buy the stuff you need. In NS2, resources are gathered from a finite number of nodes around the map. The more you control, the more you get. So in essence, this also boils down to map control, though time can also get you this.
-Tech. Fancy stuff that makes you stronger. First off requires resources, which means it indirectly requires map control and time. But for the really good stuff it also directly requires map control in the form of a 2nd CC or multiple hives.
So, what does this mean? It basically means that in vanilla NS2 map control is EVERYTHING. If you don’t have map control, your chances of winning are nearly nill. I agree that map control should be important, but it should not be everything. That just makes for a stale and one-dimensional experience. Now let's look at the same factors in BT.
-Tactical Flexibility. Same. And that's fine. Ninja phases and tunnels w/ infestation do mix things up a bit though.
-Resources. Pretty much the same, though the introduction of a base 0.5 res/tick is a good thing. Helps a skilled team with low RTs get enough if they can just hold out long enough.
-Tech. Aliens, same. Marines, still indirectly related to map control via resources, but no longer directly related through the requirement of 2 CCs.
For the marines this is great. Map control is important, but it is not everything. A skilled marine team can pull back from a losing scenario on one chair. If they can hold out long enough with 2 or 3 RTs, they can get jetpacks, an exo or two, and take back the game. It’s not easy, nor should it be, but it is possible. Also, they can decide at the start of the game to rush proto and get some glass cannon JPs/Exos. Still a risky strategy, but more viable on one CC than two. And in my opinion these are great things. The same cannot be said for the aliens however, and this is where my suggestion comes in.
Remove the hive requirement for alien tech. Yes, you read that right. No more Crag/Shift/Shade hives and no more 2 hives for Leap/SS/BB etc. Allow all of that on one hive. Instead, have what I’m calling Tech Chambers (feel free to come up with a better name if you like). These would be upgraded versions of crags, shifts, and shades. For, I’m guessing about 40 to 50 res, you would take one of these structures and turn them into a Tech Chamber. They would lose their passive ability, active ability, movement capability, and would be visually distinct somehow (perhaps larger with a darker color, or something). But in return, they would get extra health (like, 3x or thereabouts) and would grant everything that the upgraded hive would have: the ability to build the respective upgrade structure, the respective cloud ability on drifters, and the “hive” count towards player abilities and egg drops. These structures would basically be everything that a C/S/S hive is now, but without the need for a tech point placement. And, from a dev standpoint, they would not require a new structure model to be created; just slightly modify the existing ones.
Such a change I believe would allow aliens on the back foot to pull back just like marines can now it BT. It would be possible, though again not easy, for them to reach full strength on limited map control. We could also see the high risk/reward strat of rushing two tech chambers for a paper fade drop, again more viable on one hive than two, or other different strategies. It’s all about giving players interesting options. And we would stop seeing the aggravating situation where a Kamm is floating 100 res but can’t do squat because there is no safe tech point expansion. (Come to think of it, we might want to stop calling them tech points altogether. Huh.) And finally, before someone yells “asymmetrical gameplay!”, I would just like to note that there would still be lots of stuff that is asymmetrical, but like the res mechanics and the existence of an alien comm, this is one aspect of the game that I think should be symmetrical for the sake of fundamental balance.
Anyway, apologies for the redonkulously long post, but I wanted to be sure to explain my reasoning behind this suggestion. Thoughts?