Game state commentary and general whinge.
Scatter
Join Date: 2012-09-02 Member: 157341Members, Squad Five Blue
Join Date: 2012-09-02 Member: 157341Members, Squad Five Blue
After several months away it is time I inflict on everyone my 3 monthly whinge about what I do not like about the current state of the game. Right now the game is utterly boring and is slowly becoming a tedious, badge ridden shooter.
Alien Tech Tree
Not only is the tech tree incredibly linear as it always has been, but there exists not even the illusion of choice as there once did with the life form ability tech being a prerequisite along with biomass. This system is inferior to the previous iteration and the previously trialed automatic unlock with biomass from BT (and ns1).
Primarily though, the linearity of the tech tree has always been an issue I've had with this game, which unlike the linearity of ns1 isn't made tolerable by the skill based interactions on a high performance engine. There are no real choices being made as to the tech flow of the game as some abilities are still better than others at a certain biomass level, and the ones that are better than that are often never seen given their position in the tech tree. Why can't we have a tech tree where I make choices as to whether or not I have an umbra or a spore lerk, the choice of one precluding the other until such time as additional criteria are met to unlock more tech. Why can't we have a choice to have webs early and bilebomb later, or have any other possible variation ? Sewlek has in his previous mods ('strategics') made attempts at introducing interesting choices but never followed through in BT unfortunately.
BTW I have not ever seen webs in a single game, rarely see vortex, xeno, stab, bone shield or stomp. I don't necessarily want these to be seen frequently on account of being irritating and unfun but they are just examples of tech that really doesn't need to exist given they're not seen 95 times out of 100, and the game should be winnable without overly OP and troll tech that hides shitty mechanics.
Abilities
Many of the life forms do not have worthwhile or interesting abilities to look forward to and only receive improvements to their effectiveness through additional upgrades rather than abilities. A major example of this is the fade which has shadowstep, stab and vortex to look forward to. None of these Fade abilities appear frequently enough to practice them given they aren't seen as terribly effective in the way other abilities are, and even if you wanted to practice them you do not get the opportunity to anyway which is partly the consequence of the aforementioned linearity of the tech tree.
The same case can be made for xenocide which is just a stupid troll ability that doesn't involve skilled play and should be replaced with something interesting.
Upgrades
Still stuck on 2 per chamber type a year later while ns1 had 3, once again resulting in very little variety, and even less than a game that is 10 years the junior.
Commanders
Medpack, nano, mucous vending machine, overly intrusive involvement in PVP and AI busywork barely constitute a proper function. Alien commander specifically robs gorges of the fun that was alien building in ns1, while offering annoying micromanagement of drifters and other AI units. Preferred it when it was a jump in occasionally to research x tech and rest of time spent outside.
Performance
The game feels sluggish still and is significantly worse than when the holy grail of luaJIT was implemented, server performance is worse and maps are increasingly laggy with too much going on to the point I think I am getting occular tumours. Not only this, but there is still no way to change the updaterate from 20 and no inbuilt way to change any of the other variables such as the 100 ms interp we must endure. To then be told of e-sports and LAN tournaments with 100 ms interp is very interesting indeed.
Alien Tech Tree
Not only is the tech tree incredibly linear as it always has been, but there exists not even the illusion of choice as there once did with the life form ability tech being a prerequisite along with biomass. This system is inferior to the previous iteration and the previously trialed automatic unlock with biomass from BT (and ns1).
Primarily though, the linearity of the tech tree has always been an issue I've had with this game, which unlike the linearity of ns1 isn't made tolerable by the skill based interactions on a high performance engine. There are no real choices being made as to the tech flow of the game as some abilities are still better than others at a certain biomass level, and the ones that are better than that are often never seen given their position in the tech tree. Why can't we have a tech tree where I make choices as to whether or not I have an umbra or a spore lerk, the choice of one precluding the other until such time as additional criteria are met to unlock more tech. Why can't we have a choice to have webs early and bilebomb later, or have any other possible variation ? Sewlek has in his previous mods ('strategics') made attempts at introducing interesting choices but never followed through in BT unfortunately.
BTW I have not ever seen webs in a single game, rarely see vortex, xeno, stab, bone shield or stomp. I don't necessarily want these to be seen frequently on account of being irritating and unfun but they are just examples of tech that really doesn't need to exist given they're not seen 95 times out of 100, and the game should be winnable without overly OP and troll tech that hides shitty mechanics.
Abilities
Many of the life forms do not have worthwhile or interesting abilities to look forward to and only receive improvements to their effectiveness through additional upgrades rather than abilities. A major example of this is the fade which has shadowstep, stab and vortex to look forward to. None of these Fade abilities appear frequently enough to practice them given they aren't seen as terribly effective in the way other abilities are, and even if you wanted to practice them you do not get the opportunity to anyway which is partly the consequence of the aforementioned linearity of the tech tree.
The same case can be made for xenocide which is just a stupid troll ability that doesn't involve skilled play and should be replaced with something interesting.
Upgrades
Still stuck on 2 per chamber type a year later while ns1 had 3, once again resulting in very little variety, and even less than a game that is 10 years the junior.
Commanders
Medpack, nano, mucous vending machine, overly intrusive involvement in PVP and AI busywork barely constitute a proper function. Alien commander specifically robs gorges of the fun that was alien building in ns1, while offering annoying micromanagement of drifters and other AI units. Preferred it when it was a jump in occasionally to research x tech and rest of time spent outside.
Performance
The game feels sluggish still and is significantly worse than when the holy grail of luaJIT was implemented, server performance is worse and maps are increasingly laggy with too much going on to the point I think I am getting occular tumours. Not only this, but there is still no way to change the updaterate from 20 and no inbuilt way to change any of the other variables such as the 100 ms interp we must endure. To then be told of e-sports and LAN tournaments with 100 ms interp is very interesting indeed.
Comments
I said it a while back while BT was active, and I agree that the linearity of abilities is quite an annoying limitation. If biomass unlocks ability slots, and the commander chooses what ability goes in each one, it completely unlocks the tech tree. Furthermore, if the performance of that ability is dependent on the total biomass, then you don't need to worry about 1-hive leap being op, because it's a watered down version until biomass reaches whatever-level (4?). That would truly open up alien strategies, which would be much more interesting in the long term.
I completely agree about xenocide, though I know others seem to love it. Personally I think it has no place in the game. Why would I want to kill myself, achieve very little, then sit in the spawn cue taking up eggs and not actually playing the game? Pointless.
My memory is bad, I don't remember there being 3 upgrades per chamber in NS1, but I checked and you're right of course! It's got to be a minor gripe, though surely...
Performance: server performance definitely needs a good looking at. It's taken a divebomb in the last few builds. The word I got from Hugh about changes to client rates are that this is very unlikely to be made into a variable. I think that's a big mistake personally. What most pub players see are all the aesthetic and gameplay changes that go on, but as comp players we tend to be somewhat more attuned to the technical issues that still exist, and the netcode/rates constitute probably the biggest issue left to resolve. I would love to hear what @matso makes of this: I know he identified an issue a while back regarding synchronisation of moverate and server tickrate, but I have to be honest here that's about as far as I get before I'm in over my head.
I personally think UWE have done and are doing a great job on NS2 still. Yes, there are areas for improvement, but that should stand separate from the great progress they have made in many areas of the game.
If we can constructively help and support them to address areas such as the server performance and network parameters, then frankly I think the comp scene will last a lot longer for it and that will continue to support the pub scene, too.
Babblers are so horribly implemented that it defies human comprehension.
I disagree with this sentiment completely. BUt to each his own.
Xenocide is an ranged AOE attack and possibly the best weapon a skulk has vs a jetpacker.
Yes they should replace Xeno, but it should be something which has an effect on jp (AOE optional)
Cele, Adren, Silence
Scene of Fear (Motion Tracking), Cloaking, Focus (double damage, half attack rate)
I don't think Redemption is missed by many as it was unreliable, Fades get a kind of Focus ability although it comes much later now and silence/cloak got merged
Except you have 3 hives, therefore presumably a lot of resource nodes, and in that case your fades and lerks are the best weapon against a jetpacker. At that point in the game, the skulks should be biting buildings, distracting marines, trying to force beacons, anything but taking on jetpackers. Not every lifeform should have the same strengths against the same opponents. In any case, what goes up, must come down
My main grief with the game, is the performance. It's somewhat tiresome thought that you need to always 'outgear' your PC to maintain the best possible FPS, and looking at NS2 it doesn't seem that any computer isn't subject to major fps drops, which as never good in a first person shooter game.
It's really useful when you have a group of marines pushing. I see some guys take out 3-4 marines if they are clustered. If you xeno you instantly spawn. It is annoying if 7 people keep xenociding and then there are no eggs.
Scatter- I see aliens use stomp, bone shield, webs, stab, vortex all the time, but it just might be the people you are playing with and| the length of the games.
I'm not so convinced about the tech tree not having the linearity is a good thing. Like you mentioned, negative abilities like stomp, webs, xeno aren't something you want to see too often. And really some abilities are always going to be considered better than others. I think even if it wasn't linear the result would still be cookie cutter style builds that follow the same general linear path regardless.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
If you've run out of advanced life forms and they have jetpacks, you lost, it's over, you shouldn't HAVE a chance to win now. You were drained of your resources and they still have theirs.
Normally i'd say "sure" but for Xeno to be up aliens would need 3 hives up, I don't see why they should automatically lose at that point, lose a hive waiting for more P.Res for lifeforms sure, but this is just arguing semantics. I do agree though 1 skulk (0 P.Res) should have to work to kill a JP marine (15+ P.Res) not just set a timer and leap.
It is also worth noting that it would be a pretty silly situation for a 3 hive alien team to lose all it's lifeforms while a significant number of marines holding 1-2 TPs still have their jetpacks so maybe in that situation yeah the aliens deserve to lose the game after blowing their advantage.
Which is pretty much the shitty gameplay I am talking about, the need for a whip army to finish a game.
Generally I think the whole reason we had either automatic unlock or unlock all with the current system is due to the mindset of them being too much effort to assess and balance correctly. Easier to just chuck them down the end of the tech tree or make them game endering (like whip army) or give them to players at some stage without a choice. Plenty of abilities floating around in the lua such as primal scream, metabolize that could have a place in this game and would be a worthwhile choice, more so than the abilities UWE decided to go with in the end.
(i am fade and that bitch refuses to give me blink omg omg omg i paid $5/15/30 for this game how dares he!)
Same reason they went for alien-commander in the 1st place.
It's UWE's attempt to make this game appeal to / be suitable for more then 1-out-of-a-1000 gamers.
Disclaimer: i like the game!
Also, Imo certain abilities not being seen often are partially a result of the current artificial clock imposed on marines due to detaching tech requirements from tech points. I. E. "win by X time or else enemy gets X" in which the gameplay is currently based on.
As @IronHorse said, at the moment the game is a race. If a team reaches one tier before the other team, they win. There's little opportunity for comebacks.
Xenocide is a stupid troll ability, and it's cheap as well. I've seen ONE comeback from xeno in the latest few patches, ever since xeno somehow went from absolutely useless to incredibly OP (probably a combination of increased damage AND instant respawn AND aliens have countless eggs at hives nowadays (not that the last point matters since xeno requires 3, but still)), and that comeback was an extremely, incredibly grindy game which lasted over 45 minutes, because every time marines got close to a hive, a chain of exploding skulks would rain on them... Even exos had to constantly back off because of the spam. Jetpackers? Forget about it. And no, that isn't resolved by l2p since even the most skilled player in an exo can't be expected to reliably shoot down a stream of leaping skulks who are instantly respawning. It's just too much at the present time.
One instant and easy improvement to xeno would be to multiply the damage dealt by the health the skulk is at when it explodes. It's pretty damn unrewarding to be in a jetpack, land a maybe 120 shot on a skulk, and have him explode in your face with 10 health or less, dealing full damage - the same damage as a 100% healthy skulk. I know most of the game doesn't work that way (1 health marines still run at full speed and deal full damage, same as 1 health skulks), but in the case of xeno, it would be a justifiable improvement IMO, considering how trolly it is at the moment.
Also, I still feel that lerks appear way too early in the game, and they are way too powerful for their cost - especially with the biting speed increase. The biting was fine before the change, I don't know why it was changed to begin with, except to invite n00bs who didn't know lerks were good to play lerks?!? Pretty terrible way of doing it IMO. Now lerks can eat power nodes and RTs at the same speed as a skulk, or maybe even faster??? I haven't measured, but it certainly feels that way. Every time I go lerk at 2:30-3:00, I feel like I'm trolling. Unless the teams are stacked, of course, which is about 90% of the time, but welcome to online gaming 2013, if not ever, really.
Also, I agree, servers seem to be having more perf. and stuttering issues than before, it feels that way. I think things got worse with the grenade prediction changes and linux... Not sure if it's related, I'm just saying ;-P .
Drifter management is basically the best part of alien commanding.
between the old Get Satisfaction board(RIP) and these forums, there have been enough constructive feedback on NS2 to do something. Why should Scatter pander to such a request just so we can pick those comments apart?
There has been an ample amount of feedback across the board and beyond, so why should we have high hopes for the ideas in this thread? I, for one, will skip the talk and go straight to walking.
Well, actually, drifter management is in fact the most annoying part of alien commanding, if you're playing marine.