Prime-able Power Nodes
remi
remedy [blu.knight] Join Date: 2003-11-18 Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
remedy [blu.knight] Join Date: 2003-11-18 Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
Introducing... Prime-able Power Nodes!!
Check it out here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257814071
One thing that seems to come up with any inexperienced player joining a server is the tendency to complete building power nodes when there is nothing to power. The auto-construct waypoint mechanic is a huge reason why this occurs, but as well as that the higher-level strategy (build powernode to 85-95%, build structure, complete powernode) needs to be explained to every new player. This annoyed me. This mod fixes the auto-construct waypoints to not tell new players to finish power nodes when they shouldn't be, and also prevents them from finishing the power when they are correctly building the power node first. This also will give a player a waypoint to prime the power before touching any structures, so new players if they blindly follow the auto-waypoints will be playing like a pro.
I didn't want to block any functionality, in case someone actually had reason to finish a powernode with no structure around, so I built in a workaround--toggle your flashlight and it will unlock for you for a short amount of time so that you can complete it.
Both of these situations indicate how to unlock the powernode with banners on the screen that say either...
edit: Updating with current description from Workshop, updating to reflect flash to unlock instead of hit to unlock
edit2: Updating with the current banner messages, and fixing the image
This mod prevents players from accidentally powering up a room. If there are no structures to power the power node won't be able to be completed UNLESS the player confirms his intent (by toggling his flashlight)
"This solves my favorite Noob Trap. Very nice" ~Benson
Features
- Power node construction can not be completed unless there is a building that requires power or unless a player toggles their flashlight to override it and unlock it
- There are informative banners that come up indicating how to unlock the node to help teach the new mechanic
- Auto-Construct way points now prioritize build order correctly (Power to 99, build structure, finish off power)
- MACs also prioritize priming a power node over building the structure
- MACs will not finish the power until after a built structure requires power or unless the commander directly orders them to complete it after it is primed
If you encounter issues, please grab your log from %appdata%/natural selection 2/log.txt and post it somewhere so I can look at it and fix the issues.
Forum thread for this mod is here: http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/134801/prime-able-power-nodes
ID: f5dee37
Check it out here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257814071
One thing that seems to come up with any inexperienced player joining a server is the tendency to complete building power nodes when there is nothing to power. The auto-construct waypoint mechanic is a huge reason why this occurs, but as well as that the higher-level strategy (build powernode to 85-95%, build structure, complete powernode) needs to be explained to every new player. This annoyed me. This mod fixes the auto-construct waypoints to not tell new players to finish power nodes when they shouldn't be, and also prevents them from finishing the power when they are correctly building the power node first. This also will give a player a waypoint to prime the power before touching any structures, so new players if they blindly follow the auto-waypoints will be playing like a pro.
I didn't want to block any functionality, in case someone actually had reason to finish a powernode with no structure around, so I built in a workaround--toggle your flashlight and it will unlock for you for a short amount of time so that you can complete it.
Both of these situations indicate how to unlock the powernode with banners on the screen that say either...
...or...FINISH BUILDING STRUCTURES FIRST - FLASH TO OVERRIDE
NO STRUCTURES TO POWER - FLASH TO OVERRIDE
edit: Updating with current description from Workshop, updating to reflect flash to unlock instead of hit to unlock
edit2: Updating with the current banner messages, and fixing the image
Comments
If this gets widespread acceptance I am open to integrating it into NS2+
edit:
Woops, I had published a broken version. Workshop version is fixed again.
Ironically, when UWE turns their focus away from NS2, a lot more features are added. Thank you.
Not breaking everything every two weeks allows the modding community to take over.
p.s. While investigating, I came across this comment:
- Flashlight overrides now instead of hitting.
- MACs can be ordered to complete power.
- Primed nodes are visible to commanders.
Updated OP too.
EDIT: Actually instead, the commander should just stop dropping power nodes where they're not needed.
- Add lock/unlock sounds
- Override lasts a little longer
- Requires toggling the flashlight on and off within 400ms to override instead of single-press (to isolate this case from just turning the flashlight on normally)
Now I wonder if it would be possible to make marine blue prints work like in Starcraft (no collision, with buildability checked when a marine starts constructing).
the problem with this is that marines leave power nodes unfinished too much. when you're first getting into higher level ns2 often people get the impression that you should never finish a power node, but really not finishing is only a good idea probably less than half the time. i'm assuming this is a server-wide thing, and not something each user gets to choose in their own game options? this seems like it would be an inconvenience, and i wouldn't want to play on a server where it's forced upon me.
this whole not finishing power nodes thing really is overblown. maybe i'm just too out of touch with pub play.
However, unlike the current NS2 blueprints, Marines, bullets and projectiles would not be physically blocked by them, and the blueprints do not vanish when touched by aliens.
A check would need to be performed (for a second time, after it's placed by the commander) when a marine first "uses" a hologram, to re-check that there is nothing blocking the construction site.
This adds one new skill for people to learn to continue finishing power nodes early, but fixes the current status quo. Technically it is never a good idea to finish the node first IN CASE you die. There are many places where the higher level players know they can get away with finishing it early -- if it's close enough to their base, if the aliens are all on the other side, if you have enough people to defend even if aliens come at you, etc. The problem is not with higher-level play, it's with teaching the newer players the "correct" way to do it. There are always exceptions, but when commanding with this mod on the server I never had to say "and don't finish the power" nor take time to explain why not to do that to a rookie. It's just handled.
The added skill for players to learn that I alluded to is the override mechanic. You can always always always finish a power node regardless of what is going on. All you need to do is double-tap your flashlight key and it will unlock. I'd love some more ideas on how I could communicate this better, but I do still think that having this bit of esoteric knowledge to learn is better than the entire power node design being so esoteric.
And yes, this is primarily for pubs, not for comp, although it does make priming a power node easier with multiple people because you don't need to worry about accidentally finishing it.
Destroyed Power Nodes were made difficult to repair in order to increase the sales of Welders. Now that Welders have more purposes (such as repairing regular armor as well as Exos), in addition to the fact that Power Nodes have a downtime during which they cannot be repaired, I think Node repair need not to be so painfully slow.
Indestructible Power Nodes overcomplicates the game, and confuses new players on both teams. They cause more problems than they address.
By simply speeding up the repair rate of Power Nodes, and make incomplete Nodes destructible like other structures, the power node game become a lot simpler and less of an unnecessary learning burden.
But on the other hand, it makes some kind of twisted sense - the power node is the ONLY thing you can repair with your build tool (= doesnt require a welder). Apparently, a welder is superior. So it kinda feels right that it repairs faster.
Don't forget, blueprints are built faster with welders, too.
I believe that one is false. There was a big thread on that a little while ago. Its always a good idea to use your welder, but it does not speed it up.