Cyclops- cripple instead of kill?
EvilSmoo
Join Date: 2008-02-16 Member: 63662Members
Join Date: 2008-02-16 Member: 63662Members
I don't like the idea of a totally destroyable Cyclops. I recognize that at least a part of that is just my dislike of change, but it's also kind of annoying gameplay. The wrong kind of annoying.
Sure, if it was multiplayer, or an MMO, or something, with respawning resources, this kind of system would make perfect sense.
But, as it is so very much NOT any of those things. I'm not interested in putting a lot of time and effort into customizing a Cyclops, only to have it blow up and sink. In fact, the system would/will be wasted on me entirely, because I'll just load a savegame from before it died. Which renders moot all the effort put into making it explode, huh? I imagine a lot of people might do that.
Instead, how about CRIPPLING it, instead of killing it? This way, the player can limp back to base, and patch it back up. Like the engines could be ripped off. But it has 3, so even if the tail is gone, it could limp back on the 2 thrusters. Or thrusters could be ripped off. Or the player could have to jury-rig a thruster back on to limp back.
Fires could deplete air and damage subsystems. Sections could flood, making those blast doors important. Hull damage could flood, decrease speed, increase noise, and damage subsystems. Bay doors could be bent shut.
And something leviathan-class could bite the tail off. Then, they chew on the tail, decide they don't really like the taste of titanium, and wander off from the now-much-quieter Cyclops, as the engine room blast doors clang shut. Or a shark could damage thrusters, increasing the noise. It would be a lot more fun if I know that the worst-case scenario on meeting a Reaper is that I have to limp back with the tail torn off.
I mean, c'mon, this is high-tech space-age stuff intended for hostile planets. It should have auto-repair functions. Maybe just not for the tail being torn off by something really big and pissed.
Sure, if it was multiplayer, or an MMO, or something, with respawning resources, this kind of system would make perfect sense.
But, as it is so very much NOT any of those things. I'm not interested in putting a lot of time and effort into customizing a Cyclops, only to have it blow up and sink. In fact, the system would/will be wasted on me entirely, because I'll just load a savegame from before it died. Which renders moot all the effort put into making it explode, huh? I imagine a lot of people might do that.
Instead, how about CRIPPLING it, instead of killing it? This way, the player can limp back to base, and patch it back up. Like the engines could be ripped off. But it has 3, so even if the tail is gone, it could limp back on the 2 thrusters. Or thrusters could be ripped off. Or the player could have to jury-rig a thruster back on to limp back.
Fires could deplete air and damage subsystems. Sections could flood, making those blast doors important. Hull damage could flood, decrease speed, increase noise, and damage subsystems. Bay doors could be bent shut.
And something leviathan-class could bite the tail off. Then, they chew on the tail, decide they don't really like the taste of titanium, and wander off from the now-much-quieter Cyclops, as the engine room blast doors clang shut. Or a shark could damage thrusters, increasing the noise. It would be a lot more fun if I know that the worst-case scenario on meeting a Reaper is that I have to limp back with the tail torn off.
I mean, c'mon, this is high-tech space-age stuff intended for hostile planets. It should have auto-repair functions. Maybe just not for the tail being torn off by something really big and pissed.
Comments
For hardcore, it could go either way depending on how hardcore of an experience a player wants. Even if the Cyclops wasn't completely destroyable (but could be fully crippled and sunk, requiring extensive onsite repairs to be operational again), it still might be easier just to build a new one depending on where it was sunk (Active Lava Zone?).
That's kind of my point. If the player decides to make a new Cyclops, that's fine. The lava zones would be dangerous, and that's pretty intended. Taking a PRAWN down, with a welding arm, to patch up the Cyclops enough to get in and limp back to a minibase could even be fun. Hopefully before you burn to death. Or, I suppose, landing a crippled Cyclops into lava and it sinking in would be a rare enough way of destroying the sub. (I'd still reload...)
Or, out in the Dunes or something, someone could get crippled by a Reaper. Then, after it gets bored and wanders off, you activate the emergency salvage balloons, pulling yourself to the surface. Then again, fix it up a little and limp back.
But people are very likely going to treat the Cyclops exploding permanently as a "game over" scenario.