Few questions

noname · May 2002

hiya, ive been crusing these fourms and watching this site for a lil while now and must say that this game is extreamly interesting, never heard of a real time stratige mixed with a fps before, sounds really kick ###. anyway i have a few questions for the playtesters.
how long do u normally play a map for? sounds like it might be longer then the average map rotation cuz of the RTS aspect of the game(setting up defences and what not)
how many weapons do the marines have? ive only seen a few.
do the aliens have any ranged attack?
are the levels huge?
do the aliens have a commander?
how long have you guys been working on this mod?
thats all i can think of now. thanks for any replies

Moleculor · May 2002

Most of your stuff can either be answered at the ReadyRoom (Read the General Forum FAQ for the link), or is totally up in the air right now because they're still trying to decide how it best works.

However, some of that stuff is hard to find on the ReadyRoom... Aliens do have ranged attacks. They change from alien to alien.

The levels ARE huge. Like... MASSIVE. Think the limits of the game engine, and you have it.

Aliens don't have a commander.

Flayra's been working on this mod for his entire life. Or something like that.

Merkaba · May 2002

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">how long do u normally play a map for?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Rounds last from anything between 10 minutes to an hour. Not really a good estimate of how the finished game will play though, as this IS only playtesting, and game variables change with each week.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">how many weapons do the marines have?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Currently, Marines can be equipped with: Knife, Pistol, Light Machine Gun, Shotgun, Heavy Machine Gun, Grenade Launcher, Welder (Not used as a weapon but as a tool to affect the flow of the map), and Wall Mines.

Names are subject to change, and new weapons may be added. (Note - MAY&#33<img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">do the aliens have any ranged attack?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Some do, some don't. Totally dependant on which level alien you are playing, and which hives are currently active. An example would be the lvl3's (flyer alien) spike gun.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">are the levels huge?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Yes!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">do the aliens have a commander?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Nope!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">how long have you guys been working on this mod?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Personally, about 6-7 months now. (I'm a mapper). Other members have worked from between less than that, to over a year ago! I believe Flayra and Cory (Coder and NS artist respectively) have worked on it the longest.

I hope this answers your questions sufficiently <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Slycaster · May 2002

I think mole covered that pretty well, but about your 'how long do maps last', id say anywhere from 10minutes, to 2 hours, and i'm not kidding, some games are just awesome, once you get about 30minutes in, and you start gettng major upgrades and everything, tons of resources, the game gets INTENSE, and REALLY cool.

SmokeMasta · May 2002

can a recource node becoume depleted?
(sorry 4 my sucky english me is awake for more than 24 hours)

Relic25 · May 2002

Yes. Currently, resource nodes can be depleted. This makes things much more interesting as it forces battles over resources and encourages both teams to expand outward from their 'bases'.

noname · May 2002

figured the games might take a while with the upgrading of bases, sounds cool, i hate when the enemy gets trampled in under a min.
are all maps based around "beat the crap outa the enemy!" or are there some maps with certine objectives that can be completed to win the round (or map, or whatever there is to win)??
is there any kind of point system (like team points, not individual)?
if so, how does one score points for their team?

all i can think of now. thank you very much Merkaba for answering all of my questions in such a neat, clean cut, fashion. moleculor, i think ill swing by the readyroom and see what i can dig up. i just figured id go to the fourms to talk to some of the ppl that have playtested the game first. thanks again all!

Moleculor · May 2002

No objective-oriented maps planned for version 1. Version 2 is a good possibility though.

Aliens have individual points, marines don't. To the aliens, points mean a LOT more than games like CS and stuff. Points are earned through killing or building.

As for marines, they don't have individual scores, just a team score displayed on the scoreboard, and the team score doesn't effect gameplay at all.

[edit: I tried to edit out some form of 'confusion' in the marine description of points... dunno if I succeeded since I wasn't quite sure where the confusion was in the first place.]

As always, see disclaimer below.

humbaba · May 2002

I recall Flayra mentioning that they are aiming for about 20 minutes. Personally, I would expect a game to take between 20 and 40 minutes, maybe an hour in really long games. Bear in mind that playtesting and balancing are going on all the time.

See Moleculor's disclaimer in reference to my post.
Also, it is possible that Flayra may have changed the game time he's aiming for.

But still, that was my understanding.

kID-Icarus · May 2002

If a resource node runs out of resources, will they regenerate over time? <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>

Vincent · May 2002

do resource nodes run out?

Moleculor · May 2002

Yes they run out (at the moment).

No, the don't regenerate (at the moment).

As always, see disclaimer.

Kheldar · May 2002

then... how many rescours nods is there???

Mouse · May 2002

it really depends on how many the mapper puts in. but the recomended number is..
/me goes and checks the guidelines
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">A map should generally have between 5 and 8 of them, roughly equally placed so both sides have the same number at roughly the same distance from their start.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

noname · May 2002

love the disclamier.
im writing a story in the fan-fiction forum and wanted to know about sentry guns and how they work in game.
do they fire really fast?
how powerful are they?
does it take a long time to build them?
do the aliens have a sentry gun type weapon?
what the hell is the alien web thing?

thanks for answering all my questions <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Moleculor · May 2002

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">do they fire really fast?
how powerful are they?
does it take a long time to build them? </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Still being tweaked.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">do the aliens have a sentry gun type weapon? </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Not yet. They might eventually. They might not. No one is really sure.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">what the hell is the alien web thing?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

I -know- this was covered somewhere, so I can explain this one at least. Basically, as it works now (Subj. To Change), a builder fires a spit ball at a spot on the wall, then fires another spit ball at the wall opposite. A strand of web forms between those two spots. He then spits on the first wall again, and a strand forms between the second and third spots. He continues to spit, forming strands between the previous spot and the new one. The strands can connect pretty much anywhere except something that actually moves, or buildings that can be built.

This is probably subject to change.

Diogenes_Dog · May 2002

As a pretty experienced RTS player, I just wanted to say that I think that, in general, depletable resources work better. It forces an endgame, which is nice, and it also makes people expand more than they might otherwise, which in turn encourages lots of fun fighting over resources.

Dunno how that'd change in an fps/rts hybrid. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

-dio

noname · May 2002

i suppose the webbing traps marines, right? anyway i just wanted to know all this stuff for the story im writing. so, if ur gonna change something, thats fine by me, just want a generalized idea of how a sentry gun might work.

Moleculor · May 2002

Well, I think I can tell you how they behave right now. They track the target, and fire a blast, that has an actual blast radius when it hits. It's not like a machine gun.. more like a cannon. So it's a powerful cannon that can take out groups, though the damage does fall off the further from the center you are.

This is actually buried somewhere on RR.org.

Few questions

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