Dead body residue idea
Nex Carnifex
Join Date: 2011-01-06 Member: 76366Members
Join Date: 2011-01-06 Member: 76366Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Residue left from deleted bodies to make the game more immersive</div>I remember playing games like Half Life 2 where when an enemy died, its body didn't disappear. This made it so when you were walking around, you could see the history of your battles told through the fallen enemies lying around. It made the game a lot more immersive, and it was exciting going back to previous rooms and seeing that the game didn't forget about who you killed and where you killed them. It also made a lot more sense.
Now I know in NS2 it is a lot different. Players re-spawn not to long after dieing, and 100 rag dolls being kicked around would make the game really slow. But Natural Selection is, in a big way, about atmosphere, and something like an after death residue would add that immersiveness that you get when you reenter a room and see all the death that has taken place there. For aliens and there structures, there could be a slimy puddle of alien stuff, like the hive floor, but more bloody. There could be an animation from after the aliens corpse goes through its 1 second of rag doll existence where it decomposes really fast, becoming the pile/puddle of decomposed alien flesh. For Marines, after being killed by the hands of a diseased alien soldier, their skin quickly be overtaken by alien fungus such as the hive floor, and they to melt into a human sized lump of decomposed green (maybe red in this case), stuff.
Imagine this, you walk around the corner and you see a gross red pile in the middle of the floor, that was you before, and then you see some green stuff scattered around, those were the aliens you killed. As matches progress, the history of the match is recorded. Would it really make sense for a huge firefight to take place but when you revisit that area everything is perfectly clean? This would add tons of depth to Natural Selection 2, and would make it make a lot more sense than all the other games out there, were body's go poof and rooms magically clean themselves. It also goes along with the map changing over time theme in Natural Selection. I really hope you can do this, it would really make a huge difference.
Now I know in NS2 it is a lot different. Players re-spawn not to long after dieing, and 100 rag dolls being kicked around would make the game really slow. But Natural Selection is, in a big way, about atmosphere, and something like an after death residue would add that immersiveness that you get when you reenter a room and see all the death that has taken place there. For aliens and there structures, there could be a slimy puddle of alien stuff, like the hive floor, but more bloody. There could be an animation from after the aliens corpse goes through its 1 second of rag doll existence where it decomposes really fast, becoming the pile/puddle of decomposed alien flesh. For Marines, after being killed by the hands of a diseased alien soldier, their skin quickly be overtaken by alien fungus such as the hive floor, and they to melt into a human sized lump of decomposed green (maybe red in this case), stuff.
Imagine this, you walk around the corner and you see a gross red pile in the middle of the floor, that was you before, and then you see some green stuff scattered around, those were the aliens you killed. As matches progress, the history of the match is recorded. Would it really make sense for a huge firefight to take place but when you revisit that area everything is perfectly clean? This would add tons of depth to Natural Selection 2, and would make it make a lot more sense than all the other games out there, were body's go poof and rooms magically clean themselves. It also goes along with the map changing over time theme in Natural Selection. I really hope you can do this, it would really make a huge difference.
Comments
I just don't know the technical requirements to make it a reality. Definitely something the modders should at least look into.
I just don't know the technical requirements to make it a reality. Definitely something the modders should at least look into.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, they were able to pull of DI, after that wouldn't this be pretty easy? The residue could lose it's thickness later, and maybe eventually just be a stain on the floor. But it would really make it feel like there were actually marines and alien organisms dieing around you, and would definitely make the game much more exciting and fearful.
Skulls make the respective remains instantly recognizable, so people can tell: "OK, here are many skulk noggins, so this seems to be a chokepoint where you easily die as a skulk. Ergo: Change of tactics."
Skulls make the respective remains instantly recognizable, so people can tell: "OK, here are many skulk noggins, so this seems to be a chokepoint where you easily die as a skulk. Ergo: Change of tactics."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That sounds like a great idea however wouldn't bones be a little more complex than just a simple green/red residue similar to the pre-existing DI?
Of course, this would be one of the last priorities of the game since it is only an aesthetic point.
Why complex? Just a few immobile models. And far more recognizable than some blobs that overlap with DI and will probably be hard to distinguish. Also, after one or two death cycles, stuff can still be removed.
Although some token reminder of the casualties would be great, like helmets, boots, claws, organic puddles, and so on, as long as they have a expiry time limit (~1 to 2 minutes).
I wouldn't mind having an Onos trophy in marine spawn for a while. :D
Although some token reminder of the casualties would be great, like helmets, boots, claws, organic puddles, and so on, as long as they have a expiry time limit (~1 to 2 minutes).
I wouldn't mind having an Onos trophy in marine spawn for a while. :D<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I completely agree, though when they finally are removed, they should at least leave some kind of color stain, showing that there was something there, but it decomposed, not just disappeared.
alien or marine corpse on creep/DI: slowly melts into the ground, fizzing like acid, some fumes and, in case of marines, sparks (nano machine trying to fight off the creep)
alien corpse NOT on creep: slowly melts creating a DI puddle that trys to connect to existing infection, sparks on the outline of the spreading ooze
marine corpse NOT on creep: HL2 combine bug zaper effect, that antigrav phasing (without antigrav of course)
I'd be more for splatter stains.
Having to deal with randomly generated props like a helmet and gun and skeleton gets annoying and bland and would stand out too much imo. It could work for bigger targets, but not your generic Marine/Skulk/Gogre/Lerk.
Splatter stains though as a decal are relatively easy, non-intrusive, and you can layer them to make slightly different looks thereby preventing the "behold, a graveyard in neat order!" that could happen with skeletons.
Nicer fadeouts would also be nice, as in RobB's post.
Having to deal with randomly generated props like a helmet and gun and skeleton gets annoying and bland and would stand out too much imo. It could work for bigger targets, but not your generic Marine/Skulk/Gogre/Lerk.
Splatter stains though as a decal are relatively easy, non-intrusive, and you can layer them to make slightly different looks thereby preventing the "behold, a graveyard in neat order!" that could happen with skeletons.
Nicer fadeouts would also be nice, as in RobB's post.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree with this idea, though along with it bodies should have an animation that takes place before were they decompose, leaving behind the color stain. When you walk into a room and see it full of red and green stains, you'll know a lot of killing has been done there, and would give you the feeling of a war ravaged room, so it would work, and probably be quite easy. Though something more complex would be even more desirable, I don't know the technical requirements of something like that.
I want bloodstains everywhere! green and red!
I would definitely prefer a body lying around as opposed to a decal/blood-stain/chalk-outline.
I would definitely prefer a body lying around as opposed to a decal/blood-stain/chalk-outline.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well the thing is with that is that the blood can stay forever while bodies will disappear eventually, and with the amount of stuff happening in NS2 like DI, building, and tons of particle effects and structure animation, chances are the bodies aren't going to stay much longer than they are now, which is under 1 second.