Phase Gates
Bad Mojo
Join Date: 2009-05-01 Member: 67317Members
Join Date: 2009-05-01 Member: 67317Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Choosing your Destination</div>I would be surprised if this hasn't been addressed by the devs or by other forum members/beta players, but am I the only one that finds it annoying to walk through a phase gate, not being entirely sure which phase gate I will come out of on the other side? Obviously excluding the scenario where there are only two PGs at the time and you know where the other one is.
Shouldn't there be a way to interact with the phase gate and specify your destination, or at the very least have some sort of display that lets you know where you'll appear on the other side?
What I think would be cool (and there are several ways to implement this, most probably being much simpler) is an interactive screen similar what is used in Doom 3 to choose what floor you want to go to on an elevator. Sometimes it's only one choise, but you still know where you're giong at least. Another option would be to pop up the minimap when there are multiple possible destinations when you're standing inside the phase gate itself, have the minimap pop up with small phase gate icons in each location where they exist and are built/powered.
This also might help avoid the laggy delay that is felt when walking through the phase gate as it is currently.
Shouldn't there be a way to interact with the phase gate and specify your destination, or at the very least have some sort of display that lets you know where you'll appear on the other side?
What I think would be cool (and there are several ways to implement this, most probably being much simpler) is an interactive screen similar what is used in Doom 3 to choose what floor you want to go to on an elevator. Sometimes it's only one choise, but you still know where you're giong at least. Another option would be to pop up the minimap when there are multiple possible destinations when you're standing inside the phase gate itself, have the minimap pop up with small phase gate icons in each location where they exist and are built/powered.
This also might help avoid the laggy delay that is felt when walking through the phase gate as it is currently.
Comments
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwyuyEjfonM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwyuyEjfonM</a>
see pic:
<img src="http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8351/pgnames.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
It would also be nice if the destination phasegate is getting attacked that all other phase gates flash red and the blue holographic thingy goes red and static with each hit to indicate malfunction on the other end (and you don't go thru to your doom, unless everyone else is going in with you) :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The destination right now is NOT random; it's always sequential - from the earliest-built to the latest-built phase gate, in the order that they were built. If a PG is destroyed and remade it is moved to the end of the queue - they work like a stack. And for the little "balance" this provides, it certainly causes a lot of frustration for both players and commanders IMO. The current implementation promotes "stupid" micro and strategies like recycling a phase gate just because "we have too many phasegates." In other words, it's a game mechanic gets in the way of enjoyable gameplay - like a badly designed user interface element in a RTS for example.
That brings up another point, however. The other problem I've had with phase gates is there is no way to tell which way to walk through it, or if it even makes a difference, but it is disorienting because often I will intuitively expect to be facing the center of the room, but find myself running into a railing or a wall or something and have to find my bearings.
I haven't done any testing on this to know if the direction you enter through the PG matters; it's something that just came to mind. Also it is heavily impacted on commander placement, and there isn't much that can be done to control that. Maybe just arrows that indicate for both marines (when standing nearby looking at it) and the commander (when building it) which way is entry and which is exit.
Entrance doesn't matter, the PG should work from both sides. In fact, I don't think there's "entering" a phase gate - just an area which you get "phased" if you stand in for a certain amount of time (some fraction of a second). Also, a lot of people don't know this (I see them running in and out) but if you just STAND inside a phase gate, you'll continue to be phased around the map automatically - you don't need to run in and out like a headless chicken. In fact, when there are many phase gates, I usually walk into the first one and hold my map open and then walk out only when I reach the phase gate I am looking for.
Exit is one-directional. A phased-in marine always faces a certain way; the way that the marine is facing when he gets phased-in is always the way the commander orients the phase gate when he issues the build order. I've seen some commanders "misplace" phase gates by orienting them towards walls or placing the exit over drops, which makes exiting those phase gates a royal pain in the a**. So, if you're a marine com, don't just double-click on phase gates, single click and then rotate the PG the way you think your teammates would like to be facing when they exit - preferably not towards a wall a foot away.
Butbut
Walls are where we all want to go!
Then give the marines the ability to phase to X phasgegate by pushing that number on their keyboard while standing in the phasegate field.
I think that's the best solution all around. It would also help new players, as they would only have to phase once to get some place useful, while still keeping the balance thing of having a bigger PG network taking longer to navigate. Combined with some kind of visual representation on the map, showing where you'll end up with the current PG setup... and it would give a better sense of agency.
Right now it's really confusing for new players, or even veterans if you just joined a server without actually seeing the PG's go up one by one. Having to phase through the whole network to figure out where each one is just feels like a lack of information.
If u change the mechanic of the phasegate, u limit the diversity of tactical gameplay and the basis of decisionmaking on both sides.
This.
If you'd let marines/comm choose the destination phasegate, you'd end up with a map full of phasegates, marines just building a new one every 10 meters they gain, then teleporting instantly where they wanna be.
The current system isn't so bad, even if it does feel a tad silly at times.
You don't need to run through the phasegate to rephase.. just stand there and you will eventually phase into the next spot. No running around in circles required
If Marines have 10 phasegates, the down side is that they have to queue through all the previous ones to get to the most recent, meaning that if they want to get somewhere quicker, the Comm has to recycle less-important gates, weakening control over that portion of the map. It's a risk/reward thing, and keeps PGs limited to strategic points (usually reinforced mini-bases) instead of having the Comm drop 5-10 of them at each location. Adding exit selection would remove that down side, and make PGs even more powerful than they already are; if this was implemented, I'd expect to see PGs double, triple, or even more in individual price.
PGs work on a defined stack. Enter one, and you'll phase to the next one built, or the first one built (if the one you entered was the most recently built/still alive), forming a loop. Take one out, and the one that previously teleported to it will bridge the gap, re-targeting to phase to the one it would have teleported you to.
I could see adding the destination name however, though it would make little difference in the long run (or short run, given we're dealing with PGs here) as the gate is STILL going to take you to the same place, if you step through it. If anything, I'd rather see a line overlaid between each PG pair, with an arrow showing the direction of travel, so you could tell if taking the PG would get you closer, faster, or if you should just run for it.