Emergency power changes
Blindga
Join Date: 2012-10-21 Member: 162931Members
Join Date: 2012-10-21 Member: 162931Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Keep it dark!</div>Ok, so tell me if this was done for some obscure balance reason, but I really hate emergency power. I shouldn't have to hold off on a power node to put darkness on marines (I actually had a com tell me to wait to destroy a node until the marines got closer). The dark is a huge advantage to weaker alien life forms, and I think it should stay around.
In that same turn, having 70% of the map dark all the time because one skulk keeps jacking with the power is a bit impractical too. So here's an idea I have.
Nodes can be in three conditions
Fixed: Node is on. Lights are bright and vision is clear
Down, non-infested room: Emergency power comes on instantly when nodes are destroyed in non controlled areas. Light is low, but still clear.
Down, infested room: Darkness. No emergency power comes on at alien controlled rooms (room is over 50% infested). Visibility is zero. If emergency power is on, and the room is taken, then it goes off. If the room is lost, then it comes back.
So non controlled nodes that are destroyed still give a clear indicator that the power is off, and give <i>some</i> stealth benifits, but not much. Alien controlled areas are dark all the time, giving skulks and lerks a home-field advantage in defense. This could also potentially give marines an unorthodox tactic in establishing power in contended rooms to take the dark bonuses away from aliens.
Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know what you think.
In that same turn, having 70% of the map dark all the time because one skulk keeps jacking with the power is a bit impractical too. So here's an idea I have.
Nodes can be in three conditions
Fixed: Node is on. Lights are bright and vision is clear
Down, non-infested room: Emergency power comes on instantly when nodes are destroyed in non controlled areas. Light is low, but still clear.
Down, infested room: Darkness. No emergency power comes on at alien controlled rooms (room is over 50% infested). Visibility is zero. If emergency power is on, and the room is taken, then it goes off. If the room is lost, then it comes back.
So non controlled nodes that are destroyed still give a clear indicator that the power is off, and give <i>some</i> stealth benifits, but not much. Alien controlled areas are dark all the time, giving skulks and lerks a home-field advantage in defense. This could also potentially give marines an unorthodox tactic in establishing power in contended rooms to take the dark bonuses away from aliens.
Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know what you think.
Comments
Yeah I just wish cysting to a powernode would cut it off.
And sorry OP, but complete darkness is not fun for a marine player. You are fighting the environment far more than the enemy.
<ul><li>"<b>No infestation + Node on = Bright light</b>" is fine the way it is.</li><li>"<b>Infested + Node down = Darkness</b>" sounds great in terms of making alien vision and cysts a bit more useful. It would also add a great measure of atmosphere and fun to the game with Marine flashlights/flamethrowers/tracers in dark rooms.</li><li>"<b>No infestation + Node down = Emergency Lights</b>" is where I partially disagree. <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/4920/discussions/0/864950398850824970/" target="_blank">There is a post on the steam forums</a> about this, which I think offers a better solution than the current iteration. "<i>[WDZ] Rich's</i>" reply in particular is what I'm referring to: <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I reckon they should swap the order, so after the power goes out the emergency lights are on for 30 seconds as a sort of back-up power, and then just pitch black after.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Taking Rich's suggestion, that would give Marine's more than enough time to respond, considering their crazy 12-second sprint. So if they decide to go defend, and are successful, they maintain their area advantage (I would rather see emergency lights reduced to 12-20 seconds, but 30 is still far more reasonable than permanent). And if they decide that it's not important enough to respond to, then there is no more of this permanent emergency light nonsense that still gives them fairly good visibility whenever they do decide to show up (which as it stands considerably weakens Alien Vision's utility). The Alien team would instead earn the area advantage of complete darkness, since the Marines gave up the location.</li></ul>
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And sorry OP, but complete darkness is not fun for a marine player. You are fighting the environment far more than the enemy.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I must respectfully disagree. I think that would be great fun when I play as a Marine (as would others from the looks of the support to that steam post). Also, Marines enjoy some impressive range...it's more like half the Alien species are more prone to be constantly fighting against the environment, just to get to you. As it stands, Marines have the advantage both when the power node is up, and when it's down, due to how bright the emergency lights are, and how long they last. Aliens are only at an advantage for that brief moment of pitch dark...at which point Marines can still turn their flashlights on, or just make a tactical retreat around a bright corner to wait it out (depending on the immediacy of needing to defend that particular spot). It may not be fun to you in particular, but it would be fun to others. Subjective interests aside, it's an effort to even the playing field even further, and provide a better experience for the whole community. And this would address a couple things:
<ul><li>Brings Alien's potential for area dominance up to par with the current advantage(s) Marines enjoy.</li><li>Adds some much needed utility to Alien Vision, providing for fairer skirmishes between the teams.</li><li>Adds some much needed utility to Cysts (for the few seconds/minutes that they are not being chopped to bits by Marines), yielding slightly more balanced games overall (and possibly adding some additional cyst fun for the Alien Comm, to slightly offset the tedium of placing them).</li></ul>
Also, UNCAPPED nodes when a match starts should have the areas in a low-power state. Some lights are on - not all - leaving it a neutral zone. Dark areas for aliens, light areas for marines.
Also the music in the Dancing Onos needs to be controlled by power state :)
Well, it's not fair to give the aliens that advantage either just because the marines decided not to, or can't reach it in time. That would take away the point of trying to infest rooms establish darkness, you could just hit the lights and ignore it.
Low light gives some stealth advantages, while it doesn't cripple marines either. Having darkness as power neutral zones seems a bit lopsided.
Also, UNCAPPED nodes when a match starts should have the areas in a low-power state. Some lights are on - not all - leaving it a neutral zone. Dark areas for aliens, light areas for marines.
Also the music in the Dancing Onos needs to be controlled by power state :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think that's more than reasonable.
Ha, the Dancing Onos is so fun to fight in, but agreed that it's odd the music stays on with no power. :D
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well, it's not fair to give the aliens that advantage either just because the marines decided not to, or can't reach it in time. That would take away the point of trying to infest rooms establish darkness, you could just hit the lights and ignore it.
Low light gives some stealth advantages, while it doesn't cripple marines either. Having darkness as power neutral zones seems a bit lopsided.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I will have to go over my initial post when I get home, but I don't believe I suggested/reinforced that for neutral areas? If I did, I blame no coffee! I meant complete darkness <u>after</u> Aliens took down the power node, infested the area, and a timer of some sort for emergency lights had lapsed (all of which take time - time for Marines to respond). And if Marines enter and clear a resource area of infestation, low lights kick back on while they work on welding the power node, and taking back the area. Low/emergency lights in neutral territory, as Temphage suggested, sounds perfectly reasonable.
The lighting in this game impressed me quite a bit the first time I experienced the power going down inside a room. As a skulk, hiding on the ceiling and watching marine flashlights approach through the corridor was graphically impressive, while trying to avoid those lights and ambush them was very fun.
On the flip side, playing through a similar situation as marines changes the pace and atmosphere of the game, and makes it feel like you need to be a bit more tactical with your squadmates.
It's a real shame that the lighting doesn't play a more significant role. Although the OP's idea would change that.
I proposed that simply to allow aliens to fortify an infested room somewhat. It would be incredibly durable, but have no other purpose beyond that, so marines would be forced to hack their way through it before redoing a power node.
Then again, I also think power nodes should cost res and require a greater investment from the marines as well. Maybe the initial power node is free, but after it's repaired / installed, the commander needs to invest 5 res into 'securing' it which gives us the armored node we have now, and requires further building (not welding, building, so no using welders to do it in 6 seconds like you can right now).
I think having more darkness in these ways would have the following benefits:
- Strengthen the need for aliens to use harassment/guerilla tactics.
- Strengthen the aliens' ability/motivation to ambush and sneak.
- Increase the importance of sound.
- Highlight the dynamic of marines pushing their boundary of light and power out into the darkness and muck of the infestation.
- Due to the above, differentiate the alien experience more from the marines.
- Also, increase the scariness/horror aspect, and encourage marines to work together for safety.
- Show off NS2's amazing lighting engine and give the game more of a unique visual feel.
- Look flippin' badass. I play a lot of Arma 2/Day Z and I love how different the experience is of having to move and fight in true, or nearly true darkness, with your teammate's flashlights lurching and flashing over dangers and dangerous-looking shadows. It's just a really cool experience, and so different from the grey/blue -- or in this case red -- dimness filter that usually represents darkness. The exo's spotlight would look even better and be more useful. Fire, explosions, and muzzle flashes would look even better and would have more tactical use.
To balance this out some, maybe make the marine flashlight more powerful, avoiding the current slight, Doom 3-like problem of unrealistically weak equipment. Or even make a more powerful torch as an upgrade, giving marines a little more choice and versatility? Or throwable flares, like in Aliens, or the amazingly atmospheric 1999 Aliens Versus Predator game. Throwing one into a dark corner to reveal the glistening silhouette of an alien or alien structure would be rad. Maybe it would even create smoke, to make it somewhat of a tradeoff.
Those are just ideas, but this I know: more darkness would make this game even cooler.
Hearsay has it that Flayra rejected dark areas because he didn't want it to be a scary game, or something along those lines.
However, this is rapidly becoming the most asked-for feature, so let's cross our fingers.
<b>Alternatively</b> i also can imagine just to reduce the brightness or make the emergency lightning a bit more scarce. Currently the whole room glows red. If the red emergency light would only shine on important stuff like tech points, exits, power node and the way between exits ... the marines will have enough light not to be "scared" and the aliens have dark spots to hide in.
Hearsay has it that Flayra is a p u s s y
...
Moving on.
I don't think having a structure that does this is that great of an idea. Not to say that it is bad, but if it has any kind of real price on it, it won't be worth it. As mentioned by another poster, marine flashlights and scans give a good deal of security against the dark, so I think this should be a passive/automatic thing for alien controlled areas.
Also, since someone mentioned it briefly, I don't think that alien coms having a darkness command (like "leech lights" or something) would be too much fun, I think it would be cool if marine coms could use a command to force lights in powered off areas. Like maybe observatories give a "divert power" or "power override" type command that force the lights to come on in darkened areas for a few seconds to counter them temporarily.