Freedom of Choice is Good
l3lessed
Join Date: 2010-06-07 Member: 71977Members
Join Date: 2010-06-07 Member: 71977Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Making Aliens Funner and More Flexible</div>This is a simple idea that I think would go a long ways in helping balance out and make aliens funner to play. Instead of forcing certain upgrades at certain hives, any hive should have a set number of alien ability slots open; the number would need to be balanced according to the number of available alien abilities before full implementation. Based on their being eight alien abilities, my suggestion would be 2 slots first hive, three slots second hive, and three slots third hive for the total of eight. All alien abilities will be unlockable at the very beginning, but each one takes up one slot. The commander then can choose, according to his team needs, which alien abilities to get. If the team is low on high lifeforms, he can research all the skulk abilities, but in doing so, no other lifeforms will have their abilities until another hive is captured and they acquire more ability slots; it is a give and take. Lastly, I'm not 100% sure about this but possibly letting the commander recycle upgrades in order to switch out abilities as needed, but at a decent t-res cost.
Right now, alien macro-gram strategies are pretty set from the beginning because everything is tied to hive expansion. If you allow more freedom in ability choice, instead of locking them like everything else to the hive numbers, it will open up more options when it comes to strategy, require more involvement and critical thought from both teams, and give players more choices, and in the process a more enjoyable play experience.
<b>*Edited to update slot count per hive recommendation after researching number of alien abilities.*</b>
Right now, alien macro-gram strategies are pretty set from the beginning because everything is tied to hive expansion. If you allow more freedom in ability choice, instead of locking them like everything else to the hive numbers, it will open up more options when it comes to strategy, require more involvement and critical thought from both teams, and give players more choices, and in the process a more enjoyable play experience.
<b>*Edited to update slot count per hive recommendation after researching number of alien abilities.*</b>
Comments
I'm not sure what this would accomplish. Hive 3 abilities are meant to be very powerful. I'm not sure that I want to see a hive 2 umbra lerk or stomp bot.
Right now, a number of abilities aren't being used until the game is pretty much over, much like NS1. This system would allow all abilities to be used during a whole game, while forcing the aliens have to make fun and filling choices in their strategy and how they're going to try to win, instead of just going down the upgrade tree accordingly. Again, they get stomp up front, get JP's, which are first anyways these days. They get umbra, get a flamethrower. They go with leap and xeno instead, get exos. Again, this is a strategy game which should require teams to make decisions like this instead of forcing them down a linear path.