NS2 Strategics

SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited January 2013 in Modding
hey guys!

here are the key features:

- heavily changed tech tree for both teams (more complex?)
- marines use now a "tech lab" which can be build on tech points (arms lab is removed and command station can be build anywhere on the map)
- aliens can build "life form hosts" (those also need a better name...) which are constructed at the hive.
- reintroduced the concept of energy for structure abilities
- added 4 new personal upgrades for the alien team
- armories dont heal armor
- welders dont need to be researched anymore
- aliens use "biomass" which helps speeding up construction
- marines use "power supply" for AI units and structures
- drifters spawn eggs (they cost now 15, equivalent for infantry portal if you want so)

<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=117290656" target="_blank">Steam Workshop</a>

the tech lab:

a tech lab can be build on tech points as written above and can host a maximum of 4 tech modules. those modules provide the actual upgrades for the marine team and are recycle able. there are currently 5 categories:

phase module
prototype module
weapon module
armor module
robotics module

building 3 modules of the same kind unlocks the strongest technology from that specific tech route (armor/weapon modules give you level1 - 3, prototype module gives you weapons, jetpacks, exos, phase module observatory, phasegate, motion tracking)

this means that marines at 1 tech point are able to have armor3 + weapon1, or phase gates + jetpack, or weapon3 + shotguns etc. the modules can be destroyed individually and the loss of one disables any upgrade (armor for example will be immediately scaled down for all marines/exos). since you would need 15 tech modules for being able to access every technology you would even need to make a choice when your team holds 3 tech points.

life form hosts:

those use currently the clog model + a shader overlay for different colors (looks ugly, reminds somewhat of M&Ms). they are moveable (VERY slow) AI units and are build at the hive. those units take quite long to build, so getting early on a 2nd hive will be important for the production. they, as the name indicated already, host abilities for life forms. you can upgrade a life form host to one of the 5 life forms: 1 skulk host grants your team leap, 2 xenocide. 1 gorge host bilebomb, 2 lerk host umbra etc.

the idea is to promote multiple hives by the significant increase in host production, and since they can be individually killed, you probably need to re-create them throughout a match. You can build an unlimited amount of hosts, but you dont need more than 2 of a kind.



energy based abilities:

every commander ability, except of distress beacon, costs now energy! this has been changed for multiple reasons:
a) makes the game more complex
b) fortifications can excaust and potentially break when the pressure is too high
c) certain abilities are not "worth" the resources, and other complimentary alien/marine comm abilities compete better with each other when they use energy
d) i like the dark violet color SC2 uses for the energy bar and wanted to have it as well :P


drifter eggs:

drifters still cloak passive, they still can scout as normal. the change is that when a drifter is positioned in a hive room, it will produce an egg every 20 seconds. this is now the only way of generating eggs for the alien team. this offers new options for the alien commander: evacuate drifters, use drifters as sort of a distress beacon (build 2 or 3 and park them in a safe place, move them into the hive once the team is "egg locked" to quickly generate new eggs). im sure there are more things you can do now with drifters, the basic reason for this change was:

aliens can now (like marines) permanently influence their respawn rate. in bigger games simply build one or two additional drifters, like marines can build additional IPs.
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Comments

  • rantologyrantology Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143750Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold
    There are some awesome ideas in here... Would love to see one of the gather servers host this mod and check it out. =P
  • ArgoshArgosh Join Date: 2011-01-21 Member: 78474Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    This sounds very interesting and I'm eager to try those features. Someone please host this.
  • TimMcTimMc Join Date: 2012-02-06 Member: 143945Members
    Sounds weird but intriguing. Anyone hosting this yet?
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    You might just be a crazy person Sewlek, but I like the way you think. It's certainly cool to see that ideas like these could theoretically be considered officially in the future if they work out.

    That said, my personal opinion on increased complexity and choice in tech trees is that they don't add that much to the game in practice. My experience from many years of playing Natural Selection is that when presented with many choices, the large majority of commanders will almost always simply fall back on that one popular build they learned from all the other commanders who also do the same thing. This was most apparent with the NS1 aliens, where every patch had one standard chamber progression that everybody followed 90% of the time unless they were in the mood for something wacky. In NS2 I can't tell you how often I either see the cookie cutter Shift-Crag-Shade build, or hear the khamm ask "so what upgrade do you guys want?" They just don't care that much about making these choices, that's not why they play commander.

    The main thing to remember is that the NS community is largely a community of FPS players. Most commanders have little real appreciation for true strategic depth, and will not take advantage of it when it is provided. I think it will add more fun for more players if we focus more on depth in tactics(i.e. more active abilities and structure building) rather than depth in strategy(more tech options). I do like your ideas for the active khamm abilities because of that.
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    Also I see a bunch of smaller changes in there that sound awesome but will be difficult to judge properly in the context of the overall craziness of the mod. I think it would be great if you guys did something like a biweekly experimental feature mod. Focus on one or two new features or controversial changes at a time, throw them in there and collect feedback like with the balance mod. Then after two weeks they get pulled whether they're popular or not and something new goes in. Would be a really fun way to generate continued interest in the game without messing up the vanilla gameplay.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    Running this on 747.internetuplink.com
    Looks very interesting!
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    Im running this on "Heidis Ziegenfarm 2 [HBZ]" atm
  • RothgarRothgar Join Date: 2009-11-13 Member: 69372Members
    edited December 2012
    I've just added this to my mixed mod server.

    I've also updated Server guide with manual download instructions since it failed for me.

    Does this advertise that it's running NS2 Arcade when the mod is loaded like Combat etc?
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Some of these changes are outright awesome (marine CC change, tech lab, deeper tech in general) where as other ideas seem a little iffy (drifter eggs)

    Overall though I'm really loving your train of thought, I'm very excited to try this mod out and I sincerely hope we will see some of these ideas eventually make it into the real game.
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    A few observations from poking around with it:

    - For commanders, global hotkeys are far more usable than structure-based hotkeys. Having to click one structure/unit to build another, or to use a global targeted skill, is incredibly inconvenient. Commanding in this mod feels much much clunkier than vanilla because of this. I'm also not a fan of per-structure energy for similar reasons - if abilities use energy it should be from a single global pool. In general I suggest minimizing the need to micro-manage buildings and units because that is not a strength of NS2's RTS gameplay, and requiring commanders to have high micro skill to be successful makes it difficult to have good games.

    - As I mentioned before, the tech mechanics feel too complicated. Simple is good. Tech Labs are an interesting idea, but rather than the very complex mix-and-match of all the possible tech choices, I think it would be better if each tech lab chooses a single tech path to unlock, similar to alien upgrades. All tech labs can upgrade armor/weapon tech like an arms lab today. A Robotics Tech Lab gives you access to macs, ARCs, sentries and phase gates. A Prototype Tech Lab gives you jetpacks and exos(with the single-gun variety being earlier game tech). A Weapons Tech Lab gives you grenade launchers and flamethrowers. Just brainstorming here, but something along those lines.
  • TimMcTimMc Join Date: 2012-02-06 Member: 143945Members
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2046395:date=Dec 15 2012, 07:00 PM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Dec 15 2012, 07:00 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2046395"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Im running this on "Heidis Ziegenfarm 2 [HBZ]" atm<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I played it for an hour on here. Can't say I'm a fan, but its interesting.

    Major issues:
    <ul><li>Alien structures seem very hard to kill</li><li>Marine upgrades seem to die instantly</li><li>GUI goes nuts sometimes. Lost my chat occasionally.</li><li>Blink doesn't seem to work for me.</li></ul>


    Features I really liked:
    <ul><li>Alien minimap that shows visible aliens.</li><li>Buying stuff as marine is left-click on armoury directly rather than pressing 'E'.</li><li>Idea of tech slots and limit per TP you own.</li></ul>


    Features I really hated:
    <ul><li>Alien vision. Not even useful.</li><li>Instant moving shadowstep. Very disorientating for both sides.</li><li>Drifters laying eggs. Besides looking tacky, I didn't see much of an advantage since cannot lay eggs with them outside of hive room.</li><li>Tech trees hard to follow</li><li>Commanders having structure based hotkeys (as said by others) is less useful than a global hotkey bar. If its not specific (eg beacon), it should be global so I can rapidly use it.</li></ul>
  • KhyronKhyron Join Date: 2012-02-02 Member: 143308Members
    !

    This is disturbingly close to my wishlist...

    *dons tinfoil hat*
  • KhyronKhyron Join Date: 2012-02-02 Member: 143308Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2046364:date=Dec 16 2012, 09:35 AM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Dec 16 2012, 09:35 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2046364"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->...on increased complexity and choice in tech trees is that they don't add that much to the game in practice. My experience from many years of playing Natural Selection is that when presented with many choices, the large majority of commanders will almost always simply fall back on that one popular build they learned from all the other commanders who also do the same thing. This was most apparent with the NS1 aliens, where every patch had one standard chamber progression that everybody followed 90% of the time unless they were in the mood for something wacky. In NS2 I can't tell you how often I either see the cookie cutter Shift-Crag-Shade build, or hear the khamm ask "so what upgrade do you guys want?" They just don't care that much about making these choices, that's not why they play commander.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I agree, commanders tend to do one of those two things. But it's disappointing because it makes for stale, repetitive gameplay. I'm generally optimistic that with the right game design there can be meaningful strategic choices which shake up the gameplay.

    I think its important to be aware of some parts of NS2's game design which encourage cookie-cutter build orders:
    <ul><li>If players can identify an upgrade which is more powerful, cheaper or more strategically flexible they'll prioritise it. Celerity or Carapace - can be applied to all lifeforms right from the start of the game; for great benefit; even if secondary abilities haven't be unlocked. I think the main problem here is that some of the alien upgrades are inherently more useful - more HP is always going to be a winner until you nerf it down until it's almost meaningless. What might work better is upgrades which are more like abilities, like camo, and for each upgrade you have selected you get a slight boost to HP, speed etc. Sort of like a lifeform maturity system. Importantly, the upgrades should not be designed to enhance a given attribute (hp, speed) but instead should be designed to permit a different style of play. Then the maturity system scales with marine weapon and armour upgrades.</li><li>Aliens can only select one upgrade type per hive. This means a lifeform cannot role-specialise - assault(crag), ambush(shade) or raid(shift). Being forced at all stages of the game to select one of each type means they become skilled generalists. Because they are generalist, they cannot (as individuals or a team) execute a varied combat doctrine. This in turn encourages things to be unlocked in a certain order.</li><li>Some upgrades are more useful at the start of the game because a) most lifeforms will be skulks and b) no lifeforms have extra abilities (leap, spores etc) which put further demands on energy. Meaning celerity is always more useful than adrenaline in the early game.</li><li>Another point is that most of the <i>choices</i> the Kham makes only affect what the other alien players can do. So of course to be supportive of your teammates it makes sense to either a) do something predictable and familiar or b) ask them what they want. For a really long time camo was OP but if most of the team didn't understand camo tactics, the aliens would play worse (using their assault or raid tactics) and then ultimately blame the Kham for making a bad choice. What might work better is if the Kham had more choices which affected their own ability to do things (bonewall, mist, scan, beacon etc). Currently the Kham's choices are pretty tame (having minor tactical significance rather than strategic consequence) and usually you're better off spending tRes on unlocks, and only using tRes for spells/instants after all the unlocks are completed.</li></ul>

    <!--quoteo(post=2046364:date=Dec 16 2012, 09:35 AM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Dec 16 2012, 09:35 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2046364"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The main thing to remember is that the NS community is largely a community of FPS players. Most commanders have little real appreciation for true strategic depth, and will not take advantage of it when it is provided.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    This really troubles me because it's like a race to the bottom. I have a friend who works in game development as a QA lead, and he often says disparaging things about games I like much to my amusement. His criticisms generally take the form that if a game design is complex it excludes a broader audience. Now, of course there are real world business issues and you have to make your game marketable etc. But its sort of like comparing IKEA to hand crafted timber furniture. Or taking the analogy further, function vs. beauty.

    That which sets NS apart from other FPS is the RTS elements and to strengthen the RTS elements would be to enrich NS.

    Currently there is no shortage of people who want to command. In fact I know some people who only want to play for the sake of commanding. One I know no longer plays because there is too much competition and he has to FPS too often for his tastes. Commanding could definitely have its skill ceiling increased and it could well attract new types of players to the game. Those players might also be interested in some of the field based RTS elements, such as fighting against NPC units, killing harvesters/extractors etc. Those elements which some NS2 players grumble about.
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The main thing to remember is that the NS community is largely a community of FPS players. Most commanders have little real appreciation for true strategic depth, and will not take advantage of it when it is provided.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> This is a very poor excuse not to offer true strategic depth. Ideally the command station is accessible even to the most novice commander, while still offering surprises and 'new' approaches to the more veteran commander. It would be outrageous to water down the commander game out of fear it will no longer be 'accessible', when truly you can make it both accessible AND deep.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    Got issues with autodownloading mods, clients get disconnected before the mods are downloaded completely with the message "missing mods".
    After multiple attemps the mod will download.
  • JektJekt Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143714Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    mod downloading is pretty broken server and client wise. Larger sized mods ones showcase it pretty well.

    Some cool changes here, I'd be surprised to ever see any full servers for gameplay mods that aren't combat though. Not because they're not as fun to play.
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2046538:date=Dec 16 2012, 01:14 AM:name=Khyron)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Khyron @ Dec 16 2012, 01:14 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2046538"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I agree, commanders tend to do one of those two things. But it's disappointing because it makes for stale, repetitive gameplay. I'm generally optimistic that with the right game design there can be meaningful strategic choices which shake up the gameplay.

    I think its important to be aware of some parts of NS2's game design which encourage cookie-cutter build orders:
    <ul><li>If players can identify an upgrade which is more powerful, cheaper or more strategically flexible they'll prioritise it. Celerity or Carapace - can be applied to all lifeforms right from the start of the game; for great benefit; even if secondary abilities haven't be unlocked. I think the main problem here is that some of the alien upgrades are inherently more useful - more HP is always going to be a winner until you nerf it down until it's almost meaningless. What might work better is upgrades which are more like abilities, like camo, and for each upgrade you have selected you get a slight boost to HP, speed etc. Sort of like a lifeform maturity system. Importantly, the upgrades should not be designed to enhance a given attribute (hp, speed) but instead should be designed to permit a different style of play. Then the maturity system scales with marine weapon and armour upgrades.</li><li>Aliens can only select one upgrade type per hive. This means a lifeform cannot role-specialise - assault(crag), ambush(shade) or raid(shift). Being forced at all stages of the game to select one of each type means they become skilled generalists. Because they are generalist, they cannot (as individuals or a team) execute a varied combat doctrine. This in turn encourages things to be unlocked in a certain order.</li><li>Some upgrades are more useful at the start of the game because a) most lifeforms will be skulks and b) no lifeforms have extra abilities (leap, spores etc) which put further demands on energy. Meaning celerity is always more useful than adrenaline in the early game.</li><li>Another point is that most of the <i>choices</i> the Kham makes only affect what the other alien players can do. So of course to be supportive of your teammates it makes sense to either a) do something predictable and familiar or b) ask them what they want. For a really long time camo was OP but if most of the team didn't understand camo tactics, the aliens would play worse (using their assault or raid tactics) and then ultimately blame the Kham for making a bad choice. What might work better is if the Kham had more choices which affected their own ability to do things (bonewall, mist, scan, beacon etc). Currently the Kham's choices are pretty tame (having minor tactical significance rather than strategic consequence) and usually you're better off spending tRes on unlocks, and only using tRes for spells/instants after all the unlocks are completed.</li></ul><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    What I'm trying to say is that more choice is not always a good thing, particularly when it comes to tech which is mutually exclusive. It's possible that too many options actually leads to choice paralysis and removes variety from the game rather than adding it. Alien upgrades are a decent example of this. Choosing which tech path to take your first hive down is a good choice because it's simple and understandable, and leads to three very distinct gameplay styles. On the other hand, choosing which specific upgrades within that to research is a bad kind of choice. The commander is usually forced to decide on a single upgrade to take for economic reasons - this decision has minimal impact on his own gameplay, so it doesn't add much to his experience, and it has the effect of removing the choice that players on the field have for their own playstyle. Silence and Camo are both useful, but because my commander thinks Camo is OP he'll never research Silence even though I would rather use that. If simply upgrading your Shade Hive automatically gave you both upgrades, the commander experience would be identical but the players on the field would have more fun. And as a bonus, the game has become more approachable by virtue of the removal of a needless layer of complexity.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This really troubles me because it's like a race to the bottom. I have a friend who works in game development as a QA lead, and he often says disparaging things about games I like much to my amusement. His criticisms generally take the form that if a game design is complex it excludes a broader audience. Now, of course there are real world business issues and you have to make your game marketable etc. But its sort of like comparing IKEA to hand crafted timber furniture. Or taking the analogy further, function vs. beauty.

    That which sets NS apart from other FPS is the RTS elements and to strengthen the RTS elements would be to enrich NS.

    Currently there is no shortage of people who want to command. In fact I know some people who only want to play for the sake of commanding. One I know no longer plays because there is too much competition and he has to FPS too often for his tastes. Commanding could definitely have its skill ceiling increased and it could well attract new types of players to the game. Those players might also be interested in some of the field based RTS elements, such as fighting against NPC units, killing harvesters/extractors etc. Those elements which some NS2 players grumble about.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I'm not saying that all depth should be removed, I'm saying that right now UWE focuses too much on tech choices and not enough on tactics. Personally as an alien commander, I don't want to pick individual upgrades for my team, and I don't want to pick which lifeform abilities they get either. Neither of those are interesting choices to me. What is interesting is tactical decisions - where to expand and when, which structures are best for this situation, when to use my active abilities, etc. Placing a bone wall in just the right place to save that Onos is awesome. Following my cookie cutter spreadsheet to decide that I should research Celerity -> Leap -> Carapace -> Spores or whatever is pointless, those are just decisions for decision-making's sake.

    I think the difference between NS2 and an RTS that needs to be considered is that in an RTS, you get to play with those units and abilities you just researched. I upgraded Burrow for my zerglings, and now I get to set up ambushes and unburrow them to slaughter that enemy army, which feels awesome. However, in NS2 I don't control my players directly at all, so those tech choices don't affect my gameplay directly. Upgrading Burrow wouldn't be nearly as exciting if it just meant watching my zerglings run around using it however they please. May as well just give them Burrow at a certain point and let me focus on things I can control.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    I want to give an small feedback of an short 3v3 game also:

    Pro:
    - Techtree is interisting on marineside, didnt play the alien com
    - 3D Buy menu looks nice
    - I like the idea of unpowered rooms @ roundstart

    Cons:
    - Upgrade modules and powesupplys are too fragile
    - Blink and shadowstep feels broken and the the insta-shadowstep is too much disorientating
    - Buildung based build order and support is a pain for the com even with hotkeys.

    The other stuff need more testing.
    I put it on the server again if an advanced version is up cause there some annoyiong ui bugs also.
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    hey everyone,

    thanks for the feedback! i didnt expect so much so quickly :)

    i did not play the mod myself, that being said i think you can all understand that i was unable to judge the new shadow step in actual game play or the health values of certain structures. ill bump up the health of tech modules and the power silos, but im unsure regarding the fade. anyone sees a potential future for this approach? otherwise i will simply remove that code and fall back to vanilla ns2 fade.

    regarding complexity, energy, more choices: i want the mod be complex and offer, especially now in the early stages of the mod, more abilities, upgrades or choices the teams can make than they actually would need. at some point it will be, so i hope, very obvious which features should be then either removed or merged with others. the mod is an alternative to ns2 and im intentionally breaking some design rules here. im not trying to reach the broader audience since im not making money with the mod or the future of a company would rely on the success of it :D which explains why i allow "crazy" ideas to get into the mod, rather than scrapping them because they would be unintuitive / too complex. for that reason i want to stick with structure energy and i want the commander gameplay be similar as SC2 or other popular RTS games. the hotgrouping, displaying of energy, rearranging of selections are things that need to be impleneted / improved a lot to make that work. i really dont want to add a global energy pool, because i like the idea of "investing" resources into future potential (energy abilities and unlimited energy regeneration).

    other than that, im also not too happy about alien upgrade system, hive types and upgrades being mutual exclusive. since this is NOT ns2, and im not bound to any design rules, i welcome any crazy ideas to solve this issue. if that involves removing the concept to hive types, so be it ;)

    btw, i still did not decide for a better name for the mod
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->other than that, im also not too happy about alien upgrade system, hive types and upgrades being mutual exclusive. since this is NOT ns2, and im not bound to any design rules, i welcome any crazy ideas to solve this issue. if that involves removing the concept to hive types, so be it ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    To be fair, the most sensible solution would be to simply do away with the alien commander entirely. I think experience by now has shown that the alien design doesn't really allow a 'commander' like the marine one does. You could just replace him by a 'gorge commander' who can set priorities or waypoints or whatever to give his team some sense of direction with a basic 'command' map, making it a proper part-time job. (It already is a part-time job anyway)
  • KuddlyKalliKuddlyKalli Yuggera Country Join Date: 2010-12-23 Member: 75905Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    <!--coloro:#FFC0CB--><span style="color:#FFC0CB"><!--/coloro--><b>Natural Sewlektion 2</b>

    But yeah, I like this mod and the freedom you have to experiment with it. I will have to try to get into a server running this...<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
  • FloodinatorFloodinator [HBZ] Member Join Date: 2005-02-22 Member: 42087Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    Well like DePara said, the Mod is cool and feels "deeper" but there are different things that need tweeks. (Did only play as Marine so far)

    Things that get me Confused or need some changes:

    - First as Commander it is confusing why I can not drop Meds/Ammo altough I have 100 Tres. (Armory energy? Haven't looked)
    - Lots of structures can not be recycled.
    - RTs shouldn't need a Powerpack.
    - Powerpacks and Upgrades need a major HP buff, 1 fast bite Skulk kills 60 Tres in a blink of an eye.
    - Dropping Meds and Ammo is a pain in the Ass, do I really need to bind the Armory to a Key?
    - Power, I need to know how much Power I have in a Room, Suggestion -> the Powernode shows how much Power a Room has and how much is used (or has the Powerpack a range? Never tested it)
    - Smaler CC if possible
    - I can build things that are already build, and if I keep holding E i can move away and still...build
    - Some UI - Bugs when you go to a Protolab or Armroy sometimes

    Good things (more when I Play as footsoldier or Alien):

    - Marine movement feels great!
    - The Techtree desicion is important now, you do not simply the everything up now!
    - Energy! Energy! Yeah!
    - The OMG Fade effect is back! Scary as hell!
    - Relocate everywhere you want
    - Spread the word: "Freeeee Welders!"
    - And that the Armory doesn't give Armor back.
    - Bye bye Sprint and welcome sneak.

    To the Fade:
    We had the same Fade back in build 170 or something, but it was the Fadeblink itself. UWE tried it to do it more userfriendly but it just did not work!
    The problem is, it needs to be instant but you also need a marker, that says where you wil port. And that marker can't be there all the time (disturbing) and if you need to press another button you will lose time/misspress (like double tapping for different dashes -> resulted in random dashes when you for sure didn't wanted it). Also that you keep the momentum while SS is confusing, if I am blinking the upperleft then SS to the left is still fly to the upper left but just 5m more to the right, and that feels strange.
    IMO The Fade feels strange, but is great to playwith the new SS especially when you collide with a Marine so you can ######slap him, when you get used to him!
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->First as Commander it is confusing why I can not drop Meds/Ammo altough I have 100 Tres. (Armory energy? Haven't looked)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    yes, thats armory energy. i want to rework how the hot groups are displayed for the commander, and once i added shift + click manipulation for selection (add, remove units from current selection) you will have much more freedom organizing them. the hotgroups should ideally also display if they are under attack + the average energy % of the "group". that will make it hopefully easier enough to manage all the different structure energy.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Lots of structures can not be recycled.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> power silos are not recycle able, because i dont want that the commander can exploit the power supply mechanic (build 4 silos, build the structures which require the supply, recycle the silos again -> use the free res to transform them into personal res for equipment). extractors are not recycle able because i want that the team / commander has to commit to his decision. right now dropping an RT is a now brainer, the fact that you can recycle it when an area is "lost" makes that even less of a decision.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->RTs shouldn't need a Powerpack.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> thats something i was considering and will probably change it.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Powerpacks and Upgrades need a major HP buff, 1 fast bite Skulk kills 60 Tres in a blink of an eye.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> do you have a good number? like, how many % more durable should they be? i did not play the mod myself yet :(

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Dropping Meds and Ammo is a pain in the Ass, do I really need to bind the Armory to a Key?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> yes. once i reworked hotgroups you can for example bind all armories for hotgroup 3, which would be quite the same as before with the tabs.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Power, I need to know how much Power I have in a Room, Suggestion -> the Powernode shows how much Power a Room has and how much is used (or has the Powerpack a range? Never tested it)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> the power supply is global! the power silos have a range which is indicated by the effect on the ground. i will improve that more later, but thats something i will most likely do for vanilla ns2 (improving effect radius of units)

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Smaler CC if possible<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> i dont have another model :(

    regarding shadow step: i decided to not revert it (yet). instead i will make the shadow step animated instead of instant: it would work essentially the same as right now in the mod, but instead of instantly teleporting to the position, you will move very fast. this shows the actual motion to the fade player camera and to the marines and hopefully makes it less confusing. i like how shadow step is not influencing the velocity anymore, really makes it different from blink and i can make it now more powerful (vertical steps! etc)
  • RothgarRothgar Join Date: 2009-11-13 Member: 69372Members
    Needs an update:

    <!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->[Server] Script Error #1: lua/Marine.lua:41: Base class undefined
        Call stack:
        #1: [C]:-1
        #2: lua/Marine.lua:41
        #3: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #4: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Marine.lua"
        #5: lua/MarineTeam.lua:12
        #6: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #7: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/MarineTeam.lua"
        #8: lua/Server.lua:18
        #9: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #10: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Server.lua"
        #11: cout/Cout.lua:10
        #12: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #13: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "cout/Cout.lua"
        #14: lua/RBPSplugins.lua:9
        #15: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #16: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/RBPSplugins.lua"
        #17: lua/RBPS.lua:12
        #18: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #19: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/RBPS.lua"
        #20: lua/Player.lua:40
        #21: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #22: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Player.lua"
        #23: lua/Alien.lua:10
        #24: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #25: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Alien.lua"
        #26: lua/Embryo.lua:15
        #27: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #28: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Embryo.lua"
        #29: lua/Shared.lua:123
        #30: Load [C]:-1
        #31: lua/Shared_Arcade.lua:12
        #32: Load [C]:-1
        #33: lua/Server_Arcade.lua:9
    [Server] Script Error #2: lua/Skulk.lua:21: Base class undefined
        Call stack:
        #1: [C]:-1
        #2: lua/Skulk.lua:21
        #3: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #4: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Skulk.lua"
        #5: lua/AlienTeam.lua:13
        #6: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #7: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/AlienTeam.lua"
        #8: lua/Server.lua:19
        #9: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #10: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Server.lua"
        #11: cout/Cout.lua:10
        #12: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #13: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "cout/Cout.lua"
        #14: lua/RBPSplugins.lua:9
        #15: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #16: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/RBPSplugins.lua"
        #17: lua/RBPS.lua:12
        #18: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #19: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/RBPS.lua"
        #20: lua/Player.lua:40
        #21: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #22: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Player.lua"
        #23: lua/Alien.lua:10
        #24: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #25: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Alien.lua"
        #26: lua/Embryo.lua:15
        #27: scriptLoad [C]:-1
        #28: Load lua/EventTester.lua:185
            fileName = "lua/Embryo.lua"
        #29: lua/Shared.lua:123
        #30: Load [C]:-1
        #31: lua/Shared_Arcade.lua:12
        #32: Load [C]:-1
        #33: lua/Server_Arcade.lua:9<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    im going to take care about that today
  • twilitebluetwiliteblue bug stalker Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=2051233:date=Dec 26 2012, 05:22 PM:name=Sewlek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sewlek @ Dec 26 2012, 05:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2051233"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->im going to take care about that today<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Merry Christmas!
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    edited December 2012
    heh, merry christmas!

    i updated the mod and fixed a few other bugs. let me know if there are still any problems.

    edit: @Rothgar: i did not get the error your posted above. my guess is another mod is causing your problem, there is no file called "RBPS.lua" in ns2 arcade.
  • RothgarRothgar Join Date: 2009-11-13 Member: 69372Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2051274:date=Dec 26 2012, 09:11 PM:name=Sewlek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sewlek @ Dec 26 2012, 09:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2051274"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->heh, merry christmas!

    i updated the mod and fixed a few other bugs. let me know if there are still any problems.

    edit: @Rothgar: i did not get the error your posted above. my guess is another mod is causing your problem, there is no file called "RBPS.lua" in ns2 arcade.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    RBPS comes from NS2stats I believe.

    But there ended up being a conflict between the two maybe?
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    i updated the mod. there is a new alien buy menu included and aliens can now chose between 2 different abilities at tier 2 (no tier 3 currently). thats WIP (so everything is pretty ugly) but it should be all functional.

    <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=111511147&searchtext=" target="_blank">Workshop</a>
  • twilitebluetwiliteblue bug stalker Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Fantastic progress!

    Skulk seems bugged. I could not evolve Leap, and alien vision doesn't work for the skulk.
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