Gorge Tunnels - should they allow cyst placement

RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
edited March 2013 in NS2 General Discussion
Should gorge tunnels allow the placement of cysts as a means to allow Alien Comm to breach a Marine front line with skilled play?

I've been wondering this for a while. Given the cost, danger and currently very limited use of Gorge tunnels (defensive transport system) I think this would provide an interesting and unique tool to assist with Alien expansion if they are getting bottled in against heavily dug in marines.

I've seen in a few games marines setting up a forward phase gate, but never using it for offence. Just camping out by their armoury to totally deny significant portions of map. I've no problem with this as a viable tactic, but there is no effective counter with how quickly marines can pour through phase gates.

A good example of this was a recent game on summit I had, Marines started Datacore and aliens in subaccess.

Marines rushed phase gates, camped out in Crossroads until the tech was researched, (at this point aliens had most of the map building harvesters) then all the marines rushed computer lab, setup a phase gate, the remaining marines poured down into ventilation and setup a phase gate there too. They could still sneak 1 or 2 skulks up through maintenance/pipe but not enough to do more than harass a single RT or two. If gorge tunnels allowed infesation to spread, an alien could have sneaked past the marines in vent re-evolved to gorge up in crevice and setup a forward outpost to allow the commander to continue to build a shift and allow some distraction to break up the numbers on the front line of the marine assault and possibly allow them to break a phase-gate down.

As it was, the Marines didn't even try to push. They just sat in there long tunnels shooting down all the skulks who tried to attack until they had totally out teched them and came rolling in with Jetpacks

I'm sure the skill balanced favoured marines (it was a very extreme example) but I think it might provide at least an interesting mechanic?
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Comments

  • NammNamm Join Date: 2011-12-08 Member: 137116Members
    Agreed. How about if one of the ends is infested, Infestation will automatically spread through the Gorge Tunnel and out the other end?
  • |strofix||strofix| Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165453Members
  • meatmachinemeatmachine South England Join Date: 2013-01-06 Member: 177858Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    This could make shade hive more viable too!
    Just think about it.
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    meatmachine - very much so indeed! Cloaked forward base with no connection!
  • MisterYoonMisterYoon Join Date: 2012-08-18 Member: 155747Members
    Now crying lots of marine commanders! They need a skill like Starcraft or Company of Heroes!

    and i would like that
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    I can just imagine a forward cloaked base hidden in topographical with aliens pinned into pipeline leading a rush on control to turn the game around :D that'd be tremendous!
  • YuukiYuuki Join Date: 2010-11-20 Member: 75079Members
    That's a very good idea. The current infestation requirement is way too restrictive and mainly defeats the purpose of the gorge tunnel, like allowing aliens to reinforce a growing hive behind marine lines. Sneaking by as a gorge and building the tunnel is well enough to give the opportunity to marines to counter it.

    So one of the end of the tunnel is built on infestation, and the other end can be build everywhere and behave like a cyst, connected to the cyst chain through the tunnel.
  • DustehDusteh Join Date: 2011-07-25 Member: 112142Members, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow
    Obviously it would draw alot more attention to it with infestation coming off of it though. At the moment you can set one up in certain places (behind a crate in landing pad for example) where marines will have no idea it's there.

    Does sound interesting though, can think of numerous strategies that it could create.
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    sounds like a good idea, but this will cause a similar issue as the old minicysts: gorge creates infestation, gorge changes mind and relocated tunnel entrance to somewhere else -> cyst chains break, infestation recedes and all structures die
  • |strofix||strofix| Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165453Members
    Sewlek wrote: »
    sounds like a good idea, but this will cause a similar issue as the old minicysts: gorge creates infestation, gorge changes mind and relocated tunnel entrance to somewhere else -> cyst chains break, infestation recedes and all structures die

    In my opinion the gorge shouldn't even be the one to drop "gorge" tunnels, the commander should be. In their current form, it just poses too many logistical nightmares for individual players to be placing the tunnel entrances.

  • HamletHamlet Join Date: 2008-08-17 Member: 64837Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Heisenberg's uncertainty principle has to be applied to Gorge Tunnels as well:
    You either know the location or the momentum of the infestation, but not both.

    Schrödinger's Gorge springs to mind.
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    Sewlek, that really comes down to 'good communication' with your team "Mr Gorge please go here and get a tunnel up I'm going to build a base there" should be enough to know that moving that gorge tunnel is bad for business
  • NammNamm Join Date: 2011-12-08 Member: 137116Members
    Sewlek wrote: »
    sounds like a good idea, but this will cause a similar issue as the old minicysts: gorge creates infestation, gorge changes mind and relocated tunnel entrance to somewhere else -> cyst chains break, infestation recedes and all structures die
    Khamm able to adopt tunnels? One "team tunnel" slot per Hive perhaps. Adoption frees the tunnel slots for the Gorge that built it.
  • KurrineKurrine Join Date: 2010-07-03 Member: 72235Members
    I don't really ever see tunnels change locations once set up in a game. It isn't much like mini cysts which get killed and replaced all the time. They tend to be a far more permanent facet of alien territory from what I've seen, short of a hive getting wiped out of course.
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Yuuki wrote: »
    That's a very good idea. The current infestation requirement is way too restrictive and mainly defeats the purpose of the gorge tunnel, like allowing aliens to reinforce a growing hive behind marine lines. Sneaking by as a gorge and building the tunnel is well enough to give the opportunity to marines to counter it.

    There is no infestation requirement on the gorge tunnels, they can be dropped anywhere (even in some shady places, like vents with enough room).

    The idea of this thread is very interesting, and it would be easy for marines to counter as well; killing the tunnel entrance would eventually and inevitably kill that ecosystem off. And I don't really see the problem @Sewlek stated, I don't think it's a bad thing to have strategic features which require co-operation within the team. Isn't khammander-gorge synergy exactly what we've all been looking for? Besides, nobody's forcing the khammander to base his whole strategy on that one tunnel entrance if he doesn't trust the gorge who dropped it.

  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    im not totally against it, just stating potential problems (theoretically) and you tell me those problems dont exist (theoretically). what will it do to game play? does it cause new issues? those questions can only be answered when actually trying it.
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    Sewlek, is this something that is possible with LUA changes, something you could put into your balance mod potentially? (Not asking if you will or wont, just if it's possible)
  • CrushaKCrushaK Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167195Members, NS2 Playtester
    Dusteh wrote: »
    Obviously it would draw alot more attention to it with infestation coming off of it though. At the moment you can set one up in certain places (behind a crate in landing pad for example) where marines will have no idea it's there.

    There should only be minimal infestation coming off the tunnel itself. At best only so much that you can place a structure right next to it. Leave it a conscious decision for the commander whether or not he wants to expose that tunnel more by actually placing a cyst at it and thus really spread the infestation.
  • ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
    edited March 2013
    how about rather than going to change god knows how many lines of LUA to add cysting into the tunnel, we just go ahead and make the tunnel entry "hive like" and allow it to be the source for a cyst chain... at least to test out how this would play out.
  • SherlockSherlock Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168595Members
    Remove the ability for Gorges to move tunnel entrances?

    I personally didn't even know they COULD be moved... :/ Never seen it happen with one.
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    @ma$$a$$ter that seems like a far more sensible option for small scale testing, I also wasn't advocating cysting through the tunnel, since it's already alien territory - just that the end points allow the cyst mechanic to be placed near the tunnel exist if the entrance is on infested ground
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Sherlock wrote: »
    Remove the ability for Gorges to move tunnel entrances?

    I personally didn't even know they COULD be moved... :/ Never seen it happen with one.

    Just like hydras and clogs, placing a new one with a maximum amount of entities already on the field will kill the oldest one dropped. Preventing gorges from doing this unless marines kill the old entrances would hurt gorge-play in my opinion.
  • YuukiYuuki Join Date: 2010-11-20 Member: 75079Members
    Therius wrote: »
    There is no infestation requirement on the gorge tunnels, they can be dropped anywhere (even in some shady places, like vents with enough room).

    Ho, I never realized that, I always saw people building them on infestation. I guess it's easy to get confused with exceptions to the general rule. I kind of agree with Sewlek now, but it's more that having both gorge and commander being able to build structures is weird in the first place.
  • RippsyRippsy Join Date: 2013-01-16 Member: 179921Members
    @Therius does that cost the resources again? If it does, "move" is a bit of a mis-nomber, rebuild would be more accurate I feel?
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Rippsy wrote: »
    @Therius does that cost the resources again? If it does, "move" is a bit of a mis-nomber, rebuild would be more accurate I feel?

    It does, just like placing new hydras.

  • RadimaXRadimaX Join Date: 2013-02-05 Member: 182840Members
    i like the idea of making the tunnel a portable cyst, instead of growing in 2 directions and get killed of by marine facegates on both sides with no room to expand 1 sneaky gorge can make it possible to build a base outside the enemys starting location and maby infest the map from the other end so when the scans roll out they will se aliens in fact has more mapcontrol or infestation all around the place
  • current1ycurrent1y Join Date: 2003-12-08 Member: 24150Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    Sewlek wrote: »
    sounds like a good idea, but this will cause a similar issue as the old minicysts: gorge creates infestation, gorge changes mind and relocated tunnel entrance to somewhere else -> cyst chains break, infestation recedes and all structures die


    Very true however I got a feeling this won't happen often. In my experiences so far gorge tunnels are rarely moved. I think it would be much more likely the tunnel gets destroyed by players. It's a classic High risk / high reward senario that is fun to play with if you have the option. This idea could be used to set up forward heal bases otherwise not previously possible....exciting times.<:-P
  • CalegoCalego Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181848Members, NS2 Map Tester
    *Cough Cough*
    hakenspit wrote: »
    I think simplest solution is that a gorge tunnel exit/entrance acts like a cyst and allows other cysts to be placed near it (independent of a chain).
    Would add some interesting tactics and give aliens a chance of holding nano on veil even if they cant secure space between it and their hive.
    I think it's definitely worth testing out.
  • giogio Join Date: 2012-08-14 Member: 155618Members
    This is an intriguing idea; worth experimenting with.

    Would make crag and shade more viable, especially when cloaking structures in mid-late game opens up new, sneaky strategies.

    I'm envisioning 1 hive comebacks.

    Implementation is tricky - how the tunnel infestation interacts or if it is placed in vents or on a high ledge - needs to be taken into account.
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