Ns_hydrosity
Mouse
The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
<div class="IPBDescription">No pics, just a concept</div>I going to attempt to make a map where the gameplay would change depending on which hive the aliens first spawned in.
eg.
hive 1 = easy to defend, hard to launch an attack from, tend to zoom up the tech tree
hive 2 = hard to defend, not enough resources near by to really build up
hive 3 = somewhere between hive 1 and 2 resource and defence capability wise
If at the start of the game the aliens were to spawn in hive 2, they would be forced to expand their 'base' early on possibly because of enviromental hazards and lack of resources. their would probably be various semi-deadend rooms full of hiding spots between it and the marine spawn. This would cause the aliens to adopt a more guerilla style of combat.
However, if the aliens were to spawn at hive 1 they would basiclly have to dig in for a siege because although they would be well equiped resource wise, since hive 1 would have only one or two hallways conecting it to the map (maybe one or two vents, but they would only be able to fit the lower level aliens), these hallways would be full of alcoves for the marines to take cover.The marines would have control of most of the resource nodes outside hive 1 therefore a battle between the two sides would be more like a clash of the titans, niether side winning outright just pounding away at the enemy hoping they will slip up, in other words a war of attrition (I hope I spelt that right ) for those that don't know what that is: basiclly both sides attack in waves both hoping to get one or two team mates through to break the stalemate and tilt the odds in their favour.
Finally, if the aliens started the game at hive 3 it would be more vanilla flavoured NS (since I'm not a playtester I don't really know what vanilla NS is like, but you should have a general idea)
This combination will be really hard for me to get right, but if I manage to pull it off it would give the map massive replay value.
Oh BTW, ns_hydrosity is set in a colony's sewer system.
eg.
hive 1 = easy to defend, hard to launch an attack from, tend to zoom up the tech tree
hive 2 = hard to defend, not enough resources near by to really build up
hive 3 = somewhere between hive 1 and 2 resource and defence capability wise
If at the start of the game the aliens were to spawn in hive 2, they would be forced to expand their 'base' early on possibly because of enviromental hazards and lack of resources. their would probably be various semi-deadend rooms full of hiding spots between it and the marine spawn. This would cause the aliens to adopt a more guerilla style of combat.
However, if the aliens were to spawn at hive 1 they would basiclly have to dig in for a siege because although they would be well equiped resource wise, since hive 1 would have only one or two hallways conecting it to the map (maybe one or two vents, but they would only be able to fit the lower level aliens), these hallways would be full of alcoves for the marines to take cover.The marines would have control of most of the resource nodes outside hive 1 therefore a battle between the two sides would be more like a clash of the titans, niether side winning outright just pounding away at the enemy hoping they will slip up, in other words a war of attrition (I hope I spelt that right ) for those that don't know what that is: basiclly both sides attack in waves both hoping to get one or two team mates through to break the stalemate and tilt the odds in their favour.
Finally, if the aliens started the game at hive 3 it would be more vanilla flavoured NS (since I'm not a playtester I don't really know what vanilla NS is like, but you should have a general idea)
This combination will be really hard for me to get right, but if I manage to pull it off it would give the map massive replay value.
Oh BTW, ns_hydrosity is set in a colony's sewer system.
Comments
1) Stalemates suck, especially in NS.
2) Aliens generally get free run of the map; so far in PTs aliens have always been very expansion-minded. The alien hive that does not get at least 2 hives up quickly tends to ultimately fail. So your idea to "force" them to expand might not work too well... they'll do it anyway.
Also, alcoves tend to help aliens, since they are more likely to take cover from the ranged marines. The best advantage you can give a marine is a long, narrow corridor with no hiding places.
But I would say that it's gotta be almost impossible to accurately map for NS without playing it. <!--emo&:(--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('><!--endemo-->
So don't go overboard on your map until you've had a chance to play, if you know what I mean.
I should have some pics of the marine spawn up soon
[EDIT] fixed link (thanks Chromaangel)
(sorry if they look too dark or something, I had to do the gamma correction manually because I don't have PS)
The spawning platform
Sky by Chal
99.9% of the textures from Carbon14's wad (please add some more textures to this wad carbon)
Some things:
First pic, the grate in the roof: I'd suggest you replace it by a windowed roof (get yourself a nice dirty glasstexture to make it consistent) to make the interesting lightning more believeable.
The platform: Replace the ladders by an elevator and add trims around the platforms edges, or nobody will bother and simply jump down.
I can't really see how big the rooms is, but it could become a little cramped. Might just be my imagination, though.
Other than that, it's really good work. Add some more details and it's a winner.
I agree with everything Nemesis Zero said, though except that I like the grating at the top just fine.
/me slaps himself and bathes in holywater