Game Pace
tenciter
Join Date: 2007-12-10 Member: 63125Members
Join Date: 2007-12-10 Member: 63125Members
<div class="IPBDescription">why faster is better</div>NS has always had that slow, steady, and gradual RTS like pace to it which makes it so unique. Slowly, as the resource pools on the two sides grow bigger, a certain tension builds that can be so appealing. Though I'm sure that many here find that this element is as vital to NS as it is to Starcraft, I believe it is currently too slow to hold the attention of a broader audience. Please consider greatly increasing the pace of the game while preserving that tension.
Consider the following changes in NS thinking ahead to NS2:
<ul><li>hives take half as long to build</li><li>hives have half as much hp</li><li>two or more hives can build at the same time</li></ul><ul><li>resource nodes cost less resources to build</li><li>alien and marine resource nodes take half as long to build</li><li>alien and marine resource nodes have half as much hp (a skulk can chew one in less than a full bar of adrenaline)</li><li>welding or heal spray repairs a node much more rapidly</li></ul><ul><li>lifeforms spawn faster</li><li>lifeforms gestate much more quickly</li><li>lifeform movement abilities such as leap, lerk flight, blink, and charge do not cost adrenaline</li><li>catalyst packs last much longer</li></ul>
There's no denying that the game would be much, much faster if all or any of these changes were to be implemented, but that's no reason to believe that the games would be shorter. The long games so many reminisce about can still exist, but with a faster and more exciting pace. Each team must be vigilant in pressuring the other side to gain territory the entire game. Down time is boring, and I think it's why the bulk of players lose interest in NS so quickly.
You might consider this proposal to fuse the gradual RTS pace of classic NS with the fast, intense gameplay of combat. I feel that this is the ideal for both the potential competitive side to NS2 and the pub scene. It's just not fun to spend a great deal of time biting a resource node as a single skulk, and it certainly isn't fun to watch, either.
Consider the following changes in NS thinking ahead to NS2:
<ul><li>hives take half as long to build</li><li>hives have half as much hp</li><li>two or more hives can build at the same time</li></ul><ul><li>resource nodes cost less resources to build</li><li>alien and marine resource nodes take half as long to build</li><li>alien and marine resource nodes have half as much hp (a skulk can chew one in less than a full bar of adrenaline)</li><li>welding or heal spray repairs a node much more rapidly</li></ul><ul><li>lifeforms spawn faster</li><li>lifeforms gestate much more quickly</li><li>lifeform movement abilities such as leap, lerk flight, blink, and charge do not cost adrenaline</li><li>catalyst packs last much longer</li></ul>
There's no denying that the game would be much, much faster if all or any of these changes were to be implemented, but that's no reason to believe that the games would be shorter. The long games so many reminisce about can still exist, but with a faster and more exciting pace. Each team must be vigilant in pressuring the other side to gain territory the entire game. Down time is boring, and I think it's why the bulk of players lose interest in NS so quickly.
You might consider this proposal to fuse the gradual RTS pace of classic NS with the fast, intense gameplay of combat. I feel that this is the ideal for both the potential competitive side to NS2 and the pub scene. It's just not fun to spend a great deal of time biting a resource node as a single skulk, and it certainly isn't fun to watch, either.
Comments
An example of why I much prefer the current NS pace: If hives went up in half the time, you'd never see a siege.
<!--quoteo(post=1663453:date=Dec 10 2007, 12:18 PM:name=StixNStonz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(StixNStonz @ Dec 10 2007, 12:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1663453"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->a perfect mod for LUA in NS2.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->An example of why I much prefer the current NS pace: If hives went up in half the time, you'd never see a siege.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This thread summarized for you.
I don't read these forums at all, so my thanks for pointing this out. This idea having been brought up many times before isn't surprising. I'm sure that competitive players are as interested as I am in seeing the next installment of NS as a popular competitive game compared to its predecessor. Perhaps its complexity is like a double edged sword that way. A LUA mod sounds very promising.
<!--quoteo(post=1663532:date=Dec 10 2007, 10:08 PM:name=tallmidget22)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tallmidget22 @ Dec 10 2007, 10:08 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1663532"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I could not play this game without downtime builidng and welding and stuff, this is not a Deathmatch game. It is a good idea to keep people interested but at what cost, the entire community?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I suggest no where that this should be like a deathmatch game, but NS, as it is now, is certainly is very 'team-deathmatch like' in the sense that a team with superior aim, individual skill, and teamwork will stomp any team with a better commander and amazing strategy each and every time.
The NS community is, and always has been, a very small and tight knit group interested in a very niche game. I wouldn't consider big changes to be much of a risk at this point.
You're right it's not. Skulks are very fast compared to other games. He's talking about game length as you discussed later in your post.
If UWE wants to have any sucess they will keep it that way. When you make a game like everything else out there then you have to compete with them and their marketing budgets. When you stick to a niche market, a feasible business model in the day of the information super-highway (I never pass up an opportunity to use that phrase), you can actually make money as a small company.