Changes to the hive.
BarerRudeROC
Join Date: 2010-10-01 Member: 74264Members
Join Date: 2010-10-01 Member: 74264Members
<div class="IPBDescription">A approach on game techniques with the hive.</div><u><b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->HIVE CHANGES<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b></u>
Recently I noticed that when the Hive is on fire,
The tentacles flail through the ground madly.
My advice is that the developers raise it up to a certain height.
Not only does this look better as the tentacles no longer defy the laws of physics.
But it also forces the marines to raise their rifles, thus making them unaware of the ensuing Kharaa.
This forces the Marines to band together and employ tactics for the majority of raids.
This encourage teamwork, but it also gives the player a better, tenser, more epic time while playing.
This method also stops the spamming of weapons.
For example,
If the Hive was at a low height (as seen in your recent flamethrower video),
everyone would grab their flamethrowers/power-weapons and destroy the Kharaa base with ease!
But if the hive was raised a team would split up its weapons.
Rifles for infantry protecting the power player who's focusing on the raised hive, and power weapons for the power player who's going to be looking up at the hive with no awareness of enemys.
These are just small boosts,
but isn't it the small things in a game which can define your overall experience?
What's the communities opinions on the matter?
Recently I noticed that when the Hive is on fire,
The tentacles flail through the ground madly.
My advice is that the developers raise it up to a certain height.
Not only does this look better as the tentacles no longer defy the laws of physics.
But it also forces the marines to raise their rifles, thus making them unaware of the ensuing Kharaa.
This forces the Marines to band together and employ tactics for the majority of raids.
This encourage teamwork, but it also gives the player a better, tenser, more epic time while playing.
This method also stops the spamming of weapons.
For example,
If the Hive was at a low height (as seen in your recent flamethrower video),
everyone would grab their flamethrowers/power-weapons and destroy the Kharaa base with ease!
But if the hive was raised a team would split up its weapons.
Rifles for infantry protecting the power player who's focusing on the raised hive, and power weapons for the power player who's going to be looking up at the hive with no awareness of enemys.
These are just small boosts,
but isn't it the small things in a game which can define your overall experience?
What's the communities opinions on the matter?
Comments
I will miss how in NS1 mappers could setup the Hive to be almost touching the ground and room above to hide a Gorge or Lerk to lofty in the sky. Looks like the Hive's position is now based on height from the Tech Point.
You don't think UWE realise that the tentacles are clipping the ground? This is an Alpha, and has been explained many times before. Not only that but this video has been rushed to keep the community happy as was explained in the blog.
They are not stupid, if they have the intelligence to make a game I am pretty sure they can recognise that their models are clipping the level.
Bug testing is not about the 'big things' in games, it is about the small combined system errors that occur. Things like bunny hopping that are not obvious, of if say upgrading one command chair upgrades them all also.
Sorry for the flame. Suggestions are one thing, but this post is ridiculous.
Also:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If the Hive was at a low height (as seen in your recent flamethrower video),
everyone would grab their flamethrowers/power-weapons and destroy the Kharaa base with ease!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They already explained that the intial 'setting alight' of aliens/structures causes the most damage. So if you keep flaming something that is alight, it doesn't make as big a difference. I am guessing this is so your ammo last for longer so you can clear DI from rooms, whilst it not being too overpowered so that you could run into HIVE locations and just hold down mouse1 and cook the place.
You don't think UWE realise that the tentacles are clipping the ground? This is an Alpha, and has been explained many times before. Not only that but this video has been rushed to keep the community happy as was explained in the blog.
They are not stupid, if they have the intelligence to make a game I am pretty sure they can recognise that their models are clipping the level.
Bug testing is not about the 'big things' in games, it is about the small combined system errors that occur. Things like bunny hopping that are not obvious, of if say upgrading one command chair upgrades them all also.
Sorry for the flame. Suggestions are one thing, but this post is ridiculous.
Also:
They already explained that the intial 'setting alight' of aliens/structures causes the most damage. So if you keep flaming something that is alight, it doesn't make as big a difference. I am guessing this is so your ammo last for longer so you can clear DI from rooms, whilst it not being too overpowered so that you could run into HIVE locations and just hold down mouse1 and cook the place.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There's a reasonably good point about where the marines have to look - if you can see both the hive and the floor on which aliens will be approaching you then you can shoot the hive whilst being fairly safe from aliens biting your nads off. The clipping of tentacles was probably a side-note from the main theme.
On one map screenshot there was a distant hive visible - that too would make it harder for the aliens but is something down to mappers, if the height isn't (without having a big pedestal in the middle of a room) then it's worth discussing, even if only briefly.
Sorry if you were responding to another response rather than the OP, I didn't think you were but I suppose you might have been.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->My advice is that the developers raise it up to a certain height.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Get real mate, I think they know of the issue and I don't think they need such condescending remarks.
The discussion into how the height of the hive may effect hive battles is perfectly valid, as anyone who has played NS1 knows. Knifing whilst looking up takes away your view of what is happening on the ground.
I don't, however, think this will be an issue in NS2. Knifing of the hive was a really mundane offset of the fact that there was no decent weapon for taking it out, until the siege came along. Same goes for res towers and other structures. I think this will change, or I hope it will change in NS2. The flamethrower will help big time.
Quite often the Marines comm chair is in such a position that it requires the marines to go around it to shoot the skulk that's munching away, all the while the alien player can see the the marines rushing to it's defence yet it's quite safe from incomming fire until the marines have gone all the way around (Which sometimes results in them getting within bite range).
I can understand the concern from an aesthetic point of view, the tenticles clipping into the floor is a little odd, but i'm sure it's something that will be addressed at a later date, for now i imagine its at the bottom of UWE's to-do list.
It was a condescending remark - implied or no - and far too obvious for the devs not to notice.
Sorry if it feels like an attack, but sometimes there are comments on here that I just think are ridiculous. But like I said, the discussion into height in regards to attack is valid. I'll shut up now because it is taking away the attention from the OP.
Things don't actually work like this in-game. Example:
When NS 1.0 was released a very strong strategy was to LMG rush the hive. Get a certain amount of ammo, kill a skulk or two on the way over so the aliens are disadvantaged, all players empty LMG into the hive, win. Very simple, very easy, very intuitive.
This strategy went unnoticed in pre1.0 playtesting because I think most pre 1.0 playtesters were casual gamers. I say the word casual not to be derogatory but as a way to describe a player who isn't focused on winning as fast as possible and as easily as possible. I see you the same way. You're trying to create roles, based off weapon choice, that players will fit into. Raising the height of the hive model won't achieve the results your looking for.
The only thing that will is if X weapon never did any damage to structures while Y weapon only did damage to structures.
Quite often the Marines comm chair is in such a position that it requires the marines to go around it to shoot the skulk that's munching away, all the while the alien player can see the the marines rushing to it's defence yet it's quite safe from incomming fire until the marines have gone all the way around (Which sometimes results in them getting within bite range).
I can understand the concern from an aesthetic point of view, the tenticles clipping into the floor is a little odd, but i'm sure it's something that will be addressed at a later date, for now i imagine its at the bottom of UWE's to-do list.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm not sure why I'm defending someone else's idea here but anyway - a key difference between the marines having aliens pop into being in their line of vision in front of the hive and a skulk getting some protection behind a building while eating it and being able to see the marines coming is that the skulk wouldn't be able to quickly switch targets without there being a nice fair fight (as fair as it can be - in general the skulk dies quite easily in NS1 at least). For fades and whatnot with more power maybe it is equivalent but I imagine for a close combat only entity it's less important to see their enemy coming at a great range than vice versa.
As long as the hives have multiple exits so aliens can pop in from behind attackers (again harder if they can all see the doors) - preferably at lots of different heights - then there's still some chance of surprising people. Given that there's no need to have the floor level mappers can get around any limitations and I think that might be more the counter to the argument half put forward in the OP.
When NS 1.0 was released a very strong strategy was to LMG rush the hive. Get a certain amount of ammo, kill a skulk or two on the way over so the aliens are disadvantaged, all players empty LMG into the hive, win. Very simple, very easy, very intuitive.
This strategy went unnoticed in pre1.0 playtesting because I think most pre 1.0 playtesters were casual gamers. I say the word casual not to be derogatory but as a way to describe a player who isn't focused on winning as fast as possible and as easily as possible. I see you the same way. You're trying to create roles, based off weapon choice, that players will fit into. Raising the height of the hive model won't achieve the results your looking for.
The only thing that will is if X weapon never did any damage to structures while Y weapon only did damage to structures.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
X weapon already does better damage to structures and less damage to lifeforms while Y weapon does less damage to structures and more damage to lifeforms.