Power Node Upgrades
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Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">As in researchables</div>I was thinking that the power nodes as they are now are kinda neat but rather binary in their existence. Either they're there and you don't need to think too much about them or they're not and they're near-top priority for any movement through the area.
So to give them a more exciting purpose in life, why not allow them to be upgraded in some way or another?
For example,
<ol type='1'><li>Increase health and armour</li><li>Regenerate damage</li><li>Inhibit infestation</li><li>Provide motion tracking</li></ol>
Other thoughts: should be fairly cheap (5 res?) but mutually exclusive (can only pick ONE upgrade) and lost on destruction (can pick any again after repairing)
EDIT: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/topics/power_node_upgrades" target="_blank">Now on getsatisfaction.</a>
So to give them a more exciting purpose in life, why not allow them to be upgraded in some way or another?
For example,
<ol type='1'><li>Increase health and armour</li><li>Regenerate damage</li><li>Inhibit infestation</li><li>Provide motion tracking</li></ol>
Other thoughts: should be fairly cheap (5 res?) but mutually exclusive (can only pick ONE upgrade) and lost on destruction (can pick any again after repairing)
EDIT: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/topics/power_node_upgrades" target="_blank">Now on getsatisfaction.</a>
Comments
<ol type='1'><li>Increase health and armour, <i><!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->perhaps it gets the same as the one researched at the armslab (wait armory)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></i></li><li>Regenerate damage, <i><!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->counter vs crag?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></i></li><li>Inhibit infestation, <i><!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->valid counter to marines not being able to build on DI<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></i></li><li>Provide motion tracking, <i><!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->valid counter to Hive Sight when marines are on DI<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></i></li></ol>
All in all, I like it. The more map controlling RTS the better!
And for 'liens, a gorge could build SC chamber on a broken node to create a cloaking area..?
Not to be picky but..
1. Increase health and armour - Research qalready does/allows this anyway so you would either need to reduce or remove this
2. Regenerate damage - Med pack spam far exceeds anything aliens get from crags or DI
3. Inhibit infestation - As aliens can only build on infestation this would severly hamper them, you would need to destroy the power node..lay di...hope the marines dont want to repair node...
4. Provide motion tracking - I think you will find an observatory or similar would offer this sort of function in a similar way to ns1.
well thats my 2c
#3 and 4 is supposed to make aliens want to prioritize attacking the node, rather than just leave it without much risk, as is the case now; and observatories would need to be built, unlike the node.
#3 and 4 is supposed to make aliens want to prioritize attacking the node, rather than just leave it without much risk, as is the case now; and observatories would need to be built, unlike the node.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ok so your wanting to increase the value of taking down nodes...I do agree there is not enough motivation for aliens to do this currently.
With #1 another way of looking at it is that by destroying a power node you maybe knock of 25% of building health making it easier to destroy....
Not sure how #2 applies as marine buildings dont heal themselves...but maybe macs cant repair a building unless there is an active power node...but as the building cant fire without the power node not sure that would actually change anything
The reason aliens dont take down nodes is that it seems to take longer to munch a node than repair it, that coupled with the minimal benefit of the darker room (need to turn down the brightness of the back up lighting...if people chose to wash out there screen by screwing with gamma so be it) currently its only the first few seconds that aliens actually have an advantage and considering the effort to take down the node this offers no incentive.
With #4 is your suggestion that if the marines have motion tracking that it would only work in rooms/areas with an active power node?
I think that how power nodes are integrated hasn't really hit the nail on teh head yet, its too easy for marines to repair nodes..even in the alien hives...aliens should be able to place something over teh node that requires an actual marine to remove before it can be repaired.
Something like say a bile bomb that leave a thin layer of goo that a marine can easily remove (with say even 1 or 2 pistol shots) this would mean that commanders cant send macs into alien hives unassisted if they want to repair a node as the aliens could have "goo'd" it up and a marine need to "wipe it clean".
If Kharaa-controlled territories were much darker much longer (rather than going red after a brief period) and the alien vision more conducive to gauging light (such as automatically fading in and out with light levels), I can imagine alien players would be more enticed to destroy Power Nodes to gain that territorial advantage. Neutral territories should be more neutral with power/lighting advantages favoring neither team (dark vision opacity reduced to 50%, and at most marine's should still be able to build un-powered structures). Currently there is no Neutral territory state (all territories default in Marine-control) which is the biggest problem with the current implementation.