Cyst musings
Chris0132
Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
<div class="IPBDescription">How it seems to work, what it needs from here</div>So I played around with cysts, get kinda how they work, I assume there is quite a bit more planned with them, so I thought I'd organise what I've got and read into a somewhat comprehensive post.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->How they work now<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
As it stands, cysts basically just give marines a way to shoot the old infestation. They do seem to use a line of sight placement system as well as distance, but in practice they work kinda the same way, you need to place them around a place to get coverage, and stretching out your lines too much isn't a good idea.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Problems<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Obviously the main problem with them is that they die really easily, and if they die further back they can easily kill off a large amount of alien stuff when they disconnect from the hive. However I've also noticed some minor problems. Having to place them all in direct LOS from each other is pretty restrictive, it makes it very hard to put them out of the way because the slightest blockage will make them unable to join up. This is in contrast to the old DI which could be placed in more protected areas, and given that cysts are going to be vulnerable to projectile weapons, they need to be placed in protected areas more than the old DI.
Further, you have the issue of corridor size affecting network strength, while more cysts does mean a stronger network, without the ability to place them on the ceiling, you are very limited by the amount of floor space in the corridors between rooms. This means effectively that whatever you do, corridors are always going to be a huge weak point in the alien supply network compared to their rooms, which basically means that marines are always going to be better off ignoring major alien positions and instead attacking corridor junctions, which I don't think is very good, it's a bit like the problems in earlier builds where killing res towers was by far the easiest and best method of winning the game (still kind of a problem but not as much I think).
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solutions<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
There's lots of suggestions floating around the forums, and they all have ups and downs, I do however think there are two 'categories' of approach you can take to solving the problem, and those are:
<b>1. Make the chain stronger</b>
And
<b>2. Make the weight lighter</b>
Somewhat metaphorical, but if the cysts are the alien supply chain, you can either make the chain out of reinforced steel, or you can make the thing it holds up a bit less important to the alien side. Either you make cysts very hard to kill, or you make it so that losing a cyst connection is less problematic.
This is an important distinction I think, because a lot of the emphasis goes on making the chain stronger, and while it is a good approach to a degree, I think your main problem with using it alone is that because the entire alien game rests on the infestation chain, you will find that infestation needs to be really, really hard to kill in order to make the game playable, you essentially need to make it so that it is impossible to kill, because if it is possible to kill the aliens lose, it needs to be main-base style hard to kill, which is really hard to scale between the front lines and the back.
So, I think taking elements from a lot of ideas is a better approach, which I'll list.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 1: Scaling cyst health<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
I've kinda bundled a bunch of things together, but a lot of folks are suggesting things along the lines of 'make pustules further back in a chain harder to kill' or 'make cysts stronger over time' or 'make cysts connected to buildings have more health' and that sort of thing. These are all basically the idea that as you get closer to a base, the infestation becomes harder to clear, as clearing it will kill more things, the underlying principle here is <i><b>'Infestation should require the same amount of effort to clear the same amount of space, regardless of how you go about it'</b></i>. I think it's a good principle. By implementing ideas like these you change the appeal of attacking junctions and corridors from being about killing a huge area easily, to perhaps not having to deal with as many defenses. It is easier to attack the infestation at an area half way along the chain because the aliens haven't filled it full of hydras like they have the resource room at the end of it. I think this is generally better because it meshes well with the general theme of the game, if the enemy has placed defences and is defending strongly, look for a different place to attack, it's less artificial than the 'attack here to kill half the map' approach that the infestation currently encourages.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 2: Symbiosis<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
This is again a bit of an amalgamation of a few ideas, stuff like 'buildings should support infestation' and 'more cysts should make redundant connections' and that sort of thing, basically the idea here is that <b><i>'Building an area up should make it harder to take down as the structures work together.</i></b> This is another good idea as it encourages aliens to populate more of the map, if say placing a crag caused all the cysts in an area to harden and become harder to kill until you kill the crag, or if they gave off spore clouds if you attacked them while a whip was nearby, it gives commanders a method to toughen an area, and also gives them a reason to place crags which in turn are very useful to alien players. It also has a very strong thematic connection to aliens, aliens are a multitude of different classes all supporting each other, alien structures work best when you have crags to heal the hydras and provide umbra, while the hive supports the infestation to keep the structures alive, and all of this provides healing, energy regen boosts, distractions, and visibility bonuses to alien players, thus making the commander role an extension of the alien player roles, players play different games to help each other, gorges heal fades so they can hide behind them, fades protect gorges for healing, commanders drop structures to keep players alive and spread their control, players protect structures to they can benefit from them. This theme is part of what makes aliens so interesting.
The other thing about this is it addresses a key problem with cysts, it should never be preferable to kill the cysts rather than killing the structures they're attached to. If you can kill a crag farm by just shooting the easy to kill cyst next to it, it means that most of the structures in an area will always be redundant, the structures have interesting abilities, you should always get players to focus on them first.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 3: Don't kill everything just because the infestation disconnected.<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
This is kind of my idea mostly but I know some other people have suggested things along these lines, I'll quote what I wrote in another thread rather than retype it:
<!--quoteo(post=1859500:date=Jul 10 2011, 08:11 PM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Jul 10 2011, 08:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1859500"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=1859498:date=Jul 10 2011, 08:05 PM:name=Deadzone)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Deadzone @ Jul 10 2011, 08:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1859498"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->MO, finding the Cyst should be a "bonus" goal for marines, and be more like mini hives, or alien power nodes. Power nodes take a good long while to kill unless you have 3-4 skulks on it, and killing a Cyst should provide a similar penalty to aliens as having the power go out.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I suppose, with that in mind, you could change infestation so that rather than dying when not connected to a hive, things on it simply stop working properly. Structures don't regenerate health automatically and regenerate energy slower (so slower crag healing), aliens don't get their health/energy regen boost, it doesn't show marine positions, and resource towers don't contribute to the res supply (although they would still collect and store res locally for transmission back when they are reconnected.
Bascially infestation unifies the aliens, an area disconnected from a hive still works, but the hive (and subsequently the commander) doesn't get anything from it, and likewise the area doesn't recieve the benefits of the hive. You could also include things like commanders not being able to activate or upgrade structures on disconnected infestation, as they don't really have control there. It isn't quite like power nodes as marine stuff just turns into so much junk if it isn't powered, but it is a similar mechanic in that it's bad, but not terminal on its own.
Cutting off an area wouldn't really do anything serious in this system, unless you follow it up with an attack on the area or you keep it cut off. Reconnecting areas is beneficial for aliens, but not something you have to do immediately and not something that results in instant death if you don't.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The key idea here is that <b><i>'Cut links should not result in severe penalties.'</i></b> I think no matter what you do, if cutting the link causes everything past it to die, it's going to be really really hard to make that link strong enough. You already have a high risk high reward option available, attacking the alien hive, killing the hive is a difficult but highly rewarding goal, ultimately in order to make infestation feasible with that sort of payoff, you're going to end up making it a hive-scale challenge, which is kind of redundant as you already have the hive as a hive-scale challenge. I think it would work a lot better if you made cutting off infestation more like the marine power supply, marines can and should build a couple of power packs around their base, so cutting the main power is a problem as it restricts their building space and probably takes out their outlying defences, as well as making it hard for them to see. But it doesn't kill the base, and it doesn't do anything at all unless you follow it up with and (easier, but still challenging) attack on the base.
If you reduce the penalty, it gives you a lot of wiggle room for adding interesting mechanics, you don't have to turn infestation into an iron hard triple reinforced green power cable from the hive if cutting it isn't catastrophic for the aliens, this means that marines can spend less time shooting at blobs on the floor, and aliens can spend less time protecting little blobs on the floor, it puts the focus back on hives, and strongly built up rooms, which is where the best gameplay comes from because they're designed to be good places to fight in, and usually contain good rewards for holding them. This I think would be a big improvement.
I should point out I think this is a step in the right direction, in a way, I mean all it did in 180 was break the game horribly, but the idea that infestation shouldn't require a specific weapon to clear and should instead require teamwork of any sort is good, it just needs a lot of work, 180 feels half finished, but what I presume to be the idea behind it is sound.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->How they work now<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
As it stands, cysts basically just give marines a way to shoot the old infestation. They do seem to use a line of sight placement system as well as distance, but in practice they work kinda the same way, you need to place them around a place to get coverage, and stretching out your lines too much isn't a good idea.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Problems<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Obviously the main problem with them is that they die really easily, and if they die further back they can easily kill off a large amount of alien stuff when they disconnect from the hive. However I've also noticed some minor problems. Having to place them all in direct LOS from each other is pretty restrictive, it makes it very hard to put them out of the way because the slightest blockage will make them unable to join up. This is in contrast to the old DI which could be placed in more protected areas, and given that cysts are going to be vulnerable to projectile weapons, they need to be placed in protected areas more than the old DI.
Further, you have the issue of corridor size affecting network strength, while more cysts does mean a stronger network, without the ability to place them on the ceiling, you are very limited by the amount of floor space in the corridors between rooms. This means effectively that whatever you do, corridors are always going to be a huge weak point in the alien supply network compared to their rooms, which basically means that marines are always going to be better off ignoring major alien positions and instead attacking corridor junctions, which I don't think is very good, it's a bit like the problems in earlier builds where killing res towers was by far the easiest and best method of winning the game (still kind of a problem but not as much I think).
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solutions<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
There's lots of suggestions floating around the forums, and they all have ups and downs, I do however think there are two 'categories' of approach you can take to solving the problem, and those are:
<b>1. Make the chain stronger</b>
And
<b>2. Make the weight lighter</b>
Somewhat metaphorical, but if the cysts are the alien supply chain, you can either make the chain out of reinforced steel, or you can make the thing it holds up a bit less important to the alien side. Either you make cysts very hard to kill, or you make it so that losing a cyst connection is less problematic.
This is an important distinction I think, because a lot of the emphasis goes on making the chain stronger, and while it is a good approach to a degree, I think your main problem with using it alone is that because the entire alien game rests on the infestation chain, you will find that infestation needs to be really, really hard to kill in order to make the game playable, you essentially need to make it so that it is impossible to kill, because if it is possible to kill the aliens lose, it needs to be main-base style hard to kill, which is really hard to scale between the front lines and the back.
So, I think taking elements from a lot of ideas is a better approach, which I'll list.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 1: Scaling cyst health<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
I've kinda bundled a bunch of things together, but a lot of folks are suggesting things along the lines of 'make pustules further back in a chain harder to kill' or 'make cysts stronger over time' or 'make cysts connected to buildings have more health' and that sort of thing. These are all basically the idea that as you get closer to a base, the infestation becomes harder to clear, as clearing it will kill more things, the underlying principle here is <i><b>'Infestation should require the same amount of effort to clear the same amount of space, regardless of how you go about it'</b></i>. I think it's a good principle. By implementing ideas like these you change the appeal of attacking junctions and corridors from being about killing a huge area easily, to perhaps not having to deal with as many defenses. It is easier to attack the infestation at an area half way along the chain because the aliens haven't filled it full of hydras like they have the resource room at the end of it. I think this is generally better because it meshes well with the general theme of the game, if the enemy has placed defences and is defending strongly, look for a different place to attack, it's less artificial than the 'attack here to kill half the map' approach that the infestation currently encourages.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 2: Symbiosis<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
This is again a bit of an amalgamation of a few ideas, stuff like 'buildings should support infestation' and 'more cysts should make redundant connections' and that sort of thing, basically the idea here is that <b><i>'Building an area up should make it harder to take down as the structures work together.</i></b> This is another good idea as it encourages aliens to populate more of the map, if say placing a crag caused all the cysts in an area to harden and become harder to kill until you kill the crag, or if they gave off spore clouds if you attacked them while a whip was nearby, it gives commanders a method to toughen an area, and also gives them a reason to place crags which in turn are very useful to alien players. It also has a very strong thematic connection to aliens, aliens are a multitude of different classes all supporting each other, alien structures work best when you have crags to heal the hydras and provide umbra, while the hive supports the infestation to keep the structures alive, and all of this provides healing, energy regen boosts, distractions, and visibility bonuses to alien players, thus making the commander role an extension of the alien player roles, players play different games to help each other, gorges heal fades so they can hide behind them, fades protect gorges for healing, commanders drop structures to keep players alive and spread their control, players protect structures to they can benefit from them. This theme is part of what makes aliens so interesting.
The other thing about this is it addresses a key problem with cysts, it should never be preferable to kill the cysts rather than killing the structures they're attached to. If you can kill a crag farm by just shooting the easy to kill cyst next to it, it means that most of the structures in an area will always be redundant, the structures have interesting abilities, you should always get players to focus on them first.
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Solution 3: Don't kill everything just because the infestation disconnected.<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
This is kind of my idea mostly but I know some other people have suggested things along these lines, I'll quote what I wrote in another thread rather than retype it:
<!--quoteo(post=1859500:date=Jul 10 2011, 08:11 PM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Jul 10 2011, 08:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1859500"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=1859498:date=Jul 10 2011, 08:05 PM:name=Deadzone)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Deadzone @ Jul 10 2011, 08:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1859498"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->MO, finding the Cyst should be a "bonus" goal for marines, and be more like mini hives, or alien power nodes. Power nodes take a good long while to kill unless you have 3-4 skulks on it, and killing a Cyst should provide a similar penalty to aliens as having the power go out.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I suppose, with that in mind, you could change infestation so that rather than dying when not connected to a hive, things on it simply stop working properly. Structures don't regenerate health automatically and regenerate energy slower (so slower crag healing), aliens don't get their health/energy regen boost, it doesn't show marine positions, and resource towers don't contribute to the res supply (although they would still collect and store res locally for transmission back when they are reconnected.
Bascially infestation unifies the aliens, an area disconnected from a hive still works, but the hive (and subsequently the commander) doesn't get anything from it, and likewise the area doesn't recieve the benefits of the hive. You could also include things like commanders not being able to activate or upgrade structures on disconnected infestation, as they don't really have control there. It isn't quite like power nodes as marine stuff just turns into so much junk if it isn't powered, but it is a similar mechanic in that it's bad, but not terminal on its own.
Cutting off an area wouldn't really do anything serious in this system, unless you follow it up with an attack on the area or you keep it cut off. Reconnecting areas is beneficial for aliens, but not something you have to do immediately and not something that results in instant death if you don't.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The key idea here is that <b><i>'Cut links should not result in severe penalties.'</i></b> I think no matter what you do, if cutting the link causes everything past it to die, it's going to be really really hard to make that link strong enough. You already have a high risk high reward option available, attacking the alien hive, killing the hive is a difficult but highly rewarding goal, ultimately in order to make infestation feasible with that sort of payoff, you're going to end up making it a hive-scale challenge, which is kind of redundant as you already have the hive as a hive-scale challenge. I think it would work a lot better if you made cutting off infestation more like the marine power supply, marines can and should build a couple of power packs around their base, so cutting the main power is a problem as it restricts their building space and probably takes out their outlying defences, as well as making it hard for them to see. But it doesn't kill the base, and it doesn't do anything at all unless you follow it up with and (easier, but still challenging) attack on the base.
If you reduce the penalty, it gives you a lot of wiggle room for adding interesting mechanics, you don't have to turn infestation into an iron hard triple reinforced green power cable from the hive if cutting it isn't catastrophic for the aliens, this means that marines can spend less time shooting at blobs on the floor, and aliens can spend less time protecting little blobs on the floor, it puts the focus back on hives, and strongly built up rooms, which is where the best gameplay comes from because they're designed to be good places to fight in, and usually contain good rewards for holding them. This I think would be a big improvement.
I should point out I think this is a step in the right direction, in a way, I mean all it did in 180 was break the game horribly, but the idea that infestation shouldn't require a specific weapon to clear and should instead require teamwork of any sort is good, it just needs a lot of work, 180 feels half finished, but what I presume to be the idea behind it is sound.
Comments
Cysts also need to link up more, form more networks, rather than be linear - so it takes a lot more effort to cut off a patch of infestation.
Perhaps cysts could also gain a health bonus as a function of proximity to a hive, and the number of cysts currently placed.
Cysts (all structures on both sides, really) may also benefit from health-scaling for the number of players, as in <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=114008&view=findpost&p=1859020" target="_blank">this post I made</a>.
Basically, the hive is the trunk of the tree, and cysts are the branches.
a) The closer the cysts are to the hive (measured in jumps from cysts to another), the more they would have health. This bonus could be cut off at 5th or so cyst completely, and weakened as the cysts move along further into the map, like branches getting narrower. 5th cyst would probably be optimal cut-off point because that would mean the cysts before the first harvester are all stronger... than your average cysty wysty.
b) The more one cyst has connections to other cysts, the thicker is the branch; ie. the more that cyst has health.
c) The more one cyst has connections to buildings, the more it has sprouts; ie. the more that cyst has health.
d) If there are more than one hive connected in the cyst network, that would grant little bonus HP as well. I don't have any analogy for this.
Then you could go any way in interpreting 'health'. The cysts could be more resistant to damage depending on the aforementioned reasons, have more regen, or just plain health. Also crags connected to cyst networks could affect nearby cysts some way.
This would lead into complex, interesting networks.
The current cost of 20 energy for a cyst is a bit steep because you now need to build them in clumps of 2-3 to make sure a mariner can't cut off it all completely in a matter of seconds. Also you have to litter the passages with hydras or whips.
the marines, and reveal them only with FlameThrower or with scan.
+1
That way more redundant cysts can be built closer to the hive.
It sucks when you have a rogue marine killing off a 'root' cyst, which kills all you following harvesters/crags/hydras etc.
But I do think that cysts need to be stronger.
I also think they need to be smaller and therefore harder to hit.
Perhaps this will look different once proper infestation is implemented.
This also has the side effect of forcing more marine teamwork as the commander scanning an area should decloak any infestation so its still possible to kill it, but now requires commander interaction so in theory it becomes a team activity rather than a solo ninja task, this also adds additional uses for marine energy and the obs, and potentially forcing the comm to make tactical decisions on what to spend that energy on.
I like the cloaking idea, but it needs something more as well. no offensive ability, but maybe previously suggested umbra pulses, more hp/armour, slower hp drain when unconnected, these could come as upgrades at different chambers.
a scan is easy to do, and accessible almost from start, so while It might stop some random cyst killing, the problem with killing a "root" cyst persists.
a scan is easy to do, and accessible almost from start, so while It might stop some random cyst killing, the problem with killing a "root" cyst persists.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, some sort of HP or armour boost is likely needed too, but you don't want to make cysts too hard to kill otherwise killing them is no longer a viable strategy, nor do you want cysts to take over functions being provided by other alien buildings.
the marines, and reveal them only with FlameThrower or with scan.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is what I was thinking as well. It could be an upgrade from a Shade.
something simple as "improved infestation" which would increase cyst health/armor
and alien health regen in infestation (as a crag upgrade for example) could compete with
upgrades from other chambers like improved offensive power or movement speed. those were just
examples to show that an "improved infestation" upgrade could have its place in ns2
but i still stick to my idea (blizzards idea!) previously with hidden (cloaked) cysts, and the addition of
thereaper, as a baseline ability
This is a possible idea, and could fit into the story/lore of natural selection 2. Also it would allow aliens to actually add a purpose/importance for aliens to secure powernoded areas instead of just destroying them and moving on never to pay mind to them unless marines are rebuilding them.
Just an idea, but perhaps worth consideration.....Maybe?
+1. This would be great.
Also, <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/gamezhero/tentacle-wars" target="_blank">possible inspiration?</a>
Originally you were supposed to grow Cysts from Cysts, but then they decided it was easier to manage if it was all done from the Hive. I think they could extend this concept to the new Chamber-specific Hives they've introduced (Crag Hive, Shift Hive, Shade Hive) to further distinguish each type of Hive.
For example, move Umbra to the Crag Hive and make it a targeted ability that can only target:
A) Structures (including Cysts) connected to THAT Hive via the Infestation Network and
B) Any Crag, regardless of it's connection to the Crag Hive
Do the same for Cloak, and Energize and their respective Hives (give Fury to all Hives since there is no Whip Hive). With Fury, Umbra, Cloak, and Energize, Alien Commanders would be better equipped to support both structures and players with the extended reach this would provide.
something simple as "improved infestation" which would increase cyst health/armor
and alien health regen in infestation (as a crag upgrade for example) could compete with
upgrades from other chambers like improved offensive power or movement speed. those were just
examples to show that an "improved infestation" upgrade could have its place in ns2
but i still stick to my idea (blizzards idea!) previously with hidden (cloaked) cysts, and the addition of
thereaper, as a baseline ability<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
My only issue with upgrades for cysts is that they are most vulnerable (both in their own HP and in the damage that losing them can do to the alien team), early on in the game most likely before any upgrades are purchased.
This is a possible idea, and could fit into the story/lore of natural selection 2. Also it would allow aliens to actually add a purpose/importance for aliens to secure powernoded areas instead of just destroying them and moving on never to pay mind to them unless marines are rebuilding them.
Just an idea, but perhaps worth consideration.....Maybe?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Infesting powernodes.. I do actually like the idea, perhaps make it have bare minimal function not connected to the hive, but nothing dies off. Some sort of visual indicator from the cysts would be good here, such as being dimmer or perhaps a slow throb to the light.
I'm not for it infesting the whole room though.
Once a cyst is placed and fully grown, it is decentralized into a massive blob entity. If a marine shoots any part of the blob it will damage (that part of the blob/the entire blob) but there is no central weak spot that you can shoot to get rid of the entire thing. If there is a weak spot, it will be reduced in vulnerability, which will spread out to the entire blob area.
This will additionally encourage people to switch out the shotgun for other options - flamethrower especially. It will make it hard, but not impossible or even really frustrating, to sever corridor links, and as long as the aliens are moderately paying attention and are capable, they can reconnect it rather easily. The marines would the be forced to resort to sending arcs into bases if they let the aliens get fully entrenched.
Not to mention that this will function beautifully once the dynamic environment growth code comes in. Using flamethrowers to clear units of infestation as if they were actual even growth rather than killing magic growth pylons. It will also help solve problems with cyst pathing and coverage uncertainty. Blobs may even be able to regrow if enough of the entity isn't killed.
But then again, it will require additional entities and geometry to keep track of and will be harder to code.
If you reduce the penalty, it gives you a lot of wiggle room for adding interesting mechanics, you don't have to turn infestation into an iron hard triple reinforced green power cable from the hive if cutting it isn't catastrophic for the aliens, this means that marines can spend less time shooting at blobs on the floor, and aliens can spend less time protecting little blobs on the floor, it puts the focus back on hives, and strongly built up rooms, which is where the best gameplay comes from because they're designed to be good places to fight in, and usually contain good rewards for holding them. This I think would be a big improvement.
I should point out I think this is a step in the right direction, in a way, I mean all it did in 180 was break the game horribly, but the idea that infestation shouldn't require a specific weapon to clear and should instead require teamwork of any sort is good, it just needs a lot of work, 180 feels half finished, but what I presume to be the idea behind it is sound.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree wholeheartedly.
Also having the link give some sort of tactical glow when cut would help a lot.
Not sure if it has been suggested, but why not have it so if structures were built on a valid Cyst chain and then that chain gets disconnected from the hive, the structures have the following negative effects:
<ul><li>maximum health is reduced to 50% of original</li><li>Unable to self-heal/regenerate</li><li>Structure abilities are downsized (less attack power, less healing points, 50% cloak etc)</li></ul>
At least then if a chain goes down, it's not a disaster for aliens, but it's definitely an advantage for marines.
Alternatively, as people have said already, have Cysts become mature after a certain amount of time of being in a vlid chain to the hive. Once mature, they are capable of surviving without the hive connection for longer or indefinitely.