Gomm!
Namm
Join Date: 2011-12-08 Member: 137116Members
Join Date: 2011-12-08 Member: 137116Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Gorge commanders</div><i>For a second I thought I had this really original idea, but a search on the subject revealed several threads with similar ideas (<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=118322" target="_blank">1</a>, <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=112556" target="_blank">2</a>, <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115433" target="_blank">3</a>...). My take on this Gorge/Khammander matter is a bit different from those though, so why not post yet another thread. :)</i>
First of all: What really felt strange for me when I found out about the Alien comm was that the Hive functions as a comm chair. Any lifeform, be that a Skulk or a huge Onos, walks up to a Hive, presses "use" and disappears into the Hive without even so much as an animation. Compare that with the very nice animations and sounds when the Marine comm enters his chair. If you stop for a minute and think about it, the whole Alien comm thing feels pasted on from that perspective. We might all be used to it, but new NS2 players will notice it. Just as I did.
My idea (well, kind of) is to <b>only</b> allow the Gorges to enter comm mode. The Gorge will be able to do this by standing on Infestation and use the comm mode ability. What happens next is that the Gorge huddles down and is overgrown by a shell-like surface that will protect the Gorge. Moreover, the Alien side will only have personal res. The Gorges will use their own personal res (and get scored for it) to build Whips, Harvesters, Hives... There will also be no limit on how many Gorges that can enter comm mode at the same time.
So, are there any drawbacks with this? Yes, there might be conflicts between Gorges in comm mode, of course, but I imagine these to be minor. Compare it with a player blocking another player at a tight passage (unintentionally or not). It happens, quite a lot actually, but it doesn't break the game. In organized games, Gorge comm conflicts will be non-existant, and on public games there is always the possibility for the operators to use server plugins to decrease those conflicts. Just as for NS1, where a lot of servers had chamber voting.
I think this will add to the game on a whole, further increasing the differences between the two sides, but it will also make the Gorge a lot more interesting to play. The Gorge player can jump from building Hydras and healing team mates at the front to spreading Infestation and dropping a new Hive in a matter of seconds. No more idle Alien comm or sidestepped Gorge class.
First of all: What really felt strange for me when I found out about the Alien comm was that the Hive functions as a comm chair. Any lifeform, be that a Skulk or a huge Onos, walks up to a Hive, presses "use" and disappears into the Hive without even so much as an animation. Compare that with the very nice animations and sounds when the Marine comm enters his chair. If you stop for a minute and think about it, the whole Alien comm thing feels pasted on from that perspective. We might all be used to it, but new NS2 players will notice it. Just as I did.
My idea (well, kind of) is to <b>only</b> allow the Gorges to enter comm mode. The Gorge will be able to do this by standing on Infestation and use the comm mode ability. What happens next is that the Gorge huddles down and is overgrown by a shell-like surface that will protect the Gorge. Moreover, the Alien side will only have personal res. The Gorges will use their own personal res (and get scored for it) to build Whips, Harvesters, Hives... There will also be no limit on how many Gorges that can enter comm mode at the same time.
So, are there any drawbacks with this? Yes, there might be conflicts between Gorges in comm mode, of course, but I imagine these to be minor. Compare it with a player blocking another player at a tight passage (unintentionally or not). It happens, quite a lot actually, but it doesn't break the game. In organized games, Gorge comm conflicts will be non-existant, and on public games there is always the possibility for the operators to use server plugins to decrease those conflicts. Just as for NS1, where a lot of servers had chamber voting.
I think this will add to the game on a whole, further increasing the differences between the two sides, but it will also make the Gorge a lot more interesting to play. The Gorge player can jump from building Hydras and healing team mates at the front to spreading Infestation and dropping a new Hive in a matter of seconds. No more idle Alien comm or sidestepped Gorge class.
Comments
Valid point, but I think that would balance itself out. A Gorge heavy team that quickly grabs a lot of territory and res and spams Whips and Hydras but with few higher lifeforms will be met with ARC's.
Well I tried to offer a reasonable balance which I thought would be cool just for aesthetic purposes actually (don't ask). If their whips and hydra give them scored points, then would it not also give them resources to later on hop out of the hive and turn into onos? So like one viable strategy (which is not a bad thing, I like multiple options, have different things counter different things) is heavy gorge tactics, then all the gorges jumping out to turn into Onos or to be healer to the Onos.
Another aspect the devs are avoiding is different resource systems for Aliens and Marines. Which sadly works against my suggestion (to only use private, ehrr, personal res for everything built and upgraded by Khamm). As it is right now, I have a hard time seeing why a player at his/her right mind would ever want to stay as the Alien comm when he/she have have accumulated a lot of personal res. The Alien comm is essentially forced out of comm mode to evolve into Onos.