Rooms should start with the lights OFF
Nuxra
Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154976Members
Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154976Members
I think it'd be much better if the lights were off until powered up via a node. I think it's really stupid that everything is well lit until a power node is built THEN destroyed. I mean, you can hear the power coming on when a node is built but there is no satisfaction to establishing a new area.
Proposal: Lights should be left off until a power node is built. Lack of light does not represent an Alien dominated area (that is what infestation is for) nor does it represent a Marine dominated area (that is what light is for).
Also, I think it would be AMAZING if unpowered rooms were a bit darker and LIGHTING SOURCES could be built for 2-5 res.
EDIT: Devs made some excellent points but I feel that Alien territory (at LEAST rooms with a hive) should have no light/emergency power. It's pretty stupid that only rooms that Marines take over then LOSE become dark. Hive rooms should be black, that would especially help against lone wolf Marines who ninja upgrades.
Proposal: Lights should be left off until a power node is built. Lack of light does not represent an Alien dominated area (that is what infestation is for) nor does it represent a Marine dominated area (that is what light is for).
Also, I think it would be AMAZING if unpowered rooms were a bit darker and LIGHTING SOURCES could be built for 2-5 res.
EDIT: Devs made some excellent points but I feel that Alien territory (at LEAST rooms with a hive) should have no light/emergency power. It's pretty stupid that only rooms that Marines take over then LOSE become dark. Hive rooms should be black, that would especially help against lone wolf Marines who ninja upgrades.
Comments
That said, I think it would be cool if the lights flickered sporadically or had a dimmer tone to them until the power was turned on, to make marine-controlled areas more distinct from "neutral" land and add to the feeling of reclaiming the building you are fighting in.
Yes, we decided against having the entire map dark to start with, but we have discussed doing something along these lines, with the lights periodically dimming in unpowered areas to help distinguish then from powered areas.
--Cory
That said, I think it would be cool if the lights flickered sporadically or had a dimmer tone to them until the power was turned on, to make marine-controlled areas more distinct from "neutral" land and add to the feeling of reclaiming the building you are fighting in.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
hmm... alarm red lights? not totally dark, just alarm ilumination before power node is built.
However lights off probably not a good idea - maybe starting red would work- and then have the infestation areas be completely unlit by human lights so have the cysts produce an orange glow, while the infestation produces a green/teal glow. So the infestation would be switching off the nearby artificial electrical lights as it expands, and producing its own bright glow.
That way:
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->white/blue bright/light areas = marine territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->Red = contested<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->orange/<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--><!--coloro:#98FB98--><span style="color:#98FB98"><!--/coloro-->teal = alien territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
That would be much more intuitive if you ask me :) you know exactly where the line in the sand is, and it will emphasis the need to control territory
That said, I think it would be cool if the lights flickered sporadically or had a dimmer tone to them until the power was turned on, to make marine-controlled areas more distinct from "neutral" land and add to the feeling of reclaiming the building you are fighting in.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
TO be fair the issues of expansion speed is countered by the requirement of aliens to spread Infest- as it is Marines can expand extremely fast if they have a competent commander.
Whilst I agree that pitch black is too much, definatly having the rooms unpowered (red emergency lighting) and alien areas being darker then they are now (think Infest covering emergency lighting thus dimming it) would be a fair balance.
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->white/blue bright/light areas = marine territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->Red = contested<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->orange/<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--><!--coloro:#98FB98--><span style="color:#98FB98"><!--/coloro-->teal = alien territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
That would be much more intuitive if you ask me :) you know exactly where the line in the sand is, and it will emphasis the need to control territory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This sounds good to me. Also to piggy back on this thread, if rooms are a bit too dark for marine expansion perhaps the commander could drop flares for 1-2res that would be bright enough to light a small room for a minute or so.
<!--quoteo(post=1958961:date=Aug 8 2012, 08:24 AM:name=CobraCommander)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CobraCommander @ Aug 8 2012, 08:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1958961"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I kinda want the starting hive to be dark alarm redish so the marines have a harder time finding upgrades.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This would probably give away the starting hive position. A solution: The coms should initially see every room lit until a player of their team is in the room to update the light-status for their com. Than you could made the start hive power out with emergency light.
As stated, the whole map completely dark on start will hurt the marines. I like the idea of dimming or flickering lights tho.
Also the idea of infestation automatically damages unbuild power nodes has come up. After a room is infested for a given time, it should change to emergency lighting. I even would like if the changes of the light color from red to orange cyst lighting in infested rooms would be in.
Instead of red lights they could go with slightly dim and flickering lights.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree with you, though i think infestation (or a dropped hive) should destroy the powernode over time when no powernode has been build there. It is really strange that the alien main hive is completely powered and the aliens can't change it towards their favor by turning off the lights.
Even if the room is powered, marines will have to get rid of the infestation first, this way aliens could adjust their lighting conditions
Even if the room is powered, marines will have to get rid of the infestation first, this way aliens could adjust their lighting conditions<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I love to see that.
Dark, green/orange lights when the light sources are shining through the infestation.
Agreed, aliens being at a disadvantage in their own base strikes is wrong.
Red light does not really help aliens as its not that much of a hindrance but is leaps and bounds above the floodlit maps by default.
It means marines have to build a power node in an area to get their best lighting or they can chose to not power it up but have some counter to this decision.
Currently there is no negative, in fact its actually a positive to not build a power node...as unbuilt nodes dont get destroyed so cant plunge you into darkness.
However lights off probably not a good idea - maybe starting red would work- and then have the infestation areas be completely unlit by human lights so have the cysts produce an orange glow, while the infestation produces a green/teal glow. So the infestation would be switching off the nearby artificial electrical lights as it expands, and producing its own bright glow.
That way:
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->white/blue bright/light areas = marine territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->Red = contested<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->orange/<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--><!--coloro:#98FB98--><span style="color:#98FB98"><!--/coloro-->teal = alien territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
That would be much more intuitive if you ask me :) you know exactly where the line in the sand is, and it will emphasis the need to control territory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This makes so much sense.
Make it so.
However lights off probably not a good idea - maybe starting red would work- and then have the infestation areas be completely unlit by human lights so have the cysts produce an orange glow, while the infestation produces a green/teal glow. So the infestation would be switching off the nearby artificial electrical lights as it expands, and producing its own bright glow.
That way:
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->white/blue bright/light areas = marine territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->Red = contested<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->orange/<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--><!--coloro:#98FB98--><span style="color:#98FB98"><!--/coloro-->teal = alien territory<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
That would be much more intuitive if you ask me :) you know exactly where the line in the sand is, and it will emphasis the need to control territory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+1
Not to mention Scans also light up the room. So if the marine commander wanted to secure a room that has run out of emergency lighting, Drop a scan. See if aliens are there and if they are, The rooms bright and they're easy targets.
Not only does this encourage more teamwork, it gives aliens an incentive for chewing down power nodes (have marine com spend res to scan), And if the marines don't drop a scan. Any solo/duo marines are in theory relatively easy targets for that skulk hiding in the darkness. That being said they do have flashlights and can hear alien movement* So it would seem to be that it's a balanced suggestion that would add more to gameplay and the strategy aspect of NS2 without hurting the FPS side of it.
*Barring Silence
The emergency lighting duration could be adjusted to what UWE would consider balanced.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is the kind of thing I wished NS1 had. Right now, for me anyways, the whole power node thing is misplaced and it's mechanics are gimmicky. Atleast what you propose grounds this in some way.
Cory, let the map maker decide the "brown out time" for each room effected so you can leverage that dynamic effect.
- Use the current marine-comm blue blue grid as a base for the effect, but change it to look more "electrical" and animated
- Use this same effect as a base for marines on the ground and have it show periodically. Every 8 seconds or so your HUD would "shimmer" and show you what was powered in your view
- Show a "powered" or "unpowered" lightning bolt on a ghost structure when you're placing it (depending if there's power or not there)
- When a room is unpowered, it would also show this effect but it would be red and less "electrical"
To me this makes a lot more since, not sure if there really is any strategy that could be created from this idea but i guess its more of a polish type of thing.
To me this makes a lot more since, not sure if there really is any strategy that could be created from this idea but i guess its more of a polish type of thing.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hard to see into a dark room until you step into it? Sounds like a perfect ambush mechanic!
Sounds like mostly polish/superfluous to me. And not know what is in a room I'm about to enter can have disasterous changes to Marine gameplay.
Sounds like mostly polish/superfluous to me. And not know what is in a room I'm about to enter can have disasterous changes to Marine gameplay.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah when the lights go on they stay on tell the power node is destroyed like normal but you are right, if you hear a marine coming it's definitely worth setting up a ambush since there is that little delay for the lights as the room powers up.
Currently marines can more way too quickly, when I play as marine I typically just pick a direction and sprint until I reach another tech point, allowing the team to quickly cap a few RTs in the middle of the map and because I move so quickly when I do come up on a skulk I can normally tell by the timing exact which hive they started in. This doesn't seem right to me, marines should have to be more cautious when expanding out.
This makes sense, emergency lighting is not going to illuminate a high ceiling, only the floor, and this would force marines to use their flash lights more and prevent them from just sprinting around the map as they please.