Couple of tweaks for NS2
Amb
Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168647Members, Reinforced - Supporter
Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168647Members, Reinforced - Supporter
<div class="IPBDescription">nothing to do with balance</div><b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Here is a list of tweaks I think UWE should add to the game, these are mostly RTS tweaks because I think NS2 has a lot of catching up to do in that department (these tweaks do not affect balance, so don't get all emo and sh!t)
Aliens:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* bring back NS1 alien vision as an option. The current alien vision is not only boring to look at, it also hinders performance, not to mention that you can't see the gorge spit and bile bomb.
* bring back NS1 hive sight as an option
* show both building/maturity % of alien structures with a permanent hovering text
* make hallucination alien lifeforms automatically attack targets in range when idle (attacks do no damage of cause)
* make the drifters set off "the enemy approaches" alarm the same way sensory chambers did back in NS1 v1.0
* when choosing upgrades (before you click evolve), clicking on a new upgrade in that tree should replace the one you've chosen initially. eg: if you've already clicked on regen, clicking carapace should replace regen, right now we have to click regen to undo the choice before clicking on caparace.
<b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Marine:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* add the available CC positions as icons/buttons on the comm UI for easy 1-click beaconing
* option to cancel a beacon in case of an accidental click, team can still be punished with no res refund
* option to cancel ARC/MAC purchase
* display ARCs' firing radius even when undeployed for better siege positioning, also allow comm to manually acquire targets for ARCs
* add a "follow" command for MACs to follow specific units assigned by the comm, add "patrol" command for MACs
* make the phase gate work the same way as the armory, press "E" on the phase gate and select one of the locations available for teleport just like buying a weapon, but still retain the current "walk through" solution in case the marines need a quick escape, also add a delay when phasing long distance (to not break the balance)
* allow comm to drop scans on comm's minimap (one in the lower left corner)
* allow comm to med/ammo on comm's minimap (one in the lower left corner)
* make power node a basic structure and allow comm to drop it the same way as an extractor, that way the comm can quickly drop a power node without clicking the empty socket (can be a real b!tch at times due to camera angles)
* sound off a really loud alarm (similar to the alien hive screech) whenever a structure within the vicinity of a tech point (CC or no CC) is being attacked
<b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->General:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* display tech point locations in abbreviation on comm's minimap (the one in the lower left corner)
* display player names on the main minimap (the one you press C for)
* implement an user interactive version of the current <a href="http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/108/107716/auto/NS2_Insight_v10_800x526.jpg" target="_blank">spectator UI</a> for comms for user friendly micro-management
* double tapping an assigned keybind to instantly jump to that unit/structure's location on the map
* show all upgrades-in-progress as ETA count down instead of %, or show both.
Aliens:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* bring back NS1 alien vision as an option. The current alien vision is not only boring to look at, it also hinders performance, not to mention that you can't see the gorge spit and bile bomb.
* bring back NS1 hive sight as an option
* show both building/maturity % of alien structures with a permanent hovering text
* make hallucination alien lifeforms automatically attack targets in range when idle (attacks do no damage of cause)
* make the drifters set off "the enemy approaches" alarm the same way sensory chambers did back in NS1 v1.0
* when choosing upgrades (before you click evolve), clicking on a new upgrade in that tree should replace the one you've chosen initially. eg: if you've already clicked on regen, clicking carapace should replace regen, right now we have to click regen to undo the choice before clicking on caparace.
<b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Marine:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* add the available CC positions as icons/buttons on the comm UI for easy 1-click beaconing
* option to cancel a beacon in case of an accidental click, team can still be punished with no res refund
* option to cancel ARC/MAC purchase
* display ARCs' firing radius even when undeployed for better siege positioning, also allow comm to manually acquire targets for ARCs
* add a "follow" command for MACs to follow specific units assigned by the comm, add "patrol" command for MACs
* make the phase gate work the same way as the armory, press "E" on the phase gate and select one of the locations available for teleport just like buying a weapon, but still retain the current "walk through" solution in case the marines need a quick escape, also add a delay when phasing long distance (to not break the balance)
* allow comm to drop scans on comm's minimap (one in the lower left corner)
* allow comm to med/ammo on comm's minimap (one in the lower left corner)
* make power node a basic structure and allow comm to drop it the same way as an extractor, that way the comm can quickly drop a power node without clicking the empty socket (can be a real b!tch at times due to camera angles)
* sound off a really loud alarm (similar to the alien hive screech) whenever a structure within the vicinity of a tech point (CC or no CC) is being attacked
<b><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->General:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
* display tech point locations in abbreviation on comm's minimap (the one in the lower left corner)
* display player names on the main minimap (the one you press C for)
* implement an user interactive version of the current <a href="http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/108/107716/auto/NS2_Insight_v10_800x526.jpg" target="_blank">spectator UI</a> for comms for user friendly micro-management
* double tapping an assigned keybind to instantly jump to that unit/structure's location on the map
* show all upgrades-in-progress as ETA count down instead of %, or show both.
Comments
Alien vision improved performance...
Step one: Never turning alien vision off.
Step two: Realizing that because you never turn alien vision off, you don't need any of the visual settings above bare minimum.
Alien vision improved performance...
Step one: Never turning alien vision off.
Step two: Realizing that because you never turn alien vision off, you don't need any of the visual settings above bare minimum.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some people don't care that they are getting 45 fps instead of 60......
All in all, I like the OP's suggestions. The only thing I could add is that when I tried playing commander on marines, sometimes I had a hard time figuring out where the powernode was at in a room. Would be nice to have some sort of bigger visual indicator on the comm screen for them.
Another thing is, I had a hard time dropping a medpack/ammo directly on a marine, lots of times it would end up just being near them and they would miss it as it is sometimes hard to see health/ammo dropped for them while they are in the middle of a fight. Perhaps when someone asks for health/ammo and the thing in the right part of the screen pops up that someone asked for them, you could click ammo/health, then click that and it auto drops the ammo/health on top that person (right now I think when you click the pop-up that someone asked for health/ammo it just brings your view to center on that person who asked.)
This idea has come up multiple times (enough that I can't find the thread I was looking for). I think it's okay as is, though it should say what room it leads to.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->* option to drop a scan on the minimap
* option to med/ammo on the minimap<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You can drop scans, middle mouse pings, and (IIRC) right click orders on the 'C' map. Not sure about the map in the corner, or assist tab items.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->* allow comm to double click on a fresh power socket to drop a power node<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Double click already selects all the power sockets on screen (or whatever item it is you clicked on); from there you just tap 'A' and you've dropped multiple nodes. I doubt they're going to add a special case to double click for power sockets.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->* display major hive/CC location names on comm's minimap (the minimap at the lower left corner)
* display player names on the minimap<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would get a little crowded. I don't even think room names could reasonably fit on that, never mind player names!
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->* implement the awesome spectator UI to the comm UI (http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/108/107716/auto/NS2_Insight_v10_800x526.jpg)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Don't really need the full UI, obviously, but more info in a slimmed down display would be nice. Especially upgrades and available buildings. Would be nice if clicking on the displays for buildings cycled through them as well (not sure if the spectator UI does that or not, I pretty much never spectate).
the NS engine has always had this problem (even back in ns1 days), you can't place anything on top of an existing unit/structure. I like your suggestion, UWE should attach a floating ammo/med icon to the marine who calls for it, and then the comm can simply click on that icon to med/ammo that player, comm should still retain the option to drop ammo/med on the floor though.
At 3 gates, I think the side which you enter the gate should determine which of the other two gates you exit from. I would like to see a the model for the gates change when you get 4 or more gates to become a triangle at 4 gates, square at 5 gates, pentagon at 6 gates etc. Again, which “entrance†on the gate will determine which gate you leave from. It would be great if the gates could appear as different coloured dots on the map, and for the phase wall on each face to match the colour of the dots. It would also be great if the gate could have a sign above it stating the exit point for each side, although this may be harder to pull off given the length of some map locations. I have made a little diagram to help explain what I mean:
<img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/2qkmfr4.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
I find this preferable to a menu system at the gate. Unless you could still jump in the gate, then be in safe “phased†land for a few seconds while you pick the exit. Waiting with a exit point menu at an entrance would make quick escapes from low health scenarios less possible.
Medpacking/giving ammo is a skill. That skill would be removed if you just had to click a button. It is all about predicting where the marine will go, not spamming them all over the floor, and having the marine actually paying attention. The game should not be dumbed down to compensate.
The only problem with medpacks/ammo that I see atm is when they are dropped into the floor or in the ceiling. Same for alien buildings.
that's not the problem here, the problem is that due to the design of the engine, sometime it won't let you drop ammo/med because something/someone is in the way, this could be due to bug or even lag. This is even more frustrating when you have a lot of units/structures in the vicinity battling it out.
Not being able to select which PG you come out of is quite deliberate, it makes multiple PGs scale less.
in later versions that message was triggered by the gorge spitting @ a growing hive so aliens can teleport to it.
That I remember, as I always played gorge, cause I sucked at alien (still do). before it seemed so random, shouldve known it wasnt though, as all voice clues always had a reason for being, too late to dwell on that now, but cool to know.
<!--quoteo(post=2054513:date=Jan 2 2013, 04:06 PM:name=Amb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Amb @ Jan 2 2013, 04:06 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2054513"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->also add a delay when phasing long distance (to not break the balance)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
right now even if u have 10 PGs on the map, u can still phase to the nearest Phase gate instantly.