Rethinking Khaara
hf_
Join Date: 2011-06-10 Member: 103639Members
Join Date: 2011-06-10 Member: 103639Members
Keeping things short and sweet. Here are a few radical ideas for Khaara. This is to address issues I perceive of the alien tech tree being overly cumbersome and complex in b250 as a means of community members trying to make it more "interesting".
- Eliminate Khaara commander. All building structures goes back to Gorge. Gorges use team res to build structures. Structures must be built by Gorges using "+Use" key, like in NS1
- Remove Drifters
- Remove spur, shell, veil. All trait upgrades are tied to shift, crag, shade (max level of 3, as per current implementation)
- Create a new buildable structure that increases the health of all players and structures. Would require some tinkering to determine the specifics, but perhaps it would cost the same as a Hive (40 TRes). They stack +5% health per each structure built.
- Remove Biomass. All class-specific abilities (Blink, Spores, Bile Bomb, etc.) are immediately available to all lifeforms
- The number of hives determines how many abilities a specific class can have at one time. For instance, at Hive 1, a Fade has one ability slot available. The player can choose one of three options -- Blink, Shadow Step, or Vortex. At Hive 2, another ability slot is unlocked. The player can now choose two of three options. This is true for all classes except for Skulk, which does not get an ability slot until Hive 2 (since it is the base class and is free).
I think that this system removes a lot of the redundant overhead currently (b250) associated with the Khaara while also allowing for diverse gameplay. There is more emphasis on getting a second hive than the current build, but also, Khaara can still be successful and mount comebacks from just one hive. Also, it returns the individualistic principles of the species that was present in the original game, making the two sides more asymmetrical, which is a core tenet of the game.
- Eliminate Khaara commander. All building structures goes back to Gorge. Gorges use team res to build structures. Structures must be built by Gorges using "+Use" key, like in NS1
- Remove Drifters
- Remove spur, shell, veil. All trait upgrades are tied to shift, crag, shade (max level of 3, as per current implementation)
- Create a new buildable structure that increases the health of all players and structures. Would require some tinkering to determine the specifics, but perhaps it would cost the same as a Hive (40 TRes). They stack +5% health per each structure built.
- Remove Biomass. All class-specific abilities (Blink, Spores, Bile Bomb, etc.) are immediately available to all lifeforms
- The number of hives determines how many abilities a specific class can have at one time. For instance, at Hive 1, a Fade has one ability slot available. The player can choose one of three options -- Blink, Shadow Step, or Vortex. At Hive 2, another ability slot is unlocked. The player can now choose two of three options. This is true for all classes except for Skulk, which does not get an ability slot until Hive 2 (since it is the base class and is free).
I think that this system removes a lot of the redundant overhead currently (b250) associated with the Khaara while also allowing for diverse gameplay. There is more emphasis on getting a second hive than the current build, but also, Khaara can still be successful and mount comebacks from just one hive. Also, it returns the individualistic principles of the species that was present in the original game, making the two sides more asymmetrical, which is a core tenet of the game.
Comments
The difference being the team res implementation exists as the pool from which Gorges spend resources to build structures, class-specific abilities are chosen by the player instead of "unlocked" as additional hives are built, and the creation of an additional structure that grants a health bonus to aliens and structures.
* Edit: players still retain their personal res as well, used for player evolutions (I didn't explicitly state this)
Either go play NS1 or find servers using the Classic NS/NS1mod, whatever it's called.
That said, it is clear that while the current system leaves a lot to be desired it is also clear that the alien commander will never be removed. Suggesting otherwise is a waste of your time so I advise trying to come up with ideas that would make the current system better.
Lmao this sub forum is terrible, not only because of the weekly "I like unlocks" idiocracy but also in the equally dumb responses.
Thanks for keeping things in line, Scatter. That being said, I also don't think "because it's highly unlikely to be implemented" is a valid reason we can't discuss the topic. If that's the case, there really isn't a reason to have an Ideas and Suggestions subforum as most of this changes suggested within are not adopted.
I'm just terribly disappointed that UWE has this not-so-secret, private community of playtesters who basically get to decide the direction the game takes. These are people that have been embedded in the game since the beginning, and their opinions are highly influential while the rest of us yell at each other on forums.
Back to the original point of this thread, which at its core is a commentary on the poor implementation of the Khaaramander, an NS2 invention that has no clear direction or meaningful origin, aside from trying to appeal to more RTS gamers. If the Khaaramander's sole purpose is to make the game more RTS-like, then you have to look at what occurs in RTS games. I would argue that if you like at games like Starcraft and Warcraft, it's highly micromanaged, on-hands, and in complete control.
Natural Selection prides itself on being an asymmetrical experience -- both sides entirely different. Yet UWE made the decision to add the Khaaramander, but it has to be "different". So changes continue to occur to make the Khaaramader "different" than the marine commander, yet still fulfill the RTS overhead, in charge style components. I think these two goals inherently opposite, and the role of the Khaaramander continues to get muddled into this crazy mess of a system that impacts the entire Khaara play style, which was originally developed in Natural Selection. Thus, my suggestion to bring the game more to the core of its origin.
tl;dr IMO Khaaramander was created to appeal more to RTS fans, but because Khaara must differ from Frontiersmen, the role has been muddled from a traditional RTS playstyle into a confused and muddled system arbitrarily determined by a clan of UWE fanboys who have been playtesting the game for over a year
The Khaaramander could be a bodiless entity (like a Global Drifter that marines cannot see) that morphs infestation into structures, provides local benefits to surrounding players, almost like a Hero character, and directs and coordinates alien attacks, revealing marines on the minimap within its radius, but not having the ability to directly damage or hurt marines + their structures.
Have you ever seen the implementation of the commander in Battlezone 1/2 ?
Or somewhere in between, like the old Urban Assault game: the Khaaramander can play top down for building and overview and switch to 3D support by taking control of drifters, babblers and maybe even some buildings.