Ns_colony

Kid_C · June 2002

<div class="IPBDescription">Basic layout, would love some imput</div>I am working on my map, and was wanting some feedback before I got too far into it. It is called Colony, and is basically a colony on a moon somewhere.

<img src="http://coraan.homestead.com/files/nsmap10.jpg" border="0">

I tried to design a hive which would be ideal for each variety of aliens. The hive at the far left is near the living quarters, and a bob has many small rooms he can scoot through, causing much havoc. (the plan for the hive room is to hhave it be the rec room for the living area, and thus most lighting in the hive room would be from a flickering large screen monitor.)

The hive in the upper far right is ideal for the flyers. The colony was working a large drill when they broke by accident into this hive deep in the ground. The main way in is the large circular hole, where the flyers can defend well. The hive itself has a high ceiling cavern with many perches for these beasts.

The final hive at the bottom right is reachable by a long hallway. a very large hallway that a level 4 or 5 can charge down.

Each hive area also offers the marines an advantage, if they take it. The hive in the habitat area can have the majority of bob routes closed off by welding. The cavernous hive can be reached quickly by marines, once jetpacks are researched. The bottom hive can be attacked by a second route, if the hatchway is welded open.

so.. thoughts? see any changes I need to make for gameplay, aesthetics, or in creativity?

coil · June 2002

Hmmm... My big complaint is that r_speeds for Commander Mode are going to be absolutely heinous... the best way to design things is with a decent amount of space between rooms, hallways, etc. The closer together things are, the more a commander can see at once - and the higher his r_speeds get.

SentrySteve · June 2002

Here is what I dislike:

I don’t think you can choose which hive you want to spawn in (A dev or PT can tell me I am wrong) so if a Level 5 spawns in the 'flyer's hive' then he is in trouble. If a bob spawns in the long hallway, he is fresh meat for a marine. Also, your hive in the upper right is way too close to the marine spawn. The only thing between that hive and the command console is one room. Bad idea! In fact, all of your hives, are too close to the marine spawn. (Although the lower right one is pretty good -- that should be about the min. distance from a hive to a cc (command console.) I think you should open up your 'bob sized tunnels' to all aliens, and add more alien vents. This, of course, will come as you make the layout larger. The commander screen can have high r_speeds than your grunt out doing the front line shooting, but it looks to me like he will be looking @ a lot of ground at one time. Just keep in mind that the commander also has the problem of r_speeds and open areas, or lots of areas at once, will increase them. I think you should also rework the positions of your Resource points. There should be one <i>in</i> every hive, and one in the command console (which I see you have.) I think the three r.s. (resource points) in the center you have aren’t in good positions.

Here is what I like:

I think the debris that only bob can fit through is a not only new and fresh idea, but adds to game play. Keep in mind, however -- that a bob could go though one of those 'bob only' ways, stop, then evolve into a level 5! Aww! Just keep that in mind. I also like how you are making good use weldables. I dont think too many mappers include a lot of wieldable doors, and that disappoints me, but I don’t see that problem here! Over all it is not that bad of a layout, but the points I mentioned above should be considered.
<span style='color:black'>I think my headphones are broken.. *sigh*</span>

RhoadsToNowhere · June 2002

I think it's pretty interesting. Coil already stated that the commander r_speeds are going to be pretty bad because the rooms are so cramped, and I agree. You do have a little more leeway with commander mode, but still I feel that unless you're VERY careful, commander view is going to be sluggish.

Also, I think the upper two hives are WAY too close to the marine start. Most of the time, the marines should be able to get up an infantry portal and maybe a resource tower and a turret or two before the aliens get there, without having to hurry terribly much. Of course, if they take their sweet time, I'm all in favor of them being punished for it. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> However, I do like the fact that the quickest route between the far right hive and the marine spawn is weldable. I just hope the marines will be able to seal it off before the <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/bob.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':bob:'> 's start flowing through.

Also, I don't think it's necessary to have the door at the end of the hallway at the lower left be weldable, since the marines can enter the room with the resource tower through the room that's colored light blue. (Am I correct on this? It looks like you've added a scheme for the height of each room, and I'm not sure if I understand it completely.)

Other than that, it looks nicely varied, and you've definitely put a lot of thought into what each area is going to look like.

:edit: typo

Kid_C · June 2002

Thanks for the imput.. I am making some adjustments to spread out the map a little (adding white space between areas).

Also adding a commander station (forgot that, doh), and a few other tweaks to the orriginal plan.

I actually didnt know about the problem the commander would have, thanks for that imput.

as to the concern of the hives being too close.. the routes to them are NOT close, atleast until the marines get jetpacks (see purple route). the map below shows you the regular route to the first hive (red) and the the deep hive (yellow).

<img src="http://coraan.homestead.com/files/nsmaproutes.jpg" border="0">

with that, do you still think the hives are too close?

two important questions, before i go further..

1) will the level 5 <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tiny.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':tiny:'> be able to climb ladders?

2) what must be the depth between two platforms for a marine to lose full health if he jumped down? (i want a marine to have to go the long way to get to the bottom of the hole, not just jump from the observation platform on the top.)

thanks again for the imput!

ps - someone mentioned i do this, but not sure how..
how can you make a passageway for all the aliens that is not marine assessible?

Kid_C · June 2002

ah.. i reread and see that one of the concerns was the bobs getting to the marines too fast.

Perhaps I will make it so the bobs cant climb out of the pit to the top observation ring, thus they would have a long way to go, unless coming from the living quarters hive. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/pudgy.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':pudgy:'>

realityisdead · June 2002

I really like the overal plan here... there are the issues that the others pointed out, but it looks like a great start.

To answer your questions....

1. Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Sure of it. Definitely. You can bet your life on it. Yep. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

2. No idea. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Killtoy · June 2002

2. If I recall correctly, the NS falling damage caps at 10 points per drop.

Before anyone starts a "realism" rant, <b>a)</b> NS is not about realism, and <b>b)</b> MEM exoskeletons are very feasible at this point in the future, and aliens are just evolved in that really keen way.

So if you want to kill a marine after a drop, implement a trigger_hurt at the bottom.

Ns_colony

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