Other forms of gamemodes

Mp6 · February 2008

I feel that the only two gamemodes (build or fight) get a little dull after time, and this is the reason I stopped playing ns1. Now that ns2 is being concieved, I thought that a new gamemode should be included. Though the animations would be difficult for this idea, you could have one when the marines have pushed deep into the terriorty of the aliens. The objective is to push the marines to a certian point in the map, using a simple trigger, to end the game in favor of the aliens. The trigger in the map would not be able to be activated to a certain point (to prevent those noobs from just running into it). How to do this you may ask? Two words. Moving hive. You would have to have a certain number of aliens of a certain type (possibly a new race?) stand near it. You could use a trigger and a math counters for the speed, inputing into the hive to move faster etc. When a trigger is hit with the marines it stops, the more of the aliens that stand near it the faster it moves. It could be done using path_tracks pointing the hive where to go. The way it moves, it forms new tentacles that hold it up infront of it and remove the ones behind it. It slowly swings from place to place as it "walks" to the enemy base. When it goes to a certain point, it would activate the trigger, and eventually forcing the marines to go into it. The dynamic infestation could also be put into work here. As the hive moves from section to section, it could drop a little bit of the infestation, and that would grow around a doorway, sealing it off from furthur use. One of the problems encountered here would be the uneven gameplay. The favor would always be in the aliens side. A possible way to fix this, would be that the hive has a lot of health, but the tentacles that hold it up are destroyable, so you can slow it down or make it fall to the ground and have to pull itself back up. Another way to level out the playing field is that when a player dies, the hive must stop moving for 30 seconds to drop the new egg and allow the dead player to spawn again, giving the marines another chance to push through. Please post your ideas for this gamemode or other gamemodes also.

<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tsa.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::tsa::" border="0" alt="tsa.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hive5.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::hive::" border="0" alt="hive5.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/skulk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::skulk::" border="0" alt="skulk.gif" />

locallyunscene · February 2008

NS doesn't lend it self to other gamemodes easily. They tend to feel like completely different games. The reason TF2 can keep such continuity with different map types is the game is, at it's heart, a deathmatch. In this way the standard multiplayer FPS tropes work for it (capture point, assault, capture the flag). NS is an RTS at its heart so better gametypes beyond kharaa vs marines would be marines vs marines, kharaa vs kharaa, and FFA(multiple teams). A tower defense kind of map would also work. As for infinite resource maps like BGH, siege maps fill that category.

Moving_Target0 · February 2008

Yeah...objective maps for NS just don't really work well, much like Marine vs. Marine. The game just isn't oriented towards that kind of stuff.

StixNStonz · March 2008

Objective maps could work amazingly in NS, its just that noone's done a decent one yet. If you look at some of the 'weld siege' maps, you'd get an idea. Weldables are already mini-objectives in NS, but sadly the aliens dont have anything similar.

If a mapper were to create a weldable that was to be a serious objective, and balanced it, it could become almost like its own game mode.

For an example of how weldables are already mini-objectives, look at Storage D's weldable in ns_metal. Its hard to get to, but if the marines weld it, they suddenly have much faster access to Storage D, and with the height advantage. Its a great mini-objective that for some reason is overlooked by almost all NS players. Another great example of a mini-objective would be the Databurst weldable in Shiva.

Radix · March 2008

I was working with a team from TG doing essentially that, and I think it would have turned out amazingly well - alas, the project fizzled. GG internet junkie attention spans I guess.

spellman23 · March 2008

I personally am against objective based maps for the very reason of why they're so awesome.

Each one is unique.

This means variety of game types all based around how the map is designed and the ingenuity of the map maker.

However, this is in itself a flaw since you are bound by the map maker and all their potential short sidedness.

Tack onto that it makes the game more about learning the map than general gameplay, potentially increasing learning curve (see Dystopia), and if the map maker gets it wrong balance wise, that map is useless (also see Dystopia). There is no or very little flexibility for the players to make it their own, it becomes much more map maker central and reliant on the mapper to get it right.

What I love about NS is while the maps are unique and learnable and such, you're playing against another team who is trying to maximize the very same map you have for the same objectives: map control overall (res and Hives are bonuses, granted Hives are big bonuses). Thus the organic nature of the game is from the dynamics of the two teams fighting each other, not fighting in a scripted fashion the map prescribes.

Also, I hate trying to repeatedly take a single objective over and over. It becomes a throw waves of players at each other game instead of anything else. Very tedious and boring in a stalemate. Whereas in NS stalemates tend to last very short periods of time since you can outflank or apply pressure somewhere else.

Just my two cents.

Other forms of gamemodes

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