Fana's NS2 think tank
fanatic
This post has been edited. Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
This post has been edited. Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Introduction</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
In this thread, I will, through a series of posts over the next month, post commentaries on NS2 gameplay mechanics that I find troublesome, and suggest improvements.
I will be closely monitoring any replies and, if I find that they have value, edit my suggestions accordingly. I will try to avoid replying directly to any posts made in this thread, but the development of the discussion so far has shown that it can't be entirely avoided.
I don't expect that the developers will agree with everything I say, but hopefully this thread will give them some food for thought.
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Table of contents</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1961513" target="_blank">1. The alien upgrade system</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1963025" target="_blank">2. The minimap</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1966307" target="_blank">3. Effects that limit visibility</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1968891" target="_blank">4. The Lerk</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1988146" target="_blank">5. Assorted issues/requests (crosspost)</a>
Next up: "6. The alien spawn system".
In this thread, I will, through a series of posts over the next month, post commentaries on NS2 gameplay mechanics that I find troublesome, and suggest improvements.
I will be closely monitoring any replies and, if I find that they have value, edit my suggestions accordingly. I will try to avoid replying directly to any posts made in this thread, but the development of the discussion so far has shown that it can't be entirely avoided.
I don't expect that the developers will agree with everything I say, but hopefully this thread will give them some food for thought.
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Table of contents</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1961513" target="_blank">1. The alien upgrade system</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1963025" target="_blank">2. The minimap</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1966307" target="_blank">3. Effects that limit visibility</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1968891" target="_blank">4. The Lerk</a>
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=120054&view=findpost&p=1988146" target="_blank">5. Assorted issues/requests (crosspost)</a>
Next up: "6. The alien spawn system".
Comments
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.1 The current situation</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The Alien Commander (Khamm) selects an upgrade path for the Hive by either evolving "Crag Hive", "Shade Hive" or "Shift Hive". Evolving any of these costs a flat 15 tRes. Once the Hive is evolved to a certain upgrade path, the Khamm gets access to the upgrade structure and the support structure for that particular upgrade path.
Crag Hive gives access to the upgrade structure "Shell" and the support structure "Crag". Shade Hive gives access to the upgrade structure "Veil" and the support structure "Shade". Shift Hive gives access to the upgrade structure "Spur" and the support structure "Shift".
An attempt has been made to balance the different upgrade paths by grading their costs. The upgrades which are considered the most powerful have been given a correspondingly higher price tag. For example; a Shell costs 15 tRes while a Veil only costs 5 tRes. Furthermore, certain powerful player abilities have been given drawbacks. For example; the Carapace upgrade makes you slower.
The Khamm has to research each individual personal upgrade on the upgrade structure before the aliens can evolve them and gain their benefits.
Personal upgrades are free to evolve for the players once they are available.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.2 The current problem</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The attempts at balancing the different upgrade paths have so far been unsuccessful. In the current version, b216, the most powerful upgrade path is hands down Crag Hive for the first Hive, followed by Shift Hive for the second Hive. While a major reason for this is that the current Carapace numbers simply don't add up, I doubt that the upgrade paths will be balanced simply by adjusting the Carapace numbers. It is my belief that while it might be possible to balance the upgrade paths by tweaking costs and other numbers, there is a better solution to be found by looking in a different direction.
Given that the Khamm has to research the individual personal upgrades, the alien players rarely have a choice in which upgrade to use. It simply doesn't make economical sense for the Khamm to evolve further upgrades once the most powerful ones have been evolved (currently Carapace and Adrenaline). The Crag upgrade path can serve as an example: Carapace is a very powerful upgrade for all lifeforms, therefore the Khamm decides to evolve that first. The Khamm then has a choice between also evolving the Regeneration upgrade or saving for a second Hive. In that situation, the best choice will always be to save for the second Hive. The result of all this is that the aliens, in a game where the Khamm is using the most res-efficient strategy, will rarely or never get a chance to choose between the different upgrades.
Due to their size and the limitations of where and how commanders can place structures, the support structures are rarely seen outside of the Hive. Currently, almost the entirety of their usefulness is limited to making it easier for the aliens to defend a Hive against a marine push. I find this to be a poor use of the gameplay opportunities support structures could present if it was viable to use them in more interesting parts of the map; the parts where most of the combat takes place, the choke points or the opposite side of the map from the starting Hive, for example.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.3 The suggested solution</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
I believe that there are three premises we should adhere to:
I) All upgrades are not created equal.
II) The only drawback to choosing a particular upgrade path, is that you are excluded from the other upgrade paths until you evolve a second Hive.
III) The only drawback to choosing a particular personal upgrade, is that you are excluded from choosing a different personal upgrade from that same upgrade path.
That means that while we should try to make the different upgrades as equal in power as possible, we also have to realize that it is not possible to make them entirely equal -- certain upgrades will be more desireable than others. Furthermore, the upgrade paths should not be priced differently. Finally, the personal upgrades should not have any drawbacks, such as Carapace making you slower.
With those premises in mind, how do we balance the different upgrade paths? By giving the upgrade paths with less desireable personal upgrades more desireable support abilities from the structures. In order to do this properly, we also need to make the upgrade and support structures more prominent in gameplay. The following list sums up how we can do that, while also contributing to other desireable gameplay goals (like giving the Gorge a raison d'être):
a) Switch the upgrade and support structures. By that I mean that the upgrade structures should be the Crag, Shade and Shift, and that the support structures should be the Shell, Veil and Spur. The reason for this change is that the Crag, Shade and Shift are too large to be used effectively around the map; they simply cannot fit in many of the places you would want to place them, not to mention being immediately visible to any marine within LOS.
b) The support structures (now Shell, Veil and Spur, remember?) should be removed from the Khamm and given to the Gorge. This would both enhance the Gorge's role in gameplay, as well as make it possible for them to be placed more cleverly around on the map. The Khamm still has to pick a certain upgrade path for each Hive, but doing so will only give the Khamm access to the appropriate upgrade structure, while Gorges get access to the appropriate support structure.
c) The support structures should be placeable outside of infestation and should not take damage when placed outside of infestation. This makes it possible to place them in parts of the map where they can have an appreciable effect on gameplay.
d) Support structures should cost a significant, but not disproportionate, pRes expenditure to drop. They need to be expensive enough to incentivize Gorges to place them cleverly; obviously they will do the most good out in the open, but that also happens to be where they are the most vulnerable to marine attacks. They shouldn't be so expensive that the Gorges simply choose not to drop them, however. My top-of-the-head suggestion: 10 pRes.
e) To avoid late-game spam, support structures should be capped to two of each type for each Gorge. They should not take damage when the player that placed them is no longer a Gorge.
f) The support structures should have the following abilities:
- Shell: Passive healing zone; heals aliens and structures within a certain radius.
- Veil: Passive cloaking zone; cloaks aliens, structures and infestation within a certain radius.
- Spur: Activated (aliens have to press the use button on the spur to activate) teleportation to the closest evolved Hive or any Hive currently under attack.
g) The access to upgrades from a certain upgrade path should be directly tied to the upgrade structure; building a crag should give the aliens immediate access to all the crag upgrades. Upgrade structure cost needs to be a adjusted accordingly. It is my belief that the fun of having different options to choose between trumps the "strategic depth" (my earlier example shows that there currently is no such strategic depth though, the most effective strategy is to only evolve the most powerful upgrade) of making the Khamm prioritize between different upgrades to evolve.
h) The upgrade structures should have the same abilities as the support structures, as well as enabling the upgrades. They would be too expensive to place near the frontline, but give the aliens a bonus in their starting Hive location.
i) Changes to certain upgrades:
- Carapace should not slow your movement. Skulks with Carapace should have 30 armor, Lerks with Carapace should have 50 armor.
- Regeneration should enhance the innate alien regeneration by making it heal more on each cycle (a percentage of the lifeform's full hp/armor). The healing effect should follow the same pattern as innate regeneration. It should not be delayed or stopped by taking damage.
- Celerity should give a certain percentage increase in speed. It should not blur your screen while moving, build up speed over time or stop working when the alien takes damage.
- Cloaking should cloak you 100% while not moving and while moving until you reach a certain speed threshold (faster than skulk walk speed), after you reach that certain speed threshold, your cloak % should decrease depending on how fast you are moving and reach 0% cloaking at the max skulk run speed.
- The shade and veil cloaking field should cloak all players and structures 100%, regardless of your speed, while they are within its radius.
i think the devs arent concerned about this because in pub play the khamm stays in the hive pretty much all game, but the only reason they do so is to stop anyone else jumping into the hive
This to me is similar to both the Marine Comm and the Marines being able to buy weapons for Pres. This way the alien comm still has the ability to place these structures, but we give the gorge more things to do. Plus it gives the alien commander things to do with his res.
As I noted somewhere else, the switch to buy 1 upgrade in NS2 from buy a suite of upgrades in NS1 has really changed the balance of the abilities. Carapace is the single most helpful universal upgrade, but the suite of upgrades from a Shade or Shift could outweigh it if they came as a pack.
I personally like Fana's suggestion, but it might be because I'm an olde NS1 fogey.
As for swapping the structure roles around - not going to happen. That just doesn't fit with the design intentions.
Finally, giving the gorge back some of his power.. I still like the idea, because the Gorge has only few options right now. I don't see it happening any time soon though, UWE has gone into a different direction and I doubt they'll be willing to look back. There's probably other, easier, solutions to the Gorge-dillemma anyway.
-10% mass (i.e. faster acceleration, more responsive)
+10% air control
+10% jump strength
Names are really confusing :
(Shell, Veil, and Spur) -> (DC,MC,SC)
Cloaking strength is a instantaneous function of speed, the closer to max speed, the cloakier you get. It prevents marines to get bitten by an invisible, silent creature and should make cloak more dynamic (don't need to wait for it to trigger). Put the focus on sound.
Crag has only 2 upgrades currently. Possible solution: move feint to DC (make it more DC like) and add an information gathering upgrade, e.g. scent of fear with color coded health display (allow to pick up the weakest marine easily).
From what I can tell, you're suggesting that the Gorge take over all structure placement (and limiting them in the process) and the Khamm would no longer have anything to do besides buying upgrades and placing Whips. How would this benefit the team? Not to mention only having 2 upgrades per Gorge would mean that there would be a significantly less amount of support structures - which would only be placed around/near the Gorges. Doesn't sound like a good change to me.
a) I agree that for example the crag structure is too big for placing them around the map. On the other hand it has an really cool effect which is fitting for the regeneration it provides.
b) I REALLY miss the use of offensive placed structures around the map (besides hydras/clogs obviously) and would love to see more crags/shade/shift being placed to actively support the team by making such plays. Giving them to the gorge might be a good way to go, seeing how they are supporting structures and the team is not dependent on them. But as other have pointed out: there would be even less to do for the khamm.
c) Yes, infestation is too much of a limiting factor for strategic choices
d)/e)/f) Would be in line with the other proposed changes (leaning more towards NS1 again, which proved to be working)
g) I agree how in the case it's no longer strategic decisions choosing the upgrades but rather cookie-cutter builds most comms are using.
h) Meh, don't like redundancy.
i) Yes to no downsides on upgrades. It's called upgrade for a reason imo. I also don't like the 216 regen-change to be a fixed number instead of percentage, seen how it's now a lot worse on higher lifeforms.
Just to reiterate: Giving the support-structures to the gorge would be problematic because the khamm is loosing even more of his possibilitys to interact/be useful. So either leave them at the khamm but give him the ability to place them more offensively of move them to the gorge but give the khamm new abilitys (which has been proven to be difficult looking at the latest addition of spikes)
And for alien commander, pretty sure this will get a dedicated post by fana.
I agree with botchiball in that I think you've tried to tackle too many issues in that first post.
In particular
<ul><li>The assertion that support structures are too big seems to be a problem that could be debated and addressed in isolation.</li><li>Whether (and to what extent) the role of gorge should change back to a builder class</li><li>The role of the support structure for the Shade hive</li></ul>
2.
In general, are you talking about your experiences in competitive games or public games or both? I ask because assertions like "the support structures are rarely seen outside of the Hive" need context. I often see crags placed on the front line in pubs, and shades & shifts in the late game. Also a lot of your thinking in that first topic is the result of whatever type of commander is playing. Pub Khams tend to follow a generalist pattern of unlocks rather than pushing a specific strategy.
3.
I'll make several general replies to your specific recommendations.
<ul><li>I strongly agree that all upgrades should be priced the same. The <i>effect</i> is the thing that should be balanced. If crag/carapace is too powerful, nerf it or buff the alternatives. Making certain things cheaper or more expensive has only a timing impact on the game, not a combat effectiveness impact. Also these mechanics are not mature enough to warrent differentiating by cost.</li><li>I'm sure it isn't necessary to swap <i>evolution structures</i> with the <i>static defence structures</i> to change their size. I agree with Koruyo's implication that the models can probably be scaled. However, there are artistic and balance consequences. Personally I think this is a non-issue.</li><li>Permitting gorge structures to persist after the player is no longer a gorge is problematic. If you apply it to the hydras, there will be hydras everywhere, even in the future when they cost pRes. If you don't apply it to the hydras, it's counterintuitive. It's also gamey in that everybody will have a turn at placing their gorge structures. And I begrudge yet another cap based system which can have wide range of effects depending on the map size and player count.</li><li>Infestation defines areas controlled by aliens. This is a governing thematic principle and it won't be made subordinate to gameplay, so don't bother. It's also a bad idea because we'll see skulks running up on ledges, evolving to gorge and building hydra bases with support structures with marines unable to respond until late game.</li><li>The best way to address the long term problems in balancing the three hive types and their upgrades is to go back and define/redefine their roles, a top down approach. I would start by defining some broad gameplay strategies, then list ways which lifeforms can be enhanced to carry out those strategies and finally, matching those enhancements to upgrades & hive types. So, for example, three general strategies are assault, raid and ambush. Assault can be enhanced by making lifeforms more survivable. Raiding can be enhanced by making lifeforms more mobile. Ambushing can be enhanced by concealment. Translating that to exisiting abilities, carapace is good for assault; regen & celerity is good for raiding, cloaking and silence is good for ambushing. What stands out at this point is that hypermutation, adrenaline and feint don't really have a place in that paradigm. To round out the assault strategy we'd need to add a second upgrade. I'd suggest something like a damage boost combined with an attack speed penalty, like focus.
If there really is a need/want to keep feign and hypermutation they should be decoupled from hive types. They could be added to structures (new or exisiting). Eg: Feign has a probability of working if you're near, say, a shade. Hypermutation works if you're near a shift, though maybe it just makes you evolve faster.
The major outstanding challenge, so far as I can see, is how do lifeforms progress in a way that helps them keep pace with the marine upgrades. Currently that's done with carapace and adrenaline. Adrenaline doesn't really benefit lifeforms until their abilities are unlocked (leap, blink), so that's yet another reason carapace comes out first. Unfortunately that means aliens get to the equivalent of armour 3 in one quantum step, and often in the early game.</li></ul>
4.
A lengthy, detailed post like yours can be made easier to read by observing nomenclature. I'd stick with the wiki's terms of "upgrades" for things like carapace and "abilities" for things like leap. For example:
<!--coloro:#808080--><span style="color:#808080"><!--/coloro-->>Furthermore, certain powerful player abilities have been given drawbacks. For example; the Carapace upgrade makes you slower.
<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
... should be "player upgrades". If you want to differentiate the commander's job of researching upgrades from the list of upgrades available to lifeforms, you can use (and define) terms like "research" or "evolve". The word "upgrade" appears more than 50 times in your post and it can be a bit taxing to read:
<!--coloro:#808080--><span style="color:#808080"><!--/coloro-->>The Khamm has to research each individual personal upgrade on the upgrade structure before the aliens can evolve them and gain their benefits.
<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
For contrast: For each upgrade, the Khamm has to build a generic <i>evolution structure</i> and then evolve it to unlock one of the upgrades.
5.
Double-check your subheadings and numbering so that people can refer to specific parts easily. 1.3 has two alphebetised lists. In fact the second list could be split in to 1.4, since it's a different topic.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.1 The current situation</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The minimap gives all players, both FPS and RTS, instantaneous access to a lot of information. For new players it's primarily a navigational tool. Since it shows a lot of extra information, however, it is primarily a scouting and awareness tool for experienced players.
In the latest patch, b216, UWE darkened the background and added a blur effect to it, meaning that you can't see what's ahead of you while you're looking at the minimap. According to a developer in the changelog thread, the intention of this change was to force players to use the minimap less:
<!--quoteo(post=1960183:date=Aug 10 2012, 03:24 AM:name=MurphyIdiot)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MurphyIdiot @ Aug 10 2012, 03:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1960183"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->"which sucks because I have it open allll the time." <- Having to have it open all the time is what sucks. We want you to be able to play the game without a map open at all. But when you do want to open the map, we want it to be easy to read. Like much of what we do, this is a change that will take a few more patches to appreciate.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Currently, the minimap gives you acces to the following information (rough list, not exhaustive):
a) The layout of the map.
b) The position and type of all friendly players and structures.
c) The position and type of any enemy player and structure within LOS from a friendly player.
d) The position and type of any enemy player touching a friendly structure (typically because they are attacking that structure).
e) The position and type of any alien player and structure within range of the observatory.
f) The position and type of any alien player and structure under a scan.
g) An indicator showing you which friendly structures are under attack (currently the icon blinks).
h) The position of any parasited marine.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.2 The problem</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Flicking the minimap on and off frequently, and sometimes even just staring at it while waiting for something to happen, is the most effective way to play. Unfortunately, staring at a map isn't very engaging gameplay and having to turn it on and off all the time can be a bit of a chore.
Some of the information you can access on the minimap negatively impacts other gameplay features. For example: Since friendly player LOS isn't accurate with what that player is actually seeing, sometimes you see more on the minimap than the player himself sees. Since you can warn other players who are about to be ambushed, or even see players who are trying to ambush you by looking at the minimap, this disincentivizes alien ambush play.
Because of the wealth of information the individual player can access on the minimap, a lot of the time the field players will know just as much as the commander about what's happening in other parts of the map. This disrupts commander gameplay and can cheapen the commander's role in the game.
Therefore, my assessment is that the minimap is too powerful and I agree with UWE's goal of getting the players to use the minimap less. Experienced players shouldn't be required to stare at a map in order to be the most effective. What I disagree with, is their current method of disincentivizing the unwanted behaviour.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>1.3 The suggested solution</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Instead of making the minimap too cumbersome to use frequently, I believe that it should be made less effective. Part of the reason for that is that I believe that their current efforts at making it too cumbersome to use frequently have failed -- I use the minimap just as frequently, I am just a little bit annoyed every time I do -- and part of the reason is that I think that, ultimately, making it so cumbersome to use that it will actually have an effect, will also hurt its much needed navigational purpose for new players.
The minimap should only give the field players access to the the following information:
a) The layout of the map.
b) The position and type of all friendly players and structures.
c) The position and type of any alien player and structure under a scan.
d) An indicator showing you which friendly structures are under attack (with a more clear indication that the structure is under attack than the current blinking icon) (for clarity; it should not show what is attacking the structure, just that the structure is under attack).
e) The position of any parasited marine.
f) The position of any waypoint (thanks Heroman117).
The commander should still have access to the same information on the minimap as before, however. This will enhance the commander's role as a scouter and insure that he has a greater knowledge of the entirety of a the game than any individual field player. As the field players still have access to vital information, such as which friendly structure is under attack and where the friendly players are, this change shouldn't put too much responsibility on the commanders' shoulders either.
This change will probably anger som players, but I believe that the net effect on gameplay will be positive.
The waypoints can possibly have a subtle but recognizable arrow path and directs new players through the quickest route to the destination, so new players can get a glimpse of their map and know what cuts and turns to expect without having to glare at the arrows on the ground. Nothing too obtrusive so us people who know the maps inside and out would be too distracted though; hell it could probably even be used by us when we aren't certain if it would be faster to take one route or another even when we are familiar with the map.
So while waypoints can be used for mostly newer players, i also propose another method for the commander to convey positions onto the map. Inspired by the SC2 "ping" ability, so the commander can quickly and briefly mark a part of the map which will be visible to all marines. Unlike a waypoint, which doesn't go away until reached by the marine or replaced by another order issued by the commander, the ping is solely an alternate means of the commander informing his players of location specific details, to mark where a onos has been spotted, or a dangerous fortification that the players should dodge for the time being, showing up clearly but briefly ala SC2, in a way to compensate for the lack of all spotted aliens appearing in the map always, a feature that can remain relevant for higher play.
Just my recommendation.
Would it not be easier to reduce model size of crag / shade / shift to make them more fittable? This way their looks would server design purpose (not that I really care)
I also dislike cloaking and would rather see silenced area around spur (ims shift) it would have to be large and some indication made where it ends but it would synergize well with every other upgrade.
Guess that would be nice. I never really use the corner minimap anyways
Agreed, but since alien's have no minimap in the corner of their screen, having only the minimap show enemies would be unbalancing since marines would get a heads-up.
Right now using the minimap I can spot areas that are going to be attacked a good 30-45 seconds before they arrive by following the red dots trajectory to the next logical area.
Example:<i> Crevice res node is under attack and Alien base is Atrium, no one is in the area to save it so Recycle and start moving to Flight Control to protect that node because that is the next logical attack area moving south.</i>
Most comms don't have the time to spend starring at the map and certainly not the marine comm who has a lot more micro to do with health kits and ammo. Yet a player doing so can alert the comm and the rest of the team.
i would actually change something else: don't show friendlies or enemies on the minimap inside "enemy territory" (i.e. powered/infested areas).
sort of like a fog of war.
I agree with you, at the problems you have mentioned. Mainly: <u>Strategical Depth isn't there, because the upgrade powers aren't equal.</u> The alien com always get specific upgrades first, because they are the best to choose. I don't agree with your solutions. Actually I think you haven't even mentioned one solution for the problems you wrote.
The only real problem with the alien upgrade system is carapace.
Lets look at this with the skulk in mind. Because if you have to decide what upgrade path goes first, you won't have fades or think about what upgrade would be useful for fades. You don't have even leap. Every upgrade path should have at least one upgrade that is equally useful for the hive1-skulk. (And others that are useful for higher life forms.) This right now, are mainly: carapace, celerity, silence.
The problem right now is, that every com will favor a plain health-buff over any other situational buffs. While celerity can made equally useful to silence, carapace can not.
So I say: <u>Get rid of carapace! Add focus instead!</u> (Not in form of a damage+. Simply sum together damage and "fire rate" so that 2 bites = 1 bite. Maybe even decrease damage a little bit if necessary.)
Simply add a +armor for every upgrade you choose in the evolve menu. No matter what upgrade it is. (Communicate this in the tooltip on the upgrades in the evolve menu!)
While getting rid of carapace we finally can have variation in the upgrade paths AND we get rid of the problem that skulks scale bad into late game with marine armor and weapon upgrades. It may hurt some players that they can't get their +health buff anymore, but it will benefit the game as whole.
Sure, it would promote communication.. in a clan match. In a PUB game, this would be enough to plant the seeds of chaos... and to drive me insane.
An affirmative -1 to mini-map suggestion.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>3.1 The current situation</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
There is an abundance of effects and HUD elements that interfere with player visibility. The following is a non-exhaustive list of such effects:
1. The screen shakes while shooting (the machine gun).
2. The screen wobbles while sprinting.
3. The crosshair pendulates while sprinting.
4. The screen is splattered with blood when you take damage.
5. The screen flashes and sound is muffled while you are below a certain HP threshold.
6. The screen is covered with green goo when rupture cyst is used, rendering affected marines effectively blind.
7. The screen is splattered with goo when you get hit by gorge spit.
8. The screen is blurred when you get hit by the rifle butt.
9. The screen is partially obscured by big red command station/hive location markers, multiple automatic waypoints, HP bars, and so forth.
10. The screen is blurred and color-distorted while the minimap is up.
11. The screen is obscured by a myriad of effects while using the blink ability or the cloaking and celerity upgrades (thanks Jaweese).
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>3.2 The problem</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
While some players find these effects immersive and enjoyable, other players find them irritating and obnoxious, severely interfering with their enjoyment of the game. Some even become physically ill from certain effects, notably the sprint wobbling.
Point 6, regarding the rupture cysts ability, is particularly troublesome, as it is intended to be legitimate gameplay feature that affects balance and strategies. It is problematic because it is unavoidable for the marine players. Unlike flashbangs in Counter-Strike, which serve a similar disruptive purpose, there is no way for the marine to avoid the effect (I don't count camping as legitimate avoidance). This is incredibly frustrating for the marine player and exactly the kind of ability you want to avoid having in an FPS/RTS game. Giving the RTS players direct control over the FPS' players' ability to fight, is bad game design, period.
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>3.3 The suggested solution</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The easiest way of solving the problem, and making both player camps happy, is to make the effects optional. Players should be able to turn them on or off in the options menu according to their preferences. For some effects, optionality is not feasible: Making the rupture cyst effect optional would render the ability moot, for example. Such features will either have to be removed or redesigned.
The following effects should be made optional:
4. The screen is splattered with blood when you take damage.
5. The screen flashes and sound is muffled when you are below a certain HP threshold.
7. The screen is splattered with goo when you get hit by gorge spit.
9. The screen is partially obscured by big red command station/hive location markers, multiple automatic waypoints, HP bars, and so forth.
10. The screen is blurred and color-distorted while the minimap is up.
The following effects should be removed (or at the very least made optional):
1. The screen shakes while shooting (the machine gun).
2. The screen wobbles while sprinting.
3. The crosshair pendulates while sprinting.
8. The screen is blurred when you get hit by the rifle butt (rifle butt will be getting its own post in due time).
11. The screen is obscured by a myriad of effects while using the blink ability or the cloaking and celerity upgrades (thanks Jaweese).
Point 6. (The screen is covered with green goo when rupture cyst is used, rendering marines effectively blind.) should be redesigned: Make it avoidable. Make it timed and give it a visible and aural effect that alerts marines in its vicinity and gives them an opportunity to look away from the cyst before it ruptures. Only marines looking at the cyst when it ruptures should be affected by its blinding effect.
this I agree 1000% with everything you said.
Except 1 thing maybe, the cyst rupture. It's not really good in its current state but if they gave it an animation/wind up time and gave you 1-2 seconds to look away to not get goo'd it might be worth trying.
The thing that makes me rage to no end is the constant screen shaking when firing a rifle. ffffffffffffff