Mutated Mod - Make NS2 unpredictable again
TheDR
Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181820Members
Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181820Members
After reading through the 'pub stompers' thread I came to an idea. The basis is that there could be a mod (possibly called 'mutated mod') that aims to create an epic experience, rather than a balanced one.
What does that mean? Well think back to the days of Unreal 2004 where you could add mutators onto your games to change how you play. Everything from slow motion to everyone spawns with a redeemer. How about using a concept like this for NS2?
Here is my thoughts from that thread which inspired this line of thought:
So this mod could nerf/remove the favoured tactics (shotgun/jetpack) and make the Exo powerful again and add some extra health to the Onos. As you join the server a message would pop up telling you what has been changed (keep it simple, only a few changes per mutation). The changes could change every week or so, it would evolve and mutate to keep everyone guessing new tactics (which is imo, the best bit of the game).
It would mix NS2 up enough that everyone playing would essentially be playing a new game, everyone would struggle. It would be as if everyone was a green player again.
Of course this mod could change anything and everything. Maybe one week shadow and the flamethrower could become really powerful, or celerity could speed you up at the cost of health. Lots of crazy ideas that happen on this forum everyday could be used and abused and everyone could actually start enjoying the game again instead of worrying about it.
tl;dr : the game is the most enjoyable when it's an exploration of tactics for everyone.
What does that mean? Well think back to the days of Unreal 2004 where you could add mutators onto your games to change how you play. Everything from slow motion to everyone spawns with a redeemer. How about using a concept like this for NS2?
Here is my thoughts from that thread which inspired this line of thought:
Actually, what I can blame is the balance of the game. Which has shifted towards favouring those who are better at tracking/jumping. This is the problem when the game is balanced for competitive play rather than balancing it as a game. Exo's are ****, jetpack and shotgun are the only versatile attack methods and Aliens can be stunted very early on if your team doesn't have an amazing lerk. The game has been streamlined so much half of the tactics built in don't actually work. Bring back the days of slow and powerful Exos, useful flamethrowers and Onos that were feared.
Damn, I'm getting all nostalgic at something that was only about a year ago. I think I might of prefered NS2 when everything had a bit more bang and the game wasn't decided in the first few battles.
I know there is a competitive mod, but has anyone thought of having an 'unbalanced but fun' mod (it could be called 'Mutated'). Might actually bring back some spirit back into the game (and would be a positive solution instead of trying to handicap the decent player base).
With a mod, it could change and evolve. Obviously the focus would be on creating epic moments, rather than having games resolved quickly. I'd rather concede on an hour long tug and war than play ten minutes on a rush. Maybe the game just needs a little more comeback mechanics.
So this mod could nerf/remove the favoured tactics (shotgun/jetpack) and make the Exo powerful again and add some extra health to the Onos. As you join the server a message would pop up telling you what has been changed (keep it simple, only a few changes per mutation). The changes could change every week or so, it would evolve and mutate to keep everyone guessing new tactics (which is imo, the best bit of the game).
It would mix NS2 up enough that everyone playing would essentially be playing a new game, everyone would struggle. It would be as if everyone was a green player again.
Of course this mod could change anything and everything. Maybe one week shadow and the flamethrower could become really powerful, or celerity could speed you up at the cost of health. Lots of crazy ideas that happen on this forum everyday could be used and abused and everyone could actually start enjoying the game again instead of worrying about it.
tl;dr : the game is the most enjoyable when it's an exploration of tactics for everyone.
Comments
Yes, even Mario Party - the epitome of casual console gaming - still got me to throw a controller and curse at fucking Bowser for stealing my hard earned coins and giving them to princess Peach due to a dice roll.
That game is banned from getting within visual range of me as a result.
As I said above, not random changes but ideas that have been left behind or weapons that have been forgotten.
After all it would be a mod, the community would decide what might change. It would be fun trying to create some different styles of the same game.
L4D2 also did something similar to this.
But based on past discussions on pub play / comp play mods way back in the day, people really don't want their game to be unpredictable or ever changing, while it might be fun for experienced players, it would make it a pain in the butt for new players.
Then when we get more people interested in playing NS2 again, these kinds of mods become sustainable again.
This is just my opinion though, so value it as you deem necessary
IMHO, the community is already fractured. I hope the thousands you speak of is a hyperbole.
I'm a dev on a source mod (PVKii). The mod has barely any players these days (just under 50 when I just checked) and suffers from similar problems as NS2 (veteran players are too good, new players don't understand ect). Adding new content hasn't saved the mod. The main reason being it's taken a long time to get anything done with limited resources.
So now NS2 hits a time period where they can avoid falling off into obscurity. I agree that new content will create a boost, this is why the mutation mod aims to simulate the feel of new content with a hell of lot less work.
Imagine a game where you get exos right at the beginning, but the enemy team also gets bile bomb and the lerk gets bile bomb as well. I can't imagine this being overly hard to implement (excuse me if it is, I'm not a coder) and could create a few interesting games. What I do know is that it's a hook and a reason to come back and check out the new mutation each week.
Who knows, a feature from this fertile test bed of ideas could be so good that it carries over to the actual game. Fun is the key word, something that gets forgotten when balance raises it's ugly head. In a way, it would be simulating the rough patch of development the game went through in which it changed every other week. Balance patches kept swapping the game about keeping the game fresh for everyone. The mutation mod would allow the players to enjoy that exciting feeling of new experiences without having to worry about it affecting the bread and butter of the base game. Everyone wins.
I actually believe something like this would bring players back, even if it's just to try it out. I know I'd be inclined to load it up at least once a week to just see how regular players cope with severe changes to the games ecosystem.
tl;dr : The mutation mod is a hook to bring people back, increase the playerbase of the standard game and possibly test some of the more interesting ideas.
In all seriousness some sort of dynamic 'fun' factor is needed at this point for public play. There isn't much reason for your average skillcapped pubber to continually go on every day to get ravaged by competitive players on a daily basis. Otherwise there's combat, but that won't be 'here' for very long.
Drunken lerk would be pretty good. Dizzying, but pretty funny. Or hammered marines. Ns1 gorge mod with devour.. ahh the good old days. Who cares if it's hacked and ugly lol, it'd still be fun.
LOL @IronHorse, that is exactly how I felt when this happened to me. WTF, that game cheated to make me play the same $%#%^$% level for longer
What if there were a set number of changes for both teams and there was a vote once the round had begun (then reset to apply the conditions). Basically, letting the team vote on 2-3 "specialties" for their team, or just voting for vanilla across the board (no buffs or nerfs).
Each "specialty" would have a trade off (kind of a buff/nerf scenario), and the 2-3 with the highest number of votes wins and those conditions are applied to the next round. (Commander counts as two votes)
Examples:
Aliens could choose
SuperGorges or Mega Onos
- Much more durable and versitile gorges; cheaper energy costs and higher damage on abilities; Onos has less armor and moves slower
-OR- Onos has celerity-level base speed and additional armor; Gorges have increased energy costs
Deadlier Fades or Lerks
- Cheaper blink energy cost, more armor and more damage; Lerks are slower
-OR- Lerks have more armor and apply bite DoT with spikes; Blink and Swipe energy costs increased
Improved Skulks or Base Structures
- Skulks are faster and have base armor = to carapace at the cost; Crag/Shift/Shade/Whips have their effects and HP dimished by 1/3
-OR- Crag/Shift/Shade/Whipes have their hp and effectiveness increased by 1/3; Skulks have no armor
Marines can choose
Bullet or Explosive focus
- LMG/Pistol/SG have larger clip and faster reload speed, Mines/GL/Grenades are more expensive and deal less damage (or have smaller area effect)
-OR- Mines/GL/Grenades are cheaper and more powerful (or have a larger AoE), and LMG/Pistol/SG have slower reload speed and smaller clip
Robotics or Human focus
- ARCs/MACs/Sentries/Welders are buffed and cheaper; Can only get up to W2/A2
-OR-ARCs/MACs/Sentries/Welders are weaker and more expensive; Can get up to W4/A4
A choice for both teams could be More Pres/Less Tres and vice versa.
Wow I put more effort into this than I thought I would.
wat
We need a pub mod too... lol sad to say... for server scaling.
Considering the rate that the regular game is dying, I'm sure anything to make the game different/interesting will bring people back. Game mode mods die because most of the time they are too complex or change the game too much.
wow, those literally all have correct answers... all of them. you need to think up better examples. unless you're counting on the teams self nerfing...
SuperGorges - bile op
Deadlier Fades or Lerks- this one might be a tossup, except added damage with lerks vs hard to use fades? not exactly sophie's choice.
Improved Skulks - no question
Marines can choose
Bullet- no question, just better
Human- dps vs ?
Of course it is not Hyperbole, the thousands who own NS2 but do not play it. Do you know NS2 sold 144,000 copies in the first week on steam? That's not including pre-orders, and all sales since. So yes, there are thousands, tens of thousands, and possibly even Hundreds of Thousands of people who own this game but currently do not play it. Noticed I also said to bring in some of them, not all of them.
Agreed, maybe not totally balanced, but that can take time to tweak. I'd like to see a pub mod to simply expand on NS2, adding totaly awesome and fun things like Devour, perhaps new weapons, aliens, just to see how it plays
Mods usually don't bring people (rare exceptions like dota 1), they instead retain players.
to be fair, i was really tempted to CS for NS1 back in the day, but it fell off my radar and i never got around to it.