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Spew or no spew?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:27 am
by Hunter
I have resumed working on Silent Fury after a five month hiatus, and expect to be seeing it released around Christmas time. Anyway, those of you who read PD probably already know that. So, while inserting stuff into the table, I was thinking about how to balance between realism and arcade..ism. If enemy fighters / ships drop spew, then it's more like the arcade roots that Descent has. Or, I could have it so NO enemies drop spew for a little bit of realism. Alternatively, I was thinking about adding in a wreck system so that there are basically 'chunks' of metal floating about where the ship was - and while you cannot see the loot, simply flying over the metal would give you the spew. So - which one shall I go for?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:49 pm
by d3jake
The second idea is really neat. I think it would be a bit more accurate, or at least remove the shield orbs. I could never figure out how a ship that uses shields, can be dropped to zero shields, destroyed, but drop a shield orb....

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:08 am
by Hunter
Well, I might do away with shield/energy orbs in this campaign and add a NPC that fills the support ship role for repairing shield / refueling energy.

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:49 pm
by WillyP
Some interesting ideas. I voted for invisible. I like the idea of the NPC refueling, though. I'm thinking there could be some added play by making the supply ship vulnerable, so if it got attacked you want to defend it o protect your source of fuel.
how a ship that uses shields, can be dropped to zero shields, destroyed, but drop a shield orb....
Well if your car ran out of gas, there might still be a gallon or two left in the tank that can't be picked up. Perhaps the shields are the same idea... hey, it's a game, right? :wink:

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:12 pm
by Matthew
But if there's no shield and energy orbs, how do you get rewarded for winning? After a few kills, shield orbs become far more valuable than a new primary that never runs out.

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:39 pm
by Hunter
I'm thinking to keep shield & energy available only from the supply ship. Weapon drops are ofcourse still going to occur, otherwise you'd never be able to get any new weapons in the campaign. And seeing as there will be multiplayer support I will need multiple weapon drops per mission. The question is how those weapons will appear to the player. Either they'll be rotating powerups or they will be frozen wrecks.

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:06 am
by Matthew
But if you don't get shields from ships how are you supposed to survive?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:49 am
by Hunter
You need to understand the context of the missions. You won't be under fire from every NPC in the level - and you'll have help fom a whole wing and/or support fleet to destroy targets. Since D3 AI is kinda 'robot oriented' naturally there will be some odd behaviour, but at least it won't be everything shooting at you like in an Assault level or Basewars. And aren't you reading my messages? You'll get remote repair from a support ship that will be nearby.

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:42 am
by BloodEagle
What's the overall context (plot and or style) of the game/mod/mission-pack-thing? Because if your goal is to destroy a rogue AI bent on bringing fluffy kindness to all of man, I'd say go with visible drops. Otherwise....

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:16 am
by Hunter
Well, think FreeSpace like missions with some focus on team work as opposed to putting it all on Alpha 1.

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:14 pm
by Scyphi
As I understand it, it's like Basewars, only a bit more single-player oriented.

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:33 pm
by Darcshadow7
Well, think FreeSpace like missions with some focus on team work as opposed to putting it all on Alpha 1.
But didnt you ever use the "Hey, Kill this thing!" command? :)

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:45 pm
by Hunter
Ok, so most of the work will be done by the player. :P