I have been contemplating making a game and map where you must collect custom powerups to maintain your armor's effectiveness. For example, say there are custom powerups on map with traits in game settings that last for...90 seconds. With the powerup, you would be faster than average, maybe overshields/damage increase, basically traits for a fast-paced casual game. If you do not collect another within that 90 seconds, the basic player traits will set in which cause your shields to fail, you cannot use armor abilities, you become slower, heavier, etc. I've been referring to this idea as 'Addiction' for simplicity. I also think spawn traits that are similar/identical to powerup traits are necessary to prevent players from getting killed to easily off spawn. I thought it would make for an interesting alternative to standard slayer for casual use and could even be incorperated into objective gametypes as well (maybe CTF, headhunter, KotH). So Forgehub...what do you think? Do you think this idea has potential? Has it been done before and make me look like a copying fool? Would you perhaps be interested in helping with the creation of said game/map? I await your response.
I think it sounds interesting. Bungie's scripting a new Power Slayer gametype and putting it into Action Sack really soon, too, if you wanted to add another power-tier to it above the custom powerups. When designing maps for the mode, make sure there's a good number of custom powerups with reasonable respawn times, and try to make their locations intuitive for people unfamiliar with the map. I don't think the gametype could be competitive, to be sure, but it seems like a great time in a casual setting.
It wasn't meant to be a competitive gametype, as you mentioned it would be casual. Thanks for the idea with power slayer, I hadn't thought of that. It could possibly be an 'adrenaline' system as well as the 'addiction'. I was planning on 5 sec or so respawn on custom powerups, placed in very obvious locations marked by a specific aesthetic. Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, I figured something like this had been done in a similar way. I'll ask him if he's fine with my variant idea and see how this works in Reach if he's ok with it. I'll try and make it a unique game but yeah, that's pretty similar.
Not really. As a creator of Regen, your idea is completely different. The whole idea of Regen is to gain shields by leeching it of enemies. This gametype is simply collecting CP's to keep your shields up, while at the same time a standard slayer game is happening. On another note this idea does sound pretty good. If pulled off correctly I imagine it could be quite fun. Good luck!
Interesting enough, but how many custom power-ups can you have on the map? Four? If so, it'd have to be limited to a 4v4 game at the most, or else it may be easy to just camp the power-ups. As far as running out goes, I wouldn't make them slower, heavier, or anything that affected motion. That, for me, would be a game-ruining aspect, knowing that if I missed getting a CPU, that I was pretty much a sitting duck. I could see no shields or health, but hindering movement would be a step too far.
It might be better to just make the CP an increase in damage resistance, because the point is to give people a competitive advantage with the CP, not make them nearly invincible. In regards to this, the maximum number on map does not include those in use by players. If you set the effects to last for 60 seconds and set them to respawn every 30, then everyone in a 4v4 game could actually have one at the same time.
I think placing CPs in spread out, contested locations with sparse cover should make them less campable and require map control to lock down. Thus competitive elements could be brought in while keeping the game casual. Also, the idea was to force players to constantly resupply, but the powerups were meant to be easily accessible to all players. Do you think easy access for all or limited access would make for a more interesting game? @Plasma Blades That probably would be best for gameplay, I think I'll drop the movement change. I still support armor abilities exclusive to powered players though.
I was referring to camping the general area where the power-up spawns. The locations would easily draw more players, so camping would be an effective strategy as far as kill count goes. And, if the players can't get to the power-up before the respawn traits run out, then it's even easier for anyone camping the CPU. I'm not against the idea, I'm just saying it needs to be thoroughly thought-out and designed so that camping is not an option. Yes, the entire team could rush one person, but maps shouldn't really rely on such hypotheticals.
That is the big drawback. Either 5+ CPs or hard to defend locations would be needed. Maps would need to be specifically tailored for the gametype. Would anyone be interested in a co-forge?
This. Also it's a good idea to make players with the CP a different color so people know they have different traits.
Good idea. Actually, I may reverse that and say players without the CP are white or something while powered players have their team colors. I'll try both ways.
If you ever see me online, I'm more than willing to help out. I'm sure we'll think of more things as we're actually forging, too.
I'd be up for helping as well. I'm usually pretty busy, but I'll work towards thinning out my schedule if you need my help. If not, best of luck with the project.
I'm honestly thinking that having players start off with no shields, and giving non-recharging energy shield with slight drain for CP users would give you the best results. I can personally imagine having seven or so CPs on the map at once, all set to a relatively long respawn time of 60-90 seconds. Combine that with the shields being leached off over time, and you have a game that boils down to teams communicating constantly about which CPs have spawned where, and teams making organized rushes for the several CPs scattered in key locations throughout the map. You can't camp at a CP spawn because of three key effects this would all have: 1) The CPs won't come back for a long time, meaning you would not be able to regain your shields for a long time unless you keep on the move for other CPs 2) There are multiple CPs on the map, making it hard for a team to deny access to the enemies unless they're constantly moving from CP spawn to CP spawn. 3) Your shields are constantly losing some of their strength. When people camp, the enemy can just choose to avoid their camping location. This usually doesn't do much if the enemy has the lead, etc. Due to the slightly negative shield drain however, this means that a camper's best option is to actually go out and kill people, since camping can only lead to a better shielded player finding him.
The only problem I find with this is that players usually lead an average life time of 40 or so seconds in a good game and the CPs are meant to be easily accessible to all. Maybe a 45 second respawn could be a compromise between access for all players while keeping CP spawns less campable. I like your concept, although it may cause players who just spawned to have a harder time acquiring a CP. Actually, that would still make for an interesting game. 45-60 sec CP respawn and spawn traits for shields that slowly drain sounds good. This allows players to stand a chance off spawn if they are not near an active CP while they search one out. Team communication would be essential as the team can inform each other of active CP spawns and guide players with low shields toward them.
You could give people shields with no recharge as the base player traits, then just make the CP recharge shields for 10 seconds so the person gets full shields back. Putting a slow decay on the shields might still be good, but I doubt anyone would get too much of an advantage since the shields don't recharge.
I think you're right. Without a shield recharge player shields will already be low enough. Or, maybe a slight reduction in damage would help as player shielding will not be full in most firefights, and slow decay. I can set up 2 gametypes and test both ways, as they will work with the same map.