Observations/Suggestions on current build

Request new features or present your ideas.
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Comet_
Mantis
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Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:52 pm UTC

Observations/Suggestions on current build

Post by Comet_ »

Hey guys! I did this earlier with the big gameplay build and a lot has changed since then so I wanted to comment on that (don't worry, I'll add tl;dr and the post won't be nearly as long as my last one).


Human Advanced Movement: I like the prospect and I think that anything that adds depth towards humans is a good idea. In first person shooter games many popular titles are finding that depth to gameplay actually increases revenue (the current model is; dont tell them how to play, have deeply integrated movement systems and relatable characters, and through this have them stay for the deep gameplay causing the company to make more money through skins and purchaseables because players feel more invested). I think Unvanquished should pick up a similar model and have that model in mind when doing many changes- not saying in-game purchases - but it is clear that through good movement mechanics many FPS have become huge. Look at games already out, huge titles like Quake Live, Overwatch (beta but movement mechanics are present in almost every character so it is a great example), Team Fortress 2, and Dirty Bomb - to name a few- have been on the forefront of this movement-oriented FPS stage/era and all of them have their own dedicated and profitable communities. Even though aim is still the main focus in these games and Unv, through good movement the skill ceilings can be raised even beyond our wildest realities.

tl;dr: Its universally understood that humans struggle because they are too slow so adding movement mechanics and things to help humans navigate maps better is going to benefit the flow of the game as well as add depth to the human class which is more boring than aliens. Our alien movement is great, I would like more cool alien things that you can do but for the most part I'm pleased with the depth of alien movement.


Now for the actual opinions on the topic.

Side Dodging: Side dodge is fine, but very powerful and kind of unintuitive; Side dodge seems to have a hidden cooldown unknown to the human; And as a solution I propose is something like the image below (best image I could find showcasing my idea):

Image

Optimally we would overlay an orange/yellow (complementary to current blue UI for sake of noticeability) meter of the same size as the sprint meter directly on top of the sprint meter. The meter only appears when you dodge and after you dodge it will slowly go down so you know when your next dodge is available. Note: this will block the sprint meter however I think it is appropriate in order to not clutter UI and keep things intuitive. Secondly, side dodging is very powerful so I would suggest increasing cooldown slightly or greatly increasing sprint cost of using. I think it should be a tactical decision to use your dodge.

EDIT: I don't remember if bsuits can dodge but I would prefer they not be able to.

Wall jumping: I like the wall jumping and very fast noticed it was a quick port of the marauder wall jump. Because humans have less speed/jump height, they appear to be able to wall jump straight up a wall which cant be a thing lol.

-One suggestion on this change would be to increase the speed at which the human comes off the wall and lower the angle, meaning that if a human is running away from an alien he can jump at the wall and wall jump to thrust himself back at the pursuing alien for a surprise attack. It would also be used more as a means for dodging. One problem with this is that it might make side dodging useless or might make it hard to decide which to use since they both would have a similar effect.

-Another suggestion (my personal favorite) is you let humans cling shortly and jump once off of walls. I don't know how this would be animated but it would make for great gameplay.

-Lastly, I'm sure most players want it removed so I would say just limit the jump to one wall jump or replace it with another movement mechanic.

Donations: Is the dev team ever planning on trying to do small-scale crowd funding or accepting donations? I would be willing to donate (even if the donations just went towards keeping the site running), perhaps donations would give a title on forums and help give you guys some more incentive towards keeping on working towards your/our goals.

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