Unvanquished Forum

We weren't kidding about working on a flying alien!

The new alien, tentatively titled the shrike, vulture, or talon, will be our first original alien form. Unlike past Tremulous mods, some of which featured their own rather small flying aliens, the main body of our flying alien will be somewhere around the marauder in size, while the large, draconic wings will widen out into an impressive wing span. Rather than hovering, the alien will soar around, and its attacks will tentatively involve swooping down at opponents, roughly like pouncing from the air. In addition, it will be able to attack up close automatically like a dretch, as it would be far too irritating for it to require timed attacks when moving around at high speeds. We may possibly allow it to stick to walls, depending on how things go. It will not be totally helpless on the ground, but it will be best to stay in flight when possible.

As for much of our new concept art, the flying alien design has been created by Alex B. O'Dowd. We are in the process of modeling it, and it is being done by Sergio “Cupside” Anes, who has done the new basilisk model that you may have seen in screenshots posted on Twitter. In the meantime, `Ishq has been coding the flight mechanics. We may use something less extreme for the human jetpack, which we also do not want to simply hover in place.

Stay tuned for more!

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Will this alien have any use in enclosed spaces or is it meant as a large open space creature?

StalKermit wrote:

Will this alien have any use in enclosed spaces or is it meant as a large open space creature?

The size and flying mechanics will be adjusted so it is useful indoors, too. The body size will be at most as big as the marauder's, the wing size depends on what works for us. Obviously, this class will be strong in open areas but not as much inside ventilation shafts. Maybe this will allow more open map layouts in the future, that weren't possible in Trem due to the human advantage there.

If it's as big as a marauder, that means it won't fit in vents that basilisks fit cosy in? (and for some cases, humans can stand up in as well)
I found the spitfire repetitively easy to kill with shotgun in korx when unlagged with its speed and small size.

Approx. how much health will the new alien have?

ViruS wrote:

How much health will the new alien have?

No idea, balancing can't be done up front.

Viech wrote:

Maybe this will allow more open map layouts in the future, that weren't possible in Trem due to the human advantage there.

That would be great!

Viech wrote:

ViruS wrote:

How much health will the new alien have?

No idea, balancing can't be done up front.

Approximately of course.
I feel that the advance dretch costing 2 evos (equivalent to the old 1 evo) is too expensive for its current health as if you just put an arbitrary number and left it there. I find that the basilisk is a lot more useful, even if the grab's usefulness is negligible with 300 ping.

The advanced dretch (just like all other advanced forms) will likely be removed. We will try a different, more flexible system for upgrading the base classes. The pounce has been found too strong for the dretch (which is why I gave it to the temporary advanced form) and nerfing it to the point where it can be balanced will take the fun out of it. The code will certainly be used, potentially for the new Basilisk. The Basilisk is pending a gameplay redesign and I'm strongly against maintaining the grab ability. I know some of you took the time to learn how to use it properly and came to like it but design wise it's simply a nightmare.

Viech wrote:

On the other hand, the basilisk and tyrant are rather inflexible. The lisk's special attack doesn't work against a battlesuit and has no effect on buildables. Its primary attack is weak compared to that of other classes and its low hitpoints let it die quickly. I won't counter that it can be strong in certain situations, but it isn't capable of reacting to any situation as the mara and goon pretty much can.

Viech wrote:

The Basilisk is pending a gameplay redesign and I'm strongly against maintaining the grab ability. I know some of you took the time to learn how to use it properly and came to like it but design wise it's simply a nightmare.

Would you consider moving the grab ability to the Granger?

Uhm… I guess not. I'm not strictly against giving builders some sort of paralyzing defense attack but the grab as such has no future in my opinion.