I posted this in the suggestions for 1.2 thread, but I want to re-write it here so I can get some feedback on the issue. So, here's my proposal.
Make each room/server be a "universe" of sorts with a visual representation of the various planets (maps) and who controls them. That would add a bit of depth to the game. Like one part of the galaxy would have Nexus 6 based on a planet and you could see if humans or aliens owned that planet in real time. This could be based upon the last battle fought there or the percentage of wins each side had on that map; whoever has won more games there would have control of the planet/map. Now, this could be purely eye candy, or it could add an advantage to a particular team. That could be like the "home" team (the one in control) would have a homefield advantage over the other team, or exactly opposite; the other team is so jacked up over taking the place that they get speed bonuses, health bonuses, etc. (or an adrenaline mode, for example) to give them the edge.
Also, this would be a bit more difficult, you could make variations of a map that changes depending on whatever team controls the area. Example: Nexus 6 is owned by the humans, perfect, clean condition. Nexus 6 is contested (equally owned or almost-equally owned by both teams) and shows the same map with minor variations showing signs of struggle, a grittier atmosphere, and a clear point where you can see which places are human and which are alien territory. Nexus 6 is owned by aliens, same map with major variations showing that the place is totally alien. To clarify, I'll designate human control as H, contested as C, and alien as A.
Map H is the normal Nexus 6 map.
Map C is the normal Nexus 6 map with more blood/signs of battle and key alien areas (areas where aliens most frequent during the game, such as default base, certain hallways, the second reactor room, etc.) showing that aliens own that place; creep, slime, organic structures, etc. all over the place.
Map A is the Map C Nexus 6 map with more alien presence; the entire map is slimy, creepy, organic, etc.
Now, that would primarily be a texture variation, so the only difficulty is not feasibility but rather time. The game could be coded like:
if
map_control "team"//map is map name, team is H, C, A (human, contested, alien)
then
play_map "Map_H/C/A" //decides which map to load, maps included in base install of Tremulous
example
if
nexus_control "Human"
then
play_map "Nexus6_Human"
And that should be pretty simple to code. The only problem is time; you'd have to retexture the maps and redistribute them with the base install, which could triple the install size. Unless the maps could have multiple texture sets and have those load instead of three identical maps with different textures, which I have no idea on how to do.
Share your thoughts on this, if you don't mind.
My mockup of what I think this should look like (except a few hundred times better and visually appealing):
Here's what I'm thinking;
1. Open and launch Tremulous.
2. Select your server of choice.
3. Be brought to the Galaxy screen, where the current map is listed in the lower left corner of the screen.
4. Click on the various points of the Galaxy screen to be taken to the Detail page for each, including the map name, screenshot of the map, current holder of the map, and the game status of the map, whether it is not in play, or if it is, show the current stage levels and number of kills for each team along with the game time and average ping (the last two were thought of after I made the image), updated once per minute or as determined by the server (no less than every 30 seconds).
5. A "Join" button would allow you to quickly join up to the latest map without checking the current map status.
6. The loading screen would display the Detail page of the current map, as last updated before the Join command was given (to keep loading times low; real-time updates play havoc with loading, at least as far as I know).
Another thought was that there could be a player list included with the Detail page, and allow players to join directly to one team instead of having to get into the game then joining up. The only problem I see with that is that someone could join up right when someone else in-game is teamswapping, which could cause balance issues. Please share your thoughts and ideas. Thank you!
