Sup Tremulous community,
I want to toss out 3 ideas that could help the gameplay of Tremulous. I've been stewing these ideas for weeks and ready to present them. Its a lot, read at your leisure.
Structure pointsKilling any structure should give the player credits or evolution points.Human structuresTurret:
1 evolution pointTesla generator:
2 evolution pointsDefensive Computer:
3 evolution pointsMedistation:
3 evolution pointsArmory:
3 evolution pointsTelenode:
3 evolution pointsReactor:
5 evolution pointsAlien structuresAcid Tube:
175 creditsBarricade:
175 creditsTrapper:
300 creditsHive:
300 creditsBooster:
550 creditsEggpod:
550 creditsOvermind:
800 creditsRepeater:
0 evolution pointsScaled Points (credits or evolution points).This suggestion is about scaling the amount of credits or evolution points players receive based on improvement of Stage related gear or class.
The difference between 2 players upgrades determines the amount of points they receive.
HumansA Stage 1 human:
Only Light armor and any Stage 1 weapon
A Stage 2 human:
A Helmet and any Stage 1 weapon/armor or
Pulse rifle or flamer thrower with Stage 2 or Stage 1 armor
A Stage 3 human:
A Battlesuit and any Stage 1, 2, or 3 weapon or
Lucifer cannon and any Stage Stage 1, 2, or 3 armor
Special Rules:Grenades are not considered in the Stage evaluation for simplicity sake.
Builders' stage is based armor type.
For example, A human with a painsaw and a helmet is considered a Stage 2 human.
A human with a painsaw and battlesuit is consider a Stage 3 human.
A human with a lucifer cannon and no armor is consider Stage 3 human (even though that is improbable).
AliensA Stage 1 alien is an granger, advanced granger, dretch, basilisk, marauder, or dragoon.
A Stage 2 alien is an advanced basilisk, advanced maurader, or a dragoon whose team is at Stage 2 or Stage 3.
A Stage 3 alien is an advanced dragoon or tyrant.
Special rulesDragon are considered Sage 1 or Stage 2, depending on what Stage their team is on. This is because Aliens at Stage 2 still use dragoons extensively. Dragoons at Alien Stage 3 is considered a Stage 2 opponent for humans. So, being killed by a battlesuit or lucifer cannon means the human will only receive 75% of the credits.
When a player kills an opponent of an
equal level of Stage upgrades (gear, weapons or class), they get
100% of the credits or evolution points possible. If a player kills an opponent of a higher Stage upgrades, then still only receive 100% of the 'points' earned.
How much damage they do is considered in the award as well.
When a player kills an opponent of a
1 lower Stage, they receive 75% of the credits or evolution points possible.
Killing an opponent 2 stages below a player awards 50% of the enemies 'point' value.
Due to Aliens only receiving flat points (1, 2, or 3) and never partial points; the code for Alien's evolution points needs to be modified. The raw number of evolution points stored for an alien needs to be 36. Code wise, the cost of each class needs to be increased by a factor 4. However, on the player's HUD, the raw evolution points total can be simply divided (no remainder) by 4, resulting in the traditional 9 evolution point max. The evolution menu does not need to be changed. These changes can all be made in the background and does not have to be apparent to the player. The player will not know how many 'partial' points they have but their partial points will be saved. A tyrant killing naked humans would have to kill 4 in order to see 1 evolution point gain.
Point SpreadAliens maximum credit value, based on humans Stage
Class: Stage 1 human value/Stage 2 human value/Stage 3 human value
Granger: 200/150/100
Advanced Granger: 250/250/188
Dretch: 175/131/88
Basilisk: 225/169/113
Advanced Basilisk: 275/275/206
Marauder: 350/263/175
Advanced Marauder: 450/450/338
Dragoon: 500/500/375
Advanced Dragoon: 600/600/600
Tyrant: 800/800/800
Humans maximum evolution point value, based on aliens Stage
*Remember* 1 traditional evolution point = 4 partial evolution points in this system.
Stage of human: Stage 1 alien/Stage 2 alien/Stage 3 alien
Stage 1 human: 4/3/2
Stage 2 human: 4/4/3
Stage 3 human: 4/4/4
Before people start complaining, look at the interplay between the 2 ideas
Under the new point scale, human structures are worth:
Turret: 4 partial evolution points
Tesla generator: 8 partial evolution points
Defensive Computer: 12 partial evolution points
Medistation: 12 partial evolution point
Armory: 12 partial evolution point
Telenode: 12 partial evolution points
Reactor: 20 partial evolution points
The aim of these combined changes would be change the focus of game from killing other players to killing the opposing teams base. Killing other players will give rewards but camping inside or outside someone's base will not be as rewarding as actually killing structures.
Specifically, tyrants sitting outside the human base will not get as many evolution points as they did previously. However, killing a 1 turret will be as valuable as killing 2 naked humans.
Likewise, flamers or lucifer spamming human will gain more from actually shooting down structures than spamming inside the alien base randomnly or feet shooting down halls.
A chainsuit killing a tyrant will gain more than just sweeping up dretches and tyrant will gain more from killing a chainsuit than swiping down naked riflemen. In either case, you can still do it but it won't be as profitable as killing the base or the actual other team.
Anti-Camp structuresI suggest a special structure, available to both teams, to encourage their opponents to leave the base. Lets call them Anti-Camp structures or A-C for short.
The Anti-Camp is basically a large structure like the Reactor or Overmind that, when build, damages the other team's reactor or overmind. The rules of the Anti-Camp are simple.
- A-C must be built by a team's builder
- Only availible at Stage 3
- Cost 0 build points and only 1 can built
- Every 2 minutes, its takes 20% of the opponent's RC/OM maximum health
- The lost health can not be be repaired or regenerated
- Only rebuilding the RC/OM can restore its total health
- A-C must be built 2x away the power or creep radius of their RC/OM.
- A-C regenerates its own health, like the overmind, including the human A-C
- A-C does not provide power or creep
- A-C heals friendly players near it, slowly over time. This including the human team's Anti-Camp
In 10 minutes, the A-C will completely destroy the other team's RC/OM. The RC/OM can be rebuilt but there will be a delay as if it was destroyed normally. A-C will damage the RC/OM at its 2 minute intervals regardless if the OM/RC has dropped during that time.
A Global message should be displayed alerting all players that the other team has made the A-C structure. Both teams A-C should have around 1000 hitpoints. I have not decided on the regeneration rate.
Humans are going to complain that Aliens will have the advantage. I have already considered this fact by allowing both human and alien A-C to regenerate their own health and other's health. However, humans have range, grenades, and painsaws. A dedicate human team should be able to drop the alien A-C is they try. Aliens, on the other hand, can evolve on the fly and don't ammo issues to consider. The A-C gameplay is balanced by the same concepts that balance base attacks.
My only concern is about pre-Stage 3 camping. That is really bother some but I don't feel that both teams are evenly balanced enough to force leaving the base prior to Stage 3. However, when 1 team reaches Stage 3, they shouldn't have to deal with camping past that point.
The overall goal is encourage players to get on the map more and fight it out versus base rushes back and forth. Regardless of stage progression, the team with a live A-C has to defend 2 points, instead just their base, allowing the other team more opportunities for base rushing. Rushing an A-C is good practice for rushing a base as well, because it involves the same skills for both teams.
I thought of the names for the A-C structures for both teams. The Human A-C could be called the "Battery" and the Alien A-C, the "Catalyst".