Hard Light Productions Forums
Archived Boards => The Archive => Stellar Assault => Topic started by: Quanto on November 01, 2010, 12:23:45 am
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Alright.
We're at a major crossroads in our gameplay conceptualization.
SHIELDS
This is where I stand. I want a simplified gameplay style, a newb friendly game essentially. To further that aim, I have been discussing with Andy, and Thaeris about just what kind of Shield we should have, and how it affects the HUD.
In the Original Games, there was a Unified shield, NO QUADRANTS, and a single power bar to indicate the strength of that shield.
I want SAFSO to do the same thing. But I know that Hardcore PC Space Shooter fans would probably disagree with that idea.
So the question is this.
- Do we use a Unified Shield with a single Percentage Bar to indicate it's strength?
(http://www.retrogamer.net/users/890/thm1024/ssquadronpng.png)(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2720/00000113.png)
- Or should we use a traditional FS-Style Spherical Quadrant Indicator? With Quadrant oriented Shields?
(http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8551/sheilds.png)
Post your opinions here please!
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Since your going on the newb-friendly approach, I'd suggest using the unified shielding.
Unified shielding means that the user does not have to fool around with transferring energy during the middle of a dogfight, which is highly beneficial to defenders in that they don't have to move their hands around quickly to punch the transfer energy key.
Conceptually, unified shield makes sense to me for the Shadow Squadron (they're supposed to be the razor's edge in star craft technology), because the energy transferring would be completely controlled by the craft computer. Canon could be made up for the universe to the extent that split shields where common on older craft, but due to the increasing demands/needs by the pilots, the unified shielding was made standard.
Lastly, in my opinion quad- shields are a bit too much for an FSO newb (such as myself :P) so if you had to lean towards split shields I'd suggest using bi-directional shields (forward/aft) instead. About the only thing that could be beneficial from split shields vs. unified is the "oh $%&#, my rear shields are down" element.
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You could have four-part shields that autofocus.
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I assume that "autofocus" means that the shield automatically equalizes after each hit...
If this is the case, I'm for it. Furthermore, if there's a few millisecond delay on this, it means that whoever is attacking a target from one side specifically is able to concentrate their firepower on target, they might be able to punch through the shield and hit the target hull directly. If done properly, that might make for some interesting gameplay.
Lastly, I assume such a shield could be applied on a ship-to-ship basis, meaning that if we are ever to have shielded capitol ships, their shield quadrants would remain un-unified if so desired.
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We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
Not that they won't be shielded in canon, but I think shields would make the capships ingame a bit too strong. And the reality is this, in Stellar Assault; Fighters/Bombers are king, capships are merely a means in which the fighters are moved from one point to another.
And I wouldn't mind doing auto-focusing sheilds if the indicator itself didn't actually show them focusing or even being split.
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We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
ynot
Makes it fun to fly under the shield and strafe the hull.
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We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
ynot
Makes it fun to fly under the shield and strafe the hull.
It would have to be a REALLY big shield. Cause remember, these fighters are 3-5 times faster than Freespace fighters.
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We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
ynot
Makes it fun to fly under the shield and strafe the hull.
Not at 300+ m/s, where if you scrape the hull, your chances of survival are minimal at best.
:P
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We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
ynot
Makes it fun to fly under the shield and strafe the hull.
Not at 300+ m/s, where if you scrape the hull, your chances of survival are minimal at best. I
:P
If all the players suck, maybe, but 300+ m/s is not that far off from the speeds most of us are used to flying at. It would only get tricky with horrible damp values.
We'll never have Shielded capships, thats a guarantee.
ynot
Makes it fun to fly under the shield and strafe the hull.
It would have to be a REALLY big shield. Cause remember, these fighters are 3-5 times faster than Freespace fighters.
Same goes. And no they're not, at least not all FS fighters.
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Most of us fly less than 100m/s in FSO, do not have full control of thruster movements, and do not deal with drift in flight. As most of the ships would have a pretty small shield, yes, there would be a substantial chance of grazing a ship hull.
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Most of us fly less than 100m/s in FSO, do not have full control of thruster movements, and do not deal with drift in flight. As most of the ships would have a pretty small shield, yes, there would be a substantial chance of grazing a ship hull.
All the better! A new skill to develop.
But if you really don't want it okay.
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Most of us fly less than 100m/s in FSO, do not have full control of thruster movements, and do not deal with drift in flight. As most of the ships would have a pretty small shield, yes, there would be a substantial chance of grazing a ship hull.
All the better! A new skill to develop.
But if you really don't want it okay.
If you really want to discuss the idea of Capship Shields, I can respectfully split the topic and we can discuss it in depth, but again, the goal behind SAFSO is to create the "Counter-Strike" or "Soul Calibur" of Space Shooters. Not the "Arma II" or "Virtua Fighter" of Space Shooters.
Capship Shields would add a level of difficulty and simulation that I have a feeling many newcomers to the Genre would have difficulty wrapping their heads around. A lot like shield quadrants.
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I think that capship shields could be added as an almost cosmetic addition, with their regeneration rates next to none and rather minimal stenght (so disabing subsystems would be easier), along with lack of any kind of quadrants for them. That would allow SAFSO to stick with canon and maintain simplicity at the same time. Anti subsystem weapons could be set to go throught shielding or deal a lot of damage to it.
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Single Unified or just auto adjusting is the way to go imho
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I by far prefer quadrant based shields, so you aren't screwed by multi-angled attacks. Why are you trying to make it harder than it already is?
...of course, I'm the only one with this opinion, because I'm the guy who actually created the game balance and knows the implications of doing something like that.
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Yes, go for the unified shield.
It will make new player's life easier indeed.
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I don't think hitting Q after every few hits is going to overwhelm any new players.
But if the original game had unified shields and capship shields, I think the mod should have them that way too.
On that note: What happened to the "smart shields" option in the launcher? I remember it being there in the past, but now it's gone.
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On that note: What happened to the "smart shields" option in the launcher? I remember it being there in the past, but now it's gone.
It's an ai profiles flag now.
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I vote for unified shields. I almost never augment any particular shield, so having to keep hitting "equalize" instead is just a waste of time and effort. :)
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If having unified shielding becomes too big of an issue, a possible compromise is to have the shield energy "full on at any angle."
Meaning, the shield energy is not dispersed evenly around the shield, but instead is used up as the shield is taking hits-in the direction of the attack. Shield energy would then not be transferred, it's just instantly there...
:confused:
Hope you understood that better than I did? Not too good in the morning with words...
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I see no reason to pander to genpop when you have a game you're specifically trying to replicate. :P
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Well part of your problem is going to be I don't know if Wanderer's multi part shield code
ever got put into the main builds. FotG and FringeSpace have been asking for that for quite
some time.
Granted quad and auto focus are already do-able. Single I'm not sure of as we've not had a use for it.
Based on your mod design though, single or single with auto focus.
*cough* we called it "smart shields" in tach *cough*
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I've been playing Descent for almost 15 years now, so a single shield bubble works just fine for me. :p
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Shields are for people that get hit.
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Shields are for people that get hit.
And you too will be hit, I guarantee it.
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unified shield for me too, less to think about as my vision tends to tunnel... lots, good job I'm not a real combat pilot :D
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Shields are for people that get hit.
And you too will be hit, I guarantee it.
Of course I will, that's why I love my shields.