I knew i can always count on pleyer1. He has lots of ideas and he doesn't mind sharing it with others
*blushes*
Yes, me am big-mouth plenty-talker and sand-castle builder (I type with maybe three fingers).
well first the names - i like very much this names:harpy(just like basilisk) vandal(like goon, mara,tyrant) wampyri(sounds nice
)
Glad you like the names. I tried to stay in keeping with the Alien naming-conventions. My favorites are underlined, the others I just tossed out as they occurred to me. As you can see, I am most partial to
Harrier (since it describes the action such Aliens will have on Humans, hehheh). I agree that Harpy goes well with Basilisk and that Vandal fits in nicely with Marauder, and also feel that those names nicely sum up the model you have made.
(I still like DeathFromAbove:Playerhater, lol).
but i definitely agree
in return Human team gets:
super shotgun (s2), nailgun (s2) & railgun (s3)
and how will little flying alien be any danger to this monsters???
This makes me laugh because I am reading Stanislaw Lem right now (humans truly are fearsome monstrosities).
Still, I think that even with the relatively low health, and the late availability of the Harrier/Harpy/Vandal, that the faster movement speed (quicker than Basilisk on the floor, wall or ceiling & quicker than jetpack while in flight), the flight ability, the mini-pounce and the ranged attack of the Advanced version more than makes up for a few new guns for the Humans to shoot each other in the back of the head with. With FF on, a couple of skilled Harriers could practically keep the n00bz busy shooting each other.
Also, the low buy-in (1 or 2 evos) certainly makes the Harrier/Harpy/Vandal an appealing class of Alien to play. Lastly, not only the variety of attacks, but the variety of damage done by the flying Alien (more for unprotected headshots, more while flying, less while not flying, damage dealt by touching enemy, mini-pounce for silent launch, ranged attack of caustic spit, etc.) will combine to make this class interesting and playable, while not too over- or under-powered.
I also like this idea with a caustic spit (not too powerful though) but should it be infinite(like grangers)?
I think for the extra evo, and waiting another Stage (s3), it should be pretty powerful, but I agree that maybe it should have some limitation, like six or twelve spits and then the Harrier/Harpy/Vandal has to regenerate that ability again, like an Adv Goon (only a +goon gets just three, while a +harrier would get like nine or something, with a shorter regen period than the +goon).
Minipounce=>jump up & wave wings
jet pack way of flying would make players go: "omg, its just a alien with jet pack"
I think the taunt ("F") should be wave wings ("chitter, chitter"); "Here I am, lawl!"
The mini-pounce was just my idea of the crazy spiderbat things coiling themselves and then silently launching themselves as face-sucking, head-biting, horrifying little flying dretches. Imagine mini-pouncing harriers in the crossbeams in the Human base on Nexus6.
I purposely kept the controls the same as the jetpack so that players would have a smoother transition to the new class. I agree that it would seem less novel. I think it would be easiest to code.
One point I would like to reiterate is that flying aliens should go faster than jetpacks, as they have less health, a weak ranged attack (or none at all), and cannot add armor (although they can become a slightly more robust batspider for another evo, in a later stage). So even though they are using jetpack-like controls, they have mini-pounce, they don't make noise unless they change an input (tap another key), and they are going faster than a jettard.
I'd say movement speed should be 1.2 times Basilisk while walking/running/wallwalking.
Normal flight speed should be about 1.2 times that of a jetpack, while speedburst ("X"), should be about 1.5 times that of a jetpack, but be limited by stamina (only so many speedbursts per unit time, no speedbursts below
n stamina, etc.).
about flying, i would make it pounce in mid air(wave wings) but with no recharging(it would boost up speed)(also with sound)
I would personally keep "X" for sprint/speedburst (but only while flying).
I would have mini-pounce work only when in contact with an object which to mini-pounce away from (something to push on for equal yet opposite reaction).
The Harpy/Harrier/Vandal would "fly" when flying mode is enabled, but (here is the cool part) it would "glide" at other times, when in the air, instead of falling normally (due to glidewing/umbrella-membrane/flyingsquirrel-thingy/batspider mutation/parachute-carapace).
So with mini-pounce spiderbat can silently launch itself and glide.
Players could even toggle "flying" mode on and off, and "glide" betweentimes.
Flying Aliens will not "fall" like other objects, providing they are rightside-up.
If they are upside-down, they will fall like a rock.
... its model of flight i was thiinking of: glide + wave wing(with rightclick) whan it glides it slowly loses speed(please, tell me what you think of this flight model)<=
if that could come true, flying would be more exciting than you could ever imagine See my above explanation of the way I envision the flight and glide modes of movement.
about 2 stages:6 and 8 leg would need two different animations, im not saying i cant do it :roll:
Yeah, I just threw that out there.
It would probably be too much work, server load, etc. I hate to see you trash either model, since both look cool. I think the eight-legged one is really nice (maybe even prettier than the other), but the six-legged one in just more Tremulous, in some way, in my opinion.
Anyway, great-looking start. Glad to help in any small way, even if it's just to give bad names and silly suggestions. Good luck with it. I'd love to test it. I hope I haven't wandered too far from your original concept, and that you'll consider trying a more default type of control scheme. Take care.
Cheers!
sry 4 writing so much :oops:
Remember, while flying, any change in input causes noise (possibly even toggling flight mode on). Otherwise Harrier/Harpy/Vandal is silent.
While I'm being long-winded, I will also add that I think the flying/gliding physics will be really fun to play, and the reduced (input-dependent) noise, increased speed, speedburst ability and class-specific falling physics will differentiate the Harrier from the jettard experience, while still presenting the same sort of control inputs that the player has come to expect. (WASD, C, SPACEBAR, ENTER, X, F, LEFT-CLICK, etc.) Note that wallwalk toggle could be disabled during flight mode, only being used for "descend", and that wallwalk would then remain in last state or instantly be turned off (on?).
Lastly, I'm writing this on my MacBook. There is no right-click which appears to be recognized by Tremulous without an external mouse (CTRL-click does not seem to work). I am too lazy/apathetic/non-l33t/casual/recreational of a player to remap it, since I have an external mouse and keyboard. ENTER is always easy to find.
Laptop players are drawn to Alien, and indeed dretches, basis and maras are playable with the trackpad. I'd like to see Harpies/Vandals/Harriers be equally easy to play on the laptop. Simply press ENTER to fly, and press it again to "fall" in a controllable "glide". No pumping a non-existent right-click or remapped or multikey "flap-wings" combo (even though it is a really cool idea, I object on playability grounds, in the eye of the extremely casual recreational laptop gamer).
No mini-pounce on the laptop? No big deal. Still got all other Flying Alien cool features.
How did you like the name: Kvetch?
Flying Movement Noise Sound: ch-ch-chitter (caused by any change in input)
Taunt Sound: ch-chitter-err
Like a cicada or a cricket, the sound of chitinous bodyparts rubbing in bloodlust and excitation.
@
Survivor: The inexact aim for Harrier spit would be an elegant solution. They simply wouldn't have really accurate aim, at any range greater than say, twice the height of a human (twelve apparent in-game feet, or about four apparent in-game meters). Close up, they would be as accurate as the player is, but farther away they would be nerfed. If I can get right next to your head with my flying dretch, though, I shouldn't have my aim messed with, but farther away, I should have to arc or "lob" the spittle-blob to aim accurately.
What do you think of the "glide-instead-of-falling-if-rightside-up" solution? The player can then fly or wallwalk to regain height. (Glide would be at jetpack speed, unless speedburst is used). Even with the speedburst and fast default flying and crawling speeds, I think that with the arrow-like trajectory of the spitball and weak "touch-to-damage" attack, that the Flying Alien will be sufficiently semi-balanced/fun/novel/cool. It only has a really strong attack against weaker enemies (the unhelmeted) or helpless structures left unrepaired (time-release anti-structure caustic "venom").
