31 replies to this topic

[offe]

thats what i mean pattom

[Pattom]

An interesting idea I had recently concerned the regular Combine soldiers. If one survives long enough, perhaps does a certain amount of damage to rebels, you could upgrade it with a specific ability. This could be rappelling equipment to climb buildings or drop back to the street; breaching charges to break down doors or some walls; a new weapon in addition to the one it spawned with; and so on.

[offe]

Pattom, on 15 July 2010 - 10:46 PM, said:

An interesting idea I had recently concerned the regular Combine soldiers. If one survives long enough, perhaps does a certain amount of damage to rebels, you could upgrade it with a specific ability. This could be rappelling equipment to climb buildings or drop back to the street; breaching charges to break down doors or some walls; a new weapon in addition to the one it spawned with; and so on.

i actualy like that idea, maybe give him a damg boost and a new gun ?

[Halsh]

Generally, they don't live that long unless you reach a critical mass at which point the resistance just run away while killing any they can. Special abilities should be tied to a specific unit created with that in mind (Like a medic would have the innate ability to heal those around them, but lack any ability to hurt the other side) rather than upgrading soldiers which'll die in the next encounter anyway; or, if they're really unlucky, killed while they're moving somewhere without firing a shot.

[Pattom]

Halsh, on 16 July 2010 - 07:11 AM, said:

Generally, they don't live that long unless you reach a critical mass at which point the resistance just run away while killing any they can. Special abilities should be tied to a specific unit created with that in mind (Like a medic would have the innate ability to heal those around them, but lack any ability to hurt the other side) rather than upgrading soldiers which'll die in the next encounter anyway; or, if they're really unlucky, killed while they're moving somewhere without firing a shot.

Fair enough. I wasn't thinking that an upgraded unit would be powerful enough you'd miss it when it dies, or that it would be specialized enough that you'd want to keep it alive over others; it just seemed clever that if one of the your units is lucky enough to survive a couple of fights, it might get a slight boost to its mobility somehow. That way, you've got a new option when launching an ambush, but it's not enough to change the tide of battle or increase that one unit's value over others'.

[Isak]

Maybe certain maps could be designed for an objective-based approach, where the Rebels would have to cooperatively take down the Overwatch's "buildings" in a time limit. The Overwatch could choose almost any location on the map for these upgradable 'buildings', with the buildings themselves including:
Headcrab Sheller
Suppression Device/Mortar
Snipers

Or, on normal maps, the Overwatch could just place Snipers and APCs and Turrets as easily as placing troops. Maybe as bonus points for killing a rebel, which would add up until the Overwatch could "afford" special items.
/randombrainstormideasend

[LtAttack]

Hey pattom i like your idea but the other guy is right to they die way to fast. So i was thinking why not just have like a special unit like a commander or something that you can upgrade and will have more health then the lower overwatch units and if he dies you cant bring him back in for a very very long time. Also this special unit should also be the unit that controls the airstrikes so if he dies you wont be able to call in those support options.

i also like the idea of specilized units like medics

[Halsh]

LtAttack, on 17 July 2010 - 11:41 PM, said:

Hey pattom i like your idea but the other guy is right to they die way to fast. So i was thinking why not just have like a special unit like a commander or something that you can upgrade and will have more health then the lower overwatch units and if he dies you cant bring him back in for a very very long time. Also this special unit should also be the unit that controls the airstrikes so if he dies you wont be able to call in those support options.

i also like the idea of specilized units like medics

Thing is, YOU are the commander for the Overwatch, should you die you lose (Type kill into console to see what I mean, if you have access). I don't think over-complicating the Overwatch side with more soldier types than letters in the english alphabet will help any; it'll just confuse the new players and the majority of them avoided by the more experienced. As it is, there're 2 main soldiers you can create: SMGs and Shotguns. SMGs cover the need for long-distance warfare and to make the resistance seek cover to shoot back. The Shotguns act as close-combat support for the SMGs, or if in enough numbers to just Zerg the enemy position and hope they don't have explosives. The only types of soldiers I can see being added really are a medic unit, perhaps an elite unit (there would only be 1-2 spawned, they're brutal) and either a specific unit with nades, or they all have nades. Unless the unit has a very specific role to play within the game world that isn't going to stamp on the foot of another soldier type, it's just going to be a waste of time adding.

[Shisnopi]

For the Overwatch side, maybe have a "Heroes" style class system where there are 3-4 heroes that you can spawn after so many points build up( killing, protecting, idle, etc.). Each hero has a specific buff and a specific power weapon. Like having a Medic Hero would buff all combine in the Hero's vicinity, and he'd carry a stronger shotgun or a heavy machinegun.

The balance would come from only having up 2 heroes on the battlefield at a time and that once they're dead the OW can't spawn them until the match is over.

[Typhonarick]

For me, a medic seems necessary, because it will be a good way to heal himself

because I saw that when it is revived, we have 100 life points (and somebody can abuse it)

[cheesydud]

Perhaps if the Overwatch player is getting steamrolled way too hard by the rebels, the Overwatch could gain the one-time ability to call in an emergency death squad consisting of Elites. That might help to keep gameplay challenging if the Overwatch player is unexperienced or has really really bad luck.

[Pattom]

I'm beginning to agree with Halsh. After playing the beta, I don't think upgrading units is that important: once a squad goes into combat, it only stops shooting when it's dead. It'd be more useful to have a somewhat diverse pool of units with defined uses. And by "somewhat diverse pool," I'm really only thinking the stuff you see in HL2: shotgun and SMG trooper squads with short cooldown times, an elite trooper squad with long cooldown times, manhack and rappelling metrocop traps, scanner patrols, and (eventually) strider and gunship heavy weapons. Medics don't strike me as being overly useful anymore: I'd rather build two squads to shoot people, rather than one to shoot people and another to heal the first. Besides, the whole Combine ideal seems very "naturally selective": if you're not strong enough to survive, you're only holding the others back.

EDIT: I want to go back and clarify that I emphatically think adding AR2-wielding elites is a good idea, but that there should be a large penalty on spawning new units after them. It should be a choice between sending multiple squads after the rebels, and sending one group of elites and hoping they manage to take out several rebels before being overwhelmed.