19 replies to this topic

[The Joker]

So. Gamemodes. We're all thinking about it.

Assuming its anything like Overwatch, IA! will feature gamemodes for each map(in layman's terms, every map plays differently). Or will it be certain gamemodes that are manipulated/randomized for select maps(same gamemodes, but randomized/configured every time you play a select map).

While I am a strong fan of assassination/sneaking/hiding gamemodes, I assume that this isn't the real point of IA!, right? Cooperative play requires a different playstyle, and I suppose its safe to assume IA! is going to be..... different?

Ideas:

- Hunter/Prey: All ground players spawn in a large maze, and must hunt for the 'prey', a single elusive hunter being controlled by the overhead player. If time runs out, the OP wins. If the target is found and killed, the GPs win.

- Heist: All GPs have seperate spawn points and entrance routes to a heavily-fortified bank. Each GP must try and find the loot within the bank and return to his spawn to claim the money as his own, avoiding OP soldiers and eachother(the GP are not allied, and they must kill eachother to make eachother drop bags of loot so they can claim it for their own). This is an every-man-for-himself gamemode. The GP with the most money wins, but if the OP prevents all from capturing any loot, the OP wins.

- Intruder Alert: The GPs start within a heavily-fortified base. The alarm is tripped, and the GPs job is to scram. The OP is to prevent the escape of all GP players by any means necessary. If the GPs escape, they achieve victory. If all GPs are killed, the OP wins.

- Phantom: All GP players spawn within a large structure. The OP controls a single invisible being, known as 'The Phantom'. The GPs job is to survive and evade the phantom, while the OPs job is to eliminate the GP players using the Phantom.

- Traitor: The GPs spawn inside a huge base. One GP is randomly selected to work with the OP to eliminate all other GP players. The GP players are unaware who is the 'traitor'. The traitors job is to sabotage the base/assassinate GP players/ and overrall make things more difficult for the GPs to survive against the assault of the OP's minions. If all GP players die, the traitor and the OP win. If there are GPs still alive when the timer runs out, the GPs win.

- Last Stand: All GPs spawn within a large base. They have one simple objective: fight to the death. The OP gets increasingly powerful troops as the GPs survive. There is no time limit, for the GPs cannot win. The OP achieves victory once all GPs are dead.

[The Joker]

What, no replies?

=O

Where is everyone?

[Coppermantis]

I like the Traitor gamemode. The problem, though, is concealing who the traitor is. If it could be worked out, then it could be very fun. Plantom and Hunter are also cool concepts, Phantom in particular could be actually really scary if the level was designed right.

I don't think Last Stand would work though, at least in its current state. If the GPs have no win condition then there's no motivation to keep on fighting. It could be modeled like the Starcraft II campaign mission "In Utter Darkness." If you're not familiar with that, essentially the objectives are:

-Kill 1500 enemy units
-Defend until the last Protoss (your forces) falls

This gives a last stand-type scenario, but also gives a "win" condition. So we could adapt this so that if the GPs kill X number of OP minions they are considered victorious even when they all die.

[WAXT]

The Joker, on 27 June 2012 - 12:03 AM, said:

Where is everyone?

Exams.

- Juggernaut: A classic. The OP controls the juggernaut and the GPs must destroy it. When the juggernaut's health is below 10% the OP takes direct control (of the juggernaut) for a final showdown.

[The Joker]

WAXT, on 27 June 2012 - 02:00 AM, said:

Exams.

Exams in the middle of summer? I doubt it. Hopefully, there are busy doing other things for IA!

[AndY]

The Joker, on 27 June 2012 - 01:04 PM, said:

Exams in the middle of summer? I doubt it. Hopefully, there are busy doing other things for IA!

It's not summer everywhere.

[The Joker]

AndY, on 27 June 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

It's not summer everywhere.

Haha touche touche.

[Sabre]

The Joker, on 27 June 2012 - 12:03 AM, said:

What, no replies?

=O

Where is everyone?

Doing stuff.

Hunter/prey could be done. It's basicly pacman VS.

Heist is an interesting one, though I think the traitor element is not needed. Maybe the objective is to escape with X amount of gold, but gold slows the GPs down so lumping it onto 1 guy isnt a good idea.

A simple version of Heist might be possible as a map. I've played with Kismet before and it's pretty advanced. The break in could be one section. A holdout as they drill into a vault maybe. Then an escape section with the gold system mentioned above. Turrets are included, as are goons.

My ideas-
-Wall of Death/Self Destruct- The GPs are trying to outrun a slowly advancing wall that kills all it touches (could be lava leaking into a volvano base) or simply a base self destruct timer. The goal of the OP is to stop the GPs. The OP will be either trying to kill the players, or delay them long enough for the wall to get them/time to expire.

-Secret Mission- The OP is trying to complete objectives, but the GPs don't know what said objective is. The GPs have to try and work it out, while the OP is trying to not make it obvious. Could also work the other way round.

-Change of plans- Not really a mode, but the GPs have an objective to complete. Should a certain criteria be met (could be the OP managing to secure a certain place like an escape point/security control room/start possition) then the GPs have to complete a much harder objective to win. It could even be random map events such as finding a hostage sometimes.

Edited by Sabre, 27 June 2012 - 07:37 PM.

[WAXT]

AndY, on 27 June 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

It's not summer everywhere.

Indeed. It's a cold and miserable Winter down under.

[The Joker]

Attack & Defend: The GPs must defend capture/bomb points against an assault of goons commanded by the OP. If the OP's troops reach these bomb sites, the GPs must fall back to secondary defend points. If all points are captured/destroyed, the OP wins. If the OP fails to capture the points, the GPs win. Rounds switch random OPs/GPs etc.

Search and Destroy: The OP has multiple munition containers scattered throughout the map, and are heavily defended with troops/turrets/barriers. The GPs job is to find and destroy these munition storage containers: the catch is that they don't know where they are.

Sneaking: There are three teams: 1 Red, 1 Blue, and 1 OP/Sneaker. Each team is at war with eachother, and must work together to defend each teams' intelligence packet/data packet and get the most kills to win a round. BUT: The randomly selected OP player that is the 'Sneaker', a stealthy assassin who can sneak around, be completely invisible when not shooting/moving, and can incapacitate enemies for a period of time must try and capture either Red or Blue's intelligence packet. If the OP Sneaker fails to capture a data packet, the team with the most kills wins.

- There are respawns.
- Should the OP Sneaker be killed, he will respawn in a random position and must restart sneaking all over again.

Team Sneaking: There are three teams: 1 OP Red, OP Blue, and the GP Sneakers. Each team is at war with eachother, and must work together to defend each teams' intelligence packet/data packet and get the most kills to win a round. BUT: The randomly selected GP players that are the 'Sneakers', stealthy assassins who can sneak around, be completely invisible when not shooting/moving, and can assassinate OP etroops must work together try and capture either Red or Blue's intelligence packet. If the GP Sneakers fails to capture a data packet, the team with the most kills wins.

- There are NO respawns for the GP Sneakers. If you die, your out for the round.

[leiftiger]

The Joker, on 28 June 2012 - 12:40 AM, said:

Attack & Defend: The GPs must defend capture/bomb points against an assault of goons commanded by the OP. If the OP's troops reach these bomb sites, the GPs must fall back to secondary defend points. If all points are captured/destroyed, the OP wins. If the OP fails to capture the points, the GPs win. Rounds switch random OPs/GPs etc.

Search and Destroy: The OP has multiple munition containers scattered throughout the map, and are heavily defended with troops/turrets/barriers. The GPs job is to find and destroy these munition storage containers: the catch is that they don't know where they are.

These are really easily described as maps, not as gamemodes on their own. I do like the two-OP teams idea though (not sure if redMatter planned anything of the like).

[Coppermantis]

Control Points: Exactly like it is in TF2. Five points, each team starts with two. First team to capture all of them wins.

[The Joker]

Coppermantis, on 28 June 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Control Points: Exactly like it is in TF2. Five points, each team starts with two. First team to capture all of them wins.

lol touche.

Its interesting that the developers have no comment on these ideas. In all honestt, not much has been revealed of IA!'s playstyle, and it would be too bold to assume it's going to be exactly like Overwatch.

[AndY]

Most of these ideas will need to be tweaked once we reveal how levels will be designed, so we're holding off on commenting until that time.

[A1win]

Any gamemode where the GP team is able to split up would most likely end up being very chaotic for the OP. Most players in an overhead view are only able to effectively focus on one area at a time, and if the GPs are all over the place, it becomes very difficult for the OP to keep track of everything important. With this in mind, and because the OP basically sets the pace for the game (without the OP's interaction there is no action for the GPs), it would also negatively affect the GPs. Keeping the GPs as one team rather than as multiple players single-playing the same game is essential for a good experience for both the GPs and the OP.

[ScrooLewse]

I was under the illusion that objectives would be story-based, something that IA!, being an FPS/RTS hybrid, can do that is unique over any other FPS/TPS game out there.

But assuming there is no real storyline to the map and it’s just OP vs. GP, and with A1win's post in mind:

Assault
A mixture MNC's classic gamemode and a more classic RTS. The GPs and the OP each have a base on either side of the map.

While the OP plays mostly normal, the GPs are backed by squads of lesser GOOD Agents.

The Mastermind can buy base defenses and upgrade his units. He can also choose to make units automatically spawn and take editable paths towards the enemy base or take control manually like a normal RTS.

As the Mastermind gathers money normally, the GOOD Agents must instead alert their superiors to the growing danger by "reporting" EVIL activity. This is usually done by exploding the Mastermind's minions. As GOOD headquarters are made aware of the growing severity of the invasion, they will alot more and stronger equipment to your base.

You can "report" a greater threat by killing stronger minions or killing multiple underlings in a short period of time. This "danger" level can then be used to authorize more and stronger reinforcements. NPC Agents can also report threats, but being lower on the chain of command, their "reports" are worth less than your own. Danger you've reported personally can be used for personal, team, or general upgrades, while subordinate reports can only be used for general upgrades.

Time Attack
The inverse of Last Stand. As always, players take turns playing the OP. The OP has several defensive positions which he must defend, similar to the attack/defense mode of TF2. The GPs respawn infinitely, and the OP does not have a win condition.

After each round, the time the OP held-out is recorded and saved in the server as "Current Group," "Current Session," and "Today's for [X]" record.

As the timer increases, the Agents get shorter respawn timers, better weaponry, and the like. The Evil Mastermind can upgrade his forces, as well. But after a while the speed at which the Agents upgrade will become impossible to keep-up with.

Records can be compared amongst players, and personal records could possibly be kept and managed.

Havoc
A fun, hectic variation on Defensive gameplay.

The map is one of the Evil Mastermind’s bases. It is given a branched linear layout so the GOOD Agents can be as thorough or as fast as they want. Their objective? Smash.

The GOOD Agents have broken-into the base and are tasked with breaking as much stuff as possible before the Mastermind’s security show them the way out. Each object in the base is given a score based on how important the object is. For example, a stack of papers on some evil accountant’s desk may be worth 20 points, the coffee mug next to it worth 5 points, a control panel may be worth 500 points, and the death-ray it controls could be worth 10,000. To win, the GPs must reach a certain quota of points before A. The timer runs-out, or B. The Mastermind exterminates the destructive pests.

Action-oriented players can come-in guns-blazing and shoot everything in sight, tactically-minded players can assault key targets, and stealth-based players can quietly sabotage equipment before the Mastermind knows what hit him.

The Mastermind must control the spread of damage, limit the Agents’ movement through his base, and hopefully crush them before they find anything important. As the Mastermind loses, chaos will spread and become overwhelming, causing that feeling of slowly losing control to grip him and maybe even make him do something desperate. For example, unleash a destructive boss that breaks about as much as it saves, or sacrifice an entire room full of stuff to trap a smash-happy hero.

Edited by ScrooLewse, 05 July 2012 - 09:44 PM.

[The Joker]

A1win, on 05 July 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

Any gamemode where the GP team is able to split up would most likely end up being very chaotic for the OP. Most players in an overhead view are only able to effectively focus on one area at a time, and if the GPs are all over the place, it becomes very difficult for the OP to keep track of everything important. With this in mind, and because the OP basically sets the pace for the game (without the OP's interaction there is no action for the GPs), it would also negatively affect the GPs. Keeping the GPs as one team rather than as multiple players single-playing the same game is essential for a good experience for both the GPs and the OP.

Seeing as how this is an RTS/FPS hybrid, I would say that most RTS veterans and noobies alike are pretty sure of the fact that excessive and intense micro-managment is needed to be a good RTS player. To reinforce this idea would emphasize through the way the game is played would greatly benefit all fans of IA! simply because "the better one can play the OP, the funner the game will be". Playing against a noob opponent or making things overly simplistic takes away from the intensity and funness of the game.

I believe people would rather play as an OP facing multiple GPs buzzing around the map and having to go crazy micromanaging rather than have a tip-toeing turtle GP team that won't put up an overly stubborn resistance. This idea could even be put into debate from Overwatch's performance. The way different OP players responded to the actions to the GPs affected the outcome of the particular round. Sometimes rounds would become repitious, boring, or not intense enough to have an overly fun time because of the lack of skill of the OP.

Having a trained, ready-and-able OP spices things up a lot, and the same can really be said in any RTS experience. Would one not want to reinforce that idea of "skill and coordination" in a game? This idea can also apply to the GPs. Facing a highly-trained OP player will instill competitive urges within a GP player to be better, faster, and more coordinated than their overhead opponent.

With this GP/OP clash of skill, coordination, tactical prowess, and micromanagment, IA! as well as other FPS/RTS hybrids can create a whole new genre of competitive playstyle. Something refreshing and original wouldn't hurt anyone.

[ScrooLewse]

Clash: The GPs are divided between two teams, each headed by an EVIL Mastermind (OP). Instead of playing as the heroes, they play as elite henchmen (re-skinned GOOD Agents). Each team has 3 objectives in their base that need to be completed by the enemy team in order to win. (Kill a certain minion, deliver a bomb, capture a control point, hack something...) Both sides are backed by their OP's minions, creating a dota-esque gamemode. For more variety, some objectives may only be completed by GPs, while others can only be completed by minions.

Come on, no one thought of this? Also come back, guys!

Edited by ScrooLewse, 27 March 2013 - 03:30 PM.

[rickinator9]

I'm still here. I check this bi-dayly. There isn't really much to talk about when we don't get stuff to talk about.

[ScrooLewse]

True. I guess we'll have to wait for OW to end and IA! to start.