Arcade mode

[mxyzptlk]

Before I ramble on, I will summarize this suggestion:
A Soldat game mode where you pick up the weapons as you go.

And now, the ramble!


Last night, I was thinking about why soldat was so slow compared to first person shooters.

Was it the jets?
No, those actually make it faster.

Was it the 2d perspective?
No, that doesn't affect it that much.

Well, what is it?

Then it hit me.

You can only choose two weapons at a time. You can't pull a weapon out that can trump the other person's weapon, forcing them to switch. You just have two weapons for the remainder of a firefight.

Can anyone remember playing doom multiplayer, you were getting pwned, then suddenly, you backstep into a rocket launcher.
That pretty much describes this. Weapon spawns spread around the level, if you know where they are, you can get the good ones early on.

The weapons would then be chosen during the fight with 1-10.

The concept is simple enough, but what about implementation? To have dedicated weapon spawns the map file would have to be changed slightly. This is the only other problem I found with this idea.
However, the change doesn't have to be dramatic. There are two ways that this could be implemented:

1: Dedicated spawns for every weapon. This would require 10 different spawn locations to be added, but you could actually know where the weapons would be.

2: Spawn locations that spawn a random weapon. This would help in the coding, but it would be harder to find a good weapon.

On the fact of changing the map file, it wouldn't affect previous maps at all, as it doesn't change any polygon types or add anything necessary to maps to be added. It would change the maps just as little as Rambo did.

Ideas?

[FliesLikeABrick]

ermphle, Soldat is slow compared to FPS? Not in my experience...

[mxyzptlk]

Oh, yes.

You must not have played the FPS online very long.

[Dev1200]

Love it.


Especially love the idea of Weapon Spawns, adds a new dimension to CTF and such.  Been thinking about that idea for a while now, just didn't say it ^_^

Now we can put in weapon rooms! YAYO!

[Lord Frunkamunch]

Yeah, great idea. Although, I think it would work better on bigger maps (Maybe different setup with multiple floors)

[Hiro]

All the spawns would need to be in the middle to be fair, in which case they would then be guarded by a team that would have all avaliable weapons verses a team with no weapons. Really not that great of an idea. Also, what do you spawn with? Secondaries? This means you would have to spend time getting to a better weapon which would actually slow soldat down. Soldat is already a really fast game, it's not slow at all. As soon as I spawn I can fight, where is the slow? Slow is "I only have this crappy pistol to fight with untill I get something better".

In an FPS like Unreal Tournament which is considored fast I see little difference in speed of action to soldat except for the lack of a third dimention. And your example doesn't help.
"you were getting pwned, then suddenly, you backstep into a rocket launcher."
This would mean that the guns are not balanced as they are now because the rocket launcher was a vastly better weapon.

[iDante]

no, I like the ideas of wep spawns and stuff but...

You just have two weapons for the remainder of a firefight.

...is not true. You have 2 weapons until you come across another one of the field, then you have a different 2. Also it is often hard to see weapons on the ground, cause (I think) they lie flat on the ground.

[Hiro]

Well, in 1.4 they are pretty visible....

[mxyzptlk]

no, I like the ideas of wep spawns and stuff but...

You just have two weapons for the remainder of a firefight.

...is not true. You have 2 weapons until you come across another one of the field, then you have a different 2. Also it is often hard to see weapons on the ground, cause (I think) they lie flat on the ground.

Exactly.

They are hard to see and you don't always know where they are.

All the spawns would need to be in the middle to be fair, in which case they would then be guarded by a team that would have all avaliable weapons verses a team with no weapons.

That isn't what this is meant for. It is meant for maps like lagrange, arena, airpirates, the deathmatch, bloodfest maps.

Really not that great of an idea. Also, what do you spawn with? Secondaries? This means you would have to spend time getting to a better weapon which would actually slow soldat down. Soldat is already a really fast game, it's not slow at all. As soon as I spawn I can fight, where is the slow? Slow is "I only have this crappy pistol to fight with untill I get something better".

No, because you wouldn't fight with the pistol. You would use to fend them off until you find a good weapon. Also, knife, chainsaw, and law. Don't forget about those.

In an FPS like Unreal Tournament which is considored fast I see little difference in speed of action to soldat except for the lack of a third dimention. And your example doesn't help.
"you were getting pwned, then suddenly, you backstep into a rocket launcher."
This would mean that the guns are not balanced as they are now because the rocket launcher was a vastly better weapon.

No, Let me do a more soldat related example:

You manage to find a spas, but your enemy has an aug, making you completely helpless.
But you find a minimi, and manage to take him out, but you lose some of your health, making you weak. He takes you down with his pistol. He then picks up your minimi. You manage to find the m79, load it, backflip over some of his minimi bullets and pound him with the grenade.

You see how this could make this faster paced?

[Magic Odd Effect]

Soldat IS slower than FPSes. Way slower.

Know why?

It is partly because of the two dimensions. That makes it a bit less free and more linear than FPSes.

It is also the weapons. But, remember, in most FPSes you can only hold two weapons at a time. However, other weapons are lying all over. You have the freedom to change weapons with little to no effort, unless you have competition.

That gives the game a bit more of a focal point, and I like to play games with things like that: Objective-based game modes, where the action takes place around a point or points.

That's why I love Battlefield (Conquest, multiple flags) and Counter-Strike (demolitions mode).

SUPPORT. But you don't need to carry so many weapons. Keep it kind of low, maybe six. Then you have to pick and choose.

[#38]

Ok instead of .

spawn--->look for enemies--->kill!--->DIE!!

you want.

spawn--->look for good weapons--->look for enemies--->kill!--->DIE!!.

i just don't see the point

[-Skykanden-]

can be nice but... can be very complex

[mxyzptlk]

Ok instead of .

spawn--->look for enemies--->kill!--->DIE!!

you want.

spawn--->look for good weapons--->look for enemies--->kill!--->DIE!!.

i just don't see the point

The look for weapons part makes it more frantic. Having more weapons available makes the kill part more fast paced.