GUI, skill configuration and other suggestions. ==================================== Hi, love the game; here's a few suggestions and ideas: Regarding the support and assassin skill layouts, I think I can suggest a few changes that would better streamline the skill keys across all classes: for the support class, which currently has hack-1 (blue), firebase-2 (yellow), airstrike-3 (red), I suggest airstrike-1 (blue), hack-2 (yellow), firebase-3 (red); for the assassin class, which currently has dash-1 cloak-2 smoke-3, I suggest smoke-1 cloak-2 dash-3. This would bring all lobber-type bombs under the same button/skill, 1/blue; everything you wouldn't mind standing still for (such as hack or deploy) under yellow/2; and all the grappling or movement (dash & charge) skills under red/3 (and firebase). Players could then adjust their button layout on that basis (eg I would probably change red to shift [as that is where i usually have walk/sprint on fps games], yellow on 'e' [which i have as enter vehicle/activate], and blue to 'q' [or possibly ctrl or my mouse], which i can mash to blow stuff up). As to the GUI, the meaning of each of the three coloured buttons representing the three skills is not apparent by themselves; new players have to accustom themselves to each class's particular skills for the onscreen buttons and cooldowns to be of any use. However, if the coloured buttons were replaced with the various different icons from the playbook skill entries, both which cooldown and which key corresponds to it would be clearly indicated (in the default left to right keyboard layout). On that topic, perhaps instead of having the skill level on the button (not especially useful information in a pinch), perhaps a numeric representation of how long remains on each cooldown (in negative seconds, positive seconds for activated skills like stealth or jetpack); charges could be co-indicated symbolically for cumulative skills like frost trap. Another, perhaps more complicated, way of indicating remaining times could be by giving the length of the bars of the cooldown dial a meaning corresponding to the number of seconds remaining, eg longer cooldowns would have many short dashes or thinning radial lines (perhaps a solid bar for stealth etc) and shorter cooldowns would have fewer, longer dashes; multiple charges could be represented by clearly sectioning the arc outline into halves or thirds, as appropriate - this would leave the centre of the button/icon clear for the skill lvl while giving a more specific indication of cooldowns. Suggestions for things to buy... Regarding 'cash-on-hand' generally; I had a brief google for the mnc payout formula and didn't find anything, perhaps if this were given some more detail after a game, eg variable medical and maintenance costs, along with an insurance premium (ie that scales with level) that provides basis for a cap on medical costs - player deaths could incur cumulative medical fees and/or other costs, so that an especially poor performance may theoretically push them into the red, if all they do is die. Presumably the easier SP matches and normal MP modes would incur lesser/negligible/no costs, but would scale up with more difficult or higher-stakes games (described later). These costs would be balanced against the potential reward payout, and would only affect cash on hand, though not to any great extent (that the player wouldn't be well aware of beforehand, at least). Of course, with nothing to spend it on, 'money' is worthless - if the player can spend money, then the player should always have something to buy (in MNC, both within each battle and the wider game). 'Protags' are an interesting idea, but individually the lesser tags lack any value beyond establishing a hierarchical value for the greater achievements; a 'hook', if you like. Perhaps if a minor in-game cash bonus was awarded upon the attainment of each (+$1-$5 up to i dunno $20-$50 or more for the bigger milestones, eg 50000 slims, and/or a bonus added to the payout after the game), and this amount was displayed on or near the tag, the extra value would add a further 'woo' factor, and would conceivably double as a reminder for the player to spend their money. ...in game with cash bonuses/pickups: - (presumably with a maxed [4x3] skill prereq.,) a bonus/extra skill, call it a 'quirk' or a 'prospec', if you like: either with a choice of effects tailored to each class (which could be interesting and involve more than just attributes); or a simpler approach would be to associate each skill with an attribute, such as speed or armor/hp (perhaps different attribute sets for different classes), and allow eg a 10-25% boost to one aspect at a cost of 5-10% of each of the others. Alternatively you could use the entire endorsement spectrum (excluding juice, or with a modified effect), eg a 15% buff to one aspect at a cost of ~2-5% to each of the other 8 (so like a 'platinum endorsement deal'); either should be rather expensive (but not prohibitively so, I'd say between $750-$1500) and would not persist after death. - another take on the previous notion; an interface (a tweak or copy of the juicer would make sense) from which you can buy buffs that last either for a set time or for a set number of rounds (in SP). These endorsement deals would give a bonus to the associated attribute at a cost to the others (eg +15%x1, -2%x8), but would also generate a bonus to income gained (which would be offset by the high cost of the buff, so that only a mad killstreak would generate much profit). This could by further moderated by either a maxed skill prereq., &/or the interface may need to be unlocked with a hefty 'agent's fee', as well as cooldowns (eg each 'deal' could have a very long cooldown, but you could pick another in the meantime [i'd say using a buff should trigger all other buffs to a cooldown of an appropriately greater length than the buff itself {preventing stacking and chain buffing}, and the cooldown of the chosen buff longer still, perhaps double or triple]). A player with such a buff (or a sponsor-based 'prospec' from the previous point) could be indicated with a temporary sponsorship holoskin, or holobanner. - stupendously expensive bacon ($5,000 - $10,000), perhaps also with a long cooldown, available at the juice machine; mainly for co-op/SP sudden death (ie infinite round) blitzes. In order to have enough items to warrant a four-option interface, it could also sell insanity peppers (as described elsewhere in this post) and speed boosts or churros at appropriately staggering prices (though churros would be almost pointless and the speed boost might need to last longer). - an ammo system, purely for the sake of giving in-game money more use/value: a gauge under the healthbar that empties slowly and needs to be replenished (bought) back at base every so often (say once per 10 average SP rounds, or so); like fuel for a racecar driver. This necessity would add another dynamic to the game, as well as make the players more conscious of their money and what else they should be using it for (ie when their ammo/weapon energy meter is full); an inadequately slow regen feature may be required (also another sponsor). The process could work like a petrol pump; a full bar would take just a little too long (or not, depending on sponsor), but could be interrupted if needed without wasting money. ...at the frontend with cash on hand: - a cash on hand buy-in for the more difficult SP matches, eg scramble and sudden death, so that a mediocre performance (eg dying before round x) would mean to a net loss. This would add some 'edge' (a bit like gambling - betting on yourself) and give some more value to better performances and cash on hand, and the various SP matches themselves (especially if the buy-in/payout rate was set fairly expensively/punitively, perhaps adjusted for level - also see below [SP tournament/bot crossfire]). - higher ranked MP (and mebbe harder co-op) mode(s) with heady stakes; big buy-ins (six, seven etc figures) and bigger payouts (ie stake/profit) only for the best players; losers and the mediocre can head back to the bush leagues. (no doubt all possible remaining exploits will then be found quite quickly - might have to add space for more zeroes.) - (I don't know how this would be implemented) a custom detail colour or stripe for bots (and/or the player ofc), eg a choice of colours for a few small detail areas on each type of spawnable bot; would potentially make them look even cooler and add a personal touch. Better yet, allow the player to add/choose a small bmp that can be plastered across the front and back or sides of bots (grems might be tough). This could tie into some kind of bot customization system, ie buffed/sponsored bots. New content related purchases have probably been well canvassed already, but i'll mention some anyway: - new outfits, duh (but if the outfits were modular [eg hat, shirt & boots/other] then there'd be more scope for variety and stuff to buy) - a perhaps obvious idea for a set of new class skins; choice of gender - any new SP maps should be very expensive to unlock (if not applying staggered unlocks or buy-ins etc, see below)(btw are there any map tools?). Game modes: Remember Speedball? It occurred to me that if you could conjure some half-decent ai for the different classes (sit, fetch, play alive...), you could develop a fun SP tournament system using the existing MP maps. The player would choose a sponsor and recruit a team, and the other sponsors would each field teams; AI players' endorsement bonuses could range from bronze or none at all for lower tier matches to perhaps potentially superior to the player's (eg gold gold gold) for the harder matches up to the final/tournament round. The player would have a selection of variously endorsed teammates ('probots'?); starting either with a random team or by hiring a full team using SP/MP payouts earned beforehand. Probots with better endorsement bonuses would be more expensive, requiring a greater initial recruitment fee and/or match fee (shown on the game summary - could be fixed, and potentially eat into a player's cash on hand for poor performances, or for using expensive 'pro' probots for easy, low-paying fixtures - suggests subs/subbing). Tournament payouts would range in value up to the appropriately major prize; losing would mean having to start again (make it as difficult as reasonably possible; this mode could be unlocked after the existing SP pseudo- or 'practice' rounds as 'the main event' [or various length/difficulty tournaments]). A new selection of recruitable probots would be available after each match, within a scope modified by player level and last/best payout achieved/match completed - if there was team/probot persistence and enough different probots (or randomly generated probots), the player could then hope to one day have "the perfect team" - ie play time/value; knock up a ladder graphic, some protags and a 'you a winna' video and bam, DLC. In the meantime, here's some ideas for tweaking the existing SP mode classifications to quantify the degree of blitzing or sudden death involved, and maybe stretch SP out a bit: - exhibition blitz: 10 rounds (easy demo game) - preliminary/preseason blitz: 20 rounds (carries some implication that hypothetical preseason rankings are based on completion speeds, the further implication being that DNF [ie losing the moneyball] eliminates the player from a pseudo-tournament; having to progressively unlock the modes would add to that impression [so would an otherwise useless completion timer], though using head-to-head competition terms (eg match or playoff) for what is really a kind of survival time trial might be a bit of a stretch) - elimination/first round/sudden death blitz: 30 rounds - the scramble: could be introduced/unlocked as a pseudo-quarter final challenge - semi-final blitz: 40 rounds, or 30+10 challenge rounds, ie a 'scramble'. - helter-skelter: a harder version of the scramble with random bot spawn locations and a faster pace (and random bot combinations/order if possible), and/or set in the 'super sudden death' arena. - tournament blitz: 50 rounds (or 40 or 50 + 10) - sudden death blitz: 'sudden death match' - super sudden death blitz: (either infinite rounds but bots start at a harder difficulty, or as is, with 'super' referring to the smaller arena*) - super sudden death scramble/helter-skelter: (either the 'super sudden death blitz' arena in scramble mode or an infinite hard scramble mode) - super scramble/helter-skelter: (20 round scramble; a 10 round scramble followed by another, harder scramble) - mega scramble/helter-skelter: (30 rounds or 3 scrambles - if anyone ever finishes two inna row) etc - (ro)bot blitz/assault/siege/invasion: 100 rounds - super bot blitz (or etc): 150 rounds etc * If a different naming convention is developed (as may have to be, ie if new SP arenas are introduced), 'Sudden Death' also seems a good name for the smaller arena; eg the Congenitol Sudden Death Arena. Spitballin' SP/co-op game modes: a development on the bot moneyball/crossfire idea - a mode/arena in which the player('s team) has to destroy two bot moneyballs, the catch being that if the second moneyball isn't destroyed within x rounds/time, then the first will rez back in at half or even full health (depending on overall moneyball strength); instead of moneyballs they could be super-jackbots. 'l4d2 survival' crossover: hordes of zombies and "special undead" (failing that, robots and more robots); no turrets (or few), costs x2, respawn timer x3, spawn at moneyball location; no moneyball - game over when all players die at the same time (or balance a one-life "realism" SP mode). 'nacht der untoten' crossover: just like 'sudden death match' only the bots reach max difficulty at around round 20, all costs +25%, and no moneyball - just a set number of 'lives', or have 'lives' available for purchase at punitively cumulative prices; or instead of 'lives', perhaps each player could have a meter that they have to fill by killing x bots/earning x dollars before they will respawn if they die - a 'medical bill' meter, that takes longer and longer to refill. 'sims' crossover: no weapons, turrets replaced with potplants, standlamps and garish pop-art; loser is the last to quit. 'bulletstorm' crossover: every 3 rounds, the characters put their weapons away and wax melodramatic (at -70% movement speed) while small groups of bots stand in front of turrets or ring themselves out. 'WoW' crossover: alternates between a game lobby with a 10 minute ready timer and a co-op playoff blitz; all throughout, a selection of Bullseye's and the sniper's more annoying lines are played in random order (or just one line repeated for hours at a stretch), with subtitles; loser is the last to quit. Other suggestions - ----------------------- qq re pewpew - more weapons plox: I think an alternate selection for the secondary weapon slot at least (chosen pre-spawn, along with class) could be effectively achieved by swapping around weapons from the existing classes (ROF may have to be adjusted). Alternative skills would be another simple way of adding variety; each different loudout is a new subclass. Here's some ideas: - assault: could choose between that ball thing and the tank's railgun; swap remote charges for a proximity version (of lesser power) - make em look just like frost traps; failing that, actual frost traps - tank is pretty well set, really, but could swap the railgun for the gunner's mortar (i rkn assault's lobber wouldn't be much different to the railgun, effectively); swap product bomb for a sticky remote det. version (probably of lesser power), or one that explodes immediately (essentially an instant smoke bomb, for a super defensive build) - support: could swap shotty for railgun, or maybe a lobber (smg otherwise); swap airstrike for a chemical strike that leaves a somehow debilitating or toxic cloud (should still do a light/moderate amount of explosive dmg) - assassin: could swap shuriken dealy for the assaults lobber (or perhaps a single, slow firing DE type pistol, with dagger OH [or how about a pair of smgs; either separately, or like a minidualminigun, with big c-mags that act as counterweights {that would seem more appropriate for the assault, but he has that maxiuzi}]); could swap smoke bomb for uhm, perhaps a lobber of the toxic gas i suggested as the alternative to airstrike, though with very little or no explosive force - gunner: swap mortar for railgun; he's kind of stuck for alternate skills - perhaps the gunner class could choose some kind of ammo mod, perhaps with critical effects? Here's some ideas: incendiary/toxic (DoT), toxic/radioactive (speed/skilldrain), armour-piercing (vs bots/turrets), explosive (vs pros)... ricochet maybe... silent/stealth rounds? ...effect could also be applied to secondary weapon. - sniper: swap smg for shotty; uh... he could either swap flak for product bomb, or frost for prox mines... er, perhaps snipers could be the class with a wider selection of skills (if not the sniper then maybe the assault), then you could throw in airstrike and smoke bomb (and maybe also the gunner's ammo mods? one only ofc.), and leave it to the players to find useful combinations. (i think any issues arising from weapon-specific skills would have simple solutions) New bot ideas: - repairbot (mebbe SP/co-op only): you know that black brick-sized robot thing in Star Wars - the one that scoots about the Death Star whistling, or humming? How about a version of that bot that accumulates money while the moneyball's shields are up, and scoots about converting that money into turret repairs (perhaps with a speed burst it can use to gtfo when attacked, and/or mebbe a cloak)? It could also upgrade and build new turrets (or even hack enemy turrets) in vs bot tournaments such as I describe elsewhere. In MP games, it could (also or instead - perhaps as an alternate spawn mode) act as an EMP torpedo that could disable a turret for a reasonably substantial period, and decloak/skilldrain anything else within the blast effect radius. This bot could conceivably be added in to the existing SP modes as an introduction to bot spawning (presumably an expensive introduction that would be difficult to keep alive for long, against gremlins or buzzers anyway). No FF but leave knockback on, irkn, so players could melee it out of harm's way or towards another turret, or knock an enemy repairbot away from/off a course to a friendly turret. - Bomber: a modded buzzer that moves slowly, has a big red flashing light on it, and beeps ominously; bad things happen when it gets close to (or perhaps hovers above) something. As for another class: you have the tank and the gunner, which could be said to be variations on a theme - how about a ninja? Actually, I'd suggest renaming the current assassin class to ninja, then create a new assassin class; with a slightly better ranged weapon (perhaps a smallish crossbow with a mild cripple/slowing poison, mid-range scope and low to medium ROF? [suggests headshots/critical headshot poison effect]) and an offensive skill instead of smoke (or a 'lobbable' smoke bomb); somewhat like an assault with stealth instead of a jetpack. Players may enjoy a stealth only MP mutation/modifier where there is a balanced ninja vs assassin dynamic (turn FF on to make it interesting [notwithstanding tools] - maybe have one slot per team for a non-stealth player with nerves of steel). New turret idea: None - don't do it unless it will improve gameplay somehow (but perhaps buff shaveice a little? - there may be a thread for that that i haven't seen). I have an idea on how to make the custom class system bit less cumbersome; drop it, and have the player hire a manager/agent for each class (for a substantial fee) who will remember the players preferred sponsors or arrange for different ones (possibly for a lesser commission). Indicate which classes have agents with some kind of icon next to the class name - classes/characters without agents could be greyed out on the endorsement panel, or the icon could double as a button for the appropriate sponsorship interface. This could be extended to allow players to easily switch sponsors mid-battle (pre-spawn), which may be useful eg for new players. Notes and less pertinent, realistic or coherent suggestions - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frontend: "cancel changes and continue?", where the responses are cancel (and continue to main menu) and continue (meaning cancel and go back), is perhaps a bit ambiguous; how about 'Revert changes (and go to x menu)? Yes/no'? Regarding endorsements: maybe the custom class/endorsement page might seem a little less chunky if it weren't two pages; one to select class and another to select sponsors - perhaps if the selected class portrait were moved slightly to the right, then the class/endorsement tabs could toggle the class list and a panel for the selection of sponsors to the far left. Then as each sponsor is selected a sponsorship icon could appear next to the character, as in the character select screen, and there may also be space for a more specific description of each endorsement bonus (ie Speed +25%). Also regarding the (existing) endorsement page - using right click to unselect endorsements would seem intuitive to me, and perhaps endorsement icons should not change to the lesser sponsor's icon after being selected. create game - when a map is highlighted in the map list, that map's picture should be displayed in the panel to the left. When/if there are more SP arenas/modes, I'd like to see the highest round attained by a local player for each mode, and with what class (and completion time, for round-limited battles and close rivalries; but mainly just for the look and to add to the time trial notion), preferably displayed next to each SP challenge on the selection menu or submenu, or else the 'start game' screen. A different protag for each class used to finish the hardest SP challenge(s); 'scramble', as it stands. Could just be the same basic protag with a different icon in the corner for each class. Game: Pickup suggestion - a powerup that effects each weapon differently (either primary or both), eg changes jet gun to booster rocket, assault rifle to HMG, smg to twin smgs etc; drops super rarely, like bacon; lasts for 20-30 secs, can be combined with joos to go fully berko - icon could be The Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango (also known as the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper). A simpler idea could just be a flat damage buff, ie +50%, and some kind of appropriate indicative effect. Turret repairs - a rebuild turret option that could save a tier 3 turret from destruction; around the same FULL cost of a tier 3 turret, takes longer than upgrading from tier 2 [though less than the time to rebuild from scratch, of course]); may in fact be a poor tactical/financial decision. if not, then a simpler 'pay for/buy repairs' option, which calculates cost based on current damage (or has a flat cost based on a full repair) and applies repairs up to that value over time - should be almost unreasonably expensive and have a short cooldown (either per player and/or per turret). [SP only I suppose, perhaps co-op] - an alternate turret interaction which refunds some or all costs (perhaps just the cost of the most recent upgrade), and reverts the turret to a nub after an appropriate period. Maybe it would be easier/less controversial to just award turret kill money evenly to all team members, as it seems to be a point of some contention. Support class weapons - highlight name of current target (within range) of heal/hurt gun (ie before firing - less having to move around or blow the gun's GCD on the wrong target, would double as an extraneous stealth detector); play an error beep (instead of the current beep) when airstrike target is obstructed (probably easier to ignore beacons attached to moving targets) assaults ball thing - chg from auto-fire to detonate when button is released (after a minimum timer; so firing/clicking rapidly would create a mid-range explosive effect, but holding down the button would allow for trick or 'gap' shots, or another form of remote detonating explosive) ... may make him too UP, depending on min range (ie if you couldn't get a decent ROF) I thought about player bot spawns, though without actually playing any MP - i set up a local map rotation to take a look; for what it's worth, here's what I came up with: gunners spawn bouncers for a lot of money and/or with an appropriate cooldown; tanks spawn gapshot for about the same as the bouncers (if not more); assaults spawn blackjacks for an appropriately lesser cost and/or cooldown; supports spawn buzzers (, bombers or a repairbot, throw in slims and make supports the class with a choice of spawnable bots?]); the others as they are. Alternatively you could introduce an ability to choose which bot you can buy when you spawn... hrmm, that may not work out - how about a bot spawn interface that the team shares, so that spawns can be moderated with costs or cooldowns, but otherwise excess money could be spent to turn up the pressure with custom bot waves - players could also use the interface to spawn flanking bots at other friendly spawners (if that would be at all useful). A less drastic idea is an alternate defensive spawn mode, in which the bot will patrol the team's turrets/guard the moneyball (perhaps only for certain types of bot) - a wandering scrambler might be a concern for assassins, eg being suddenly decloaked. (I'd say bouncers and scramblers, maybe buzzers; anything that may be useful defensively [other bots could have an alternate offensive mode, eg target pros?]) I think the buzzers need to make a more distinctive sound when they hit a player - you'd think they would notice, but I sometimes don't (probably cos I tend to have loud music blaring when i play mnc - "what the hell was that?" *looks for gremlins while three more buzzers detonate*) sp bot ai - at some point/round/difficulty, the bouncers and gremlins could have a lesser chance to target the moneyball (or shields only) or the most expensive turret (or any turret) over the player, so its not just gapshots leveling the place behind you (perhaps co-op only). The ad break obscures the player's current cash; I know ads are supposed to be annoying but - yeah. Also, I lose my mouse cursor when I'm in either a turret menu or skill tree and there's an ad break. You can still press the number keys, but you can't see the skill tooltips without the mouseover. There's sometimes a short gap after selecting a turret option in which the movement keys don't respond, which can be frustrating - perhaps leave the keyboard (wasd) active while in such a menu, but cancel it if the player moves out of range; that way the player won't get stuck. I heard the bouncer/wrestling hold comment and variations of "don't worry, i've got two of those" consecutively, which didn't sound great. Freeze juice timers at the end of a game, so that any players who were juicing at the siren can be seen in the flyovers - looks cool. . - Well, there you go; thanks for reading - hopefully there's something in there that helps the game develop (I'd be rather keen on those skill layout changes though); Yay MNC, Mr E. ... --- ...Coming up after MNC: 'Ow, My Balls! - April Fool's Edition', featuring the winners of our March mystery prize sweepstakes! PS i wrote this while d/ling the latest patch, so ignore anything now redundant
