Bay 12 Games Forum

Wow, didn't knew the things were so serious. Too bad thou - it's game design is quite unique.
Anyone feeling up for a total rewrite ? 
Joke aside, I wonder how much time would that take - if one was to work 8 hours per day 5/7 per week.

I've been stalking this thread for some time, and given to the lack of my IT knowledge I am unsure about one feature of this tileset: Will this tileset enable clothings, items, and maybe even visual statuses (bloddified clothes, scars etc.) to be addable ? And if so, this is currently the first mod that has this, right ?
When I said about blood I had something like IVAN in mind.

EDIT: I forgot to add this question: If there is such a feature how exactly is it named ? Multiple layer tileset ?

Talked with the dev on some aspects, big and small... He said the next planned major feature should be play over internet...
Also requested if we could get a random option at the visor so you get a random color each time you start with another marine.

Aaaaaand another cool feature like dragging wounded. These were my ideas on how it should look like:

Ideas:
 
A.     When players get sliced do they: 1. Die?    2. Go unccouncios ?     3. Severely wounded ?
 
1. If they die, the game could imply the idea to not leave comarades behinde and reward the player for bravery with extra XP if he managed to get out with the body
 
2. If they are K O, then it would be pretty much the same as 1, the only difference is that the evacuated KO marine would get to live for the next mission if extracted.
 
3. The third possibility is a bit tricky because here I am thinking something like Army of Two, as in the fallen marine is wounded but can still somehow shoot while being dragged  (maybe less fire rate and aquaricy ? + random balckouts? ) I know this might be a real hell to code thou.... But it would totally own.
 
4. Maybe a mix of all three ? So  you would get a 33. to die, 33 to go KO, or  .33 wounded % when you get sliced by an alien.
 
B.   When player drags wounded/dead do they: 1. Move slower ?  2. Move slightly lower ?  3. Move the same ?
 
All 3 options could be considered, I think here is an issue of balance so you guys might know what's best. Thou given to the atmophere of the game itself and the fast paced it wouldn't be a real immersion popper to keep the same running speed ?
 
 
 
C.    After alien tagged marine do they: 1. Ignore wounded? 2. Finish off marine?
 
This is also a tricky part. Should the alien have 2 phases of slashes ? First gets the marine down (just like now when he get's killed) and then the second phase where the alien starts to disect the marine ? Where as the other teammate could have time to shoot the creep off ?
 
Or should the alien have priorities ? If there is another marine in X meters then it would ignore wounded and procede with killing the next threat?
 
I do not think an invulnerable-saveable marine would be a good idea, it's simply not hardcore enough and brakes immersion.

D.   Should state of health be known to players?
 
I think this is also an important part of the feature: When a players gets downed, his comarade does not know if he is dead, knocked out, or just wounded. In game visuals for the downed marine should be black until he gets quick checked by his buddy and then the game would trigger either scenario A1, A2 or A3.
 
Also the saviour marine should have 2 options: either just drag him without checking on the body (if things are bit too slicy, and later if he gets to a turret, he might have time to check) OR perform the check on the spot.
 
Also some nice eye candy would be a cracked visor for the downed marine (maybe also with non responsive or faulty functional readings?)


His response on this one was:

"I love your idea of dragging wounded comrades! I have actually thought of that myself and it is definitely something that we will experiment with. The goal is of course to add more tension and drama to the game, but we will be careful not to spoil the general pacing of the game."

I really miss a game with this concept of more than just HP 0 to 100. 0 dead, 1 alive and running well. Maybe they will really mind this feature and go with it, then again, maybe they won't. I know this ain't really a walk in the park to implement.
Anyway I really think this game can truly make a name of it's own out there, just like FTL maybe did. Something like a permanent reference for future games to come.

I also tried some "multiplayer" games.
It involves someone to open up a team-viewer connection open the game, and then simply play by turns with each's marine.
There are even some maps where you have 2 squads.

I thought it was very cool where you can't talk with your ally but only guess his intentions and try to help him, or help each other. Hard core mute tactics !

There was also a way to make all the troopers look like the sergeant, as in helmet-less, if anybody is interested

http://www.teardown.se/forum/showthread.php?t=1212

This is the thread

There are two unofficial features in Alien Assault allowing you to make custom squads with male and female soldiers. To activate this feature you edit the settings.txt file in the squad's directory and one or both:

"ONLY SERGEANTS" - make all soldiers look like sergeants (no helmet)

"ALLOW FEMALES" - will make 50% of the soldiers be females (needs modifed names.txt, sprites.bmp, death sounds and VO (optional))

Alien assault is a very obscure tactical turn based squad marine alien survival thingy to begin with.
And when i say obscure i mean really, since i didn't find it here on bay12!

What makes this game special is it's perma death, squad that suffers all sorts of scars and damage, promotion and decorative distinctions on them.

As you can see I'm not too good of a game describer and I feel like I'm doing more harm than good to the game's reputation so just head on here and get the game.

http://www.teardown.se/

(BE SURE not to click on the Alien Assault 2, or Alien assault - left 2 die; those have to do with the first AA)

Really want to hear your guys opinion on this one!

Very happy with your answers, pertinent and at the point.
Find them very helpful and of course, this may sound obvious, mature.
I know programing is the least of hobbies you could pick up and expect to have fun with in a short period of time.
As the time passed since my last post i managed to learn the basics of C++ while dodging bullets in collage, final exams being inevitable as we speak.
As for so far i did write my own programs, very crude and basic but wonderful on the other hand.
I just enjoy so much in trying to learn how it works, and i am having kicks out of it just by learning, not necessary aiming to make a game. My current satisfaction comes from understanding the so called "difficult" aspects of programming.

All in all, this is as much a dilemma for me as it is maybe a point of start for an introspection for the rest of you in the programming trenches. Don't get me wrong, i am not schooling anyone but i am unsure what to do at this point. I enjoy programming fairly enough to suck me in and spit my social life out. For me personally i can't find reason in balancing social life with the satisfaction that you get from making something as beautiful as a program.
Given the fact that i graduated law school just now, or am about - makes me fairly old to pick up coding at this age, and also not having a favorable study background for my currently spoken goals might make my current goal orientation tardy.

All in all right cogitation in your own actions should benefit instead of being harmful.
To make jabbering less, i would think (at least as far as i go?) that such a hobby cannot be controlled in ones life, and if serious you need long term commitment that may damage several aspects of ones personal life.
Curious about your thoughts on this.