Iso, off screen, annoying (?)
For those who''ve played iso or top down games with ranged combat:
What''s your opinion of enemies that can shoot at you before you can see them. Archers in Diablo come to mind. Annoying, or no problem, really?
The thought comes up as I flesh out design for an iso space shooter. I''m wondering whether or not some of the bigger ships that you''d expect to have long ranged weapons should be able to hit you from one or even several screens away. The effect would be beams, or more likely, missiles, coming on to the screen with nothing to but their direction to indicate who was shooting.
Another thought: Maybe the interface could show a faded "ghost" image of what was shooting at you? Hmmm.... nah, that might get too crowded.
Thoughts?
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Just waiting for the mothership...
we''re tackling the same problem ourselves..
but realistically, he who has the largest radar fires first.. i think the key is to limit the accuracy of long range shots, to make it difficult to do.
No More Clones!
Stop The Madness!
but realistically, he who has the largest radar fires first.. i think the key is to limit the accuracy of long range shots, to make it difficult to do.
No More Clones!
Stop The Madness!
The archers aren''t too annoying in Diablo because the arrows move relatively slowly and you can often avoid them if you are moving.
I do have an example of when this is annoying though, turn based strategy games like X-com and the like. The enemies could see you from so much farther away that they would spray you with plasma death before you even knew they were there. It frequently left you feeling like the computer was just being cheap.
I guess it kind of depends on the style of game. I think for an action type of game like a shooter, it probably wouldn''t be too bad. Especially if you can give the player at least a slight warning that something is coming. If a laser beam just suddenly rips them in half, they aren''t going to be very happy. But if they see a glow or something before the shot, it wouldn''t be so bad.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the subject
I do have an example of when this is annoying though, turn based strategy games like X-com and the like. The enemies could see you from so much farther away that they would spray you with plasma death before you even knew they were there. It frequently left you feeling like the computer was just being cheap.
I guess it kind of depends on the style of game. I think for an action type of game like a shooter, it probably wouldn''t be too bad. Especially if you can give the player at least a slight warning that something is coming. If a laser beam just suddenly rips them in half, they aren''t going to be very happy. But if they see a glow or something before the shot, it wouldn''t be so bad.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the subject
This also happens in real life.
The enemy can shoot you from far away without being able to see him(see "sniper").
But it is not that nice in a game,it''s irritating.
Consider yourself walking in Diablo with little energy and some "high powered" archer hits you from nowhere and kills you.
I wouldn''t like that...
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AncientCode
A site dedicated to VB Game Development.
By Voodoo4
The enemy can shoot you from far away without being able to see him(see "sniper").
But it is not that nice in a game,it''s irritating.
Consider yourself walking in Diablo with little energy and some "high powered" archer hits you from nowhere and kills you.
I wouldn''t like that...
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AncientCode
A site dedicated to VB Game Development.
By Voodoo4
Maybe make the sniper arrow land at your feet A warning shot 
-Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft - Site:"The Philosophers'' Stone of Programming Alchemy" - IOL
The future of RPGs - Thanks to all the goblins over in our little Game Design Corner niche
A warning shot -Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft - Site:"The Philosophers'' Stone of Programming Alchemy" - IOL
The future of RPGs - Thanks to all the goblins over in our little Game Design Corner niche
1. Perhaps you have weapons that have a sacrifice on strength
so they can shoot further. (ie: long range weapons are weak)
2. Perhaps you have beam weapons that get weaker the further they
go (dispersal).
3. Perhaps you have your radar display flash a different colour
in the section that the fire comes from. (ie: you split the
radar circle into 16 segnments. If a missile launch is
detected then that segment goes red.
just think of how the air force detects incoming fire and
make it more technologically advanced....
so they can shoot further. (ie: long range weapons are weak)
2. Perhaps you have beam weapons that get weaker the further they
go (dispersal).
3. Perhaps you have your radar display flash a different colour
in the section that the fire comes from. (ie: you split the
radar circle into 16 segnments. If a missile launch is
detected then that segment goes red.
just think of how the air force detects incoming fire and
make it more technologically advanced....
You could make long range units have a very slow fire rate so they can not hit your units every couple of seconds, it would allow your units time to hunt down this annoying unit before it kills all your untis. The slow fire rate could be caused by a charge up time of the weapon.
(adopting humourous tone)
everybody knows that in the future all kickass super long range
weapons are laser guided, & the beam draws a line right back
to the enemy when they target you...
plus, imagine the tactics. You pilot a big bad ship called
something good like The Friggin' Frigate. You target that puny
little (but hugely fast) interceptor about 50 million miles
away. Now you have to haul ass big time because if that
interceptor can find you (and doesn't die trying) then it's
all over.
Edited by - SpazBoy_the_Mitey on November 23, 2000 7:46:32 AM
everybody knows that in the future all kickass super long range
weapons are laser guided, & the beam draws a line right back
to the enemy when they target you...
plus, imagine the tactics. You pilot a big bad ship called
something good like The Friggin' Frigate. You target that puny
little (but hugely fast) interceptor about 50 million miles
away. Now you have to haul ass big time because if that
interceptor can find you (and doesn't die trying) then it's
all over.
Edited by - SpazBoy_the_Mitey on November 23, 2000 7:46:32 AM
hmmmm, tough question .
Well, i post in favor of reallity. You should have long ranged shots.
However, to the problem of visibility there is something that comes in mind!
Each vessel has some view range.
First of all, assume that noone can have a window on his ship to view around... not realistic for combat vessels. Second, consider that the larger the ship, the heavier systems it can carry (usually). Therefore i suggest adjusting the visual range of the map, regarding the ship''s type, and also have a radar.
Consider that the ships have a system to render on a monitor what lies around ''em, however not everyone has the same technology, so this can''t be the same for everyone. Secondly, there are the radars, to show what this monitor can''t reveal on its own. Also you may add a device that is supposed to detect when someone is targeting at you (with some max. range of ''couse). Same as the ''We''re locked'' system on real combat planes.
Many more come to mind, but lets keep this sort... not the best time for a novel
If you need more thoughts i''d be glad to help out.
c ''ya around.
tsiou
.Well, i post in favor of reallity. You should have long ranged shots.
However, to the problem of visibility there is something that comes in mind!
Each vessel has some view range.
First of all, assume that noone can have a window on his ship to view around... not realistic for combat vessels. Second, consider that the larger the ship, the heavier systems it can carry (usually). Therefore i suggest adjusting the visual range of the map, regarding the ship''s type, and also have a radar.
Consider that the ships have a system to render on a monitor what lies around ''em, however not everyone has the same technology, so this can''t be the same for everyone. Secondly, there are the radars, to show what this monitor can''t reveal on its own. Also you may add a device that is supposed to detect when someone is targeting at you (with some max. range of ''couse). Same as the ''We''re locked'' system on real combat planes.
Many more come to mind, but lets keep this sort... not the best time for a novel
If you need more thoughts i''d be glad to help out.
c ''ya around.
tsiou
At least, any vessel using long range fire should be made visible in some way, and if it''s only an EWI (early warning indicator) going off. Radar can be detected at over two times its effective range, so this wouldn''t impede realism.
However, chosing long range weapons is something critical to game balance. I remember those peksy beam weapons from Freespace 2. Those were cool, but at higher difficulty levels, they were so accurate that they were impossible to beat.
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ls -lR|rm -rf /
(Best compression everywhere. Kids, don''''t try this as root.)
However, chosing long range weapons is something critical to game balance. I remember those peksy beam weapons from Freespace 2. Those were cool, but at higher difficulty levels, they were so accurate that they were impossible to beat.
---
ls -lR|rm -rf /
(Best compression everywhere. Kids, don''''t try this as root.)
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