Messages

1

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: pilot tool: strafe left/right OR low drag

« on: May 27, 2014, 06:40:08 pm »

My explanation for the drag tool would be that you coat the hull and balloon in a special friction-reducing concoction hence it would damage both of those. Another steam-punk typical effect could be that it's flammable with a chance of igniting the components and/or preventing chem spray to be used on them. 
I can imagine a lot of maneuvers with the low drag tool especially in combination with other tools such as Moonshine or Kerosene. You could drift sideways into a tight turn only to switch to Moonshine powered forward motion as you clear the obstacle while the sudden normal drag slows your sideways motion. You could go forward at full speed, turn 180° and switch to full reverse. Or as vyew suggested you could try to drift around the more cluttered maps at full speed just to see how fast you can go.

Another way to get strafing to work work maybe would be to change the controls when you have the tools selected so you cant turn any more and instead drift in the direction you would normally be turning. So it changes all forward force from the engines 90 degrees  into the direction the wheel is turning and maybe damages the engines as well.

My problem with a pure strafing tool is that it might make strafing too fast/easy. Can't have a Galleon going full speed sideways, there still needs to be a limit. If you make it a tool that strafes instead of turning it should probably have it's own limited speed. Again, as an explanation for how it works the pilot could be venting balloon air on one side of the ship, damaging the balloon while actively using it.
But then I'm not sure if a change of controls is that easy to do, the advantage of the two seperate strafing tools would be that it keeps all controls the same and only messes with the mechanics a bit.

2

Feedback and Suggestions / pilot tool: strafe left/right OR low drag

« on: May 27, 2014, 07:28:55 am »

My initial idea was to have a ship that can strafe, basically turn it's engine and fly sideways. But then I realized it would need extra controls to fly which I guess won't happen.
So now I think the best idea would be a set of strafing tools that change the direction the ship accelerates towards. It should be more effective at lower speeds, allowing for slow flight at a 45-60° angle from the main axis and full speed at 10-15°. Maybe the angle would depend on the size and shape of the ship, is there a latitudinal drag component? Since it would be used over longer stretches of time for downsides I'm thinking slight damage to engines over time and reduced engine output.
Of course taking both strafe tools at once as a pilot is quite a lot of commitment but taking only one could still be a huge boon especially on ships with a strong side like the pyramidion. Smaller and faster ships would greatly benefit on maps with a lot of narrow paths between obstacles.

The other idea to achieve sideways motion was a tool that reduces all drag significantly, allowing you to keep drifting in the direction you are going while turning. If I understand the drag mechanics correctly this would also allow for greater speeds in all directions as well as faster rotation but not necessarily faster acceleration. It would have to be balanced carefully, so that the top speeds don't get too ridiculous. It should probably damage balloons and armor but I'm not sure how much exactly.
Compared to the strafing tool it would be harder to use effectively but it would be even better for certain ships. Baiscally any ship that gets caught on it's weak side could turn towards the enemy without giving up their momentum which would make it harder for the attacker to stay on that weak side. At the same time, on maps with a lot of obstructions you could use it to face your guns towards a gap while moving past it.

3

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Design Paradigm, Game balance, and Gunner vs Engineer.

« on: May 27, 2014, 06:49:15 am »

I didn't manage to read the whole thread but as a fairly new player I wanted to comment. My suggestion would be two improvements to the way a gunner reloads:

• If he reloads, whatever ammo he has selected is loaded even if he jumps off the gun unless someone else jumps on it.
• If he's on a gun with a full clip he can very quickly switch the ammo type instead of waiting for the full reload time

My intention is for a gunner to actually make use of the different ammo types effectively and with new ammo types being introduced it should help to make the gunners versatility better than the gungineers narrow focus. More passive ammo effects would also make it interesting to have a gunner run around the ship reloading all guns when there is no immediate target to shoot at. The big problem then would only be the carrying capacity, more ammo types means to utilize them a gunner should probably get more gunner slots as well.
There would still need to be other changes, I liked the idea of the buffhammer increasing non-damage stats on the gun. Having better ammo that takes up more slots could be good as well but again, the gunner would need more slots.