Map Variety

from StarControl Forums

For map variety in the adventure game you could have half-a-dozen or so different maps that combat can take place on.

Open Space – Empty dueling map. This will be the most popular map for “serious dueling” in Fleet Battles.

Hyperspace – All ships are 10-15% faster than in normal space. They might also be a 20-25% bonus Quasispace map, or you could say ships move too fast for combat to take place in Quasispace.

Black Hole - Racetrack.  The black hole is "one-shot lethal", if you touch it you die.

Micro-Singularity – Slingshot effect at map center.

Planet – Obstacle with light gravity at map center.

Gas Giant – This is a “ace's map” that should very rare because the AI probably won't deal with this particularly well. It is more interesting in multiplayer for those who “get it”. Center blocked by gas giant, moons are small enough to achieve a true slingshot effect. You can “surf” the gravity wells of the moons maintaining a very high speed. The ships still move too fast and overcome the gravity too much to make this work right, so this map might not make too much sense too people right now.

Neblua – All ships have 10-15% speed penalty.

Ion Storm – Random “lightning strikes”, like on the planets in SC2, are like EMP weapons. If you are hit you take minor damage, lost 33% energy, and recharge is paused for 4 seconds.

Asteroid Field – A half-dozen or so “large asteroids” are slowly moving around the map. Collisions cause damage. A comet occasionally flys across the map, and causes twice as much damage as the asteroids in a collision.

Battlestation/Starbase – A base is at the center of the map. See my early posts about planetary defenses and “peeling the onion”.

This will provide a lot more variety in the fights that take place over the course of the adventure game, and add a sense of realism to the galaxy.

 

EDIT: I forgot...

Gravity Wave Pulsar – A pulsar at map center glows brighter until, every 10 seconds, it releases a repelling gravity wave that damages and pushes away any object near it. This denies the map center like a black hole, but has light gravity so that it doesn't act as a magnet.

Quantum Strings – “Strings” similar to the Trandals weapon randomly appear on the map. They have a very brief duration/range and damage ships when they hit them.

342 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from StarControl Forums Top

I hope that in adventure mode the player fights either in hyperspace or across the entire solar system.

Reply #2 from StarControl Forums Top

We will have far FAR more than a dozen different combat maps.  

Brad

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from StarControl Forums Top

The more the better!

 

Reply #4 from StarControl Forums Top

Between our maps and the ones the community will create, I would imagine there will be hundreds if not thousands of maps before the game even ships.

What I want to see is what happens when someone tries to stuff an entire solar system into a single map.

Reply #5 from StarControl Forums Top

If all the planets have gravity that is the same thing as the "Gas Giant" above.  If you can "ride the roller coaster" of the planets you can use that for your slower ship to nullify a faster ship's speed advantage.  The disadvantage of this kind of map is that it is a "newb killer" arena where a difference in player skill is more pronounced.  The better you are, the more advantage you have over your opponent.

Reply #6 from StarControl Forums Top

Since you want even more map variety here are a few more ideas for that.

Another map type...

Radiation Field – Slows energy recharge rate.

 

And some “Global Map Options”...

Map Size – Select map size.

Disable Gravity – For those who don't like/want it but still want to have planets to they might collide with on the map. This will also allow for the “solar system map” so many people seem too want without it being “Newbie Hell”.

Bouncing Bullets – Weapons “bounce” off of the outer wall, planets, anything solid, rather than dissipating into them.

Freighter Convoy – An option that can be enabled on any map. Every 10 seconds a freighter enters one side of the map, and slowly flies across the map an out of the opposite edge. When destroyed, Freighters drop arcade-game “power ups” that give a temporary (10-15 seconds) bonus to a primary ship attribute. Speed, Thrust, Energy Recharge, etc. Might also be “special” power up, like a temporary “shield” of maybe 6 blue colored “free health”. Getting the temporary “shield” will cause a player to become very aggressive to “spend” it before losing it. Any damage absorbed by the shield was “free” and any damage done to the enemy is permanent.