I am not talking about a "storyline" explanation. As you just demonstrated, you can make up a "storyline" explanation for anything. I'm asking how this change makes Allegiance more fun, from a game-design point of view.
asheron2k wrote:QUOTE (asheron2k @ Sep 30 2007, 07:17 AM) miners shouldn't have to go through any unusual delay to dock because players can dock from any angle at any speed...
And why do we have to treat drones and player-piloted craft the same? More realism does not equate a better game. It would be realistic to not allow crafts to dock at green doors at speeds above 15 mps. Would it be fun to slow down that much every time before docking? NO!
One answer to my question might be "I think that Allegiance has too much focus on defense. I think that Allegiance would be more fun if players didn't have to defend as much".
Last edited by Ksero on Sun Sep 30, 2007 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ksero, you think this change is in the 'wrong' direction, which would mean the 'right' direction would mean cons taking longer to build/dock (or effectively being easier to kill while doing so and thus requiring more defense). While defense is a vital part of the game, fun for some, not so fun for others, I don't think it should hinge on 'not so smart' AI flying. You would be correct, for this particular change increasing a cons mass would have a similar effect, at least on how much a ram effects a cons ability to dock/plant. This code change, along with don't dodge friendly ships, was an attempt to make the AI ships fly a little more like humans (and how I think most would expect them to fly given a space simulation game).
Miner/con defense is just as critical (no changes) while a con/miner is en route or while actually mining. Enemies can still ram cons/miners disrupting their ability to dock/plant. And in the case of no enemies they line up a bit faster and dock a bit faster.
Given the example of why not make them go straight for the rock full speed (and presumably) plant immediately on contact. One could counter, why not make the cons fly three laps around an asteroid first before planting. Extreme deviations from current game play are not particularly useful here.
This change means on a 'successful' escort you can worry a little bit less about being ambushed at the last second.
I for one find it very frustrating when a miner gets killed at a green door because it just cannot seem to dock (being rammed or not so mass is just a part of it). Now is that more fun? It would depend on who's side you were on I guess, killing a miner at an enemies green door could be loads of fun, trying to defend it for naught because it is too 'dumb' to dock is not fun at all.
I am NOT talking about making miners/cons invincible, or making them faster, etc. This change effects a very small part of how they work and it just makes them a little bit smarter.
Does it make for better game play? For this change hard to say. It would shift the need to defend cons as aggressively after you have successfully escorted them to their target rock. And it would mean if a miner makes it back home it is more likely to dock if under enemy attack or dock a little quicker if not under attack.
I guess I am of the opinion a miner or con kill should be from a well executed attack and not so much because of poor flying by the AI. So I would say that it was 'more fun'. Just like it is more fun to kill another pilot because you out fought him, not because he was lagging so bad he could not fight back. If I could fix 'lag' I would in a heart beat. One of the devs saw the AI flying could be improved so he did so and in doing so made it a tad more challenging to kill cons/miners during periods when their poor flying made them vulnerable.
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