Goonhub
08-06-2024, 01:14 AM
I vaguely remember that pre-rework flamethrowers would need two shots to kill blob tiles (waiting in between for the fire to go away) and also only went for 4 tiles. It's kinda absurd how strong they are.
I don't really have the will or time to write out a whole design for combating the problems with blob, but if we are going to rework blobs then it's not just a matter of weapon balance: we need some lateral gameplay thinking as well. Currently blob fighting is a simple tug of war/war of attrition combo: The crew has to collapse the blob down to near the nucleus before the blob gets tanky enough that most weapons get useless. Like, eventually anti-blunt walls get strong enough that welders don't counter them effectively and at that point it's over. As a crewmember you take twice as long breaking them as it takes the blob to replenish them. Alongside that the blob can also try to wait out the crew's resources, cause fuel and meds don't last all that long. Because blobs get found out approximately 5-17 microseconds from spawning the tanking threshold is pretty darn low. In fact, I can't remember the last time a blob hadn't won by the point they could place a second nucleus. As near as I can tell blobs are deliberately balanced now for that dynamic what with the slow-ass spreading cooldowns. I don't think that it's a very interesting place for them to be, but it is a coherent design choice.
Making blobs interesting is going to have to involve some kind of dynamic for both parties to play into other than the tug of war between blob building cooldowns and crew damage output.
Also, midround blobs are one of my favourite things as an antag. There's a thing that is going to occupy the entire crew's attention, and I can sabotage their effort through incompetence of by feeding the blob corpses out of sight? Keep them please.
Some simple suggestions taht I think would help in any case:
-Let the throwers target (and even prioritise?) pods too.
-Make it extremely obvious somehow to blob players that they hotkey stuff. The current balance hinges on blob players using the speed of hotkeys for attacks and building, it's painful to see them try and position the eye for everything.
I don't really have the will or time to write out a whole design for combating the problems with blob, but if we are going to rework blobs then it's not just a matter of weapon balance: we need some lateral gameplay thinking as well. Currently blob fighting is a simple tug of war/war of attrition combo: The crew has to collapse the blob down to near the nucleus before the blob gets tanky enough that most weapons get useless. Like, eventually anti-blunt walls get strong enough that welders don't counter them effectively and at that point it's over. As a crewmember you take twice as long breaking them as it takes the blob to replenish them. Alongside that the blob can also try to wait out the crew's resources, cause fuel and meds don't last all that long. Because blobs get found out approximately 5-17 microseconds from spawning the tanking threshold is pretty darn low. In fact, I can't remember the last time a blob hadn't won by the point they could place a second nucleus. As near as I can tell blobs are deliberately balanced now for that dynamic what with the slow-ass spreading cooldowns. I don't think that it's a very interesting place for them to be, but it is a coherent design choice.
Making blobs interesting is going to have to involve some kind of dynamic for both parties to play into other than the tug of war between blob building cooldowns and crew damage output.
Also, midround blobs are one of my favourite things as an antag. There's a thing that is going to occupy the entire crew's attention, and I can sabotage their effort through incompetence of by feeding the blob corpses out of sight? Keep them please.
Some simple suggestions taht I think would help in any case:
-Let the throwers target (and even prioritise?) pods too.
-Make it extremely obvious somehow to blob players that they hotkey stuff. The current balance hinges on blob players using the speed of hotkeys for attacks and building, it's painful to see them try and position the eye for everything.