Goonhub
09-22-2019, 07:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-24-2019, 11:05 AM by Silvercloud29. Edited 3 times in total.)
I do ask you guys give this post a chance and a read. This is the post I actually wanted to make and not that really bad one a few days a go that wasn't really thought out.
Blob isn't a bad game mode by far. If anything it's a pretty interesting one. but it would be better on a more RP orientated or less aggressive station environment. With how goon 2 is though... The station is way too aggressive and is always looking for a fight, let alone the high population and the set of rather constant robust players that constantly play. Various crewmen looking to test new death chems, hell mixes, combat skills, etc. Most Blobs are found generally in their early to early - mid stages and just get outright completely deleted off the station. To be honest, blob doesn't really work that much anymore as a game mode on Goon 2. It does however have elements in its game mode that can benefit another, incomplete game mode.
The idea of having a overhead, top-down observer type RTS antag is a cool concept that shouldn't be scrapped. Blob itself is actually a fine game mode but as said before, not for the main server. There has been on particular game mode that's been in code hell for the past few years that, at its core, have some of the same fundamental objectives as blob. Though they are approached in different ways. The game mode I am talking about is flockmind.
Now flockmind at it's core is about the same as blob. Expand and convert the station. Blob does this by consuming but flockmind actually coverts it. The difference comes apart as flockmind is about a co-op venture in doing so... Blob, well... You could... Most people don't really, and the game play style doesn't really help much since you need to expand to get more power. And if 2 or 3 blobs are next to each other, that's significantly less area to consume as the blob, and your fighting for the space with your teammates.
This idea composes of taking elements from blob as an RTS like mode, implementing them into flockmind to make the game mode into a sudo-RTS hybrid. And consider removing blob and replacing it with flock into goon 2.
So how flock currently works is. One player is the main flockmind player, and others are flocktraces. Which is split off the original flockmind from people who are dead in the dead pool. They go around, converting items into energy and the station to create energy to lay eggs to create more drones and more traces to make more flock and spread till they pretty much take over the station.
With my idea is. We take how blob used to control. and make a flock controller (Working name, change as needed) instead. they run the show and give the controller maybe 2 to 5 players that spawn with them. (Depending on the amount of players in the shift) Those players pop in and out of the drones, controlling them. but the powers to create more drones and flocktraces move to the controller as well as other support abilities. The game starts with the controller placing a energy collector or something like that. Which then the initial eggs for the players spawn. As the drones go around and convert things to energy. This time though, they need to drop energy off at the collectors, so the controller can provide more eggs for NPC drones, recruit traces, or build more conveniently placed collectors on converted flock tiles.
Collected energy can be used also for protecting the flock, by using abilities, or placing defensive fields and barriers. The ultimate goal of this new flockmind mode is to convert a large percentage of the station, say 85% to flock to help them with their mission. That's a lot of station to convert though, how would you do it so fast? Well There is stage 2.
In stage 2, if the controller has a large enough energy pool, They can physically summon themselves to the station. This sends the large flock controller to the station and slams into it, sending out a massive energy burst of flock energy that auto converts tiles at the impact site, and sending out that shockwave that randomly converts random tiles throughout how big the shockwave is. This WILL be a massively aggressive act and will warn the ENTIRE station whats up. However ,with the controller on station. It can deploy large flockdrones (I was thinking of calling them guardians, but again I'm not great at names) Which are more robust flockdrones with more defensive measures to defend the flock. Also with the Flock controller on station it could be a fun idea to consider adding turrets built with and ran on energy, maybe add some abilities, and the like.
As for NPC drones. it would be neat to add for the controller to tell what the NPCs to focus on. As an example: Aggressive mode sets them to target and hunt organics. Normal mode is their default mode. Passive mode, makes thme focus on just converting station tiles and objects to flock controlled tiles and energy which they can bring back for the controller.
In conclusion:
This proposed idea may take a lot of work, and coding. However at the same time its going to take a lot of work to try and figure out how to get an old game mode like blob to actually work. Instead of keep on tweaking, and tweaking, and tweaking blob, maybe consider working on a newer game mode that is more unique and interesting, something the other servers don't have.
Blob isn't a bad game mode by far. If anything it's a pretty interesting one. but it would be better on a more RP orientated or less aggressive station environment. With how goon 2 is though... The station is way too aggressive and is always looking for a fight, let alone the high population and the set of rather constant robust players that constantly play. Various crewmen looking to test new death chems, hell mixes, combat skills, etc. Most Blobs are found generally in their early to early - mid stages and just get outright completely deleted off the station. To be honest, blob doesn't really work that much anymore as a game mode on Goon 2. It does however have elements in its game mode that can benefit another, incomplete game mode.
The idea of having a overhead, top-down observer type RTS antag is a cool concept that shouldn't be scrapped. Blob itself is actually a fine game mode but as said before, not for the main server. There has been on particular game mode that's been in code hell for the past few years that, at its core, have some of the same fundamental objectives as blob. Though they are approached in different ways. The game mode I am talking about is flockmind.
Now flockmind at it's core is about the same as blob. Expand and convert the station. Blob does this by consuming but flockmind actually coverts it. The difference comes apart as flockmind is about a co-op venture in doing so... Blob, well... You could... Most people don't really, and the game play style doesn't really help much since you need to expand to get more power. And if 2 or 3 blobs are next to each other, that's significantly less area to consume as the blob, and your fighting for the space with your teammates.
This idea composes of taking elements from blob as an RTS like mode, implementing them into flockmind to make the game mode into a sudo-RTS hybrid. And consider removing blob and replacing it with flock into goon 2.
So how flock currently works is. One player is the main flockmind player, and others are flocktraces. Which is split off the original flockmind from people who are dead in the dead pool. They go around, converting items into energy and the station to create energy to lay eggs to create more drones and more traces to make more flock and spread till they pretty much take over the station.
With my idea is. We take how blob used to control. and make a flock controller (Working name, change as needed) instead. they run the show and give the controller maybe 2 to 5 players that spawn with them. (Depending on the amount of players in the shift) Those players pop in and out of the drones, controlling them. but the powers to create more drones and flocktraces move to the controller as well as other support abilities. The game starts with the controller placing a energy collector or something like that. Which then the initial eggs for the players spawn. As the drones go around and convert things to energy. This time though, they need to drop energy off at the collectors, so the controller can provide more eggs for NPC drones, recruit traces, or build more conveniently placed collectors on converted flock tiles.
Collected energy can be used also for protecting the flock, by using abilities, or placing defensive fields and barriers. The ultimate goal of this new flockmind mode is to convert a large percentage of the station, say 85% to flock to help them with their mission. That's a lot of station to convert though, how would you do it so fast? Well There is stage 2.
In stage 2, if the controller has a large enough energy pool, They can physically summon themselves to the station. This sends the large flock controller to the station and slams into it, sending out a massive energy burst of flock energy that auto converts tiles at the impact site, and sending out that shockwave that randomly converts random tiles throughout how big the shockwave is. This WILL be a massively aggressive act and will warn the ENTIRE station whats up. However ,with the controller on station. It can deploy large flockdrones (I was thinking of calling them guardians, but again I'm not great at names) Which are more robust flockdrones with more defensive measures to defend the flock. Also with the Flock controller on station it could be a fun idea to consider adding turrets built with and ran on energy, maybe add some abilities, and the like.
As for NPC drones. it would be neat to add for the controller to tell what the NPCs to focus on. As an example: Aggressive mode sets them to target and hunt organics. Normal mode is their default mode. Passive mode, makes thme focus on just converting station tiles and objects to flock controlled tiles and energy which they can bring back for the controller.
In conclusion:
This proposed idea may take a lot of work, and coding. However at the same time its going to take a lot of work to try and figure out how to get an old game mode like blob to actually work. Instead of keep on tweaking, and tweaking, and tweaking blob, maybe consider working on a newer game mode that is more unique and interesting, something the other servers don't have.