4 replies to this topic

[Starquestman]

Ok, so think about it. From a gameplay perspective:

Concept: Jumpship Katana is under attack! Orbital railguns have blasted a hole in the side of the vessel, exposing many decks and mech bays and cargo areas inside. Now enemy mechs have landed on the surface and must take control to secure the cargo!

Each map has something unique about it that challenges a different aspect of strategy or mech choice. Polar Highlands forces you to use long-range weapons and not short. Therra Therma punishes lasers and rewards ballistics. Solaris City punishes LRMs. Canyon Network rewards jump jets. So when developing a new map, we should ask: What aspect of mech loadout or combat does THIS map challenge that none of the others do?



For Dropship Katana:
You could have really strong vertical elements. Plenty of maps have good vertical elements, but none of them force it. Solaris City, for instance, has those sky-high catwalks, but they are totally exposed, so combat is still fought on one level. HPG Manifold has multiple levels, but not much fighting happens BETWEEN levels. But multiple walled-in drop ship decks to play around would force players to take steep high or low shots. The unique factor this map would bring to the table is by rewarding mech loadouts that have guns on the arms, and punishing those with guns on the torso. Obviously there would still be the option for players to get on the same levels for straight-across contact at the expense of cover.

Worried about long-range shots? It could be so orchestrated that part of the battle could take place on the surface of the ship for the long-range combat. PLUS you could go NUTS with gravity, making trying to predict trajectories fun. Maybe varied gravity... or, if the engine supported it, have gravity run in different directions.

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For the DEVs - again, plenty of room for creativity. Opportunity to make lots of straight edges, reuse some textures and models from HPG manifold, etc. Scale-wise we aren't talking any bigger than Polar Highlands. Plenty of room for subtle or extreme gravity. The mech drop in the beginning could be the standard drop, or have one team start out in the Katana mech bays - just steal the elevators from Solaris. That would be sweet.

And the cherry on top - some maps have different weather systems. Night, day, sun, rain - different "weather" systems would be easy and thrilling for the drop ship because you could have 5 or 6 different planet backdrops. Each one has a star/planet in a different orientation to the ship, giving totally different light direction and even day/night appearance. Or, heck, make the ship rotate as if adrift, giving a really dynamic feel. Light in space is much less diffused, so it gets dark quick.
And if you wanted to get REALLY creative - have one be a solar storm (jump points ARE right above star's poles, right? Imagine jumping into a system that had just gone supernova... exposure to the neutron light could cause heat buildup like lava in Terra Therma).

Unique maps and excellent art direction is what PGI does best - I think a drop ship map would be a great challenge for our creative PGI staff, with plenty of room for ideas ranging from safe and tested to radical and new. It's a super versatile concept that offers broad artistic license, but can easily be built on elements tested and proven in other maps.

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Bonus event idea: host an event or string of events based loosely off of the jumps the Katana makes in the Battletech cartoon series - use characters from the series as bobbleheads for cockpit item rewards!

*This map should work as good for all the game modes as Canyon Network (Lots of barriers) or Frozen City (Compact space). But Conquest mode would be especially appropriate in tying in with the valuable cargo theme, if that's the route taken.

[Blacksheep One]

Last time I recall seeing anything close to this (space based map, that is) was... I think Ghost Bear's Legacy, in the MW2 days.

I wouldn't mind.I don't know about some of the other items, but as a starting point, sure.

[Ch_R0me]

Interesting idea. But it would require introduction of specific space-ops variants of mechs, like Nova NVA-U for example.

Quote

This unusual configuration appears to be used to support boarding actions against enemy spacecraft. Two torso mounted Liquid Storage tanks provide additional reaction mass for the jump jets. Eight machine guns can rapidly destroy enemy battle armor, while three Heavy Medium Lasers and three Micro Pulse Lasers scour the armor off of hardened targets. To keep track of enemy units, the U configuration carries a Light Active Probe, and a Clan ECM Suite interferes with enemy targeting systems. The right arm carries a Spot Welder presumably to seal hull breaches. Strangely, this configuration carries a Sword, marking the first time a Clan unit has carried a dedicated melee weapon.

Of course, if PGI would decide to have space skirmishes in mechs simple as possible, then OK. But there should be a dedicated mode (with substantial CBill boost), like Boarding mode similiar to what we saw in Enemy Territory (but with limited JJ and simplified targets to capture zones) to make up for it.

[Starquestman]

Ch_R0me, on 19 April 2019 - 11:42 PM, said:

Interesting idea. But it would require introduction of specific space-ops variants of mechs, like Nova NVA-U for example.

That would be sick! I could totally see an entire game mode based around space warfare variants. Marketing wise, this might be a really good way to broaden our user base to Gundam fans - not for Gundam mechs or story, just the idea of mechs battling in space. All fandoms have crossovers to other fandoms, and this could be a bridge.

But what would be different between a space variant and the standard variants apparently capable of battling on HPG Manifold? It's supposed to be an effectively atmosphereless environment. I could see magnetic boots and advance jump jets if there wasn't gravity, but is there anything intrinsic to a drop ship game play environment that isn't already in HPG?

[50 50]

I like this concept.

Without having to delve into zero g aspects, this could essentially by the Factory map from Solaris expanded to 12v12, multiple bays, multiple levels, lifts, ramps and so on.

I think it would be a great addition to the standard map list for quick play and faction play.