Heat, or "What I'm working on"

[spidernl]

As some of you may have read during conversations in public chat in Hyperspace, I'm working on a new mechanic for a new item set. Heat.

 

So, what's this heat? As of my most recent revision - revisions happen practically every second, so this may not be up to date by the time you read it - it'll be similar to heat in Mass Effect, for those of you who've played that. Instead of Subspace's typical "Energy is used both to shoot and to survive", heat will replace energy costs for shooting. Why? Because I think I can do interesting things by having a serverside variable with that much influence on gameplay.

 

Now, some of you might dislike this idea for the simple fact that it's a step away from 'vanilla' subspace. But let's be honest - Hyperspace is far from your average SVS zone. I don't think this step will take it too far from the game's roots.

 

So. How does heat work exactly? It's fairly simple. As you gun, bomb, use bursts or thors, you build up heat - displayed as a percentage on your screen through new graphics. Heat automatically dissipates over time, but if you hit a certain cap, your ship will be temporarily disabled. You won't be able to use guns or bombs (or specials - if I can get that to work), nor thrust or rotate. In other words, you'll be easy pickings if someone takes you down before you regain control.

 

Now, don't think Heat and Energy won't be intertwined to some extent. A fair few items will restore some of the 'link' between shooting and energy in various ways. Shields, for example, will build up heat as they block damage, thus giving up some of your offensive power while increasing survivability. Other items, such as a unique reactor might increase the rate at which you dissipate heat if your energy is at 100%, increasing offensive power if you're good at keeping your ship 'healthy'.

 

Note that a change this big will mean the settings will be changing quite a bit too. Recharge will be going down, to compensate for the fact that the only way to lose energy is being shot.

 

Feedback is welcome. I'm obviously leaving a lot out here, because a large part of this is just conceptual, so don't hate on me for that.

 

Edit:

Forgot to put an important disclaimer here..

 

THIS IS ALL JUST A CONCEPT. AS MY TIME IS FINITE, I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FINISH ANY OF THIS FOR PUBLIC USE.

Edited October 11, 2012 by spidernl

[P Nut]

Heat was a neat concept at first but the decision to use it to keep health and shooting separate really completed it. It conforms to modern gaming mechanics. It makes a lot more sense.

 

I liked the idea of ammo when that was implemented a few years ago. Although, it was expensive and a chore to keep up with having to keep buying it. This is a way better alternative.

 

Items will be easier to balance. The different aspects of your ship they affect won't have to be considered. It would also increase the variety of items.

[cxc]

I like the idea, i would rather see it as 2 energy bars though.

 

The origional bar for health/hull integrity (what we know today as energy) and energy (what you are calling heat).

 

I think you could re-use the shield energy bar for this, and if you have shields then you are using your energy in both offense and defense.

 

Not sure i like the engine shut down when out of energy, and how will thrusters/ab work in the new world?

[spidernl]

AB will still use your ship's energy, most likely. That's mostly because detecting afterburners accurately is nigh-impossible. Lag, sudden movement due to items like repels.. all those things would make calculating whether or not someone "must have used" afterburner for a specific movement very, very difficult and likely far from perfect once complete.

 

Similarly, cloak, stealth and xradar will most likely use energy still. Aggressive actions (think of it, in a lore-like way, like having to generate an incredibly powerful bolt of destructive energy, in very little time, making it a highly heat-generating process) will remain the only source of heat.

 

As for engine shutdown, I'm not sure of that either. I might *just* disable weapons. However, that might not be enough of a drawback to make players really want to avoid overheating. Adding the engine shutdown makes it riskier.

[cxc]

if you worked it the same as shields where once your energy runs out you need to wait for it to recharge fully before you can use it again i think it will be enough of a penalty. But if also did engine shut down should be a short one (1-2) seconds.

[spidernl]

Right now it's set to shut your ship down entirely for about three seconds. It works intuitively, really. A full systems shutdown to ensure the ship cools down seems 'realistic' enough.

[spittnacid]

Ive liked this idea since hearing about it but I don't think it should effect movement. All heat needs to do is make weapons usage separate from taking damage. Energy should be used as Hit points(hull integrity), Shields for absorbing damage and heat for weapons usage. If damaged your shields go down and once depleted than you start taking energy/hull damage. Shields recharge but only after a set amount of time of not taking damage (kinda like in halo). Energy/Hull integrity recharges much much slower, think of it as the ship taking physical damage and needs to be repaired over a longer period. Than you have heat for your weapons. Also if possible and to make it more realistic, if you take enough hull damage than you lose systems if you have them, radar, map visibility, cloaking. This way it simulated a ship taking damage and losing functionality. Of course once the hull is repaired you get your systems back online. I don't know if there is a way to manage this by disabling a players items temporarily.

 

Maybe it might help if you have a ton of ideas to get a few players you can trust to make decent decisions and preferably some coding experience even if not in C(but understands the basic concepts) to help you narrow down and organize the item set and brainstorm ideas on how to implement them. This way it's still all your ideas and you just have ppl to pick through it and suggest way of implementing it.

[spidernl]

There'll be no split between shields and 'hull integrity'.. for practical reasons mostly. And because this isn't EVE Online. Subspace lore I believe claims Energy is effectively your shield. When it goes down, the first hit will be to your hull, immediately breaching it and killing you (which is why you don't die at 0 energy + emp, but only at -1 energy or less).

[Cheese]

wouldnt it make 100% more sense just to deprize and reprize guns/bombs

[Dr Brain]

As for engine shutdown, I'm not sure of that either. I might *just* disable weapons. However, that might not be enough of a drawback to make players really want to avoid overheating. Adding the engine shutdown makes it riskier.

 

You could make this dependent on the particular engine item. Another factor to balance with is always helpful.

[JoWie]

Heat as in Mass Effect 1 or 2 & 3? Edited October 12, 2012 by JoWie

[Deathmonger]

This opens up some interesting item possibilities such as vampiric items that convert damage into heat, heat into damage, recharge <-> heat, etc. You might have an item that toggles between increased heat dissipation and increased recharge. This would reward micromanagement skills.

[spidernl]

A higher skillcap in things other than dodging and aiming would be interesting. Toggles are a bit of an issue though. The only real ways to do them are through commands, bricks or something like stealth (see: Energy Infusion, Chargeables).

 

Damage into heat is already being added through shields. Essentially they'll function as top-notch armors, but every time they block damage (as in, every time you're hit by the damage type they shield against) they generate a certain amount of heat. This means that despite them saving your life at times, you also risk getting overheated (and thus very likely dying) by an aggressive enemy.

 

Heat into damage is more difficult, as manipulating energy is a pain. I'm not sure if negative drain stealth is possible, so you'd generate heat by toggling on stealth but gain recharge in return.

[spittnacid]

Damage types? Like red, black, white, green, blue and colorless?

[spidernl]

What? I don't follow.

[spittnacid]

kinda like in magic the gathering. You have different mana colors.

[spidernl]

I still don't get what you mean. What actually happens ingame?

[Cheese]

PLAYER HAS RED SHIELD

PLAYER GETS HIT BY RED BOMB

ALL RED DAMAGE ABSORBED

PLAYER GETS HIT BY BLUE BOMB

PLAYER DIES

[spittnacid]

PLAYER HAS RED SHIELD

PLAYER GETS HIT BY RED BOMB

ALL RED DAMAGE ABSORBED

PLAYER GETS HIT BY BLUE BOMB

PLAYER DIES

your wrong.

 

red causes heat. blue cools. green saps. white repairs. black blinds.

Edited October 23, 2012 by spittnacid

[Cheese]

my wrong is what?

 

also i dont play your nerd games

obviously

[cxc]

spittnacid

 

You have a lot of passion about gamming, did you do role palying games with only books, pencils, paper and dice?

 

If not i think you should try them.

 

I think you would make a great DM.