Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

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Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Aces » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:18 pm

So, I'd like to crank up the Risk Vs Reward for various gateway maps--but I need to know how to program them to do that correctly. Not only that, but I need ideas for the puzzles themselves, and how to punish players for failing.

And by punish, I mean injure. Gateway maps wouldn't be fun without some actual risk to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM

But I was watching this, and I thought about how to design such a level. Puzzles are fucking useless unless you can explain how they're done without quite GIVING AWAY THE ANSWER.

So I need help...

  • What kinds of puzzles?
  • How can we introduce these puzzles?
  • How can we program them to be different each playthrough?
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Wickedtemp » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:49 pm

No idea how to code or program... But as for ideas?

Have a portal that spawns enemies, the portal can't be destroyed so the players will need to look at some other way to close it.

Those classic puzzles where there's a bunch of unbreakable but movable obstacles in your way, they need to be moved to certain places before the path is clear. Like the pokemon gym where you have to use the Strength HM to move the boulders.

Other classic puzzles where the door won't open until a pressure plate is set off. Probably by having someone stand on it if that can be coded. It'd make it so doing the mission solo (which I've seen some Captains do for some reason, always requiring a rescue mission to go after them) would be impossible.

Riddles. I've HEARD that there were like... audio detectors or something like that in other servers that you could rig a bomb to, and it'd explode when a certain codeword was said. Have the riddle in a place where the players could find it, the door won't open unless the answer is said.

I also think a few 'traps' would be neat. Like the trash compactor scene from Star Wars. Have the walls SLOWLY come together, so maybe if the victim is quick-minded, they may be able to get out. Maybe. There might not even be a way out sometimes.

No idea how this would be done, but what about puzzles where the floor falls away once you step off of it? They'd reappear once someone reaches the end, but it'd mean the rest of the team would have to watch helplessly and just hope their buddy makes it. If they 'fall', then they probably just get kersploded or something.

Have a door that won't open unless a certain key, probably found by rummaging through old boxes and rubble, is used on it.

Also, 'trapped' tiles. These tiles will look just a LITTLE different from all the others. Easy enough to miss if you're just running through it, but still easy enough to spot. You would be able to disarm it fairly easily, but if it's triggered, it could be anything from darts, spikes, a rigged shotgun, or possibly even an IED. Or maybe just a flashbang, perhaps to act as an alarm to alert the people already there that there are intruders?
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Arbon » Sun Apr 17, 2016 8:50 pm

Not sure if this counts as a "puzzle" but lifting strait from DnD and pathfinder games you could use the magnetic room trap.

The set-up is a single metal door on one side that opens into the room itself, with one door heading left that's shut, and another door to the right that's open. The door to the left is simply a closet with filled with either 2 or 4 dangerous monsters, whatever you can fit inside, and in the center of the room is a metal pillar.

As soon as the players touch against the center pillar it activates the electromagnet, a constant EMP pulse covers the room to take out mechs, implants, or energy weapons, the south door used an entrance shuts, the open door to the right shuts, and the closed door to the left opens. Trapping players inside with limited use of their weapons and at least 2 monsters charging at them. The doors stay closed for up to 2 minutes if left to their own devices, say if the monsters win, and the trap doesn't reset.

OR, the doors open and the EMP shuts off immediately if someone with a screwdriver, wrench, crowbar, or similar combination can disable the magnetic pillar. Mainly by way of clicking on it without being interrupted or bumped around.

Make the doors hard or outright impossible to break through, especially with vore mobs involved, and this becomes a trap intentionally designed to punish the fore-runners who charge ahead of their group and try to solo everything. Because the doors closing behind you means that anyone not already fallowing you will end up locked outside and unable to help for a short time.

Have there be a count-down timer that starts at 0 when inactive, and bumps up to 2:00 before counting down as soon as the trap activates would be a nice way to make this abundantly clear whenever people complain they can't smash through the doorway.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby rikaru19 » Mon Apr 18, 2016 5:16 am

I have an idea for a map, though it isn't puzzley, more just a really fun robust challenge involving hostile mobs.

Colosseum type map? Specifically one that's lore-friendly and you aren't able to get out until all mobs are dead, of you're clever enough to find an alternative way to escape...

I personally got this idea from Doom, and that one Adventure Time episode with the Fight King. That was an awesome episode.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Scree » Mon Apr 18, 2016 5:56 am

Steal the drone fabricator code.

Make sprites for things like mob-nests and so on, so observers can click the nest to ready a mob and take control of it. Give it a cooldown to stop people spamming it.

Now every gateway mission may or may not have some active, player-controlled mobs roaming around to ruin the day of anyone who wants to leeroy the mission.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Aces » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:33 am

Scree wrote:Steal the drone fabricator code.

Make sprites for things like mob-nests and so on, so observers can click the nest to ready a mob and take control of it. Give it a cooldown to stop people spamming it.

Now every gateway mission may or may not have some active, player-controlled mobs roaming around to ruin the day of anyone who wants to leeroy the mission.


That actually sounds really fun until one of them sneaks back onto the station to cause problems.

Though I could just add a check to prevent them from rushing the gateway.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Scree » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:46 am

Well, the gateway needs calibration with a multitool, so if they're simple mobs it's not like they can turn it on. If nothing else a couple of turrets in the gateway room set to neutralise unknown lifeforms ought to make that difficult for them.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Aces » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:47 am

Scree wrote:Well, the gateway needs calibration with a multitool, so if they're simple mobs it's not like they can turn it on. If nothing else a couple of turrets in the gateway room set to neutralise unknown lifeforms ought to make that difficult for them.


The problem arises once it's actually calibrated.
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby rikaru19 » Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:09 pm

Aces wrote:
Scree wrote:Well, the gateway needs calibration with a multitool, so if they're simple mobs it's not like they can turn it on. If nothing else a couple of turrets in the gateway room set to neutralise unknown lifeforms ought to make that difficult for them.


The problem arises once it's actually calibrated.


Then it's technically the expedition team's fault for leaving it open, maybe?
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Re: Gateway Map puzzles and passively spawning mobs

Postby Aces » Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:23 pm

rikaru19 wrote:
Aces wrote:
Scree wrote:Well, the gateway needs calibration with a multitool, so if they're simple mobs it's not like they can turn it on. If nothing else a couple of turrets in the gateway room set to neutralise unknown lifeforms ought to make that difficult for them.


The problem arises once it's actually calibrated.


Then it's technically the expedition team's fault for leaving it open, maybe?


Soooo explain to me how you close it from the inside and still have everyone leave. :P

If the gateway is used, anyone coming back has to leave it on. No matter what I still have to make code changes to disallow unwanted mobs from being able to pass through it.
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