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Notrium Ideas - Official Post

Quanrian 20 years ago

I've already got a slew of ideas for the Expansion, but asides from a new race which I'm not going to give out just yet, I'm going to add a weapon that the Human and Android can use. So my question is..

What weapon would you like to see in the Expansion ?

Mind you it has to be supported ALREADY by version 1.2, so if it can't be done properly I'm not going to add it. It also has to be different enough from the other weapons. So if its too similar to another weapon, I'm not going to add it. I'm probably only going to add maybe 1 or 2 other weapons asides from what is already planned, so only the best idea/s is going to make the cut.

Shekinahguild 20 years ago

How about something like an ether bomb set off by a bio mass sensor?

Once set a creature has to come within x feet of it and the explosion of fire is equal to the ammount of ether used... which could also engulf the player?

ville 20 years ago

Mine type weapons didn't make it to this release. I'm planning on adding support in the next version.

Quanrian 20 years ago

You can't set a mine, so a time bomb wouldn't work for that initial reason. The second reason it wouldn't work is there is no way to remotely trigger anything. Your bullets also don't hurt you automatically. So sadly I'm going to have to turn you down on that one. As I stated, it has to be ALREADY supported.

ZeXLR8er 20 years ago

I was thinking of having flying alien drones wich are much faster than you and can pass over your player, trees and other aliens. Since you could not shoot them without a special weapon (maybe rapid fire pistol?) the only way to escape from them would be to hid under a tree.

As for weapons, I think either a guided missile or a grenade launcher with a large blast radius would be good. With the guided missile, could it be made to after it hits the the alien split up into about 20 pieces that go shooting of in every direction?
I've got a few more ideas but these 2 are probably the best. But, I suppose any weapon with with a big explosion would be cool!

Quanrian 20 years ago

Well that about does it. I'll add the Guided Rocket and Grenade Launcher. I haven't heard any better ideas and I was going to add the Grenade Launcher anyways. So hrmm thanks and you can be sure to look for the new weapons when I get around to the Expansion.

ZeXLR8er 20 years ago

So, would the flying aliens idea work? i was thinking maybe they could somehow be placed on layer 2(?) so they could move over rocks, aliens, debris and your player.
Because trees are also on layer 2 they would be the flying alien's only obstacle.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Nope It wouldn't work because all creatures are placed on the same layer. You can however remove the footprints to simulate the fact that it is hovering, and you'd probably want to have a shadow for the graphic to give a greater feeling of depth.

There is currently no way to make a creature immune to a weapon or even a weapon class, though that is fine idea for the next update

ville 20 years ago

It would certainly be an easy thing to add.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Here are my reasonable ideas for the upcoming update, and I really do think they will be useful.

:bulb Energy Drain when item is used. I want not only certain options to have it, but the object in general to have an energy drain each time it used. This way it'd be possible to have an item that doesn't vanish but does cost you energy for each of its uses. This would have many applications.

:bulb Timing bar when item is used. This will work exactly the same as the combination timing bar does, except when the bar expires the effect of the item's use takes place. This would effectively create a way to limit alot of things time wise so they couldn't be done over and over again as fast as someone could click.

:bulb Item cost when item is used. Rather than energy being drained you could sacrifice the item of your choice everytime the Item was used. This would give items the same kind of functionality that weapons already have.

:bulb Precise Creature Placement. Placing creatures precisely would allow for alot of options, like setting up creatures to specifically guard a certain area or even to hide something beneath them if they're big enough.

:bulb If at all possible, a way to make a Plot Object expire after a time, this way you could possibly give a more practical use for dispense item, and dispense plot object events. The plot object that is spawned or even the one that does the spawning could vanish after a time. So lets say you've got a Rotten Fungus for example, and every so often it spawns 3 spore beds, after a time maybe 3-4 seconds the spore beds would expire, so they don't HAVE to have any kind of contact with the player. I think this should be possible since Plot Objects can be destoyed in other ways, making them be destroyed on a timer shouldn't be too difficult at all.

:bulb Creatures die upon shooting first shot. I suppose this could be tacked on to die's after how many seconds, but I think it'd probably be better as a simple toggle. This may sound really stupid. But what if a creature's only purpose is to be a tracking missle, than you really don't need it alive once its done its damage. Like boom the missle hit, but wait its still there.. Anyways the main logic for this is to make creatures that act as weapons. It could be even more open ended if it was set to how many shots it could shoot before dying.

:bulb New AI for Creature that totally ignores anything but killing the enemy. It would basically be like Hunter, but like the old Hunter and it would just go off and try to find something to kill, using this AI it'd rest in one spot alot less and track the player for longer periods of time. As a friendly creature it would not follow you at all, it will simply try to kill, which if you want the perfect AI for a tracking missle, thats all you need, is the pure desire to hunt and kill and nothing else. This would work great with the above request obviously and they do go hand in hand. I don't see this as a one use AI as making several enemy creatures with this AI would create a great mix of passively aggressive and fully aggressive creatures, since the hunters currently are passive aggressive.

Thats it for my requests for now, I believe all of these to not only be possible, but within reason as well, I also promise to make use of them in the Expansion if they're added, and what greater encouragement do you need than that

Here are my reasonable ideas for the upcoming update, and I really do think they will be useful. :bulb Energy Drain when item is used. I want not only certain options to have it, but the object in general to have an energy drain each time it used. This way it'd be possible to have an item that doesn't vanish but does cost you energy for each of its uses. This would have many applications. :bulb Timing bar when item is used. This will work exactly the same as the combination timing bar does, except when the bar expires the effect of the item's use takes place. This would effectively create a way to limit alot of things time wise so they couldn't be done over and over again as fast as someone could click. :bulb Item cost when item is used. Rather than energy being drained you could sacrifice the item of your choice everytime the Item was used. This would give items the same kind of functionality that weapons already have. :bulb Precise Creature Placement. Placing creatures precisely would allow for alot of options, like setting up creatures to specifically guard a certain area or even to hide something beneath them if they're big enough. :bulb If at all possible, a way to make a Plot Object expire after a time, this way you could possibly give a more practical use for dispense item, and dispense plot object events. The plot object that is spawned or even the one that does the spawning could vanish after a time. So lets say you've got a Rotten Fungus for example, and every so often it spawns 3 spore beds, after a time maybe 3-4 seconds the spore beds would expire, so they don't HAVE to have any kind of contact with the player. I think this should be possible since Plot Objects can be destoyed in other ways, making them be destroyed on a timer shouldn't be too difficult at all. :bulb Creatures die upon shooting first shot. I suppose this could be tacked on to die's after how many seconds, but I think it'd probably be better as a simple toggle. This may sound really stupid. But what if a creature's only purpose is to be a tracking missle, than you really don't need it alive once its done its damage. Like boom the missle hit, but wait its still there.. Anyways the main logic for this is to make creatures that act as weapons. It could be even more open ended if it was set to how many shots it could shoot before dying. :bulb New AI for Creature that totally ignores anything but killing the enemy. It would basically be like Hunter, but like the old Hunter and it would just go off and try to find something to kill, using this AI it'd rest in one spot alot less and track the player for longer periods of time. As a friendly creature it would not follow you at all, it will simply try to kill, which if you want the perfect AI for a tracking missle, thats all you need, is the pure desire to hunt and kill and nothing else. This would work great with the above request obviously and they do go hand in hand. I don't see this as a one use AI as making several enemy creatures with this AI would create a great mix of passively aggressive and fully aggressive creatures, since the hunters currently are passive aggressive. Thats it for my requests for now, I believe all of these to not only be possible, but within reason as well, I also promise to make use of them in the Expansion if they're added, and what greater encouragement do you need than that ;)

ville 20 years ago

If I end up putting a lot of the events in the game to a scriptable file, you will likely see the abilities you mentioned of the items.

As for the AI, I have no idea on how to do it yet. Likely my aim should be to construct a single AI that would have some options allowing it to follow specific creatures, control the aggressiveness and tactics, and more.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Maybe you could find something from the guy who did the AI for Unreal, which at the time was pretty cutting edge. What you're saying sounds right, I think the fact you've got so many single AI's that have intermingling functions is what screws things, it'd just be cleaner to tell them they can or can't do something. Though as I've stated before, even the most stupid AI should have some instinct for survival, even if it means the creature high tails it away from you.

I believe all of the suggestions I made would work just fine without scripting

The only one I think that would be worth waiting for scripting actually is the precise creature placement.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Here are some more ideas :>

:bulb Area Class System similar to that used with the Weapons.dat file. This is really needed now that the amount of areas in the game can be exponentially larger than in the past and will keep Objects from ending up in areas they shouldn't be without needless duplication of a Plot Object.

:bulb Item Class System for the Items.dat file, I think restricting the use of certain items from use by a race is just as important as restricting the use of what weapons they can use. This way not only could you make race specific weapons, but items as well and that to me is an important step in the right direction. Obviously this would include a new option in the Player_races.dat file to where you could exclude a class of item like you could a weapon.

:bulb A clock you either always have or get in the game. This is so vitally important I'm still baffled it hasn't been added, especially since this has to be one of the most basic things you can add in any game is displaying the time. This is also going to be vital if any kind of serious scripting system is ever going to be implemented, because than you can have something happen at specific times of the day, on a specific day.

:bulb Once a clock is added its just logical there be initial use for it. My first and main suggestion is a new option for the Player_races.dat file where you can control what happens to the race at a certain phase or time of day, which could be anything from morphing into another creature to losing/gaining health.

:bulb You really should be able to control the length or even existance of a night or day phase in each area, that way if you have an indoor area you could do effects like a flickering light or just a simple fully illuminated area. You should also on the same note be able to control the ambience provided in each phase of the day and if possible the color of the light provided, to perhaps add some eerie lighting effects

:bulb As Notrium becomes better for making specifically defined area I think its important to be able to place terrains precisely as well. I can't figure how this would work into the current system, but I think its worth at least some thought even if its a new option to make a terrain only show on the border, so you could at least make a trim for your area and maybe set how thick the border trim is.

Well these are my new suggestions, enjoy

Here are some more ideas :> :bulb Area Class System similar to that used with the Weapons.dat file. This is really needed now that the amount of areas in the game can be exponentially larger than in the past and will keep Objects from ending up in areas they shouldn't be without needless duplication of a Plot Object. :bulb Item Class System for the Items.dat file, I think restricting the use of certain items from use by a race is just as important as restricting the use of what weapons they can use. This way not only could you make race specific weapons, but items as well and that to me is an important step in the right direction. Obviously this would include a new option in the Player_races.dat file to where you could exclude a class of item like you could a weapon. :bulb A clock you either always have or get in the game. This is so vitally important I'm still baffled it hasn't been added, especially since this has to be one of the most basic things you can add in any game is displaying the time. This is also going to be vital if any kind of serious scripting system is ever going to be implemented, because than you can have something happen at specific times of the day, on a specific day. :bulb Once a clock is added its just logical there be initial use for it. My first and main suggestion is a new option for the Player_races.dat file where you can control what happens to the race at a certain phase or time of day, which could be anything from morphing into another creature to losing/gaining health. :bulb You really should be able to control the length or even existance of a night or day phase in each area, that way if you have an indoor area you could do effects like a flickering light or just a simple fully illuminated area. You should also on the same note be able to control the ambience provided in each phase of the day and if possible the color of the light provided, to perhaps add some eerie lighting effects :D :bulb As Notrium becomes better for making specifically defined area I think its important to be able to place terrains precisely as well. I can't figure how this would work into the current system, but I think its worth at least some thought even if its a new option to make a terrain only show on the border, so you could at least make a trim for your area and maybe set how thick the border trim is. Well these are my new suggestions, enjoy :D

ville 20 years ago

It would certainly be a welcome idea to somehow make the terrains placeable. I have no idea how to do that. It couldn't be done like it was in the map files, it would requre a separate graphical editor that would also enable the placement of plot_objects and items.

Eternal 20 years ago

Yeah, i dont goto this forum often, but as soon as i saw this thread i immedaitly
thought Not-Randomly-Generated-Trees/Rocks/Terrain

Like a Placeable peice of terrain, e.g. the equivalent of Stongehenge from real life. Theres only 1 of 'em.

There would be a probably buggy half-hearted way u could do it. You could make it an item with clipping that doesnt show up when you roll over & can't ineract with. So then you could make some that you can, like a control panel or something.
But that probably wont work

.

Also all i see coming out in these new versions and stuff, is new weapons. I mean i like a new way to blast aliens to pieces as the next guy but theres no gameplay changes to make it more replayable, e.g. i havent played notrium 2.0 much yet cause i get bored. Sure i want to find the alien egg and hatch a friend, & sure i want to do all the other stuff. But it just same ol' same ol'.

Like theres no sense of achievment, like wow i put together a gun, so exciting!
[sarcasm intended]
I want to, for example, level up, or find an uber weapon.
E.g. like a "rare" weapon. But there is only 1/2 of each weapon in the game & there is no "iron & steel" whihch there shouldnt be but theres no, Yes!! I found [insert good weapon name here] after beating a [stupidly hard creature].

Maybe Lvls like an rpg might help. like CptNik said (me, i forgot my username so i recreated) in SW moddage 2 or 3 pages ago.

But anyway im rambling again.
There was 1 last idea. Maybe having level tranistions (like your teleporter) not on the edges of maps, but instead of teleporters more like caves or buildings.

And also i have a hope that i will be able to play with my friend on Lan (internet doesnt have enough of a fan base for any1 to be bothered creating a server near every1 so that ppl get decent ping, tho if in some crazy fling of craziness that you accaulty do make 1, i'd be happy to be/manage a server for u). Cause on lan you could run around picking up items, and if theres a hard monster 1 of you could distract it while the other runs for the item behind it, or 1 person could maybe join the alien/computer controlled team (any 1 played perfect dark on 64? 1 person goes Joanna the superspy, whislt the other person goes 1 of the countless guards, and tries to stop joanna but when he dies he takes control of another of the countless bad guys) but that would take extensive coding, and hey look at that I'm rambling again

!!!

I'll be quite now. Yeah, i dont goto this forum often, but as soon as i saw this thread i immedaitly thought Not-Randomly-Generated-Trees/Rocks/Terrain :P Like a Placeable peice of terrain, e.g. the equivalent of Stongehenge from real life. Theres only 1 of 'em. There would be a probably buggy half-hearted way u could do it. You could make it an item with clipping that doesnt show up when you roll over & can't ineract with. So then you could make some that you can, like a control panel or something. But that probably wont work :P. Also all i see coming out in these new versions and stuff, is new weapons. I mean i like a new way to blast aliens to pieces as the next guy but theres no gameplay changes to make it more replayable, e.g. i havent played notrium 2.0 much yet cause i get bored. Sure i want to find the alien egg and hatch a friend, & sure i want to do all the other stuff. But it just same ol' same ol'. Like theres no sense of achievment, like wow i put together a gun, so exciting! [sarcasm intended] I want to, for example, level up, or find an uber weapon. E.g. like a "rare" weapon. But there is only 1/2 of each weapon in the game & there is no "iron & steel" whihch there shouldnt be but theres no, Yes!! I found [insert good weapon name here] after beating a [stupidly hard creature]. Maybe Lvls like an rpg might help. like CptNik said (me, i forgot my username so i recreated) in SW moddage 2 or 3 pages ago. But anyway im rambling again. There was 1 last idea. Maybe having level tranistions (like your teleporter) not on the edges of maps, but instead of teleporters more like caves or buildings. And also i have a hope that i will be able to play with my friend on Lan (internet doesnt have enough of a fan base for any1 to be bothered creating a server near every1 so that ppl get decent ping, tho if in some crazy fling of craziness that you accaulty do make 1, i'd be happy to be/manage a server for u). Cause on lan you could run around picking up items, and if theres a hard monster 1 of you could distract it while the other runs for the item behind it, or 1 person could maybe join the alien/computer controlled team (any 1 played perfect dark on 64? 1 person goes Joanna the superspy, whislt the other person goes 1 of the countless guards, and tries to stop joanna but when he dies he takes control of another of the countless bad guys) but that would take extensive coding, and hey look at that I'm rambling again :P!!! I'll be quite now.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Its hard to take you seriously when you haven't played 1.2 because you wouldn't be claiming its so much like the previous versions. Drastic changes were made from 1.11 and 1.2 and plenty seem happy with how Notrium is progressing.

I seriously suggest trying 1.2 and I'm going to leave it at that

Eternal 20 years ago

lol okay, but i still think my points will remain vaild.

Eternal 20 years ago

Except of course the net/lan point, that'll neva be valid

:emb(

ops

ZeXLR8er 20 years ago

ok, this is my idea.
the way the food generator is really heavy so u don't want to move it is great, but if u really want to move it why wouldn't u just break it up to make it about 40 lighter?
when you think about it, how come it gets so much heavier when you combine it?

is there any way to make an item that, once assembled you could not disesemble it?

ZeXLR8er 20 years ago

back to quanrians message on January 29, 2004, 04:00:36 PM.

the clock and the area lighting are absolute musts.

please ville, listen to us!!
(gee, that was dramatic!)

ville 20 years ago

Whoa, that's a good point! Why not just break it up? Any ideas on preventing this? Maybe the combination would first produce a lightweight item that would have to be used to turn it into the food generator.

What possible use would the clock have?

Crazy 20 years ago

maybe a killer AI, that would just want to kill. Anyone, anywhere, anytime. And it's only goal would seem to be killing someone. Or everyone.

[edit] Idea sponsored by: the Alien movies. sorry if i repeat someones idea.

Sotek 20 years ago

A use for the clock?

Knowing time of day.

If I'm a human in the desert, I don't want to venture far out at noon, but if it's only an hour or two until sunset, I'll do that, because I shouldn't overheat beforetime. Gives me a bit more freedom of action.

And that's without any extra scripting.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Thats been my point all along Sotek. Once you know what time it is in the game you can plan things out better. I'm always just guessing at the time in the game. Of course it might get a little weird when you can set the Night and Day cycles but I don't see that being a problem that can't be overcome, and I still want to be able to set up custom Night and Day cycles to provide the desired lighting to give an area a unique look.

Just use the change an item into another command and than have the new item be the heavy one that can be used, the new one can't be broken down. That'll also keep it in your inventory without making you have to pick it up again. Though honestly an option to make an Item not able to be broken down would certainly be a nifty feature on its own as it would prevent alot of things from being broken down. I think after you make a Warp Gun you should be screwed out of using that Warp Coil again

But hey I'm evil :>

Quanrian 20 years ago

:1offtopic
Not entirely relevant... but I sent you 3 emails Ville that I haven't gotten any word back on yet, one of them was a beta, so hrmm.. if you could at least tell me if you got them that'd help because I am counting on the feedback you give me on the beta on how I will proceed on certain things.

ville 20 years ago

I'm sorry, as I probably mentioned to you in my email earlier, I'm gone for the weekend (likely until april). I can of course access this board from any computer, but I have no way of touching my email at the moment. I'll be back on sunday evening, and will actually have time to test your stuff on monday evening.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Ah, and no I must've missed the point in you saying you'd be gone for the weekends. That didn't interpret into I can't get email to me, but now I know

Nixa 20 years ago

There could there be a "Brain changer" or "Mind changer".
It would change your playable creature to that creature you use it.
So it switches your and your targets minds/brains.

Quanrian 20 years ago

Hrmm.. not really sure what you mean there, so I'm going to guess..

Perhaps you mean something like possessing another creature's body, or possibly even swapping bodies, though possessing another creature's body seems to be the more interesting of the two. I'm hoping the player races will be able to change into other creatures in 1.3, but that is up to Ville if it makes the cut. I'm assuming this would be done through a new Weapon Special Effect.

Click 20 years ago

how bout something that lests u see the hole map includin aliens and items cuz i get a "bit" fustrated when i just cant find the last marine and/or alien egg
Id also like some sort of a cool minigame thingy sorta like crimsonland

Quanrian 20 years ago

The sniper rifle can be a godsend with the new targetting beam. Now, I as well would love a full map that shows all the areas I've been to, though I probably wouldn't show the creatures and items on it as that is what the biomass detector and Modded Subspace Radio are for. I'd love to see a miniature version of each area with beacons. I don't mean just a box either, I mean an actual graphically scaled down version of each area, that maybe could even be zoomed in on.

A mini-game.. hrmm thats an entirely separate bunch of code, but I certainly don't think its a bad idea, just maybe not one that will make it into this version as we're trying to focusing on making things better for the modder and the mini-game while kewl isn't going to help modders. I'll see if I can brainstorm something with Ville though, so keep your fingers crossed

ZeXLR8er 20 years ago

click: the idea of making the whole area + aliens and items visable would just make it too easy. finding the eggs and the marines is supposed to be a challenge, and adding entirely visable areas will just make it too easy to win. i actually enjoy being frustrated with a game and it shows that it is serving its purpose.

quanrians idea is pretty good; meby you could make a super long range radio by combining a long range radio with a subspace radio.

I'd love to see a miniature version of each area with beacons.

beacons? i think i need a translation.

ville 20 years ago

He means the marker beacons that lit up on the map.

It may be possible to have the mini versions of the map, but I haven't yet found a way to save the walk paths.

Quanrian 20 years ago

I wouldn't care if I could see the walk paths if instead I could make notes on the map like in some RPGs/Adventure games. That is an immensely helpful feature and may become even more invaluable when Mods start to get really big. I know the engine supports scaling graphics, so it could simply take a shot of the area as you enter perhaps and than make a thumbnail version of it. I do realize this would probably increase the size of saves, but I believe it'd be worth it

The natural problem being the proper scaling since not all areas are the same size, and so the engine might have trouble making a grid type minimap for that reason alone, since the edges wont align with different sized areas naturally.

Nixa 20 years ago

Perhaps you mean something like possessing another creature's body, or possibly even swapping bodies, though possessing another creature's body seems to be the more interesting of the two.

Thats what i meant to say, to possess another creature.

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