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Difference between revisions of "Flag ideas"

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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No slopes, never. No.''
 
|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No slopes, never. No.''
Can drive over slopes and pyramids, (unless steeper than 45??) and perhaps up walls too.
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|Can drive over slopes and pyramids, (unless steeper than 45??) and perhaps up walls too.
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|-
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|Tac Nuke (TN)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No too powerfull.''
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|On impact with any surface or tank, causes TN to detonate like a half-size SW. Option 1: TN has long reload time or is a single shot flag. Option 2: TN has an "arming" range where it cannot detonate until it passes out of that range. This range can be equal to 1/2 the blast radius or some arbitrary number. Option 3: If the TN hits a tank with a Shield flag, it is neutralized.
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|Glue Trail (GT)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, too confusing for players.''
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|Leaves a trail that slows down other tanks behind it. fades after server-set number of seconds?
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|-
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|Oil Slick (OS)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, too confusing for players.''
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|Leaves a trail that makes tanks behind skid/spin. Fades after server-set number of seconds?
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|-
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|Petrificus Totalus (PT)
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| -
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, too confusing for players, and rather lame.''
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|Paralyses tank. Cannot move, turn or shoot for set number of seconds.
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|-
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|Toy Gun (TG)
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| -
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, pointless in game play, just use the useless flag.''
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|When you shoot,the bullet that comes out is a fake bullet attached to a string which is attached to your tank..
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|-
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|Icy Treads (IT)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, Just like momentum.''
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|Tank loses traction on the ground and on all objects. As if the _friction setting was lowered for that particular tank.
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|ParaChute (PC)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, just like Wings.''
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|You can control your tank ONLY when falling down and you fall down slower.
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|-
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|ToRnado (TR)
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| -
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, too confusing for players.''
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|You jump and spin uncontrollably.
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|-
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|GhostS (GS) or SPawn (SP) can't decide
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, FAR too complex.''
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|2 or 3 mini bot tanks come out of your tanks and help you by providing cover ect. They die by being shot or after a cirtain period of time (45 secs?) [Note from NitroGlycerine: How about GUard OFsping or even BAbies (GU/OF/BA)?]
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|-
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|Death Ball (DB)
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, FAR too complex.''
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|Tank morphs into a Death Ball and kills anyone who touches it.Faster than a normal tanks.Can be killed by being shot 5 times.You can't jump.
 
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Revision as of 20:46, 18 February 2007

Some simple guidelines:

READ THIS FIRST


  • First, check that your idea isn't already here. Chances are someone else has already come up with your flag.
  • Next, think carefully about your flag. Come up with a short and succinct description. Not only will a short description will make it easier for the project management team to make a decision about the flag, but it usually also indicates the quality of the idea. Chances are if a flag requires more than a short sentance or two, it's too complicated for the game.
  • Make sure your flag idea isn't overpowered or stupid.
  • Finally, add your flag to the section with the blank 'status' field. Use the teal background color and leave the status blank!
  • Note that getting your flag approved to a "yes" does not mean it will happen. Everything done is what the developers want to do - if a flag requires significant changes to the codebase and isn't the most brilliant idea ever, it'll probably sit here for quite some time before being implemented, if ever.

This is NOT a list of flags that are being considered. Discussion/imlementation of these is encouraged, but does not mean any of these flags are going into the game.



If you do implement a flag keep these things in mind:

  • All powerful flags aren't fun.
  • Flags that ensure your immediate destruction aren't fun.
  • Flags that aren't useful aren't fun.
  • Flags boost/modulate tactical trait of tanks
how do i edit? a new flag?

Based on these observations we have the following rules:

Flag power must be limited.
For example, BZFlag has stealth and cloaking flags, but no stealth-and-cloak flag. Such a tank would be virtually impossible to destroy. Nobody likes to play against someone who can't lose.

The guided missile and laser flags are both exceptionally powerful flags, but neither make the owner invincible. Laser takes twice as long to reload and a guided missile can be dodged while still firing on the owner. You've gotta be good, but it can be done.

Flag powers can counteract/balance each other.
Some flags are handily defeated with another kind of flag. The oscillation overthruster can be destroyed by a super bullet or a shock wave (or a genocide). Cloaking is effective against laser and stealth is good against guided missile. Ricochet is useful against ricochet.

Consider adding counterbalancing flags together. Or consider adding a flag that acts as a counterbalance to an existing flag or flags. Also consider making your new flag counterbalanced by an existing flag; superbullet is often a good choice.

Don't add flags that (almost) instantly kill the owner.
I considered adding a Death flag that would instantly kill the tank that grabbed it. I changed my mind because that's not fun and seriously dampens interest in picking up flags. Mines are similar. You're driving around and *boom* you're dead. Nothing you could've done to avoid it, no mistake you made. You're just dead. People don't mind losing so much if they know it was because they did something wrong.

Even worse is a flag that disables your radar and vision. You're basically dead. You can shoot at random and hope to get lucky, but no amount of skill can save you. And what's worse than the Death flag is that you have to stagger around waiting for someone to kill you.

A flag that seriously disables a tank is not as bad because the player can still use skill to defeat as many enemies as possible before getting shot. Thus we have flags like left turn only and obesity.

Flags should require new skills
Flags that require new skills keep the game interesting. If there's still more to learn about using ricochet or guided missile, or more to learn about fighting against them, then people will keep playing.

Some flags seem pretty dull to some players. The steamroller and the phantom zone come to mind, or quick turn. These aren't the most powerful flags, but they do have their uses and some people enjoy them. However, i think i should have removed SR and PZ. Steamroller's usefulness is very limited and looks pretty weak compared to shock wave. PZ tends to encourage very defensive play, which slows the game down. But quick turn can be very effective when used well; put it in a tight furball and it'll do serious damage. You just have to learn how to take full advantage of it.


Name +/- Status Use
Low Gravity(LG) + Yes, a good idea. Gravity is reduced to a large degree alowing the tank to jump very high in the air.
Long Reload (LR) - Yes. Reloading weapon takes twice as long.
HoVer (HV) - Yes. Tank hovers one tank-heighth above the ground. Jumper fodder.
UnSteady(US) - Yes. Tank gets an random angular momentum when jumping, like you accidently moved your mouse when pressing jump.
Don't Stop (DS) - Yes. Tank always moves forward or backwards, it can not stop
Fly Swatter (FS) - Yes. Your tank is equipped with a gigantic fly swatter, which falls down when you fire. Swat tanks, bullets, GM's, etc
BackFire (BF) - Yes. Shots fire to rear of tank instead of front.
FrienD flag (FD) + Yes. Your shots don't kill friendly tanks (Your own richocets are harmless!!!).
Flip Out (FO) - Yes. Out of window view is upside-down.
Sensor Echo (SE) - Maybe, not a bad idea. All tanks show up twice (or more) on radar. Echos behave like the tank they mirror, down to the flag.
Delayed Shot (DS) - Yes. Shots wait some prescribed amount of time (2s?) between clicking and actually firing.
Extra Shot (ES) + Yes. Player gets one more shot
SlowMotion (SM) - Yes. Tank moves and turns with half speed.
Vegas Mode (VM) - Maybe, but doesn't realy add anything. (Goofy) A giant neon sign points down at your tank with a bright yellow arrow, attracting attention from everybody, reading "[callsign] is right here."
Ricochet Guided Missile (RG) + Maybe if it's a simple rico and has a more narrow lockon angle. Instead of exploding, the RG bounces off of surfaces and continues to track the target. Option 1: It looses velocity with each bounce. Option 2: When the RG bounces, it travels in a straight line for a certain distance before regaining lock.
Incoming (IN) + Maybe, but it's very very close to a cheat. It may not be good to have the client be able to do that. Bullets that will hit the tank are hilighted on radar/main view in some fashion as a warning system.
Long Shot (LS) + Maybe, not a bad idea. Bullets go twice as far but at a slower speed. Possibly N/2 extra bullets.
Judas (JD) - No, too confusing for players. When you pick up the flag, you immediately become a player on a different (random) team (or rogue). You must play on that team for as long as you have the flag. If you tk one of your new teammates, you die. BUT you can kill your old teammates for as long as you hold the flag. When you drop the flag or are killed, you revert to your old color.
Antagonize(AN) - No, can not be localised easaly, and may anger people This bad flag causes your tank to automatically send out mild insults and taunts to opposing players. Especially the good ones by name.
CoW launcher (CW) - No, would require vertical aiming to work properly (Goofy) Launches a cow along a parabolic trajectory.
ConFusion (CF) - No, not too difrent from CB Tank colors and names are shuffled around. Like colorblindness, but worse.
ShowOff(SO) + No, basicly useless in gameplay. (Goofy) Tank is capable of doing tricks, backflips when jump, ride of one tread, etc.
Leash(LE) - No, too confusing for players. Tank is confined to a small radius for a set time period but can still jump.
BUckler (BU) + No, shield is enough. Give the player a 45deg shield that reflects all shots. It should be located in the arc between 270-315deg. The shielded area should be visible but transparent;
PSychic (PS) + No, too powerfull, and makes ID pointless. Callsigns and flag names of all (visible?) tanks appear above the tank.
Full Reverse(FR) + No, too similar to HS, and too limted in scope. Your tank can move full speed in reverse. A middle ground between high speed and normal.
All Terrain (AT) + No slopes, never. No. Can drive over slopes and pyramids, (unless steeper than 45??) and perhaps up walls too.
Tac Nuke (TN) + No too powerfull. On impact with any surface or tank, causes TN to detonate like a half-size SW. Option 1: TN has long reload time or is a single shot flag. Option 2: TN has an "arming" range where it cannot detonate until it passes out of that range. This range can be equal to 1/2 the blast radius or some arbitrary number. Option 3: If the TN hits a tank with a Shield flag, it is neutralized.
Glue Trail (GT) + No, too confusing for players. Leaves a trail that slows down other tanks behind it. fades after server-set number of seconds?
Oil Slick (OS) + No, too confusing for players. Leaves a trail that makes tanks behind skid/spin. Fades after server-set number of seconds?
Petrificus Totalus (PT) - No, too confusing for players, and rather lame. Paralyses tank. Cannot move, turn or shoot for set number of seconds.
Toy Gun (TG) - No, pointless in game play, just use the useless flag. When you shoot,the bullet that comes out is a fake bullet attached to a string which is attached to your tank..
Icy Treads (IT) - No, Just like momentum. Tank loses traction on the ground and on all objects. As if the _friction setting was lowered for that particular tank.
ParaChute (PC) + No, just like Wings. You can control your tank ONLY when falling down and you fall down slower.
ToRnado (TR) - No, too confusing for players. You jump and spin uncontrollably.
GhostS (GS) or SPawn (SP) can't decide + No, FAR too complex. 2 or 3 mini bot tanks come out of your tanks and help you by providing cover ect. They die by being shot or after a cirtain period of time (45 secs?) [Note from NitroGlycerine: How about GUard OFsping or even BAbies (GU/OF/BA)?]
Death Ball (DB) + No, FAR too complex. Tank morphs into a Death Ball and kills anyone who touches it.Faster than a normal tanks.Can be killed by being shot 5 times.You can't jump.