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Difference between revisions of "Flag ideas"

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|(Goofy) Your tank becomes an ostrich. Clicking causes you to bury your head (and the rest of your body) underground, making it impervious to attack for a very short period, but completely unable to move. Any tanks in the way of it diving underground are destroyed. Weak against lasers, because there would be no time to duck.
 
|(Goofy) Your tank becomes an ostrich. Clicking causes you to bury your head (and the rest of your body) underground, making it impervious to attack for a very short period, but completely unable to move. Any tanks in the way of it diving underground are destroyed. Weak against lasers, because there would be no time to duck.
 
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|-Lazarus(LZ)
+
|Lazarus(LZ)
 
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|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, just use shield.''
 
|style="background-color:#ffff00;"|''No, just use shield.''

Revision as of 21:28, 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.
DiG (DG) +/- No, too similar to burrow. Your tank goes completely underground upon picking up the flag, and you may then shoot up at tanks above you. Anybody may lock on you (as with GM) if they hold GM, SB, or even no flag. You are also in range of SW.Bullets will follow you underground.
RaM (RM) + No, too powefull and complex. Tank travels at normal speed unless you fire. Firing causes your tank to accelerate forward quickly and only for a certain range. When you touch another tank, it has Steamroller effect, causing them to explode.
Auto Teleport (AT) + No, too complex, too powerful, and looks too much like a cheat. With this flag a player can teleport to any place visible place on the radar by clicking the desired area on the radar. Only one teleport can be done per flag, otherwise you would be impossible to kill. Another way to make it harder is to put a reload time on it, so there would be at least some pause between teleports. If you teleport to an area occupied by a building, you go to the highest place on the specified area of the building.
Ice Laser (IL) + No, too confusing for players. This laser does not kill players. Instead, it freezes them. They can't move, jump, or shoot, for 10 seconds. Players who are shot by normal bullets while they are frozen become unfrozen. When a tank is frozen, the tank becomes white, preventing other players from knowing which team the frozen tank is on.
Kamakazi Attack (KA) +/- No, too confusing for players. This can be a good and a bad flag. When picked up, starts a self-destruct timer, that, when runs out, will blow you up. But if the right button is pressed before the time is up, then you blow up on the click. This can be use to kill multiple tanks, and can also be used in mid-air. Moderate blast-radius?
Swallow Tanks (SW) + No, far too confusing. (GOOFY) If you touch another tank it dissapears and becomes an obsever to your tank. The more tanks you swallow the more obese you become. You can only swallow a limit of 3 tanks at a time, if you swallow more you pop. If you are killed all of the tanks you are carrying are set free. The tanks jump as they are set free to avoid multiple shots that may have been fired at the original tank. Swallow your own teammates and carry them deep into enemy territory...!!!!
Electricity Bolt (EB) + No, far too powerfull and confusing. Looks like thief shot when fired (Short range weapon) only when it hits a structure it kills everyone on it or touching it (or in it, players with OO). (This would be handy for killing tanks sitting in hard to get to places!)
Invisible Objects (IO) - Maybe. All surface objects (pyramids, boxes, etc.) become invisible.
Meatloaf launcher(ML) - Maybe, but get rid of the stupid name. Jumping propels your tank not only upwards but forwards as well.
Bent Turret (BT) -/+ Maybe. All shots go out 30 degrees to the left (than a normal shot). Some people might call this a super flag because it helps dodging.
Tiny Bullet (TB) - Perhaps. This bad flag causes your the bullets to shrink, making them hard for you to hit your opponent.
Missle Jammer (MJ) + Maybe. Prevents a GM lock on your tank. You can still be killed by normal shots, or unlocked shots.
ECM (EM) + Perhaps, if there is some indication of who does it. Other tanks' radars get jammed within a certain range.
Score Flags (SF) + Maybe, a multiplyer isn't a bad idea. Gives you more than one point for each kill. Maybe randomize between 2 and 5 points. (This could also be used as a handicap for beginners)
Black Death (BD) +/- No, far too powerfull and confusing. This flag is similar to a team flag only when it is captured it kills all other opposing teams (instead of just one specific team). This would make it so that multiple teams would be competing for one flag. (The color of the flag is black)
Colored Flag (CF) + No, would destroy CTF. CTF only flag. Other people see the CF as their own team flag (except own team?)
Punch (PU) + No, just kill with steamroller. Hitting a tank at full speed throws it some appreciable distance away
Remote Mines (RM) + No, no mines. They will seem to kill players for no reason. Firing places a mine, up to some predefined number. The next shot detonates all of them
Firewall (FW) + No, too hard to sync, and somewhat confusing. Firing creates a temporary wall of flame that tanks cannot pass
Glue Bomb (GB) + No, too confusing for players. Shot would detonate in a big pile of glue, slowing down people in the blast radius
Corbomite Device (CD) + No, too confusing, and hard to sync. When the tank is shot, it generates a reciprocating shot to what killed it - these shots can be dodged normally, in most cases (SW, GM being impossible/difficult)
Clone (CN) + No, too confusing and too much like cheats. Tank emits a hologram clone at some offset from itself as a diversion.
Smoke Screen (SC) + No, doesn't add much for gameplay. The tank emits a cloud of smoke behind it. This provides a visual wall, and perhaps cancels out GM locks as well.
Time Lapse (TL) - No, too similar to blind and jamming combined. Holding this flag will cause the HUD & radar to refresh only every second or so.
Big Bullet (BB) + No, too powefull, shots are computed as point hits. Bullets are twice (or more) as large. Tank feels a kick-back when firing
Gravity Well (GW) + No, FAR too complex. One-shot fire, creates a gravity well at some distance away from the firing tank. This well pulls in all tanks around it - driving away from the well will slow the descent. Possible avoidance/negation flags include BU, OO, PZ, HS.
Mirror (MI) + No, just make CL deflect laser. Holding this flag will reflect a hit by laser. Flag is not dropped after a hit. The appearance of a tank holding this flag changes so that it reflects the surroundings. Or maybe appears pseudo-transparent, rather like the inside of structures viewed with Oscillation Overthruster, or of objects when in the PZ.
Plasma Ball (PB) + No, too limited, and just kinda wierd. Shoots a large (8 unit) sphere that behaves exactly like a super bullet -- except it travels very, very slowly. It would travel as fast as a burrowed tank going in reverse, thus being easy to outrun in open areas, but hard to avoid on "indoor" maps. Because of the size, it would kill burrowed tanks when fired on the ground.
Fake Bullets(FB) + No, too complex, and pointless. 1) your bullets look, bounce, show up on radar, and seem real, but they pass right through tanks, causing no damage, and can't harm anyone. This can seem like a bad flag, but would be great to get the other team jumping and running while having zero chance of hitting your own team (and this is how I'd like to use it). 2) Could be made a bad flag that requires you to hold it for a certain amount of time before dropping it. (Would be nice if there were a way to keep a bad flag if you choose.) 3) optional: fire rate is doubled, or unlimited
BulletInertia(BI) + No, it's a server setting. When a shot is fired it has the same motion as the tank when it was fired. So if the tank is falling the shots move downward towards the ground, and shots are accelerated or decelerated if the tank is going forward of backward.
Warp Engine (WE) + No, FAR too complex. Tank can hit newly-defined "Warp" key (perhaps jump key?) and, with a two-second delay, instantaneously be transported an amount in the direction of facing equal to the current warp power, which starts at a minimum value. Pushing the key during the delay period increases the power; increasing it past a certain amount causes the warp engine to overload and blow up. Warping into buildings or outside the world boundary causes a collision and blows up the tank. (A random chance of being dropped when used, depending on how much power is applied? Use a gradual teleporter fog during the about-to-warp delay? Signal about-to-warp-ness to the other players by turning the tank gradually bright glowing white? Use a new sound for when the warp occurs?)
Identify Friend/Foe (FF) + No, just apply the setting to Masquerade. Masquerade for the radar. Tank shows up for everyone as their team on the radar.
Rotating Turret (RT) + No, no turing turrets, ever. Turret can turn. Like GM, you can lock on people, and the turret always fires in their direction (horizontally, not vertically). May need some graphics changes (tank becomes bottom part - tank orientation + top part - turret orientation)
Boat (BO) + No, too dependent on map features. Tank floats on water. Moats don't kill you. You move a bit slower on water though. You can still jump on water, but not as high.
MortarBomb (MB) + No, requires vertical aim to be any use. Shot has same trajectory as a jump. Vertical velocity alters trajectory. Should be very useful once mastered. Many applications e.g. stop-shoot-go to drop a shot on a pursuer. - FiringSquad
CriticalMass (CM) +/- No, this is a server side plugin, not a flag. When killed you explode in a ShockWave (perhaps larger). Tanks with this flag should pulse on your radar. Suicide to kill at close range and dangerous to have near you. Points scored from explosion should accrue to the holder not the killer, otherwise not worth holding onto flag. - FiringSquad
ShortHop (SH) +/- No, too similar to jump. Jump is half the normal height and takes half the time. (+) Good for jumping over bullets and regaining control quickly to return fire. (-) Unable to reach everywhere. - FiringSquad
1000 Tons Weight (TW) +/- No, just stupid Timer starts as soon as flag as picked up(30 sec timer? Server set?), and user cant drop it. When timer runs out, a 1000 ton weight falls out of the sky killing the owner. When you shoot someone the flag gets transfered over. Player 1 gets TW, 25 seconds go by, he shoots Player 2, then, 5 seconds time, BOOM. Make a nice CLLANNG sound, and tank stops, and other tanks see the weight fall on him. (Punkus)
Red Eye (RE) +/- No, too complex and somewhat pointless. First shot causes target tank out-of-window screen to become all white (like a red-eye flash). Out-of-window view stays white for a certain number of seconds (2? 3?). Within that time initial tanks shots are normal, other shoting tank causes white screen again. Radar works as normal, only out-of-window view is affected
SUbtle (SU) + No, just use CL Tank appears normal to friendlies - only outline visible to enemies.
Klingon Cloak (KC) + No, to powerful. A super cloak, combining stealth and cloak to render you totally invisible to others (though not untouchable). You're not invincible though because, just like with the cloaks used by the Klingons, your tank cannot fire while you have this flag and there is a couple second delay between dropping cloak and being able to fire. Not much for fighting, but great for sneaking up on campers. (Note From A Passer By --- Please Don't call it 'Klingon Cloak', that would be exteamly sad. we don't all like star trek you know!!! call it Evaporate (E) or Bermuda Triangle (BT)) (Note From Super Sam --- I see nothing wrong with the name. OO is a reference to a movie, as are many other flags on this list)
Team Invulnerable(TI) + No, just use Friendly Fire. Can't be killed by a teammate, except maybe superbullet, genocide.
TagYourit (TY) - No, should be a game mode, not a flag. Your tank can't fire and the only way to drop the flag is to get within a certain radius of another tank. The flag is automatically transferred to the other tank.
SwiM (SM) + No, too complex. In short: Can get into building. while in building can:
  • raise slowly while the jump-key is pressed. fall slowly otherwise.
  • get to the almost top of the building. from the top can shoot and be shot - while holding the jump key(otherwise he'll fall-in)
  • and can die if the coundown reaches zero. a countdown will be started when he gets to a building, and stopped when he gets out.
Proximity Drop (PD) + No, too confusing for the other players. When driving close to opposing tanks (say 3 tank lengths) you cause them to lose their flags.
Lightning Bolt (LB) + No, lame munchkin flag. Too limited in use. A lightning bolt descends from the sky and hits the highest object above the tank (possibly passing through everything on it's way down?), destroying people above you. Harmless to your own tank. Effective against tanks with GM sniping from high places. Completely useless against almost everything else.
ThrUster (TU) + No, We have Wings. Clicking causes thrusters to fire up underneath your tank. Holding the left mouse button keeps the rockets on (for a time, until they burn out and you plummet to the ground). Landing on other tanks destroys, unless the thrusters used up. Rockets must recharge (especially after being burnt out) like any offensive weapon. A bit like the tank in StarFox64 - yes, I know, sinful console game.
Ostrich (OS) - No, we have burrow. (Goofy) Your tank becomes an ostrich. Clicking causes you to bury your head (and the rest of your body) underground, making it impervious to attack for a very short period, but completely unable to move. Any tanks in the way of it diving underground are destroyed. Weak against lasers, because there would be no time to duck.
Lazarus(LZ) + No, just use shield. When killed holding this flag, after being exploded your tank magically combines, and you are not dead.
WaveFront (WF) + No, just use shockwave. Like shockwave, but only, say, 30 degrees high and wide, but has longer range
Dud Shot (DS) - No, it's kinda mean. And you could not shake it on servers with shake kills. Not all of your bullets work
Death Blossom (DB) + No, Just use shockwave. Shoots all bullets avalible in a circular pattern from the tank.
COlumn(CO) + No, very limited in use. All of your (currently loaded) shots are fired at once, on top of each other, making a vertical column.
Sniper Rifle (SR) + No, just use laser. Your Tank's shots have infinite range, think of the good, and the bad.
Flash Bang (FB) + No, redefines too many existing behavors, and far too complex. A few possible implementations. 1) Right-click fires non-lethal shots which travel until a second right-click upon which they explode (similar to SW radius, perhaps bigger) and blind tanks within blast. 2) Could be semi-bad flag where normal shots don't kill but temporarily blind tanks that are hit to allow escape (or kill by teammate). 3) Right click flashes all opponents within line-of-sight of tank w/flag. If tanks are turned such that they can see tank w/flag, they are temporarily blinded.
Freeze Wave (FW) + No, just kill them. Similar to Shock Wave, except that instead of destroying other tanks within the shock radius, it freezes other tanks within the freeze radius for a certain time, so they cannot move or fire (even in mid-air). When the other tanks re-awaken, they are immune to freezing for a certain time. Dropping the flag forces a reload time (like Thief). This flag encourages team play. An alternate implementation would freeze yourself if any team tanks get frozen.
Architect(AR) + No.. Just... No. Your tank can move buildings by driving into them.
Gravity Bullet (GB) + No, requires vertial aim to work well. Your bullets are affected by gravity. This obviously reduces the range when fired on the ground, but a tank sitting on a building or jumping has the ability to hit people below them... if they time their shots right.
RubberTank (RT) + No, use shield. I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you shoot bounces off me and kills you! Regular shots ricochet off your tank back in the direction they came, if shooter is still there or close then he gets hit by his own shot. GMs explode without killing or cause rubber damage (flag drop). Super bullet and shock wave kill. Steam roller bounces off you, maybe causing his death or both your flags to drop.
MagNet (MN) - No, it's just mean. Bullets are attracted to player's tank.