A different take on the sci-fi mod Thread

Heya. Take this as an idea and nothing more. I doubt anyone takes a guy named Rambler seriously anywas, heh heh. Anyways...I had this idea, but first I need to to get your imaginations out. Yeah, I have lots of trouble finding mine too, it's usually only around when the power goes out...you have your imaginations out? Good, good...just give me a second to find mine and we'll be on our way. And as always, just a fair warning: this is going to be long.

Picture a mod with a sci-fi theme. What's in your head? I bet it has something to do with spaceships, laserguns and powerarmor...maybe some aliens here and there, and this is all taking place in the future. Ok, now take all of that...and toss it out the window.

My idea comes down to robotics. In real life, robots aren't enslaving humanity or transforming into jet fighters (yet- the day they invent veritechs is the day I join the Airforce)...they're used to help humans in various tasks. So something hit me...

Why not base a mod off of that?

So you've got the player. The player can do all of the normal things expected: he can run, he can use things, he can jump (well, sorta...more on that later), but most importantly he's not alone.

The player has a robotic sidekick to help him out. Don't think of Ratchet and Clank, this robotic sidekick is more of a tricked out swiss army knife with AI than a small metal buddy. The sidekick would sort of look like a bug. It would have four legs and a low profile. When it's not in use, it attaches to the player's back. This sidekick can be instructed to do various tasks that the player, who's very busy trying his best not to be blown to bits, doesn't have time to do. The sidekick would not be capable of damaging other players. I imagine that the player would order this thing around through a menu, kind of like how radio messages are handled. Here are some of the commands:

-It can crawl up a wall and keep an eye out on an area for you. A picture in picture display will show up on the player's screen.
-It can act as a bounce pad (think megaman)
-It can be used to hack open locked doors or cut your way through debris
-It provides the player with a detailed HUD when attatched to thier back

Obviously it could do all sorts of things. Except damage other players. I feel I need to say that again. Of course, other players could damage it.

Now, the sidekick would need to be a feature that seperates the good players from the bad players. If that doesn't happen then the whole idea falls apart. You should have to use alot of strategy (strategery even) when ordering this thing around. If it gets destroyed, there are areas to get a new one. However, this would cost metal (Again, wait for me to specify) and these places are the most dangerous areas of the map.

Ok, so now that that's out of way...there wouldn't be any guns either.

That's right. No guns. No melee weapons either, and that includes hand to hand. "But Rambler! How would the players be able to fight eachother?"

Gadgets. Lots and lots of different and unique gadgets. Hey, it's not a bad idea. It worked for Batman.

Gadgets range from fancy grenades (though not all of them would go boom), to placable traps, to general utilities. Each gadget is the counter to another gadget. Here are some gadget ideas that are stuck in my head:

-An EMP grenade that short circuts electronics for a period of time. Since EVERYTHING is an electronic you can see how this is a potent weapon
-A grenade that traps it's victim in metal coils. The sidekick would have to cut the player out of the coils.
-A small pelet filled with liquid nitrogen that creates a wall of ice, very handy when there's no cover around
-A magnetic grenade that drags anything metallic towards it, remember....just about everything would be made of metal too
-A proximity-triggered trap that the sidekick would be able to defuse
-Some sort of boomerang weapon (so sue me, I always wanted to see a shooter with a boomerang)

Obviously, there would need to be more gadgets for actual fighting. Maybe like a one-shot electrical charge could be one of them.

One more thing: these gadgets wouldn't just be lying around. Instead there's metal. Metal would be a collectable power up (destroying another player's sidekick would also get you some metal, parts of the map like pipes and boxes could be used too) and metal is needed to make gadgets to use. Who makes these gadgets? That's right.

The sidekick does.

Each gadget would have a metal cost. The better the weapon the higher the cost and the longer it will take your sidekick to make it. The player would also have a net limit on how many gadgets they could carry, a small number like five.

So here's how it works. The player starts with thier sidekick and some metal, but nothing else. He tells his sidekick to make a few basic gadgets and goes searching for some more metal. The gadgets are done, the player formulates a plan (since you only have 5 shots maximum you would have to make them count), and gets into a fight with another player. They both use up all five shots, run off into the shadows, come up with another plan and go at it again. Maybe one player tells his sidekick to spy on the other guy while he looks for more metal for better arms. Maybe the other gun saved up a bit of metal and needs to buy some time.

This would be a mod that's all about slower, smarter gameplay aimed towards small servers, nothing more than 8 players.

wow.. original.. but unless your going to code it it will never get off the ground

Oh, without a doubt. I've got no intention of starting a mod team or even expecting this to be made. Still...it's fun to think up neat ideas.

Yeah, the good mods always get no teams, while the cliche ones (i.e. CSTRIKIES, DBZIES) gets all the guys. Kinda sucks to be a great modder doesn't it?

I wouldn't know

To be honest, I just share ideas for the sake of sharing ideas. I've given up on online gaming altogether. I have better things to do than to be killed by people with better computers than mine.

REALLLY!!!!! This is a brilliant idea Come on guys some sapport here!!!!!!!
I am sick and tired of WW11 mods and mods of mods, and mods of weapons mods
that all end up doing the same damn thing anyway,

Mouse looking for NEW cheese.

Hmmm I would model for it but......Im too lazy to read the paragraphs right now....maybe later........ Ok i read it and have a few questions! Could there be upgrades to your little bot dude? Will the menu thing to command the bot be easy and quick to use? (I HATE GOING THRU MENUS WHILE MY GENITALS ARE BEING BLOWN OFF!). Wut about team play? Are you alone or do you have a bunch of nerd budies with there bots? Did you specify wether this was a single player or multiplayer or wut? Im sorry if you did my comprehension sucks now days.

- Edited By shadowdark On Sun 28th, Mar 2004 @ 12:39:30am
- Edited By shadowdark On Sun 28th, Mar 2004 @ 12:46:28am