Gameplay Questions/Suggestions Thread - Omegalodon

I've been playing the game for a few days now, and am having a great time! There are a few things that I notice players doing that has become disruptive to the game in my opinion...

- Friendly Fire always on
Is this completely necessary? The chaotic nature of this game makes it almost impossible to avoid accidentally shooting your allies. What happens, is that everyone eventually starts shooting everyone. Most players are unsure or don't care how the game is supposed to be played, so they just instinctively shoot everything they see. More often than not I will join a game where it's everyone (including the Enviro) against the Omegaladon. He doesn't stand a chance! Would it be possible to have this off by default, or at least optional? It's almost unplayable in a public server because of this.

- Running on foot faster than in a vehicle
What's the reason for this? It's actually more efficient to never get in a vehicle (except for crossing water) because you run so fast and are able to weave through buildings without destroying them. I've observed that players tend to ignore vehicles all together for this reason unless it's a jet or helicopter.

- Slippery vehicle handling + all destruction heals Omegalodon
The land vehicles seem to handle as if they're driving on ice. This makes it almost impossible to get to the action without unintentionally leveling the whole forest and part of the city. The average player is not going to even try to be careful about driving if it's this difficult to stay on the road. Not to mention that the city is so massive (and beautifully detailed by the way) that you spend more time trying to navigate the city than actually fighting. I think it would be better if it was ONLY possible for explosives, jet liner crashes, and Omegalodon to destroy buildings. Otherwise, the military and police spend more of their time accidentally healing their enemy without realizing it, than harming him.

- Instant death water
I understand wanting to keep players contained within the island, but it feels like too harsh of a punishment to instant kill them if they merely bump into the ocean. Would it be possible to add a bit of a lag time before killing them, or maybe let them slowly swim across water? This, in combination with the slippery vehicle handling turns most of the game into a frustrating death maze just to get anywhere NEAR the action. The police and military are captives in their own city!

- Omegalodon always visible
The number one most asked question in servers is "where's the monster?". I think it would greatly streamline the flow of the game if there was an on screen indicator of where Omegalodon is, which would be visible without opening the map. He's a freaking huge monster, so it's not like it would harm him if everyone always knew where he was without using a map.

This is a really fantastic game, and I'm in love with the visuals! I don't mean to tear it down or anything. It's just that I see so much potential here, and it's a shame that a couple things like the friendly fire and unintentional police/military destruction distract people from enjoying the game. Let me know what you think!

I agree with all of this except the part where damage heals omegalodon. Omegalodon's health drains so fast you wouldn't be able to finish without some extra health given by the other team.

Also Omegalodon should be able to swim, he's a shark monster. He has fins. He should be able to swim.

i only agree with the running on foot and the instant death water, if the vehicles werent slippery then it would make more people not want to drive them because otherrwise they would be impossible to manuver

I really would like to see some kind of subtle, crude crosshairs for aiming helicopter/jet attacks, right now aiming works on kind of a trial&error principle, which isn't always exactly effecient

These are some interesting suggestions! I agree with the friendly fire and indicator ideas. Swimming at a slower pace would also be nice instead of insta-death. However, I disagree with your second point. I believe the value of land vehicles (cars, trucks, etc) are that they provide protection to the player's health and can deal greater damage to objects or the omegalodon upon kamikaze-esque impact. Also, it's just pretty damn fun to drift in a firetruck. I do agree that vehicle handling could be improved.

the_monotonist wrote: I think it would be better if it was ONLY possible for explosives, jet liner crashes, and Omegalodon to destroy buildings.

I can't get behind this. One of my favorite things about this game is being able to influence the destruction of objects from any tier. I think forcing the military/police to be careful in their movements adds to the challenge!

Here's my list of what I would absolutely love in the game;
1. Being able to control the camera vertically. (Possibly adding shooting higher as a person/land vehicle)
2. A more even team selection for players, but only if there is an Omegalodon. This game without Omegalodon can be a bunch of fun with a lot of people.
3. Possibly more classes?
4. Map editor. Herp.
5. Being able to swim.
6. Slowing down people not in vehicles and making vehicles more controllable.

I think friendly fire should definitely be optional, set by the server creator, as that way you could have two different playing styles. One more organized and goal based, and one more chaotic and silly.

I agree with Jomskylark about the value of land vehicles, though, as I also feel that the protection and damage outweigh the speed and handling disadvantages.

I also agree with him about the destruction by all tiers, as yes this does make navigation tricky and heals Omegalodon, but this is pretty much one of the main aspects/functions of the game. Plus, in normal games the healing of Omegalodon doesn't make him impossible to kill by any means, so it doesn't make him overpowered.

Definitely, the water deaths could use some tweaking, maybe once you fall in you have a few air bubbles worth of oxygen as this would deter players from spending too much time fooling around in the water. Omegalodon being able to swim also does make sense, but his oxygen supply should also be limited or else he could just stay in the water until the timer runs out, defeating the purpose of the game.

I completely agree with having Omegalodon visible at all times.

Map editor should also definitely be considered.

More classes could be nice, but it's not that important right now compared to the rest of the features that could use tweaking, as this really isn't a class-based game.

A lot of people are complaining about the camera angles being locked and airplanes being wacky to control, but I think this is an important part of the game, it makes it more arcadey sort of, and is important to the feel of the game. Changing the camera and airplane control would make the game too different. Personally, the airplane handling is one of my favorite things about this game, because this is one of the few games that have good airplane mouse control.