Lack of Speed and Graphics
Posted: 10 Sep 2012, 19:35
First off, I think the gameplay feels perfect in the standard Storm - rocket only modes. The movement fits that style very well, everything is extremely smooth and the player is forced to use a lot of skill in the precision and timing of his shots. Just as important, the movement system in place is more than sufficient to juke incoming rockets and do everything you can to make your opponent miss. Everything is really close to being flawless on that end.
However, I still feel that this movement system just doesn't mesh well with any sort of instagib action. Specifically referring to Elite. Instagib or rail guns, drastically alters the gameplay whereas movement and juking that may be good enough for other weapons, may not exactly be appropriate for instagib, which is what we have here.
After playing some Quake Live to compare the two, the differences are night and day IMO. In Quake your ground movement is twice as fast as the base movement in SM. Making strafing a lot more effective and general movement more effective as well. Overall, making instagib a lot more enjoyable and skill-based.
In a game like UT99, you have a double tap to juke system making for some very intriguing gameplay, harder targets, and one of the first systems that truly penalized and gave a more appropriate alternative to bunny hopping. Again, leading to more skill-based and challenging instagib action.
In SM, you have strafing, which is obviously useful, but more so than Quake or UT? IMO, it's not. Often times you can get picked off easily due to your lack of movement. With SM you have to build up speed by first jumping, which is contradictory to what we're taught in most FPS, and jumping is usually just asking for someone to kill you. So, you can't jump all the time to gain sufficient speed to juke. If you're already engaged with someone, jumping and sprinting likely isn't going to be a viable option. Plus, stamina is very limited to begin with and doesn't maintain momentum when making cuts.
I think if our base movement speed was more along the lines of Quake, then you add in the other tools we have like sprinting and wall jumping, at that point I think we'll have a game that's worthy of being on the same playing field as Quake or UT. At least in terms of core mechanics.
As far as the graphics goes, the textures need an overhaul. At distance you can't see fences at all, so if you don't know a map well you can be shooting at someone who literally looks as if they're out in the open, only to draw closer to find out that there's a fence in front of him. General character models are also hard to distinguish and become very pixelated. Again, to compare to UT or Quake at equivalent distances the player models are much easier to discern.
tldr
Increase the (non-sprint) movement speed to be more along the lines of Quake.
Currently the movement doesn't foster that traditional competitive feel that most Quake or UT players desire (especially those who strictly played InstaGib)
Improve graphic textures
However, I still feel that this movement system just doesn't mesh well with any sort of instagib action. Specifically referring to Elite. Instagib or rail guns, drastically alters the gameplay whereas movement and juking that may be good enough for other weapons, may not exactly be appropriate for instagib, which is what we have here.
After playing some Quake Live to compare the two, the differences are night and day IMO. In Quake your ground movement is twice as fast as the base movement in SM. Making strafing a lot more effective and general movement more effective as well. Overall, making instagib a lot more enjoyable and skill-based.
In a game like UT99, you have a double tap to juke system making for some very intriguing gameplay, harder targets, and one of the first systems that truly penalized and gave a more appropriate alternative to bunny hopping. Again, leading to more skill-based and challenging instagib action.
In SM, you have strafing, which is obviously useful, but more so than Quake or UT? IMO, it's not. Often times you can get picked off easily due to your lack of movement. With SM you have to build up speed by first jumping, which is contradictory to what we're taught in most FPS, and jumping is usually just asking for someone to kill you. So, you can't jump all the time to gain sufficient speed to juke. If you're already engaged with someone, jumping and sprinting likely isn't going to be a viable option. Plus, stamina is very limited to begin with and doesn't maintain momentum when making cuts.
I think if our base movement speed was more along the lines of Quake, then you add in the other tools we have like sprinting and wall jumping, at that point I think we'll have a game that's worthy of being on the same playing field as Quake or UT. At least in terms of core mechanics.
As far as the graphics goes, the textures need an overhaul. At distance you can't see fences at all, so if you don't know a map well you can be shooting at someone who literally looks as if they're out in the open, only to draw closer to find out that there's a fence in front of him. General character models are also hard to distinguish and become very pixelated. Again, to compare to UT or Quake at equivalent distances the player models are much easier to discern.
tldr
Increase the (non-sprint) movement speed to be more along the lines of Quake.
Currently the movement doesn't foster that traditional competitive feel that most Quake or UT players desire (especially those who strictly played InstaGib)
Improve graphic textures