Intractable Things In Missions.

[Barda1]

Hi!

When playing Warframe I really appreciate the detail and feel (artwork) of the tiles. However I feel they are a bit "stale". If there were things that we could use - things that would move or change otherwise - things would feel more alive and capturing. What I'm trying to get at is that more things like barrels, consoles, trolleys and doors could be implemented. Also with the last livestream (20) I liked the mentioning of different “feels” when fighting specific fations.

So I tried to come up with some way to make the game play a tiny bit more varied and also introduce more interactables. These are the general “themes” I came up with.

Corpus: Energy (taken from the Warframe energy pool)

• Energy stations – supplies contraptions with power. Can be activated by sacrificing part of a frames energy (different depending on contraption). Can also supply a frame with energy if deactivated.

Activate on one side of a bridge - run over - deactivate. Single players might find this as a nice touch.

• Consumes energy over time (depending on contraption and if activated by Corpus or Tenno) Activating something and then leaving it for a while before deactivating it will consume energy = less energy returned.
• Corpus that deactivate contraptions have a higher chance of dropping energy orbs. If however the unit activates anything the chance is lowered.

Grineer: Mechanical  (operations over time + timed actions)

• Grineer make use of contraptions that are more “hands on”. These contraptions work (to a degree) on muscle power. Tenno can interact with them using Effect over time and special “timed” active actions.

When rotating a bridge a Tenno may “force”/ high-jack the mechanics by pressing “use” (X). If he/she is observant enough they may also use timed key-strokes to shorten the time.

(awsd+mouse 1-2? or gamepad keys)

• “Beefier” Grineer units may activate more muscle demanding contraptions faster than smaller ones. On the other hand, the more technical ones might be operated faster by less cluncky, more agile units.

 

Infested: Living (has their own HP and possible other traits)

• These contraptions are ALIVE! kill it…or maybe not? Use it, feed it, disable it…
• Infested have special “units” that does more than just run around. They might be “utility” units – a living bridge with its own HP and possible ways to damage you. An Infested Console controlling the doors, lowering the temperature (reducing shields) or activating inactive stationary defenses (Corpus lasers/turrets).

Void: Corpus/Grineer mix? + idk.

• Void is hard, I’ll try to come up with something, but as it is the origin of some things it may be best to have a sort of mixture between things? Besides, there is the thing with energy and primes.

 

 

Now, Lets get to these intractable objects! What could they be?

Bridges:

Lets say there is a big chasm and we need to get across. Normally there is a bridge:

Grineer : metal bridge that either rotates or is hoisted upwards.

Corpus: Energy/magnetic bridge made up out of sections that retract or come out when activated.

Maybe smaller pieces like this:

Joined together with something like this.

yes it's from Halo... just the idea.

Infested: Living – monster bridge with “arms” that could individually be destroyed – as well as a core that could also be destroyed. May regenerate (consume other enemies to regain strength).

Cranes:

Cranes are great! They can climbed to offer sniper spots, they can turn and pick up things, they can drop things, they can create new alternate paths…and they could possibly be broken.

A Corpus crane may move crates, load/unload MOA-containers from ships. They might use massive magnets that could pull MOAs towards them (think Vortex) or possibly other Grineer enemies?

Use the energy station to activate them, swing them around or turn on the “magnet”. Deactivate them for energy or release/lower whatever it’s holding.

A Grineer crane may come with a large claw holding steel beams (ops I dropped them).

Use it by rerouting it’s controls, deactivate it by breaking them.

An Infested Crane might be a pretty scary monster XD.

I’d suggest you might want to kill it?

Trolleys:

I’m lazy, I like to step onto a platform and go sightseeing! With all the great artwork in the game we (and the artists) deserve some freedom to appreciate all of the things going into Warframe. But there are so much more that could be done. Lore could be tied to this – going deep into an asteroid base, high into a Corpus gas tower..Void tower. Maybe even Lotus saying a few words, I know EVERYONE loves Lotus yapping in their ears :D

There could even be missions where we load things onto trolleys and send them off (travel with them).

“Train missions” with various stations and things to do at those stations.

Fan-control console:

As seen in the Derelict parkour room and Corpus gas city maps there could be large wind tunnels/transportation tunnels/air ducts. Maybe we could turn these off to open new routes?
Other than just shooting the fan blades. Also, if activated they’d send units flying away muhahaha. Or slicing them even more muhahahahahaha! Even such things as Ops, the XXX turned off the air supply! (micro survival scenario).

Corpus: Air duct with impassible laser grid – deactivate with Energy station.

Grineer: Greasy engine – start it up/break it.

 Infested: Infested monster has taken over the shaft – may spawn additional infested out of opening – destroy it. May suck you in?

Stationary defenses:

We all know that Corpus have some pesky turrets and cameras that activates them and the formerly dreaded door-lasers (in closed beta they HURT!).

Now, what if we were to attack a base or outpost? An infested ship or an alerted galleon. I think that some more tiles need to be added with this aspect in mind. The entrances to Grineer settlements or Corpus outposts needs to be “guarded”. Big scary turrets with weakpoints, flanking options and what not.

If we could use tactics, take out some things, use them against the enemy, lower their shields… Or if the enemy could use them – make them stronger, find cover, use big guns, deny us safe passage – stop us…kill us.

Turrets are possibly the first thing that comes to mind, this should perhaps not be too hard to do.

Grineer:  fire turrets, machine gun turrets, rocket turrets. Maybe they are operated, maybe not.

Uses oil? Perhaps there are barrels there, maybe a generator? Blow it up or sneak around and disable it quietly (stealth).

Corpus: Pewpewpewpew indeed! But also energy-minefields. Mass-MOA deployment. Stationary shields + generators.

Mass MOA - Think:

Disable their power supply! Empower yourself. Activate a tower of pewpew-death! Create madness.

Maybe there is a very large power line on the ground? Could it electrocute someone if handled without care?

Infested: Going into some truly infested tile, scanners not working, things pulsating, moving. Gaping holes in the ground – masses of infested pouring out of everywhere. Add some poison lobbing “turret” or  tentacle grabby thingy…even a ranged disruptor…the horror.

Levers:

Levers can be used for a whole bunch of things. They could open tiles in the ground providing some cover. Activate traps, change direction of airflow in air ducts, call down ladders/stairs. Deploy “rope bridges”. Sound the alarm…open cages (with scary animals /infested). Add “barricades” before doors – now we will have to shoot down the barricade in order to escape the ambush? …or that poor VIP is screwed now – he’s going nowhere.

Basically this is just a “button-variation”. Perhaps it’s more likely that Grineer use it? Maybe we have to “push” it? Maybe we can just flick it…depending on what it does.

Levers could perhaps also be wheels – that we could spin around.

Traps:

Orokin maps has some traps, and that is fun. But perhaps they are not the only ones? It unlikely that ships may have traps due to them being transportation devices and should be relatively safe and useful for their crew. But Outposts are more likely to have them due to a wider area and some key positions being more valuable to hold/defend – and other areas being less traveled.

They might be more of a AI-thing. Something we as players cannot use our self, but we could possibly defuse them to earn affinity.

 

Breakables:

Glass and barrels/containers… and then?

Maybe some walls or constructions can be destroyed? Exposing units taking cover or dropping enemies walking on cat walks into the abyss?

As mentioned above, exploding barrels are pretty good. Maybe a whole bunch of them? Pillars supporting rocks? A giant spinning turbine set loose (big big roller coming your way, look out!) Closing “fire doors” – doors that can be closed by shooting the “fire detection system” – shoot the “camera” – close the door = anyone in the doorway is sliced (and knocked to either side of the door).

 

Alternate routes:

Anything that improves the “ninja feel” of the game is welcome. As a big fan of stealth I think alternate paths is something that is required. Using vines, climbing the roof, crawling through small air ducts, swimming… All of this is great. It opens up for gear-items to actually be important and varied and there could also be a lot of options that comes from exploring the maps. Cut the vines – a (hidden) path is opened. Swing into the air using a vine. Stop the barrel transportation system (as in the Jackal arena) and climb over across the roof remaining undetected. Sneak into high risk air ducts not being able to fire – but remain unseen! (Think of Bishop in Aliens)

I know this is somewhat “not this game”…yet! Stealth play could be this. And without suggestions DE will perhaps never think of it.

 

Skill affected intractable:

Hurray! I can freeze that console to disable it for a short while! Enemies cannot alert others.

I can use pull to topple that pile of explosive barrels. I can use a fireball to lower the effect of this ice-floor.

Using shock on a doorway I can keep it closed/open… anything really.  Things that “could” happen if a skill was used and an object would be affected by it.

 

Teleports/ "Waypoints"

As there is often an issue with players being left behind or simply being on another part of the map. Perhaps there could be special stations that would let you travel to another loction on the map?
I'm not sure how these would work, but either - if you've been there before you can go there again. OR - If a teammate is there; he/she can activate one side - and you can go to it from the other. Wether this should be active or not I don't know - some people might just troll people never sticking around to help others teleport to another location if it is active. On the other hand - perhaps people may use it to rush to the objective while others are left behind then use the teleport to bring them to the end of the map. A sort of "high lvl player clears the map - teleports low lvl player to the end.

The low level player might get the "mission complete" a bit easy, but he/she will likely not have any mission xp in such a case.

 

Maybe there could be a "teleport" gear thingy that is mastry locked? Thus new players can't use them... even though they are the ones likely to fall behind...

 

Edit:

 

Doors:

Some doors, or possibly all could be linked to either a system (hack console) or external power supply. Sometimes there could be an option to either hack a door , closing it or opening it, like a small "lock down" if you will (Makya). In other cases doors could become powerless.

 

Corpus: Being of Corpus design perhaps we could temporarily charge the system (5-ish energy)? Opening the door.

If that isn't an option see Grineer.

 

Grineer: When a door is not functioning properly Tenno could break some glass/remove a hatch and manually pump a lever to operate the hydraulic system. Some door may have "wheels" you could spin to, just to keep it varried.

 

Infested: Now, Infested are possibly more than zombies, but I'd still guess following their theme, they may be more likely to destroy doors rather than just "leave them powerless". In such cases, we could go co-op and push the door open. To do this you would have to be 2 players.

The two players lift/push the door open. They then both go to the other side (noone is left behind - at the same side that they started on). One or both could then proceed. One player could however single handedly hold the door open if needed (waiting for player 3 and 4). This would let one player be free to offer support (kill enemies). While soloing, perhaps you could use your wepon or something to crank the door open with? Idk.

 

* Water:

So.. I know there isn't much we can do with it right now. But as I'm hoping the new "crazy movement set" will be swimming I'll just put some thing in anyhow :P

 

Fish: Gut them with melee! They might have swallowed something? Or catch them (hint hint infested snack)

Friendly Big Fish: Grab onto an catch a ride. Fight it at your own demise.

 

Pipe net/hatch/lasers/groath: Covers a pipe to hinder things frome entering - can either be destroyed or opened by some other means.

Corpus: A laser grid will hinder you from andvancing, perhaps there is a wire you can cut or an energy station somewhere? Cutting the wire may cause an alert or that Corpus W-(water)MOA comes to check it out.

Grineer: A hatch or net covers the exit, if destroyed it might cause an alarm - failing the "push-sequence" will rip it open but cause alert if enemies are nearby. Shooting/destroying may also cause alert.

Infested: Some odd mutated skin-like membrane-thing has grown over the exit. Beware, it may poison the area if agitated - is there a way to disable it?

 

Water turbines/generators.

Corpus: I guess they would have something more radical, but maybe "wave generators" on the bottom would be something? Taking them out would feel quite natural in stealth missions, trying to sneak in via swimming.

Grineer: I imagine old-school water wheels. Why? Because if they are big ang clunky enough the look good AND you could possibly swim next to one, climb in between the "blades" or whatever they're called. This way we could sneak by undetected and come up to some plateu and have access to some machine or secondary path.

Infested: Doesn't really feel like they'd have this. But if so, perhaps some creature-ish thing that could provide power to some incubation-atmosphere-hive-thingy?

 

Mines - water type traps for each faction, yield affinity/destroyed if disabled/destroyed.

 

Do note this is a work in progress.

Also, please comment but try to be fair. Add what you might find interesting, what you've thought about. Other things we may use?

Edited January 18, 2014 by Barda1

[Haldos]

Sounds like some good ideas to me. I would love to see various equipment to interact with in the environment. The only things I can think of currently are the cargo trolly in the Grineer tile set that's needs to be moved to advance and the bunker hatch in the Jungle tile set.

 

I'd also like to see things that Tenno can directly interact with. Why use a console to open the hatch when you can rip it open with your bare hands?

[Barda1]

Sounds like some good ideas to me. I would love to see various equipment to interact with in the environment. The only things I can think of currently are the cargo trolly in the Grineer tile set that's needs to be moved to advance and the bunker hatch in the Jungle tile set.

 

I'd also like to see things that Tenno can directly interact with. Why use a console to open the hatch when you can rip it open with your bare hands?

There are those "sideways elevators" in Corpus defense (Kiliken?) that you can use too, but then idk.

 

One thing that I came to think about is if we destroyed/deactivated something that powered up the doors on a map (maybe infested could break a generator aswell?) we could either use a lever to manually pump the hydraulic system opening the door. Or if co-op one person could lift/push the door open letting the others slip inside. Another person would then let you in. Or maybe to prevent trolling you'd start as 2 people, and open the door - slide under/through and then hold it open. that way noone would get left behind.

[Makya]

I would like to be able for force a lock down on certain passage ways, locking out the spawning of specially infested and suddenly from different areas.

[Barda1]

I would like to be able for force a lock down on certain passage ways, locking out the spawning of specially infested and suddenly from different areas.

It would be neat. Perhaps hacking the panel of a door could disable it for some time. There would have to be a way for the enemy to counter it though - either by hacking it themsleves or breaking it open/ taking another path.

But in order to "buy some time" I'd like it.

[Psychotoxin]

Train-type level on a giant sea serpent -WOOO!!!!

Earth would be likely to have water-y levels (probs) so why not a level that is almost purely swimming? swim from point A to point B, emerge out of the water, do your thing, swim from point B to point C murder 70 bagillion dudes, swim to the exit...

Phobos might have massive expanses of desolate dunes to cover to get to the settlement. or maybe hunt down a grineer scouting party, outside of the settlement.

Infested might have infectors, and at the start of the mission you can find grineer/corpus bodies lying around, uninfested, and then suddenly a tiny infector bug (think DS3 necromorph bugs) infects the body. And the infested could maybe be passively waiting, and when you approach break out of the infested overgrowth. them just standing around in rooms breaks the immersion for me. yeah they're faster to react now, but still it's just a corpus dude without the shiny bits now, and a torn suit...
Right now it just seems weird the the ship is mostly the same, with a tiny bit of infection, but make the ship COVERED in infested growth (think DS biomass) that is pulsing, and oozing and generally sets the feeling as "Eww, let's get out of here, before i lose my breakfast from this stench"
And the infested always seemed like a hivemind thing to me. so make them feel like a hivemind (running to kill the thing that goes "BANG" and "RATATATATAT" isn't really "hivemind")


Danke for your attention,
Vale!
 

P.S. This post needs way more love... especially from DE...

Edited May 16, 2014 by Psychotoxin

[Barda1]

Train-type level on a giant sea serpent -WOOO!!!!

Earth would be likely to have water-y levels (probs) so why not a level that is almost purely swimming? swim from point A to point B, emerge out of the water, do your thing, swim from point B to point C murder 70 bagillion dudes, swim to the exit...

Phobos might have massive expanses of desolate dunes to cover to get to the settlement. or maybe hunt down a grineer scouting party, outside of the settlement.

Infested might have infectors, and at the start of the mission you can find grineer/corpus bodies lying around, uninfested, and then suddenly a tiny infector bug (think DS3 necromorph bugs) infects the body. And the infested could maybe be passively waiting, and when you approach break out of the infested overgrowth. them just standing around in rooms breaks the immersion for me. yeah they're faster to react now, but still it's just a corpus dude without the shiny bits now, and a torn suit...

Right now it just seems weird the the ship is mostly the same, with a tiny bit of infection, but make the ship COVERED in infested growth (think DS biomass) that is pulsing, and oozing and generally sets the feeling as "Eww, let's get out of here, before i lose my breakfast from this stench"

And the infested always seemed like a hivemind thing to me. so make them feel like a hivemind (running to kill the thing that goes "BANG" and "RATATATATAT" isn't really "hivemind")

Danke for your attention,

Vale!

 

P.S. This post needs way more love... especially from DE...

A "water" train map would be interesting, good idea.

Might have to be some sort of raft in a canyon but I like it! Would work for both Phobos and Ceres, make it a big jungly and you got one for earth too.

Swimming, yeah I'd love me some of that! GIMMEH! Jumping of the "raft" to swim underneath some stuff - picturing a cave - and starting some device up to either open a door/hatch, turn a bridge, unpower some gaurd-thing. You name it. Or just cimbing som tower to finally use sniperrifles and kill some far of major bad &#! thing that could pretty much insta kill you if not careful...but could still be fought if not using snipers.

 

Phobos would be nice for dusty old trainy-train-trains too :)

 

Well, we might be getting some infested tileset now with the comming event so who knows, hoping for some more intractable stuff and triggered/reactive dynamic stuff. You're right in that idle infested are pretty lame. Something like the "aliens" movie hive-thingy would be in order. But maybe a bit less insect-like.

 

Buddy of mine tried to work out some units in the "enemies of the tenno" contest. Grineer/Corpus/Infested Device.

[Psychotoxin]

If my fingers wouldn`t lose all function as soon as i start drawing, i`d probably entered something in too. But with this event, seems like infested are finaly getting some love.