Archwing Mission/mechanics Concepts [Pvp Incl.]

[Letter13]

Introduction

            Heya everyone, just been mulling over ideas (some of which were inspired by Destiny) and thought I'd throw a few concepts I had out into the open. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if DE's already thought of these things because I imagine that they love to brainstorm and just have a sort of running list of "What would be cool" or "It would be cool if" things regarding Warframe.

 

            So today I come to you with a few ideas I've been thinking about regarding Archwing missions.

 

            What's arguably the biggest thing about Archwing mechanics (even bigger than a Fomorian) is that it allows the player unparalleled freedom of movement through areas; massive space locations, super-fast flight, space detritus/debris, etc. This freedom, I think, shouldn't be limited to a "single mission" or "single target" (though at times this might be nice, possibly as an ending to existing "normal" missions, or special space missions/alerts).

 

Here's a brief list (expanded in "missions" section) of the ideas I had:

  - Space/Orbital Exploration

  - Mining/Salvaging*

  - Escort

  - Attack

  - Infiltrate**

  - Patrol/Faction Activities***

  - PvP Activities

 *Mentioned on Devstream 36

 **Acts as a random "intro sequence" for normal missions

 ***Inspired by Destiny Patrol Activities

 

 Advanced Mechanics

             I know that the layout of map tiles are already procedurally generated (no two mission layouts are the same), and I believe that this procedural generation could benefit Archwing/Space gameplay immensely. Areas which the player could fly in would still be a single "tile" (possibly with some elements moved around, or have element "zones" where random space elements spawn).

 

             But don't limit a player to just that tile. Why not have infinitely procedurally generated tiles? Have a tile above, below, left, right, forward and back which the player could "transition" or travel to (have an indicator which shows up to notify the player that they're nearing the boundary, and that crossing it will send them to the adjacent tile with a sort of high speed flight animation sequence). 

 

 - Immediate Tile: This is the area the player is currently in

 - Adjacent Tile(s): These are the sectors immediately next to the tile the player is in*

 *Adjacent tiles all get preloaded to prevent loading when moving from one tile to the next; tiles that are no longer adjacent after a transition are unloaded/removed from memory to free up resources

 

             Having multiple space sectors/tiles in this fashion would act as a randomly generated pseudo free-roam, and with a tile/grid system it's possible to create an orbital layout; allow players to travel completely around the planet's orbit (maybe 30 tiles to go full circle?). The difficulty/threat level of an area can also be determined by how close you are to the planet or celestial body; obviously you don't want to go through the atmosphere , so we'll call the nearest areas to the atmosphere "Layer 0"; facing away from the planet the player would be able to move in every direction except for backwards (backwards would be atmospheric entry, leads to crispy Tenno, not good). At Layer 0, moving left, right, up or down would bring you to the adjacent Layer 0 tiles, but moving forward would bring you to Layer 1. Layer 1 might have more difficult enemies as it would have a higher difficulty/threat level. But higher difficulty/threat level means greater rewards and more lucrative activities.

 

Layers

Layer 0: Default starting layer; comparable to T1, easiest difficulty, no real notable loot, no environmental hazards

Layer 1-2: Easy difficulty; comparable to T2, common tier resources, some environmental hazards

Layer 3-5: Medium difficulty; comparable to T3, uncommon tier resources, environmental hazards

Layer 6-8: Hard difficulty; comparable to T4, rare tier resources, lots of environmental hazards

Layer 9-10: Tenno difficulty; if a T5 existed this would be it, extra-rare tier resources, deadly environmental hazards

 

It would NOT be an MMO

             But it would still allow a squad to play together in space. One of the biggest difficulties would be to create a persistent space-world which all active Archwing players share. This would not be a very good idea, but I believe that a squad of 4 should still be able to play together in space. This presents its own challenges though, such as how to prevent players from moving too far from one another (space tiles are big and will probably take a lot of resources to keep the immediate and adjacent tiles in memory). There are 2 possible solutions to this:

 

    1. Only allow players to exist on the immediate tile*

    2. Only allow players to exist on the immediate and adjacent tiles of another player**

*All players would need to go to the same border/transition point to move to a new tile

**Tricky to implement, would need players to regroup somewhat to move to a new area

 

             Another possibility would be a mechanic similar to Destiny's "local shared world" in that random Archwing players might run into one another through dynamic matchmaking. Basically when the matchmaking server detects Player A and Player B in adjacent tiles it would ping a message to each player saying "[Player Name] is near you" and show a marker where the player is located. At which point the "transition" from one area to another could act as a "join session" mechanic; i.e. if Player A transitions to the area where Player B is located, player B then becomes a host (but Player A will not have joined Player B's squad). The system would need to intentionally be made sparse to prevent overcrowding; possibly limit it to a maximum number of players that can be active in the same instance; if one player leaves the area then the slot opens up. Also allowing this sort of dynamic matchmaking to be turned off completely would need to be a thing.

 

Mission/Activities

             Archwing missions/areas could be implemented in a few ways. The first way is to set several planetary nodes as Archwing missions. The second way is to have an Archwing "Explore" node on the ship's navigation for each planet, and have Archwing missions initiated from within Space/Orbital exploration, similar to how Destiny has mini-missions which are activated from within the Patrol/Explore mode. There could even be a few specific mission nodes in the navigation UI, and an "explore" node which would allow players to start mini-missions and explore the various "Layers."

 

Space/Orbital Exploration

This would allow players to explore the orbital area around a celestial body; procedurally generated tiles/nodes which circle back (travelling the full amount of nodes parallel to planet's surface would let you orbit the planet and wind up back at your starting node). With 30 nodes per orbit (less so near the poles), maybe 15 vertical nodes, and 10 layers, the total nodes that could be explored would be 4,500 (per exploration - leaving to the ship and restarting exploration would generate all new nodes).

 

From exploration, Mining, Escort, Attack and Patrol/Faction activities can be initiated (mission beacons a la Destiny Patrol/Explore)

 

Mining/Salvaging

Simple enough, mining missions would require players to go to specific asteroids/debris fields to mine/salvage materials. Players would collect things and store them in a capsule (which Ordis would pick up in the Liset).

 

Players would be able to mine/salvage when not in a mining/salvaging mission as well; all mined resources would be kept by the player (instead of being turned in for credits or possibly other resources).

 

Escort

Players would escort a civilian/merchant/military vessel from one part of the current tile to another. The goal would be to keep the escort target alive during their activities (they may be a transport ship, a mining/salvaging vessel that's mining/salvaging for resources, a scout or science ship studying the area or some environmental hazard/anomaly, etc.

 

Bonuses are granted for how much remaining health the escort target has (max health = biggest bonus).

 

Attack

Go here. Blow stuff up. Done.

 

Infiltrate

This only really works as a normal mission intro sequence. Basically every so often instead of the opening Liset animation, players would approach with the Archwing while trying to remain undetected (remaining undetected results in weaker/fewer enemy spawns in the mission as well as a completion bonus and being detected while approaching in the Archwing leads to increased enemy resistance and loss of end-of-mission stealth bonus)

 

Patrol/Faction Activities

I know there has been some talk about having special factions which the player could affiliate themselves with (i.e. Red Veil, some oracles or whoever, etc). There hasn't been a whole lot of talk about them lately, but I think that mini-missions (i.e. escort, patrol, attack, mining, etc) could also potentially give reputation to the faction which has made the mission request. Faction-specific weaponry as rewards for higher reputation would also encourage players to run the Archwing mini-missions, sort of like how Destiny Patrol missions give faction rep (based on the faction mark the player is wearing).

 

PvP Activities

This is a heavy WIP section, but Archwing PvP could definitely be a very big thing; especially since Archwing mechanics (skills/weapons/stats) seem like they're going to override existing frame skills/weapons/stats. What this means is that it would be MUCH easier to balance Archwing PvP because there wouldn't be 20-some frame variations with 100+ weapon variations and thousands of mod variations.

 

These would all be started from the navigation UI.

 

Possible PvP activities include:

  - Free for all: Self explanatory, kill everyone.

  - Team Deathmatch: Self explanatory, kill the other team.

  - Capture the flag: Cooler than all other capture the flag matches because it's in SPACE

  - Race: Fly through checkpoints, maybe toss in a few weapons/powerups, Wipeout style

  - Capture/King of the Hill (free for all/team modes): attack/defend a point, the longest cumulative time held wins

 

Sorry for the walls of text, but I'd really love to hear feedback, and if you have any ideas about how this concept could be improved, please don't hesitate to say!

Edited September 22, 2014 by Letter13
PVP Activities added

[Nexus730]

I love the mining sections, wouldn't mind having the grind be a little bit easier.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Nexus730

[noveltyhero]

Yay I hope DE acknowledges this along with many other pre-emptive feedback threads.

[Sasquatchias]

To add on why not make a new PvP mode for the Archwings? Since powers and the current mods (Serration and such) are thrown out the window this could potentially be a "balanced" PvP-mode.

 

There could be straight Deathmatches, or even the "Standard" Archwing gamemode, only instead of Fomorians we'll be attacking the outer edges of the various Solar Rails.

[Letter13]

I love the mining sections, wouldn't mind having the grind be a little bit easier.

There would be about 4 different ways to collect resources from Archwing segments in my idea:

 

1. Players mining for themselves

2. Players salvaging for themselves

3. Loot/Resource caches in wrecked ships

4. Mining missions giving resources as payment (i.e. "exchanging" one type of mined resource for another)

 

 

To add on why not make a new PvP mode for the Archwings? Since powers and the current mods (Serration and such) are thrown out the window this could potentially be a "balanced" PvP-mode.

 

There could be straight Deathmatches, or even the "Standard" Archwing gamemode, only instead of Fomorians we'll be attacking the outer edges of the various Solar Rails.

I've definitely thought about Archwing PvP. I'll definitely add a section in to the opening post about it.

[-Himari-]

Very nice idea, elaborate and detailed.

 

The base idea behind "Attack" is fantastic, I like it when things go boom.

[Madek-]

Very nice idea, elaborate and detailed.

 

The base idea behind "Attack" is fantastic, I like it when things go boom.

 

Yep, explosions are always welcome 

[Sasquatchias]

I just had an idea: What if we had another Assassinate mission against Vay Hek using the Archwings?

 

My reasoning for this is that since he has a "Terra" battle frame he might also have one dedicated to aerial/space battles as well.

 

Perhaps he reverse engineered Archwing tech to make himself a batllesuit, either way I think it'd be neat fighting him in space.

[KaptainK3nny]

Think about it no mods affect stats frame doesnt matter and Its Freaking space. Maybe a CTF or CP game modes

[KaptainK3nny]

Think about it no mods affect stats frame doesnt matter and Its Freaking space. Maybe a CTF or CP game modes

[Gelkor]

What if Archwings are modable?

[KaptainK3nny]

they said it wouldnt be

[noveltyhero]

It is a chance for everything to be balanced, at least in that part of the game. No power creep and skill involvement :)

[KaptainK3nny]

It is a chance for everything to be balanced, at least in that part of the game. No power creep and skill involvement :)

Just Put that +1

[cyril1204]

You still need to mod your Archwing though. Different Archwing, different stats

[Zoracraft]

Ehhhh....

Maybe.

[Zeptimus]

*yay*

[Sasquatchias]

You still need to mod your Archwing though. Different Archwing, different stats

Which compared to modding our Warframes and Weapons would be far more manageable, and much easier to balance.

[Letter13]

You still need to mod your Archwing though. Different Archwing, different stats

We're not sure to what extent though. I briefly went over this exact subject in my recent concept thread. It's only a handful of weapons and new mods and frames' abilities and weapons become irrelevant. Balancing a handful of weapons and mods is a lot easier than balancing over a dozen frames, hundreds of weapons and hundreds of mods.

[KaptainK3nny]

We're not sure to what extent though. I briefly went over this exact subject in my recent concept thread. It's only a handful of weapons and new mods and frames' abilities and weapons become irrelevant. Balancing a handful of weapons and mods is a lot easier than balancing over a dozen frames, hundreds of weapons and hundreds of mods.

Exactly Drop that +1

[Gelkor]

There will be different Archwings with different powers, for sure.  And multiple different Archwing weapons.  And Archwing and Archwing weapons level up.  So even if they aren't modable, they basically are adding more classes and weapons to have to balance.

[Raptorator]

Just imagine a PVP Archwing Excavation-Mission in an asteroid field, or a broken fomorian.

[Sudri]

I personally hope that they will be customizable and upgradeable in a way that is separate from mods.

 

There are more than enough mods to farm for already to keep you occupied.

[Xarfrax]

PvP in a 3d environment with free movement. Matches are gonna take either a few minutes or hours depending on skill, which seems pretty not fun to me either way.

Edit: So basically you'll have your "It's over 9000" instawin matches or those 20-episode fillers where, you'll end up with no ammo in melee, hacking and dodging at eachother for what feels like an eternity.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Xarfrax

[KaptainK3nny]

PvP in a 3d environment with free movement. Matches are gonna take either a few minutes or hours depending on skill, which seems pretty not fun to me either way.

how? Ctf is a 5 minute game and Control points are like 10 minutes plus time limits