How To: Fix Navigation In U14 (And Whatever Else You Guys Want)

[AlphaHorseman]

Aloha,

 

So I had the crash screen fix thingy pop up, and it asked what needs fixing or something like that. And it got me to thinking...there's a lot that needs fixing. And after what we saw in the latest Devstream, this is what caught my eye about the U14 Stuff. Enjoy!

 

New maps. Can't we have some new maps? Endgame is getting pretty boring just grinding away at the old maps for resources, I'm decorating the dojo with that stuff, that’s it. New maps would be a great way to expand the game into the Sentients Solar System. Yeah, I know, spoilers.

 

Map variety. It’s cool that the environments on the planets are sometimes (and I stress sometimes) varied. It’s cool seeing Ceres have the shipyards, Earth has forests, and stuff like that. But when will we be getting more varied maps (that make sense) like those? Neptune is the "Home of the Corpus Indoctrination Temples” for pity’s sake, and yet it looks like any other Corpus operation area. And plus Pluto shouldn't have that much sunlight or be that forested, no matter how much terraforming you do. Oh, and since Earth is the home of the "Grineer Empire" and all, shouldn't we be seeing like Grineer cities and huge Grineer areas and stuff like that? They're called a bloody empire for a reason.

 

U14 looks cool and all, but anything on new gameplay? And the solar map remake, the ring to which all planets are placed looks a bit crowded people, could we separate the rings into areas? Or allow the player to see the maps in different ways? Maybe something like a map option that shows all the planets controlled by one faction or another (or majority controlled by that faction since the Corpus and the Grineer like to go at it a lot). Or separation by the inner solar system, and the outer solar system, that way the ring isn't crowded with so many planets at once. Also, could we have some serious visual fixes to that planet selection? I've seen how the different nodes are selected in the planet you are currently viewing, and it looks nice, no doubt, but its meh to what could be done.

 

One option could be that you could put the mission nodes on the planet, have it highlight a certain area of the planet, and when you select the mission, you can zoom in on that spot to see a Corpus compound or a Grineer installation to which you could storm, a visual representation of the structure or area or citadel to which you are attacking. Once you click “play now” you can see a Tenno Lissette zipping towards the compound. If you’re in a group, then more Lisette’s going towards the compound corresponding to how many people are in the group. When the node is selected, you could also have the Lotus speaking on what kind of mission it would be, like how she does when you enter the mission. Her dialogue could reveal the background of the mission, and also the Boss to whom the planet corresponds and why the Boss wants that node for their faction.

 

For the space missions, you could zoom in on the ship that you're about to attack, a miniature of it, floating in space. When you select that space mission, it shows your Tenno Ship dropping out of hyper space (or however they travel) near the ships area. And once the node is ready and the player clicks "play now" a little Lissette could be seen flying toward the Corpus, Grinner, Orokin, or Infested ship. When you drop out of hyper space (or after the mission) you can see the ship you just stormed in the distance from your main ship. On the topic of this, when a node is in conflict, could something be done like showing two of the ships battle each other in space, or the Corpus and Grineer fleets fighting one another . And if you slide your cursor over a Corpus ship and select it, it'll highlight the ship and Alad V (or whomever is the Corpus Boss on the planet, or invading Grineer leader (Grineer leader could be the closest Grineer Boss to that planet) grudgingly ask the Tenno for assistance in the conflict). You have something like this map in the Corpus ships during the node conflicts between the factions, its sitting in the Barracks area or something. But it shouldn’t be just that hologram representation, more fleshed out and actually showing ships in real time attacking one another. Once selected, your Lissette could be seen dropping out of hyper space and outside of your Lissette window the battle transpiring.

 

Alad V:

“Tenno, I know we have had differences in the past. Different interests in profits and such, what with you trying to kill me and all and me butchering your friends, but the Grineer threaten both our profits. Help me hold this position, and I will reward you for it. Oh, and I promise, Zanuka will play nice the next time I let her go on a…walk.”

 

Sargus Ruk:

“Tennnno… you have helped the Grineer before….. against Alad…. V. Gravitus was a way for you to….. reclaim your bretheren…. Assist me and my bretheren against these Corpus machines….. and we will pay you handsomely for your efforts…. The Sisters asked for your “help”….personally.”

 

After you hear the Dialogue of one or the other, or both, the Lotus might wanna put in her two cents. (Dialogue could tie in with the alignment system you guys were talking about a few streams back)

 

Lotus:

“The choice is yours, Tenno. Help [Planetary Boss] hold this position, and the [insert Home Faction Name Here] will continue to have possession of [insert Planet Name Here]. If you assist [invading Boss] against [Planetary Boss] the [invading Faction Name Here] will gain a strategic foothold on [Planet in Dispute Name Here].”

 

The same approach could be used with the Dark Sector conflicts. Once the DS comes under conflict, show the two Solar Rails in front of the Tenno in his/her navigational layout, and Tenno Lissette slipstreams (jet/exhaust trails?) going back and forth between the rails, and explosions around the rails. Again, selecting one rail or another would envoke the warlord/tactician of that rail to ask for your assistance in this fight. Once you’ve chosen your side, you could zoom in on where the new pvp setup would be, and select the match to join it, or if you’re one of the persons that like to do the mobile defense (or if a pvp match is unavailable), you can select the mobile defense option.

 

Yup, that’s all I can think of right now. Aloha from Hawai’i, I do hope you read this and that my suggestions were useful.

 

Mahalo Nui Loa,

         AlphaHorseman

[.Fire_Fly.]

wow I loved this, I agree with everything

[Tulzscha]

Moved to the proper section.

[AlphaHorseman]

Moved to the proper section.

Thank you Tulzscha! 

 

And thank you too usedtokio! I would be open to any other suggestions people have.

Edited June 28, 2014 by AlphaHorseman

[AlphaHorseman]

Oh, and I've thought of something else as well!

 

You’ve talked about making immersion very important with the new diagetic UI, and something to help with the new navigation is not only having the rings appear when the players select it, but also, as our heads now have movement pertaining to the position of the cursor, allow the Tenno that the player is using physically touch on the planet that the player has selected. Also, when a player wishes to rotate the ring of planets, to have the Tenno on screen slide his/her hands left or right, to show the ring moving in the direction that the player wishes it to go. Once you select a planet, the Tenno touches the planet, and the screen zooms in on said planet. Now, we move on to how node selection could be improved in coming updates.

 

The same principle of selecting the ships applies in this situation. When the player clicks on either the Corpus or Grineer ship, the Tenno themselves touch the ship to begin the transmission.