Less linearity to get to the objective a possibility?

[PocketSand]

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I think the ability to actually stealth through an entire level should be a real possibility. Right now it's stupidly difficult, primarily because there's only ONE way to get to where you need to go and if anything gets in your way like a pack of humanoids, that alarm is going to be tripped either way.

What if there was more than one valid path, maybe ductwork to sneak through sections of rooms, risk/reward paths such as passing through a shorter barracks route with more carnage or a safer, quieter detour through some maintenance passageways? Give players some choice instead of giving them one path, passing from objective marker doorway to doorway. It'd bit rougher to procedurally generate but would open up possibilities for more interesting gameplay. The only real issue would be that players could get lost easily if a confusing layout is generated, but I'm sure some UI work on a map with visuals to direct players toward unexplored areas could help them find a path forward in such a situation.

Thoughts?

[Akumu]

The idea of having more than one valid rout seems fair to me.

[Kreddi]

I like the idea of multiple routes, but having an engine generator craft 2 ways, one being stealthy the other being more unit heavy sounds like it could be seriously hard to program

[Aire]

If this were to happen, there would need to be serious optimization as to how leveling would work, and difficulty, because if you just do a level completely stealth, there would be a huge level difference between someone who's actually taken the time to kill all enemies and level their weapons, as opposed to just walking around through vents

[Rusalki]

If this were to happen, there would need to be serious optimization as to how leveling would work, and difficulty, because if you just do a level completely stealth, there would be a huge level difference between someone who's actually taken the time to kill all enemies and level their weapons, as opposed to just walking around through vents

I can see there being Mission Speed, Stealth, and "no enemies killed" Affinity boosts. At the same time, choosing not to kill enemies should be a conscious choice of risk/reward, where not killing enemies gets you to your objective faster but with less overall Affinity in the end.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Rusalki

[Aire]

I can see there being Mission Speed, Stealth, and "no enemies killed" Affinity boosts. At the same time, choosing not to kill enemies should be a conscious choice of risk/reward, where not killing enemies gets you to your objective faster but with less overall Affinity in the end.

What is this, Deus Ex? ;P

I assume that could work, but for the most part, it's use would only be in private or solo rooms. Considering this is a F2P game, Trolls may ensue.