[ARCHWING CONCEPT] Two versions for two flavors of space combat (using old and new)

[Othergrunty]

0.What is this idea about:

This is a suggestion on how the general experience of Archwing COULD be improved by seperating it into two gameplay versions to fit into the two existing tilsets concepts and the general wish of the playerbase*.

*Except the general wish for Archwing to be gone alltogether...

1.  Why do i propose this idea:

These days i'm not sure anymore what DE actualy want Archwing to be.

When it was released, it seemd to head towards being just regular Warframe combat but with wider areas and free up and down movement. Basicly an extension of the on foot combat we experienced in the rest of the game. To me that was fine and i could think of ways to improve it. The controlls were also fine for what the game offered and you could even imagine them working for a PVP racing mode.

Still there were several who wished for a "full all direction" movement in style of old fashioned space combat sims. Having grown up playing the likes of X-wing, Tie Fighter, Freespace, Decent and Wing Commander i understand the appeal. The wish was eventualy granted by DE when they introduced the new movement system. Which sadly made the allready somewhat (in many opinions i've seen on the forum) mediocre experience of Archwing worse.

Which brings me back to not being able to clearly see what DE's vision for Archwing is.

So i was thinking of what was good about the old Archwing and looking at what could be improved with the new Archwing and came to the idea of combining both into two seperated playstyles.

2. The concept:

My idea would be to split Archwing into the existing "Warframe with jetpack" mode for enclosed tilsets (like the Corpus trench run, the Grineer underwater base and by a bit of an extension the Kuva Fortress) and a spacefighter style mode in which the Warframe and Archwing are attached to a mini-space fighter system for the open space tilset.

For this thread i will call the former "Infiltration" mode and the later "Fighter" mode.

Combining the old and new. Infiltration mode should regain the old finer Archwing controlls, fittingly being mainly an extension of on foot combat in zero g, while Fighter mode should get an enhanced version of the current Archwing controlls, but with more suitable UI and a manual roll on axis key.

3. Infiltration mode:

As said above. This would be the old Archwing style with the old controlls and HUD.

Of course there would still be room for improvement and spicing things up. But it would be a nicer basis than having to retain the clunky free movement controls not suited for enclosed space. Since it would take place in environments with clear ups and downs, being bound to a fictional ground line would not feel as weird as it does in free space environments.

I call this Infiltration mode because that's what it would likely feel like. Essentialy using a jetpack or one of these underwater turbines to hold on to, to move around in the environment outside established enemy structures, but not being entirely away from it.

Hence like some super spies in movies using hanggliders or scuba gear to infiltrate the enemies base.

4. Fighter mode:

This is a more radical modifcation to the current Archwing concept.

What i imagine here is that the Warframe, with the Archwing attached to their spine, would place themself into a compact mini-space fighter (either from above or below), the same way someone puts themself on a motorcycle only with an armored canopy closing over them. Essentialy a drop in / drop out module that would serve as armor and weapon carrier, using the current Archwing controlls (with some improvements of course like a manual roll key)

The Arching part attached to the Warframe would poke out of the armor and then move according to the direction of the fighter, implying they are responcible for the fighter changing the direction. Giving the back mounted Archwing a reason to be worn, even with the rest of the fighter. Meanwhile the fighter itself would remain static removing the awkwardness of the stiff as a board Warframe.

The result would be something like the Banshee from Halo, the Mandalorian Basilisk from Knights of the old Republic, or the Grineer own Dargyn now that i think about it. I could look up more examples from across fiction but i think those are easier to find pictures of.

Since the Warframe's arms aren't free anymore i would suggest putting the guns on a movable turret/hardpoint, somewhat similar to Freelancer. Likewise for melee i would suggest the armor using a manipulator arm to hold out the melee weapon and players having to perform a fly by against enemies with it.

Once the Warframe detaches from the armor again, for example during quests, they could then just take the weapons from the turret.

5. End Result:

What i hope this concept could achieve would be to please both sides of those who find Archwing actualy interesting. Giving those who want space fighter combat that, while also making the Archwing usuable for enclosed environments and not wasting the allready existing assets made for Archwing.

This could also further be used for moments like a 3 step attack on an enemy going from fighter, to pure archwhing, to on foot. Though this would be best suited for quest, since in normal missions it would likely tire players quickly.

Likewise the space fighter armor would be a further chance for DE to create cosmetics fueling people's "Fashionframe".

 

That's it. Hope you were able to read this wall of text. Feel free to criticize, tear appart, suggest alternatives or perhaps even find something usefull in this idea.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Othergrunty

[Blakrana]

1 hour ago, Othergrunty said:

I call this Infiltration mode because that's what it would likely feel like. Essentialy using a jetpack or one of these underwater turbines to hold on to, to move around in the environment outside established enemy structures, but not being entirely away from it.

Sounds interesting, and certainly would benefit more situations like the archwing segment in War Within. Tighter controls for that kind of scenario would be great, and could certainly open some doors for it being more of a 'thing'. Though I'm perhaps that strange kind of masochist who'd like that kind of thing so hey ho.

As for the over-armour or chassis thing, could be interesting. Puts me sort of in mind of Armoured Core For Answer, the Overed unit (albeit significantly more manoeuvrable I'd imagine), or at least as a general expansion unit of some kind. To be fair, having something with further protection does also provide a good explanation where the protection comes from when using a lighter armoured frame.