kame-sennin said:
Yea. In my mind, the danger room needs to be a combination of obstacle courses that help you practice team and individual maneuvers, as well as provide realistic simulations of various X-men threats. I believe you already mentioned this.
Absolutely. There should be pre-set training scenarios which include both the obstacle course model as well as customizable holographic simulations. With the obstacle course, you should be able to choose the type of challenge, as in what you're being tested for (agility, speed, etc.), how long it
should take you to complete it, and the diffiulty setting. With the simulations You can choose from a selection of locations, hazards, opponents and the difficulty setting. I think it could be really awesome.
Basically. It's an expansion of the standard light gun, but with a lot more bells and whistles.
Yea, in theory, the 3D movement is supposed to be superior to the second analog stick (if you've ever played Halo, the control represents the 'look' option of the left analog). However, no one's tried it yet, so there's no way of knowing.
Ah. Maybe I should ingratiate myself with someone who'll have it by the time this thing is on the market.
"Incapacitated" was a poor word choice on my part. What I was trying to imply was that Rogue should suffer harsher consiquences than Jean when it comes to "mind taking".
Yeah, that's how it should be. The trade-off for everything Jean can do that others can't-- or at least not as easily-- is that she's so complicated to use. Also, if the player controls Jean, the standard for performance and variety of tactics is higher. With great power, comes great responsibility.
I agree. If a player doesn't care to use Rogue or Jean, they should still be able to complete the game, they just have to work harder. However, players who know how to pick the best combinations of characters for a given mission will be rewarded for the creativity and tactical ability.
Exactly. I think there should be some kind of rating for assembling and using a balanced, properly-chosen team for a mission (based on the information you're given before the mission, what you can be reasonable expected to have foreseen). Good idea.
Fair enough. I was trying to figure out ways for Beast's intellegence to factor into gameplay. I suppose he could be used to hack into computor databases as well.
Actually, that's another opportunity for a "shortcut," similar to the ability to read a person's mind and glean helpful information. Beast isn't the only one who can hack, since Shadowcat is the X-Men's number one computer whiz. I don't know if anyone else has what it takes for this trait, but having either character would allow you to hack computers. Another good idea!
I'm not that knowledgable about the Avengers either. But, I seem to remember and old school Avengers arcade game that ran on the same engine as the X-men arcade game. The teams are similar (in terms of combat) if you think about it. I would assume that throwing Cap's shield would be similar to Cyclop's richoche blast, and controling Thor would be similar to controling Rogue/Storm.
Similarly, Shadowcat's phasing ability is one of the Vision's abilities as well, although Vision's phasing can disrupt biological entities, while Shadowcat primarily disrupts machines.
In terms of setting, I assume this game is supposed to take place in NYC/the X-mansion? If you're following along the lines of the SM2 game, NYC and the X-mansion would be fully explorable/accesable (most likely with the X-jet acting as a 'bridge' between the two). In that vein, perhaps a sequel could take place entirley in the Savage Land. The game could start with all the playable characters on the X-jet crash landing in the Savage Land. The X-jet would act as a base for character switching and regaining health ect., and the entire Savage Land would be open to exploration. I think that could be pretty sweet. The first disadvantage I thought of, would be the lack of a danger room. However, considering the amount non-plot related danger in the Savage Land(I'm taking about dinosaurs), perhaps that could be used as suppliment to sharpen the X-men's skills. At the beginning of this game, Cyclops could suggest that the X-men explore the area and do a little "field training" before they start off on whatever mission brought them down there. As an alternative, you could always force the player to complete a few danger room settings before the X-men head for the SL as refresher as well.
It would take place in various locations all over the world. Obviously the X-Mansion, where absolutely everything is accessible (but not to every member of the team or residence... you have to change characters to get to some areas, like private quarters, the women's restrooms
, etc.). The main areas where missions or spontaneous combat occurs would be the surrounding areas of upstate New York (Salem Center, mostly), New York City (Manhattan, mostly), the Savage Land, Cassidy Keep in Ireland, Moira McTaggert's research center on Muir Island, Tokyo, Asteroid M, and more.
These areas should have a reasonable degree of accessibility. If you were fighting big, bad supervillains in an urban area and wanted to take a shortcut through a building, you should be able to do that, but depending on the state of video game technology, you'd probably see a lot of reused layouts (all floors in an office building would look the same, etc.). I'd also like it if most environment were destructible, and I mean a further degree than in 'Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.' Instead of having buildings crumble after being blasted a certain amount of times, each spot that is struck reveals damage (whether it be dents, cracks, holes, or other signs of damage) and the point at which an entire structure crumbles should reflect real physics somewhat.
I'm not sure exactly what to do about extended missions in places like the Savage Land, in terms of Danger Room accessibility. Perhaps-- and I know this is contrived and a little silly-- when a player is fouling up due to lack of experience, the character could recognize that and, at a moment of rest, flashback to the Danger Room. "I'm screwing up like a rank amateur. Come on [character's name], get it together. Remember your training." Flashback! The Danger Room automatically chooses a suitable scenario that will teach you what you need to complete your current mission. You try it until you get it right, and then you come out of the flashback and right back in the middle of the mission you were in to begin with, with the same amount of battle damage you had before (unless you're Wolverine or the Beast, in which case you'll be either completely recovered or significantly better off, respective to which character you are), but without nearly as much fatigue, since you rested while reminiscing. That's if the computer assumes you wouldn't have made it out alive. If you complete a mission but fouled up enough to feel bad about it, then you flashback when you're at your temporary base of operations. At the moment, that's the most realistic way of dealing with that issue I can think of. I know it sounds crazy.
I'd like it if there were social events and casual outings in the game that could easily lead to fights (since that's life in the X-Men). It would be best if not every outing did include a fight, so as to better leave the player guessing.
Speaking of playable characters, how many X-men will be available for missions at one time? For some reason, the number five keeps poping into my head. Maybe it's a sub-conscious urge to trump X-men legends. Maybe the number should vary by missions. Or, perhaps it should be left up to the player to decide? If they chose to bring all available characters on a mission, they could risk leaving the mansion open to attack.
There should be a set minimum and maximum for each formal mission, based on what Xavier, Cyclops and/or Storm think is needed. Sometimes (or just one or two), the maximum is as many X-Men are available in desperate situations.
For formal missions, there is a briefing that includes a review of the enemies you are expected to encounter, including their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps there should be suggestions from the field commanders as to, if not whom should be on the away team, then what skills/attributes are needed, and you can decide from that which members should go. Many X-Men have a combination of skills and talents (Beast, Wolverine, Rogue, Shadowcat, etc.), so that's where the player discretion comes in.
I also just thought of a concrete use for the leadership trait. Maybe it should be called experience, or maybe both. In any case, mutants with more experience or leadership potential would
themselves operate more effectively when controlled by the AI, in addition to or instead of the leadership skills of the player being controlled at any given time enhancing the AI performance of everyone else. I don't know, it's a tricky issue. If this were in play, then Wolverine, Beast, Jean Grey and other veterans (veteran of the X-Men and/or their own independent tactical experience) would be more effective team members while AI-driven than Jubilee and Iceman (even though he was an X-Man from the beginning, he's matured very little since then, compared to the rest, and I'm not just talking about the bastardized version that Austen wrote).
Anywho, those last two paragraphs were just what randomly popped into my head.
Good thing they did. You've got great ideas.
