Roof Crawlers

[Kilm]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary): An Alien Caste with the ability to crawl above the ceiling space in buildings.

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole): Give the Aliens a way to get into the heart of a FOB, forcing the Marines to adopt better tactics rather than the usual autism fort in the center of the Nexus.

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc): A relatively low powered caste of alien, like the Runner, that can climb up into the ceiling space and move about undetected between the ceiling tiles and the roof. They can then drop down and grab a Marine, pull him up into the ceiling and drag him off somewhere else. It would take some time to grab a Marine and pull him up, making the Alien a target. It could have very weak slashing, and mainly be designed as a 'grabber'. Maybe call the caste 'Lurker'.

It's lore faithful in terms of dropping in from a ceiling / overhead vent (Aliens, Aliens III) and will make the Marines think twice about bottling themselves up in the middle of the Nexus.

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it): I'm thinking similar code used for the moving around the ventilation pipes that's seen on other servers, where you have to navigate the pipes rather than just teleport.

[MauroVega]

"Autism forts" well I see where this comes from
Just wanna take away defenses or what?
This would kill coders -1

[Kilm]

"Autism forts" well I see where this comes from
Just wanna take away defenses or what?
This would kill coders -1

Not at all - I want an interesting, fresh round. If that requires a mechanic that keeps Marines on the move and keeps them frosty, then I don't see what else we've got. Every round, nearly every single round, is a FOB in the center of the Nexus. It's old, it's tiring, it's the same old to-and-fro until the Marines storm the Hive, the aliens storm the FOB, or the Marines shit it and run back to the Sulaco.

I don't know if it would kill coders - that pipe movement system on other servers might be easily expanded to cover all roof tiles or something. Worth a look perhaps rather than disregarding out of hand no?

[Disco Dalek]

The thing is, there's really no other efficient place to build the FOB. Marines need access to the shuttle for just about everything. The aliens have a little more flexibility when it comes to base building, but it's pretty much necessary for both sides to use their usual bases. Deviation from this usually leads to one side getting steamrolled.

[Kilm]

The thing is, there's really no other efficient place to build the FOB. Marines need access to the shuttle for just about everything. The aliens have a little more flexibility when it comes to base building, but it's pretty much necessary for both sides to use their usual bases. Deviation from this usually leads to one side getting steamrolled.

Which is why I would've liked to have seen the alternative LZ and base implemented from an old suggestion. hey-ho.

[Azmodan412]

Which is why I would've liked to have seen the alternative LZ and base implemented from an old suggestion. hey-ho.

No other efficient place? I've seen AND fortified Telecommunications multiple times. Its easily fortified. Engineering? Deconstruct the useless walls and you got yourself a base with all the metal n shit.

[Deadlymight]

It is lore freindly but very gameplay unfriendly in my opinion. How vent craw works is you just teleport to the selected vent rather than craw there through the pipes (like other servers I have seen). So I dont see how this is going to work.
-1

[Disco Dalek]

No other efficient place? I've seen AND fortified Telecommunications multiple times. Its easily fortified. Engineering? Deconstruct the useless walls and you got yourself a base with all the metal n shit.

I guess it's the difference between defendable and efficient. Lots of buildings are defendable, but the Nexus is the only one large enough to comfortably hold all the marines during highpop. Even then, medics and engineers are shoved all over the place. Add to that the fact that the shuttle lands directly next to it and there's really no reason to make the FOB anywhere else aside from a change of pace.

[Boltersam]

See, you say very weak slash.

I think the only way to even get SOME marine players on board, is give them NO slash. You said it yourself, they're grabbers. Give them a "Capture" ability that can be used on a marine one tile away while on the ceiling. While using this ability neither the marine nor alien can move, and the alien becomes visible to be shot at. If the ability succeeds, the marine is knocked out for a while and is dragged up into the ceiling, where the alien can pull it away to a safer location, and nest it. If it already has huggers, it can facehug the captured marine when it comes down from the ceiling.

[Zilenan91]

This is a decent idea that would also be incredibly hard to code depending on how you go about it. The first hitch you'd find is somehow defining a "roof" dimension that marines couldn't access, but also make that dimension only indoors, so that means two things, either doubling the amount of tiles the planet map has by making there be a roof zlevel above it all that's able to effect areas down below, checking if a roofer is under a building whenever it uses an ability, or making every tile check every tick if it has a roof over it which would lag.

Beyond that there's also the balance question, how on Earth would marines be able to even know that the Grabber exists? It's in a dimension that they can't access, so they can't get up there to kill it or even see it without there being constant movement noises/chat messages/span classes, this means that a great number of mechanics would have to be changed or added to let marines deal with the Grabber, which would be a massive amount of bloat code for a niche caste that aliens don't really even need in the first place. Honestly it's a decent idea in the aliens universe but it just really wouldn't fit in this iteration of it.

[TheSlapDoctor]

You don't need a new Z Level.

We already define indoor and outdoor turf. It's used for supply drops. The grabber could simply have an ability verb to climb onto the ceiling that would only work on indoor tiles. This would render the grabber sprite invisible to Marines (an effect of the Grabber being hidden behind ceiling tiles). The grabber can move with this invisibility only over indoor tiles, becoming visible over outdoor tiles. When on the ceiling, the invisible sprite of the Grabber cannot be hit by projectiles, but is still effected by explosives.

Stealth could be limited by forcing the Grabber to move at a walk pace while on the ceiling. If the Grabber runs on the ceiling, there'd be a chance for them to push a message saying 'You hear something scurrying overhead', and becoming visible (and hittable) for a number of ticks. There could also be a small chance of the Grabber falling through the tiles, becoming visible immediately and stunned for a period of time.

Just some ideas before I head to bed.

[Minijar]

I am hugely against this, yes it's a cool idea but a xeno that can't be shot and only killed with explosives when hiding? Haha no.

[tuzz]

As much as I like xeno buffs, this one sounds cooler than it probably will end up being. The only way you could get someone is if they are completely alone, and most alien castes can already get a lone marine.

[Tristan63]

WE should implement GIT/TG ventcrawling code then.
-1

[MrJJJ]

Ahahahahahhahahahahaha...

No -1

I think we already have enough crawlers and etc, having a class that is designed to grab you off into the vents? nah i pass, already have to deal with other alien stuff too much

[Snypehunter007]

This sounds both incredibly hard to code and unbalanced.

Asking this to be locked.

[forwardslashN]

This is not something we can do right now for technical reasons. Denied.