Distension discussion

[meddi]

maybe slightly projectile bombs for shark? nothing fast, just. . . movable.

Boost+move+bomb=fast projectile bomb

[gdugwyler]

PH: just complaining about it is silly, and you know it. My "decisions" on the game are neither final nor definitive. In fact, they're generally arbitrary, done in (usually) small increments, and almost always in response to player suggestions. I don't play Distension. I need people to tell me about what's wrong. Along the lines of what DP posted was far more useful, but I don't need to tell you that, you wacky guy. But if you're actually looking to get it changed, it's not hard at all -- just need proper feedback. This isn't pub, where it takes a year to muddle around about a change before it's tried. In Distension we can try it out and adjust it or revert it if it causes problems. No big deal. (Others with input on the shark, please give it here if you have a chance.)

ASSS zone: it'd have to be another programmer; definitely not putting in the time for the hundred or so hours of adaptation to a different language. It's a nice idea, but Distension is a TW game. It's based on TW settings and TW basing, and its rightful home should be TW. One day we might get RoboQueen running again, PriitK willing, in which case we'd be in a much better place as far as lag goes. As it stands, it really doesn't seem too bad.

dako: Yeah, that bug's been around a while. Still need to get down to fixing it. Will try to check it out tomorrow, as well as the shark limits and the false "need a shark" notify.

Bomb radius: small to make upgrades work. L1 radius/damage is the same regardless of ship, however, so the shark is not at a disadvantage except that the bombs are a bit slow. With bullets upgraded a bit, maybe we can make it a viable ship again. Not seeing many, so it's likely it needs a change.

Chat colors: will probably stay, though I might make them brighter.

Z-Class: gets fewer total UP than the other ships (though not by much) because they can adjust their upgrades far more freely, including setting energy and recharge at the level they choose -- for example, if you need more energy to use a new weapon, you can simply upgrade it. This's quite the advantage, and to give them the equivalent amount of UP to the other ships would mean that anyone with two braincells would choose Z-Class every time -- specialization would be meaningless.

Ops: Will work on getting more. We can't have a schedule, but feel free to make requests for Distension to staff. We'll increase the number of ops in proportion to those that wish to play.

[Chao.]

The shark seems to level pretty slowly, even near the beginning, and the RP reward for the end of rounds isn't large enough to bring the points the shark gets anywhere close to what a fighter gets, and I say that knowing the requirement for them to level is a lot different. It also seems handicapped in energy, at least as a scout, because the other ships can already spray multi-fire yellow bullets, which are one-hit deals for me right now. Whoever commented on increasing the radius for bomb damage a bit was on the money, I'd suggest doing that, if only a very small bit at first, to see if it helps without being too strong.

[DankNuggets]

So is it true that z-class gets overall less upgrade points than the other specializations? That seems a bit lame...

i think i have this right after talking about it last night, though it confuses me too.


z-class gets 10 UP per rank, others get much less (6-8).

However, the 2-4 UP less per rank is used to automatically upgrade slots 4/5.

You must use your UP to upgrade these slots with the Z-Class. This leaves less UP to use for specials and other upgrade slots.

I believe the Rank Requirements for each level of 4/5 is the same for all specializations. I could be wrong here, and if I am, then it would make the Z-Class a little better assuming it could earn higher level upgrades of 4/5 before all others of the same rank, but different specializations.

I'm assuming that with all specializations besides Z-Class, slots 4/5 are upgraded as they become available (unlocked by rank). It could be that a Rank 20 Z-Class can have 1 more upgrade of slots 4/5 than say a Rank 20 advanced scout. however, they're paying for it with earned UP, so they'd have less room for other abilities.


So in the short run, you'll have maybe one or two (or none?) possible upgrades of energy and rechage over all other specializations, assuming you spend all your UP on them, and do it immediately as they become available. By doing so you may or may not notice the difference in one upgrade of 4/5 (i don't know how many there are, it could be like +2% or it could be +10%). You will notice that you don't have any UP to spend on things like reps, portals, bursts, specials, etc.

At the extremely high ranks, you'll be able to have the maximum energy and recharge, whereas all other specializations will max out sooner at a lower top 4/5. Assuming there's more than enough UP for everything you can get, you might eventually get all those special items you originaly didn't buy.



From what I gather talking with a few others, there's probably not a lot to be gained by choosing Z-Class. A few ships (spider someone suggested) don't have to many specials to spend UP on, so you might be better off using that UP on energy or recharge. Any ship with a lot of special slots would be a bad choice, since you'd be spending your UP on slots 4/5 instead.

I know at one point someone had created a tool to 'build' your ship. Given some time (and knowledge of the exact numbers), maybe someone else will create a tool or write a guide so you can plan out specialization.

[Viruk]

The shark seems to level pretty slowly, even near the beginning, and the RP reward for the end of rounds isn't large enough to bring the points the shark gets anywhere close to what a fighter gets

I agree with this. At this early stage my shark has been the hardest ship for me to level up (although I have no bullets yet). Looking at the rankings seems to confirm that it isn't as easy as other ships although people do seem to be managing to get reasonable ranks.

It also seems handicapped in energy, at least as a scout, because the other ships can already spray multi-fire yellow bullets, which are one-hit deals for me right now.

Not sure what level you are but only my terrier (and hopefully soon my levi) can tank L2s. I don't think shark is disadvantaged here. Can anything other than warbirds use L2 multifire at the moment?

Whoever commented on increasing the radius for bomb damage a bit was on the money, I'd suggest doing that, if only a very small bit at first, to see if it helps without being too strong.

If this means having to increase it for all ships it is going to power up javs and levs more since they can both fire more easily than shark. I suppose repping enemy bombs would be more effective but that won't help you kill directly.

If we think that the shark should be more of a killing ship I would rather see a tiny bullet upgrade rather than a tiny bomb upgrade to reduce teamkilling. Alternatively add a tiny bit of forward thrust to the bombs to make them easier to shoot but still requiring momentum. This might make them easier to spot and avoid when rushing at someone though. Otherwise tweak the support bonus as the shark is still very effective at mining, sweeping and flag grabbing.

[DankNuggets]

Alternatively add a tiny bit of forward thrust to the bombs to make them easier to shoot but still requiring momentum. This might make them easier to spot and avoid when rushing at someone though. Otherwise tweak the support bonus as the shark is still very effective at mining, sweeping and flag grabbing.

only problem is that they're very handy to set as extra mines, and adding forward thrust would make it much harder to cordon off an area with bombs. i welcome bullet upgrades.

if an upgrade to bomb radius made a +10% difference in kills, it would also make a +100% difference in tks, as most if not all mines/bombs get repped away.

[project dragon]

Boost+move+bomb=fast projectile bomb

I am aware of trust bombing, but when you don't have a room, or the energy to do it, kind of makes it moot.

[DankNuggets]

Cheese!> the reason that anyone knew how to unlock wzl or lanc is because i told the secret before i knew i wasnt supposed to

So the only reason anyone has weasel is because they were told how. I think the ship should be locked or everyone should know how to get it. Opinions?

Things like this remind me of the way hyperspace is ran which was very annoying. I hope this is not the road distension is going down.

oh i think i figured it out

and it's going to be hard to get :O
FTR, i won't post what it is but if you ask me in game, i'll tell you how to find out...

Also I think it should just be said out in public what the requirement is for these ships, and add a rank requirement on all other ships first so that people don't get them right away.

i didn't do anything illegal to comeby this information, it's out there if you know where to look :fear:

[Stabwound]

Lanc is next to impossible to unlock at the moment. The method itself is okay, but I think it'll be a while before anyone really has a chance at unlocking it (without extreme luck), especially if they don't know the method to do so. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.

[DankNuggets]

Lanc is next to impossible to unlock at the moment. The method itself is okay, but I think it'll be a while before anyone really has a chance at unlocking it (without extreme luck), especially if they don't know the method to do so. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.

yeah i'm gonna amp up my spider, don't know long it'll take to get that good ol' super+multi going, but it's a sure-fire way to get it.

[Lizard Fuel]

Distension> You about to !return to your army, or do you need to !enlist in one? Don't recognize you quite.

Its just a small thing really, rather insignificant. That doesnt make any sense though.

Also, Twice tonight I was told I could enter, then immediately removed to "allow another player" in.

[Stabwound]

It would be nice if there was a bot command to warp yourself to the rearmament area. It's kinda annoying getting warped into the spawn area at the end of the game and having to run away.

Also, pleeeease at least make PMs a different colour.

Oh, and I feel that the spider's super ability is a bit underwhelming... you get it about once per game, and it lasts about 3 seconds. It could probably stand to be a bit more often, in my opinion.

[Viruk]

Oh, and I feel that the spider's super ability is a bit underwhelming... you get it about once per game, and it lasts about 3 seconds. It could probably stand to be a bit more often, in my opinion.

But its already got me a few extra kills - and that is with only one upgrade level of it and no fast-firing multifire let alone L2 bullets.

[Vergilius]

trust me stab, that spider ability gets very powerful later on.

[Lizard Fuel]

Another bug I noticed....

I was a weasel most of the day today, but at one point I guess I was stabwounds 15th kill in a row, therefore losing my option to use the weasel anymore....but I continued to use the weasel until I switched ships about 40 minutes later, then I couldn't switch back.

Shouldn't it be that once you lose the privilege you are placed in another ship immediately?