STK Mercury: an arena with completely different gameplay

[Anon]

There's a lot of variety in the different tracks found on stkaddons.net. Virtually every track has its own concept, and there are very few, if any duplicates. That's good, but in terms of gameplay, every track and arena is actually quite similar. The same strategies, the same skills, and the same techniques are used to play practically every track and arena in the game, with only slight variations in the difficulty and balance of each map.

So I created the STK Mercury. Codenamed "centrifuge", STK Mercury is an arena that has the players under constant thrust, forcing them to either race around a ring high in orbit above the earth or fall off and perish in the vacuum of space. The gameplay of this track is something quite different from the conventional arena. At least in my opinion, it's faster, more exciting, and less forgiving.

To illustrate this, I've created a video showcasing some highlights excerpted from four different matches played on this track:


youtu.be/3Ai2XnkiBFM

Right now, this track is awaiting approval on stkaddons.net. If you want to try it now, or if it gets rejected, you can download it below as an attachment to this post.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have fun.

[samuncle]

I have just tested the arena, the concept is funny, the trailer is cool the skybox is beautiful I love earth's halo

However I suggested several things that can be done to improve the game

The bottom skybox texture seems not correctly oriented.
The the shape of the earth isn't a perfect sphere. You can see polygons. Since it's a skybox I suggest to make a higher poly model.
You should reduce the speed of the centrifuge. It's way too fast and it requires a lot of practice.
You should add sleep areas (area where there is no speed affecting the player)
You should add something that show where the centrifuge is. Like a different road texture, or a slightly moving texture
Add stuffs like panel, server bay, screen with information, light beacon, antenna, we are in the future. More details would be cool. Also exploring the outer ring should be possible because I think it will look really cool.

You can explore stk enterprise to see what we have put inside the space station.

[Anon]

The issue with the skybox is caused by the sky mapping being different between 0.8.1 and git. I've opened a ticket about it, but for now, I can only have it be correct in one version.

The polygons in the skybox should be easy enough to fix.

While reducing the speed of the centrifuge might make the arena more enjoyable for newer players, it could also make it easier to get bored of. I think that there's not enough of an "endgame" to the battle mode, and I want this arena to be something that will still be entertaining even after the player has gotten bored of playing on all the other arenas. I'm not ruling out tweaking the speed, just explaining my rationale for having such a high speed. For now though, playing on novice will give 16% decrease in speed from supertux.

Sleep areas are an interesting idea. I'm not sure how they would enhance the gameplay, though, since any player who enters one would probably just become more vulnerable. I guess I could probably use them to make it easier to reach the starting positions, in order to defeat the tactic of just staying still.

The centrifuge actually has a different texture from the rest of the spaceship. Everywhere else is just a solid colour, but the centrifuge has a grid on it. Also, it's tinted blue by the lightmap. These things aren't too visible on the newest version of Supertuxkart though, so I'll have to fix that when it comes out.

Adding details to the arena would definitely help to improve it. I'll probably add an interior to the torus. As for exploring the outer ring, there are a couple problems that could get in the way. The most obvious one is that the ring is vertical, but that shouldn't be too big a deal once magnet mode comes out. However, just based off of the sizes in the model, I'd say that the outer ring probably has just as much area, if not more, than the centrifuge itself. Gameplay-wise, I'm not too sure about the idea of doubling the size of the arena, especially when the new parts of the map would just essentially be a single straight line with nothing special about it.

And as always, thank you for taking the time to test this and provide feedback.

[Tuxfan]

Hi Anon!

I really like your arena because it is different.
The most characteristic feature is how easy it is to fall off track. Could you adjust the rescue planes such that the fall is not all that long?

Each player starts in an area without auto-acceleration. I suggest to alter the shape such that it is a little bit easier to turn left. Please change the texture of those areas and the wall behind it to something like "red", "green", "blue" and "yellow" such that is easier to find a player that is hiding in the starting zone. Maybe you can make the whole starting zone a little bit wider such that is easier to enter it - and still have space to turn around.

P.S: I am an experienced STK player and still think that the arena's speed it too high. You can reduce the speed by 10% without having to fear that your arena will get boring too soon. Players should not get frustrated by your arena and staying in the starting zone should not be the best startegy.

[Anon]

Okay, noted.

It might be a while before I get to make any changes though. I'll be busy for a week and don't want to start anything I can't finish.

[Totoplus62]

Hi i just tested the arena and i love it!
I disagree with tuxfan and samuncle when they say you should reduce the speed.
I love how we have to skid and how precise we have to be to shoot and collect items
(I also really like paradise peeks that is surprising and poetic)
Keep it up!

[Anon]

Thanks for the feedback. I should be able to release a new version that adds more features and better scenery soon.

[Akien]

I've installed the arena using the in game addon manager (STK 0.8.1 on Mageia), but it doesn't show up in the list of tracks that I can play. Am I missing something?

[Arthur]

Akien, arenas are only available in split-screen multiplayer for the moment. Hopefully we'll have a finished AI for use with battle mode later (some work has been done already in this regard).

[Akien]

Akien, arenas are only available in split-screen multiplayer for the moment. Hopefully we'll have a finished AI for use with battle mode later (some work has been done already in this regard).

Ah indeed, thanks!