Etherform, how can this unique game mechanic be improved?

[Julius]

I think the Etherform (those color-balls you turn into when dead) is a really unique and innovative way to deal with respawn delays, however I think they could be still improved a bit further to make them even more integral to gameplay.

One recent idea I had is to make them transparent/invisible based on player distance, i.e. when a Etherform moves close to a CAT it first becomes more transparent and then is completely invisible. This way they can't be used to distract players when spectating close. But it could be also an interesting defense strategy as respawning players could "hide" near their CAT form team-mates and spawn for a surprise attack on enemy players in their territory.

The other idea I had (and this is based on rush strategies from Savage2) is to have a sort of deployable structure that allows players to spawn (with some penalties?) in enemy territory if placed there by another player of one's team. Obviously these structures need some health so that they are an priority target for destruction by the enemies. Visualization could be as a small energy bubble of owned zone within the enemy zone

Some way to effect the energy recharge in the zones might also be interesting. For example the further you are back in your territory the faster it recharges, or certain structures in the game allow quicker recharge if the zone is owned and you hover nearby or something like that.

Any other ideas?

[mray]

Your suggestions have quite an impact on the gameplay and introduce even more complexity.
My suggestion would be to focus on having a complete, simple to grasp, fun gameplay experience first.
While I'm not against bigger changes later in the game development (For example I once suggested having the playfield on the inside walls of a giant cube) I must say I'm quite happy with etherform as straight forward as it is now.

[Julius]

Well, it's probably something more for the mid-term time-frame, but they all seem to me natural extensions of the current game and not more complex. But yeah, more of an brainstorm topic

[fr1tz]

I once tried etherforms that were invisible but still left a trail when moving. Turned out to be really distracting. But etherforms that are only visible when they're close or completely invisible could be really interesting, but it should def. not be part of the standard game.

My personal ideas when it comes to etherforms circle less about stuff that affects gameplay directly, and more about "fun" stuff. For example give etherforms the ability to temporarily change their shape to "communicate" (for example turning into a thumbs up sign, a frowny face, whatever) like the Bit from tron.

As far as Etherform <-> rest of the world interaction goes, it's not now or has ever been totally non-existant. While CATs can run straight through etherforms, the reverse is not true and physical objects in general already block the way for etherforms, so it's not like they exist in a completely different plane.
Maybe CATs' ability to affect etherforms could be increased. Something like a weapon that can be used to damage etherforms, temp. disable their ability to manifest, or steal their health. Maybe the b.o.u.n.c.e. should be able to push away annoying etherforms or at least affect them in the same way as CATs.

Also just brainstorming btw