Discussion of spare tire karts in 3-Strikes Battle

Discussion of spare tire karts in 3-Strikes Battle

Postby Wuzzy » 13 Nov 2018, 22:10

About Spare Tire Karts
In 3-Strikes Battle, sometimes some spare tire karts appear out of nowhere. When you touch them, you win an extra life and the spare tire kart is destroyed. The karts disappear after a short time, so players have to be quick. If you have already 3 lifes, you just collide and nothing happens. The kart is not destroyed.

What I think about them
While I think the idea is interesting, the execution feels pretty flimsy and unpolished so far.

What I like about spare tire karts is that they are not easy to catch.

The spare tire karts also don't appear to often, which would otherwise just make a game last forever.

The spare tire karts don't seem really fair, because they appear suddenly, without any warning and completely random. Sometimes they might appear very close to you which is essentially a free extra life. Also the number of spare tire karts seems totally random. I have not seen a pattern yet.

I think it's not good that nothing happens if you touch a spare tire kart with all 3 lifes left. This means you can't directly prevent another kart from getting the spare kart tire. Karts with 1 or 2 lifes can destroy spare tire karts while 3 life karts can't. Also, a spare tire kart can be annoying if it appears before your nose but you have all 3 lifes left. In extreme cases, this could mean you'll get hit by a projectile which you would have otherwise avoided.

What's also a bit annoying that they will disappear suddenly, too, with no prior warning. This is annoying if you were just about to catch one.

The spare tire karts themselves look pretty ugly, they are just using the same model as for real players and this feels so cheap. At least there's a heart symbol above their head, but I still think this could be done much better. Even with the heart it's sometimes tricky to tell which kart is real in a crowded area.

Finally, spare tire karts in principle seem to violate the idea of 3-Strikes Battle because they're a means to regain health and sustain more than 3 strikes. While the fact that lifes are limited in this game mode is what makes it interesting. On the other hand, it's often hilarious to hunt down these spare tire karts, so I am not 100% sure if I want them to be removed or not.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if spare tire karts were to be removed from the game, but I am not strongly against them either.

Suggestions
But in case spare tire karts won't be removed, I have some suggestions to polish this feature:

1. When spare tire karts are about to disappear, make the heart symbol flash (above their head and on the minimap), similar to the bubble gum shield when it is about to time out.
2. When you have all 3 lifes left, and you touch a spare tire kart, destroy the spare tire kart anyway (without getting a life), so your opponents can't get it
3. Add an option in the game/map settings to toggle spare tire karts on and off
4. Spawn spare kart tires a little bit above the ground and increase their lifespan accordingly (to account for the time spent falling)
5. Make sure the spare tire karts don't appear too close to players (if this hasn't been accounted for already, it's difficult to tell)
6. Display a notification a few seconds before spare tire karts appear
7. Use a more fitting model for spare tire karts, something that is not playable. Maybe a little truck like those you see in Formula 1. In any case, the point here is to give them an unique appearance

Your opinion?
So, that was my opinion.
What do YOU think about spare tire karts? Is this a good feature? What do you like and dislike about it?
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Re: Discussion of spare tire karts in 3-Strikes Battle

Postby Alayan » 14 Nov 2018, 02:16

I agree that not being able to do anything when touching a spare tire kart if you have 3 lives, and having no warning before a spare tire kart disappear, is quite annoying.

The randomness of where they appear can be annoying, but I overall rather like their existence.
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