Brainstorming : bonuses and weapons

[1210phil1210]

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[Arthur]

Weapon that does the opposite of plunger maybe? When you hit him with it he slows down rather than you catching up to him.

Just want to say that this can be done by firing the plunger backwards on the AI; they will then slow down considerably. If they do it on you, you get a big red circle on your screen which means you cannot see as much. You can still go on at full speed - with varying degrees of success of course.
Personally, I think we have enough weapons just slowing down people. Making it harder to drive etc. is more fun in my opinion.

[hiker]

It should also be made sure that there aren't too many different bonuses and weapons, since this would make it harder for beginners to adjust too. Maybe unlock weapons as you progress?

We still hope that someone finishes the tutorial for us, unfortunately it appears the person who worked on it has disappeared

Cheers,
Joerg

[bovineuniversity]

How about land mines? Sort of a combination of gum and cupcake.
In keeping with the cartoonish nature of the game, it couldn't be a mine though. Maybe dog doo? I guess you could take the gum/cupcake analogy literal and make it a cupcake stuck in gum.

[Arthur]

Well, we have bombs in the game, so why not mines? They are both likely to kill IRL, it's just that landmines have a really bad habit of crippling people decades after a war.

We used to have floating mines in TuxKart and early versions of SuperTuxKart, but it was kinda replaced with the bubble gum. A landmine could separate itself from the gum by the area-effect. That would be quite fun, but also frustrating if you happen to be nearby a kart driving onto a mine. I think it would be nice to have, actually.

[thadrummer]

I'm thinking about something fixed to the Kart, like an upgrade. I would also like to suggest upgrading parts and stuff, to make the game more complex..
Anyway, something you would earn very hard, like a thing that pushed your opponent away if he would be "stuck" to you, or something like that. I realize it would be harder to code the AI, but for multiplayer it would be awesome.

[Auria]

Kart upgrades are probably a bit complicated for STK and for the amount of developers we have

Regarding the idea of a collectible to push opponents away, we are indeed thinking of adding something like that

[bovineuniversity]

I'd like it to be something like a force-field, so not really to push people away, but to ensure they don't push you.

[Auria]

Ah, a shield of some sort. Yeah this has been thought of too, though this would not always be useful so I'm not sure how to make it fun

[hiker]

Ah, a shield of some sort. Yeah this has been thought of too, though this would not always be useful so I'm not sure how to make it fun

I am currently thinking of using the glove/fist/hand for that: it will smash bowling balls, cakes and plungers (for a limit number of times and time). Work for this has already started.

Cheers,
Joerg

[hiker]

I am currently thinking of using the glove/fist/hand for that: it will smash bowling balls, cakes and plungers (for a limit number of times and time). Work for this has already started.

In r9011 I've added a first version of the 'glove', though it became a swatter, and I am actually thinking that an inflatable hammer might be even better. Some details about usage are on the wiki. There is no model for the glove/swatter/hammer yet, only a simple placeholder - if anyone feels like modeling an appropriate model that would be great

Also feedback about how it plays and feels, and perhaps how to tweak the parameters to be better would be good.

Cheers,
Joerg

[Turtle]

I noticed some folks suggested a monkey mode, and I was thinking this could be the equivalent of star effect in Mario Kart. Perhaps make it a gorilla mode that has the rocket fuel effect and punch players whom he bumps. Not only would this be great to recover from last place, but this would also require good timing. If you don't time it right, you might end up taking a curve poorly or go off a cliff. The potential to get this ability should probably be higher for last place (90%), and reduced per position away from last place (-30%). So if 4 karts are playing and you are in 2 place, you have a 30% change of getting the gorilla mode. As of now, the only helpful thing for last place with 15 or more kart, is the 3 ramp up since the bowling balls and cupcakes can be countered by distance and curves.

[hiker]

I noticed some folks suggested a monkey mode, and I was thinking this could be the equivalent of star effect in Mario Kart. Perhaps make it a gorilla mode that has the rocket fuel effect and punch players whom he bumps.

With the improved physics in 0.8 I also intend to make collisions more interesting (and that means mostly bumping karts to the side). But no promises yet

Not only would this be great to recover from last place, but this would also require good timing. If you don't time it right, you might end up taking a curve poorly or go off a cliff. The potential to get this ability should probably be higher for last place (90%), and reduced per position away from last place (-30%). So if 4 karts are playing and you are in 2 place, you have a 30% change of getting the gorilla mode.

Well, this is actually supposed to be what the portable zippers are for, but I agree they don't work that way yet, they don't last long enough.

Since your item would be quite similar, would it be better if we extend the time a zipper is active for?

As of now, the only helpful thing for last place with 15 or more kart, is the 3 ramp up since the bowling balls and cupcakes can be countered by distance and curves.

And the plunger, but agreed, if you are far behind they are only of limited use.

Cheers,
Joerg

[bovineuniversity]

Well, this is actually supposed to be what the portable zippers are for, but I agree they don't work that way yet, they don't last long enough.
Since your item would be quite similar, would it be better if we extend the time a zipper is active for?

Would it be possible to put a timer on the portable zipper? So the longer you hold it, the less powerful it is?
You'd have to get rid of the ability to have multiple zippers then. Just a thought.

Question on the swatter/hammer... I tried it and like it.. but I haven't gotten shot at with a plunger from ahead yet. Will it always prevent you from getting hit, or will it swat it away if you've been hit and then get the swatter?
EDIT: I did squash a few guys with it, and got squashed myself... that was kind of cool. But I haven't been able to have the swatter effectively prevent anything.. I got hit with parachutes and anchors when I had the swatter out. Nobody shot a plunger, bowling ball, or cupcake at me when I was using it. I take it that it is only supposed to prevent the things that guys throw at you? The wiki said it would get rid of things too. Didn't see that happen.

[hiker]

Would it be possible to put a timer on the portable zipper? So the longer you hold it, the less powerful it is?
You'd have to get rid of the ability to have multiple zippers then. Just a thought.

Which would be exactly the problem - the item would behave too different from other items. And it would also require you to hit more keys at the same time for longer, which might be a problem on certain keyboards.

Question on the swatter/hammer... I tried it and like it.. but I haven't gotten shot at with a plunger from ahead yet. Will it always prevent you from getting hit, or will it swat it away if you've been hit and then get the swatter?
EDIT: I did squash a few guys with it, and got squashed myself... that was kind of cool. But I haven't been able to have the swatter effectively prevent anything.. I got hit with parachutes and anchors when I had the swatter out. Nobody shot a plunger, bowling ball, or cupcake at me when I was using it. I take it that it is only supposed to prevent the things that guys throw at you? The wiki said it would get rid of things too. Didn't see that happen.

At this stage the swatter only prevents explosions. Parachute and anchor (which 'magically' appear ) are not avoided, nor are plunger (too fast). But the reasons here are just a cover-up for the fact that I haven't implemented it Anchors should be replaced with something a bit more exciting visually, which would also explain why a swatter works. Not sure about the plunger - perhaps just reduce the time it is effective? Similarly for the parachute? That should be discussed in the swatter thread.

Cheers,
Joerg

[fischx]

Whats about a remote bomb?
Press fire to drop it, press it again for detonation timer (1,5 secs) after detonation every bomb in an near radius will be activated.

(imagine multiplayer experience)

[Kinsu]

It could be great ! I think the bomb could be shown on the minimap, so we are able to see if there are players near it or not, even if we're far

[Iridium]

It could be great ! I think the bomb could be shown on the minimap, so we are able to see if there are players near it or not, even if we're far

Only on your minimap though After a while, should it detonate by itself or not?

[coug36]

Whats about a remote bomb?
Press fire to drop it, press it again for detonation timer (1,5 secs) after detonation every bomb in an near radius will be activated.

(imagine multiplayer experience)

I like this idea, but I would imagine it more like this: you press Fire to drop it, and a timer begins (longer, perhaps 3 seconds). It will detonate automatically at the end of the timer, or you can detonate it manually sooner by pressing Fire again. I believe this is how the black "bomb" bird in Angry Birds works

[bovineuniversity]

and maybe that timer could be 15 sec when you get it... and it counts down... when you drop it, it waits for the remainder of the time to expire or you can detonate early.
If time expires while you're holding it, it drops automatically and is a "mine" that will only explode if someone hits it.

I don't like when people reference "mario kart" or "angry birds".... I've never played those games and don't really get the ref.. let's think creatively here and not just copy other games.

[Funto]

let's think creatively here and not just copy other games.

Analyzing what already exists and works and what doesn't helps in making better decisions I think ^^
Referencing other games lets you position yourself according to those, keeping the good ideas and avoiding the bad ones, while this doesn't prevent innovation (ever seen a kart game with a rubber band or a giant swatter?)

[STKRudy85]

Is the bubblegum explode in 3 strike battle, it should ...

[Auria]

Is the bubblegum explode in 3 strike battle, it should ...

At this time I think there is no bubblegum in 3 strikes. In 3 strikes indeed we could have the ability to lay down something bad (maybe bananas)

[Turtle]

Yeah more stationary items. I think bananas should be replaced by a dynamite or something (banana feels like a Mario kart thing). The more unique STK is vs. other kart racing games, the better.

[Kinsu]

Yeah more stationary items. I think bananas should be replaced by a dynamite or something (banana feels like a Mario kart thing). The more unique STK is vs. other kart racing games, the better.

+1
I think STK could get rid of these bananas (but for the monkey mode, they re-appear ). They have different effects that are not very understandable (why does a TNT or a parachute comes when we hit a banana peel ??), and confuse players that are used to Mario Kart's slippery bananas. They feel like a missed copy ^^

So maybe the cone could replace them and why not another item(s) (oil slick, TNT crate, caltrops pack, ...), as bananas have 3 different effects (well, 2 after the anchor will be removed).