- Status
I agree that having an escort added on to finalize the collection process my be more than needed.
If we call the thumper, protect it and collect resources as it move around, and protect the drone until it jets off to a far away base, that all seems enough probably already.
However, if it worked out, I could imagine it would be fun to see trains of little filled up wagons/drones trundling all back to the main base full up with resources.
If we do go that way, then as we got closer to the base the concentration of wagons/drones would increase and we would end up helping each other out.
So, for example:
I go for a solo thumping expedition and collect a modest amount of resources in my wagon/drone and then it starts to head back to the main base (or remote depot).
I "escort" my little solo sized wagon/drone and eventually we get to a path which leads to the base. On this path, as it is a main path through some mountains or such, as I go along with my wagon/drone I enounter others escorting their wagon/drones.
We form an impromptu convoy and have to defend as a group against some Tsi-Hu attacks.
Then we get to the base or remote depot together.
Regardless, I like the idea that the thumper wanders a bit and we collect the resources as we fight to protect it rather than it just sitting there (a la FF) until it shoots off again,. That alone adds a lot more dynamic play to the thumping process.
If it went well this way, it would be a nice way to mix solo thumping with group activities in a seamless manner. The solo thumper could return to repeat solo thumping, or after the informal grouping to protect the ad hoc convoy might decide to group up and do some group thumping. It would be a smooth way to mix solo and group play in one session.
If we call the thumper, protect it and collect resources as it move around, and protect the drone until it jets off to a far away base, that all seems enough probably already.
However, if it worked out, I could imagine it would be fun to see trains of little filled up wagons/drones trundling all back to the main base full up with resources.
If we do go that way, then as we got closer to the base the concentration of wagons/drones would increase and we would end up helping each other out.
So, for example:
I go for a solo thumping expedition and collect a modest amount of resources in my wagon/drone and then it starts to head back to the main base (or remote depot).
I "escort" my little solo sized wagon/drone and eventually we get to a path which leads to the base. On this path, as it is a main path through some mountains or such, as I go along with my wagon/drone I enounter others escorting their wagon/drones.
We form an impromptu convoy and have to defend as a group against some Tsi-Hu attacks.
Then we get to the base or remote depot together.
Regardless, I like the idea that the thumper wanders a bit and we collect the resources as we fight to protect it rather than it just sitting there (a la FF) until it shoots off again,. That alone adds a lot more dynamic play to the thumping process.
If it went well this way, it would be a nice way to mix solo thumping with group activities in a seamless manner. The solo thumper could return to repeat solo thumping, or after the informal grouping to protect the ad hoc convoy might decide to group up and do some group thumping. It would be a smooth way to mix solo and group play in one session.
Likes:
DoktOrk and Pandagnome
Although I feel a loss at the thought of less combat from the thumper on the escort, the opposite side of your convoy idea would also see a kaiju per escort. At this point it could be overwhelming if you had multiple missions returning too close together would mean 3-5 big baddies at the same time. One return, controlled kill and defense. A few could result in extensive base damage and have a backward step feel to the gathering of resources.
To balance this (and a distant milestone) say we have that crossing over into Tsi-hu domain. A drop ship certainly cant fly into it. How about we have to call down, escort in and out? An approach to the inside of a melding tornado. Just a lot more time to do it.
To balance this (and a distant milestone) say we have that crossing over into Tsi-hu domain. A drop ship certainly cant fly into it. How about we have to call down, escort in and out? An approach to the inside of a melding tornado. Just a lot more time to do it.
Likes:
Pandagnome
Hi guys,
First of all, great job so far! I hope u keep it up!
I also have to criticize a bit so here's my 2c.
As someone mentioned, Thumper seems way too small. Don't have that feeling of size and massiveness I had when I saw the first renders of Thumper parked in that garage/hangar.
Second thing is, to me, that hand drill seems a bit childish, both the drill itself and the animation (pushing in with second hand). No offense to the artists, but that's how I feel.
I know you gonna work on this in the future but now, when that funny looking drill penetrates what looks like 1m of ground surface, and those huge resources start popping out, it all looks quite unrealistic...
Ok thats it for ranting, thanks for your effort and keep up the good work!!
First of all, great job so far! I hope u keep it up!
I also have to criticize a bit so here's my 2c.
As someone mentioned, Thumper seems way too small. Don't have that feeling of size and massiveness I had when I saw the first renders of Thumper parked in that garage/hangar.
Second thing is, to me, that hand drill seems a bit childish, both the drill itself and the animation (pushing in with second hand). No offense to the artists, but that's how I feel.
I know you gonna work on this in the future but now, when that funny looking drill penetrates what looks like 1m of ground surface, and those huge resources start popping out, it all looks quite unrealistic...
Ok thats it for ranting, thanks for your effort and keep up the good work!!
Hi everyone!
First Great Job!!! Ive been gone a while but have been messing around with the THMPR demo and have a few observations.
I seem to remember in 2018 us all talking about FireFall movement and how much we loved it and I thought the goal was for Em8ER to have the same feel in movement. I know its been years since FF but the movement on the ground and especially in the air feels alien to me. Back in FF days I could fight alone with my THMPR against hordes by jumping, jetting, twisting and side to side movements. I have been trying to do that in this demo but it feels completely different, especially movement when jumping jetting. I remember being able to jump back/jet up then sideways all while bulls-eyeing a chosen with a head shot. I seem to be struggling to move and hit these stationary Kaiju now.
Did the plan get changed on the FEEL of movement or are we still trying for that old FF FEEL of movement? Not sure if im explaining this correctly.. Maybe because the key-binds are different that old FF and im just not used to these new ones yet?
First Great Job!!! Ive been gone a while but have been messing around with the THMPR demo and have a few observations.
I seem to remember in 2018 us all talking about FireFall movement and how much we loved it and I thought the goal was for Em8ER to have the same feel in movement. I know its been years since FF but the movement on the ground and especially in the air feels alien to me. Back in FF days I could fight alone with my THMPR against hordes by jumping, jetting, twisting and side to side movements. I have been trying to do that in this demo but it feels completely different, especially movement when jumping jetting. I remember being able to jump back/jet up then sideways all while bulls-eyeing a chosen with a head shot. I seem to be struggling to move and hit these stationary Kaiju now.
Did the plan get changed on the FEEL of movement or are we still trying for that old FF FEEL of movement? Not sure if im explaining this correctly.. Maybe because the key-binds are different that old FF and im just not used to these new ones yet?
A few clarifications to be made here.
The primary aim of the team, as Grummz has reiterated, remains to re-capture the mobility and feel of Firefall. That has not changed, atleast there has not been any explicit statement from Grummz saying 'This is it, we are going with this'.
The majority of the original team that built the mechanics in Firefall, are not associated with Em-8ER. Thus Grummz and the current team have had to start from scratch to build these again, with little by way of 'reference' material. The only reference they have are old videos, and those do not provide enough data to rebuild mechanics.
Back when the team was setting off working on the jumpjet systems, Grummz spent a lot of time talking on discord, collecting feedback from the community on how the jumpjets worked, how they felt, whatever folks could remember. Everything currently available in the demos are a result of what the team has managed to put together based on that feedback, input from reference material and their own experience/memory.
It follows, then, that what they develop initially will never feel as smooth as Firefall did. The jumpjets themselves have had a bit of rework done to them over the last few demos. Momentum, inertia, weight, have all been adjusted to allow for better handling of the MEKs.
The game is far too early in dev for anything to be set in stone. Mechanics and systems will have a lot of change over time, to the point they become unrecognizable from what we have today. It's just the nature of game dev. And that is the purpose of these demos, so folks can try out and suggest improvement/provide feedback on how to recapture that old Firefall feel.
TL;DR: Game is very early in dev. Nothing is set in stone/finalized. Changes and improvements will be made to mechanics, based on community/tester feedback. So fire away, the team is definitely listening.
The primary aim of the team, as Grummz has reiterated, remains to re-capture the mobility and feel of Firefall. That has not changed, atleast there has not been any explicit statement from Grummz saying 'This is it, we are going with this'.
The majority of the original team that built the mechanics in Firefall, are not associated with Em-8ER. Thus Grummz and the current team have had to start from scratch to build these again, with little by way of 'reference' material. The only reference they have are old videos, and those do not provide enough data to rebuild mechanics.
Back when the team was setting off working on the jumpjet systems, Grummz spent a lot of time talking on discord, collecting feedback from the community on how the jumpjets worked, how they felt, whatever folks could remember. Everything currently available in the demos are a result of what the team has managed to put together based on that feedback, input from reference material and their own experience/memory.
It follows, then, that what they develop initially will never feel as smooth as Firefall did. The jumpjets themselves have had a bit of rework done to them over the last few demos. Momentum, inertia, weight, have all been adjusted to allow for better handling of the MEKs.
The game is far too early in dev for anything to be set in stone. Mechanics and systems will have a lot of change over time, to the point they become unrecognizable from what we have today. It's just the nature of game dev. And that is the purpose of these demos, so folks can try out and suggest improvement/provide feedback on how to recapture that old Firefall feel.
TL;DR: Game is very early in dev. Nothing is set in stone/finalized. Changes and improvements will be made to mechanics, based on community/tester feedback. So fire away, the team is definitely listening.
Thanks Maven!
Sorry to make you write so much explanation lol. After I wrote my post I thought I might have sounded a bit over critical. It was not my intention. I am definitely enjoying the builds so far. I think that because I had been away for so many months coming back I forgot how much work it takes to buld this game with the skeleten crew they have. It is coming along nicely.. I think I was so excited to finally have time to play the new build my expectations were a bit... much LOLOL.
As you stated, this is a work in progress and will get tweeked over time with feedback from us.
I should repeat and say GREAT JOB SO FAR DEV TEAM!! YOU GUYS ROCK!
Sorry to make you write so much explanation lol. After I wrote my post I thought I might have sounded a bit over critical. It was not my intention. I am definitely enjoying the builds so far. I think that because I had been away for so many months coming back I forgot how much work it takes to buld this game with the skeleten crew they have. It is coming along nicely.. I think I was so excited to finally have time to play the new build my expectations were a bit... much LOLOL.
As you stated, this is a work in progress and will get tweeked over time with feedback from us.
I should repeat and say GREAT JOB SO FAR DEV TEAM!! YOU GUYS ROCK!
Ok let's try this again..
I Played around for another 1/2 hour in the demo and for where we are in the development process I am quite impressed.
Things I noticed.
*The hit boxes on the enemies seem to be a bit to small.
*Side to side movement while jumping/jetting could be improved. I felt very slow and clunky (even for a mek)
*also when running forward with W you cannot strafe left or right with the A or D buttons untill you let go of the forward W button. In most games Ive played you should be able to keep moving forward while sidestepping on an angle.
* I was able to spam the sliding feature to slide faster and faster. Not sure how I did it, this only happened once
Other than that it's coming along nicely.
I Played around for another 1/2 hour in the demo and for where we are in the development process I am quite impressed.
Things I noticed.
*The hit boxes on the enemies seem to be a bit to small.
*Side to side movement while jumping/jetting could be improved. I felt very slow and clunky (even for a mek)
*also when running forward with W you cannot strafe left or right with the A or D buttons untill you let go of the forward W button. In most games Ive played you should be able to keep moving forward while sidestepping on an angle.
* I was able to spam the sliding feature to slide faster and faster. Not sure how I did it, this only happened once
Other than that it's coming along nicely.
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Hi All!
It is a good question, I try to generalize it a bit, because in these cases I see a challenge rather than a problem, and here is why I like it:
We need to have our fellow reapers' help to do this, and I consider it as a fun working together, which means by me, new friends in the game.
For me, fun and "win feeling" never came through cheap achievements. It came through the hardest challenges where I could prevail nevertheless.
In fact, no matter how dumb it sounds, I would like to see so difficult missions (among easier ones) in this game that I can not solve alone, so I MUST get help and help others.
Think about the SOLO thumping in FF:
There were situations where I could not have made it on my own, but it did not feel like a bad thing (for me), because I was always getting help from someone, and that was feeling awesome!
(I understand, everyone's game style / experience is different, so these were just my point of view but I got many new connections that way.)
Cheers: DoktOrk :-D
It is a good question, I try to generalize it a bit, because in these cases I see a challenge rather than a problem, and here is why I like it:
We need to have our fellow reapers' help to do this, and I consider it as a fun working together, which means by me, new friends in the game.
For me, fun and "win feeling" never came through cheap achievements. It came through the hardest challenges where I could prevail nevertheless.
In fact, no matter how dumb it sounds, I would like to see so difficult missions (among easier ones) in this game that I can not solve alone, so I MUST get help and help others.
Think about the SOLO thumping in FF:
There were situations where I could not have made it on my own, but it did not feel like a bad thing (for me), because I was always getting help from someone, and that was feeling awesome!
(I understand, everyone's game style / experience is different, so these were just my point of view but I got many new connections that way.)
Cheers: DoktOrk :-D
Likes:
PartTimeJedi and Pandagnome
Hi All!
First: I love the new build, you guys are METAL! :-D
Secondly: I wanted to emphasize how great an option would be, where the player could change the floating crosshair to static.
(Fine, yes, it irritates me a lot, sorry, and I do understand there is a good amount of work in that.)
Cheers: DoktOrk :-D
First: I love the new build, you guys are METAL! :-D
Secondly: I wanted to emphasize how great an option would be, where the player could change the floating crosshair to static.
(Fine, yes, it irritates me a lot, sorry, and I do understand there is a good amount of work in that.)
Cheers: DoktOrk :-D
Likes:
PartTimeJedi and Pandagnome
I like when the A.I says oops after getting squished by the thumpr 
Perhaps if we get squished more than once the A.I could say please stand further away today is not pancake day!
I think the thumpr needs to look sad after it has squished its owner but depends on the personality of the thumpr a.i maybe it is so oblivious that it just walks on since the pilot is a tiny thing compared to the thumpr and looking at a tree or something hmm.
After we respawn how can we locate our already spawned thumpr will there be an indicator or could the thumpr speak your almost there getting warmer or getting colder if you are moving away from thumpr.
Also would the weapon have different firing modes such as burst fire, single shot and the auto fire as standard.
Hope to see melee attacks wonder if we can do some nice punches and kicks could we have modules of different combat such as judo, and other martial arts i guess the light meks could do all that wrestling would certainly be fun for the heavies
Perhaps if we get squished more than once the A.I could say please stand further away today is not pancake day!
I think the thumpr needs to look sad after it has squished its owner but depends on the personality of the thumpr a.i maybe it is so oblivious that it just walks on since the pilot is a tiny thing compared to the thumpr and looking at a tree or something hmm.
After we respawn how can we locate our already spawned thumpr will there be an indicator or could the thumpr speak your almost there getting warmer or getting colder if you are moving away from thumpr.
Also would the weapon have different firing modes such as burst fire, single shot and the auto fire as standard.
Hope to see melee attacks wonder if we can do some nice punches and kicks could we have modules of different combat such as judo, and other martial arts i guess the light meks could do all that wrestling would certainly be fun for the heavies
Likes:
PartTimeJedi
Again, the DEMO is AWESOME!
But the one thing that I keep noticing after playing several more hours still bugs me and I really do want to bring it up again.
When I jump straight up or jet straight up and immediately hit the A or D to go sideways, there is a serious lag before any sideways movement. And then that side to side movement is SLOW.
AND- sometimes after jumping or jetting straight up there is no sideways movement at all, I just come down from the jump, OR if jetting straight up, and immediately hitting A or D, I just continue to jet straight up.
I only get somewhat good lateral movement if I MOVE IN THE SIDEWAYS DIRECTION FIRST, Then Jump or Jet. Almost all other games with 1st/3rd shooter aspects ive played lets you change direction in mid air DESPITE the initial direction your moving.
Being that this game is partially a shooter, like FF, I think that having a bit more areal movement tweaks would help. ESPECIALLY sideways movement immediately after being airborne.
Like Ive said before, The movement in FireFall (especially Beta) was the most satisfying ive ever played in 30 years of gaming. I know this isnt FF, but hoping we get the feeling of movement thats sorta like it.
It seems to me that we will be in the air fighting just as much as on the ground so a bit more aerial movement would help GREATLY.
I just want reiterate that I think Em8er is coming along beautifully and this is just my constructive criticism.
But the one thing that I keep noticing after playing several more hours still bugs me and I really do want to bring it up again.
When I jump straight up or jet straight up and immediately hit the A or D to go sideways, there is a serious lag before any sideways movement. And then that side to side movement is SLOW.
AND- sometimes after jumping or jetting straight up there is no sideways movement at all, I just come down from the jump, OR if jetting straight up, and immediately hitting A or D, I just continue to jet straight up.
I only get somewhat good lateral movement if I MOVE IN THE SIDEWAYS DIRECTION FIRST, Then Jump or Jet. Almost all other games with 1st/3rd shooter aspects ive played lets you change direction in mid air DESPITE the initial direction your moving.
Being that this game is partially a shooter, like FF, I think that having a bit more areal movement tweaks would help. ESPECIALLY sideways movement immediately after being airborne.
Like Ive said before, The movement in FireFall (especially Beta) was the most satisfying ive ever played in 30 years of gaming. I know this isnt FF, but hoping we get the feeling of movement thats sorta like it.
It seems to me that we will be in the air fighting just as much as on the ground so a bit more aerial movement would help GREATLY.
I just want reiterate that I think Em8er is coming along beautifully and this is just my constructive criticism.
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There is a dash system implemented currently. You can use 'V' or double tap directional keys to perform short dashes as required, provided your fuel gauge is above the 'red' zone (last few ticks).
Per Grummz, the team is planning on re-working/tweaking dash and overthrust mechanics to differentiate from each other.
Per Grummz, the team is planning on re-working/tweaking dash and overthrust mechanics to differentiate from each other.
Likes:
Wyntyr, Pandagnome and Mahdi
Also one other small thing. Sometimes I like to circle my opponent while firing on it, both airborne and on the ground. Having the ability to press say the D sideways button while simultaneously hitting the S or W for diagonal movements would help GREATLY. In the THMPR Demo I struggle to circle the Tsi-hu while keeping my rfiring reticle on it.
Likes:
Pandagnome
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