Damage is a big deal to me. It can differentiate a game of numbers to a game of physicality. From "I have 5 health left" to "my Frame is literally falling apart in front of me and there's a fire in the reactor". I'd like to talk a bit about the concept of damage in this game, and how field repair could play a part. It's long, but I tried to make it an engaging read.
Going back to Firefall, damage was temporary. Field repairs used near-instant nanites and maintenance in general was a simple money sink. This made damage feel temporary, and the depth was shallow. When you got "hurt" which was nothing more than your health number going down and VFX, a simple usable or a Medic could patch you right up in seconds. If your equipment "wore out", you went to a repair box and clicked a couple buttons and no problem, back in action. Is this engaging gameplay? If so, how deep did it feel?
Cue Em8er. The Battleframe is dead, long live the Omniframe. Which Frame you choose imposes a series of new hurdles, like how these fighting tools stay maintained on the battlefield. Nanites (the same healy tech-magic from Firefall) should have more limitations in Em8er, mostly due to the fact that nanite magic shouldn't be as powerful on Medium and Heavy Omniframes as it is on smaller units like Light Frames. Clicking and holding heal and waiting for longer the bigger the vehicle (cue: Planetside) just doesn't feel satisfying, and is totally unengaging. So how can you make damage gameplay more interesting for these large-scale Omniframes? How do you make their Time-To-Live longer without just giving them a bigger pool of health? How do you make people feel that Light Frames punch above their weight class? How do you make the front line feel dynamic, living, and breathing?
Limitations of Nanites
First, you make Nanites limited. No longer the cure-all, they can only do so much.
What I mean by this is the Light Frames take nanites fully: nanites work great on Light Frames. If you come back to a medic and you have only a single piece of Omniframe left hanging off your body, those nanites will put you all the way back together, tip-top shape, and you're back on the front line like you weren't scratched. Just like Firefall. This gives a Light Frame great mobility, not just that it's quick, but it's quick to repair and they don't even really have to leave the fight. It makes the Light Frame feel as if it punches above its weight class.
Nanites work alright on Medium Frames. Not as perfect as on Light Frames, if you take a big hit, some of your armor may not be able to be repaired into tip-top shape, but the nanites can patch the gaping holes in that armor.
Nanites work poorly on Large Frames. Big hits are big damage on Heavy Frames, and you need to get real repairs. Sure Nanites can get you back into shape if you're at the brink, but that "shape" is a "get out of here you piece of Swiss Cheese" kind of shape.
Localized Damage
As the size of Frame grows, the more dynamic the damage model has to be to support these Nanite Limitations. A shot in the leg is not the same as a shot in the chest or a shot in the arm. The limbs, head, and the rest need their own armor and health pools, meaning if you take critical damage on those, the Omniframe should be negatively effected but not necessarily destroyed. Light Frames can push forward through sheer force of will if they haven't been vaporized from the hit, but as for the others, leg damage can result in a limp, worse accuracy through arm damage is possible, your jump-jets can misfire, or you need to land gentler on that broken leg else you risk a hard time attempting to stabilize your Frame. The Medic can come and shoot you full of nanites to take the edge off the damage, but then she'll tell you to run. Run away. Fall back to the MFB.
Forward Aid
Cue the Mobile Field Base. Operated by a small crew, these low-armor & low-defense vehicles (maybe Frames?) can be deployed just behind the front lines and are a critical tool to keep the line from breaking. They are the tool with the "big guns": Repair Printers, the heavy equipment necessary to literally print the armor back onto the Frames.
Due to the low armor and the critical need for these units, the team operating them needs to be smart. Picking a deployment spot that's relatively safe from fire but accessible by the forward team is important.
A Heavy Frame found itself flanked by Tsi-hu and had it's leg crippled. His comrades drove the enemy back but they didn't have a Medic on-hand. Does the MFB take a chance and move to the Heavy Frame, or does the Heavy Frame hobble its way to them? In an abundance of caution, the Heavy hobbles to the MFB. It's nerve wracking being crippled out in the field, not knowing when you could be flanked again. But he makes it safely, and the MFB wraps a layer of material around the Heavy Frame, like a cocoon, and begins to print.
Printing is a mini-game where you analyze the Omniframe and focus your repairs. You may be flanked at any time and the Cocoon will need to be stripped away, so how do you triage? Do you focus on the areas of most damage, do you focus on the torso of the unit to keep the Omniframe Pilot safe? Do you make sure the weapons are in good shape first? Thankfully, you realize you can worry less because the Heavy Frame's team made a defensive perimeter in front of your Cocoon to keep you safe. Suddenly new players who just joined the game appear behind you; they noticed the defense of the Cocoon and flew over, asking questions and playing rear guard. You can take your time bringing this Heavy back to tip-top shape and send him on his way and welcome the Newbies.
The Power of Command
This kind of repair system underlines the importance of a well-coordinated team. Strong Squad Leaders communicating with their Platoon to maintain a good front line. A coordinated back-end team with a specialty of fast, skill-based triaging to keep large frames in tip-top shape. The addition of new objectives that don't need to be marked as "quests": Keep the MFB safe. Gameplay elements that create themselves on the field are the best kinds, and damage is one that creates all kinds of gameplay if added right.
Going back to Firefall, damage was temporary. Field repairs used near-instant nanites and maintenance in general was a simple money sink. This made damage feel temporary, and the depth was shallow. When you got "hurt" which was nothing more than your health number going down and VFX, a simple usable or a Medic could patch you right up in seconds. If your equipment "wore out", you went to a repair box and clicked a couple buttons and no problem, back in action. Is this engaging gameplay? If so, how deep did it feel?
Cue Em8er. The Battleframe is dead, long live the Omniframe. Which Frame you choose imposes a series of new hurdles, like how these fighting tools stay maintained on the battlefield. Nanites (the same healy tech-magic from Firefall) should have more limitations in Em8er, mostly due to the fact that nanite magic shouldn't be as powerful on Medium and Heavy Omniframes as it is on smaller units like Light Frames. Clicking and holding heal and waiting for longer the bigger the vehicle (cue: Planetside) just doesn't feel satisfying, and is totally unengaging. So how can you make damage gameplay more interesting for these large-scale Omniframes? How do you make their Time-To-Live longer without just giving them a bigger pool of health? How do you make people feel that Light Frames punch above their weight class? How do you make the front line feel dynamic, living, and breathing?
Limitations of Nanites
First, you make Nanites limited. No longer the cure-all, they can only do so much.
What I mean by this is the Light Frames take nanites fully: nanites work great on Light Frames. If you come back to a medic and you have only a single piece of Omniframe left hanging off your body, those nanites will put you all the way back together, tip-top shape, and you're back on the front line like you weren't scratched. Just like Firefall. This gives a Light Frame great mobility, not just that it's quick, but it's quick to repair and they don't even really have to leave the fight. It makes the Light Frame feel as if it punches above its weight class.
Nanites work alright on Medium Frames. Not as perfect as on Light Frames, if you take a big hit, some of your armor may not be able to be repaired into tip-top shape, but the nanites can patch the gaping holes in that armor.
Nanites work poorly on Large Frames. Big hits are big damage on Heavy Frames, and you need to get real repairs. Sure Nanites can get you back into shape if you're at the brink, but that "shape" is a "get out of here you piece of Swiss Cheese" kind of shape.
Localized Damage
As the size of Frame grows, the more dynamic the damage model has to be to support these Nanite Limitations. A shot in the leg is not the same as a shot in the chest or a shot in the arm. The limbs, head, and the rest need their own armor and health pools, meaning if you take critical damage on those, the Omniframe should be negatively effected but not necessarily destroyed. Light Frames can push forward through sheer force of will if they haven't been vaporized from the hit, but as for the others, leg damage can result in a limp, worse accuracy through arm damage is possible, your jump-jets can misfire, or you need to land gentler on that broken leg else you risk a hard time attempting to stabilize your Frame. The Medic can come and shoot you full of nanites to take the edge off the damage, but then she'll tell you to run. Run away. Fall back to the MFB.
Forward Aid
Cue the Mobile Field Base. Operated by a small crew, these low-armor & low-defense vehicles (maybe Frames?) can be deployed just behind the front lines and are a critical tool to keep the line from breaking. They are the tool with the "big guns": Repair Printers, the heavy equipment necessary to literally print the armor back onto the Frames.
Due to the low armor and the critical need for these units, the team operating them needs to be smart. Picking a deployment spot that's relatively safe from fire but accessible by the forward team is important.
A Heavy Frame found itself flanked by Tsi-hu and had it's leg crippled. His comrades drove the enemy back but they didn't have a Medic on-hand. Does the MFB take a chance and move to the Heavy Frame, or does the Heavy Frame hobble its way to them? In an abundance of caution, the Heavy hobbles to the MFB. It's nerve wracking being crippled out in the field, not knowing when you could be flanked again. But he makes it safely, and the MFB wraps a layer of material around the Heavy Frame, like a cocoon, and begins to print.
Printing is a mini-game where you analyze the Omniframe and focus your repairs. You may be flanked at any time and the Cocoon will need to be stripped away, so how do you triage? Do you focus on the areas of most damage, do you focus on the torso of the unit to keep the Omniframe Pilot safe? Do you make sure the weapons are in good shape first? Thankfully, you realize you can worry less because the Heavy Frame's team made a defensive perimeter in front of your Cocoon to keep you safe. Suddenly new players who just joined the game appear behind you; they noticed the defense of the Cocoon and flew over, asking questions and playing rear guard. You can take your time bringing this Heavy back to tip-top shape and send him on his way and welcome the Newbies.
The Power of Command
This kind of repair system underlines the importance of a well-coordinated team. Strong Squad Leaders communicating with their Platoon to maintain a good front line. A coordinated back-end team with a specialty of fast, skill-based triaging to keep large frames in tip-top shape. The addition of new objectives that don't need to be marked as "quests": Keep the MFB safe. Gameplay elements that create themselves on the field are the best kinds, and damage is one that creates all kinds of gameplay if added right.
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