Improved Jump Pads

Xyntech · 2012-05-17, 09:17 PM

Posted this in a couple of threads, but figured the idea forum would be a better place to actually discuss the idea.

I like the gameplay aspects of the jump pad, but I think the visual could be improved to look a little less like an arcade game.

Here is my rough proposed design, subject to heavy amounts of artistic improvement:

The closed nature makes it feel more like some sort of inertial acceleration device and less like a magic game feature IMO. The enclosure is only the launcher though, and players would still be exposed to enemy fire while in transit.

Forcing you to press activate it to launch yourself would (slightly) slow down the process, bringing the pace closer in line with the rest of the gameplay, but pressing the interact button immediately upon entering the launcher should play mostly the same as the current design.

Launching everyone in the tube at once shouldn't be a problem, as presumably everyone inside the tube will generally want to be launched. While there may sometimes be a tactical element to delaying your launch time, it shouldn't be a strong griefing potential.

I personally would also prefer to see groups of players launched instead of streams of individual players one after another. Again, more of an aesthetic personal preference.

The one way shield would help reduce the risk of getting spammed to death by enemy vehicles. There could also be an empire specific forcefield added to the other end if it was decided that only a bases owners should be able to use base pads, but that would be entirely subject to how base fights end up being in playtesting.

Thoughts, feedback, possible improvements for the idea all welcome.

Obviously just stating that you like the jump pads how they currently are is valid as well, but I think that's a call for another discussion. I would be more interested in improvements to this idea, or reasons why it wont work well.

Zekeen · 2012-05-18, 02:19 AM

See, now THIS is the kind of stuff people need to think on more!

Good work making sense of something insane, love the redesign. It actually MAKES SENSE! I wouldn't mind the jump pads if they were designed well like this, I just dislike when things are so... out of place. I like how it has to be activated too, takes the random jumping out of the equation and gives it a bit more of a tactical feel.

I only have 2 suggestions - maybe a recharging timer to make it more used in tactical situations (though the button is a wonderful idea, making it a MAN CANNON!)

And I suggest, since you did so well with the launcher design, why not design a catcher, some sort of gravity decelerator with an ace disruption field inside the catcher box or whatever it'd look like. I think a tube similar to launcher would be good for the "catching" part, love the design of it. Feels MUCH more Planetside than the little Quake arena bouncers.

Purple · 2012-05-18, 02:34 AM

This idea is great. i think i could accept them in this form.

too add to this idea i would like the launcher to change with the faction. such as VS get the current design, NC get a portal 2 launcher, and TR get... no idea at the moment for the TR.

EVILoHOMER · 2012-05-18, 02:40 AM

Jump pads are meant to be fast and simple, the way SOE has designed them makes them so recognisable to everybody. If you start trying to make it over complex or adding too many steps then it's no longer worth while and becomes an annoying part of the game. You cannot have weird quirks in an FPS these days, people call it out to being dated design, gamers want fluid, modern gameplay that feels like other shooters they've played.

I think the way SOE has designed Jump Pads in Planetside 2 has worked for every single other FPS out there, it just works and I don't see the need for a redesign.

Zekeen · 2012-05-18, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by EVILoHOMER

Jump pads are meant to be fast and simple, the way SOE has designed them makes them so recognisable to everybody. If you start trying to make it over complex or adding too many steps then it's no longer worth while and becomes an annoying part of the game. You cannot have weird quirks in an FPS these days, people call it out to being dated design, gamers want fluid, modern gameplay that feels like other shooters they've played.

I think the way SOE has designed Jump Pads in Planetside 2 has worked for every single other FPS out there, it just works and I don't see the need for a redesign.

You ever seen 50 people using jump pads back and forth? Now imagine that in PS2. It just gets out of place and gets out of hand on a massive scale. It's fine in the video cause it's just him. When you stop applying it to your own mobility, you see the scale of it is out of hand and doesn't fit so much in PS2. They might be speeding things up, but making things fit in better improves the game by far.

Also, how can you not recognize a man cannon at a distance but understand a glowing purple square launches you in a certain direction. I think seeing this design will make it more evident - short tube pointing toward other short tube - it means transportation of some kind. I don't think it can get much better than that.

EVILoHOMER · 2012-05-18, 03:05 AM

I just don't think the battles in any one area will be big enough to where you'll see hundreds of people on jump pads. It'll more likely be the case you'll have up to 200 people in any one area and out of them maybe 10 at a time are using them. In actual gameplay and not messing around in a beta I think you'll find yourself dying pretty quickly if you're using them while in a battle, you make yourself obvious and an easy target. You wont be able to shoot people because of your recoil but you'll be shot at easily. It also looks like you'll die much faster in Planetside 2 so that will also be a factor and I think you'll find less people using them in real gameplay than you think.

Though we wont know until we get into the game and start having big battles. Then if they don't work they can easily be changed to have some restriction.

Xyntech · 2012-05-18, 02:27 PM

It is actually probably going to be essential that people use them, otherwise there would be no reason to have them in the first place. Bases are huge now, and at least these look better than glowing ziplines.

The tube is transparent, and still has glowing arrows to show you it's a jump pad. Combine that with seeing other people getting launched out of them, and it shouldn't be too complex and confusing for new players.

As for the activation command, just have a little pop-up text that says "press e to activate jump pad" or whatever, hopefully with the option for players to turn off the text if they dont want/need the reminder.

Like I mentioned before, this really wouldn't slow the process down much in practical use. Just make it slightly more tactical and aesthetically pleasing. I don't think these would really be that restrictive, just a different style. 90% of the reason for my design is aesthetic, because I think it would fit in with PS2's style more than an arcade looking pad on the floor.

Also, that design I made is very conceptual and placeholder. Presumably it would be modified to look even more like some Nanite Systems construction.

---

Another idea I had was to deal with the problem of snipers. I believe that the speed at which players are launched should deal with most of the sniper issues, but the problem of snipers aiming at the spot where a players head will be at the top of the jump would still be a big one.

I propose two things:

1. A cone of fire or slight amount of movement control while in the air. This would help a tiny bit with sniping, but would also help with getting camped on the opposite side of a jump, if your landing spot wasn't pinpoint predictable.

2. Semi-randomized variable trajectories. Basically, the faster something is launched, the lower an angle it needs to be launched. The slower it is launched, the higher an angle it needs to be launched to reach the same distance. You wouldn't even need to vary the launch speed and height of the angle that drastically. Just enough that you could never predict accurately where the highest point of their jump would be.

These two ideas would also apply to the current design, since the current jump pads also would have potential issues with campers and snipers.

Gonefshn · 2012-05-18, 03:46 PM

The only thing I can see that wouldn't break immersion for me and look either like an arcade game or a circus cannon is this. Change it to a teleport pad.

Same idea as a jump pad, it gets you from place to place, but a portal/teleporter can fit with the universe and feel like it fits in better than catapulting men accross the walls lol.

Definitely make the portal take a few seconds to transport you though, about the same time it would take for you to jump across with the jumppad, not instant.

And before you say people can grief the portal and wait for people to show up on the other side, you can do the same thing with the jump pad.

And if people are griefing it on the other side they obviously have a foothold there so why would you be trying to jump pad or teleport there anyway.