Back from wherever/hello

[HVR]

Hello again. Just decided to pop in after not playing MS:C in about 2 years (had a notebook that didn't support OpenGL) but I finally got a tower that can play, record videos through FRAPS, and probably live stream the game on Twitch.TV, something I wanted to do for a while but didn't have the equipment to.

And I noticed something different. I remember back in '10 when I joined we had what, 2-4 FN servers? Maybe 2 non-FN servers? One of the FNs were foreign and laggy anyway so most of us in groups of 8 would go play skycastle (I think) or old_helena and adventure all together. Now there's more servers then we ever needed but they're mostly mostly empty. And those who do play seem to be groups of two or soloers who prefer to play alone or with a single friend in order to secure the most EXP.

I know this myself, I'm now guilty of it too. I'll see a server with some signs of humanity, 1/10, and connect to one of the four 0/10s instead so I can bring my MA, BA, or SC to some undetermined "acceptable" level. But to what end will I be done sitting in the corner away from the other players quietly leveling myself up? For the next six months, I could isolate myself until everything is level 40 and maybe I'll be satisfied then but I'd be as good as playing on my own local LAN server.

Multiplayer would be show and tell. Go level up all your stats on your own, and maybe twice a week meet another new player for the first time and show him off your cool axe, maybe give him an extra scroll you found in calrian2, and then repeat.

I'd like to see more new players, the ones who are below level 100 and either blindly charge into the field or are scared as crap when they see undead things running at them on chapel. The ones who will gladly take the backpack, envenomed axe, or glow scroll you give them and always say "thx" and whatnot. But I think this isolation-show and tell multiplayer isn't inviting to someone who just happened to be pass by ModDB, still has a love for the HL1 engine and all the mods (FA, SC, NS, ESF, TS) and will pass right through this one and all the work and building done for it and think "man why do all these higher levels keep avoiding me?"


Sorry for long post, but yes. Hello and whatnot. Hope everyone is well. Maybe when it's not 9:37 AM in the morning I'll fully comprehend what I just done.

 

[Thothie]

Well, as per usual, the bosses are neigh impossible to fight single player, until you outclass them immensely, being designed to four players a piece. As per usual, there are several items that simply will not spawn without multiple players (think we're up to twelve in that department now)... And, as per usual, the rewards are multiplied several times over in multi-player, per player present, as well as the odds for unique rewards.

Oh yeah, and as of APR2012, bosses are worth up to x4 XP with more players. (Also, if you've not been here for 2 years, you may not be familiar with the new multi-inventory chest, in which each player gets a separate treasure set based on their performance, which is nontheless additionally boosted by the number of players present.)

Seeing as how all that clearly is not enough, I'm going to be doing two new things next patch (whenever the fuck that maybe)... For starters, 150% XP just for playing on FN, +50% per player beyond 1 with >100hp not flagged AFK. That is, of course, going to exasperate the whole wall problem, but under the circumstances, desperate times and all that. I'll modify the FN readme to have that in big bold letters, possibly with reiteration of all the above.

I wish I could work out something more intuitive - such as shared XP, and the like, but the way MSC's leveling system is setup (ie. XP per weapon type), makes it really hard to work anything of the sort out.

I'm also open to other suggestions...

...Hell, I'm even considering a Facebook page or Twitter account... Maybe even Reddedit. *shiver*

In anycase, welcome back... Does seem to be Zombie Week around here all the sudden.

 

[The Man In Black]

Shared exp wouldn't be too terribly hard. Might be a bit processor intensive on a large scale, but with 8 person servers, shouldn't matter in the slightest.

 

[Thothie]

Yeeeeeeah... But how 2 share when XP is based on weapon usage? Just like, whatever weapon you happen to have out at the time? :|

 

[The Man In Black]

Well, while the monster is looping through players, it loops through each individual stat and gives the correct exp. Give that exp to the player like normal, but also pass 10% to the matching stat in all other players that hit the monster (all part of the same array). Bit complicated to explain without finding my code again, but if ye have any questions, I'm but a Skype message away ;-)

 

[HVR]

Thanks for the response.

Yeah the new APR patch took some quick learning to do, like the dodge function that I learned how to disable, the new polearms, and those chests. There's some good music selection too though, one thing MS:C never lacked.

Speaking of bonuses for playing with other people, I remember Brainbread had a bonus where for each player within your proximity, you gain a stackable defense bonus and take a bit less damage. It didn't remove ramboing or deter leaving the pack behind, as I should know since on asd2bam I leveled myself to the point I could beat plenty of maps alone and survive for quite a while. And prove to be an urban terror when playing as a zombie (because I already reached the map end), however on tighter maps and defenses, it served its purpose.

I wouldn't know how to code it though or implement it if it could be done easily, whether to make it part of ice shield (oh, +2% def bonus for each player within rejuv distance) or make it a passive active trait all the time.

Also I don't know if orc_for is a new map but I played with some guy yesterday and man those face hugger things and lightning shamans are nasty stuff, whew.