Walt A few observations, and suggestions based on problems brought up in this thread:
SpaceCat Points collection also feels rather wrong - it is very hard to predict how or when you will get score next - somtimes destroying a hefty section of a ship and getting nothing but then a ship that explodes somwhere else on the map gives you points because you landed few laser hits on it a bit earlier. Too many "WTH?" situations ...
Yeah, I agree with this. Most of the time point collection seems pretty decent, but every now and then I'll get a random chunk of points and think "what?!?"
UI improvements could help with this, but IMO it makes more sense to just simplify the points system, especially if arena is going to be a fun, casual game mode. Here's a few ideas on how to simplify things, and some other thoughts unrelated to scoring:
Walt I could make 1 credit = 1 point, which would probably make it both more obvious how points work and less arbitrary. The (probably minor) downsides are:
Can points just be renamed to "credits of damage" or something similar? That's clear and obvious to all players, without needing instructions.
Walt A ship that damages itself, or is damaged by fires or the ring of death, will not have its remaining points lowered, and the points received for doing damage to that ship will be increased relative to the amount of damage done.
I feel like this is too confusing, and not indicated anywhere in the UI. Why not count RoD damage as self-damage, just like explosive charges/self-damage (when those are added)? As for fires, would it be too difficult to track ownership? Each tile of fire could have an owner (the player who started the fire), and when that fire spreads to a new tile the ownership copies over.
Walt You can also manually respawn your fleet, but doing so before your ships are destroyed will cause you to lose points equivalent to 25% of your fleet's current point value
Is the point loss necessary? IMO it detracts from the fun, freer feeling of arena. If abandoning ship too frequently is an issue, I would rather increase respawn time than deal with point loss. If point loss is removed, IMO it would also make sense to remove the respawn "are you sure" dialog box.
nop There were some cases where players quit and somebody could intentionally not respawn to keep the lead in 1v1, maybe there should be a limit on time allowed to change fleet or auto-victory after players leave or something.
If respawn time is increased (to compensate for removing respawn point loss), then it might be ok to force respawn when the timer runs out. A longer timer should give plenty of time to pick another ship.
SpaceCat Bringing a very cheap ship, scout on the enemy and then spawn the proper counter.
Longer respawn time would also help somewhat with this. Point loss doesn't really affect it because you lose basically nothing from a super-cheap scout.
Oneye If you had a "notification" when someone respawned that would help tell you to look out, and maybe help with the kill stealing.
I like this idea. Maybe just a big shiny icon on the minimap
Walt The chaotic FFA nature is really the whole point of this mode. Kill stealing is something I can make less effective by distributing points according to damage over the last X (15?) seconds.
I would be against more complex scoring - it's nuanced enough already.
Walt A scoreboard is shown whenever you're waiting to respawn, and you can also hold the spacebar to see it any other time.
Could a basic scoreboard be visible all the time, even if it's just the score+rank for you and the top player? That way new players don't have to learn the spacebar control (or die) to know how everyone ranks.
Start full should be required for arena. Starting empty both puts the respawner at a huge disadvantage, and also slows down the gameplay a lot.
What if arena used the FFA ring, or even smaller? Smaller ring = more action, more chaos, and less waiting
When players abandon ship, can the abandoned ship stay owned by the original player? That would make it clear that you can't gain points from shooting your own wreck. Also, it looks like guns don't auto-target wrecks, which is both annoying if you're trying to shoot one and probably confusing for new players, who might not realize you can get points for shooting them.
And finally, is there any reason the scoreboard shows kills? IMO that's pretty meaningless, since ships split (intentionally or unintentionally) all the time.
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Basically, I think that the core gameplay is pretty decent, if a bit slower paced than it could be. But there are a few exploits and the UI/mechanics are confusing.
