Powerlines.

TU2 features a fairly simple strategic map which allows the player the ability to move forces into enemy held areas and bolster presence in already captured areas.
Once an area is occupied, that area's occupation level can be raised by connecting the area with powerlines to adjacent areas .
Sprinkled across the map will be areas containing hubs. Hubs are power sources and areas connected to a hub via a powerline, will see occupation levels rise quickly.
Also, areas that are adjacent to areas of high occupation will see their occupation levels rise in the way of 'osmosis'.
In this way, the player can replenish reinforcements depleted when moving forces into adjacent enemy held areas and so expand their 'empire'.

But if an area on the strategic map contains 'pipelines', then these should also appear 'on the battlefield'.


Red team uses pylons. Again, going for a simple clean design. Periodically a red beam travels down the length of the pylons.


Blue team uses structures more like a conduit . As blue team are the underdogs, I figure they'll have less conspicuous structures .
I'm still not happy with this design - needs more work. In fact I would've liked to have a solid pipeline snaking across the landscape for the blue team.
But this causes various design issues and pathfinding, so I'll stick with the single structures for now.
Much easier to work with in terms of conforming them to the landscape and setting small areas to undriveable etc..

Powerlines also have an effect on the battlefield in that they give fortresses extra shielding.
This can be seen as the extra blue 'glow' on the walls below.

Although a game mechanics element, visually, the power line idea is very nice, especially for a "digital world" type game. Little details like this add up to making games awesome. Every time I play TU1, I admire the digital trees when I see them.

As far as the red powerline vs blue lines, my personal opinion is why not just have them use the same designs (the red ones)? I really like the look of the red powerline stuctures. Since you aren't happy with the style of the blue ones and also have possible path finding issues, you can solve both of these problems with just use the red design for both team.

Also, although I can't tell without actually seeing it play live, maybe a constant red light as the power would be better. 1) Would have a more power "line" feel. 2) If it is gameplay mechanics related, you should be able to look at any time in the direction of the power lines and instantly be able to tell if the power is on or off to a certain area.

These are just my thoughts and opinions (suggestions), in the end it is still your game that you are working hard on, so I understand if you don't want to into account any of my thoughts, but there they are, my 2 cents.

I like them too and as you suggest, I am tempted to simply recolour them. My main concern is that blue team is supposed to be on the run and hard pressed for resources etc and so you could expect them to have slightly less conspicuous structures. I'll perservere with the 'ring' towers for blue team given I won't go for a solid 'pipeline'.

The other issue is that having too many glowing objects scattered across the level tends to increase visual confusion, so I'm very careful about that. Almost taking a less is more approach to the visual design...

As always, totally digging your stuff! Keep up the good work!

I tend to replay TU quite often, simply because it has a very unique feel that I haven't experienced in any other game, no matter the production quality.

Being an indie game dev myself, TU has really made think about established genres and "what is a single player game?" vs "what is a multiplayer game?". I think that you have something very special going on with TU. The simple fact that I didn't know what to expect from one level to the next in terms of gameplay really impressed me.

Eagerly awaiting TU2!

I agree with all of the above, totally. I replay TU often, and it is easily one of the best single player game experiences I have ever had, and saying so is doing so against 25+ years of gaming and thousands of different video games I have played over the years since the early 80s.

As Johno stated as well, the delightful surprise of each level was amazing, and something you just don't see ever, not even in multi-million dollar budget games.

And finally, I definitely can't wait for TU2 as well.

Most exciting is the Skirmish editor and will add so much more life to the TU series as it will allow one to create infinite variety of new levels in a game world that is just too damn cool and beautiful in its retro style way.

TU rules most single player games I've played, Indie or not.

I think the pipelines are very clever, just another thing to make it more intriguing. I like that you're using different structures between blue and red. In TU1 I always thought there wasn't enough difference distinguishing the two, other than color. I think it's important to get across the point that red is the dominant evil forces, and blue is doing what ever they can to stop red.

That's actually something I can't rely on so much this time around.
With the inclusion of a strategic map, the player will be often be running through levels that may have the same stats as the previously played level.

So how to keep things interesting?

I've added a certain overarching strategy for each level, but I'm thinking that the combat needs a bit more 'granularity'.

To this end, each tank will typically have three shield sectors - left/right/rear.
To kill a tank, one or more of those sectors will need to be reduced to zero.
So you want to kill a heavy tank? Wear away the shields at its rear or perhaps the front right to expose its core elements, then land the shot.
A bit more strategy and manouevering than simply hit it until it's dead.

When hit, an enemy tank may drop collectable armour parts that can be picked up and equipped by the player or another AI tank.

The player will also have a rapid fire laser cannon (activated by space key), so the player can continue to whittle away at an enemy target between shells.

I want to retain the pick up and play nature of TU1, but feel the need to extend the close quarter combat beyond simply reduce the shields to zero.

What do you guys think?

<edit> just thinking about this a bit more - don't need to have extra shield 'sectors' - just the one shield value as it is now but the three tank quadrants on to which extra armour can be bolted.

To clarify what I meant in what you quoted...

I was thinking mostly about the way that TU felt like a "multi player game played in single player mode", and that I experienced the core "game mode" as something that changed from level to level.

For example, when playing the training mission (in the demo / after joining the resistance) I thought "oh, so this is like a capture the flag type game...", but as the game progressed it felt like the "game mode" was constantly changing and / or evolving.

That stuff has really got me thinking about the impact of having the "game rules / game mode" change from level to level in a single player game, particularly in regards to the goals for a given level. In your classic Quakes / first person shooter style games you typically still to this day have the "find the exit" goal on every level.

TU1 had for example the Tank Factory level, which started out looking like a "explore / find the exit" goal level, but turned into a "domination / control point" style goal. The level after that also looked like an "explore / find the exit" style map, but turned into a "defend" style goal. I think all that stuff is really unique to TU, and something that you should definitely aim to keep.

I also really liked the way the "capture the flag" style gameplay added more and more layers, like the walls that required heavy weapons / sappers to beat, as well as the addition of the network hack thing. Really cool.

Personally, with TU2, I would want more of the same as I know that was a lot of fun.

New levels? Yes.
New "game modes" as in how to beat the level? Yes.
Big changes to how the tank fighting went in TU1? No.

I know people have suggest to you about the laser gun as an alt-fire, and you have talked about the shield sector idea, but my worry is that these features will detract from the "Tron-like" feel and turn it into a game more like Stellar 7.

Personally, it was the "Tron-like" wording and visuals I saw in the descriptions that sold me on the game originally, even before trying the demo. It is also the Tron-like feel that continued to make me enjoy the game as I played it and even to this day.

From the contents of TU1, TU2 is "supposed" to be a "Part 2", continuing the story that was unfinished in part 1. So, technically, it isn't even a sequel, but the 2nd part of the first game.

Scribble

It's tricky - I'm aware that the pick up and play nature of TU1 is a draw and there's a danger of making things too complicated and hurting the fun.

I think the idea of bits of armour that 'bolt on' automatically if you drive over them (like the powershards), is an idea people would likely take to - particularly if it's introduced a little way into the game when the player starts to encounter tougher enemies (heavy tanks for example). And it could be kept simple in that the player has a single shield value (as in TU1), but the armour bolts onto front-left/front-right/rear depending on the angle of the tank when the armour is collected and what armour slots are already filled. I think that would work and add another layer of strategy in approaching the enemy.

Regards the secondary turrets - likely these would be upgrades and toggled to autofire / off via the spacebar. So if an enemy is in the crosshairs, the mini turret bolted to the front of your tank (or rear) will continue to ping away at the target while the main gun reloads. I think this would work as well.