|
| |
|
Rez War Design
Notes |
|
Objectives
Reinforcements
Goal:
Allow a team to earn a temporary tactical advantage of numerical
superiority or control of the field in a Rez format. Additionally,
this simulates the arrival of Reinforcements or Reserve units, rather
than a steady trickle of individuals.Discussion:
Typically during a Rez scenario, the game revolves around the ability
to attrition the opposition faster than they can rez in order to move
into the back fields. However, as Rez points are typically in the back
fields, this makes accomplishing missions near the Rez point tactically
impossible. The opposition’s rez interval decreases while the
offense’s rez interval increases. Enacting either a Reinforcement
Count or Wave Time limits the escalating (and unrealistic)
differential between team rez intervals.
Reinforcement Count
A minimum number of Dead are required to be at the RP in order for all Dead at the RP to spawn. In game testing, best results were achieved
at 25% - 33% of team count (5 for 18+, 4 for 12-18, 3 for 9-12). It
was observed that often a side would have the required 5 at their RP,
but would wait for a dead teammate or two returning to the RP so that they could spawn as
well. This plays well into the Teamplay ideal, and should be encouraged.
Perverse Effects:
Since Reinforcement Count is based on the number of dead at the RP,
the pace of Reinforcements is tied to the team’s death rate. If
they are engaged in heavy combat and suffering mass casualties, they
will receive reinforcements more regularly – effectively changing
the normal rez trickle of individuals into a trickle of groups.
Additionally, clever teams will use the Count strategically, killing just
less than the Count and legging thereafter, leaving the team at an
extended disadvantage. For this reason the Monk was
introduced.
Wave Timer
A continuous timer is kept for each RP, and at each time interval, all
Dead at the RP can spawn.
In gameplay, this had a pacing effect opposite that of the
Reinforcement Count. Regardless of the death toll, Reinforcements only
arrived at certain intervals. Overly aggressive maneuvers resulted in
a team being removed from the field entirely with time remaining till
their spawn. This method is perhaps best if defensive, protracted
objective controlling is desired. Using Wave Timers, a team will not
be effective unless they pay attention to when their Reinforcements
arrive so a bulked-up assault can be launched, and plan for defensive
retreats / falling back when the casualties pile up and there’s
still time till Reinforcements. Poor timing will result in a team
engaging the opposition with low numbers, then being pushed back to RP
while the next Wave spawns, allowing their positions to be overrun.During Playtesting, a 2-minute interval with 20 fighters per side on
a 200x200 (approx) field resulted in a whole team being eliminated, and
reinforcing with seconds to spare before the opposition claimed the last
Flag point. This provided a great deal of suspense, but made for
aggravating gameplay. With a better understanding of the timing and the
need for consolidating while awaiting reinforcements, this probably
would have been a proper Timer interval for the given conditions.
Perverse
Effects:
The Timing must be properly calibrated for the field and
desired gameplay. Too short a Timer, and the effect will be the same
as Individual Rez. Too long an interval, and gameplay will bog down
into defensive objective holding, as unless the timing is right, the
team leading an assault will most likely be overrun.
Recommendation:
The main variables that should determine Time interval are
field size (distance between front lines and RP), team counts
(percentage of fighters that can be at/ in transit to RP while
maintaining the front), and the desired ‘flavor’ of combat (i.e.
aggressive or defensive). As a rule of thumb, I would suggest 30
seconds per 10 fighters on an adequately-sized field should result in
a comfortable middle ground. Given an average attrition rate, this
will have about the same gameplay as a 4-man Reinforcement Count. (The
above example had 20 fighters on an oversized field. By my own
recommendation, a 1-minute Reinforcement would have resulted in a more
defensive game.)Increasing the Timer or field size will result in more defensive
play. The longer the timer, the longer a team must wait for
reinforcements before launching an assault. Likewise, the further Dead
have to travel to spawn, the longer a team must wait for Reinforcements.
Increasing the ratio of fighters will result in a more aggressive
gameplay. If the other variables are held constant, more fighters means
higher attrition rates can be sustained, as there are more fighters
traveling to and from the RP.
|
|
