"Bounce"/"Free-Fall"/"Invisible Wall"/"Instant Death" Points

[zkin]

An awful lot of people die falling off of things.  I really think something ought to be done; however, I think that there are better ways of correcting this problem than removing falling effects or remaking the maps.
    My idea is four-fold and should help to correct several problems.  The first part of it would be to implement \"Bounce Points\"; you already have part of this implemented, but I have a second part to suggest; in all the various places players should not be able to get to, you could place a world brush that, if the player falls into it, causes him to \"Bounce\" to a specified area.  The second part is, is places like the well, you might create a brush that, if the player falls onto it, he doesn\'t take damage.   The third part is a fairly common solution in games, and is to create a brush that, while invisible, prevents players from moving through it.  This could be placed as a wall on the rails of stairs and bridges (I would start with the rope-bridge section at the very top of the really tall tower) to prevent players from accidentally walking over them.  The last part is a solution that has become popular more recently, and involves a special brush that, while intangible, kills a player if he passes through it.  This would be good for places like just below the lip of chasams (such as those on the Death Plane), and would bath save a player from having to wait to hit bottom and prevent him from accidentally getting to places he shouldn\'t be because of a glitch.

[Moogie]

This isn\'t a Forum Request. *Moved to Wishlist*~


Any sort of \"invisible boundaries\" limit both the freedom of the player, and the realism of the world. For places like the Death Realm, people should just be more careful. It\'s not hard to just stay on the path.

[fken]

really i cannot see where s the problem... it\'s not so difficult to stay alive if you are careful... (personaly I fell in the death realm only once...)

[zkin]

The \"Invisible Walls\" I mean would not exactly be for just anywhere; I mention them because they are useful for preventing players from walking into places that, logicaly, they shouldn\'t be able to walk into.  I mention them partially because they are an easy fix to many problems.  However, otherwise, I have to agree that, when they aren\'t used in places the player should not be able to get to anyway, they can be annoying and limit the freedom of the player.  What I am suggesting is that they be used as \"safety nets\".  Also, on the point of \"Free-Fall\" areas, I agree that they can be confusing to the players, but it is often easier to use these than to fix a map properly.  They can also be useful if you want to make, say, a gauntlet with a very thin moving bridge and have a safety net underneath to catch people who fall (thus not forcing them to go all the way back to try it again).  If you truely want realisim, though, you might consider that it is less painful to land on some surfaces (water) than others (gravel).

[zkin]

An all-around useful function you might consider adding to your game might be \"Lava\" materials/areas.  By this, I mean either areas or surfaces that cause damage to anyone who walks through them or touches them.  This kind of function could serve several perposes; for example:
 -It could be used with a surface covered with glass, doing x-foot armor damage per second the player touches it,
 -It could be used in a very hot area, doing x damage per second regardless of armor, or
 -It could be used over a very deep chasm, killing the player before he hits the bottom.  
    As a not, for the last suggestion, you might consider making a chasam that deals x damage to the player for each second he falls, x being the amount of damage he would take if he hit bottom after falling for 1 second, and then make the surface he falls on not deal damage when he hits it (as per my \"Free-Fall\" idea); that way, if the player wouldn\'t survive the fall anyway, he wouldn\'t have to wait to hit the bottom; if he did have the HP to survive (I don\'t know how), he would still survive.  Note that it would be a good idea to make such an area deal damage to a player only if he has not been in contact with the ground for 2 seconds (or so) in case they find a way to walk down.

[T0rk]

Originally posted by Moogie
This isn\'t a Forum Request. *Moved to Wishlist*~


Any sort of \"invisible boundaries\" limit both the freedom of the player, and the realism of the world. For places like the Death Realm, people should just be more careful. It\'s not hard to just stay on the path.

Well it is actually pretty hard for mac users because the path is pitch black and so is the backround of the death realm. But I think its good that we have a level of realism here and you dont just bounce back to a random place. (plus its funny when i am walking around near the pub and all of a sudden someone falls from the sky next to my feet and dies  )

[Seytra]

Originally posted by T0rk

Originally posted by Moogie
This isn\'t a Forum Request. *Moved to Wishlist*~


Any sort of \"invisible boundaries\" limit both the freedom of the player, and the realism of the world. For places like the Death Realm, people should just be more careful. It\'s not hard to just stay on the path.

Well it is actually pretty hard for mac users because the path is pitch black and so is the backround of the death realm.

This is not a reason to add invisible rails that, as moogie said, limit freedom. It is a bug, nothing more. Also, if you use one of the 3rd person views, the DR becomes much more navigable, at least on my computer (non mac).

As for the free-fall damage: what is this for? There is a waiting period to death that doesn\'t come from the fall itself. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to reduce the time taken for it in special cases. Also, you never know what this time might be useful for (drink all your potions of HP giving Or cast a flight spell.). I\'d hate automatic damage while falling, since there may be very sensible reasons to fall, and just as sensible things to do while falling.

I\'m against limiting freedom. I occasionally die from not navigating carefully, but this also adds more thrill to things. Imagine running over a small rope accross a canyon with invisible rails on. Disabling this for some places is counter-intuitive and even more unrealistic, so better have no rails IMO.

As for glitches in maps: this is something where such invisible surfaces don\'t need to be used, since the normal surface can be placed there just as easily, no? (surface is surface, after all?) Also, there will, in the end, be almost no place players can\'t go, since there will be climbing, swimming / diving and fligt magic available to all players.