 FenixStryk, on December 30 2013 - 04:56 AM, said:
FenixStryk, on December 30 2013 - 04:56 AM, said:
 Xacius, on December 30 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:
Xacius, on December 30 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:
With regards to movement, do you have any potential additions in mind that could increase the depth of the game?
I would have to think about it before giving you a good answer. It's easy to say "make the game faster," but a proper solution needs to take certain limitations into account: the map pool, weapon splash and functionality, fuel limits, and so on.
For now, I'll say that I think walking should be fast enough to be a meaningful concern when aiming at a target, and that dodge/boost should be aggressively tuned to retain usefulness after the former change.
These days, unless your opponent has access to a dodge it feels closer to shooting a stationary target. They can stand there and take it, boost directly into it or jump up to make your next shot that much easier -- tell me, which of the three is the most viable option? There's nothing sudden about any of them, which explains the general popularity of low dodge CD Mechs that are better at covering up that flaw in Hawken's combat.
Type A preference is a symptom of a greater issue: dodging is the only viable form of evasive movement in combat. It's fair for it to be the most effective option, but right now it is the 
only option. In an engaging shooter, that simply shouldn't be the case.
 
Your response really sparked my interest.  Here's what I've got so far:
Through analysis of competitive games with large followings, the most common shared characteristic is depth.  Fighting games like Marvel, Street Fighter, and SSB Melee have kept players interested for years because they offer deep mechanics requiring precise timing, spacing, and superb reaction speed (these mechanics give players more options).  Games like Counter Strike are popular because of the high skill ceiling with regards to precise aim. In the days of Arena FPS’s, Quake was popular because of its mixture of robust movement and demand for precision.  
Hawken, on the other hand, doesn’t have any features that take a considerable amount of time to master.  It lacks depth.  The aiming is easy in comparison to Counter Strike, in that precision is of little assistance due to lack of locational damage (a feature that a lot of players like—this isn’t the problem), large hitboxes, and slow speeds.  The movement is straightforward and easy to pick up, but lacks any real depth.  Dodges are predictable and boosting in the middle of combat to juke or evade simply stalls the inevitable (the player can’t retaliate while boosting and can’t boost indefinitely due to a fuel limitation).  All in all, the player’s options are limited.  Running and shooting is woefully ineffective because even the fastest run speeds are pitifully easy to track. In the air, players don’t have much control over the direction they’re flying in, and switching directions in mid-air is nearly impossible without coming to a complete stop for a couple seconds.  As such, flight paths are easily predictable (the Zerker is the only exception here.  I feel that if all mechs had comparable air speed to air dynamics zerker, the meta would evolve considerably).
At its core, the metagame is mostly knowledge-based, with aim playing a role (albeit a small one… aiming in Hawken isn’t that hard for the experienced FPS player).  One of the key aspects of becoming a good player is learning how to analyze movement, and when new players adopt that general understanding they become better at landing their shots.  Dodges are predictable, and boosting is flawed due to the reasons outlined above.  Some weapons are harder to utilize than others, but most of them are hitscan variations, auto-locks, or manually detonable, making them easy to hit.  
Vertical Progression was implemented because the devs wanted to give players something to work towards.  Through this, a grind yielding accomplishment through unlockables and better mech stats was substituted for the real grind: playing to get better.  However, in deeper analysis, there isn’t much to improve upon with regards to “getting better.”  
In summation, Hawken’s movement mechanics need to be reworked to facilitate deeper and technical gameplay.  Raise the skill ceiling.
					
					
					
							Edited by Xacius, December 30 2013 - 06:41 AM.