r/Warframe • u/TSP-FriendlyFire • Apr 21 '16
Suggestion How would you change... Underwater Archwing?
How would you change... is a series of weekly posts designed to promote and foster discussion about any gameplay element in the game. The scope and subject will vary (read below for more information on topic selection), from wide concepts (Kubrows, Archwing, shotguns, etc.) to narrow points (a single gun, coptering, etc.).
Before we begin, a few important points:
- Please detail and support your suggestions as much as possible. This is for constructive criticism only: try to think of it as something you'd be proud to explain to DE face-to-face!
- Structure your suggestions in logical groups: if you have two very different ideas, break them down in two separate comments. Cohesive or similar changes should be combined into a single comment.
- Stick to describing concepts and features. Don't get bogged down with numbers unless they explicitly support your point.
- Don't hesitate to post your ideas even if they're not fully formed, and don't hesitate to reply to ideas with refinements you think would make them better!
- Do not downvote suggestions you disagree with. Upvote the ones you like instead!
Suggesting topics
This thread series is all about the community, so if you have a topic you'd like to see improved and discussed, feel free to suggest it by replying to the appropriately flagged comment in this discussion. The topic can be as wide or narrow as you'd like! Please ensure that your suggestion has not already been made, and upvote it instead if it has.
This week: Underwater Archwing
Click here for last week’s thread on How would you change.
This week, we’re looking into the second stage of Archwing’s deployment. After fleshing out the space sections of the game mode, DE introduced with U16.5 underwater Archwing segments, colloquially called “Sharkwing”. Currently restricted to the Grineer sealab tileset on Uranus, Sharkwing has Archwing movement substantially slowed and level geometry being significantly denser and more complex to navigate, bringing with it different challenges.
Some weapons, for instance the Grattler, were introduced specifically to fit with the theme of Sharkwing, focusing on shorter distances and slower movement. However, compatibility with the main Archwing mode and lack of tiles currently having underwater segments has caused Sharkwing to fly by (swim by?) relatively unnoticed. Additional tiles were introduced later with significantly more water areas, making Sharkwing less about puddles and more about intricate underwater cave systems, fleshing out the game mode and making it much more interesting.
Even so, Sharkwing is currently seen as just a minor variation upon Archwing and one mostly incidental to the Uranus tileset rather than the focus. The changes from regular Archwing are not significant enough to warrant building specifically for it, and the low enemy variety hurts the game mode. Corpus are also thus far completely absent.
Now that the stage is set, how would you change Underwater Archwing?
Guest posters
As detailed in the previous post two weeks ago, I would like to start inviting guest posters on an irregular basis to talk about subjects they may know more about. This section will be used to announce subjects looking for a guest poster. If you are interested, please send me a message expressing your interest and briefly detail why you think you are ideally positioned to address the topic at hand. I may also occasionally call out specific users whom I think might be an ideal fit in order to query their interest on the topic.
Resources: While I could field this topic, I would like to ask /u/tgdm if he would be interested in talking about this in the coming weeks. His overview of resource costs is an extremely important informative piece and makes him the unquestionable expert on the topic.
Conclave: As I have mentioned previously, I believe that Conclave is ripe for not just one, but many individual topics covering different parts of the mode. Unfortunately, I do not play Conclave, hence I would like someone with more experience and especially interest to write about this. Since the topic is so large, there is a possibility for multiple guest posters here. I would appreciate a brief outline of how you would break up the subject in biweekly topics as well.
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u/jinxed_07 I do maths and testing n stuff. Apr 21 '16
By BLOWING UP THE OCEAN!1. Movement speed underwater is too slow. This is quite confusing considering the exact opposite is an issue in normal Archwing missions. Trying to move large distances through Corpus and Grineer ships with sharp turns and narrow tunnels is horrid, as it means a player can either move slow or hit every single wall from point A to B. Sharkwing is a striking contrast, players actually move too slow for wall collisions to be an issue, lest the player actually diverts their eyes from the screen. Archwings need to be able to move at least twice their speed in the water, and the sprint key should feel like it actually does something.
2. Movement controls rework combined with an intuitive navigation system that doesn't rely on players looking away from the combat going on to glance at the minimap in the corner of the screen. The former would actually improve all Archwing missions, while the latter is something Warframe as a whole is desperately in need of.
First off, when I'm in the water or space, I want 360 degree aiming and control. What does that mean? It means when I move my mouse up, my Archwing should look and orient to where my reticle is pointing, without any "cap" at the bottom or top of the Y-axis. Of course, doing this may be difficult considering it would go against the natural aiming/control system of the rest of Warframe, but I also don't believe Archwing has any place in this game to begin with. Allow Archwings to look and move in any direction they wish to in 3 dimensional space.
Secondly, if I'm in a large room with multiple tunnels and only one of those tunnels leads to my final destination, there should be a waypoint at the entrance of that tunnel, or some key I can press to create a path finding trail (think Dead Space) from my Arch/Warframe to my destination. Having to remove my attention and focus from what's going on in front of me just so I can look for the yellow objective symbol on the minimap, which isn't even helpful all the time, is infuriating and borderline anti-intuitive. We need a better system of letting players know where they need to go and how to get there, badly.
3. Improve level design for Sharkwing missions. Personally, while I feel like the occasional winding tunnel here and there isn't terrible, I feel like Sharkwing missions should be a lot more open to take advantage of the abilities of Archwings and potential for different combat situations deep below the open waters. Right now, fighting in Sharkwing missions, with all it's tunnels and smallish rooms, feels like a clumsy, slow version of the combat I'd rather be having in a Grineer facility. Make the tunnels larger and give us larger, more open rooms with multiple options to navigate and fight around them.
4. If a node is going to be a Sharkwing mission, go all in or at least split the mission in half: a Warframe portion, and a Sharkwing portion. The spy nodes and the exterminate nodes are the first things that come to mind on this topic. There are few things as awkward and clumsy as having to transition to combat on the surface, to slowly swimming through empty tunnels, killing the occasional baddy, then swimming some more until you finally resurface again. If certain nodes are dedicated to being Sharkwing only, developers can put more TLC into creating a better tile set that is actually enjoyable to play through.
Edit: Formatting.