More psychotic psi reavers

[673f896189363ZylonBane]

Just a random thought... I wonder how people would like it if getting near SS2's psi reavers had a disorenting audio/visual effect similar to HL2's Combine Advisors, or STALKER's Brain Scorcher. Might make them a bit more properly terrifying to fight.

I figure psi reavers turned out more lame than Irrational planned them to... basically awkward slow-moving turrets that mumble every now and then. Compare to the experience of encountering a hammer haunt in Thief.

[673f8961894f8Vegoraptor]

Sounds "nice", some sort of tunnel vision would definitely appear apropriate.
You could even make the player just a little bit slower, since they have to concentrate on keeping the Reaver's prodding PSI-Whatevers out of their head...

[673f8961899b3RocketMan]

Frictional used this mechanic to great effect in all their games and it worked wonders but it's tricky to pull off seamlessly.  What would the engine allow in terms of audio/visual effects?  Another idea is to do this sort of thing only for the greater reaver, which I always felt was terribly nerfed in the game and which should have been a more developed enemy to show the end of the annelid lifecycle.  Sure the brain and a projection is all that's left but that's almost intuitive, if not plausible.  I wanted to see what the next stage would be after that!

[673f896189ae5ZylonBane]

The psychic attack effects are pretty much just sounds and player view overlays. Dark can handle that stuff easily.

[673f896189c82Kolya]

IIRC fighting the disappearing projections felt like fighting multiple reavers, since the game has this tendency to appear new enemies around the corner that all look the same anyway.
Would be nice if their dis/reappearance happened more often but also only in close vicinity. Zap-zap!

[673f896189f9bThiefsieFool]

I had a lot of notes about super-powered psi reavers from back when we were working on a ss2 "marines" campaign where the shooting and the enemies were all souped up, the reavers would create harmless hallucinations of other monsters to confuse you, and their main attack if it connected would place a depleting "Mind Bar" on your screen, and the Psi Reaver would have to be killed before the bar was empty or you would die.

[673f89618a267Marvin]

Interesting suggestion, though I fear the effect could stick out too much. The STALKER games have a ton of different OSD effects for certain attacks, monsters, and environmental effects which are used to identify dangerous areas for the player to back off in time.
If such an effect were added to SS2, it would be nice to have accompanying ones for other situations, where appropriate. Examples would be a subtle screen shake for approaching rumblers, a nausea effect when near eggs, a disorienting vision when fighting the brain, that kind of stuff.

[673f89618a3bbJoin2]

Sure. They need something.

Proposition for different psi attacks? Quantum relocation (teleport to another location in the room)? Scripting needed ofc. Maybe one for the Secmod.

[673f89618a530voodoo47]

such additions are probably a bit too much for the current true to the original SCP - so maybe it's time to start thinking about the enhanced fork semi-seriously.

[673f89618a618RocketMan]

It could just be a plain mod for now.  Not everything needs to be folded into SCP.

[673f89618a895voodoo47]

this will most likely require gamesys and map modifications too complex for a dml mod. that means you will have to fork them, and redo the mod each time they get updated - something you want to avoid if it can be helped (I'm doing this in TFix to maintain TDP compatibility and it's annoying as hell).

a more viable way of doing this would be setting everything up in the (SCP) resource files, make the setups inactive in some smart way, and then use an optional dml for activation. I have actually already tested this - the Stasis Trap minimod does exactly that (links/wakes up a setup that lies dormant within SCP). same goes for the many.mis With WormBlend Implant mod.

that way, you would only have to maintain one branch of the resource files - technically, they would be the enhanced version, but they would work like vanilla, unless the activator dml would be present. again, this has already been tested - TFix and its candle setup (maps and gamesys faking the vanilla functionality unless the activator dml is there).

so basically, you have just one set of resources, and can switch between normal and enhanced mode just by pressing a
(dml) button. fun fact - this could be an actual button placed somewhere in the first level.

[673f89618accaZylonBane]

Proposition for different psi attacks? Quantum relocation (teleport to another location in the room)?

Just shoving the player away would be a great addition. It always felt dumb being able to walk right under a psi reaver and start banging on it with a wrench.

[673f89618adc6voodoo47]

don't know - it feels good to be smashing pumpkins into small piles of putrid debris.

[673f89618aeaaZylonBane]

Another thing, not sure if possible-- modifying the psi reaver barks so you hear them "in your head" instead of directionally.

[673f89618b2c0RocketMan]

this will most likely require gamesys and map modifications too complex for a dml mod. that means you will have to fork them, and redo the mod each time they get updated - something you want to avoid if it can be helped (I'm doing this in TFix to maintain TDP compatibility and it's annoying as hell).

a more viable way of doing this would be setting everything up in the (SCP) resource files, make the setups inactive in some smart way, and then use an optional dml for activation. I have actually already tested this - the Stasis Trap minimod does exactly that (links/wakes up a setup that lies dormant within SCP). same goes for the many.mis With WormBlend Implant mod.

that way, you would only have to maintain one branch of the resource files - technically, they would be the enhanced version, but they would work like vanilla, unless the activator dml would be present. again, this has already been tested - TFix and its candle setup (maps and gamesys faking the vanilla functionality unless the activator dml is there).

so basically, you have just one set of resources, and can switch between normal and enhanced mode just by pressing a
(dml) button. fun fact - this could be an actual button placed somewhere in the first level.

THAT is cool

[673f89618b5a8RocketMan]

Another thing, not sure if possible-- modifying the psi reaver barks so you hear them "in your head" instead of directionally.

I thought of this too but didn't know if the engine supported the effect.  I guess EAX itself kinda does but not sure how to make it work in dark.

Frictional games deterred you from getting a good look at monsters by messing with your vision and creating audio distress if you got too close or stared.  Maybe getting too close to the reaver projections could cause a combination of alarming effects, some visual using overlays, some disturbing sounds and perhaps some sort of repulsor (or attractive/sucking!) effect similar to a flow brush.  Maybe the reaver itself could start changing color using some texture animation or material effects to indicate distress?

Maybe the reaver could be like a gravity well.  If you get close it draws you in while putting disturbing sounds in your head, pulsating and screwing with your screen.  If you make physical contact it causes severe damage and blacks out your screen

[673f89618bb5bMarvin]

I thought of this too but didn't know if the engine supported the effect.  I guess EAX itself kinda does but not sure how to make it work in dark.

EAX has nothing to do with that. In any case, it's room-based in SS2, so you can't actually do anything with individual enemies.

I don't really know how you'd approach this. Silent enemy barks triggering fake emails? It's a great idea, though, there's no downside to it.

[673f89618bc76Kolya]

Maybe a speaker can be attached to the player.


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[673f89618be13Da9L]

This is a nice idea. Yes they need some sort of change they are pretty boring.

How about also making the effect less apparent to the player if they, themself have a higher tier of PSI skill ? Making it so because the player is in better control of their own mind

[673f89618bf8aJDoran]

This would all be brilliant (aside from Mr Speaker-head, of course!). Applying different effects to different enemies, as Marvin suggests, would make the game even more immersive, and Da9L's suggestion of letting a higher Psi skill level mitigate the effects on the player from Psi enemies would be a great additional game mechanic.