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RELEASED Tech - Stealth Tech (Decoy, wTw)

Discussion in 'Mechanics' started by Apjjm, Dec 11, 2013.

  1. Apjjm

    Apjjm Space Spelunker

    Last update: 04/04/14

    Shadow Tech
    This tech aims to add a little stealth / assassin flavor to combat. The current techs focus more on movement around terrain rather than combat, but maybe in the future as the mod API gets fleshed out some more i might introduce some more techs.
    Current Tech & Items

    Shadow Altar: Craft this to be able to craft the techs. Depending on if you install the balanced version or the "i want to test the techs" version, this will cost either ( 1000 pixels, 30 iron, 1 sacrificial altar) or (1 pixel).
    [​IMG]
    Shadow Walk: (walk through walls) Activating this tech (F) allows you to phase through solid objects. Hitting F a second time (or running out of energy) causes an explosion and deactivates the tech. The player cannot be hit by projectiles or enemies while this tech is active, however, enemies will still notice a big floating energy-ball go past! Costs 2000 pixels.
    [​IMG]
    Quantum Decoy: Activating tech (F) creates a decoy drawing the aggro associated with the player to the decoy for 3 seconds. The player becomes invisible to monsters whilst this tech is active (however, the player can still take damage). If the timer expires or the player launches an attack, the tech will deactivate generating an explosion at the player. If the player hits the special key (F) a second time, he will warp back to the decoy creating an explosion at the decoy. Costs 2000 pixels.
    Download & Installation

    Download links: (dropbox) (mods)

    Installation:
    1. Download & unzip the mod from one of the above links.
    2. Go to to the starbound installation folder. You may also wish to backup your player and universe folders.
    3. Copy/cut/move the folder "apjjm_shadowtech" into the "mods" folder
    4. open apjjm_shadowtech->recipes->darknessaltar and delete one of the two .recipe files:
      • Delete "darknessaltar.recipe" if you want to be able to craft the tech easily for the sake of testing
      • Delete "darknessaltar_easy.recipe" if you want to use the more balanced ingredients
      • If you delete neither you can chose either recipe
    5. open up the assets folder in the starbound directory
    6. open up player.config and add the following line at the START of the blueprints tier you think is appropriate
      Code:
      { "item" : "darknessaltar" },
    Known Issues:
    • The camera doesn't move when using the decoy, and placing blocks is weird - this currently a limitation i haven't figured out how to get around yet! (I don't want to resort to anything too hacky). I wanted to restrict item use from the decoy to weapons only, but there is no way to do this yet.
    • I get 4 error messages in starbound.log pertaining to <tech>-chip recipes - I honestly don't know how to stop these appearing, maybe this has something to do with the way tech-chip items are generated?
    • Beaming down during decoy can cause some hit-box issues under certain circumstances - use decoy again and it will fix itself.

    Shoutouts:
    SuperMandrew for testing, talking and giving me an initial idea for the decoy tech.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2014
  2. SuperMandrew

    SuperMandrew Cosmic Narwhal

    Very well done! I was actually looking at doing something with making a resulting explosion when warping in via Targeted Blink- this is great.

    I'd be interested in a seeing another version similar to Zer0's Decepti0n skill in Borderlands 2. For instance.. you shadow walk, and while you walk, you gain increased movement speed. As the energy can function as a timer here (or we just make sure the energy bar is full before use), one melee attack counts as double/triple/whatever, and the energy bar is depleted and shadow walk exits. I wonder if there's a way to drop a decoy some how...

    Couple questions about this (haven't had a chance to try it out yet):
    - Do monsters still "see" you/aggro you even if you're shadow walking?
    - Is there a requirement on a minimum amount of energy to use the move to prevent spamming just for an explosion? (I'm assuming so based on you talking about energy needed - wasn't sure if it was a suggestion or hard req)

    Great job!
     
  3. Apjjm

    Apjjm Space Spelunker

    Thanks! In answer to your post:
    -Monsters still aggro
    -You require 50+ energy to be able to activate the tech. The tech expires when you have ~50 energy left as this is the "cost" for the exit explosion!
    -Regarding the Decepti0n skill - This is something i can certainly look into, and i may be able to build a sister tech to this one with a focus more towards an assassination style gameplay. I have a few ideas about how to approach this which i would need to test first.​
     
  4. SuperMandrew

    SuperMandrew Cosmic Narwhal

    If there was a way to detect that there was a kill during the state, you could replenish the energy bar and allow the player to keep going, a la Decepti0n. However, not sure if there's a way to check this..

    I'm very interested in both of these techs. So if you'd ever like to bounce ideas on implementation/functionality or other versions of them, I'd love to talk!
     
  5. xtomass

    xtomass Orbital Explorer

    Like the way the Tech works and handles. Do wish it was slightly nicer to my energy bar :(

    Also covered it today on my Mod List series:
     
  6. Kid Childs

    Kid Childs Void-Bound Voyager

    How easy do you think it could be to combine this tech with something like blink or a boost? Could be sort of a toggle for noclip. I've been trying to get it to work as a double tech, but I'm no computer wizard.
     
  7. SuperMandrew

    SuperMandrew Cosmic Narwhal

    So you'd want the F key to toggle phasing, while a different key like G or H would be for blinking?
     
  8. tragicsz

    tragicsz Industrial Terraformer

    This is awesome.

    Gonna try it out.
     
  9. Kid Childs

    Kid Childs Void-Bound Voyager

    I'm trying to figure out how to combine the boost power with his phase power so that one could practically fly through the environment in any direction. I can't really get it to do anything though.

    I've actually been comparing the structure of your "Four techs at once" power to other techs to try and better understand what's going on.
     
  10. Tamarama

    Tamarama Guest

    Amazing! This should be in main.
     
  11. Apjjm

    Apjjm Space Spelunker

    Wow! thanks for all the comments. I will try to have an update out soon addressing the issues raised (things will be hectic for me over the coming week + i want to test a few ideas out too!). For now, if you would like to adjust energy costs (which i intend to do in the update) to play around with the tech for longer, they are in "shadowwalk.tech" and are found in two entries near the bottom called 'energyCostPerSecond' and 'deactivationCost'.
     
  12. zeriodgravity

    zeriodgravity Tentacle Wrangler

    Made an in-depth review about this mod and a tutorial included in how to install it ( for those still struggling ) :3




    Really nice mod, worth checking out. Can use it as offensive and defensive and as a mining tool if used correctly :p Love to see more work from you in the future !
     
  13. aMannus

    aMannus Space Kumquat

    This the most advanced tech I've seen so far. This is crazy. I will definitely be taking a look at this.

    This really deserves more attention than it's getting too, but that's just me.
     
  14. Jecoconono

    Jecoconono Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    CHALLENGE : Make a mod like in braid : Press a key and go in the past. Respawn particles, mobs, you before you die... etc. That. Would. Be. EPIC!
     
  15. SuperMandrew

    SuperMandrew Cosmic Narwhal

    This would be ridiculously resource intensive- so much that I'd say it's not possible. There are just too many variables. What would happen in multiplayer? How far across the planet would it effect? What if you dug in the environment, or dropped items and they had disappeared after the timer was up? You'd have to be constantly monitoring every input the player makes, keeping it in memory somehow, and then playing back all those actions in reverse order. Not only monitoring what the player does, but also how monsters acted and what they did. Even if you made a purchase at a shop, this would have to be taken into account as well.

    Good idea, but it's just not possible. Braid was completely designed around that idea so that it would be feasible- I can't see that working with Starbound.
     
  16. Jecoconono

    Jecoconono Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Thats why i call it a challenge xD
    Impossible to work in multiplayer.
    Would affect the whole planet.
    It could keep all the items in a txt file to remember where they are. Effect dosen't work after leaving an area
     
  17. SuperMandrew

    SuperMandrew Cosmic Narwhal

    Haha, it's a challenge, but an impossible challenge unfortunately. There's just no way.
     
  18. Jecoconono

    Jecoconono Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Dont say there is no way. Nothing is impossible. ;)
     
  19. aMannus

    aMannus Space Kumquat

    Even if it would be possible, it would be too stressing on pretty much any computer that's somewhat low end. Tracking ALL information pretty much every 1/10 of a second, including mob position, all blocks that are being broken/placed, inventory changes, health, energy, projectiles, and the list goes on. Now save all of that information that many times, and you'll have a resource hog like nothing else. A challenge is a challenge, something nearly impossible is something nearly impossible.

    Not even talking about rewriting said information every 1/10 seconds during the entire 'wind back in time' animation/script.
     
  20. Jecoconono

    Jecoconono Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Possible. I can see Notepad in task manager cpu usage : 100% you get a blue screen of death everytimes. Good times
     

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