I've been working on apex for a quite a while now. I started it towards the end of last summer, and picked it up again this winter break. So far the gamemode is pretty solid but there's not a lot of content to it. Mostly I have spent a lot of time refining the weapon base, ammunition, and item creation system. At the moment the gamemode is a pretty simple fps. Once I add in a decent loadout and shop menu, a way to get money, and some extra effects, it will be a lot like Stronghold minus the building and teams. But so far the gamemode is less of a complete Gamemode and more of a framework, something that can be molded into a gamemode easily. And so I've been thinking, we could have a simple FPS gamemode with simple building mechanics and make it our substitute for Stronghold, AND we could also use the same code to make a zombie survival, and so on. For now lets refer to the current code as the Apex Base, and an FPS gamemode as Apex FPS, and a zombie survival as Apex Survival, just to keep any confusion out when discussing this topic.
For Zombie Survival I was planing on doing it different from the current zombie survivals: You never become a zombie. It's always boring as fuck being a zombie unless your playing L4D2, and if you want that then you can play L4D2. Ideally the zombie survival would be a team effort to stop waves. You respawn at the end of every zombie wave and everyone looses when the entire team is dead. Nextbot will make good AI so the zombies won't be completely brain dead.
The FPS would really be aimed to replace Stronghold, so I would like the gameplay to be similar to most fast paced FPS shooters to allow easy roaming. But differently from Stronghold, I would like team play and base building/raiding to be more fun. In stronghold it's boring to raid and/or maintain bases. Mostly this is a result of the mechanics in the game that allow you to spam props in doorways and such. Plus prop climbing, spawn camping, and prop blocking are all controversial issues between Stronghold players and owners. Some servers allow it, others ban it. I think that the mechanics of the game should make those a non-issue by making them either impossible to do, having a downside, or having a weakness. Either way, there isn't enough content to make base wars fun in Stronghold so that is one feature I would like to enhance in Apex FPS.
Lastly, there's one more potential gamemode that I think can come out of Apex Base. HL2 Coop. We could either choose to have players use hl2 like weapons and go through the HL2 Campaign, modify the HL2 campaign levels and make things more interesting, or make our own Coop maps altogether (which entails a LOT of work for mappers). This is just a thought to be considered though, nothing more.
For Zombie Survival I was planing on doing it different from the current zombie survivals: You never become a zombie. It's always boring as fuck being a zombie unless your playing L4D2, and if you want that then you can play L4D2. Ideally the zombie survival would be a team effort to stop waves. You respawn at the end of every zombie wave and everyone looses when the entire team is dead. Nextbot will make good AI so the zombies won't be completely brain dead.
The FPS would really be aimed to replace Stronghold, so I would like the gameplay to be similar to most fast paced FPS shooters to allow easy roaming. But differently from Stronghold, I would like team play and base building/raiding to be more fun. In stronghold it's boring to raid and/or maintain bases. Mostly this is a result of the mechanics in the game that allow you to spam props in doorways and such. Plus prop climbing, spawn camping, and prop blocking are all controversial issues between Stronghold players and owners. Some servers allow it, others ban it. I think that the mechanics of the game should make those a non-issue by making them either impossible to do, having a downside, or having a weakness. Either way, there isn't enough content to make base wars fun in Stronghold so that is one feature I would like to enhance in Apex FPS.
Lastly, there's one more potential gamemode that I think can come out of Apex Base. HL2 Coop. We could either choose to have players use hl2 like weapons and go through the HL2 Campaign, modify the HL2 campaign levels and make things more interesting, or make our own Coop maps altogether (which entails a LOT of work for mappers). This is just a thought to be considered though, nothing more.
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