Level Design Recommended Improvements to Objective Systems

[Delta69er]

Hey all, I've been messing around with the Objectives so far, theyre pretty nice but theres some clear rigidity to them that doesnt allow for that much flexibility.

Below is a list of things that I believe if added will allow for a lot more flexibility in future objectives and generally more creative objectives for both TWI LD and community mappers. I feel like some of these changes can also help address the issues of the Objectives feeling too much like "Waiting Games".

• Dire need of a "Custom" Objective with a "End Objective" Kismet node
  • Currently if any functionality is required that falls outside the objectives, we can't really do anything about it (aside from an unintuitive lever objective for players; it doesn't communicate goal clearly and always remains 'READY' for the lever press). If we had the option to determine when a custom goal is complete and complete the objective this would be amazing. This would definitely be the biggest boost to Objective Mode.
  • Recommend a blank "Endless Exterminate Objective" which contains just endless spawning, when the player completes some custom kismet objective they can call the wave end or 'End Objective' node.
    • Would give the player the option to give a basic "Objective Name" in the properties to display in the little objective card UI element to override Localization
  • Example 1: I want players to complete the Killhouse/Simulation in Desolation, when they do, I can complete the Wave and stop Endless Spawning.
  • Example 2: This would also open up the option to do something like the Bloat or Pressure Plate Objective from KFO-FrightYard.

• Need a "Pause/Unpause Objective" Kismet Node
  • Example 1: I want players to do an "Activate Trigger" Objective on Desolation, but only be able to do it when the Power is On but keep the spawning up. A "Pause" node would be great to allow this flexibility
    • Would be possible to extend the 'too many zeds in the zone' for the functionality base just without the warnings.

• Ability to Activate more than 1 Repairable Actor at the same time
  • Having multiple actors at the same time would seemingly reduce the "waiting" feeling of completing this Objective and allow for additional team work; ie divide and conquer.
  • Additionally Change Repair health per player – we have the activation count per player but not repair health threshold.

• Ability to toggle off Trails and HUD icons for Collect
  • This would be extremely useful when multiple items are active at the same time. The ability to give the option to turn off trails and hud icons would allow for interesting "Hide-n-Seek" or "Hunt" objectives
  • Would only need to add 2 bools; 1 for trails and another for icons.
  • Would say this option would also serve a purpose on Repairable Objectives as well.

• Ability to Manually Activate Collect and "Activate" Lever Actors through Kismet Node.
  • This would be extremely beneficial if combined with the above mentioned Nodes.
  • Example 1: This would allow objectives that make you complete a user defined goal and then give them an object to take back
  • Example 2: The Gasoline Roulette could work in with this functionality.

• Zed Replacements do not remove Elites
  • I want an all Stalker Wave for example – but the EDARs ruin the threat/atmosphere of the objective; ie; Stalkers hunting players in darkness

• Need for a Minigame Button that is unlinked to the Generator
  • Current functionality ceases when the power is off since it is tied to the state of the generator
  • Possibly give us the option to also override text/'Activate'/localization

• There is a Door Disable but no Enable Kismet Node

• Option for Drone to Loop a path given
  • Ie; closed loop spline, set goal to be endless

Here are some other Misc stuff I noticed:

• BUG: NumDesiredActiveCollectibles determines how many CollectActors respawn after the ColletActor is dropped and resets. So if 3 Actors can be active, and 1 is delivered, dropping 1 actor after delivery and letting it reset will Respawn an additional Actor to make the total of NumDesiredActiveCollectibles, in this case 3. So even though 2 actors should only remain, there will be 1 extra actor created on the map after reset.
• BUG: When a CollectActor Respawns, it will respawn in a random location rather than its previous one.
• BUG: Repair Objective does not replace materials when switching from broken to fixed static meshes.
• Drone Idle animation isn't perfectly looped, clear skips occur when looping.
• Need the ability to bind or console command the Trader Skip
  • Spamming togglespawning is a bit annoying

Overall the Objective system is nice, but a bit too rigid - if some of the above nodes/additions were mentioned the Objective system would be extremely robust.

I'd like hear from other mappers messing around with their objective's and their thoughts on it so far; whether it be changes/additions or just overall opinions.

 

[kfour]

The Custom Objective with an End Objective Kismet node would definitely be a great addition. It would make it easier for mappers to create unique objectives without relying on the implementation of the existing ones.

This was somewhat doable prior to the update with the Activate Trigger objective, but it also relied on the UI affordance. With the current update to the objective, there's a "READY"/"NOT READY" text on the objective UI that breaks this affordance in some cases. It also makes some of the community maps that were developed prior to the update less intuitive since the maps were updated with the new UI (Example: the modified Activate Trigger objectives on the "Breakdown" map).

However, the addition of the Pause/Unpause Objective node in combination with the End Objective node would solve a lot of these issues and make it easier to implement unique objectives.

 

[13tisa13]

The Custom objective node with "Endless Exterminate Objective" is much needed for a variation of custom objectives!
I can see another gameplay being born just from this one node!

 

[DEFALTUSER24]

[/LIST]
[*]Example 1: I want players to complete the Killhouse/Simulation in Desolation, when they do, I can complete the Wave and stop Endless Spawning.
[*]Example 2: This would also open up the option to do something like the Bloat or Pressure Plate Objective from KFO-FrightYard.
[/LIST]

Pressure Plate objective is already possible using Hold zone objective i've managed to do it that way. But the bloat objective cannot be done without making the map unranked.
So, "end objective" Kismet Node would be a great addition to the game.

Another thing i want to mention is that it would be useful to have the ability to disable trader voice on custom maps, for example, again: FrightYard. I get the trader voice over Halliday's voice.

 

[Delta69er]

Pressure Plate objective is already possible using Hold zone objective i've managed to do it that way. But the bloat objective cannot be done without making the map unranked.
So, "end objective" Kismet Node would be a great addition to the game.

Another thing i want to mention is that it would be useful to have the ability to disable trader voice on custom maps, for example, again: FrightYard. I get the trader voice over Halliday's voice.

True, however I would say if you wanted to revert progress if you werent on the pressure pad like how it was originally, youre still limited a bit.

And great idea with the disable trader voice! I remember Seanchaoz mentioning wanting a feature like that as well on one of his maps.

 

[Yoshiro]

Thanks, making sure these get into our system as requests.