: G3 Moontanning is going to be really hard to fine-tune to get that right. I'm
: starting to worry that nobody playing on Normal who doesn't already know
: of the branches is going to see level 5-7 at all. I think I'd rather it be
: almost impossible on TC rather than everybody miss it on Normal, but if we
: can balance it out somehow, that would be great.
Perhaps you could take advantage of the trooper's inherent grenadeorrhea on TC to change the amount of time the player has. Put a trooper outside the visible map area and have him face an enemy across a long corridor. Limit the movement of both and place a switch between the two of them. The switch, when activated, could momentarily delay the timing platform. The amount of the delay would be miniscule, but a trooper on TC would slow things down enough to give the player at least a 50% chance of beating the level if they really, really hurry. The slow-down on Normal, however, would be close to nonexistent. Contrived, yes, but no more so than other things that people have done in other scenarios (eg. the self-destructing enforcers in Tempus Irae).
: That'd be great if you could just pick up another weapon and steal it's ammo,
: but I don't think it's possible in the Marathon engine. Also, ammo
: readouts were intended, but the MML to get them working right makes my
: brain explode - maybe someone more versed in MML could help get it
: working?
Funny, but I didn't have any trouble with ammo on this level, but perhaps that's because I've learned a style of play from Dr. John that makes ammo unnecessary in a lot of places. Adam, you can't tell me that there aren't enough Pfhor staffs to suit your needs - you just want more trooper weapons, right? The bottom line is skill. I actually like the way weapons work here - when you exhaust one, you have to remember where to go to find a replacement. Oh, there's one very nice little secret that can help you in the last room - it's possible to punch the enemies in that room through the glass, even though they can't reach you in return. Punch one of the troopers enough times and you'll berserk them enough to take everyone else out in the room, including the MOAH. This isn't Forrest's fault - it's a bug common to the M2/MI/AO engine that works in almost any scenario with this sort of layout.
Ammo displays would be nice, but the weapons are so relatively short-lived that it's not that big a deal. Forrest, if you ever figure out the MML code, it would be appreciated, but don't sweat this one. Making the level less contrived is a far more important goal. Those arbitrary platform triggers are what led me to post the "Eternally Bored" post in the first place. Adam, you're going to fix this, right? I still like the idea of this contrived environment being Durandal's core - replace all platform trigger polys with switches and have them dim various data cores - each core activation would open a new area, just as in "Begging for Mercy".
