Xenocide: What a shame...

Michal Bielinski wrote:
> B0rsuk wrote:
> [snipped opinion about meele being unstylish for sci-fi roguelikes,
> left part that probably describes the point well enough]
> > As you may expect, I grew tired of Fallout-style Power Armors,
> > superstrong personal forcefields etc. I'd like to see sci-fi roguelike
> > with roots in the present warfare.
> > What was I talking about ? Ah, yes. Melee monsters should inspire fear.
> > For me, if you can survive a lot of time with a monster in melee
> > combat, the suspense is gone. Things get much less dramatic when you
> > realize the monsters who filled all these levels with severed limbs,
> > guts, pools of blood are actually not so scary.
>
> On this I agree fully. Very few Xenocide monsters are deadly in meele
> combat. Wasps do that well but only thanks to poison attack. Kamikaze
> bots would be good if turning them off wasn't so easy to character who
> practiced mechanical skills a bit. What bugs me most is that creatures
> having radiation attack should be ones you are afraid to just get near
> not even mentioning touching it. Instead radiation is only slightly
> tweaked type of poison.

Whether or not the Doom-like route is taken, I agree with this point as
well. Melee monsters are weak. An unexperience fighter shouldn't be
able to escape his first fight with a limb-severing monster with 17 HP
left. When I first tried this game, I was expecting these monsters to
massacre me up close, after reading the story.

Even if melee remains a good option throughout the rest of the game, as
I'd like, it shouldn't be an option without risk. I should, for
example, be afraid of dieing if I have to fight more than one or two
enemies at a time, and should have to use techniques like fighting
enemies one-on-one in corridores/doorways, and luring enemies with
ranged weapons into small rooms, to stay alive. Currently, I could run
into a group of enemies and fight them all at once, and come out just
fine, if a little injured.

Actually, I'd like it if other roguelikes had more dangerous melee as
well.

Michal Bielinski wrote:
> B0rsuk wrote:
> [snipped opinion about meele being unstylish for sci-fi roguelikes,
> left part that probably describes the point well enough]
> > As you may expect, I grew tired of Fallout-style Power Armors,
> > superstrong personal forcefields etc. I'd like to see sci-fi roguelike
> > with roots in the present warfare.
> > What was I talking about ? Ah, yes. Melee monsters should inspire fear.
> > For me, if you can survive a lot of time with a monster in melee
> > combat, the suspense is gone. Things get much less dramatic when you
> > realize the monsters who filled all these levels with severed limbs,
> > guts, pools of blood are actually not so scary.
>
> On this I agree fully. Very few Xenocide monsters are deadly in meele
> combat. Wasps do that well but only thanks to poison attack. Kamikaze
> bots would be good if turning them off wasn't so easy to character who
> practiced mechanical skills a bit. What bugs me most is that creatures
> having radiation attack should be ones you are afraid to just get near
> not even mentioning touching it. Instead radiation is only slightly
> tweaked type of poison.

Whether or not the Doom-like route is taken, I agree with this point as
well. Melee monsters are weak. An unexperience fighter shouldn't be
able to escape his first fight with a limb-severing monster with 17 HP
left. When I first tried this game, I was expecting these monsters to
massacre me up close, after reading the story.

Even if melee remains a good option throughout the rest of the game, as
I'd like, it shouldn't be an option without risk. I should, for
example, be afraid of dieing if I have to fight more than one or two
enemies at a time, and should have to use techniques like fighting
enemies one-on-one in corridores/doorways, and luring enemies with
ranged weapons into small rooms, to stay alive. Currently, I could run
into a group of enemies and fight them all at once, and come out just
fine, if a little injured.

Actually, I'd like it if other roguelikes had more dangerous melee as
well.