An idea on how this could work...
2 less energy tubes than the number of players. For example:
8 players per team, 6 energy tubes per team
7 players per team, 5 energy tubes per team
etc.
And this type of gameplay:
Once a player steals an energy tube and brings it back to his base, he must continue holding on to it (say, holding some kind of suppressing element to it), or it will become unstable and (after a few seconds, say 10) explode (thereby destroying everything around it, including the base, causing a loss of game).
If one does become unstable, a suicidal teammate has the opportunity however to pick it up and run with it as far as he can in order to get it out of the base and detonate beyond harms way (resulting in his death though).
A team that has secured (brought back to their base) all of the opposing teams tubes wins.
This kind of setup would create some interesting strategy scenarios:
-An 8 player team, in order to win, would have to have 5 teammates holding onto tubes within their base (vitually sitting ducks?) with only 3 remaining members left to retrieve the last tube and bring it back. As BlackJumper suggested, a blitzkrieg may be a very viable strategic plan so as not to have too many 'sitting ducks' left at the base.
-If implemented well enough, just one player could turn the whole game upside down, by killing one of the enemy 'sitting duck' players thereby causing the tube that enemy was holding on to to become unstable and explode the base.
-However, in the situation above, if the teammate 'sitting duck' players react quickly enough, they may be able to run the unstable tube from the base in time to save it.
I think this could be a very fun and challenging game variant.
A few balancing techniques might be required to get the gameplay just right.
For instance, maybe the tubes don't become unstable unless left alone for more than 5 seconds (and then 10 more seconds until they explode). This way, a player could drop a tube for a few seconds to deal with an opposing player, and then quickly pick it back up before it goes critical.
And, Or, the 'sitting duck' players may or may not have the ability to fight back while holding on to a tube. Perhaps they can use the tube as a (close proximity) weapon? Perhaps the tube is too fragile to use as a weapon.
A few trial games might be necessary to find out the most balanced gameplay.
I think I would love to see this become a real multiplayer game variant. It could work.
EDIT: I realize now that if a tube exploded, there would be an imbalance in the game (one less tube to retrieve). Maybe this could be dealt with by the team that lost the tube to just create another one... any ideas?
2 less energy tubes than the number of players. For example:
8 players per team, 6 energy tubes per team
7 players per team, 5 energy tubes per team
etc.
And this type of gameplay:
Once a player steals an energy tube and brings it back to his base, he must continue holding on to it (say, holding some kind of suppressing element to it), or it will become unstable and (after a few seconds, say 10) explode (thereby destroying everything around it, including the base, causing a loss of game).
If one does become unstable, a suicidal teammate has the opportunity however to pick it up and run with it as far as he can in order to get it out of the base and detonate beyond harms way (resulting in his death though).
A team that has secured (brought back to their base) all of the opposing teams tubes wins.
This kind of setup would create some interesting strategy scenarios:
-An 8 player team, in order to win, would have to have 5 teammates holding onto tubes within their base (vitually sitting ducks?) with only 3 remaining members left to retrieve the last tube and bring it back. As BlackJumper suggested, a blitzkrieg may be a very viable strategic plan so as not to have too many 'sitting ducks' left at the base.
-If implemented well enough, just one player could turn the whole game upside down, by killing one of the enemy 'sitting duck' players thereby causing the tube that enemy was holding on to to become unstable and explode the base.
-However, in the situation above, if the teammate 'sitting duck' players react quickly enough, they may be able to run the unstable tube from the base in time to save it.
I think this could be a very fun and challenging game variant.
A few balancing techniques might be required to get the gameplay just right.
For instance, maybe the tubes don't become unstable unless left alone for more than 5 seconds (and then 10 more seconds until they explode). This way, a player could drop a tube for a few seconds to deal with an opposing player, and then quickly pick it back up before it goes critical.
And, Or, the 'sitting duck' players may or may not have the ability to fight back while holding on to a tube. Perhaps they can use the tube as a (close proximity) weapon? Perhaps the tube is too fragile to use as a weapon.
A few trial games might be necessary to find out the most balanced gameplay.
I think I would love to see this become a real multiplayer game variant. It could work.
EDIT: I realize now that if a tube exploded, there would be an imbalance in the game (one less tube to retrieve). Maybe this could be dealt with by the team that lost the tube to just create another one... any ideas?