One of the challenges of current mission design is keeping hardcore gamers challenged while accommodating a wide range of skill levels. Some games, including Dark Souls, target the hardcore gamer market exclusively. Bioshock Infinite introduces a "1999" difficulty setting that intends to go back to the previous era of hardcore PC gaming and provide gamers with a higher level of challenge. Unfortunately, only Dark Souls has mission design crafted with hardcore gamers in mind though this makes it less approachable to gamers looking for Easy mode gameplay. Often games are designed in Hard mode and both hardcore gamers and Easy mode gamers get slightly tweaked versions with no new mechanics introduced aimed specifically at them. A potential solution to this problem in RTS is the introduction of supplementary challenges with a very specific purpose: to provide hardcore gamers with another game element to complete that occurs often and allows them to develop pattern-recognition skills that will help them improve at the game itself. Rather than labelling them optional missions that could accidentally entice Easy mode players into attempting them to scratch any completionist itch they might have, the mission should be unheralded and rewarded only with the kills the player amasses during this period. There are many other solutions to this problem, but I am focusing on developing this level with one mechanic in mind with the hope that playtesting will reinforce my hypothesis that the hardcore gamer experience would be improved through the introduction of this mechanic.
To distinguish these optional missions as one specifically built for this purpose, I coined them "diverts" (which is also the name of this project). The following series of pictures illustrates the life cycle of diverts, although it uses common terminology so that it is easy to appreciate the idea by viewing these images alone.
The example of a divert used in this demonstration is based on MOBA gameplay elements and begins with a large area of effect attack that leaves most units dead except for a slowly retreating and heavily damaged "prize" unit. The destruction of this prize unit should be intrinsically rewarding or provide the player with lots of money or experience, so that they really want to hunt it down. If a similar experience occurs throughout the game with every large area of effect explosion, then diverts could be considered a feature of the strategic combat system rather then an aspect of mission design used in a few instances.
To distinguish these optional missions as one specifically built for this purpose, I coined them "diverts" (which is also the name of this project). The following series of pictures illustrates the life cycle of diverts, although it uses common terminology so that it is easy to appreciate the idea by viewing these images alone.
The example of a divert used in this demonstration is based on MOBA gameplay elements and begins with a large area of effect attack that leaves most units dead except for a slowly retreating and heavily damaged "prize" unit. The destruction of this prize unit should be intrinsically rewarding or provide the player with lots of money or experience, so that they really want to hunt it down. If a similar experience occurs throughout the game with every large area of effect explosion, then diverts could be considered a feature of the strategic combat system rather then an aspect of mission design used in a few instances.
These are the territories displayed in the Company of Heroes 2 World Builder. The centre tower is the point that allows the purple territory to be captured automatically when units are near it. Player-controlled units are entering from the bottom of the screen, where previous gameplay for this mission has occurred. The top green territory has a large number of enemy units, and the player will be overwhelmed at this point of the mission if they attempt to invade.
The threat level is too high for the player to capture the purple territory until they have gained the command points to call down an airstrike on it. An airstrike clears all the infantry, except for the sniper who escapes into the rear garrison. The explosion also damages the tank and hits its engine, slowing its retreat. The front garrison covers its retreat with light machine gun fire.
Once an experienced player has seen a few diverts, they will begin to anticipate these challenges and try to bring their units in immediately after the airstrike or other large area of effect attack to gain a slight advantage. In this case, they have brought one armoured car which, for the purposes of demonstration, has a "Armour Piercing Burst" ability that grants damage bonuses in addition to the "Overdrive" ability which increases the unit speed for a short duration. Overdrive is currently active, allowing the player to bring the armoured car from the base into position to participate in the divert. If Armour Piercing Burst is used at the first chance, then the attack bonuses will allow higher damage throughout the chase. Here, the player is distracted by moving infantry to engage the front garrison and capture the purple territory. Armour Piercing Burst is not activated until the tank has retreated halfway between the two garrisons, and the player is doomed to failure in the divert although the primary objective is completed sooner as a result of moving the infantry immediately.
This is where the player is taught a lesson in the relative strength of units - the kind of lesson that will be valuable to a hardcore player. but would amount to an unexplained failure for most mid-core gamers. The skills gained in this challenge include understanding the risks of chasing a unit into enemy territory and knowing when to abandon the objective and escape. Tuning these diverts must be approached with specific learning objectives appropriate to each mission while keeping a fair progression of difficulty throughout the game. A player who fails a divert should be able to answer the question "why did I not succeed in this mission?" without scouring the internet for walkthroughs and unit details. In addition, punishment can be offset by learning to play defensively allowing good students who do not meet a particular challenge to minimize their losses.
This is the point of no return where the player must decide whether the high risk of entering machine gun range is worth a continually diminishing chance at destroying the prize unit. The variables include the current health of their armoured car and tank, the rate of damage they have been able to inflict on the tank, and the rate of damage that a machine gun does to an armoured car as seen in previous encounters. A skilled player that does not realize the odds are against them must continually assess the situation to assure the safety of their unit. This create a period of highly increased intensity where the player must focus more than they would on other parts of the mission, creating a rush all too familiar to the millions of MOBA players worldwide.
Diverts are intended to accomplish several desirable objectives: engage hardcore gamers even when mission design for the rest of the game is aimed at lower level mid-core gamers, provide learning examples for players to gain practical knowledge that can be supplemented but is not based entirely on checking unit statistics, and provide a rush at key moments of gameplay to get gamers to keep playing new missions until they have completed them all.
In order to prove this concept, I need to develop this map more by diving deeper into the modding community to gain the World Builder skills, Lua/SCAR skills, and CoH2 unit statistics knowledge needed to complete this level. My current design would require a second player to fake the AI of the enemy, but perhaps there are ways around this limitation. In addition, the map is set up as a 1v1 match, which is not available when I log on to the Company of Heroes 2 servers. Hopefully, I will be able to overcome these barriers in the not too distant future and demonstrate the concepts outlined in this post.
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