Jetpack flight.

So the avians recently were announced, kudos on an awesome idea for a race btw, and in the lore and on one of the sprites it mentioned that they forged jetpacks to constitute wings.

Now some people think that unlimited flight with jetpacks would be a game breaker and un-fair, and others favor the idea as most games don't do the unlimited flight thing, especially in a metroidvania.

Personally I think that jetpacks should be tiered (as with most items) and each tier has a fuel consumption level. As you go higher and higher on the tier chart the fuel you use will be less and less until the top tier, which could have unlimited flight do to some science fiction technology or something.

Give me your ideas people, what do you think?

 

Unlimited flight? Wow, never thought of that. But I don't think that'd be possible. Especially with this game. I can just imagine a guy flying around an entire planet at the very top of the sky. It would definitely be a game-breaker and unfair. However, maybe if there was a height limit on the jetpacks... that's actually a really good idea! :O

 

Lol man flying whit jetpack maybe it will be but you can get it only whit cheats

 

Who the hell would think anything in this game would give us unlimited flight?

 

Me.

 

Unlimited flight? No, just no.

 

There could be multiple aerial mobs, dangerous aerial mobs.

 

I think that the jetpack you start out with will be really terrible and it will be less than even a double jump height.
But along the way you can find or build better jetpacks with more: Hangtime, Thrust, Speed, and Agility.

 

Thats what I was saying. Upgrading or getting a higher tier jetpack will unlock a new level of flight.

 

But you also have to think about handling, how fast it will go up and other variables.
Jetpacks would get boring if it was just a matter of how high you went with them.

 

Valid point

 

Unlimited flight? No.
Jetpack upgrades for effectiveness? Yes.

 

I see all these people saying no to unlimited flight because of unfairness, what if you start with the really bad jetpack, and you fly around the planet until you you get the final upgrade, then that unlocks the higher atmosphere where there's dangerous monsters and things that you have to have to have unlimited, or a lot of fuel, to fight.As to how difficult that would be to even develop, I have NO idea.

 

An alternative would be to make people's heads violently explode at a certain height.

 

They could be tiered in the form of Fuel consumption, Fuel regeneration (the best jet packs might require vendor-bought fuel to work in order to balance the efficiency), weight/momentum (making it harder or easier to maneuver), and acceleration/thrust. Low tiered jet packs would only provide a gliding ability instead of actual flight.
Combine different grades of these abilities to the random item generation, and you'd get a lot of different types of jet packs.

 

In general, I have no issue with unlimited flight as long as there is solid reasoning for it and there are restriction or game play around it. Those that whine, and it is a whine, about it being game breaking are only taking one limited view point of the game into consideration. Example:

1: Vertical Jump Pack - The Verticle Jump System Mk 3 allows the user to have significant vertical motion with limited forward motion. This allows the user to get to high places more easily. But limits the user to a limited forward progress.

2: Flight Pack - The Flight Pack Mk. 2 allows the user, from a certain height, to jump forward and attain forward flight. Fuel containred with in the wings and the single mk5 personal jet engine allow the user of this system unparalleled ability freedom. This system is unarmed and the user can not use any other weapon or tool while in flight since both hands are needed to control the pack.

The examples are simple, but interesting. One allows a tribes like jump to different areas. While the other, from a set height, allows the user to fly over long distances. Both can open up new game possibilities and even PVP possibilities since a small group of flight pack equipped people could race around a planet to hit an enemy in the rear. Leaving both sides open to attack.

Throw in the possibility of flying enemies that can attack the player...and you have something interesting.

 

The only way I see unlimited flight would work would be an admin command, and maybe a "Map Creator Mode" for those adventure maps that will show up at some point.

 

My question would be, will a jetpack be standard equipment? Will it be like the grappeling hooks of terraria, where everyone has one, or will it be an item that is only really feasible for certain playstyles?

 

On the matter of 'unlimited flight', the only way I want to see that in the vanilla game, is for the Space station. I think it would be cool to fly around in a small ship and manually upgrade your station from the outside.

The map/mission creation tool should have an unlimited flight option. Probably in the same was as Minecraft creative mode has. That is, if you even control a character in that mode. Could be that tool that you only control the environment with your cursor, and select and add items from a menu on the side. I think that would be even more practical. Say if you control a character and you're making a labyrinth, you forget to add something to one part, and have to navigate back or dig through the sides. Would suck.

Anyway, for world exploration at least, flight should be as limited as possible. Too much freedom takes away some of the depth of the world in my opinion. No game is free from invisible (or visible) edges. Minecraft perhaps, but it's still limited on height and depth. Being given too much freedom adds a bigger chance of becoming aware of these edges, and instead of feeling that you're wandering around in this huge world, you get the creeping feeling that you're stuck in a confined area.
Keep it limited I say, for the sake of immersion and depth.

 

Also a very valid point.