Life Cycle Mode - What did you like/What would you change?

[JP]

Despite most server mods having chestburster protection, lifecycle mode is dead and is not enjoyable for the following reasons_

-facehugger is almost impossible to hit unless you spam like crazy, which everyone will

-5 mins into a lifecycle match both pred and human teams will be reduced to a squad of smartgunners or 15 pistol spamming predanoobs making it litteraly unplayable for poor fellla who wants to play alien

-chestburster gameplay with protection is very boring and consisting only in waiting while everyone else is spamming at eachother

-if chestburster protection is not enabled then you will get spammed like crazy by everyone else and thus instantly killed upon bursting and there is nothing alien team can do because static aliens have zero chances against human/predators

-disabling pred pistol/smartgun wont do anything since every other weapon has area damage and can be spammed like crazy, once again making it impossible for facehuggers/chestbursters.

-If the admin by a 10000000000000 to 1 chance removes every weapon that can be spammed which is pulse nades, nade launcher, smartgun, bazooka, pred pistol, shoulder cannon and bombs, every pred and human will leave because they will get mullered by the aliens.

[System Apollo]

Thanks for the explanations guys!

So in theory, if Life Cycle were it's own mode, it would be enjoyable if:

- Chestbursters had a 3 second immunity after bursting to give them a chance to get away, thus reducing body camping.
- It was Team based, not a straight up Deathmatch
- Teamwork on both sides (Humans/Aliens) was rewarded

Tell me more of what you would like to see in a dedicated Life Cycle mode.

How about:

- Ticket based? Aliens can choose to capture humans to be hosts for eggs. Humans can find fellow cocooned teammates and free them, which would buy back tickets for whichever side.
- Queen can summon two AI controlled warriors to protect her. Can also spawn eggs around the map which can be spawn points for teammates.

Life Form Succession suggestion:

- Facehugger > (1 kill) Chestburster > (30-45 second survival/Eating) '79 Alien or A3 Runner Alien (selectable) > (3 killstreak) '86 Warrior Alien > (+5 killstreak) Queen.

Eating as a Chestburster would reduce the morphing time by 3-5 seconds for each body/bite eaten but also leaves you vulnerable

Whether or not it is enjoyable is entirely up to the preference of the player. All that is needed is a bit of server enforcement and it should be okay in terms of spawning in. Your suggestions are really good although not possible unless the game is modded. I still look forward to more of your ideas.

[Lucifero]

even if the jp suggestions may be valid to obtain a server (more or less balanced) I am in disagreement.
you are simply assuming that you should play with a sole purpose of winning a game or have the highest number of killings.
escapes the concept of play just for fun, just to make 2 laughter among friends!
who cares if the aliens lose! or if the predator or the humans win!
some human or predator will be infected, as some will be killed facehugger or chestburster.
be unavoidable.
why?
simply because whoever wins we lose!

avp2 alien life cycle mod is a classic of the history of avp games!
and be a real shame that there are no servers with this mode.

[windebieste]

I'm wondering if the mode just wasn't suited to the maps that were available in the vanilla game.  What would it take to configure an appropriate map to the mode?  Would the mode suit Aliens against Marines players without the presence of Preds?  It's easy to isolate Pred spawns in a different part of the map if you build the map around the idea.

-Windebieste.

[KingKenny]

I'm wondering if the mode just wasn't suited to the maps that were available in the vanilla game.  What would it take to configure an appropriate map to the mode?  Would the mode suit Aliens against Marines players without the presence of Preds?  It's easy to isolate Pred spawns in a different part of the map if you build the map around the idea.

-Windebieste.

Any map with fog across the floor helps facehuggers.

[Olde]

-If the admin by a 10000000000000 to 1 chance removes every weapon that can be spammed which is pulse nades, nade launcher, smartgun, bazooka, pred pistol, shoulder cannon and bombs, every pred and human will leave because they will get mullered by the aliens.

Best summary I've ever read of AvP2.

Joking aside, JP is right. Honestly, I think the chestburster being vulnerable is fine, even with explosion spamming. At least, I never had a problem with it. The burster should morph into its adult form drastically sooner, however. The burster is always the worst part of lifecycle. It shouldn't last longer than 12-15 seconds.