KM expressed a desire to get The Living Daylights up and running for Beta 4. Obviously, not unlike The Man With the Golden Gun, it will need some tweaks to handle 24 pub monkeys spamming it up. Live and Let Die testing in OWS has shown that the one-vs-many opens the door for many players to not be able to do much, and thus have difficulty having fun. (Which is something I will ponder on for when I re-tool L&LD)
So, while teaching my lunch the meaning of OM NOM NOM NOM, I told myself to fix The Living Daylights, and so I did. Here're the details. Obviously figures are subject to testing but I think this set of mechanics addresses all the gameplay issues I could think of between NOMs.
The Living Daylights
Scenario: Players compete for possession of the token, which is required for normal earning of points. The flag-bearer player is forced to be unarmed and cannot drop the token -- it is held until the player dies.
Gameplay Mechanics
Holding the token.
Picking up the token earns 1 point. Additional points are earned every X seconds, where X is the token's value level, which increases by one every time a point is earned for possession, limited to 10. (Thus, you get a possession point after 1 second, then after 2 seconds, then after 3 more, etc., up to 10 second intervals.)
Flag-bearer melee.
The flag-bearer has only one weapon, slappers. A slap delivered to any player steals one point from that player.
Suicide.
If the flag-bearer commits suicide, points are lost equal to the token's value level. (This effectively removes all time-earned points, unless the token has been held for a minute or longer.)
Health and Armor.
The flag-bearer is restored to 100/100 when the token is acquired. Armor cannot be acquired by the flag-bearer.
Pickups.
Since the flag-bearer has no use for items -- ammo cannot be fired, weapons cannot be used, armor cannot be gained -- pickups are converted into time applied to the possession clock, thus:
Ammo Crate: 2 seconds.
Weapon: 3 seconds.
Armor Plate: 5 seconds.
Body Armor: 7 seconds.
Escaping combat.
When the flag-bearer is wounded, a ten-second clock is started. If the flag-bearer survives until that clock expires, a point is earned for a successful escape. (Any damage before the clock expires resets the clock to 10.)
Player speed.
The flag-bearer receives a speed boost. +50% is probably about right. (This ensures that the game is about map strategy and not just 11 people following behind one guy spamming Klobbs.)
Swiping the flag.
If a player kills the flag-bearer with a melee weapon, a bonus equal to the token's value level is immediately stolen from the flag-bearer.
Extra flags.
Tokens will be spawned such that there is one for every four players in the game. This spreads out the action and prevents people from suffering spawning in a "dead" part of the map. When the player count decreases such that there are too many tokens, when a token would be dropped, it is instead removed from play, and the player who killed that flag-bearer earns points equal to half of that flag's value level, rounded up, since that player did not receive a chance to carry the now-removed token.
Achievement Draft.
Boris the Bullet-dodger
While playing as Boris, escape after receiving bullet damage eight times during one possession of the token.
Jolly Roger (4+ players)
During one possession of the token, steal at least one point from each other player by slapping them.