Some corner cases to consider:
- if you throw a spear through a teleporter trigger, will it get teleported elsewhere?
- if a spear lands in water, does it keep its trajectory and land at the bottom of the pond? Does it swim on the water surface instead, i.e. form a bridge or at least a stepping platform that e.g. a Jumper could land on to make it across the pond?
- if a spear lands inside a fire area, does it dissolve (because it's most likely made of wood)? Or does it remain intact and can thus serve as a bridge across the fire?
- can a spear hit exit buttons?
Especially the first one is quite the rare corner case.
Generally
the spear interacts with terrain only and does not interact with objects as this would make the skill unnessesarily complicated. It already has enough going for itself.
So my answers would be:
- The spear itself can not travel through a teleporter.
- It just travels through water to the bottom of the pond.
- It does not get incinerated by fire.
- It cannot hit exit buttons.
To sum things up from the main topic:Constructive: Builder, Platformer, Stacker, Stoner (4)
Destructive: Basher, Miner, Digger, Fencer, Bomber (5)
Movement: Walker, Jumper, Shimmier, Climber, Floater, Glider, Swimmer (7)
Other:
* Blocker could be considered a non-movement skill, and affects the movement of other lemmings.
* Disarmer is the only skill that interacts directly with traps, putting it in a category of its own.
* Cloner is a unique skill that can duplicate a constructive, destructive or movement skill.
We currently have movement skills the most. As I think Lemmings is more about manipulating terrain, adding another constructive or even destructive skill is the right choice here. On top of that, I think investing too much into parkour skills could lead to us replicating errors L2 made.
We do not have a ranged skill at the moment so the spear thrower adds something we don't have right now.
No double assignment needed for the skill. You assign the skill and the lemming throws/shoots immidietly and the projectile arc begins. For the spear the angle in which the projectile hits terrain determines the shape of the added terrain.
The only thing the player needs to change to aim the skill the the position of the thrower - so where the arc begins ->
The precision would be roughly the same as a builder with a skill shadow.Just imagine a standard throw trajectory if you would throw a stone off a cliff. First you gain heigth then fall down again while the width gain begomes lower and lower changing the angle in the process.
So basically a jumper that does not simply fall straight down after the arc, but still has some width gain left that slowly becomes less over time.
If a spear hits terrain above it will most likely hit at the peak of the arc and create a mostly horizontal terrain piece.
If a spear hits terrain on the same level the angle will most likely be something around 45 degree and creates something like a little upwards ramp for lemmings.
If a spear hits terrain below it will hit at a more extreme angle and create a more steep piece of terrain with less width. The angle will also be a bit more extreme if the spear hits at the very start of the arc.
The ability to construct terrain below the lemming is also an ability we lack right now.
Use cases that I could think of so far:
- Stoners/stackers to create wider platforms or removing them.
- Destructive skills with make a path for the projectile to fly through.
- Create platforms for lemmings to fall on.
- Create terrain to shimmy under it.
- Cloners give the ability to hit the left and right side.
- Providing a floor for an object than is in mid air and next to a wall.
- A diagonal spear on flat ground could enable a platformer to be assigned there.
- A diagonal spear on flat ground could go over a smaller trigger area of a trap/teleporter.
- A vertical spear on the ground (thrown from above) could act as a blockade. This requires the level designer to choose the right height for the thowers platform --> no precision for the player.
- A spear on the ground could enable a delay in terms of a possible basher assignment.
- A diagonal spear on the ground could help a glider to gain enough height to start gliding. Also helpful for a jumper/shimmier.
