thinking of tricolor ranked modes for fun

[sevenleaf]

i don't necessarily think tricolor ranked modes are a likely addition nor a good addition, but i thought it'd be fun to think about. here are my ideas:

Splat Zones: might be the most straightforward; there is a zone (or zones), and the three teams are fighting to cap it, like in normal SZ. defenders win if their team gets the most points or KOs; attackers win if both attacking teams' scores combined are greater than the defenders' score (or, in theory, if one team KOs, but that's less likely i'd think), with the attacking team that scored higher winning winning. ultra signals still spawn, but they don't spawn Sprinklers of Doom, because i think that'd be a little OP in zones as opposed to turf? i'm torn between the signals being unlimited and just capping the zone, and the signals spawning smaller, but still indestructible sprinklers (Sprinklers of Impending Doom?)

Tower Control: as opposed to the X formation spawn points take on in most tricolor turf maps, with attackers on opposing poles and defenders on the other opposing poles, tricolor TC is more like how triforce scorch gorge was (iirc) - it's more a Y formation, with the attackers spawning in together on one side and the defenders with distinct bases on the other side. the tower path, too, splits in the middle. there's one path towards the attackers' side, but the split in the path is for each attacking team to take the tower in a different direction. as with SZ, defenders win if they KO or if their score is greater than both attacking teams' scores combined. lengths of the tower path in either the attackers' direction or the defenders' direction might be different? ultra signals either spawn Sprinklers of Doom that paint in critical spots or, like the alternate idea for SZ, are unlimited (but only have a chance to spawn when an attacking team is already in control of the tower?) and boost the tower forward a bit when successfully taken.

Rainmaker: i haven't come up with anything new for RM so tentatively similar vibe to TC, with the Y formation and separate checkpoints/goals for each attacking team and all that. ultra signals, again, would either spawn Sprinklers of Doom in key places for each attacking team or... maybe they affect the rainmaker timer? like, if you get the signal and your teammate has the rainmaker - first of all, go defend them, what are you doing - second, it'll give them extra time, but if another team has the rainmaker and you get the signal, it knocks some time off the carrier's timer

Clam Blitz: yknow what let's make this weird, in the spirit of clam blitz. there's ONE basket in the center of the map; it's the defenders' job to prevent either attacking team from KOing. the defenders can't score any points themselves, but they win if neither attacking team KOs. each attacking team has a separate counter starting at 100 (or maybe less, considering how stalemate-y normal CB can get?). when one attacking team breaks the basket, the only ones who can deposit clams are the two members of that team; i can't think of it right now but i think it'd be fun if there were an incentive for the other attacking team to end the push instead of just fighting back against the defenders to let the scoring team score. ultra signals spawn power clams when captured, i think (or just spawn Sprinklers of Doom in critical spots like in the other modes i guess)

feel free to critique my ideas or pitch your own!

also this isn't a real 3 am post, i started writing this in the afternoon and just didn't finish it until 3 am

 

[QuagSass]

I want the rainmaker to go fast and shoot in a spread like in the rainmaker challenge. Could maybe do it so that securing the signal gives the rainmaker that boost until they get splatted. If the rm hasn't been grabbed when the signal is secured it could give the boost once it gets grabbed. Alternatively if the rm hasn't been grabbed, then everyone just gets the tacticooler effect. A sort of "you're buffed, now go push" signal

 

[Aiko.Octo]

What a wild concept. I don't think I've ever thought about this before. Though the part of me that cringes at having to defend in any ranked mode is terrified by the thought of being put on an explicitly defending team in any ranked mode, lol. A single clam basket sounds hilarious though. It would also be funny if defenders could collect clams but they couldn't make power clams; they would just gather them and throw them off the map to starve the attackers of clams.

 

[electronvolt]

Add an extra rainmaker. There's one more team than usual, so why not one more rainmaker?

If you actually wanted it to work, you'd probably need to decrease the rainmaker timer. Maybe also nerf the RM itself, since there's 2 now?

 

[vitellary]

i think it'd be fun if there were an incentive for the other attacking team to end the push instead of just fighting back against the defenders to let the scoring team score.

it's hard to think of how else to balance this but i will point out that this would functionally turn a clams push into a 6v2, which uh, sounds a little impossible to win lol. maybe both teams could score, but the team that didn't break it open only gets half-points? so you're encouraged to try to be the team to open the basket, and can compete with the other attackers for gathering clams to try to score for yourself once it's opened, but it's still generally a 4v4 of "scorers versus defenders"

very fun to think about, i might come back to this later with some thoughts on the other modes because it's interesting to try to think of how to turn them into asymmetrical gameplay loops that are fun for both sides

 

[sevenleaf]

*follows up on my own post 2 days later*

I want the rainmaker to go fast and shoot in a spread like in the rainmaker challenge. Could maybe do it so that securing the signal gives the rainmaker that boost until they get splatted. If the rm hasn't been grabbed when the signal is secured it could give the boost once it gets grabbed. Alternatively if the rm hasn't been grabbed, then everyone just gets the tacticooler effect. A sort of "you're buffed, now go push" signal

ooooh that'd be fun. getting the challenge buffs would make sense too as something attackers could get from signals - either attacking team pushing could potentially become a 6v2, if the other attacking team decides not to support them, so the challenge buffs could help the carrier survive in a situation like that

Add an extra rainmaker. There's one more team than usual, so why not one more rainmaker?

If you actually wanted it to work, you'd probably need to decrease the rainmaker timer. Maybe also nerf the RM itself, since there's 2 now?

oh this would be chaotic. i don't know how this would work work but i love it

What a wild concept. I don't think I've ever thought about this before. Though the part of me that cringes at having to defend in any ranked mode is terrified by the thought of being put on an explicitly defending team in any ranked mode, lol. A single clam basket sounds hilarious though. It would also be funny if defenders could collect clams but they couldn't make power clams; they would just gather them and throw them off the map to starve the attackers of clams.

the idea of taking clams as defender just to throw them off the map makes me think of this comic lol

could actually add some interesting dynamics too on top of just being funny - maybe as a defender, you notice a nearby attacker has 7 clams. you could kill them, but your weapon's a pretty bad matchup against theirs. maybe you could take clams and retreat until a teammate can swoop in and fight them off...

it's hard to think of how else to balance this but i will point out that this would functionally turn a clams push into a 6v2, which uh, sounds a little impossible to win lol. maybe both teams could score, but the team that didn't break it open only gets half-points? so you're encouraged to try to be the team to open the basket, and can compete with the other attackers for gathering clams to try to score for yourself once it's opened, but it's still generally a 4v4 of "scorers versus defenders"

very fun to think about, i might come back to this later with some thoughts on the other modes because it's interesting to try to think of how to turn them into asymmetrical gameplay loops that are fun for both sides

FAIR POINT lol. i like your solution tbh - tricolor turf has a good balance, i think, between incentives to work with the other attacking team or to fight them as well as the defenders, and choosing between getting full points during an active push and letting the other team score to keep the defenders down would serve that purpose well