Hi there, thanks for reading my post. To avoid a bit of confusion I am going to start with a few notes on what this post is and isn’t about, and reserve a bit of space for additions to this, if I realize down the line that I didn’t catch all potential misunderstandings up front. I will do it in the form of FAQ. Then I will go through what Chase is in 8 points, and then elaborate and share my thoughts on it. Finally I will say a bit about how I might continue with from here.
“FAQ”
Q: Where can I find this Game Mode’s Workshop Code?
A: As of Dec 2. 2024, I haven’t started on any workshop version … yet.
Q: Yo know that this isn’t a forum where you can order game modes?
A: Yes, absolutely, this isn’t a request for other people to make it, but I am sharing my idea, and how it goes with the community for good spirit.
Q: Isn’t this just Escort but with worse spawns for defenders?
A: While that is an opinion, you could say that about a lot of game modes, such as flash point being control point but with out rounds. I think of it more as a new game mode, that isn’t a mirrored mode, and takes what I think that I like from different modes. I am hoping it would be fun, and inspirational, while being closer to the original OW release type of game modes.
Q: Reserved
A: Reserved
Q: Reserved
A: Reserved
Next, I will bring you the game “rules” of the gamemode in 8 points, then elaborate with some thoughts behind it all.
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Payload Objective
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Defending Team will start with payload outside their spawn.
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Attacking Team will start with their spawn further away from both the end point of the payload route, and the Defenders spawn, giving the Defenders a Spawn Advantage that will get weaker with the Defenders’ progression.
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Payload moves when Defenders are on it, and for 5 seconds after the last person leaves it, provided the payload remains uncontested.
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Payload moves along a path that similarly to Push runs in an S-like Zigzag pattern such that attackers can regroup and still catch up to the payload, by alternate routes without blocking the progress for the defenders in between fights, the Defenders have won.
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If the attacking side gains control over the payload; just as capturing any other objective in the game, only this one moves. A 60 Second worth of capture progress (0%-100% just as in control point and flash point), can be obtained by the Attackers. If the capture progress then reaches 100% and OT isn’t keeping the round alive, then the round ends even if the Defenders still have time left in their time bank. The distance is being used to score the Defenders progress, and the teams swap sides.
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Should the Defenders manage to reach the end of the route with time then this counts towards the timebank; unlike escort and hybrid, the timebank won’t be filled to 1 minute as you start by escorting the payload immediately.
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Time bank is inert; clock doesnt start, until the Defenders either touch point, or take damage, the latter only applies to the Defenders such that the defenders cant use a hit and run tactic to reduce the Attackers time. (Note that the Defending Team is the one with the time bank as their role is reversed relative to Escort, Hybrid and the likes.)
Elaboration and thoughts:
Chase is the result of the question:
What if Escort was flipped, so instead of trying to stop the Attacking team to Escort a Payload into your territory, the Defending team tries to defend the spoils aka a payload from leaving Their territory.
As a result the Spawn advantage is on the Defenders side initially, getting to the end gets increasingly harder. While opposing spawns makes fighting inevitable, this also means that short cuts for players might be a good idea, when this isn’t the case. Providing the Attacking side with an opportunity to end the round early by winning fights, I hope to motivate fighting, teamplay, and make the reward valuable. I also hope that the Defender Spawn advantage makes it hard to stomp the Defending side, while avoiding the stalling random nature of end points in exisiting game modes. And I hope that these together will serve as pivotal for both sides’ perception of opportunities to win value with each fight.
In Escort you can win value wholly through burning time with each won fight as Defenders, while Attackers gain distance only in between fights. And often, it goes well then one player has to stay behind on cart, and that is often not that fun. By flipping this to the defenders in Chase, there will be a moving objective, which for supports can pose a challenge, whilst this might mean supports like Ana will have to relocate constantly, I hope it will have the effect that Defenders cannot run for Attacking spawns without great risk, and that this means Defenders will need to spend the down time between fights preparing for the next one, including moving the payload optimally.
My hope is that this requires rotation of the payload responsibility depending on progression through the map; some places it might be risky to leave an Ana or a Zen on the payload, and some places it might be riskier to sacrifice distance, space and map control if a tank or dps is on the payload instead of guarding the choke or the flank. The payload progression has to be considered, when selecting where to try and hold. This means the Defenders will constantly have to vary their defence, and unlike 2CP rely on the same choke. In Escort, this somewhat applies to the defending side, but only if you lose the fight.
Controlling the Payload in Escort as Defense requires the gameplay to be reactive and not proactive. In Chase, the I hope that the Attacking gameplay equally won’t suffer repetitive fights and cause the Attackers to feel locked in their spawn (Dorado, and 2CP could feel like that at times). I also hope it doesn’t feel horrible to suffer OT losses on end points, when spawn advantage sometimes can turn the chaos into random and even lucky comebacks.
Finally I think I should say, this is not comming from a place of resentment or lost games, or anything like that. I just had an idea for a game mode, which I thought could be fun, and I don’t really mean to comment on flaws in other game modes. The examples I provide are for context only. You might not even agree with my view on some of these examples, but you would likely understand the intention, and then they will have served their purposes.
So what now?
I don’t know if its fully possible to achive in the workshop, but I am going to give it a go. I have no idea when or even if, I will complete it, but I would love both input, comments, and suggestions. And maybe someone gets inspired, beats me to it, or end up making something else totally cool as a result. Maybe some developers sees this, and gets inspired, maybe this is where it all ends as a forgotten post on the forum. The point is, I don’t really know. In any case, I am sure it couldn’t hurt to share, so that’s step one.
Thanks for reading, I hope you have a wonderful day. Cheers.