Idea A Quick Formatting Guide to Class Ideas

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum. Please move it if it is.

I’m one of those people who enjoys checking out the classes people have made: it interests me, and it’s a whole side of CTF that gives the community a chance to show off their creative side. That said, it’s really, really tough to look through more than a few at a time. So, I thought I’d give you all some sort of standardised format that hopefully people will consider using.
There’s really only one main point I’d like to get across with this post, and that’s this: keep the format simple. That’s it. If you want to stop reading now, that’s cool. That’s all I wanted to say.


When I read a class suggestion, all I want to know it its concept, how it fits in with the rest of CTF, the problems it solves, and so on. What I don’t want to read is line after line of exact armour values or why you chose a sharpness iron sword over a diamond sword or whatever. All the details can be fixed in testing. Let me repeat that: all the details can be fixed in testing. Yes, maybe I have a short attention span. Yes, I have been guilty of this in the past. But if you can’t get your point across succinctly, you won’t grab anyone’s attention – including mods and coders.
Here’s a template that should help you out: Summary, Core, Specifics and Conclusion (SCSC).

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Summary
This should contain one or two sentences about the class’ role in CTF.

Core
Everything you need to know about the class mechanics. This would include the hotbar; whether the armour is heavy, light, or in the middle; any potion effects.

Specifics
Not a vital part of the submission. This is where, should you feel like it, you put all the little details that I told you not to worry about. Anything that can be tweaked in testing should be put here.

Conclusion
Here you need to say why the class is useful and what makes it fun. Maybe give some heartfelt words of thanks to your parents and Jesus for inspiring you or something.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

You’ll find that if you follow a format like this it’s a lot easier to come up with ideas, and it’ll hopefully help you gain a lot more feedback. Here’s a quick example I’ve thrown together.

Assassin

A glass-cannon class primarily focused on recovery.

• Carries a sword.
• Has a rechargeable item with cooldown that allows the user to instakill and be instakilled for a limited time.
• Has a rechargeable item with cooldown that gives a speed boost for a limited time.
• Low armour.

Spoiler: Details

• Their only armour is gold boots, which provide practically no defensive bonus but allow others to differentiate between Assassins and Ninjas.
• The instakill effect lasts 3 seconds.
• The speed boost item gives speed IV for 3 seconds.

Assassin would be useful to chase down high-armour flag bearers or quickly neutralise those with several defenders. It would also help to nerf soldiers in the flagroom. The fast-paced gameplay of Assassin makes it an exciting class for those who might not be so good at PvP.

As you can see, I've kept it concise enough to hold the reader's attention, but it's still able to convey all the information it needs to. I've put the details in a spoiler because they can be changed later (i.e. tweaking the times, adding the blocking mechanism). This way you can put several ideas on one post without having to worry about the length.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

A few vaguely related things I wanted to say:

• Keep the class idea simple, especially if it's free.
• If you see an idea you like, talk about it! Let your friends know, let the mods know, let the coders know. If loads of people suggest a class it's more likely to be seriously looked at.
• Give the class some depth. If a class fills several roles (medic) rather than one (heavy), that'll make it more fun to play.

I hope that all made sense, and maybe inspired a few more people to get creative. Remember - keep it simple!

- Rhos