Phobia on 23/10/2001 at 23:28
This idea might not be liked by some since it removes a large amount of the RPG element to the game (personally I feel interaction with NPCs is the most important part of RPGs that Deus Ex used). Basically, I find the way that weapon skill levels are implemented to break the feeling of realism. Its the way that at different skill levels a hit from a pistol will cause different amounts of damage to a character. Because surely, in reality, a hit would cause the same damage whether it was shot by a skilled marksman or just an untrained person that got lucky.
Therefore, I propose a change to how skills improve aim. Instead of having that crosshair that gets smaller depending on how well you have aimed, I would propose a single small crosshair that wobbles around a lot! When you are walking or running the crosshair wobbles around more and it is harder to get a hit. Even when you are stationary it moves around a bit making it harder to get a hit. It moves around less and less the higher the skill level until at master level it is very still even when moving. However, a succesful hit on any skill level will cause the same damage and if the game is to be realistic, a high amount of damage.
rhalibus on 25/10/2001 at 23:16
I think a wobbly screen is good for the sniper zoom, but a wobbly crosshair may be too distracting...I still like the idea (this is really close to what DX has right now) of a stationary cross hair with four dots that are spaced wide when running but shrink to the center as you lie still; a shot will land randomly within the dots. The better your skill, the tighter and faster the running and aiming default dot placement (not to mention reload time and recoil amount).
You can upgrade your weapon with aiming upgrades, or a laser sight that will give you MASTER aim but be detectable. All these changes would be able to be detected by looking at the crosshairs.
Y'know, a neat thing to do might be to combine both the wobbly and spaced dots, with the wobbling decreasing as your skill gets better, and the spacing decreasing as the weapon gets better... :)
You should also be able to configure the translucency of the crosshairs--right now they're still too invasive...
[ October 25, 2001: Message edited by: rhalibus ]
[ October 25, 2001: Message edited by: rhalibus ]
Shadowhawk on 27/10/2001 at 17:20
What I think really needs to be changed is the fact that (I'm not aboslutely sure if this is true, but I'm pretty sure) a JC untrained in pistol could get just about the same effect of a master pistoleer. I mean, no matter how long you sit there, aiming and steadying your hands or whatever, your shot shouldn't be as accurate as someone highly trained in handguns. Maybe there should be a maximum limit of how accurate your crosshairs can get based on your skill level. Like, an untrained person would have maximum<br />I- -- -I this much accuracy and the crosshairs would stop narrowing while someone who is advanced would have say<br />I- -- -I this much accuracy and a master would be even better.
Wait, it didn't recognize that the lines were different distances apart.<br />I-oooooooo--oooooooooo-I for untrained<br />I-oooo--oooo-I for advanced or something
[ October 27, 2001: Message edited by: Shadowhawk ]</p>
Phobia on 28/10/2001 at 14:17
I didnt imagine the screen wobbling which would get quite irritating but just the cross hair moving a bit around the centre when you have a gun out. This would still be slightly annoying but would feel more realistic than the changing size of the crosshair. I suppose having it fire randomly in a certain area might work too but it might seriously hinder people from using any weapons other than ones they had trained in.
rhalibus on 29/10/2001 at 22:04
They'd just have to use them at closer range... <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
And Shadowhawk--I know what you mean about trying to make diagrams with ascii text. I made this complex crosshair spacing diagram only to see all the spaces get removed when I posted it in a variable-width font...
ACT SMILEY on 17/11/2001 at 17:41
What I'd like is that another way of gaining skills is by use. So it goes up a little from JC learning the skills by using them and some bigger increases from having the info "dumped" in his head by the augs using skill points <img src="smile.gif" border="0">