Customizable weapons - any future plans?

(acQu) #1

Hi,

i personally think this would be a very nice addition for the pub players. I am not sure how to properly do this without fancy weapons (see Borderlands 2 with a huge variety of different weapons, firemodes, the game designers have really nailed it down to how much different a weapon can be), but with modern weapons there are still laods of possibilities although not so much as with funky weapons.

There once was a game video i saw about a game in development, but for the heck of it can’t find the related thread in the offtopic section here in this forum for it. It basically showcased a fully customizable weapon system, where you can build your weapons yourself with different parts. Now that is extreme, but i am interested to know if there are any plans for something similar in the future for DB ? And if not, why ? Because the game should be balanced towards pro matches ? Then i would suggest a pro mod without customization, but for pub i would strongly advice a similar system.

I also saw the thread about the nerf gun: http://www.splashdamage.com/blog/1016/photo-blog-creating-dirty-bomb-nerf-gun#.USd_KGc2IRo The way the weapon can be modified is what i am searching for ingame, e.g. you can exchange certain parts by other parts and maybe build your own unique gun. Not sure if it would fit into DB if done extreme, but with it being a bearly noticable side quest to do, i think it would be great.

(ImageOmega) #2

I would think something simple like changing gun skins or switching iron sights or scopes being used would be an easy inclusion. Plus easy to monetize.

Is this what you’re talking about or do you want something deeper than this like being able to customize your rate of fire? Things like that I would imagine would break the class balance.

(acQu) #3

Basically yes. It depends on how much you can stress this out without braking the class balance. Different scopes, iron sights, and them being customizable would already be more than awesome, if they will be implemented. The skins will come in the future, but are also a part of it.

But basically yes, what you say is is exactly what i am talking about. It just adds variety and imo also a nice touch to the game.

What i can further think of is different recoil levels and silencers on top of the weapons. Of course, if they are buyable as per item, then i think it would not be so good. Rather i would connect them to XP or a XP-based GC and have the ability to modify weapons unlockable per cash just once (or have more abilities unlockable per cash and have some abilities in place by default). Buying item over item per rl cash i think is not enjoyable, you also want to earn them ingame :slight_smile:

EDIT but of course how you should be doing this is debatable.

(Kendle) #4

A game I’ve played a lot of, and which has a very active comp scene, is Urban Terror. In that game you can fit silencers to any weapon and laser tracers. Both improve accuracy but the silencer reduces damage and the laser gives away your position, meaning their advantages also come at a cost. This doesn’t stop the game being highly competitive, and the comp scene don’t complain about it upsetting the balance.

In BF3 and COD you can add silencers / suppressors / heavy barrels etc. to gain accuracy at the cost of reduced damage, or increased damage at the cost of increased recoil. I’d welcome that kind of thing, because the costs / benefits are usually very minor and largely down to personal preference.

What SD need to be careful about of course is “pay-2-win”. They’ve said they’re not going to do that, so anything you can buy for your gun has got to be minor and / or have a corresponding cost to offset the benefit.

(Rex) #5

Hell, no please!

(zeroooo) #6

+1!

no need for this

(Whhaayy) #7

+1

no need

(Dthy) #8

+1

Thou hast no needif for thoust.

(acQu) #9

Fruital discussion, thanks guys :slight_smile:

//youtu.be/umDr0mPuyQc

(Samurai.) #10

Yeah i have to agree with Rex here, definitely do not want customizable weapons with attachments. This is something that is so refreshing to play games like QW…

I don’t mind cosmetic customization to guns such as emblems/skins/whatever that can be monitized aslong as they have no actual impact on game play. The more you customize weapons changing accuracies/ROF the less fun i find the game becomes due to a few reasons.

  1. Unlocking these attachments usually require XP - this imbalances the game as newbies are at a disadvantage to more experienced players, and you are just widening the gap between the skill level by adding exclusive upgrades to those with more hours (or money :confused: )

  2. Players always exploit a combination of attachments to guns that just make all other weapons pretty pointless, therefore narrowing down the use of other classes as certain setup’s become the mainstream way of playing the game.

  3. Comp players will reject the customization, while public players may embrace it, therefore causing a divide in the community. The more you divide your player base the lower the chances of longevity there is for a game. Also pub players will not transition into a comp environment that is heavily restricting aspects like this in the game, as they feel the guns are weak/inaccurate compared to the “norm” of OP attachment based weapons. Remove the “norm” feeling of OP attachments and pub players will accept the setup of comp play and it becomes more accessible for them to transition into esports if they wish to.

  4. Removes an aspect of skill (yes i know skill is near impossible to define in gaming but you can still follow my point) in a firefight - I like to think there is a level playing field in all firefights i have with an opponent, i don’t like attachments that give benefits in certain situations and negatives in others. Yes classes with different guns do this to an extent already, but adding even more variables into a firefight such as laser sights / long barrels / rapid fire etc can make a less skillful player beat a more skillful player because of these variables being favorable in a certain situation - this shouldn’t be the case.

(scre4m.) #11

If custom stuff at weapons, PURE cosmetic stuff pls.

This is where pay2win starts. just dont even think about it.

(Kl3ppy) #12

[QUOTE=scre4m.;429779]If custom stuff at weapons, PURE cosmetic stuff pls.

This is where pay2win starts. just dont even think about it.[/QUOTE]

Yes. Let ppl pay to paint their guns purple but dont let ppl pay to upgrade their weapons. Also I’m not a fan of permanent XP unlocks.

(Kendle) #13

^ None of those concerns apply if the advantage gained by the attachment is minor, and there’s a corresponding (and equal) disadvantage to offset it.

Like I said, in Urban Terror this kind of thing is done, and that’s a HUGELY competitive game, in fact there’s hardly any real pub scene, pretty much everyone who plays it plays competitively.

For example, a 5% increase in accuracy for a 5% reduction in damage would hardly make any difference at all, and is probably less of a difference than already exists between the classes as it is (and if 5% is too big a number make it less, it’s more the perception of there being a difference than actually being a difference that’s important).

SD have got to make money somehow, and I suspect they’ll pay more for minor (very minor) weapon upgrades than they would for paint jobs or shiny hats, especially if those upgrades aren’t really upgrades, they’re just adjustments to suit a person’s particular preferences.

edit: I think people here need to understand that SD are not here to make a free game for us just so a few ET / ET:QW players frustrated at the impending death of their favourite game have still got something similar to play. SD are here to make money, and if that means dipping a toe into the dark side here and there we should be offering suggestions that enable them to do that without losing out too much on what we want, rather than rejecting the idea out-right.

(radi) #14

no, this is not cod.

(acQu) #15

Hm, i know that it is fundamental design issue. SD obviously has chosen this game be competetive, but you should not wonder if this does not appeal to casuals anymore then. And the casuals are simply the majority carrying the game. So if you want to have this game a success path of more than a week after release, then you should finally start making the game attractive for pubs. I can only speak for myself, but this is the impression i have. It probably also boils down to the definitions of pro/pub. So far i am only able to see the projection of it of SD into the game, and that direction seems to be incredibly linear, imposing and imo very unnattractive for casuals. It is basically just shooting and the old boring objectives. If there would at least be a rocket or some other stuff involved in the objective play (like artillery destroying objective gates or similar), but so far it is just the old stuff. None of that is going to appeal to todays pub players, which have a lot of different games to choose from evem from the old reague of W:ET/ETQW/Quake.

(j4b) #16

noooooooooo agree with samu. But i definitly want to have a pink weapon :smiley:

(Kl3ppy) #17

I know that SD isnt charging any money for the game itself, but you have to be very careful to introduce buyable stuff which can influence the game. There needs to be a lot of balancing done so that no buyable item gives you a clear advantage. Most ppl fear that you can buy a BFG for 20€ and nobody is able to kill you anymore.

Thats completly Off-Topic, but SD could think about “selling” ingame ad like it was done in ETQW. It wasnt annoying at all.

(acQu) #18

[QUOTE=Kendle;429782]^ None of those concerns apply if the advantage gained by the attachment is minor, and there’s a corresponding (and equal) disadvantage to offset it.

Like I said, in Urban Terror this kind of thing is done, and that’s a HUGELY competitive game, in fact there’s hardly any real pub scene, pretty much everyone who plays it plays competitively.

For example, a 5% increase in accuracy for a 5% reduction in damage would hardly make any difference at all, and is probably less of a difference than already exists between the classes as it is (and if 5% is too big a number make it less, it’s more the perception of there being a difference than actually being a difference that’s important).

SD have got to make money somehow, and I suspect they’ll pay more for minor (very minor) weapon upgrades than they would for paint jobs or shiny hats, especially if those upgrades aren’t really upgrades, they’re just adjustments to suit a person’s particular preferences.

edit: I think people here need to understand that SD are not here to make a free game for us just so a few ET / ET:QW players frustrated at the impending death of their favourite game have still got something similar to play. SD are here to make money, and if that means dipping a toe into the dark side here and there we should be offering suggestions that enable them to do that without losing out too much on what we want, rather than rejecting the idea out-right.[/QUOTE]

That is just so well said, exactly what i think.

it’s more the perception of there being a difference than actually being a difference that’s important

This especially :slight_smile:

(Maca) #19

What I am interested in is that is this needed?
It is quite hard to say what things need to be monetized since we don’t entirely know what will be monetized. Like for example, presuming that there will be at least 2-3 mercs for each class, and each of those mercs could have 2-3 loadouts with different weapons, and if we asume all of those things are to be bought, isn’t that already quite a lot? That’s 15-30 gameplay effecting things to be bought already at launch, at minimum. I would prefer that on top of all that there isn’t some kind of small customizations that just make things become more mixed up, without actually bringing any real content, why have things that “only give the perception of difference”?
But granted, it’s great to discuss this with the mindset kendle mentioned, that if it was to happen, how it would be best to implement.

(Samurai.) #20

Well it look’s like splash damage are marketing this game towards balanced level playing fields, therefore customizing weapons to gain different advantages would be against their marketing campaign.

//youtu.be/zYvMOpV2Rjs

Skip to 2:25 -> targeting at hardcore shooter fans focusing on a balanced level playing field and a fair contest

As soon as you start increasing the variables that determine the outcome of a firefight the playing field becomes unbalanced and unfair in each situation.

I think this video is a good reminder that this game has been marketed for the Hardcore FPS gamers, and therefore all these suggestions across different threads about meeting the need’s of the basic FPS gamer, making it more accessible etc by simplying feature’s is going against what players are expecting from Dirtybomb.