Stefan Stahl
Seituoda Taskforce Command
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Posted - 2015.08.23 19:51:00 -
[1] - Quote
Some intial thoughts:
- I'm rather happy with passive scans. I use precision enhancers and dampeners on many suits of almost all suit sizes. They are worthwhile and I can live with the system. Range extenders could do with a moderate buff - but the old values were excessive, partly because of the very large Calscout range bonus.
- I'm very unhappy with active scans. At a certain tier of players in the match you're just permanently scanned because there'll always be a GalLogi somewhere on the map.
In the context of that second point, here are two questions:
- Would active scanners be useless if their range was cut significantly? E.g. ~60 m instead of ~100 m.
- Would active scanners be useless if scan durations were be reduced? E.g. normal variants to 3 seconds, long duration scans to 6 seconds? Change cooldown appropriately.
I don't mind the short-range wallhack. It can be countered through fitting (dampeners) and gameplay (avoid CQC). The long-range long-duration wallhack is very difficult to counter for many suit types though. And even if you do fit two complex dampeners on a scout - the gameplay interaction isn't very enjoyable both for the scanner and the scanned person.
As for your discussion points:
1. Scan falloff is essential. I'd prefer it to be linear so any change to scan profile or precision makes a difference - basically I want to make the whole issue to be less binary.
2-3. I don't know what you're going at with scan conditions. I don't think scanners should do more than "There's a guy over there" and they probably shouldn't do much less either ("There are about 3 guys somewhere" is no useful info).
Generally speaking I like linear systems, so I wouldn't like a system where the scan result changes in kind based on the difference between scan precision and scan profile. I would however like a system where passive scanning takes some time and the detection time depends on that difference. That way better scans linearly improve scans and the reward is always of the same type - that is easy to understand and intuitive.
4. Yes, activities should affect scan results. But it isn't trivial. A shotgun blast should increase scan profile. A remote explosive shouldn't. But a grenade throw maybe should - or maybe not?
On a similar note: Should activities also affect scan precision? After all, it's not just the prey that tries to avoid detection, the hunter also keeps silent so he can hear better.
5.1 The per-level bonus to the cloak needs to go. Doing it like that was a bad idea.
5.2 In an optimal scenario ewar bonuses should provide a small edge, but not change what the suits are capable of. A Caldari scout should detect enemies slightly further ahead, but 50% further away. An amarr scout should detect enemies slightly better, not detect some that nobody else can detect. Again, I dislike binary rewards.
6. I'm fine with constant millisecond precise passive scans. That doesn't mean it has to be instant. A well dampened target could take a while to scan down - if he lingers long enough.
I wouldn't like scans to be 'turn based'. That means I need to monitor my radar much more closely to find out when the intel is new and when it is old. My gripe is more of a UI issue more than a gameplay issue. Anything can be balanced, but a turnbased system would likely be less fun since it doesn't provide immediate feedback.
Some more thoughts on active scanners:
- Should the scanner be visible on the radar of the scanned person? This was mentioned in a devblog during open beta, but never implemented.
- Should scanned enemies only be visible while the scanner is active? When the trigger is released the enemy disappears from the radar immediately.
- Active scanners could also be based around "time on target". Pull out scanner, aim it at a target, hold down the trigger. The scan e.g. starts at 60 dB and precision is reduced by 10 dB per second as long as the target is still inside the cone. Precision decreases until it reaches maximum precision for that scanner, e.g. 28 dB after ~3 seconds. The charge-meter in the bottom right could be used to indicate scan progress. When precision is smaller than profile, the enemy pops up on the radar until the trigger is released. When the enemy leaves the scanner's cone the precision resets.
- An active dampener as a direct counter to active scanners (use wrist-computer for graphical representation). Upon activation the active dampener reduces scan profile for approximately the duration of one active scanner cooldown. The active dampener doesn't have to be held up to be in effect. Cooldown is twice the active duration.
Basically anything that makes active scanning more "active" - both from the perspective of the scanner and the target. |