Garrett Blacknova
Codex Troopers
1849
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Posted - 2012.12.20 11:56:00 -
[1] - Quote
Contact timer grenades are a great idea.
But not the best option for ALL grenades.
Also, the throwing mechanics are slightly more broken than they used to be.
In Codex, you threw the grenade on an angle that was based on where you were looking, with a fixed amount of force applied to the throw. The arc was mostly parabolic, with minimal apparent effect on the grende due to friction, which makes sense for something aerodynamically designed, say, for example, A GRENADE.
In Chromosome, your throwing arc is FIXED NO MATTER WHERE YOU'RE FACING, and looking up or down only adjusts the force behind the throw. If you're aiming slightly downward when you throw, the grenade flies a short distance forwards, THEN FALLS ALMOST STRAIGHT DOWN. It reacts like a cardboard brick. Grenade physics, unless you're throwing with at least a moderate upward angle to your facing, treats grenades as if they're extremely light and facing a large amount of air resistance. They basically "stall" when you throw them.
In Codex, the core problem with throwing mechanics was that the throwing arc was much too high. You weren't throwing the grenade in anything like the direction you were facing. It seems like it was optimised so that, when facing straight on level ground, you'd get the optimal arc for a long-distance throw. That made it hard to perform "trick throws" through gaps in cover, because you had to look down so far you could no longer see the gap you're aiming for. It also made it a bad idea to do what players are used to and aim higher for a longer throw, but allowed for high-angle trick throws if you aimed up to land a grenade on a rooftop where an enemy sniper was waiting. The new design helps with the former, but ruins a completely different type of trick shot - those high-angle throws where you're either landing the grenade on a nearby rooftop or trying to throw over cover and rebound from a wall to hit a well-protected enemy are no longer an option.
Obviously, neither Codex nor the new approach is ideal, and both bring some good elements, but tweaking the old mechanics would have been a much better idea than creating new ones that are even less familiar to FPS gamers.
Throwing arc should be based on the angle the player is facing, but it should be a relatively flat arc. If you want to aim higher to get a longer throw, or to throw a grenade over an obstacle, or to land a grenade on a rooftop, you need to be able to do that.
Finally, there should be contact-fuse grenades (like we've had since the "thukker" first showed up), timed-fuse grenades (like most grenades worked in Codex and before), and hybrid-fuse or dual-fuse grenades (like we have now). |