Gadget Idea: Tracker Bullets

[NeoSuperior]

I already suggested this in FB, but since it seems to be well received, I repost it here to discuss it more:

A new (selectable) gadget (taking up 1 slot) for mercs to force spies into stealthy play (essentially spy bullets for mercs):

Tracker Bullets: When a merc got this in his equipment, then the merc get the spy on the radar for 15-30 seconds after being hit by that particular merc's gun. The time on radar gets refreshed to the beginning of the 15-30 seconds, if a merc successfully hits a spy with his gun again.

With such a gadget spies would think twice before going aggro or trying aggro baits.

Possible Description (subject to change):
These newly developed bullets replace the normal bullets the merc uses by these a bit longer bullets. They are compatible with the merc's gun and are able to produce the exact same firepower, as the normal bullets do. They work by releasing little nanomachines that send a strong signal, which depletes their energy in 20 seconds. However for the time they are active, the mercs can pinpoint the exact location of the victim, similar to the trackers of the spytraps, but for a shorter time. Since the nanomachines are released at first impact, they only work, if the target was hit by the bullet directly. If the target is behind a penetrable object when shot, the nanomachines are released on the object instead and are not able to reach the target. However the nanomachines are able to check the pulse of the target, so the signals only start if the nanomachines are attached to at least the clothes of a living being. The nanomachines are immune to electro-magnetic-pulse and any kind of jamming e.g. chaff granades, however they are susceptible to electic currents a tazer for example would instantly terminate any active nanomachines. Inactive nanamachines are not affected. However because of the lenght of the bullets, the magazines are harder to carry and essentially take up the spot, another gadget could have taken instead. Because of the bullets' length they can only be fired in half-automatic mode. That is why not all mercs have been convinced of these new bullets yet. A recent technology developement however made it possible to discard the bullets' nanomachines part in realtime to fire the bullets as normal bullets in full-automatic mode.

Some complained that no explosive rounds are used instead of nanomachines, however explosives would be impossible to produce light enough to be shot as bullets, without making the round susceptible to electic currents that result in instant explosions, which make such bullets more dangerous for the user than for the target, escpacially if the target is an infiltration specialist. They would be far too expansive anyway. Others complained why deadly poison wasn't used instead. The answer is that the considerable lower mass of the bullet for the poison chamber inside it would affect the penetration strenght too much. Any enemy that wears some kind of Bullet repelling armor that is similar to a Kevlar vest would not fall even after ten shots on the same spot, because the armor would not be penetrated and the poinson would not be able to reach the victims body. Because the manufacturer was able to shake off these complaints successfully, their Tracker Bullets have been sold successfully around the world for anti-infiltrator-units.

Recent feedback revealed that the bullets are escpacially popular with snipers, as even if they aren't able to finish off a spy, a teammate is able to follow the spy and finish the job.

[nubishdubishbone]

3 Words: I Like it!!

[frvge]

Interesting idea!

[VenomousNinja]

It's interesting, but I feel like it's overpowered in the merc's favor. It's essentially forcing the spy to play 10x better than he would have to before, because (sometimes stray) hit from a merc's gun would guarantee a volley of bullets and grenades towards the offending spy. It would also encourage mercs to spray bullets when they have extra bullets (with a backpack or next to ammo refills if PS will have those), hoping to get a lucky hit on the spy no matter how stealthy a spy was playing.

[nubishdubishbone]

It's interesting, but I feel like it's overpowered in the merc's favor. It's essentially forcing the spy to play 10x better than he would have to before, because (sometimes stray) hit from a merc's gun would guarantee a volley of bullets and grenades towards the offending spy. It would also encourage mercs to spray bullets when they have extra bullets (with a backpack or next to ammo refills if PS will have those), hoping to get a lucky hit on the spy no matter how stealthy a spy was playing.

Nerf it, but that would be cheap... the formula you have now is great, i think maybei misjudged it, being tainted by theat vixen we call Blakclist lol...

BTW The UI is looking fairly decent, but it needs to be cleaner and better organised ;).

[NeoSuperior]

It's interesting, but I feel like it's overpowered in the merc's favor. It's essentially forcing the spy to play 10x better than he would have to before, because (sometimes stray) hit from a merc's gun would guarantee a volley of bullets and grenades towards the offending spy. It would also encourage mercs to spray bullets when they have extra bullets (with a backpack or next to ammo refills if PS will have those), hoping to get a lucky hit on the spy no matter how stealthy a spy was playing.

Whenever a merc has to reload, he can be easily tazed... and after the taze is over, the merc has to restart reloading, giving the spy enough time to pass (this was bugged in SCCT though, causing the merc to continue reloading, even though the merc was tazed and the animation stopped). I don't see how this turns into a problem. Gun noise makes it hard to hear light/silent noises, that don't appear on the sound sensors as well.

[dYnAm1c]

I would suggest that these bullets can only be fired in single fire mode so the merc cant just spray the whole room and mark the spy.

[frvge]

I like it. Keep it coming!

[NeoSuperior]

I would suggest that these bullets can only be fired in single fire mode so the merc cant just spray the whole room and mark the spy.

Hmm... ok I guess that seems resonable.

[dYnAm1c]

frvge is it possible to get a list what items you are about/want or already have implemented in the game for spys and mercs?

[frvge]

In all builds combined we had:
Mines (sort of), RF tracker (not sure), Flashlight, Frag Grenade, Chaff Grenade, Flashbang, Smoke grenade, Camo, Gasmask (only UI). I don't think we had the Adhesive Cam implemented yet at any point in time.

However, the current gameplay-build only has a few, and our new build has them in a raw form (not linked to actual gameplay code).

[dYnAm1c]

Sounds good, do you plan on getting all items in game that we already saw in chaos theory or are there some that you dont want in it. I mean you can also think about lots of other items to implement so you have a huge vary on playstyles (but still stealth). Also I have a question for mines, will you be able to chose which mine you want to plant whenever you want (laser, proxi, poison) or do you have to chose which mine you want to play with at the beginning of the game? And if you dont mind a little question for map design: how big and diverse will a map be. I mean in Club House for example you had like 10-15 ways and some coops moves that you could go from your start point (2 directions, to the hall and to the garden but then you could choose between many ways). I really hated blacklist svm for not having any options you had so few choices that it wasnt fun because the maps also were really small. It felt like a CoD with shadows :/

[frvge]

To quickly answer your questions:
Probably yes, but in a different form.
You select a mine type while placing. At least, that's the plan now. Might change if gameplay tests show that.
There are at least 3 entrances into each room. We have added a lot of verticality in Lakehouse for extra access routes. There are also new coop places.

[dYnAm1c]

Sounds good, as far as I know Lakehouse is designed in adaption to Club House right? Are there other maps you will do that will have similaritys to SCCT maps? Aquarius and Warehouse f.e. were also two of the most played and really well balanced maps. I know that you can't copy them 1/1 because of copyright (I think?) but maps similar to these would be very cool.

And what about little hacking stations? In Club House f.e. you could hack little terminals to overheat pipelines to open news ways or open the glass house, something like this in PS?

[frvge]

Asylum and future maps (if any) will not be based on other maps. We will look at common designs, so there might be some similarity, but that's not the goal. We want to diverge to give fans a fresh gaming experience. That last sentence sounds so marketing-ish :(
For the hackables, Without spoiling stuff, the answer is yes.