weapon mods

[Galapogos]

I have seen this topic mentioned in various threads ,but I feel like it deserves its own thread. Heres what I would like to see:

- The ability to attach multiple mods of different kinds (obviously cant have two scopes on one rifle).
- scopes/ sights: red dot sight, 4x scope, maybe a thermal scope if it wouldn't be exploited too much (sniper rifles only?).
- sound suppressors: basic suppressor, and maybe a more expensive one that suppresses flash as well.
- laser sight; would be cool if u could choose red or green
- underbarrel grenade launcher; obviously not instagib but should be functional enough to make it worth it.
-cert points could be used to buy points for mods, which would be on a smaller scale (1 cert point = 100 mod points, red dot sight = 25 mod points and would be the cheapest mod, and the grenade launcher would be the most expensive)

I dont know all of the performance implications these things would have on a game the scale of planetside, but I think they would be at the very least make for a nice aesthetic addition to the game. Anyways, what are your guys thoughts and ideas regarding this?

[Bags]

No, we do not need grenades to be even easier to be spammed.

[Bruttal]

i like the idea even though it reminds me to much of COD, as far as under the gun mounted grenades whats wrong with the Punisher?.

[Bags]

i like the idea even though it reminds me to much of COD, as far as under the gun mounted grenades whats wrong with the Punisher?.

The punisher is weaker than MA and HA; it's balanced with the ability to shoot grenades then switched to bullets instantly in mind.

I don't want someone to be able to grenade me for 40 and then instagib me with the gauss rifle. Or turn that 3 shot jack hammer kill into a 2 shot jack hammer kill.

[CutterJohn]

I could get down with weapon mods, provided each had deliberate drawbacks, used to tune your performance.

Example. Silencer. We could say firing your weapon puts you on the enemies minimap(sensible). Silencers would keep you off of it unless they had audio amp or something, but would sacrifice accuracy and damage.

Though considering the number of weapons where these things could believably be applied(pretty much just MA, pistols, and sniper rifles), I don't think its of that much value.

[Bags]

I could get down with weapon mods, provided each had deliberate drawbacks, used to tune your performance.

Example. Silencer. We could say firing your weapon puts you on the enemies minimap(sensible). Silencers would keep you off of it unless they had audio amp or something, but would sacrifice accuracy and damage.

Though considering the number of weapons where these things could believably be applied(pretty much just MA, pistols, and sniper rifles), I don't think its of that much value.

I'll take a silencer for my triple barreled shotgun, please.

[Bruttal]

Okay well I understand that but what if we Could only make adjustments to common pool weapons for example removing the Launcher the punisher would give us a Tighter CoF a scope would let us shoot farther. but not adjust the damage at all.

Only 1 mod per weapon also, Instead of always saying NO to an idea you can at lest come up with an idea that would better to complement there idea.

[Galapogos]

I see your point with the grenade launcher bags. Even though games like cod have weapon mods, I don't think that this feature alone is what defines contemporary fps games like cod, I think it is the combination of overpowered weapons and relatively low health. Like I said before, I almost feel that they should be more aesthetic than functional. To me just the sound and look of a supressor almost justifies minimal functionality. And there should be drawbacks to most mods, such as like a 10% decrease in damage per shot while using a supressor. Really I think that they should be so expensive that people would only cert them if they could make good use of them, or they found them to be so cool that they couldnt go with out them. This would ensure that not everyone has fully decked out weapons.

Also, no silencers on shotguns or the BD equivalent sniper rifle, and have some different type of mod for vs plasma based weapons that does the same thing.

[PsychoXR-20]

I would love to see the ability to customize your weapon with different attachments, even if they didn't do much/anything, it would just add a little personality to your guns.

Reflex/Red dot sights: this can only have a functional purpose if there are iron sights (which I would be for), but even if they don't, I still wouldn't mind seeing them for aesthetic purposes.

Scopes: If PS:N has a real day/night system, with night actually being night being really really dark, then I could see there being things like thermal and night vision scopes. Scopes could also play a big role if they removed the standard 2x scope that your armor has, and only allow you to zoom in if you have a weapon with a scope un-holstered.

Laser Sights: While they would looks cool, and again I would be for it just for the looks, if EMP grenades disabled your UI temporarily, than laser sights could actually have a function, of still letting you see your cross hairs. They could also make laser sights (although probably unrealistic) show the general vicinity of where grenade launcher rounds will land.

Sound Suppressors: Weapons with sound suppressors have less range and do a less damage (to prevent everyone and their mothers from using them), but when you kill someone using a suppressed weapon, it doesn't show up on the enemies kill spam. That way you can actually sneak around a base, and the only way people will know you are there is if the people you kill communicate to others that you're there. As it stands right now, it's pretty impossible to really sneak around a facility, SoI, anywhere really, as soon as you kill someone everyone nearby knows you're there.

One important thing though. Attachments CANNOT in any way enhance the performance of a weapon. Reducing performance (range, damage, RoF) is fine, since attachments would be optional, but absolutely nothing that makes weapons more powerful, more damage, faster reload, larger magazines, more accurate etc.

[CutterJohn]

I'll take a silencer for my triple barreled shotgun, please.

Shotguns would have a choke attachment for extended range.

One important thing though. Attachments CANNOT in any way enhance the performance of a weapon. Reducing performance (range, damage, RoF) is fine, since attachments would be optional, but absolutely nothing that makes weapons more powerful, more damage, faster reload, larger magazines, more accurate etc.

Why is that important? So long as its not a pure improvement, it shouldn't be an issue. A muzzle brake that increases the number of shots to max the CoF, but makes the CoF larger while moving. An extended magazine that lowers draw time and reload time. A barrel accelerator gizmo that increases damage, but makes CoF bloom crazy.

It'd work fine with a bit of balancing.

[Galapogos]

I agree with psycho, if mods even minimally buffed the stats of a weapon, such as even a 10% increase of rounds w/ an extended clip, or even something that increased the damage per shot by 5%, there would be endless bitching, and rightly so. On a different note though, as long as most outfits use ts or vent, or can use in game chat, being absolutely stealthy is pretty much out of the question.

[Bags]

Yeah... get gunned down in a base.

/b Enemy with silence @ BD

[CutterJohn]

there would be endless bitching, and rightly so.

There will be endless bitching on the forums regardless of developer actions or game balance. They could make all empires completely the same and there would still be endless bitching.

And its not rightly so. People may bitch endlessly on the badcompany 2 forums about the weapons/armor perks which DO offer straight up buffs that are quite powerful with no downsides. People still play the game and have fun. Mostly because everyone has access and there are a variety of choices.

[PsychoXR-20]

People still play the game and have fun. Mostly because everyone has access and there are a variety of choices.

Bad Company 2 is a one time purchase, not a 1 time purchase + a subscription fee.

[DviddLeff]

I really liked the way BFBC2 did weapon mods; it was all balanced out much better than it was in CoD, as everyone had access to at least one of them and they were all useful.

Initially the under slung grenade launcher was too powerful, but was quickly brought in line. Shotguns were broken with the sabot rounds or whatever they were, which basically gave you a sniper rifle as the bullet never dropped like with the other guns.

Obviously various weapons would not have certain modifications, they would be mainly for rifle style weapons with a few for pistols.

EDIT (Forgot to write out half my thoughts):

From the upgrade projects Weapon Overhaul I have the following mods suggested:

Silencer (lower range)
Various magnification sights (4x, 8x, 12x)
Laser Pointer (reduces initial COF bloom, is visible)
Extended clip
Under slung grenade launcher (frag, smoke, EMP, increases COF bloom)
Under slung shotgun (increases COF bloom)
Bayonet (increased pistol whip damage, increases COF bloom)
Bipod (makes weapon deployable, decreasing COF and bloom)


To access them you must gain a merit in the particular weapon and select a particular one. Also note that many of them have a drawback.

I swear that I saw a scanned news article from a magazine years ago about PS having mods in development for its guns, but no one else remembers it...

[Furret]

As long as the attachments are all common pool, it'd be fine.
I do agree with having to cert to get them. Perhaps an extra 2 certs to get attachment rights for a weapon group (heavy, medium, special, sniper, AV)
so if you want a decked out JH, you need to invest 8 certs.

[PsychoXR-20]

I do agree with having to cert to get them. Perhaps an extra 2 certs to get attachment rights for a weapon group (heavy, medium, special, sniper, AV)
so if you want a decked out JH, you need to invest 8 certs.

As soon as you do this you give an advantage to players who have been playing longer, which goes against one of the core philosophy of PlanetSide.

If you do mods similar to the way I suggested, then yes, they could be certs, and should be. If they enhanced weapons (which I am very much against) they need to be given out with basic assault so that every player from BR1 can use them.

[DviddLeff]

Access to them is tricky, as I say in my post a merit system would work well as a reward, but only if there are initially a few mods available anyway (such as a scope or such).

You could have them accessible via both merits and/or certs. Buy them if you want or just wait and earn them. his is actually how I have them in the upgrade project, although mainly due to oversight and forgetting to change the cert overhaul page. This way is best perhaps.

[CutterJohn]

No merits that give you more power or more options. Thats the whole point of BEP. If merits add new equipment and options, then you essentially have two widely disparate forms of leveling, and day 1 newbs are no longer the equal of vets with equipment.

These should be accessed via certs. Either as a part of the cert the weapon comes in, a separate cert, or a synergy cert(SA + MA gets you the underslung gl, for instance).

[Robert089]

Anything to make medium assault more useful, having a grenade launcher strapped onto my cycler might actually make it able to compete.

I'm all for this, there should be no decrease to the weapons performance though, just the extra cert costs.

[Hamma]

I like all of the OP's ideas except for the Grenade Launcher.

I don't think something like that fits in this game, it becomes shoot shoot shoot then you get in close range and nade them to death while you take minimal damage.

Laser's would be kind of pointless in PlanetSide I think.

Most of these are fairly cosmetic and don't allow for a huge bonus. I really think that weapon mods that significantly change the operations of a weapon are a bad idea in PS.

[BlazingSun]

As long as they don't increase the damage or RoF of weapons, there should be hardly any problems with balance. I want upgrades!

PS.: I love silenced weapons!

[Tikuto]

Because of reasons that I cannot be bothered expressing right now. I disagree completely with weapon mods.

It's more interesting to press [RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON] on you super sci-fi Gauss Rifle for it to do something else;
or press [X] to change ammunition.

All this customization stuff is going to distract from battle. People idling when you really need their help! Not good at all.


DENIED.

[Warborn]

Customization is always cool. Underslung grenade launchers aren't such a big deal because grenades aren't instant-kill in Planetside, and if people are given compelling options beyond grenade launchers then people will not all gravitate toward using them all the time.

Personally, I think this is a good idea, and the best part is it'd make the punisher totally unnecessary.

All this customization stuff is going to distract from battle. People idling when you really need their help! Not good at all.

This doesn't make sense anymore than saying certifications and levels and implants "distract from battle". They add depth to battle and let people fight more closely to how they'd like to fight. There's nothing wrong with that, and weapon mods have been very popular additions to a number of big-name FPS games recently. Frankly SOE would be a bit silly not to attempt to add this sort of stuff to PSNext.

[Galapogos]

I think it would be a little distracting if it was on the fly modification like in crysis, but like warborn said if you cert the mods and they instantly attached to the weapon that you certed them for, I don't see this absorbing a player's attention any longer than figuring out what their regular certs will be. Also, in hindsight I do remember how much people endlessly spammed grenades down stairs (myself included at some point), so the grenade launchers may be a bad idea, it's just they look so fucking cool. Maybe underbarrel grapple launchers instead (im sure thats a whole new topic)?

[Rbstr]

I like the idea of fairly limited customization options that make a bit more significant impact on the guns. Something like "specialization" certs.

You like to use MA? Take the advanced training: Grab a 1 point "specialization" cert in MA. It gives you access to two specialized versions of the rifle.
Lets say you're NC: (with fluff text!)
The Gauss Carbine - Forgoing the long barrel and magnetic focusing that enables long range combat (ex, the bullets diverge rather quickly even with small Cof or damage degradation is higher) has allowed designers to include a larger magazine and mount a powerful MAG-Scatter tube beneath the barrel. A Dot sight has been added to help with short range fire control.
That is you've now got a fairly hurtful shotgun you can unleash on the unsuspecting and a larger ammo pool for crazy indoors shootouts but you loose long range capability. You also get to have a better non-zoom aiming view, instead of the iron sights/gun taking up a bunch of room.

The Gauss Marksman - Limiting the weapon to burst fire removed the need for a large fuel cell system and has allowed the addition of a second stage of capacitors and magnetic coils with active stabilization technology, increasing the rapid fire accuracy significantly and increasing the muzzle velocity. A small scope has been added to take advantage of the improvement. Active stabilization is, unfortunately, thwarted by rapid movement.
Poof, you've got more at-range accuracy but run and gun situations you're worse off because of the burst fire. You also get a token 4x scope.

So now you have a gun that suits your play style better, or gives you a bit more versatility without having to pick up the sniper or HA certs (though it wouldn't be effective as doing those).
The normal Gauss wouldn't really ever be much worse than either of them but it'd be more versatile. Though it would only have iron sights.

There need not be two variations of the weapon.
One very cool thing is that objective of the variants wouldn't need to be the same empire to empire, they could be vastly different in implementation. Which makes looting one a more unique prospect.
LOL wat, this pulsar shoots shotgun beams. ect.

Mods are also no-hassle, you just put the gun you want in the favorites or grab like a normal gun from the terminal.

[Traak]

I'm thinking with about 20 cert points, have one that is a rotating Swiss Army Knife of delicious mayhem: shotgun, grenade launcher, MCG, Lasher, Boomerang chucker (would bring back enemy women) and laughing gas dispenser.

This would bring a rotating cornucopia of death to whoever had the uber-leetness to have cert points to get it. It would sound like: "Boom! SwooshBoom, ratatatatatatat, lashlashlashlash, whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop 'Oh thank you brave soldier from rescuing me from those boorish NC', 'bloop/hiss/hahahahaha' You could recognize the sound signature anywhere. Plus another 10 cert points for the ridiculous ammo pack needed, plus the "bitch catching glove" that would have to be massive to catch the women who you boomeranged back, think of a baseball glove 5 feet wide. If you don't drop the rotary oober-cannon and catch the chicks on the way back, they continue to boomerang past and back to your enemy, and, well, "hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned" so she would get Revenge for Spurnage Stamina and be able to leap over everyone to wreak her vengeance upon you.

It would rock, all for only 30 cert points. No extra armor, or any certs whatsoever, would be left after purchasing this combo, and it would drain stamina like mad just walking with it dragging on the ground, leaving a ditch dug wherever you traipsed. But once you were ensconced at the top of a stair or tunnel, hoo hah! It would all be worth it! WORTH IT, I TELL YOU!

[Hamma]

:huh: