Improvement: Replacing the Jackhammer (with concept art) - NC Gauss Cannon

Zekeen · 2012-06-01, 12:59 AM

The Jackhammer was a great part of PS1, but it never really had a true place. It was either too powerful or too weak throughout it's existence.

When Planetside first came out, the Jackhammer was all powerful. Triple barrel, and high powered. It could out shoot anyone in close combat, leading to the need to getting it nerfed. When nerfed however, it became useless, and with good reason.

The Jackhammer was powerful to match the other factional weapons, but had several limitations. It was incredibly short ranged, step 10 feet away, you're rather safe. It also had limited armor damaging potential, you couldn't hurt a tank with AP rounds AT ALL. This meant it could only fight infantry and MAXes in close quarter combat. Nerf the damage, and it was worthless.

Thus, I propose a new Heavy Assault weapon, fully in NC style and use, to replace the Jackhammer and fulfill a greater combat role.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the NC Heavy Assault High Velocity Projectile Weapon - The Gauss Cannon

Rather than limiting to short range, the Gauss Cannon has extended range use. Firing slow heavy shots, it is capable of standing it's ground at any range against the Heavy Assault weapons of other empires. It's slow fire rate makes it less capable against mobile enemies such as infantry, but it can be outfitted with anti vehicular ammunitions to give it increased potential against armor, at the cost of even more fire rate.

Purpose of The Gauss Cannon - The reason for this weapon is to match the TR and VS HA armament in any environment. Normally the NC would be outgunned in any outdoor environment, relying on cunning and luck to get close enough to their enemy to use their main weapon. Rather than having to balance a tight quarter only weapon, this weapon can participate in longer ranged engagements as well as fend off armored opponents.

Perks - The Lasher and Chaingun, with proper settings and ammunition could hurt heavy armor. The Jackhammer could not, even with proper ammunition. The Gauss Cannon would be less effective against light armored enemies than the chaingun, but better against heavier armored opponents. Much more in line with NC style. It would be capable of longer ranges with somewhat better accuracy than the chaingun, but would be limited to a slow fire rate and bullet drop.

Fire Rate - Base fire rate is 1 second between shots. A slow autocannon.

Modifications - Modifications of rounds require a change in the internal mechanisms of the gun in order to support the new round size, ignition, and delicate operations. Thus, special ammunition types cannot be exchanged in the heat of battle and a new weapon with different loadout must be commissioned.

Fragmentation Rounds - Rather than relying on direct hits, fragmentating rounds allow for indirect hits of a small radius to cause damage to enemy infantry. The radius is rather small, being no more than 2 1/2 feet in diameter, but it loses only a small fraction of it's infantry stopping power. A trade off, however, is a significant drop in anti armor potential.

High Velocity Impact Rounds - These rounds allow for the HA person to deal increased damage to armor targets. It still can be used for anti infantry use, but it is not recommended due to the trade-off: A significant reduction in fire rate as a result of the overheating barrel caused by the faster/more powerful rounds. Fire Rate is upped to 2 second per shot with damage increased as well.

Rapid Fire Enhancement - This modification changes out the basic rounds with a slightly smaller caliber and adds in a faster mechanism. This allows a higher rate of fire to be performed, at the reduction of stopping power. Certainly not on par in speed as with an automated weapon, it's automatic fire is still much higher than the basic module. Fire Rate is upped to .5 second per shot. 120 RPM. A typical autocannon fire rate.

For an explanation of the concept art, I have provided an indicated version to explain how it would be held and such.

As seen on this version of the picture, it revealed a handgrip, handle with trigger, the ammunition magazine, and the sights (don't ask, it makes it look better and it could be given some sort of use for it - such as remote sights aka camera sights).

The left hand grips the handgrips, and the right is on the handle with the trigger. This is similar to the chaingun holding, but the gun is held further out and higher up. The ammunition magazine would end up behind the right shoulder and would be very awkward to reload, indicating the long reload speed for the weapon. The sights at the front, as mentioned, could be used in strange ways or even a remote camera type sight, to allow a zoomed in view from the gun's perspective. All in all, it comes together to be similar to the bulkiness of the chaingun, but in a brand new light.

I know a lot of you fell in love with Jackhammer as I did before too, but the constant nerfing and complaining showed that it had a problem within the balancing of the game. It excelled in close combat but could be used nowhere else. It got nerfed so bad, most NC preferred the sweeper over it, finding it to be weaker. In the end, I noticed more TR and VS picking up Jackhammers and using them more than NC. When a gun requires a 16 shot burst, something is wrong with it.

With PS2 coming out, I figured this could become a far more themed and useful weapon than just a close quarters cleaner. The chaingun would be better at anti infantry with it's hoard of bullets, but the Gauss Cannon would be much better at taking down armor, but both can be modified for a different role. That is why I felt this gun should appear (and took the time to draw it up, I hope you people appreciate that).

Had the Jackhammer stayed in PS2, what mods could make it fit other roles? Firing off slugs? That is too awkward. Longer range? It's still be too spread out by the time it hit. It really can't stand up to the versatility of the other empire weapons. Could it make a return? Definitely! As a new weapon introduced after a balanced role has been created with the Gauss Cannon. But for now, and for launch, this new weapon should be created to give an outstanding grab at the supremacy of Heavy Assault!

DUE to POPULAR demand! I have created a second redesign of the cannon with Jackhammer attributes. The following is un"painted", but enjoy the metalness.

And for a comparison and NC colored Jackhammer Cannon

I'm starting to feel I should be working as a concept artist for some indy FPS game....

As I see more people like and support this idea, I will update, improve, and create more concept art.

If anyone feels it necessary, I will put up a poll to see how favored this idea is. Let me know if you think I should put one up.

Purple · 2012-06-01, 03:02 AM

i really like this idea. yes the nc are getting the sweeper back but it would hardly be as useful as a PS1 shotgun due to the large open areas even inside bases. clockers will be the only ones widely using shotguns in PS2 which leaves a large gape with the NC heavy AI gun. i haven seen anything on what the jackhammer is going to be replaced with but this seems like a good idea. However 2.5 seconds is a bit long in PS2 fast paced combat for reload time. 1 second should do the trick to start it out with anyway.

i also cannot think of why a HA would choose this gun with the AV damage over the HA AV launcher that locks on due to the fact that they can only change ammo types at a terminal. if they are at a terminal wouldent they just get the launcher?

Zekeen · 2012-06-01, 03:14 AM

Originally Posted by Purple

i really like this idea. yes the nc are getting the sweeper back but it would hardly be as useful as a PS1 shotgun due to the large open areas even inside bases. clockers will be the only ones widely using shotguns in PS2 which leaves a large gape with the NC heavy AI gun. i haven seen anything on what the jackhammer is going to be replaced with but this seems like a good idea. However 2.5 seconds is a bit long in PS2 fast paced combat for reload time. 1 second should do the trick to start it out with anyway.

i also cannot think of why a HA would choose this gun with the AV damage over the HA AV launcher that locks on due to the fact that they can only change ammo types at a terminal. if they are at a terminal wouldent they just get the launcher?

I see you read, but not quite the whole thing. Check the modifications, I got the speed thing already listed as a mod. Rapid Fire Enhancement. It's a more AI variant. The reason the basic is slow is to give a more NC feel to it. It's a cannon. But 2.5 is slow, I just listed that as an initial idea. Keeping it strong but steady and slow.

As far as anti vehicular goes, it's for fighting in more mobile situations. You can also damage infantry with it in most instances. But the biggest part is it gives you a firing solution for MAXes, which might not be lockable. There is also the case that a launcher requires lock on, a cannon does not. You also hit sooner, can continue firing, and there is less chance of them dodging it. There is also no lock on sound. It can make it quite deadly in its own right.

Purple · 2012-06-01, 12:09 PM

i did read the whole thing and i stand by what i said. the frag shouls be a 1 per secons ROF and the ROF mod should be somewhere around .25 sec. its just that the ROF you are suggesting is to long in this quick combat we are getting.

Gonefshn · 2012-06-01, 12:52 PM

The problem is how will this be useful in Close-quarters? I always saw the intended purpose of the HA weapons to be more close quarters domination.

The lasher and MCG will be useful indoors but this seems more like an AV weapon and almost a danger indoors. Though I like this idea it's a cool weapon I think however the jackhammer fills the intended role better. Especially since in PS2 it can easily be given mods to make it better at range and much more versatile.

Not to mention it's iconic for the NC

kunzadar · 2012-06-01, 01:20 PM

I like it, but the ROF is to slow, 5 seconds is like tank level slow. Other than that the only thing besides praise i have for this idea is that i think rail guns are cooler than gauss rifles.

Johari · 2012-06-01, 02:05 PM

It's a good idea, so good that the Devs have even had a concept already put together.

Can't remember from where but it was said that those 6 black bars aren't barrels but rather magnets or something along those lines. Possible HA Gauss cannon.

Zekeen · 2012-06-01, 02:15 PM

That is a turret I believe Johari. The design looks too odd to be a personal weapon, with the grip at the very end. It looks more like it's made to be mounted.

The graphics also look very different from the PS2 graphics for guns. So I suspect this was a Planetside Next model (for those of you who don't know, PSN is PS2 before they changed engines and redesigned the entire game to be 1000x more awesome)

Johari · 2012-06-01, 02:33 PM

While it could be could be for a turret I dont think the handle/grip would be feasible just because of how low it would be. Definitely could have been for PS:N cause this is one of the older pics that we have. Lots could have been changed.

Zekeen · 2012-06-01, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Johari

While it could be could be for a turret I dont think the handle/grip would be feasible just because of how low it would be. Definitely could have been for PS:N cause this is one of the older pics that we have. Lots could have been changed.

It's obviously PS:N because of the design, see all the edges on it? It's got a VERY low poly count. It's textured so well, so it's not a mock up. The texture is also low resolution as well.

Regardless, I never liked this picture too much. Just doesn't look all that contained, and implausible magnets. A rail gun uses more of inner coils than big magnetic rods. It's all contained to still give it the ballistic gun look (which they are, they just use a rail system to increase bullet velocity)

Talek Krell · 2012-06-02, 09:18 PM

They're already doing this. The in-progress pic even showed up earlier in the thread. No, it isn't a turret. Yes, the poorly placed handles were the first thing people pointed out to T-Ray when he asked.

Zekeen · 2012-06-02, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by Talek Krell

They're already doing this. The in-progress pic even showed up earlier in the thread. No, it isn't a turret. Yes, the poorly placed handles were the first thing people pointed out to T-Ray when he asked.

It was a concept back in late 2011. It has not popped it's head up at all. It also had a very awkward design and was probably an older PS:N concept. If it's not a turret then it really sticks out more from the current design style of PS2. You can tell how much of an older style it is from the poly count. It's blocky and doesn't seem at all like the high polygon count of the gauss rifle. It was made for an older engine. I bet back then, TRay was trying to see if anyone wanted them to revive that concept in PS2 since they jumped engines from PS:N. Well, this thread is one such suggestion for a style and way to revive it.