Are the explosions too big?

[ringring]

Just a touch.

[Wayside]

Originally Posted by Raymac

I really loved how intense the battles were, and I love the effects so far. However, I wonder from a gameplay perspective, if the explosions might be too much. For example, when you fired a tank shell, your target is covered in smoke to the point you totally lose sight.

Now I love massive explosions as much as anyone. I'm probably one of the few people here that like the over the top popcorn style of Michael Bay. And the first time I saw the Prowler fire its shells in one of TotalBiscuits videos, I was taken aback by how epic it was. I just wonder if the smoke should be scaled down a little so we can still see what we are shooting at after that 1st round hits.

What do you guys think? Want the explosions bigger, smaller, or are they goldilocks just right?

The only time I consider an explosion "too big" or "too small" is when the visual effect seems grossly mismatched to the practical effect. A massive fireball at the end of every rocket launched from a Reaver is fine, provided either the resulting damage dealt or the area of the impact effect is equally attention grabbing.

Explosions done right should function as a visual queue that you can learn from. If everyone around you is flattened by the shockwave of an explosion, you vacate the area. if the metal support beam next to you coughs up what looks like a handfull of fireflys, you stick around.

A detonation fit for a tactical nuke that has all the destructive force of a cherry bomb is entertaining, once. After that it starts to detract from the gameplay experience.

[The Janitor]

The explosions for the current weapons are fine. I would, however, like some bigger guns/bombs/whatever to make even larger explosions. I like me some big booms.

[Xyntech]

I liked the explosion sizes, but some of them may have been too much. Not to be Mr beta, but I want to test it myself yadda yadda yadda.

I think a lot of the explosions could use a little tweaking here and there though, so I'm pretty open to change across the board on the explosion fronts. I definitely like how they are looking just in general right now, and if they never change, it wouldn't make me too upset.

I definitely want to see some of the bugs ironed out. It's been mentioned by others that dying feels a little lacking. I love the kill cam, but I also can't wait to see the actual moment of death be more smooth and visceral and engaging. I felt like for all of it's faults, the first Planetside got this very right.

That will be improved through better death animations (part animation part ragdoll I hope), improved optimization, etc.

For the pole, I put just right, because while some explosions seemed a tad much, in general I liked them. I'll say they are right, with still some room for improvement. I don't particularly want to see the vast majority of the explosions made bigger or smaller, just a few of them.

Liberator bomber gun explosions: Maybe a tiny bit smaller.

Aircraft death explosions, especially when they slam into the ground or a wall/rock: Definitely bigger. Preferably with multiple explosions in a trail of destruction, like when a real life aircraft crashes into the ground.

[Nasher]

They did actually say they want explosions to leave ambient smoke which actually covers the battlefield and eventually reduces visibility. I really like that idea

[IMMentat]

First off.
90% of the particles are Alpha placeholders.

I bet there will be nice volumetric explosions added later, same for smoother animations and better custom decals.

[DarkTower]

Explosions look amazing at the moment, definitely fit the amount of destruction the shots should be doing!! The smoke seems too much for individual shots at the moment, it looks like you should need 3 shots in the same area to produce the same amount of smoke that 1 shot does. However....

Originally Posted by Sabot

Meh.. as far as I'm concerned, if it aint moved outta tha smoke, it's still there! Keep firing!

[Xyntech]

Originally Posted by IMMentat

First off.
90% of the particles are Alpha placeholders.

I bet there will be nice volumetric explosions added later, same for smoother animations and better custom decals.

I do hope that they make the final explosions have fireballs that match the damage radius of the splash damage. That would be such a helpful visual indicator.

If they wanted to still have larger explosions on things like the Liberators main gunner gun, they could do it with debri and smoke clouds that spread further than the actual blast radius.

[Shogun]

i voted for smaller, but only a little bit.

i just think thick smoke is a little overused.

[lMABl]

Explosions can NEVER be to big haha. I want to see this everytime I fire a grenade launcher!

[Missundaztood]

A little too big. Yes.

I think they should tone down the smoke from rockets etc. For Example the NC reaver rocket trails.

[RSphil]

i think they look about right. love the falling debris from the destroyed aircraft aswell. hate that stuff when i vanishes mid are. least if falls all the way to the ground

[polywomple]

MAYBE

I'd like to see more variation in the size of the explosion, depending on the weapon

[MacXXcaM]

The size of the explosions are fine so far.

But what I dislike is this bubble camera effect... When there's an explosion you see a short magnifying effects followed by the flames.

I don't want my view to be warped so much each time I see an explosion. This should be fixed.

[SixShooter]

I think they look great so far. The field should be covered in smoke when there are a ton of explosions.