There are some very solid design decisions we've made that will never be revoked, because they are exactly what we wanted when we envisioned the "final" game.
BTAxis, is there some kind of mission-statement or roadmap of these? I have some experience working on OS games, and managing OS servers and fora, which leads me to think it would be a very good idea indeed to make the stance of your game clear to any who wish to help. That way, they have an idea in advance of whether their help is wanted or not.
Now, on another note, what do you think of these new weapon ideas:
- Kerrblade throwing blades / "shuriken". Using the same monomo technology as Kerrblades, but small and light, these give the Aliens harvesting bodies a bit of reach. They would also make a good early-game research subject for PhalanX, being simpler to study than plasma weapons. It all depends I guess on the dev team's idea of what the early-game Aliens should be using (would the plasma guns not burn their precious samples?)
I found that I had two types of alien, armour, kerrblades, plaspistols and rifles, and "alien breathing apparatii" to research with my six (!) scientists after just two missions. And that is in addition to Alien Origins, Lasers, and Bolter which were already there
So, my feeling at the moment is that the early game is playing its hand a little too quickly.
- Non-lethal ammo. As per real-world "baton rounds", these would give you some chance of wounding the target, and some chance of stunning it. I would use the "blast" damage type, and make that do 50/50 stun/real damage (or whatever percentage.) I would also use "blast" for punch/kick attacks too, but its use for flechette ammo then becomes problematic. Possibly the game would need a new damage type, "shrapnel" for use there and in AP grenades/mines.
- 21st century Taser. Unlike the crude wired system we have now, this is a weapon used by law enforcement forces in 2084. The low-velocity rounds contain a small dart which contains both the electrical capacitors which produce the charge, and the control circuitry that allows variable "dosing." The shooter can use the gun to set each shot to Low, Medium, or Full power. The weapon allows Snap and Aimed fire modes only.
On a related note, could I suggest that the Burst fire mode is not needed on the Dolvich pistol? I would let the MP be the one-handed suppression gun
The Dolvich is much more accurate, and has more stopping power. I don't think it needs the auto-fire mode. But, as a further tweak, I would make it effective against robotic opponents -- it fires one of the largest AP rounds in the game, AFAIK, and it would give this venerable weapon another "unique selling point"
My 2p, as usual...
nemchenk
