It would have to look cool, you know like SithLord/Tesla lightning. It doesn't matter if it is weak damage wise, just say aliens are resistant to electricity. But it should look powerful like you're really cooking em.
Woot now I can stun gorges with my taser and cook the little fatties with my welder!!!
Gorge steak every night!! :D
Sounds good but now I wont be able to knife the fade anymore and feel so proud... Weld the fade to death? Is this as good?
I do agree with the stun however maybe you should have it instead of the secondary attack doing damage and then if you hold it down it stuns. It should instead only stun if you hit them perfectly with it and then if you continue to hold it all it does is damage and no stun.
Hold stun sounds really over powered...
Also my fear is with Onos bone shield and Marine taser stun this game is become far too deffencive as opposed to the current NS1 which is totaly offencive... It may end up with a wall of bone sheilding onos facing a wall of marines holding taser stun...
We have seen a fair few defensive features, but with so much of the game still unrevealed its a bit early to be making judgements on the big picture/pace of the game.
<!--quoteo(post=1718802:date=Jul 23 2009, 12:06 AM:name=Cattabliss)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cattabliss @ Jul 23 2009, 12:06 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1718802"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Completely agree with you ^ aliens who are about to tear your limbs off should not be treated as a suspect, a Taser-pistol would be much more fitting to the NS storyline<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think that it can only really work if (and it's been hinted at enough) there is better ammunition management. At the end of the day if there are aliens that are the size of rhinos running at me I don't want to even use a pistol. I want a heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher. The point is that when you've come to a situation where that ammo is depleted, or you're simply not going to survive the reload period, what should the answer be to give you the "chance" that they talk about? Something that is somewhat a small life-form deterrent and personal protection unit makes a whole lot more sense to my mind. Edit: Sense from a game balance point of view, giving the aliens the opportunity to not have to face a continually firing marine if they play their strategy right, listen for reloads, etc.
Better ammo management, don't make me need to switch to a secondary gun to get myself out of trouble, and thus make it so that when I'm in trouble I am *actually* in trouble too, with a nifty yet still unlikely tool of salvation.
"It may end up with a wall of bone sheilding onos facing a wall of marines holding taser stun... "
And the onos will crawl forward, protecting the fade behind it, leading to stupid marines dying while they try to use a mellee attack to repel the two biggest cost life forms their enemies can throw at them. Let's get real already!
I don't like at all the idea of cutting off great ideas and replacing them with idiotic antics e.g. A flamethower will be NEVER used in a space ship with small amounts of oxygen. What about some microwave emitter? What about a lasser cutter? Maybe a massive UV projector? This teaser is weird. Add all the eyecandy you want, but never take out our knife and pistol, if something do them better / improve the look and feel but please don't trash the game that far; seriously, when several people are telling you that your police-like gear kinda sucks you guys must pay attention.
Oh and stop saying you came with this great idea because you "don't have time and you are a such freaking small team" I hope the amount of money will be enough for each team member as well so get over it, or outsorcing the modeling / animation anything but crying about how much do you guys are working. If you don't want / don't have time for do things better, really, just let them as they are already in NS. We liked them that way so much, for years never got old. Now if you need more money just let us know, pretty sure we can find a solution like a NS consties or something; also if you really want a release this fall just let the things in the way we felt in love with them. That simple, there is your blue ocean, you have no rival in this captive market.
There are a lot of wrong things in this abortion called NS2 IMO to bother listing them just for getting my post edited by your anal staff, and since you really don't want any kind of honest feedback / criticism from the players who played NS for years, have fun trashing this awesome game even more with this kind of weird antics. I'm pretty sure it will be not near as Natural Selection was, never. This seems like the horizontal meme of TF2 if anything, eyecandy trash. GG.
Great concept. I love the idea of the electrical arcs coming out of the pistol, however I think one change would be amazing.
What if the marines were able to shoot two transponders on two separate walls, and then use the taser function and create an electrical arc from the gun to both transponders and between the two. I think it would be a very cool move on the marines part to set up an electrical wall that could be turned on as skulks ran by it, zapping them into oblivion. It could be used to hold off incoming skulks in a tight corridor or vent while marines were setting up a forward base.
Here are my thoughts... Remember you said "Thoughts?"
1. It looks like a bloody phaser... i.e. "Dust Buster" model from StarTrek : TNG
2. When i told my young brother this, his exact words were "WHAT the hell??!!??"
3. Tasers are considered a NON-LETHAL weapon... why the hell would marines use this as a replacement for a backup sidearm??? Why not a nice big bottle of bear mace??? I'm sure i can deter a whole onos rush with one of those... not some pos Chinese ninja toy. What next? Batman style grappling hooks??
How about a nice 1911a1 clone with regenerating nanite ammunition so as to not require ammo packs???
Ofcourse if we go the route of non-projectile weapons then the question becomes, why do we still use projectile weapons as our primary weapon but not our secondary.
4. Are we really going to see people running around with tasers... seriously... you guys have officially lost it!
I'M GONNA TASER THE ONOS'S GUERRILLA BALLS!!! is what they'll say...(Won't someone think of the poor defenseless gorges... they will be tortured!!! :P)
O THIS IS GONNA BE SWEET... TIME TO FRY SOME ALIEN EGGS LMAO.
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All kidding aside the marine pistol was ONLY good for killing gorges and skulks (and to kill a gorge you had to fire off all your LMG ammunition from a magazine and then follow up with a pistol)
Will this new secondary weapon permit us to take down fades by zapping them until the battery runs out?
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In reallife a pistol, in the distance that a pistol can be accurately used, is more deadly then a rifle (when shooting a soft target like a human). In this way the NS1 pistol made total sense because it could only kill skulks and gorges which are very soft targets... And because it had double the deadlyness of the lmg which fires rifle bullets... (No... it's infinite accuracy and no recoil did not make any sense... pistols have horrendous inaccuracy beyond a certain distance, but still good enough to hit a human somewhere in the chest).
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What is the difference between this and a welder... why don't you guys combine PISTOL + KNIFE + WELDER + MINES into one item while we're at it... In fact it's more realistic for marines to only have a rifle and knife and ammunition and bullets. Lets do that.
Then the commander can drop for us this electric monstrosity you guys un-creatively thought of by looking at a picture for a taser.
My thoughts on this, would this not be a good way to kill an onos?
From what I understand, this weapon does small amounts of damage, but grows quickly the longer it says on the target. Try to no stay aiming on a onos, it not that hard as the onos is so big, and often slow. Making this both an resource tower killer ( what you want ) and onos killer ( what I don't think you want ). I might be missing something here, like maybe it only work on small aliens, but other then that?
Still, I will miss the knife, there is something to the feeling of being the last marine around with nothing more then your life, and several skulks rushing in on you.
@FocusedWolf: Maybe it because these marines were sent to capture lifeforms, so the weapons are launching mini teleporters into the aliens so they can be beamed back into the lab? Still that would feel a lot more like what they would do in NS1 over NS2.
moultanoCreator of ns_shiva.Join Date: 2002-12-14Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
My only suggestion. Make the primary fire always fire darts regardless of whether you hold it down. Make the secondary fire start the electricity, but go to the darts if there are any around instead of being a meelee weapon. I don't want to count on the engine deciding whether I held down the button or clicked it to differentiate between tagging and shocking.
<!--quoteo(post=1718816:date=Jul 22 2009, 06:59 PM:name=moultano)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (moultano @ Jul 22 2009, 06:59 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1718816"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->My only suggestion. Make the primary fire always fire darts regardless of whether you hold it down. Make the secondary fire start the electricity, but go to the darts if there are any around instead of being a meelee weapon. I don't want to count on the engine deciding whether I held down the button or clicked it to differentiate between tagging and shocking.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> But then you have the engine deciding for you whether or not to use your melee weapon against a target you or someone else has already shot.
I think this is an interesting idea. I can only assume from the description that it's considerably less effective than the pistol as a ranged weapon, which maybe is justified. It was kind of silly how a skulk/lerk could be instagibbed just for peaking around a corner at long range. My main complaint is the ezmode melee option - why the removal of timing as a factor? I think clicking the button to take an actual swing(or a taze) is more gratifying for the player than putting up an invisible shield, and is less likely to feel cheap to the aliens.
As a <i>concept</i>, I really can't say I like it. It more or less makes killing structures a different kind of monotonous. In reality, for a game like this you are always going to have low points where you have to be killing a few structures, the game is paced that way. In reality, I think it gives NS more depth, sure it may be a low combat point, but you've just alerted yourself to the entire enemy team, they know where you are and they know you are vulnerable. I don't see that as being really that boring or monotonous.
The real issue here I feel is the pistol, it was too effective in NS1, yes. But I feel it could be subject to some minor tweaking, and it will fit as a secondary weapon much better. Perhaps give it a quick "one-two" shot instead of an unforgiving hail of bullets akin to the HMG.
As for the development aspect, I think I, like many other fans of NS who are readily anticipating it's sequel will attest. I would prefer something was done well, instead of done quickly.
This may turn play well in the game, I am merely speaking from a conceptual point of view. It doesn't <i>feel</i> right. These aren't growing pangs on an out of the box concept, it's genuine concern.
Seems sort of dorky to be using a zap gun to jolt aliens over and over but I won't complain until I've tried it. I always like how the guns in NS fired bullets instead of electricity or plasma or something but maybe this will work out. I don't understand how tasing a building is any more fun than knifing a building but again I'll leave that until I've tried it.
I absolutely loved the pistol and knife in NS1, but as someone mentioned earlier, this is supposed to be NS2, not NS:Source or remake. The taser idea doesn't really fly well with me. It seems to me that in NS 1, the marines were more about efficiency than snazzy technology. Look at the Siege cannon. It was really just a giant slug shooter and nothing more fancier.
I'll wait to see what you guys do with the concepts some more, but I have my bias. All I'm hoping for is that the atmosphere and aura of Natural Selection will still be present in the new release.
The developers said a good rule to making a sequel is having 1/3 old, 1/3 improved, and 1/3 new. I agree with this, however, it's important to identify what 'old' things should be brought back, which to be improved, and which to be discarded. I read Blizzard (bet you're tried of being compared to them by now) say that when they started working on SC2 they knew there were some units they just could not touch. Units like the zergling, zealot, marine, multalisk, and siege tank as these were iconic to the game and players had too many memories directly tied to those units.
I'd say the comparison is the same for NS1 to NS2, and in my opinion, one of the 'untouchable' things in NS1 was the Marine's pistol.
If this is absolutely going in the game, which I assume it is based on your development schedule, then I may see some issues with how it's implemented. Since to fire and send out a shock rely on the left mouse button I could easily see players unintentionally shooting out electricity or another prong when they actually wanted the other weapon function.
Also the concept art looks like some kind of Star Trek Phaser, which isn't a compliment.
My thoughts on this are convoluted, and I guess that's because it's something new being introduced to a concept we already had firm in our minds.
I'll try to wrap it up concisely--
<b>1. I think the dual concept is perfectly fine.</b> It saves on weapon switching, and it makes sense (bayonette style) to have your melee weapon even more accessible than it was previously.
<b>2. I like the electricity, transponder-dart concept.</b> I think that could make for some really interesting scenarios. Feeding a huge electrical surge into your organic enemy is a sure way of making them hurt, regardless of how alien they are.
<b>3. I really, really, really do <u>NOT</u> like the "Taser" melee concept.</b> I know this pretty much runs contrary to what I just said for the ranged iteration, but somehow, a close-range electrical shocking device that still LOOKS like a taser that we use in today's police force just feels completely...<i>underwhelming.</i>
If you have a fade or a skulk pouncing at you, and you know you can maybe finish them off with your melee weapon at close-range because you've emptied a couple of clips in them already, I just think sticking out a device with a 5-10cm electrical current on the front is bordering on ridiculous. These are warriors after all; it just feels like it falls very short of what they would really have in their armory.
If the electrical 'shield' can be made to look something <i>other</i> than what a taser does today, then I could stomach it just fine; because electricity IS cool.
<b>Suggestions?</b> I did have a suggestion in mind, not leaving you completely in the lurch!
I was thinking for the melee attack of something FAR MORE VISCERAL.
Why not have the same device, but when you're attacking in melee mode, an <b>electrified blade</b> protrudes out from the device?
Either there are two blades visible on the outside of the gun (maybe one blade on each side of the outside of the weapon), and they jut out rapidy when the melee animation is activated; or a blade extends from within the device, like a butterfly knife concept.
It doesn't have to be necessarily a long blade, as I was actually thinking of a thick blade the length of the weapon itself. When it comes out, it's charged and crackling with electricity (to conform with the nature of the weapon).
This also gets around the "what if I hit a bony part" problem-- it'll rend flesh and bone alike and deliver the requisite charge too :)
I think it could use some work to make it more practical. But I love the idea of the darts and being able to arc electricity to the darts after there in an alien. However I think that darts shouldn't fall out. I imagine it as the marine form of parasite. Once an alien is darted, it now must be careful of taser wielding marines for the remainder of is life. Perhaps a visual cue that that the vigilant marine can pick up on and whip out his taser when he sees it, like a red light on the dart.
Perhaps even a step further and making it a tracking mechanism of sorts. A darted alien will appear just like a motion tracking blip on the marines hud. This could be balanced with parasite by giving parasite some secondary feature (perhaps fuzzy periphery for parasited marine?)
Anyways, love the darts idea, I think you guys should run with it. Lots of other good suggestions in this thread though.
Hmm the damage part is really interesting. Grab a JP, fire a dart at an onos and keep out of range of its horn. Then hold fire and watch it fry!!!! Can be potentially overpowered? And the constant shock part when alt fire is held down can also be a bit unfair? I know this is suppose to be a knife + pistol but so far its more like a chainsaw + pistol. Skulks can time their bites so they can bite in between knife swings but with this "chainsaw" it seems a bit unfair considering you spawn with this thing. Since there is a display I assume it display how many darts you have left or maybe how much juice you have in the battery pack? Maybe the combination of both? Anyway maybe we can balance this thing out with the ammo limitation. The dart reload time will kinda be like the pistol reload time? Maybe 10 round per mag just like the old pistol. The electricity part is a bit tricky. Since this thing is suppose to have enough juice to take out structures so it cant be too limited but this would also mean you can keep your "chainsaw" on much longer. This part I'll leave up to your devs. Hell just reading all this back to myself this thing is far from a secondary weapon, it can be a primary........ IT SHOULD BE A PRIMARY!!! I'll love to run around the map tasing everyone. Anyway if I mentioned any ideas that was already mentioned sorry. I didnt have enough time to read through all the posts. This is just my initial thought upon reading the update. I really hope you can balance this thing out and keep it in game.
Visually the concept is cool, the gameplay ideas sound interesting. Really looking forward to checking this out.. I'm glad that things are changing quite a bit from NS, rather than just being a remake :)
Skulks are getting more hp and leap. Marines are losing the pistol for what I guess is a damage over time weapon? If there is one part of the game that I would have kept the same it is the early game. Personally I find it the most fun. Throwing all these wrenches in it just makes me wonder if it will remain fun.
This is one of the better concepts I've seen for ns2. Really looking forward to this now.
EDIT: How is this less exciting than running around with a knife? The possibilities you have with this is huge. The knife was extremely limited gameplay wise.
EDIT2: Also, the model could do with a redesign to make it look more multipurpose and badass, atm it just looks like a taser and NOT a pistol.
EDIT3: Or even better they could keep the taser-pistol and have a knife that can be upgraded to electric knife, which can be stuck into aliens and does dmg over time after you have died.
On one hand, it seems like you have designed a weapon that perfectly addresses all the concerns you had. On the other hand, it seems particularly non-intuitive and against the simple nature of the original game. You give someone a pistol, or a shotgun, they know what it is and how to use it. If it takes 3 minutes to explain how a thing works, it doesn't seem to belong in ns.
If we take a moment to look at what Valve is doing...the main selling point of L4D2 is the new set of viscerally pleasing melee weapons, mostly consisting of things which cut, tear, hack, grind, or otherwise turn flesh into hamburger meat.
It was fun to cut at the base of an alien rt. Like it's a little shop of horrors. Then you get chomped, HA.
And of course Doom had the chainsaw.
Simple, though, is boring. You can only swing an axe/knife/chainsaw so many ways. And this taser-o-matic isn't simple, so that's good.
The effects need to be cool to make up for the model looking plain, because it looks like something you dock into a vacuum cleaner. It's growing on me though.
Oh, and stun is always a very bad idea against aliens. I don't think they would do that though.
Here is another idea for how the gun could work - you could shoot transponders in the wall in 2 places, then it connects them like web. Except instead of web, it's a line of electricity. Maybe you can use it to escape when you run out of ammo.
I'm gonna miss the pistol, though. Pistol skill was huge because it was the most accurate gun in the game.
This weapon should only be used when absolutely necessary. I don't see it being used as a primary weapon except in rediculous situations. (tazer rushes)
I assume there will be better alternatives to taking down structures. This is just a basic option for early game marines to kill an RT quickly when they don't have the resources for a GL or Flame Thrower. Effectively working just like the knife in NS1 in this case.
The tazer will not be able to replace the pistol as it was in NS1. It does serve the same close range purpose as an emergency weapon when you run out of primary ammo or need to reload. The ranged 'sniper' aspect of the pistol is gone. Some will be happy about this, some will not. Maybe there will be a scope attachment for the LMG so people can have a range option?
Beyond what was already said, I would like to see some alternate uses for this tazer weapon. I would like to see it integrated into the marine power grid system in some way. The tazer could be used to temporarily power marine structures that are disconnected from the power grid or in a forward base. (Power a Turret factory to make a forward siege) It could be used to power doors in unpowered areas or recharge weld bots so they can keep your armor repaired.
I can imagine there being many alternative uses for this weapon other than the functions of a pistol/knife.
Overall, this definitely has the potential to be a great pistol/knife replacement.
Comments
Gorge steak every night!! :D
Sounds good but now I wont be able to knife the fade anymore and feel so proud...
Weld the fade to death? Is this as good?
I do agree with the stun however maybe you should have it instead of the secondary attack doing damage and then if you hold it down it stuns.
It should instead only stun if you hit them perfectly with it and then if you continue to hold it all it does is damage and no stun.
Hold stun sounds really over powered...
Also my fear is with Onos bone shield and Marine taser stun this game is become far too deffencive as opposed to the current NS1 which is totaly offencive...
It may end up with a wall of bone sheilding onos facing a wall of marines holding taser stun...
I think that it can only really work if (and it's been hinted at enough) there is better ammunition management. At the end of the day if there are aliens that are the size of rhinos running at me I don't want to even use a pistol. I want a heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher. The point is that when you've come to a situation where that ammo is depleted, or you're simply not going to survive the reload period, what should the answer be to give you the "chance" that they talk about? Something that is somewhat a small life-form deterrent and personal protection unit makes a whole lot more sense to my mind. Edit: Sense from a game balance point of view, giving the aliens the opportunity to not have to face a continually firing marine if they play their strategy right, listen for reloads, etc.
Better ammo management, don't make me need to switch to a secondary gun to get myself out of trouble, and thus make it so that when I'm in trouble I am *actually* in trouble too, with a nifty yet still unlikely tool of salvation.
"It may end up with a wall of bone sheilding onos facing a wall of marines holding taser stun... "
And the onos will crawl forward, protecting the fade behind it, leading to stupid marines dying while they try to use a mellee attack to repel the two biggest cost life forms their enemies can throw at them. Let's get real already!
Oh and stop saying you came with this great idea because you "don't have time and you are a such freaking small team" I hope the amount of money will be enough for each team member as well so get over it, or outsorcing the modeling / animation anything but crying about how much do you guys are working. If you don't want / don't have time for do things better, really, just let them as they are already in NS. We liked them that way so much, for years never got old. Now if you need more money just let us know, pretty sure we can find a solution like a NS consties or something; also if you really want a release this fall just let the things in the way we felt in love with them. That simple, there is your blue ocean, you have no rival in this captive market.
There are a lot of wrong things in this abortion called NS2 IMO to bother listing them just for getting my post edited by your anal staff, and since you really don't want any kind of honest feedback / criticism from the players who played NS for years, have fun trashing this awesome game even more with this kind of weird antics. I'm pretty sure it will be not near as Natural Selection was, never. This seems like the horizontal meme of TF2 if anything, eyecandy trash. GG.
<img src="http://uploads.andersriggelsen.dk/alien-tasoring.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
What if the marines were able to shoot two transponders on two separate walls, and then use the taser function and create an electrical arc from the gun to both transponders and between the two. I think it would be a very cool move on the marines part to set up an electrical wall that could be turned on as skulks ran by it, zapping them into oblivion. It could be used to hold off incoming skulks in a tight corridor or vent while marines were setting up a forward base.
1. It looks like a bloody phaser... i.e. "Dust Buster" model from StarTrek : TNG
2. When i told my young brother this, his exact words were "WHAT the hell??!!??"
3. Tasers are considered a NON-LETHAL weapon... why the hell would marines use this as a replacement for a backup sidearm??? Why not a nice big bottle of bear mace??? I'm sure i can deter a whole onos rush with one of those... not some pos Chinese ninja toy. What next? Batman style grappling hooks??
How about a nice 1911a1 clone with regenerating nanite ammunition so as to not require ammo packs???
Ofcourse if we go the route of non-projectile weapons then the question becomes, why do we still use projectile weapons as our primary weapon but not our secondary.
4. Are we really going to see people running around with tasers... seriously... you guys have officially lost it!
I'M GONNA TASER THE ONOS'S GUERRILLA BALLS!!! is what they'll say...(Won't someone think of the poor defenseless gorges... they will be tortured!!! :P)
O THIS IS GONNA BE SWEET... TIME TO FRY SOME ALIEN EGGS LMAO.
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All kidding aside the marine pistol was ONLY good for killing gorges and skulks (and to kill a gorge you had to fire off all your LMG ammunition from a magazine and then follow up with a pistol)
Will this new secondary weapon permit us to take down fades by zapping them until the battery runs out?
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In reallife a pistol, in the distance that a pistol can be accurately used, is more deadly then a rifle (when shooting a soft target like a human). In this way the NS1 pistol made total sense because it could only kill skulks and gorges which are very soft targets... And because it had double the deadlyness of the lmg which fires rifle bullets... (No... it's infinite accuracy and no recoil did not make any sense... pistols have horrendous inaccuracy beyond a certain distance, but still good enough to hit a human somewhere in the chest).
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What is the difference between this and a welder... why don't you guys combine PISTOL + KNIFE + WELDER + MINES into one item while we're at it... In fact it's more realistic for marines to only have a rifle and knife and ammunition and bullets. Lets do that.
Then the commander can drop for us this electric monstrosity you guys un-creatively thought of by looking at a picture for a taser.
In reallife a pistol,
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i stopped reading after that, real life has nothing to do with games :)
From what I understand, this weapon does small amounts of damage, but grows quickly the longer it says on the target. Try to no stay aiming on a onos, it not that hard as the onos is so big, and often slow. Making this both an resource tower killer ( what you want ) and onos killer ( what I don't think you want ). I might be missing something here, like maybe it only work on small aliens, but other then that?
Still, I will miss the knife, there is something to the feeling of being the last marine around with nothing more then your life, and several skulks rushing in on you.
@FocusedWolf: Maybe it because these marines were sent to capture lifeforms, so the weapons are launching mini teleporters into the aliens so they can be beamed back into the lab? Still that would feel a lot more like what they would do in NS1 over NS2.
But then you have the engine deciding for you whether or not to use your melee weapon against a target you or someone else has already shot.
I think this is an interesting idea. I can only assume from the description that it's considerably less effective than the pistol as a ranged weapon, which maybe is justified. It was kind of silly how a skulk/lerk could be instagibbed just for peaking around a corner at long range. My main complaint is the ezmode melee option - why the removal of timing as a factor? I think clicking the button to take an actual swing(or a taze) is more gratifying for the player than putting up an invisible shield, and is less likely to feel cheap to the aliens.
The real issue here I feel is the pistol, it was too effective in NS1, yes. But I feel it could be subject to some minor tweaking, and it will fit as a secondary weapon much better. Perhaps give it a quick "one-two" shot instead of an unforgiving hail of bullets akin to the HMG.
As for the development aspect, I think I, like many other fans of NS who are readily anticipating it's sequel will attest. I would prefer something was done well, instead of done quickly.
This may turn play well in the game, I am merely speaking from a conceptual point of view. It doesn't <i>feel</i> right. These aren't growing pangs on an out of the box concept, it's genuine concern.
<img src="http://uploads.andersriggelsen.dk/alien-tasoring.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Awesome!!
I'll wait to see what you guys do with the concepts some more, but I have my bias. All I'm hoping for is that the atmosphere and aura of Natural Selection will still be present in the new release.
I'd say the comparison is the same for NS1 to NS2, and in my opinion, one of the 'untouchable' things in NS1 was the Marine's pistol.
If this is absolutely going in the game, which I assume it is based on your development schedule, then I may see some issues with how it's implemented. Since to fire and send out a shock rely on the left mouse button I could easily see players unintentionally shooting out electricity or another prong when they actually wanted the other weapon function.
Also the concept art looks like some kind of Star Trek Phaser, which isn't a compliment.
I'll try to wrap it up concisely--
<b>1. I think the dual concept is perfectly fine.</b>
It saves on weapon switching, and it makes sense (bayonette style) to have your melee weapon even more accessible than it was previously.
<b>2. I like the electricity, transponder-dart concept.</b> I think that could make for some really interesting scenarios.
Feeding a huge electrical surge into your organic enemy is a sure way of making them hurt, regardless of how alien they are.
<b>3. I really, really, really do <u>NOT</u> like the "Taser" melee concept.</b>
I know this pretty much runs contrary to what I just said for the ranged iteration, but somehow, a close-range electrical shocking device that still LOOKS like a taser that we use in today's police force just feels completely...<i>underwhelming.</i>
If you have a fade or a skulk pouncing at you, and you know you can maybe finish them off with your melee weapon at close-range because you've emptied a couple of clips in them already, I just think sticking out a device with a 5-10cm electrical current on the front is bordering on ridiculous. These are warriors after all; it just feels like it falls very short of what they would really have in their armory.
If the electrical 'shield' can be made to look something <i>other</i> than what a taser does today, then I could stomach it just fine; because electricity IS cool.
<b>Suggestions?</b>
I did have a suggestion in mind, not leaving you completely in the lurch!
I was thinking for the melee attack of something FAR MORE VISCERAL.
Why not have the same device, but when you're attacking in melee mode, an <b>electrified blade</b> protrudes out from the device?
Either there are two blades visible on the outside of the gun (maybe one blade on each side of the outside of the weapon), and they jut out rapidy when the melee animation is activated; or
a blade extends from within the device, like a butterfly knife concept.
It doesn't have to be necessarily a long blade, as I was actually thinking of a thick blade the length of the weapon itself.
When it comes out, it's charged and crackling with electricity (to conform with the nature of the weapon).
This also gets around the "what if I hit a bony part" problem-- it'll rend flesh and bone alike and deliver the requisite charge too :)
Just my 2c anyway.
Perhaps even a step further and making it a tracking mechanism of sorts. A darted alien will appear just like a motion tracking blip on the marines hud. This could be balanced with parasite by giving parasite some secondary feature (perhaps fuzzy periphery for parasited marine?)
Anyways, love the darts idea, I think you guys should run with it. Lots of other good suggestions in this thread though.
Skulks are getting more hp and leap. Marines are losing the pistol for what I guess is a damage over time weapon? If there is one part of the game that I would have kept the same it is the early game. Personally I find it the most fun. Throwing all these wrenches in it just makes me wonder if it will remain fun.
EDIT: How is this less exciting than running around with a knife? The possibilities you have with this is huge. The knife was extremely limited gameplay wise.
EDIT2: Also, the model could do with a redesign to make it look more multipurpose and badass, atm it just looks like a taser and NOT a pistol.
EDIT3: Or even better they could keep the taser-pistol and have a knife that can be upgraded to electric knife, which can be stuck into aliens and does dmg over time after you have died.
It was fun to cut at the base of an alien rt. Like it's a little shop of horrors. Then you get chomped, HA.
And of course Doom had the chainsaw.
Simple, though, is boring. You can only swing an axe/knife/chainsaw so many ways. And this taser-o-matic isn't simple, so that's good.
The effects need to be cool to make up for the model looking plain, because it looks like something you dock into a vacuum cleaner. It's growing on me though.
Oh, and stun is always a very bad idea against aliens. I don't think they would do that though.
Here is another idea for how the gun could work - you could shoot transponders in the wall in 2 places, then it connects them like web. Except instead of web, it's a line of electricity. Maybe you can use it to escape when you run out of ammo.
I'm gonna miss the pistol, though. Pistol skill was huge because it was the most accurate gun in the game.
Yes!
I like the concept too. I just hope there is a slight possibility of killing an Onos and Fade with it. Knifing an Onos or Fade to death is fun :)
I assume there will be better alternatives to taking down structures. This is just a basic option for early game marines to kill an RT quickly when they don't have the resources for a GL or Flame Thrower. Effectively working just like the knife in NS1 in this case.
The tazer will not be able to replace the pistol as it was in NS1. It does serve the same close range purpose as an emergency weapon when you run out of primary ammo or need to reload. The ranged 'sniper' aspect of the pistol is gone. Some will be happy about this, some will not. Maybe there will be a scope attachment for the LMG so people can have a range option?
Beyond what was already said, I would like to see some alternate uses for this tazer weapon. I would like to see it integrated into the marine power grid system in some way.
The tazer could be used to temporarily power marine structures that are disconnected from the power grid or in a forward base. (Power a Turret factory to make a forward siege)
It could be used to power doors in unpowered areas or recharge weld bots so they can keep your armor repaired.
I can imagine there being many alternative uses for this weapon other than the functions of a pistol/knife.
Overall, this definitely has the potential to be a great pistol/knife replacement.