Muzzle flash, etc.
Defcon
Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9402Members
One of the main reasons alot of players wont convert is the following;
The LMG muzzle flash, it's a joke to be honest, it in fact turns to luck 'if you hit the skulk' if they're up close, with the gun and the flash it takes up 1/3 of your screen, some of this covering your aiming reticle... give a skulk celerity, carapace and leap and he'll be literally be unstoppable. (Half the time you'll shoot your marine teammates)
Players wont convert to this game because the first thing they see is this. It removes alot of the skill potential from the game. Quite a few TFC players that i've spoke to thought it was a joke and 'incredibly ugly' until they found out the command r_drawviewmodel, or using completely new models.
I've also heard from numerous good sources (playtesters, logs of flayra himself) that they're leaving in bunny hopping for skulks in 1.1 but will be reduced in effectiveness (bh completely removed for the marine side).
Quite a few clans, for example, DW and NG do not play with model consitency on, and alot of them use r_drawviewmodel 0, this generally being based on the fact marines are MUCH stronger early game vs. skulks without this disadvantage.
Flaryra, nerfed almost every good thing the marines had, simply because the marines are too strong, ever consider this is partly because of this?
I can see you balancing the game, and the balance in teams shifting back and forth till you actually realise making 100 changes per patch isn't such a good idea unless you've clearly though them all though.
The LMG muzzle flash, it's a joke to be honest, it in fact turns to luck 'if you hit the skulk' if they're up close, with the gun and the flash it takes up 1/3 of your screen, some of this covering your aiming reticle... give a skulk celerity, carapace and leap and he'll be literally be unstoppable. (Half the time you'll shoot your marine teammates)
Players wont convert to this game because the first thing they see is this. It removes alot of the skill potential from the game. Quite a few TFC players that i've spoke to thought it was a joke and 'incredibly ugly' until they found out the command r_drawviewmodel, or using completely new models.
I've also heard from numerous good sources (playtesters, logs of flayra himself) that they're leaving in bunny hopping for skulks in 1.1 but will be reduced in effectiveness (bh completely removed for the marine side).
Quite a few clans, for example, DW and NG do not play with model consitency on, and alot of them use r_drawviewmodel 0, this generally being based on the fact marines are MUCH stronger early game vs. skulks without this disadvantage.
Flaryra, nerfed almost every good thing the marines had, simply because the marines are too strong, ever consider this is partly because of this?
I can see you balancing the game, and the balance in teams shifting back and forth till you actually realise making 100 changes per patch isn't such a good idea unless you've clearly though them all though.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Maybe your just a really big n00b... ever think of that balance issue?
I find it so funny that it actually does cover the crosshair, and blinds you in any type of close range combat. If they do enforce r_drawviewmodel to 1, i'll hook you up with the reduced muzzle flash sprites I have =P
Flayra had his own reasons for making things the way they are, but those 2 I'm not really sure why. It's not a gameplay enhancer, and balance can be achieved in less annoying ways.
I know you can't really put a "fade claw" type weapon model for the skulk as it won't move while the skulk runs, but that's still more realistic than having eyes in your mouth <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->. Can't you have the claws offscreen other than during attack?
Maybe your just a really big n00b... ever think of that balance issue?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ever kept your gamma default, then you'd understand.
It literally blinds the screen with a flash making it impossible to hit for s***
You can see what i mean by placing any dark image infront of a completely white background, looking at the image in detail is much harder than if the background was completely black/dark. Since the white background obsecures it.
IF you adjust gamma, it makes everything brighter, once the background whiteness reaches it's limit the darker image starts getting clearer.
If the skulk is up close, you are supposed to be dead anyway <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
your job is to kill them before they get there.
[edit] concerning the bhopping, thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard. playtesters, flayra have repeatedly said that they want bhopping out of ns altogether. besides, skulks have nothing (well, not much) to gain from bhopping. skulks are fast, skulks are silent. whats the point of bhopping?
there is a diffrence betwen "skulks" and skulks
Yeah, but if this was the case, why do most v.good marine teams walk all skulks at any distance atm?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Players wont convert to this game because the first thing they see is this.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Good, they can go play another mod so that we don't have to hear about this forever.
there is a diffrence betwen "skulks" and skulks<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You be surprised... decent sized hallway, one skulk after another... i've pulled off a few 5 kills in a row, lots of 3 kills in a row, few 4.
Prosp
I'm going to repost instead of spending time writing it again.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Firstly, it's a good idea to fire bursts anyway--it helps enforce good aim. Secondly, the muzzle flash is a 'flash'... it's not a constant immobile blot, it flickers. And thirdly, it DOES NOT occlude the crosshair. The barest FRINGE of the sprite touches the crosshair itself from the lower right corner. Most of that lovely center area is wide open, and the rest is only partly obscured.
Calling it 1/4 the screen is a gross exaggeration--and I've said as much before. My screenshot comes out at 800x600, and the sprite shows up with a size of 225x225 at the displayed distance. In lower resolutions it should show up with a similar proportional size. Thus the bounded opaque areas of the sprite cover 10.54% of the screen in terms of area. And did I mention it flickers and rotates and has transparency holes within that area?
The only part that the muzzle flash truly obscures of the screen is the area that the gun would block from your view anyway--most of the tip of the barrel. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Lastly, the marines are encouraged to stick together for fire support.
And I could start a whole counterthread of frickin marines who leap right over my attempts to bite their shins--which somehow miss unless I'm buried into their chest--even standing on my skulky head, and then strafe-jump backwards shooting all the way.
The big nozzle flash is in, it's Flayra mod he can do what he likes with the mod if got a reason for it so be it
learn to work around it
Perhaps I have some kind of superior eyesight. A superpower if you will. I, and a few other elite players, are able to see beyond a flickering flare, which is visible for a small fraction of a second at a time, while a considerably longer period of time is taken up by what is beyond the flare. I pity you poor mortals, whose inferior eyes are utterly blinded by the little flash. Behold, and <b>tremble</b> at my ocular might!
Seriously though, stop whining.
Skulk bites.... well.... no. There's nothing wrong with them either. In fact, I think they're really cool. Now, I'll admit that it's hard to see everything that's going on when I'm in close combat with marines. But do you suppose it's because of the bite animation? He|| no! See, I tend not to run straight at marines (unless I'm chasing them unseen), which means I'm running in small circles around them whilst trying to bite them and not get hit at the same time. And I tell you, running in small circles is far more detrimental to one's sight.
It doesn't bother me one bit, not in NS, not in CS, not in DoD, not in HLDM, not in....well you get the idea. Would you rather have some wimpy pansy girly-man's muzzle flash!? <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
That'd be tight if the muzzle flash did very little damage even if the bullets did not hit - because that stuff is really burning powder and exploding gases (Forensic Science = win!). It should give scorching damage to un-carapaced aliens <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo-->
[edit]Of course I mean only in VERY close range should the muzzle flash do any damage at all...you shouldn't be able to hit it like a flamethrower <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
[/edit]
Dude...quit your crying.
Newbies complain - Veterans Adapt.
Deal with it... r_drawviewmodel 0 is for wussies <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I'm not sure why you brougth this up as a "balance issue", however. There's probably a few dozen balance adjustments in 1.04, and the one you mention is a muzzle flash which doesn't even show up on the patch notes.
Muzzle flash comparison:
LMG:
<a href='http://home.pacifier.com/~dhawtho/nsflashcomp/103lmggunflash.JPG' target='_blank'>1.03 muzzle flash.</a>
<a href='http://home.pacifier.com/~dhawtho/nsflashcomp/104lmggunflash.JPG' target='_blank'>1.04 muzzle flash.</a>
Pistol:
<a href='http://www.pacifier.com/~dhawtho/nsflashcomp/103pistolflash.JPG' target='_blank'>1.03 muzzle flash</a>
<a href='http://www.pacifier.com/~dhawtho/nsflashcomp/104pistolflash.JPG' target='_blank'>1.04 muzzle flash</a>
1.04 is from a 1.04h server.
Am I missing something? I don't see any difference in the muzzle flash.
Had a chance to use a HMG in 1.04 but I didn't notice any particular out of the usual muzzle flashes either. Not that I really worry about accuracy with that gun anyway - it's spray and pray.
Stop whining that the exploit will be removed. If it wasn't an exploit, it wouldn't be BEING removed.
On to the other topic.. motion tracking. Yeah, it's an upgrade that needs a counter. Been suggested numerous times to just have Silence make you invisible to motion tracking.. negate the blue halo following you everywhere, so you can be a PROPER sneaky bastitch. Leave Cloaking as it was in v1.03, that was FINE. More than half the fun of even setting up a Sensory chamber was setting up a mass ambush in the middle of a hallway. Let a group of Marines literally walk into a wall of cloaked Skulks, and get their reactions when eight Skulks just pop into being right in front of their face. The 90% cloaking is USELESS, unless the Marine is already in a hurry, you're hiding in a shadow, and he'd have missed you ANYWAY, even without Cloaking. Sensory, with cloaking as it stands now, is even more firmly cemented into last-place in the build order.
also since when did the skulk see out its mouth <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
even on the model the eyes are outside the mouth <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
In 1.03, most serious players had it turned off.
Read the changelog and you'll see that the command to hide the view model has been locked, this forces a large vision obscuring monstroscity that has no valid reason for being in the game at all onto your screen. Obstructions such as this limit the importance of good aim, much like the random firing cone of the marine weapons. The skulk bite model is no different, players of both races are hindered by this unnecessarily.
If you have a serious problem with people who know what the console is, then simply add a r_drawviewmodel option to the menus. Better yet, either remove/reduce the muzzle flash or just switch the model off by default, then we won't get any moronic comments about 'a level playing field'.
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Perhaps I have some kind of superior eyesight
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
More likely you have poor aim. Removing the obstruction removes a random factor from the act of aiming, it allows those who can track precisely and adjust their aim quickly to do so, instead of capping their ability by obscuring vision of the target. If you cannot land more hits when the gun model is removed, either your aim was very poor in the first place, or your video card is very friendly to you with regards to transparencies. I don't care how many skulks you killed one time on a pub, i've jumping-knife killed many an ONOS but im not about to start a thread claiming how great the LA/Knife marine is against them.
A good player can adjust his aim quickly and track precisely, temporarily hiding the target everytime you fire makes this skill irrelevant. Do not even attempt to use the word 'teamplay' in this discussion, comments like "it encourages having more marines for support" miss the point so completely, and are so idiotic it's hardly believable.
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EXPLOIT!
HOW THE GAME WAS MEANT TO BE!
'newbs whine veterans adapt'
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The Internet will be a better place once intelligence tests become mandatory for connection.
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Stop whining
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Great argument there Einstein, allow me to apply it to the rest of your post.
"On to the other topic.. motion tracking."
Stop whining
"Leave Cloaking as it was in v1.03"
Stop whining
"No gamma BS"
Stop whining
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besides, skulks have nothing (well, not much) to gain from bhopping. skulks are fast, skulks are silent. whats the point of bhopping?
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Skulks aren't silent... the ability to move quickly is very important to a skulk because he has to close the distance before he can do anything, they also generally dont have to be as cautious when moving around the map so they have no reason not to benefit from the extra speed. Hopping is at least as useful for skulks as it is for marines.
Any one with higher res will have an advantage over someone with lower res
But for the record any way I learn to ignore stuff like that and bite model included
There are 2 methods to work around it;
1) Burst fire; Fire a burst, re-aquire aim, fire a burst.
2) Fire Blind; Predict the motion of your enemy using any data you can scavange through the muzzie flash.
The 1st technique works best at long range, the second is best at close range.
But the important thing to note is, BOTH require skill in and of themselves.
What you guys are <b>ACCTUALLY</b> complaining about is not a 'skill cap' its the fact that <b>YOUR</b> personal ability, what you consider to be a 'good aim' is being reduced in effectivness.
Stop Press!
THIS IS THE INTENTION OF MUZZIE FLASH AND TEETH!
Muzzie and Teeth were quite obviously put in to reduce the skill of indevidual players affect on the game. Imagine a game of C&C where you're intire team can instantly head-shot the other team on sight, it becomes practically impossible to lose. Irrispective of your tactics OR stratagy.
By limiting the indevidual abilities of indevidual players you force games to become relyant on <b>TEAM PLAY</b> <b>TACTICS</b> and <b>STRATAGY</b>.
Yes thats right, Defcon they don't WANT you to be able to rambo your way to the alien hive (silently B-hopping all the way) and sit there spawn camping every alien who spawns with you're 'elite aim' (r_drawviewmodel 0).
They really do want a rambo mission to the enemy hive to be a 'long shot' not a 'standard tactic'
They don't think that you should be able to, though your own skill alone have a serious affect on a large pubbie server.
What you CAN do is influence a pubby servers players to make them teamplay better or use better stratagys. THAT is how you're 'supposed' to insure victory, you don't be 'mr uber' who runs off and 'p0wnz all teh ali3nz g00d' you TEACH.
*sigh*
EDIT>
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The flash changes in size by different res so......
Any one with higher res will have an advantage over someone with lower res
But for the record any way I learn to ignore stuff like that and bite model included<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Gather data from acctual tests befor you post rather than relying on CS experiances please.
BlueGhost