Guns Of Icarus Online
Info => Feedback and Suggestions => Topic started by: Mary Read on February 25, 2014, 08:32:21 am
-
Hi all, after playing this nice game over and over i came up with some simple (i think, at least) suggestions that can improve the gameplay:
1) A nice green square with the ship name constantly visible for allied ship, so you don't have to scream things like "You, Pyramidion that is attacking that spire, you have a squid coming right behind you!".
2) Ability to change class or equipment one time each match (or if you think that could be too much exploitable, one each 5 matches). Because when you join a match that is already going (or you enter the lobby few seconds before the match begin) often you do NOT have the correct equipment or class the captain want for that ship. Even if you are an experienced player, that always remember to check the ship loadout, could happen that the captain want to play his ship in an original way, so your equipment is not good as it should be.
3) Autofire in ALL weapons (of course without transforming a semiautomatic weapon in a full automatic one), because clicking like crazy when shooting many of them (like light mortar, flak cannon, carronade, banshee, hades....) it's not healty! That's why you made "autofire" on the repairs tools, right?
4) Visible cone of fire for all the weapons in the ship's loadout screen, so you can immediately see if your weapons have a common fire arc or you are doomed to fire them one at a time... now you can still see this by trying the loadout in the sandbox, but i think it's a waste of time.
PS: sorry for my bad english, i'm not a native speaker.
-
number 1 is not needed since you have communication between captains to report positions, you can see the position of your allied ship on the map. maybe a colorblind mode would be nice for players who cant see the difference or have trouble to see who's ally and who's enemy.
number 2 shouldnt be needed since the quick join button has been removed.
numbr 3 is already implemented in some weapons that demand autfire (other weapons fir to slow for autofire.), maybe have autofire enabled if you are using greased rounds would be nice.
number 4 is not needed, only if you are lazy. Play alot of gunner and try things out in sandbox if you are not sure. You eventually learn the arcs of every gun. Also communicating with your gunner might help.
-
The following is just my personal opinion on your suggestions.
1) A nice green square with the ship name constantly visible for allied ship, so you don't have to scream things like "You, Pyramidion that is attacking that spire, you have a squid coming right behind you!".
I think having a general difficulty and authenticity is what makes a good game, it provides a challenge. Also, not having an overloaded HUD and unauthentic floating squares gives this game much more charme. But I'm with Coldcurse on colorblind modes for the most common colorblindnesses.
2) Ability to change class or equipment one time each match (or if you think that could be too much exploitable, one each 5 matches). Because when you join a match that is already going (or you enter the lobby few seconds before the match begin) often you do NOT have the correct equipment or class the captain want for that ship. Even if you are an experienced player, that always remember to check the ship loadout, could happen that the captain want to play his ship in an original way, so your equipment is not good as it should be.
Always 1 pilot, 1 gunner and 2 engineers. Basic rule of thumb for a running match. You can join the lobby, take a look at the weapons of the ship and the other crews loadout and then decide what to bring before jumping into the match. If the captain wants something else, just leave the match, equip it in the character menu (main menu top right corner) and then jump into the match again without pressing the "resume" button.
number 2 shouldnt be needed since the quick join button has been removed.
I don't really get the connection between quick join and his suggestion, as jumping in a running match is still enabled. It has to be made clear that you can view the ship layout even when trying to join a running match.
3) Autofire in ALL weapons (of course without transforming a semiautomatic weapon in a full automatic one), because clicking like crazy when shooting many of them (like light mortar, flak cannon, carronade, banshee, hades....) it's not healty! That's why you made "autofire" on the repairs tools, right?
I don't think we need continuous fire in most of the weapons, as those that don't have it at the moment don't have a huge clip and already a slow firing rate. In fact, it may happen that you keep firing the gun although you don't want it to at that moment with continuous fire enabled in those gun, thus losing ammo and time to reload.
4) Visible cone of fire for all the weapons in the ship's loadout screen, so you can immediately see if your weapons have a common fire arc or you are doomed to fire them one at a time... now you can still see this by trying the loadout in the sandbox, but i think it's a waste of time.
That is actually a really nice idea. I quite like that. Might help unexperienced and new pilots to avoid loadouts like a carronade/flak/flamethrower side on a Galleon or two top mercs on a Mobula.
-
Point number 4 would be nice in unexperienced games, but I find it rather annoying in high level matches.
Maybe it could be made a feature that you can toggle on and off.
-
Point number 4 would be nice in unexperienced games, but I find it rather annoying in high level matches.
Maybe it could be made a feature that you can toggle on and off.
4) Visible cone of fire for all the weapons in the ship's loadout screen
I don't see a problem for any kind of player there. No need to toggle it off. It's much more helpful than looking up everything in the manuals in-game or in the forum.
-
Number 4 does make it more easy, but. Takes away the oldschool discovery and fun of it.
I do this almost everytime on practice after every patch on guns. Finding a new ways to make a ship usefull with tools and execution. Weaponary angles and etc etc.
The book on the top left should give you enough information before you test, but on test should you confirm if the guns be able to overlap to a single target.
-
Sorry, but I can't agree with these. 1, 3, and 4 reduce the skill level in playing the game which is part of the fun of it all. And number 2 is, as someone pointed out, not such a big deal now that Quick Join is gone, and don't forget, you can always abandon match, change tools/ammo, and then resume game to switch loadouts if you mistakenly took something you didn't want to (though you can't change classes afaik, not being able to do so is a good thing frankly).
-
Number 4 does make it more easy, but. Takes away the oldschool discovery and fun of it.
I do this almost everytime on practice after every patch on guns. Finding a new ways to make a ship usefull with tools and execution. Weaponary angles and etc etc.
The book on the top left should give you enough information before you test, but on test should you confirm if the guns be able to overlap to a single target.
As a newer player, I do not find this "oldschool discovery" fun at all. In fact, I hate the fact I have to put in work just to see the basic info for the guns that should be visible to me already at all times from the very beginning (and would be in most other games). Being able to see firing arcs in the ship customization screen (with a toggle on/off button) would make ship building FAR easier. Hell, I'd love to be able to see an overlay for the range and firing arcs for all the guns (each with a different color) while in Practice Mode, so I could learn how to build better ships and become a better pilot.
-
I think number 1 should be done for various reasons. But it should be a "toggle" thing.. like press P to show/hide ally spot box.. This way people who want to use it can and people who do not don't have to.. so win-win.. I can think of several benefits for having it available and think I suggested it in the in game chat before..
-
I agree that every semi-automatic action should be automatic. Banshee, light flak, mortar, buffing, rebuilding, whatever. Frantic clicking is annoying, loud and can lead to rsi.
-
Number 4 does make it more easy, but. Takes away the oldschool discovery and fun of it.
I do this almost everytime on practice after every patch on guns. Finding a new ways to make a ship usefull with tools and execution. Weaponary angles and etc etc.
The book on the top left should give you enough information before you test, but on test should you confirm if the guns be able to overlap to a single target.
As a newer player, I do not find this "oldschool discovery" fun at all. In fact, I hate the fact I have to put in work just to see the basic info for the guns that should be visible to me already at all times from the very beginning (and would be in most other games). Being able to see firing arcs in the ship customization screen (with a toggle on/off button) would make ship building FAR easier. Hell, I'd love to be able to see an overlay for the range and firing arcs for all the guns (each with a different color) while in Practice Mode, so I could learn how to build better ships and become a better pilot.
There is a testing button, you can always use that to explore combinations and simulate how they work. With the F keys and target practices.
Along with information regarding the guns after using them. Just click on the book top left of the screen ingame menus. They give knowledge on how the gun is effective.
For example, you see that the gattling has a very low downwards arc so you can stay very high above a ship and still not loose arcs.
To figure out if horizontal arcs overlap with weapons. You can always see if the ai can fire the weapons at one target. Or better yett, jump on the gun and look all the way closest to what may the other gun aim at, spawn a target (F7) and go to the other gun and see if that targets it. Go to your helm and see exactly where both guns can hit from the ship.
There are a lot of weird arcs with different combinations of guns. You cannot know how and where to aim the ship with on the target you want your crew to shoot at without testing it out on practice. Seeing arcs on the costumization screen WORKS. But it will not tell you from the HELM PERSPECTIVE on HOW to turn your ship so that those guns can both or all three hit the same target.
The game shouldnt do this for you. You are going to create assumptions like Gat only works best with Mortar, Flak Only works best with Hades, MErc only works best with Artemis and some other combinations because the guidlines make is explicit and guide you to use what is obviouse.
While now, for example, you can combine a merc and a hades on a Spire, SUPER difficult for the pilot to aim with. But can work. You would dismiss this with the guidlines cause it would show as too narrow. While now, that guidline is invisible to us and in an oldschool fashion can be used and be a unique build if used properly.
-
Number 3 has been talked about before, here is the old thread containing discussion (https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,2367.0.html)
-
Number 4 does make it more easy, but. Takes away the oldschool discovery and fun of it.
I do this almost everytime on practice after every patch on guns. Finding a new ways to make a ship usefull with tools and execution. Weaponary angles and etc etc.
The book on the top left should give you enough information before you test, but on test should you confirm if the guns be able to overlap to a single target.
As a newer player, I do not find this "oldschool discovery" fun at all. In fact, I hate the fact I have to put in work just to see the basic info for the guns that should be visible to me already at all times from the very beginning (and would be in most other games). Being able to see firing arcs in the ship customization screen (with a toggle on/off button) would make ship building FAR easier. Hell, I'd love to be able to see an overlay for the range and firing arcs for all the guns (each with a different color) while in Practice Mode, so I could learn how to build better ships and become a better pilot.
There is a testing button, you can always use that to explore combinations and simulate how they work. With the F keys and target practices.
Along with information regarding the guns after using them. Just click on the book top left of the screen ingame menus. They give knowledge on how the gun is effective.
For example, you see that the gattling has a very low downwards arc so you can stay very high above a ship and still not loose arcs.
To figure out if horizontal arcs overlap with weapons. You can always see if the ai can fire the weapons at one target. Or better yett, jump on the gun and look all the way closest to what may the other gun aim at, spawn a target (F7) and go to the other gun and see if that targets it. Go to your helm and see exactly where both guns can hit from the ship.
There are a lot of weird arcs with different combinations of guns. You cannot know how and where to aim the ship with on the target you want your crew to shoot at without testing it out on practice. Seeing arcs on the costumization screen WORKS. But it will not tell you from the HELM PERSPECTIVE on HOW to turn your ship so that those guns can both or all three hit the same target.
The game shouldnt do this for you. You are going to create assumptions like Gat only works best with Mortar, Flak Only works best with Hades, MErc only works best with Artemis and some other combinations because the guidlines make is explicit and guide you to use what is obviouse.
While now, for example, you can combine a merc and a hades on a Spire, SUPER difficult for the pilot to aim with. But can work. You would dismiss this with the guidlines cause it would show as too narrow. While now, that guidline is invisible to us and in an oldschool fashion can be used and be a unique build if used properly.
I know all about practice mode, I use it all the time. My problem is more that I have to do anything to unlock information on the guns, rather than being GIVEN such vital information from the start. Yes, I can unlock it simply by using the gun, but as a PILOT, my preferred role, I never USE the guns, so the only way I get this info is by practicing with them in Practice against the completely ineffective AI, which gives me no real information about how the guns play aside from a general feel. I want to be able to just look up the info. Right now, I CAN'T "just click on the book top left of the screen ingame menus", because the info is all locked.
/rant
Sorry for getting all ranty there, but this has been something I've hated about the game since I started playing off and on back in December. As for the firing arc stuff, I can see that, but I still think it would be useful. Also, the method you described is near impossible. Ships constantly drift no matter what you do, so if you aren't on the helm to adjust for the drift, it will always create false data about the firing arcs if you try to fire them yourself. The AI could do it, but the AI is AI, and thus rather stupid. i could use a stationary target with the AI, but the way they act is sometimes unreliable, even when set to all attack. A player will always aim better than any AI, especially with the more tricky guns like the Artemis at close range. The AI couldn't hit the slow-moving target dummy no matter what, unless I actively did my very best to make sure it didn't have to adjust it's aim at all, despite the fact I, as a player, can accomplish the feat with ease.
If I got a crew together, I would trust information I got from them more, but it's still kind of a pain. At the very least, I'd want to spawn an actual enemy ship, and have better AI. That at least would be give semi-reliable data if I have to do it the hard way. Players would be preferable though.
-
This may come off as incredibly snobbish but you should be giving the other classes a go from time to time, if you see the game from only one perspective then you're only seeing a fraction of what's to offer. But back to the actual topic of the thread:
1. This as stated above, would kind of ruin how the in game ui feels, and because you don't need to see this green square to tell an allied vessel that an enemy vessel is attempting to flank them.
2. If you're mid joining a game you should really take to joining as an engineer with a standard kit, it's a well rounded kit that is rather useful in most situation, that aside however if you're joining a match a few moments before it actually starts, you should still be joining as an engineer when popping a lobby and then letting the captain direct you as needed pregame to set up your loadout, I'd rather have a third engineer join midmatch rather then another gunner in which our repair capacity is drastically reduced.
3. Autofire is already incorporated into the game for certain weapons.
4.I've already kind of stated my opinion however let me re-iterate: Something like this is rather unnecessary, if you haven't actually used the weapons in an actual combat situation, as in, you getting on the gun during an actual match and firing it into the face of the enemy, you can't expect to actually use the weapon effectively, whether you're just on the helm the whole time as a pilot doesn't matter, having the knowledge from actually using them is much more important then just knowing stats.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
Says the level 4 gunner...
I say the cone of fire should only be option in practice. This way people will start making more use of the practice mode. I see no purpose to use the firecone indication in actual gameplay.
As for the autofire, I would like to see this being an option that you can toggle on and off as personal preference.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
Says the level 4 gunner...
I say the cone of fire should only be option in practice. This way people will start making more use of the practice mode. I see no purpose to use the firecone indication in actual gameplay.
As for the autofire, I would like to see this being an option that you can toggle on and off as personal preference.
The cones are still only suggested for the loadout, Coldcurse, not gameplay itself. And please don't judge people upon their levels, that's prejudgemental and unfair.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
Says the level 4 gunner...
I say the cone of fire should only be option in practice. This way people will start making more use of the practice mode. I see no purpose to use the firecone indication in actual gameplay.
As for the autofire, I would like to see this being an option that you can toggle on and off as personal preference.
The cones are still only suggested for the loadout, Coldcurse, not gameplay itself. And please don't judge people upon their levels, that's prejudgemental and unfair.
My apologies, I found it was mend as a little joke.
As a cone of fire for a loadout, what class will get this option?
Gunner or Captain?
Also wouldn't it put the rangefinder on a disadvantage since it this nw cone of fire would be more clear where you would shoot. Making the rangefinder the lesser tool.
-
First off I think Wilson's Notes should be unlocked from the start.
When talking about ship and/or weapon balance if you know gun facings -witch we do for all except Mobula (outer most guns are somwhere at about 45° to the side -mortar cant quite aim at target dummy that is centered with the helm of the ship- and bottom deck ones are probably about half way -merc is ways of the same target ). Spire's side gun arcs should be in patch notes, but I do belive they are at -45° and +45°. Rest of ships have perpendicular angles when it comes to gun facings.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
Says the level 4 gunner...
I say the cone of fire should only be option in practice. This way people will start making more use of the practice mode. I see no purpose to use the firecone indication in actual gameplay.
As for the autofire, I would like to see this being an option that you can toggle on and off as personal preference.
The cones are still only suggested for the loadout, Coldcurse, not gameplay itself. And please don't judge people upon their levels, that's prejudgemental and unfair.
My apologies, I found it was mend as a little joke.
As a cone of fire for a loadout, what class will get this option?
Gunner or Captain?
Also wouldn't it put the rangefinder on a disadvantage since it this nw cone of fire would be more clear where you would shoot. Making the rangefinder the lesser tool.
What we mean to say is that it would only be visible in the loadout screen. Not during a match. Not during gameplay. It would be a layover so that while you are choosing your guns, you can see how they overlap and what their ranges are without having to have already done extensive research. Repeating myself, this would in no way shape or form be visible while actually playing. This would purely be to help a captain select what weapons to place where.
-
As one of the guys that generally rails against anything that makes this game "easier" I think seeing cones of fire would be a cool feature added and be great for discussions about balance of ships and guns.
Says the level 4 gunner...
I say the cone of fire should only be option in practice. This way people will start making more use of the practice mode. I see no purpose to use the firecone indication in actual gameplay.
As for the autofire, I would like to see this being an option that you can toggle on and off as personal preference.
The cones are still only suggested for the loadout, Coldcurse, not gameplay itself. And please don't judge people upon their levels, that's prejudgemental and unfair.
My apologies, I found it was mend as a little joke.
As a cone of fire for a loadout, what class will get this option?
Gunner or Captain?
Also wouldn't it put the rangefinder on a disadvantage since it this nw cone of fire would be more clear where you would shoot. Making the rangefinder the lesser tool.
What we mean to say is that it would only be visible in the loadout screen. Not during a match. Not during gameplay. It would be a layover so that while you are choosing your guns, you can see how they overlap and what their ranges are without having to have already done extensive research. Repeating myself, this would in no way shape or form be visible while actually playing. This would purely be to help a captain select what weapons to place where.
Thank you for clarifying, this was information that I didn't know of.
It would indeed be great if you are able to see the cones of fire as you make your ship loadout.
Wouldn't it be better if you had a flat side, Flat Front back, Flat back front and a flat top down view next to the 3D ship? This would make the visibillity of the differences between guns alot more clear.
-
I read the replies, and i'll try to explain myself a little better:
1) if the immersion is your issue, just make this toggleable. I still insist that knowing where the allied ships are and what are their name is pretty usefull for coordination and teamwork (for example, at the moment you never see tactics like "2 of us attract the fire and one try to flank them").
2) well, as you said is not that big issue, but i still think it will not damage the game being able to switch class one time every few maps to correct mistakes.
3) i wasn't joking when i told you that costant clicking is not healthy, it actually isn't good for your hands in the long term, so if we could have an autofire option that would be great.
4) the fire cones will be only visible in the ship loadout screen, and while they will tell you if some weapons has some fire cones in common, you still should do a little test to see were the common area of those cones is by helm perspective.
-
I havent read the posts in response, but to the op:
1. The map already does this to the best extent, which adds a layer of skill involved with coordination that I enjoy. Tactics like you suggest do happen, but in pubby matches its not common since rarely do two three captains who don't know each other communicate on that level.
2. I think its the wrong fix for a problem with people joining 5 seconds before the match starts, and you're hosed. Something should be done about that, though within lobby, not in-match. For joining in on a ship already in-match, look at its loadout, and take the what fits. If the captain really wants you to, changing loadouts is simple to do. Joining as the wrong class, I mean, if you look at the ship before you join, im not sure how you manage that. The current way to swap class after joining is hard, and time consuming, but possible, which is how it should be for the sake of exploiting.
3. Makes sense. If some can already do it, why not all? If its an intended balance mechanic, then ok. I worry itll be like the current hold-to-repair is though, and end up being less effective anyway.
4. Coming from someone who misses the old blueprint loadout screens, I think the screen is already busy enough. If such a thing were to be added, it should be toggle-able for each gun, so you can not just clutter the screen with cones. This would also require a top-down view of the boat.