What are your favorite weapons from other games?

[JustinPierce]

Really enjoyed reading these

Farsight

Haha I still remember the sound it made. I think one of the reasons it didn't break the game was because it was splitscreen -- when someone was using it, you'd have a chance to find out where they're hiding.

Perfect Dark had some neat stuff. I like Laptop Gun that could be thrown down as a turret.

Dirty Bomb

I got into the beta a while ago but didn't have a running windows install at the time -- need to see if I can get in again. Looked like it had some neat ideas.

Overcharge in Destiny is a pure damage and penetration of shot boost.

I feel like I'm going insane because I don't remember Destiny having that. Closest thing I can think of is Hunter's Golden Gun.

Stealth Pack

Eventually I'm going to be playing with stealth mechanics

Plasma Grenades and the Sword from Halo 2 are both really fun to use as well.

The teleport blade is sort of like combining those two things with the Translocator

The charge combos in the Metroid Prime games, if you're familiar with those, are really awesome as well: Super missile, Wavebuster, Ice Spreader, Flamethrower, Dark Burst, Sunburst, Sonic Boom. For those of you not familiar with them, basically you combine using missiles with the beam weapons you have in order to use a more powerful weapon. Different charge combos have different effects as well: some draw enemies in towards it, some burn enemies, some freeze enemies in place, etc.

Is there a guide to them somewhere I can watch/read to get a better idea of how it works? I searched youtube but didn't find anything useful.

The Mortar. I'm not really sure how or even if this type of weapon can fit into Telos, since it seems we're mainly dealing with smaller enclosed maps. The areas where you're out in the open and zero G, I can't really see a Mortar doing much (since it'd technically just travel in a straight line and no arc).

Back in 2010, when I was first learning how to program and use Unity, I was making a shooter with only zero g and already tackled that problem -- will eventually bring it to AoT with some improvements.

I'll just say right now that I hate any kind of sniper in Tribes / Tribes-like.

Can I ask why? Is it mostly because the maps are very open so there's no cover to get behind and it gets in the way of your normal routes? I have plans for sniping in AoT but have some ideas to help make it more interesting than your standard sniping scenarios.

[Fixious]

Can I ask why? Is it mostly because the maps are very open so there's no cover to get behind and it gets in the way of your normal routes? I have plans for sniping in AoT but have some ideas to help make it more interesting than your standard sniping scenarios.

It just becomes incredibly tedious to balance and there will always be people complaining about it. Plus, at least in Tribes/Legions, it really goes against why people enjoyed that style of gameplay. You have players on a large open map moving at high speeds with projectile-based weapons that require leading and such, then you have this (typically) hitscan weapon that more than anything promotes camping from a distance or worse, spawn camping.

With something like an incoming disc and either air control or directional jets, you at least some some sort of counter to it by dodging to the side. With a hitscan sniper there's no real counter at all. The best you can do is hope they suck at clicking dots or the map has enough hills and/or fog to let you get out safe. It's not uncommon at all to see rules put it place during either an organized game (PUG) or official match where teams decide how many snipers can be allowed. Tribes went through this, Legions went through this, and I'm sure other games went through this. No other weapon gets this sort of specialized treatment.

But, if the majority of weapons in Telos are already hitscan then I guess my input regarding a sniper it moot.

[Cozy]

Is there a guide to them somewhere I can watch/read to get a better idea of how it works? I searched youtube but didn't find anything useful.

http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Charge_Combo You can read about them here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSBSVB6j9bA#t=2m14s 1st attack on the boss is a Super Missile (~2:14) This player also uses it multiple times throughout the fight if you want to observe it more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYGvbyt1k0#t=6m35s Wavebuster is the beam that stays connected to the boss (~6:35)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYGvbyt1k0#t=7m Ice Spreader used to freeze the boss in place (~7:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYGvbyt1k0#t=7m40s Flamethrower (~7:40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ0mOBnkPk4#t=3m Really good demonstration of the Darkburst here (~3:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8t_RjrGWF0#t=1m53s Another Darkburst use (~1:53)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8t_RjrGWF0#t=2m03s Sunburst use (~2:03)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aMNubCL38A#t=11m0s Another sunburst use (~11 min)
Bad sunburst vids, couldn't really find a good vid that displayed it nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8t_RjrGWF0#t=8s Sonic boom (~0:08)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GGpPNZo--M#t=1m08s Sonic boom (~1:08)

There's no real demonstration videos about the charge combos, but these vids will give you at least an idea about how they interact with enemies.

[Lemuel]

I really liked Impact Nitron from T:A. Had mulitple uses: speed boost, and used for chasing enemy cappers. Really useful item

Second this notion, anything with that much versatility feels really good to play with.

I'd say as a generalisation, things that encourage an entirely different play-style or give an extra option to the player rather than just stat alterations are more fun, although that's just my opinion.

Examples from TF2 (since that's really all I know) are the market gardener, the base jumper, the dead ringer, and the quick fix for things that change playstyle, and then things like the winger or the atomizer for things that give extra options.

[atavax]

i prefer weapons where there are really difficult shots to make. Landing a good airshot in TF2 with the rocket launcher or grenade launcher is pretty satisfying.

[Fixious]

Impact Nitron

I hated the Impact Nitron, mainly because it caused flag drops. If it must exist I'd be okay with one that required a direct hit, rather than splash damage. Its other uses like chasing and such are fine, and were obviously vital early on (pre nerf).

[Lemuel]

I'll of course defer to you on the matter of tribes, haha. I suppose maybe it wasn't the best of example of it, but weapons with multiple diverse utilities are really great. To go back to TF2 for a second, the stickybomb launcher allows sticky traps, baiting, short term area control, straight up artillery damage, and pinning of opponents in. It gets a lot of schtick but IMO it's a really nicely designed weapon, at least.

[tubes]

SAP20 from T:A

The other tribes vets will call me a big ■■■, but there's nothing I enjoy quite as much as ruining someone's day with a shot across the map, especially in a game with high speed/crazy movement. Of course, in T:A, there were a ton of attempts to balance this out, and most of them ended in failure, and since you can't just impose a health penalty like you could with the classes in T:A, you would have to figure out some kind of other balancing method.

Also, the SAP20 made a dubstep noise when it cycled. wub wub wub.

[DrunkenJedi]

there's nothing I enjoy quite as much as ruining someone's day

We know.

Of course, in T:A, there were a ton of attempts to balance this out, and most of them ended in failure

Incorrect, I don't remember NA rules but EU ruleset banned the weapon. Close enough, amirite?

[PrettzL]

I was playing Zeno Clash again recently and I need to add the Crossbow to my list.

The crossbow fires 2 skulls, one at a time, which explode on impact with enemy or ground and can swung be used for a pretty devastating melee attack.

It's a very unconventional weapon to fire (no real target reticle) and takes a bit of getting used to as it's not really a single crossbow it's a double that has bolt tracks side by side rather than stacked like a traditional double crossbow would be.

Here's an 'ironsight' view.
The green and blue circles indicate where the skulls will land when fired.

So the ammunition launched from each shot goes a bit right and a bit left of what would be your target center. Very cool little thing.

[tubes]

It was banned in NA, but i was referring to the Sentinel as a class.

[JustinPierce]

I was playing Zeno Clash again recently and I need to add the Crossbow to my list.

Do the green/blue circles react dynamically? Like, do they spread out if you look at something farther away? Or do the projectiles always hit that close to each other?

[PrettzL]

I drew the circles on there with paint actually. You have to eyeball the shot.

Here's a video of me using it.

[JustinPierce]

But, if the majority of weapons in Telos are already hitscan then I guess my input regarding a sniper it moot.

I doubt most weapons will be hitscan

The problems you describe with sniping in tribes are the sort of problems I enjoy finding solutions for.

[Fixious]

Unfortunately it isn't exclusive to Tribes, but yes it's certainly something that'll need to be addressed should the issue arise.. I forgot to mention another game I played quite often, Day of Defeat: Source. Some servers simply put limits as to how many Snipers a team could have. My favorite server actually limited it to just 2, despite it regularly being 16v16. It works for the most part, but there are obvious drawbacks, such as a not-so-good sniper taking up a slot when someone obviously better should have it.

[JustinPierce]

Yeah, I don't like that sort of limit. Proper solution would make it so stacking a team full of snipers is naturally disadvantageous -- that way, there's nothing driving that behavior in the first place.

[Xzanth]

I grew to really enjoying using the Skybolt, which was essentially a very weak Rocket/Disclauncher with a high rate of fire. I think it took about 3-4 direct hits to kill a Light.

+1 this, skybolt is probably my favourite ever weapon. The increased projectile speed over rocket/disc was an important factor.

Another two of my favourites that I can think of from the moment were from Tribes: Vengeance, the buckler and the rocket pod. These were quite unique for the amount of control you had after firing the shot, the projectiles would follow your cursor. It wasn't simply a matter of just hovering over your target however, you had to account for the physics of the projectiles themselves. Difficult but a lot of fun.

Rocket pod: fires six relatively slow moving rockets that have a limited range but a lot of damage if you hit them all.

Buckler: boomerang that doubles up as a shield.

[Lemuel]

that way, there's nothing driving that behavior in the first place.

The issue with this is that it relies on a community non-toxic enough to want to win rather than to think "oh, sniper looks fun". Hopefully we'll have that but there's always the possibility that it doesn't happen.

[atavax]

i agree that many people are more likely to be more concerned with having fun then winning. I'm not sure i would call that "toxic" though. I agree with JP, that imposing limits is a poor solution. I think part of the problem is the solo mentality of a sniper. That because a sniper hangs out in the back by himself, he is disconnected from the team and less concerned with the team's success or failure then his own success or failure. Just really need to make it so that teams clearly work best with a diverse group, individuals regardless of the weapon clearly work best working together, and make it as fun as possible to use each weapon, and hope that minimizes the number of times a team is comprised almost entirely of a single weapon.

[Lemuel]

You're right, toxic was decidedly the wrong word. I think the key is not so much to make it only more effective to have a diverse team but also more fun, as that (hopefully) will encourage people of all mindsets.
One thing I've never seen done (maybe because it's a terrible way of doing game balance, I've no idea. Spitballs though) is to impose a soft nerf on people using the same loadout as other people on the team, making it so that people have the option of picking a duplicate class but are penalised for it in terms of fun and effectiveness.
I haven't even submitted this yet but already I can see an issue in the fact that I've said penalised in terms of fun. Thinking out loud I suppose.