Making the game mechanics easier to understand.

[mtz 496]

In creating this thread I was "inspired" by the thread about health bars.

 

One of APB's longest standing issues is the fact that its method of conveying information is not concise. There are several types of information that are withheld from the player, or only revealed in imprecise terms. I believe the game as a whole could benefit from implementing steps to improve the communication of information.

 

1) Get rid of the bars in item cards AND/OR Overhaul item cards in general.

 

Let's use a visual example here.

 

 

Pretend, for the sake of the argument, that you are a new player who has never seen this game before.

What does this item card tell you? What are the numbers at each end of the scale? Does this go from 0 to 100 or some other number? In that case, what is the 100?

What is a new player supposed to understand by looking at "Reload Speed" and seeing the bar be in the middle? "This gun reloads medium fast"?

What is health damage and hard damage? What is stamina, considering that there is no stamina drain from sprinting?

What are you supposed to understand by the "Rate of Fire" stat - "this gun shoots about this fast"?

 

This type of information should be, at the very least, given to new players in a concise tutorial. If that is somehow not viable, reword the existing descriptions (for example, rename Hard Damage to Vehicle Damage). As it stands right now, this item card provides no actual information, instead providing rough estimates without numbers in a game where people try to go for minimal Time To Kill.

 

The changes should extend beyond just the weapon item cards and also apply to other equipment - perhaps most importantly: vehicles. The bars in the item cards should be replaced with either numbers or actual descriptions. "Ramming Ability: Minimal" or "Grip: Moderate", or even just straight up normal numerical values ("Health: 1,000") can convey much more useful information in a more efficient fashion.

 

The item cards could also benefit from having modification changes reflected on them. For example, you could have the item cards show something like:

• N-TEC 5 Nol
• Reload Time: 2.40s

 

but when you mod it with Magazine Pull 1, the item card shows:

• N-TEC 5 Nol
• Reload Time: 1.92s (2.40s)

 

Obviously this would not necessarily have to look like this, it's just an example to illustrate what I'm talking about.

 

2) Clarify the health mechanics.

 

As it stands right now, the biggest issue with health mechanics in the game is the fact that each player's maximum health pool is never explicitly provided to them. The magical "1000 HP" number is never given to the player by the game. As a consequence, new players practically have to rely on being in a combat situation and personally experiencing a weapon's damage output to gauge it ("okay, this gun takes 6 shots to kill me").

 

The game should provide a short tutorial or description of the health mechanics, while also explaining the stamina mechanics and how stamina is different from health (as both health damage and stamina damage are listed on item cards, and LTL weaponry is a part of the game). Right now we're leaving newcomers on ice and practically telling them "find it out yourself lol" - and this kind of practice does not work well towards player retainment.
 

3) Add a health bar to the game.

 

This might be controversial, but opinions are meant to be expressed - adding a health display somewhere on the screen (by which I mean actual numerical values instead of screen tint/hearing impairment) could be a good addition to the game. It could help people with picking their equipment and knowing whether picking a fight is a viable option at their health level. It could also, in conjunction with making the damage values on item cards numerical, give a more explicit and hands-on idea of weapon statistics and performance.

In addition to that, green character modifications would have their effects be more tangible and easier to estimate in combat situations.

 

===

 

As usual, I'm not claiming these ideas to be unambiguous improvements or something inarguable. If you disagree with an idea I'm putting out, I welcome your response telling me why you disagree with it. In the end, if we discuss our ideas, everyone benefits from it, since we can come to a conclusion about what is good for the game and what isn't.

On the other hand though, if you agree with something said here, feel free to show your support towards it, to give Little Orbit an idea of what the community finds to be beneficial for the game.

 

[ZoriaDunne 327]

Wish this could be added for real..

[Dasimoge 69]

1 hour ago, MartinPL said:

Add a health bar to the game.

Health bar should be available in Bronze and mabye in Silver districts

Gold districts or Gold players should not have this option, unless tryharders going to tryhard more.

Means the "Is he now 75/85 or not" thoughts gets "removed", so tryharders always know/see if ur heavy damaged.

Obviously all this will work if the threatsystem gets a remake.

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by Dasimoge

[mtz 496]

Just now, Dasimoge said:

Health bar should be available in Bronze and mabye in Silver districts

Gold district should not have this option, unless tryharders going to tryhard more.

I think that locking such features behind matchmaking rank/threat levels sends a message of "you only need this if you're a noob" - which only promotes hostility/toxicity.

 

...though at the same time, "difficulty levels" of districts are an interesting idea. How about a "Realism" or "Hardcore" District/Ruleset where almost the entire HUD is disabled, leaving only red names above players, mission info and objective markers (and maybe the radar too) on the screen?

Of course that would mean things like removing the bounty system or giving everyone never-changing bounty levels with the same rewards, but the idea is still an interesting one. To me, at least.

[Dasimoge 69]

3 minutes ago, MartinPL said:

removing the bounty system

I guess this is a thing, which almost everyone wants.

It is a annoying/stuiped system. (Not for everyone maybe, but definitly for me )

 

5 minutes ago, MartinPL said:

"Realism" or "Hardcore" District/Ruleset

I don't know i mean,

it would be easier to discuss this thing in a new topic,

the whole community including the LO team can maybe throw all ideas together,

so we can sort some things out to find a golden middle.

[Nitronik 348]

tbh I see no reason for a health bar to be added. Other than that, I'm surprised most of this stuff is still not part of the game

[IndustrialCat 7]

I like the whole idea of the thread and it does make sense

Ex. I mean I remember getting hit with the HVR for the first time after the screen tint got clear I thought I was good to go turns out am still not around 100% health and it was annoying to say the least and I had to learn that the hard way obviously 

Even for an experienced player I remember using the HVR on someone I tagged him once and waited because he was in cover after the screen tint diminished he poped up again only to get shot and killed instantly 

Note we were threat level silver by that time 

15 hours ago, MartinPL said:

though at the same time, "difficulty levels" of districts are an interesting idea. How about a "Realism" or "Hardcore" District/Ruleset where almost the entire HUD is disabled, leaving only red names above players, mission info and objective markers (and maybe the radar too) on the screen?

Of course that would mean things like removing the bounty system or giving everyone never-changing bounty levels with the same rewards, but the idea is still an interesting one. To me, at least.

This part here is actually a great idea my only objection would be the radar experienced players especially gold would find it more entertaining to use their hearing instead of the radar 

And yes I know about the car mod that allows you to follow enemies yet it'll be more fun 

The bounty system I'd like it to stay but the prestige/notoriety meter would be still variable this way players won't know /notice when they are about to get a bounty 

15 hours ago, Dasimoge said:

guess this is a thing, which almost everyone wants.

It is a annoying/stuiped system. (Not for everyone maybe, but definitly for me )

I don't think it's annoying maybe needs work a bit like maybe won't be as easy as killing lots of enemies