Sneak Preview: Gunslinging and Props!

Oryx

A brief featurette for your reading pleasure...

>>> ptp tecton

Your surroundings shimmer and fade as you transport yourself to Tecton's location.

>>> look

A cramped ship bridge.

Up a few steps from the catwalk is the bridge, a narrow area in the cone of the ship's nose that houses the navigation array, pilot's chairs, and a holographic map of the starsystem. Framed on three sides by R-glass windows with infographic and coordinate overlays, the area is bathed in glowing lights from the many computer systems and displays, along with offering a magnificent view of the starry void of space beyond the windows.

Tecton, the Singularity is here, sitting on a dazzling Throne King commode. Relaxing and inviting, an impressive Throne King commode is installed here.

There are no obvious exits.

>>> say time to face the music

You say, "Time to face the music."

>>> crackshot tecton

You point a Pryfix TRT at Tecton and fire it.

Tecton's eyes widen at you and he lets forth a loud "Eek!"

Tecton stands up.

Tecton dives behind a dazzling Throne King commode for cover.

You have recovered your balance.

Tecton says, "Not today!"

>>> probe commode

-- A dazzling Throne King commode ---------------------------------------------

Owner:        Unknown                                   Usable life: 100 mo.

Mass:         Medium                                    Resetting:   No

Description: Created from white porcelain and inlaid with chrome, this regal toilet has a built-in bidet for maximizing bodily cleanliness. A retractable control bank offers the user myriad options, from a heated seat to gentle drying to spray adjustment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> say nice try

You say, "Nice try."

>>> crackshot commode

You point a Pryfix TRT at a dazzling Throne King commode and fire it.

Tecton says, "Not my throne!"

You have recovered your balance.

>>> crackshot commode

You point a Pryfix TRT at a dazzling Throne King commode and fire it.

Tecton is no longer protected by a dazzling Throne King commode.

No longer able to contain its internal energy, a dazzling Throne King commode explodes!

Shrapnel is flung wildly in all directions, embedding itself into any flesh it encounters.

You are able to avoid some of the damage. 

You have recovered your balance.

Displaying killer style, Tecton glides backwards, smoothly circling around you, while somehow appearing to take forward steps.

Tecton shimmers and fades as he teleports to someplace far, far away.

>>> nexttime

You clench your fist and shout, "I'll get you next time!"

Qitorien

Ohhhh! Thanks for sharing!

Love seeing the props in action. That is really super cool.

lol, "gentle drying"

Jerom

I can only imagine the mess destroying that throne-bidet left behind...

Malash

So, the old 'hide behind the exploding barrels' trick is as bad an idea as ever.

Qitorien

From Discord, he's so shy...:

Orion-Today at 1:33 PM

so does damage, chance of shrapnel depend on the size of the prop?

Also, from me:
do different props have potential to do different types of damage? Are there different types of damage in the game? For instance, physical, psychological (like from watching his sovereign poop chair explode), emotional or maybe blunt, piercing,poison, etc? Is it possible to hide behind a different prop to avoid damage from the exploding prop?

Malash

Qitorien said:

From Discord, he's so shy...:

Orion-Today at 1:33 PM

so does damage, chance of shrapnel depend on the size of the prop?

Also, from me:
do different props have potential to do different types of damage? Are there different types of damage in the game? For instance, physical, psychological (like from watching his sovereign poop chair explode), emotional or maybe blunt, piercing, etc? Is it possible to hide behind a different prop to avoid damage from the exploding prop?

I don't wanna think about what you'd have to watch explode to cause emotional damage. Your house? Your favorite gun? Your family?

Oryx

I should note that this log is only MOSTLY legit.

E.g. the explosion & shrapnel are real, BUT the messages were fabricated because I caused untrapped errors while shooting at the toilet (maybe I just wasn't actually supposed to create an explosive toilet). It was totally anticlimactic so I fiddled with reality. But it will be something like this when the kinks are ironed out.

All your questions so far are SO good... and SO unanswerable... (by me).

Orion

Oryx said:

I should note that this log is only MOSTLY legit.

E.g. the explosion & shrapnel are real, BUT the messages were fabricated because I caused untrapped errors while shooting at the toilet (maybe I just wasn't actually supposed to create an explosive toilet). It was totally anticlimactic so I fiddled with reality. But it will be something like this when the kinks are ironed out.

All your questions so far are SO good... and SO unanswerable... (by me).

/slides $5
You were saying?

Qitorien

I also just noticed that Tecton clearly had time to dive behind cover AFTER the attack. Can we get any more info on delay times on attacks? I'm assuming Tecton sees some sort of 3rd person telegraph of the attack. Will there be first-person fail messages for when people do dive behind a prop or will it just be implicit in the missing successful attack message? If it's easier, you can just let us in the game and we'll all discover for ourselves. I would hate for you to have to type out answers to all these questions when there's an easier way. :P

Tecton

Qitorien said:

I also just noticed that Tecton clearly had time to dive behind cover AFTER the attack. Can we get any more info on delay times on attacks? I'm assuming Tecton sees some sort of 3rd person telegraph of the attack. Will there be first-person fail messages for when people do dive behind a prop or will it just be implicit in the missing successful attack message? If it's easier, you can just let us in the game and we'll all discover for ourselves. I would hate for you to have to type out answers to all these questions when there's an easier way. :P

- Pretty much most attacks are instant, there's some large-scale room-wide AOE attacks that have a telegraph/lead-in time before they do damage.
- Props don't cause all attacks to fail/miss, depends on the attack type (melee, in-room ranged, adjacent, LOS, etc), some are always blocked by cover, some never are!

Tecton

Malash said:

Qitorien said:

From Discord, he's so shy...:

Orion-Today at 1:33 PM

so does damage, chance of shrapnel depend on the size of the prop?

Also, from me:
do different props have potential to do different types of damage? Are there different types of damage in the game? For instance, physical, psychological (like from watching his sovereign poop chair explode), emotional or maybe blunt, piercing, etc? Is it possible to hide behind a different prop to avoid damage from the exploding prop?

I don't wanna think about what you'd have to watch explode to cause emotional damage. Your house? Your favorite gun? Your family?

Damage from size - sort of!
Damage: They all do thermal damage when they explode.

Oryx

Tecton said:

Qitorien said:

I also just noticed that Tecton clearly had time to dive behind cover AFTER the attack. Can we get any more info on delay times on attacks? I'm assuming Tecton sees some sort of 3rd person telegraph of the attack. Will there be first-person fail messages for when people do dive behind a prop or will it just be implicit in the missing successful attack message? If it's easier, you can just let us in the game and we'll all discover for ourselves. I would hate for you to have to type out answers to all these questions when there's an easier way. :P

- Pretty much most attacks are instant, there's some large-scale room-wide AOE attacks that have a telegraph/lead-in time before they do damage.
- Props don't cause all attacks to fail/miss, depends on the attack type (melee, in-room ranged, adjacent, LOS, etc), some are always blocked by cover, some never are!

Obviously we need to make things MUCH MORE graphic. For... clarity! "You point a Pryfix TRT at Tecton and fire it, the bullet tearing through his flesh and causing blood to spurt from the gaping hole as he clutches the wound in utter agony." 

Jerom

Oryx said:

Tecton said:

Qitorien said:

I also just noticed that Tecton clearly had time to dive behind cover AFTER the attack. Can we get any more info on delay times on attacks? I'm assuming Tecton sees some sort of 3rd person telegraph of the attack. Will there be first-person fail messages for when people do dive behind a prop or will it just be implicit in the missing successful attack message? If it's easier, you can just let us in the game and we'll all discover for ourselves. I would hate for you to have to type out answers to all these questions when there's an easier way. :P

- Pretty much most attacks are instant, there's some large-scale room-wide AOE attacks that have a telegraph/lead-in time before they do damage.
- Props don't cause all attacks to fail/miss, depends on the attack type (melee, in-room ranged, adjacent, LOS, etc), some are always blocked by cover, some never are!

Obviously we need to make things MUCH MORE graphic. For... clarity! "You point a Pryfix TRT at Tecton and fire it, the bullet tearing through his flesh and causing blood to spurt from the gaping hole as he clutches the wound in utter agony." 

Yes, please. Satisfy our craving for gore.

Malash

Yes please!

But really, anything indicating that the shot hit would be probably helpful.

Tecton

Malash said:

Yes please!

But really, anything indicating that the shot hit would be probably helpful.

Yeah, we still have to do a polish pass on the messages for abilities, so don't worry, it's not the final!

Ikchor

By Grabthar's hammer, open the floodgates already! >:X

Indi

Bit of a revival, but it's easier to search for info if it stays in one thread.

I know that the props are, to a point anyway, randomly generated (I assume we're not going to see throne-bidets in slum markets, or fruit carts inside throne rooms).

But what sort of probability are we talking? Perhaps most rooms will have a good chance of 2-3 prop? 10 props, 20? Maybe 10 props in a room is highly unlikely, except certain area types such as a warehouse or forest? Are trees even a prop type? 

Just trying to get a feel for how impactful props will be on combat, particularly when groups are involved. I imagine as the groups get larger, there won't be enough cover in the room for everyone. Perhaps this even discourages large groups from staying bunched up? I can picture being the only guy in the middle of a room, everyone peeking out from behind cover, ready to shoot. "Er, er, ohshit time to run".

Oryx

Indi said:

Bit of a revival, but it's easier to search for info if it stays in one thread.

I know that the props are, to a point anyway, randomly generated (I assume we're not going to see throne-bidets in slum markets, or fruit carts inside throne rooms).

But what sort of probability are we talking? Perhaps most rooms will have a good chance of 2-3 prop? 10 props, 20? Maybe 10 props in a room is highly unlikely, except certain area types such as a warehouse or forest? Are trees even a prop type? 

Just trying to get a feel for how impactful props will be on combat, particularly when groups are involved. I imagine as the groups get larger, there won't be enough cover in the room for everyone. Perhaps this even discourages large groups from staying bunched up? I can picture being the only guy in the middle of a room, everyone peeking out from behind cover, ready to shoot. "Er, er, ohshit time to run".

Most rooms will have about 3 props in them, and there are different kinds of props depending on the environment. Bushes and tree stumps in the forest, broken down hovercars and billboards in the street, desks and chairs in offices. There's a pretty large variety actually (over 400 different props at this point), so I don't think things will feel monotonous. Most, but not all, will be able to be used for cover. Some, like the table in the above example, will have to be flipped over before you can take cover behind them.

Most props allow for multiple people to take cover behind them, so that adds another dynamic to combat as well. You can also do things like climb on certain props, putting you out of range of melee attacks.

There are some additional ways to "get" props in a room as well, though there is a maximum number of props a room can hold (I'm not sure exactly but it's less than 10). Scoundrels can search around for something new. Engineers can send a bot to retrieve one from another room. Nanoseers can repair props. And there are a bunch of offensive skills that tie in to props as well, so I think you'll find it to be a pretty fun aspect!

Indi

Yeah, it's one of the features I'm most excited about. I've always enjoyed the moments where strategic choices have to be made regarding environmental positioning or whatever it should be called. Not hugely common in the other IRE games, except with a few classes anyway.

Indi

So props.

I know I can keep shooting, trying to hit them despite them being behind cover. I'm guessing cover works as a large defensive bonus, that is not 100%
I know I can target the cover, to try and destroy or move it.
I know multiple people can take cover behind a single prop.

What happens if I try to take cover behind a prop that has my enemy already behind it? Is taking cover behind a prop an instant action? Does it require balance, or maybe have a telegraph? 

Can I rush the prop, attempting to leap over it and shoot the other guy? Will the other person have some kind of advantage over me in that scenario?

If the two of us somehow end up both behind the same prop without realising it immediately, and then one of us notices... is it all going to be over quite quickly for the other? Or will that play out just the same as any other fight beginning?

Can (maybe certain classes) a prop be trapped (perhaps a scoundrel's IED) and therefore be a bad idea to hide behind?

Please feed us some more crumbs?

Malash

I'd think you'd end up on opposite sides of the thing. Maybe you can push it over on 'em, at the expense of losing your own cover?

Indi

The game would need to be tracking who is targeting who for that to happen. Keeping track of targets is possible and even already done in IRE muds, but it'd get messy with a cover mechanic. Consider a 3 way fight - you're shooting me, I'm shooting Tecton, and for some reason Tecton is ignoring me and shooting you.

So either everyone gets their own 'side' to the prop and we suspend our disbelief , or there is only one side per prop. The second option seems like more fun to me and is less disbelievable so that's my guess.

Malash

Doesn't need to track anything. The way I'd do it, if you're performing a hostIle action against someone you're sharing a prop with, you're assumed to be opposite each other. If you perform a beneficial action, you're assumed to be next to each other. Keeps it nice and simple.

Tecton

Indi said:

So props.

I know I can keep shooting, trying to hit them despite them being behind cover. I'm guessing cover works as a large defensive bonus, that is not 100%
I know I can target the cover, to try and destroy or move it.
I know multiple people can take cover behind a single prop.

What happens if I try to take cover behind a prop that has my enemy already behind it? Is taking cover behind a prop an instant action? Does it require balance, or maybe have a telegraph? 

Can I rush the prop, attempting to leap over it and shoot the other guy? Will the other person have some kind of advantage over me in that scenario?

If the two of us somehow end up both behind the same prop without realising it immediately, and then one of us notices... is it all going to be over quite quickly for the other? Or will that play out just the same as any other fight beginning?

Can (maybe certain classes) a prop be trapped (perhaps a scoundrel's IED) and therefore be a bad idea to hide behind?

Please feed us some more crumbs?

If you're both hiding behind the same prop, it's as if you're both not taking cover to each other.

Nothing really like that at the moment, no.

See above.

Yes.

What do you think this is? :P

Dnarris

Great, now I'm torn with scoundrels....I love being able to teleport. 

Oryx

Dnarris said:

Great, now I'm torn with scoundrels....I love being able to teleport. 

The "Your surroundings shimmer and fade as you transport yourself to Tecton's location." is an admin-only utility, not a Scoundrel class ability, sorry for confusion!

Sairys

Obviously teleporting is a nanoseer thing by throwing void kith at the space and time between two points :P