May I make some proposal?‏

[vipches]

First, Good to see you back in action again, I'm very interest about cataclysm 2, and I think I can make some proposal to help make better game play, you may need to make more way to dodge or block those range attack, like bullet or other things(like acid spit), this game have normal mutants and CBM people, so I think maybe you shouldn't only let CBM dodge those bullet, how about let the Mutants can use their power to dodge bullet or block it? or make someting like enegry shield or force shield to let the normal people block the bullet? that is what I thinking, this is near future right? you can make it right? hope you can see this email, thank you for all you have done.

[Whales]

Hello, and thanks for the kind words! I'm dubious about the idea of dodging ranged attacks. It's extremely unrealistic and doesn't add anything of interest to gameplay. It decreases the importance of sticking to cover, which is, to me, a more interesting challenge than just passing a randomized dodge check. Blocking ranged attacks, on the other hand, could potentially work. By making it something the player must invest in - leveling up a mutation's power, or installing and upgrading a bionic - makes it interesting, at least on the strategic level. And the fact that using bionics or mutations has a cost (power for bionics and "spores" or something else for mutations) means it's more tactically interesting than passing a dodge check. If you or anyone else has arguments on either side of this issue, I'd love to hear them! I'll leave the issue open for now.

[vipches]

Thanks for the reply, So what about the force shield things? did the normal people have a chance or stuff to against the ranged attack? power armor is feeling too heavy for combat, make a force shield or someting required battery and protect people may be a good idea, do you think? and how did I choose labels?

[Whales]

Labels? I'm not sure what you mean. I'm really aware of the sharp danger curve that introducing enemies with ranged attacks - especially potential one-shot-kills like guns - introduces. Figuring out how to soften that curve is definitely something I have, and will, spend a lot of time thinking about. I think force shields, either as an item or a bionic, is one good solution. Others force the player to be more resourceful, like using smoke grenades to create cover, or tear gas to blind their opponent. I do want an enemy with a gun to be an extremely dangerous situation that the player wants to avoid! Keeping that danger level high means that players will want to flee those combat situations a lot of the time, which is a good thing.

[vipches]

Well, I see other people got enhancement on their title right, not sure how they did it.

[Whales]

Oh, I'm not sure either! Another thing that I just thought of is that bullet-proof vests are definitely going to be available later in the game when gunfights become more common, and they'll make firearms less immediately deadly.

[vipches]

bullet-proof vests charged some engry shield can make better protection.