Jump to content

[Build 41] Thoughts about Knives (Goodbye Crocodile Dundee)


Bastard

Recommended Posts

Yeah, Knives are absolutely off the table now. I hate you for that. (But you know I love you secretly)

 

With the new stealth system I think a new Knife system is in order too. I always thought that a knife was a looting tool more than a zombie weeding one. It was more aimed to move you from point X to Y in the shadows effectively but Instakilling a single zombie went to the trash can in a big nerf, just because knife players got too resilient with the weapon and it ended in the axe paradigm... that being said, I also think instakilling should be added back with a little limitations or knifes will be dead in no time.

 

Let me throw a little suggestions in:

 

<Backstabbing> Attacking a zombie in the back should start immediatly the instakilling animation.

<Stealth kill> Attacking a zombie that hasn't noticed us should start immediatly the instakilling animation.

<Cold blood> Knifes require a lot of aim. I'm willing to pay for the former the price of missing rates rising up with panic as long as if panic is absent my kill is assured. 

<Pounce> I'm not sure if the engine allows it, but  in the case a panic killing is needed, sprinting into a zombie and assaulting him to the ground while stabbing his face violently should be a valid (and long) killing animation at the price of attention. Yeah! Jacket style!

<Short weapon> You can safely nerf knife combat further (less zoning capabilities) if you give us a chance to use it as an instakilling tool in a controlled environment.

<Quickdraw> As a knife turns more into a tool than a combat weapon, gives us the chance to switch it off and on quicker.

<Struggling> Instakilling animations should be a little longer (lowering the speed of the target too) rendering us helpless to other zeds in a bigger window of time lowered by knife skill (Knife as a 1vs1 exclusive tool) also (and this is very important) NO MORE INSTAKILLING NORMALLY BY COMBAT.

<The silent and the hellbent> Instakilling should be quieter, longer and smoother if we keep context-keying the attack button pressed, scaling absurdly the stealth with sneaking. In the same fashion, a chance of speeding up the animation would be nice (by context-key-smashing) and paying the price of success rate, panicking and a lot of attention as the actual instakilling system is in 41.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering how ridiculously overpowered pre-41 knives were, you did a great job of coming up with a system that nerfs them without changing the core mechanics that made them so satisfying to use. The main problem with the old combat system always was how quickly and reliably you could run in and out of range while attacking, so it only makes sense to simply make the attack animation longer.

However, the one thing I would do differently is the backstabbing mechanic. The thing I like the most about PZ is that you always need to have a contingency plan. If the backstab always had at least a slight chance of failing (probably depending on your blade skill) and perhaps staggering the zombie instead of instakilling, it would keep you on your toes while still being a very relevant tactic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I feel you. I don't really like luck-dependent factors in game design, I always thought that if there's something that depends on luck the player must have a way to mitigate the randomness, but I guess we're a masochistic community where that doesn't really apply, maybe we yearn for those 'OH FUCK' moments. So I'll edit my post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Bastard said:

<Pounce> I'm not sure if the engine allows it, but  in the case a panic killing is needed, sprinting into a zombie and assaulting him to the ground while stabbing his face violently should be a valid (and long) killing animation at the price of attention. Yeah! Jacket style!

oh yes please I love this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Backstabbing should be a thing just like Warframe - but the problem I feel currently is Zombies have Ninja like senses, trying to approach a zombie from behind they suddenly turn on you on approach. 

 

I know Devs don't want it too "Easy" but they could always balance insta kill chance by panic chance. 
Then lower panic chance based on how longer the player has survived and how many zombies the player killed. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...