The New Advanced Weapon System and other User friendly Improvements

[sweetcandyflip]

So i recently read the Threads about the new Weapon System and i really love the ideas there.
 I started to think about aiming with the new weapon and came to the conclusion that it will be rather hard to hit your target.

 

So what do you think about some kind of Aiming Feature? Right Now you pull your mouse over to the place you wanna shoot. It works but it feels like kinda Aimbot and there is no skill behind that.

My idea is (i heard it was in PZ Alpha) that if you pull your weapon your Mouse Cursor transforms to a Circle which gets smaller the longer you aim. This indicates the radius you will hit with your shoot. After that there will be the normal Role Play Calculation (Panic, Skill Level, Weapon Range). You also can make the Radius various for every Weapon. So a shotgun aiming Circle on 50 m will stay the same or even grow bigger.

 

Which brings me my next idea:

 

Playing PZ feels great but sometimes its just not user friendly. You try to climb that Window the 3rd time and you still cant climb through it (E works i know). You wanna water your plants but you cant click the right spot and you waste time.

 

The answer to that is just Mouse Rollover feature. I dont know if the engine can do it but what if everything useable in the world, just gets highlighted when you move over it. Its a common feature in this kinda games:

You move your mouse over a window and it gets this glowy white color around it. Same goes for Plants, Items, Zombie Bodys, even Doors. Just make them highlighted if you move your mouse over it, so you can see what you trying to do.

 

This small feedbacks makes the game much easier and if rollover works with your engine its pretty fast and easy to code. In my opinion this is a must feature, which makes the game 100 times easier to play and improves the playstyle.

 

-You can also add the option to make this system fully toggable.

 

PS: im not native english, i hope you understand what i mean. If you have any question pls ask, ill do my best to answer them properly.

 

best regards a big fan from austria

[migulao]

I honestly don't get your problem, it's extremely easy selecting the crops and other stuff, and with the aiming? you have the cursor, and the devs already said that the aiming is gonna be based on the distance and aiming skill, I mean, in real life, if you just pulled out a gun for the first time, you wouldnt be very good at aiming, would ya? so, you practice to get better, and you get better at aiming, so the skill is not going to be based at how ''MLG PRO'' you are, but the time you spend with the gun.

[sweetcandyflip]

First: I dont want this game to be a "MLG PRO" Game.

 

When i started with zomboid around 1 year ago, it was just confusing. There were no hints how i could interact with the

great world i scavenged. I didnt know that i can climb over a fence for a long time, cause it simply wasnt highlighted.

 

And clicking some things in the world can be still a real pain in the ass.

 

What i suggest is to make this game user friendly for new players, who dont know how to use certain things in the enviroment.

The Object Highlight helps players to understand what they can do.

It also makes the game less static looking, when you suddenly see the possibilities.

 

The Aiming Stuff goes for the same principle and is something often used in RP games (Jagged Alliance, UFO Games). I dont see any problem as the real calculation happens with the Talents and status effects you have on your character. Its more a graphical improvement (you see what you trying to do) than your "MLG im Pro talking."

 

You have to face the truth that every new player, has to google a lot to find out the common gameplay of project zomboid. A game they bought and they try to understand. Why not help them a bit and make their life easier?

 

[EDIT] I posted the same thread also on the steam forums (there are a bunch of new players and new ideas there) of zomboid, and take a look at the answers there:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/app/108600/discussions/2/41973820459266315/

 

New Players have problems to find spots to interact with the world!

[okeer]

From a immersion POV I hope we never ever get these highlights, if - make them toggable!

This is something what came more and more within the last few years... why bothering to think about it when it could be simply highlighted... no need to worry, the system will guide me.

What's mlg pro btw?

[sweetcandyflip]

Yeah make it toggable, so everyone can use their own settings. Still if you want to attract more people to play this game, there will be a point where you have to improve the UI. I dont know if my idea is the right way for it, but it offers a quite easy solution.

 

I´m not sure about the MLG Pro" but google gave me this

 

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Gaming

 

So i think he means the competitive pro gaming scene, where skill based gaming is everything and RP doesnt count, has no place in PZ?

[ToastedFishSandwich]

I like the idea of highlights. For newer players this could be a real help, though really I'd rather if it were just easier to select some things (sinks mainly).

[migulao]

I actually meant that you shouldn't be super skilled right in the begining, like, in most FPS', your aiming skills can be copied from one to the other,(I know project zomboid isnt a FPS game, but that's not the point), but in PZ, you are roleplaying, so you (your character) should be crappy at aiming in the begining, and not transfer your aiming skills from practicing in other games, and your character would improve over-time, by practice, oh, and by MLG, I meant the fact that some people are extremely good in games like COD and other FPS games, and PZ shouldn't be like that, do you understand now?

[sweetcandyflip]

Yes but all these things i suggest have nothing to do with "introducing" a mouse-skill-based aiming system at all. I dont want to change the system, i just want graphical Interface for it, cause the game is really static the way it is. You don´t see a bullet, no shoot holes when you miss. Only a zombie falling down. You should at least know how far you miss. All these suggestion are feedback for the player to improve their gameplay and not a way to make this game COD.

 

As i said before the Roleplay Calculation will still be the main part of the system.

[migulao]

Yes but all these things i suggest have nothing to do with "introducing" a mouse-skill-based aiming system at all. I dont want to change the system, i just want graphical Interface for it, cause the game is really static the way it is. You don´t see a bullet, no shoot holes when you miss. Only a zombie falling down. You should at least know how far you miss. All these suggestion are feedback for the player to improve their gameplay and not a way to make this game COD.

 

As i said before the Roleplay Calculation will still be the main part of the system.

Either way, I don't like the idea, but that's just my opinion I guess

[EcksTen]

I like the red dot idea for aiming, and this can work in conjunction with the new weapons overhaul system too, they don't have to be mutually exclusive.

 

I also like the idea of creating a more responsive UI, which I think is already in the works.  My understanding is that they had to overhaul the UI a few versions ago and haven't had time to update the current interface.

The number of times I've clicked on a sink and not been able to fill my bottle is silly.

 

As to the highlights, I personally think that it would be a good idea right now as there are no tool-tips or hints really.  It's a "read the wiki/forums" game.  As the UI gets fixed though there shouldn't be a need for that so much, as we will get tool-tips (I presume).