Apos
Tank
- Joined
- May 14, 2003
- Messages
- 3,157
- Reaction score
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I love HL2DM. But I love it mostly because of one thing: the grav gun.
I hate HL2DM. But I hate because of only one thing: the fairly banal weapon selection.
Now, don't get me wrong: the feat of creating a DM where it is balanced enough between grav gun and convetional weapons to be playable using both or either is amazing. HL2DM is a blast to play. But we have to admit that the weapon selection in HL2MP, and indeed in HL2 in general, is pretty lacking (not quite well balanced either: the shotgun's secondary fire needs to be beefed up, and the magnum needs nerfing). And that makes it lack depth.
What needs to come back?
Well, the crowbar obviously, since it has some application as far as whacking physics objects, and is just a classic.
But most important is the tau cannon. Why? Because the tau is what made Hl1 stand out as something more than yet another run and gun DM game.
The tau's two major features were thus:
1) end the reign of campers. The tau could shoot through walls. It could take out L33t players that holed up in one particular area. It was creative and an awesome way to change up gameplay. Without it, magnum/rocketlauncher campers will rule again.
2) tau jumping: you could move across a map at tremendous speeds, which added a whole 'nother layer to the game without making it a l33tfest (since it was so wild and hard to control). With practice, you could become a near god by flying all over the map.
The tau fits into the HL universe. It's creative and different enough to make HL stand out from other games. It fits perfectly into the world of high-speed physics action given that it was Newtonian cool even in HL1. It adds new layers of depth to gameplay. And most of all, it's a proven DM and well balanced weapon (regular fire is okay, and secondary fire while devastating, takes a while to charge up).
I don't know if we should start a petition or what, but the tau needs to come back as a pickupable, carryable, usable weapon. It needs to be put into all the HL2DM maps: including the two that were already released.
My proposal is this: add the tau cannon back into the DM game. Instead of adding a whole nother ammo type, however, have it run off of suit power: if you want to use the tau, you have to sacrifice "armor" power to use it. This gives the charger stations a little more usefulness and also prevents them from having to add too many other ammo types (which does tend to clutter the game). It balances the power of the tau. And it adds back some of the missing depth and creativity in HL2's arsenal.
Now, of course there are other weapon possibilities that could make HL2DM a lot more fun. HL2's weapon selection, again, is sadly sparse and too often very conventional. And the tau is far and away the most important.
But the idea of just adding things via mods is NOT NOT NOT a good solution. Why? Because mods splinter the community. And further, most people will always play the original, official DM. Valve shouldn't wait for the community to improve DM: they should update and improve DM with new ideas and additions. People that likeed the old original DM can easily create THEIR own OGDM mods. But Valve shouldn't hold back on updating the official DM. HL2DM on the lockdown should not be the same two years from now as it is today, two days after its release.
What other weapons should be considered?
I suggest two other major changes for now, in addition to the most important one (the tau proposal above, not including the inevtiable and obvious balance fixes for the shotty and magnum).
1) add in at least one more tactical-type weapon. Tripwire mines were always a novelty, but they could still be a new blast in HL2DM if a) the wires were harder to see (a lot easier with the graphical wow of Source) and b) the damage was less and more radius based so that if you aren't right next to the mine, it doesn't hurt as much (i.e. they are good for killing low health people and setting traps to weaken but not kill stronger opponents, but the hard-to-see wires aren't as cheap) I also wouldn't mind seeing something like the "stickymines" people have described from the leak: gobs of goo you could stick to players and or walls that you could then detonate with secondary fire. This would take the HL1 detpacks into a new world of HL2-sophisticated fun: something creative and more physicsy based.
3) Make crossbow kills more fun. By this, I primarily mean making "pinning" far more common. What makes the crossbow a satisfying weapon is the idea that you can "pin" someone to something, usually the wall. Currently, however, given the fast pace of DM, this rarely ever happens, and the crossbow basically just becomes another magnum (boring, conventional, one hit-kill bullet-type weapon). To change this, getting hit with a crossbow bolt should send a ragdolled body flying along with the bolt to a much higher degree than it does currently, making having a ragdoll pinned to a wall be much more common and attainable feat. This would leave the map much more commonly littered with bodies pinned to walls, which would be hella cool to see while running around. And it would give the crossbow some missing life and personality beyond yet another simple one-hit killl weapon.
Let's recap the key points of my proposal:
1) Official HL2DM should evolve and improve, including all the old maps. We are in a Steam-new-world now, not the "HL1DM is the same as the day it was released" era. The official version is always the most important.
2) The tau needs to come back, working mostly the same but using suit "armor" power for ammo. The current weapon selection is lacking, and the tau changes things up enough and adds creative depth of play without being too overpowered.
3) Valve should at least consider other weapon additions/changes in order to make the weapon selection in HL2 more diverse and set it apart. The gravity gun just cannot carry the entire burden of revolutionary gameplay: the rest of the arsenal has to catch up as well.
WHO IS WITH ME!!!!!!!
I hate HL2DM. But I hate because of only one thing: the fairly banal weapon selection.
Now, don't get me wrong: the feat of creating a DM where it is balanced enough between grav gun and convetional weapons to be playable using both or either is amazing. HL2DM is a blast to play. But we have to admit that the weapon selection in HL2MP, and indeed in HL2 in general, is pretty lacking (not quite well balanced either: the shotgun's secondary fire needs to be beefed up, and the magnum needs nerfing). And that makes it lack depth.
What needs to come back?
Well, the crowbar obviously, since it has some application as far as whacking physics objects, and is just a classic.
But most important is the tau cannon. Why? Because the tau is what made Hl1 stand out as something more than yet another run and gun DM game.
The tau's two major features were thus:
1) end the reign of campers. The tau could shoot through walls. It could take out L33t players that holed up in one particular area. It was creative and an awesome way to change up gameplay. Without it, magnum/rocketlauncher campers will rule again.
2) tau jumping: you could move across a map at tremendous speeds, which added a whole 'nother layer to the game without making it a l33tfest (since it was so wild and hard to control). With practice, you could become a near god by flying all over the map.
The tau fits into the HL universe. It's creative and different enough to make HL stand out from other games. It fits perfectly into the world of high-speed physics action given that it was Newtonian cool even in HL1. It adds new layers of depth to gameplay. And most of all, it's a proven DM and well balanced weapon (regular fire is okay, and secondary fire while devastating, takes a while to charge up).
I don't know if we should start a petition or what, but the tau needs to come back as a pickupable, carryable, usable weapon. It needs to be put into all the HL2DM maps: including the two that were already released.
My proposal is this: add the tau cannon back into the DM game. Instead of adding a whole nother ammo type, however, have it run off of suit power: if you want to use the tau, you have to sacrifice "armor" power to use it. This gives the charger stations a little more usefulness and also prevents them from having to add too many other ammo types (which does tend to clutter the game). It balances the power of the tau. And it adds back some of the missing depth and creativity in HL2's arsenal.
Now, of course there are other weapon possibilities that could make HL2DM a lot more fun. HL2's weapon selection, again, is sadly sparse and too often very conventional. And the tau is far and away the most important.
But the idea of just adding things via mods is NOT NOT NOT a good solution. Why? Because mods splinter the community. And further, most people will always play the original, official DM. Valve shouldn't wait for the community to improve DM: they should update and improve DM with new ideas and additions. People that likeed the old original DM can easily create THEIR own OGDM mods. But Valve shouldn't hold back on updating the official DM. HL2DM on the lockdown should not be the same two years from now as it is today, two days after its release.
What other weapons should be considered?
I suggest two other major changes for now, in addition to the most important one (the tau proposal above, not including the inevtiable and obvious balance fixes for the shotty and magnum).
1) add in at least one more tactical-type weapon. Tripwire mines were always a novelty, but they could still be a new blast in HL2DM if a) the wires were harder to see (a lot easier with the graphical wow of Source) and b) the damage was less and more radius based so that if you aren't right next to the mine, it doesn't hurt as much (i.e. they are good for killing low health people and setting traps to weaken but not kill stronger opponents, but the hard-to-see wires aren't as cheap) I also wouldn't mind seeing something like the "stickymines" people have described from the leak: gobs of goo you could stick to players and or walls that you could then detonate with secondary fire. This would take the HL1 detpacks into a new world of HL2-sophisticated fun: something creative and more physicsy based.
3) Make crossbow kills more fun. By this, I primarily mean making "pinning" far more common. What makes the crossbow a satisfying weapon is the idea that you can "pin" someone to something, usually the wall. Currently, however, given the fast pace of DM, this rarely ever happens, and the crossbow basically just becomes another magnum (boring, conventional, one hit-kill bullet-type weapon). To change this, getting hit with a crossbow bolt should send a ragdolled body flying along with the bolt to a much higher degree than it does currently, making having a ragdoll pinned to a wall be much more common and attainable feat. This would leave the map much more commonly littered with bodies pinned to walls, which would be hella cool to see while running around. And it would give the crossbow some missing life and personality beyond yet another simple one-hit killl weapon.
Let's recap the key points of my proposal:
1) Official HL2DM should evolve and improve, including all the old maps. We are in a Steam-new-world now, not the "HL1DM is the same as the day it was released" era. The official version is always the most important.
2) The tau needs to come back, working mostly the same but using suit "armor" power for ammo. The current weapon selection is lacking, and the tau changes things up enough and adds creative depth of play without being too overpowered.
3) Valve should at least consider other weapon additions/changes in order to make the weapon selection in HL2 more diverse and set it apart. The gravity gun just cannot carry the entire burden of revolutionary gameplay: the rest of the arsenal has to catch up as well.
WHO IS WITH ME!!!!!!!
