Weapon Repair Degradation – Encourage Arsenal Variety

[Riamus]

So you add an overheating mechanic if you use a gun too much in a short time.

 

[EvilPolygons]

So you add an overheating mechanic if you use a gun too much in a short time.

Haha I wouldn't be opposed to that.

Although... thinking about it, that's kind of what a random chance to jam would accomplish anyway. Don't you think? If the chance is really low, then popping off an occasional shot is less likely to produce a bad die roll because you aren't making many rolls to begin with. Spamming on full auto, however, is more likely to produce a jam simply because you've greatly increased the number of rolls being made.

 

[Riamus]

I am fine with jamming. I just didn't want to keep replacing my weapon with the exact same weapon over and over.

 

[WarMongerian]

Regardless of what kind of degradation you can see in weapons in real life, that takes time. I wouldn't consider a single save in this game to last more than 1-2 years if it was converted to real life. How many weapons degrade in that amount of time?

First off, I want to reiterate, I don't personally want any such system, but if it does make it into the game, as an optional setting, I might try it out. However, for such a thing to have any meaning, finding a new weapon, would have to be made much harder than now, as otherwise, what would be the point?

Also, remember that those saying that they degrade are also mentioning that with regular maintenance, they can last much longer. I would consider doing repairs to be regular maintenance. Degradation would mean you cannot use it anymore once reaching 0, no matter what repairs you do to it, including replacing parts. How quickly can that happen in really l real life to most weapons, where a weapon can't even be repaired anymore? It happens, but not often for something that isn't at least somewhat old.

I would caution folks, that if we are forgetting the post holocaust, zombie apocalypse setting for this game, just because a player finds a (new) weapon, it just means that it is new to them, not that it was acquired directly from the weapon factory, packed in it's original material. For all we know, it saw years of service, before coming into the hands of the player.

That being so, we have no way of knowing the nature of those years of service, was it well maintained, badly maintained, badly misused and all but worn out. Given this setting, most weapons are going to be found in a used state.

Complicated weapons, with many moving parts, will be far more prone to degradation than simple weapons. No bow/crossbow is going to put 100's of shots down range in 1 minute, while automatic weapons can and will.

 

[EvilPolygons]

I would caution folks, that if we are forgetting the post holocaust, zombie apocalypse setting for this game, just because a player finds a (new) weapon, it just means that it is new to them, not that it was acquired directly from the weapon factory, packed in it's original material. For all we know, it saw years of service, before coming into the hands of the player.

That being so, we have no way of knowing the nature of those years of service, was it well maintained, badly maintained, badly misused and all but worn out. Given this setting, most weapons are going to be found in a used state.

Complicated weapons, with many moving parts, will be far more prone to degradation than simple weapons. No bow/crossbow is going to put 100's of shots down range in 1 minute, while automatic weapons can and will.

Yes, exactly. The vast vast vast majority of firearms people would be scavenging wouldn't be military to be with. Civilian guns outnumber military guns by an absolute order of magnitude in the US. So there's a good chance you'll be digging Bubba's old mutilated milsurp Mosin out of a trash pile, not a SCAR or an M249. And even if it was a brand new civilian gun straight from the factory -- oh darn, it's a Taurus. So it's brand new junk instead of old junk. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

 

[Suxar]

In a zombie apocalypse scenario, we do not have an intact production >>> supply train.

Doesn't the fact that you yourself are a manufacturer bother you?

What does weapon degradation give in terms of gameplay? Nothing!

By the middle of the game, I have 3-4 stacks of parts for my main weapon in my parts box. I make weapons from time to time anyway, counting on getting a weapon with slightly higher parameters than I have. And sometimes I get it. You want me to do this not from time to time, but after a certain number of shots? What's the point?

 

[EvilPolygons]

Doesn't the fact that you yourself are a manufacturer bother you?

What does weapon degradation give in terms of gameplay? Nothing!

By the middle of the game, I have 3-4 stacks of parts for my main weapon in my parts box. I make weapons from time to time anyway, counting on getting a weapon with slightly higher parameters than I have. And sometimes I get it. You want me to do this not from time to time, but after a certain number of shots? What's the point?

The amazing thing about a game OPTION is that it's OPTIONAL. Believe it or not, people have different tastes and opinions.

Having item degradation as an OPTION wouldn't force anything on you. Don't want it? Turn it off. But apparently you want everyone to be forced to play the game exactly the way you play it, and no one is allowed to enjoy any game mechanics that you personally do not enjoy. That's pretty narcissistic.

 

[Suxar]

The amazing thing about a game OPTION is that it's OPTIONAL. Believe it or not, people have different tastes and opinions.

The most surprising thing is that you decided to remember about "options" only on the 3rd page of the discussion.

However, making an entire algorithm an option is not a trivial task. In essence, this would mean writing 2 completely independent algorithms and debugging each of them separately. With all the ensuing labor costs for correctly maintaining them in working order with each change in the game.

 

[EvilPolygons]

The most surprising thing is that you decided to remember about "options" only on the 3rd page of the discussion.

However, making an entire algorithm an option is not a trivial task. In essence, this would mean writing 2 completely independent algorithms and debugging each of them separately. With all the ensuing labor costs for correctly maintaining them in working order with each change in the game.

And neither, at any point, did I say anything should be mandatory. Now did I? No.

Everything I discuss is in terms of options. I'm a simulation nut. I don't like casual games or game systems. But I also recognize that the vast majority of gamers aren't into the kinds of gameplay that I enjoy, and I'm not self-centered enough to think everyone should be forced to like what I like.

I am always going to advocate for more micromanagement and more simulation in this game because that's what I enjoy. I've never demanded that any of my personal wants and wishes should be forced on anyone else.