PC Broken bow mechanics

[theFlu]

But I never have seen a situation where 6 out of 10 shots go though a zombie, even aiming it when they are sideways to me.

I deemed addressing the 6/10 nonsense as feeding.. this isn't Dota, but I'll still try to avoid it.

 

[Syphon583]

I can't believe all these bow users are unaware of the bug that arrows pass through zombies

I'm very aware of that bug. The thing is many players blow it way out of proportion, and from experience, it only affects shots where the target is within 1-2 blocks of you. Once you learn the subtleties of how they work, bows can be extremely effective.

I'm not denying the bug exists and very much look forward to when it is fixed. But it is far from game-breaking.

 

[zztong]

Aside from that, am I the only person who's profoundly bothered by the fact that bows have to be "reloaded" if you switch weapons after firing?

That's not a bug. If you don't finish reloading any weapon before you switch then it isn't reloaded.

I can't believe all these bow users are unaware of the bug that arrows pass through zombies.

I'm bow user and I've certainly had cases where I thought I made a good shot but missed. There was a time when I thought there might be a bug, but once I started to watch more closely I concluded there were other factors at play: (1) I sometimes "click" the mouse with a bit more energy and it changes my aim slightly (akin to jerking the trigger instead of squeezing it), and (2) some zombie animations include a pretty good head move that does a nice job throwing off my aim, and (3) some zombie animations related to standing up may not entirely represent where the zombie's head is at every point in the animation -- I'm not 100% sure that's the case and I'm not ready to call it a bug.

Just a minor gripe, but you're giving away more than half of your damage like that; might as well just waddle over and slap them across the cheeks at that point.

I assume you're talking about a close shot. I take body shots all the time. If its a sneak attack, depending on the zombie and the game settings, I can kill some zombies by hitting them in any location, including the foot. Any attack I make at long range is a body shot.

 

[theFlu]

I assume you're talking about a close shot.

I'm talking about sacrificing the majority of your damage to simply avoid a 1% bug. I'd rather not.

If you can oneshot the @%$# with a bodyshot, you wouldn't opt for a headshot - you've changed the premise.

 

[FranticDan]

This game most definitely has an entity hitbox issue.

I've personally experienced these two things.

1) Arrows going through zombies faces. You can literally SEE the arrow go through their face. No question about it. It's uncommon but most definitely happens from time to time.

2) Whenever a downed zombie is starting to stand back up, their entire hitbox doesn't exist for a split second. Go ahead, melee that zombie (even their torso) at the very moment it starts to get up, your attack will hit the block they're laying on instead.

 

[ElDudorino]

That's not a bug. If you don't finish reloading any weapon before you switch then it isn't reloaded.

Did you read the other posts about it? That's not how bows work so it makes no sense and there's no other game that works like that so it's completely unintuitive. Whether or not it's a "bug" is irrelevant.

I figured I wouldn't be the only person so bothered by it but I guess I was wrong.

2) Whenever a downed zombie is starting to stand back up, their entire hitbox doesn't exist for a split second. Go ahead, melee that zombie (even their torso) at the very moment it starts to get up, your attack will hit the block they're laying on instead.

I've never noticed this but I have many times had the issue that head shots on downed zombies register as body shots because the hitbox for the chest 'blocks' the hitbox for the head. This is only a problem at low angles but is common to be bothersome.

 

[zztong]

Did you read the other posts about it? That's not how bows work so it makes no sense and there's no other game that works like that so it's completely unintuitive. Whether or not it's a "bug" is irrelevant.

My apologies. I'm guilty of having skimmed the conversation.

 

[ElDudorino]

My apologies. I'm guilty of having skimmed the conversation.

Unforgivable!!

 

[Pernicious]

Aside from that, am I the only person who's profoundly bothered by the fact that bows have to be "reloaded" if you switch weapons after firing?  

I think you addressed this in another reply, but I wanted to add more detail on.

If I load a gun, put it down on a table, then pick it up, the bullet does not leave the chamber and the magazine is not ejected.

If I load a crossbow, put it down on a table, then pick it up, the wire is still drawn, and the bolt is still in place.

If I nock an arrow, and align the arrow on the arrow rest and put it down, well, even with a modern "snap on" nock, the arrow is definitely coming off the arrow rest, and it's very unlikey the nock is in the correct position when I pick it up (even though it won't come off the string entirely, it will slide up and down it)

To be honest, it would irritate me more if it WAS still loaded when I switched back to it. But really, these things don't break immersion for me either way.

 

[ElDudorino]

If I load a crossbow, put it down on a table, then pick it up, the wire is still drawn, and the bolt is still in place.

If I nock an arrow, and align the arrow on the arrow rest and put it down, well, even with a modern "snap on" nock, the arrow is definitely coming off the arrow rest, and it's very unlikey the nock is in the correct position when I pick it up (even though it won't come off the string entirely, it will slide up and down it)

Of course there's no arrow "loaded" when you pick up a bow. The point however is that 1) There would be no lost time grabbing an arrow with your main hand while grabbing the bow with your off-hand the way you do in literally every other game with bows and 2) The game is inconsistent because you *do* grab the bow "loaded" if it had been loaded when you switched it.

Because the behavior of the bow is inconsistent and it's not even obvious whether it's "armed" when you equip it, you end up in a weird situation where you can try to fire and your character just... doesn't.

I wouldn't mind nearly as much if your character would grab the arrow and start drawing the string from a single mouse press but if I'm expecting to fire and instead my dude doesn't do it because of this weird non-reason it's really frustrating.

 

[Ramethzer0]

I have 5000 hours in this game since A1 so don't mess with me dude with your little 1000 hour

I might be a little late to this party, but after reading your entire backlog I'm getting a massive whiff of the Dunning-Kruger Effect all over you.

 

[BFT2020]

I might be a little late to this party, but after reading your entire backlog I'm getting a massive whiff of the Dunning-Kruger Effect all over you.

Nice, I never knew there was an official name for that effect.  Especially like how it applies in two different scenarios 

 

[ElCabong]

Just a minor gripe, but you're giving away more than half of your damage like that; might as well just waddle over and slap them across the cheeks at that point.

I disagree with you. Shoot them in the chest, if they fall over run up and club them to death. Shoot him in the chest a second time, they almost always fall over and you run up and club them in the head. 

This is always how I do it starting out.

 

[Roland]

Of course there's no arrow "loaded" when you pick up a bow. The point however is that 1) There would be no lost time grabbing an arrow with your main hand while grabbing the bow with your off-hand the way you do in literally every other game with bows and 2) The game is inconsistent because you *do* grab the bow "loaded" if it had been loaded when you switched it.

Because the behavior of the bow is inconsistent and it's not even obvious whether it's "armed" when you equip it, you end up in a weird situation where you can try to fire and your character just... doesn't.

I wouldn't mind nearly as much if your character would grab the arrow and start drawing the string from a single mouse press but if I'm expecting to fire and instead my dude doesn't do it because of this weird non-reason it's really frustrating.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure what you describe only happens when you have multiple arrow types in your inventory. If you only have one type of arrow on hand then the bow does load with that arrow and you can fire. If there are two or more choices the game doesn't auto load one of them at random. It makes you choose which arrow type you want to use before it lets you fire and I believe those are the times I remember being stuck not able to fire anything because there was no arrow in my bow when I picked it up and I had open the radial menu to manually select either stone arrows or iron arrows.

They could have it default to the worst or best type you have on hand but that might anger someone else...

 

[ElDudorino]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure what you describe only happens when you have multiple arrow types in your inventory. If you only have one type of arrow on hand then the bow does load with that arrow and you can fire. If there are two or more choices the game doesn't auto load one of them at random. It makes you choose which arrow type you want to use before it lets you fire and I believe those are the times I remember being stuck not able to fire anything because there was no arrow in my bow when I picked it up and I had open the radial menu to manually select either stone arrows or iron arrows.

They could have it default to the worst or best type you have on hand but that might anger someone else...

It's mostly been an early-game concern for me so I feel like it's independent of how many arrow types you have in your inventory? I admit I am slightly second-guessing myself now, though. At any rate I don't have to enter the ammo type menu in these cases, as it automatically loads in an arrow instead of drawing the string when I hold down the mouse button.

 

[theFlu]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure what you describe only happens when you have multiple arrow types in your inventory. If you only have one type of arrow on hand then the bow does load with that arrow and you can fire.

Maybe A21 things..?

In A20, the ammo type for every weapon is always selected. By default every bow uses stone arrows, you'll have to manually switch to any other type.

Bows load the next of the selected type if you have any after shooting, crossbows or other firearms don't. Unless you try to fire again while empty, which causes a reload on everything.

If you don't have more of the right type for a bow, you'll hear an empty trigger click, you don't get a type change automatically.

I guess the difference is due to the double nature of the bow loading, you ready an arrow first, and then you manually draw it.

Other weapons you ready and then fire with a button_down on mouse1. Automatics start firing on the reload press if you wait long enough, semiautomatics will wait for a new click for the first shot after loading.

For bows the readying is automatic, but for a while it blocks the next draw like a semiautomatic reload. You'll need to wait a bit for the new click.

 

[Ripflex]

I had zero problems with the Starter bow.  The Starter bow has a heavy arc / drop, you just have to practise.  And if you are shooting any bow into "melee" I would expect model clipping... you shouldn't be in melee with a bow anyways.  I think Dunning-Kruger Effect is an accurate explanation with OP.

Just grin and bear it until you get a low quality iron crossbow or Wooden Bow drop ...

 

[theFlu]

I disagree with you. Shoot them in the chest, if they fall over run up and club them to death.

Yeh, it's just a minor gripe, feel free to disagree Your way is effective, just not efficient. If they fall from a bodyshot, a headshot will kill them; if you miss, just take another in most cases. If you have to walk over anyway to finish with a club, the arrow is pretty redundant.