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Suggestion/WIP: the Binoculars

L

lonefelidae16

Refugee
Hi there👋
 
I’m creating an item to see farther than the Scope 8x Mod (modGunScopeLarge) that fits vanilla. There is no melee in the primary action, only zooming in the secondary.
 

The 3D model is also available, I’m currently modeling.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sOcRfmbwOeN5caEaszrj9QficfPteNj4/view (It’s still work in progress; the model may be changed in the future)

 
So, there are two things I would like to discuss.
1. I can’t decide the Tier and Crafting Area.
The modGunScopeLarge is included in the T3 loot probability, but that’s an item modifier, not an item.
Weapons using iron pipes (T0) have been added since Alpha20 that do not need to learn and can be crafted without a Workbench.
Is it better to write a craft_area="workbench" to recipes.xml or make it learnable, or both?
Otherwise, I would revoke the recipe and make it only available by looting. (like Flashlight)
 
2. I also can’t decide what ingredients to use in this recipe.

For example, a modGunScopeLarge requires a Workbench and ingredients below:

resourceBrokenGlass 20
resourceForgedSteel 10
resourceScrapPolymers 10
resourceGlue 5




What are the appropriate ingredients to use for this item and if they are suitable for vanilla. I thought about putting iron pipes (resourceMetalPipe) in ingredients, but that would reduce the difficulty.

 
 
If it can be obtained by looting, the loot probability must be determined. (T0? T1? or more?)
If there is a recipe for it, I need to decide ingredients and crafting area.
A Schematic is needed if the recipe is learnable. If there is a suggestion that it would be better to link any skills to unlock the recipe, I will consider it.
 
Any opinions are welcome. I’m especially happy to hear opinions on multiplayer, as I always play solo.


 
So... I’ll make this public if I have to, but does anyone want this...?



 




 
I haven't put a lot of thought into this.

From the angle of materials - ow about twice the materials needed to craft an equivalent powered scope? That is, as if binoculars were two scopes. Or, perhaps a kit-bashed form of binoculars is really just two scopes and duct tape?

From the angle of game play - Scopes already fit onto weapons, meaning they're effectively as good and take no inventory beyond the weapon. What makes binoculars worth carrying? Ah, I see -- they have a higher magnification. Interesting.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would make it a T1 (T2 at most) but definitely not a T0 or T3 item.  For me, T1 seems more reasonable.

  • If you want to be able to craft it:

    I would suggest tying the recipe unlock to the equivalent scope tier so once you find that schematic, it also unlocks the binoculars.

    You can also have it separate, but would need to create a schematic item to be placed in the world in order to unlock it

[*]Definitely require a workbench.  I like to have multiple conditions to be met in order to craft something, so learning the recipe and having a workbench to use to make it is how I would do it.

[*]I would use the small scope recipe, but instead of forged iron, I would either use iron pipes or scrap iron.  You could even add both and I think the recipe will show up completely without having to make any changes to the UI

  • I broke up engines into small engines and large engines that you to craft.  The recipes for them are complex so I don't see all the ingredients yet as I haven't modify the UI to handle recipes with more than 5 or 6 items.


[*]If you want it lootable (or just lootable):

  • I would suggest using a basic probability template like low or veryLow rather than syncing it with loot stage level. 

    Very low would be my suggestion as that is only 0.05 so it would make it a very rare item to find while looting. 
  • Having such a low find percentage could mean that while the survivor is able to find binoculars while searching, they have a very low chance of finding a set that isn't broken and actually usable.

[*]Also would need to figure out what containers you would have a chance to find it in - maybe limit it to night stands and cabinets


 
Code_Ovrld's 2￠'s: What are the goals of Binoculars? I see the obvious goal of wanting to see further. But beyond that point what makes you break out binoculars instead of sneak up and scope out the area all stealthy like? 

Possible Use Cases: 

1. Use to scope out a new town/city: Binoculars could be used to get to a tall place and scope out all the buildings and features you can see from High Up. 

2. Raiding Enemy Bases: In a PVP sense, Binoculars could be useful to scout out defenses from a far enough distance that you wouldn't be spotted. 

3. The Gun Scope's FOV is just way too small: QoL Use case could be that there are some users who use gun-scope's as binoculars and the field of view is just too dang small, and the mouse movement is just way too slow if you have to use a gun scope to scout around.

Possible Issues that might arise: 

1. Does rendering distance affect binoculars as a use case? Do things farther away not render so the binoculars are useless at a certain range?  

2. Does the need to carry an extra Item out weight the benefit? Is a user going to find binoculars and throw them in a storage chest instead of keeping them in/on the inventory/toolbelt?

Before I would suggest Workstations/Ingredients, I would try and answer some of those questions. The ideas you get might propel you to think of binoculars in a different way. 

Personally, I am starting to think that Binoculars need to "do" more. Like if it were my idea i would start thinking about giving the user some benefit to having the binocs. I know this sounds risky and maybe too op, but consider what it would mean to have binoculars. I would think that you are way more: 

- Agile, cause your curious: So maybe a passive Staminia Effect from holding the binocs

- Perceptive, use those dang peepers even better: Maybe have some perception bonus from holding them

- Into Tracking, binoc's might be good at spotting animals, dont you think? maybe give some passive affect that triggers that animal tracking perk without having the perk, like give the player that animal tracking buff for a few seconds while they are holding the binocs. 

I think the binocs as an item have little room to grow in themselves. The limitation placed on them is superficial, i bet you can think of clever things for them to do as an item. Like maybe you set the magnification to a local variable in xpath and the action0, left click, changes zoom level. 

Tldr: This idea has legs, you should publish it as a rough draft and then expand on the idea later. Maybe gift the early adopters with binocs so you can put off crafting and ingredients

 

 
Thank you for your replies. It appears to be a matter of crafting, looting, or even before that.

I see that folks think that a weapon scope is sufficient. Binocs is bulky and overwhelm the toolbelt, have to switch to a weapon every time, and above all, it’s reduced to mere ornaments.

Is that why it’s omitted from various mods?

Anyway, there are some helpful comments and I will consider them as I take them into my world. Thank you very much!

 
I hope you didn't think I was tearing down your idea, that's why I added the TLDR. I think you got a good idea and you can expand on it further. It might be that someone else hasn't had your idea yet. You def should make the mod and publish it on a site so someone (like me) can enjoy it. 

I apologize if my critique appeared more critical than it really was. I was treating your idea like I treat my own, lots of questions and hurdles so that you come out with a full fleshed out idea.

 
This is just a notion, but maybe you could make a night vision variant of the binoculars. That would probably make them worthwhile even if they take up a slot in your toolbelt.

 
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