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Dual Universe's general Avatar vs Avatar combat system is still a topic to be discussed as most of it also lies in the dark for the community. Nonthetheless, I'd like to discuss a related topic: How and if different tacical gameplay elements can benefit AvA combat and which elements can be used meaningful. Having said that, it's also important to think about if certain tactical elements even make sense at all in an MMO like Dual Universe, what is feasible and what may be too much. However, I personally felt it would be disappointing if ground combat only consisted of aiming and shooting around with different weapons with barely any features around. Seeing how many non-tactic games adapted features from tactic shooters, implementing certain elements can bring a lot more depth in combat situations. So I thought of different features that many tactic shooters implemented. Surely you wouldn't expect DU to feature a full list of these and become a full-fledged shooter by the way, but I'd like to list a few specific ones that I think could be discussed well. Advanced movement systems A good basic for most tactic shooters is a movement systems that allows the player to take on different stances and have the character interact with objects and world elements during movements. Usually, this consists at least of being able to stand, crouch and lie down as stances (Battlefield, Arma), some shooters go even further with additional stances in between these three or being able to sprint in different modes and combine them into slides or throwing yourself down. But another element of this feature is the interaction with the environement, for example being able to leap over obstacles (The Division, Ghost Recon), sometimes even climb on elements These elements can commonly be seen in third person shooters, but more first person shooter adapt them as well. First person shooters also sometimes feature the possibility to lean over to a side to look around corners. (R6 Siege, Squad) Does DU need this? Interacting with the world would be great, but DU is a Sci-fi game. Cimbing a building or being able to leap over small objects would not be necessary if we can use our jetpack for it. In fact, the jetpack allows for a far more complex movement system as it creates an larger, 3 dimensional space to fight in. Jetpacks are also found in modern action shooters more and more and open other options, such as walking on walls or power leaps. However, being able to go prone is something that a jetpack can't replace and what I personally like to see in any game. Games with advanced physics or cover systems also include the leaning automatically. Cover system Especially in recent years, cover systems have been implemented in a majority of tactic shooters. It allows the player to position his character to any surface large enough and "stick" to it, moving along its course. With this, you can peek out to shoot and largely avoid getting hit easily. The problem with these systems is that they don't blend well with 1st-person, which is why most games with cover systems are 3rd-person shooters or switch into 3rd person as long as the character stays in cover. Another problem is that games with cover systems usually revolve around these (The Division, Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas). Having a full cover system in DU would likely mean more work for a possible 3rd-person perspective or that combat takes place behind cover, which is fun for many but can become tedious at times. This where the soft-cover system comes in: Some recent games have implemented a cover system, that doesn't require your character to stick to a surface. Instead, the player positions his character regularly behind cover. As soon as he aims, the character will automatically look over or around the cover. The recent Ghost Recon Wildlands mixed these systems through an animation that seemingly lets the character stick to the surface without actually entering a sperate cover mode. While it's questionable if DU needs this, it would certainly be a nice feature to get just a bit more depth in the overall combat system as it opens more possibilities in combat and prevents the rushed, senslessly action-rich gameplay seen in low-effort productions. Kits / Roles Typical for an MMORPG is a class system. Shooters feature them as well sometimes, although "kits" are used more often in modern shooters as the less static pendant to classes. Kits feature a set of equipment that can usually be changed in or between rounds. Together with these kits, certain roles of a player are associated, which are often similar to traditional classes in RPGs. We have healing kits like medics, damage dealers like the normal rifeman or assault, a subsitute for tanks are usually kits with heavy weaponry like rocket launchers or LMGs and engineering kits for what in any other RPG can be a summoner, tamer or an engineer as well. NQ already stated that DU will not feature a fixed class system, but a skill tree with which players can specialize in a certain direction. These may be associated with roles as well, but in terms of overall DU gameplay. That means that AvA combat would only be one direction for a role in the whole tree. By fanning this direction of the skill tree out, a role system could be integrated into the game instead of having players assume different combat roles themselves or be determined solely by weaponry, which would be another possibility as well. A broader skill tree would also mean stronger in-depth specialization, more directions to go and being able to combine skills and equipment effectively. Communication channels A working chain of command is essential for successful operations. A complex strategy needs to be executed correctly, which is why everbody has to know their part in it. But a single squad also needs to be able to adapt to the situation in the field, which is why higher ranks make decisions and forward them to the single members. Sadly, most games neglect this complex procedure and only give access to an all-chat and team-chat, traditional MMOs mostly also to guild / clan / alliance chats. This is good, but not enough for a working chain of command. Sadly, the commonly used 3rd party programs like TeamSpeak, Skype and Discord can't satisfy this problem either. Squad implemented a good first start for this - a Radio channel for Squad leaders, for the squads and for proxmity. Squad leaders can discuss plans and strategies together, forwards them to their squad, that can in turn confirm and report single events while members can talk to people outside their squad or their immediate group through the local channel. Additional, the chat window allows to send messages to the whole team. I wouldn't expect DU to include VoIP, but besides the regular chats of traditional MMOs at least being able to have multiple chat channels for use inside organizations could be a lot to work with. These channels could maybe even be linked to the RDMS to decide who can type or read in it. If we take this step a bit further, being able to create a certain amount of custom channels would come in handy for all possible situations. In that case maybe not only for use inside an organization, but even for creating prviate chat channels with password protection to invite people from everywhere in the game. Weapon customization Not neccesarily a tactical feautre itself, but brings with it a lot of tactical depth, similar to kits and roles. Most MMOs feature equipment customization to some extent, mostly by upgrading quality and / or level of the gear. Fantasy MMOs also often allow to insert gems in sockets to boost a certain stat of the weapon. This is a very basic level of customization, but being able to put mods, modules, upgrade chips or whatever you want to call it on a weapon would definitely be imaginable for Dual Universe. Advanced customization allows the players to choose various components of their weapons like scopes, barrels, magazines, triggers and stocks. Somtimes, this is done when assembling or crafting your weapon and will determine the end stats of the finished product. In some games, this is an option in menus or on a crafting station (Fallout, Ghost Recon) While this certainly is a lot of work on the development side, the result is always a fun feature that would be a great addition in a sandbox game like DU. In a game you can create your own buildings, cities, vessels and societies, why exclude weapons from it? Interactive maps The last and shortest feature on the list is interactive maps. There are only few games in which you can customize your maps. But like with communication channels, a complex strategy needs to be explained well. Being able to illustrate and visualise a strategy or tactic is a great help and makes for a fun feature. Having a map you can draw on and show other players can be a great help to communicate even without words, this doesn't even need to be in real time. It'd be enough to craft a map, edit its content, save it and pass on the next player. Seeing as this is already the case with the blueprints in DU, making maps similar to them might not be too difficult on the development end. Now you're asked. What do you think of these features? Would you like to see some of them in Dual Universe as well? What other elements would you prefer and what would you want to add to reach a deeper combat system?
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