C4 Revamp + New Detective Item

[Kieran]

Sort of as a followup to the recent and unfinished jihad discussion, I think some attention needs to be brought to the C4. In theory, it's supposed to be a very powerful T item capable of killing a lot of people. In reality, almost all of the time it just ends up clearing a room of people and getting no kills. Some of the problems include...

 

- Beep is extremely audible and is quickly identified

- Better and more exciting alternatives (including a flawed jihad... cmon, you know its more fun to use)

- Defuse feature never really utilized because running away is much easier

- Doesn't get many kills and usually serves more as a room clearer (not very helpful/exciting)

 

I have a few proposed changes to the C4 to make it a more exciting and relevant item while also balancing it out.

 

1. Eliminate most of the beeping of the C4

 

The biggest change with the item would be eliminating almost all beeping of the C4, currently its biggest weakness by far. Make it beep only for around 5 seconds prior to exploding. This would allow the C4 to play more of a "silent killer" role, rather than an obvious threat, while still giving some notice prior to exploding. People who know their exit routes can potentially escape. People who identify the bomb before exploding can alert others and still get people out of the room by being observant. I feel as if this change would make the item and the game a lot more exciting by awarding attentiveness and posing as a new type of threat sitting right under our noses.

 

Obviously this is a huge buff for the C4, so all my other proposed changes are meant to balance out this buff.

 

2. C4 glows red when it starts to beep

 

First balancing measure would be to make the C4 glow red prior to exploding when it starts to beep. Allows others to identify the C4 much easier so they can escape or defuse the C4 in a life or death situation.

 

3. Eliminate 15 second explosion option for C4

 

Pretty simple change, eliminate the 15 second option for explosion. More time for the bomb to be on the ground means more time people can identify the threat. Gives traitors more of a reason to be strategic with their planting spots. 15 seconds on a mostly silent bomb would not be fair.

 

4. Decrease defusal wires from 4 to 3

 

Makes defusing instead of running a way a more attractive option, which would be a lot more fun.

5. New detective item

Lastly, a new detective item would be introduced to counter a much more relevant C4. The item is called wire cutters and would cost one credit. The use of the item is pretty self explanatory. When a detective clicks r (the defuse key) on the C4, it automatically defuses. Maybe to make the item less situational you could also make it automatically disarm tripwires.

 

I think this would be the most helpful change to balance out the C4. A lot of the time detectives are in the large groups targeted by C4s. I think a lot of good detectives would actually buy this item.

 

I would like to hear any thoughts/suggestions/questions/criticisms of these proposed changes. I have other additional changes to balance it out if people still think it needs balancing, but I would like to hear initial thoughts first. At the very least I hope to start discussion about changing this very one dimensional and boring traitor item into something more relevant and exciting.

[Dom]

1. This would be a huge buff but also make the C4 more attractive to use if it isn't as noticeable. It would definitely help turn the server towards strategy based play as opposed to the current fast paced deathmatch style of play as people would have to be more aware of what's going on around them.

 

2. A fair balance in my opinion. If the C4 isn't going to beep as much, making it glow or flash red is a good idea so blind idiots like me have a better chance to spot it.

 

3. Another fair balance change. The 15 second explosion is probably the most used considering how easy it is to spot the C4. I believe the next option is 30 seconds which is fair if the beeping is reduced to the last 5 seconds before detonation.

 

4. I really like this idea. I don't think I've ever seen anyone try to defuse a bomb other than Trail Mix. Giving players an easier chance at being the hero will make the game more fun and it's fair so long as the original suggestion of the beeping being removed is implemented.

 

5. Good idea, quick and easy balance of a credit for a credit being used. If the C4 is buffed I don't see a reason why a defuse kit shouldn't be added to the detective menu. I'm not sure what you mean by automatically disarming tripmines tho.

 

Another change I would suggest is the C4's effectiveness through walls. From my experience this aspect of the C4 is quite broken as people can be 2 feet away behind some wall or a closed door and survive. Not sure if this is still the case, I also am not sure how big the damage radius is at the moment but that might need to be increased as well.

 

Overall I think its a great idea for trying to shift the game away from the current meta and making the other T menu items more used. The more deathmatchy TTT gets the more bland it is and I personally think trying to get all these items used more often would only make things more fun for everyone. I think this idea along with the proposed jihad changes and the proposed new T menu items will improve the server experience for people and make things a lot more interesting.

[Steven.]

Personally I do think a change to the C4 is needed because everyone just runs away from it and avoids it because it's easier to hide and survive then attempt to disarm it and die

 

1. I do agree the beeping is VERY noticeable but entirely removing it until the last 5 seconds prior to exploding seems extreme considering you could possibly introduce the red outline to it already making it stand out more on the ground than it does now. What I propose is a beep every 5 seconds to make it still audible but not as noticeable as it is now.

 

2. I think this would be a great addition because whenever a player goes to try and disarm it and dies their body can fall over the bomb making it hard to find but with the outline, it can be more easily found through the body.

 

3. Removing the 15 second timer and decreasing the number of times the bombs beeps would make it so it gives the Detectives and Innocents more of a chance to work together with the help of the defuser.

 

4. Same for this as well if you were to remove the 4 wires and make it 3 and including the defuser it would give the players and detectives a 50/50 chance of defusing the bomb and change the already deathmatch aspect of the game to more of an RP aspect and force them to work together.

 

5. I love this idea but instead of entirely disarming it instead it could remove one of the options from the C4 because again it allows the deathmatch aspect to hopefully be changed into the RP aspect that TTT is supposed to be and force players to work together than run around and gun people down who try to kill you that it is right now.

But I don't think that automatically disarming the tripwire is really necessary because it only takes around a second or two to remove it and most T's use them to kill unsuspecting players who aren't paying attention.

[Kieran]

Personally I do think a change to the C4 is needed because everyone just runs away from it and avoids it because it's easier to hide and survive then attempt to disarm it and die

 

1. I do agree the beeping is VERY noticeable but entirely removing it until the last 5 seconds prior to exploding seems extreme considering you could possibly introduce the red outline to it already making it stand out more on the ground than it does now. What I propose is a beep every 5 seconds to make it still audible but not as noticeable as it is now.

 

I don't want it to stand out easily for most of the plant duration whether that be visual or audio. I think the fun would be finding out where someone planted it just by looking around. Don't let the game tell you until the danger is substantial.

 

5. I love this idea but instead of entirely disarming it instead it could remove one of the options from the C4 because again it allows the deathmatch aspect to hopefully be changed into the RP aspect that TTT is supposed to be and force players to work together than run around and gun people down who try to kill you that it is right now.

But I don't think that automatically disarming the tripwire is really necessary because it only takes around a second or two to remove it and most T's use them to kill unsuspecting players who aren't paying attention.

 

I don't think an item that doesn't guarantee a defuse but rather makes a 33.3% chance a 50% chance seems very attractive. If I'm using a credit on a situational item I want to make sure it works.

 

We could always alter when the bomb beeps/glows red. Maybe 10 seconds it beeps once and turns red, then for the last 5 second it beeps? It's a matter of making the bomb not obvious from the get go.

[Trazz]

The C4 has had a major buff recently. It is not as buggy as our previous one where hiding behind a soda can would protect you, it will do damage through walls. The amount of defusal wires come with how short the timer is on the C4 and it ranges from 20 seconds to 60 seconds. Not looking to lower it as if someone pays a pretty penny for an item it should not be easily defused by anyone. The beep has also been lowered.

 

With the new plugin that has been released there are many more new items we have to choose from but a defuser for Detectives was not one of them. Will look into adding this as I think it is a fair balance / reasonable item to have.