Bow aiming

Going to make it brief; Perhaps a auto aim/shoot at close distances; but the ability to actually aim is optional for extremely long ranged attacks.

 

I was going to suggest pretty much this exact idea. I'm glad I skimmed over existing posts first. I'd like to add to this a sniping ability. I know it's not very original but on a long range aimed shot a skilled archer/crossbowman should have a zoom in feature. The longer you focus on the aim the more you zoom in up to a certain point.

The close range combat would auto-target enemies (please no auto targeting barrels because they're destructable and such that's just annoying) but manual aimed shots you could shoot anything.

 

The camera could zoom into 1st person when you start to aim. like a one second zoom or a zoom speed equal to your skill. I'm not a fan of auto targeting with a ranged weapon.

Once your zoomed in then you can aim with arrow keys or mouse or whatever.

 

Manual aiming in close range is both tedious and inaccurate. Why we're suggesting auto targeting for close range.

 

Yes, but that's why it's a ranged weapon. It wouldn't be fair if I could shoot you with my sword from 80 yards.

 

I like this idea and I think it'd make ranged weapons more fun to use.

 

I generally like the idea of doing all combat in 1st person, where the mouse is both camera and aim. But it's tough to guess what this would really feel like.

 

Swords and bows function completely differently. It's not really a fair comparison. Now obviously if someone is standing within striking range of an archer, the archer is at a disadvantage.. but outside of striking range they should still be able to get a shot off.. in reality this isn't so difficult.. but in a game in a pain in the rear end.

I don't care if there's a movement penalty within very close range.. having to manually aim at close is less fun than not.

 

Whatever happens with Ranged weapons, PLEASE don't let it be like so many games out there, UO was the first i disliked the range, only because when EVERYONE used crossbows, they could shoot you while running and when you Zig Zag to dodge, the arrows would follow you around trees and rocks and buildings until you were hit, no way to get away LOL. I laugh cause it was funny, but at the time it frustrated alot of people. So if you use autoaim (not sure how close you'd be to be considered close range?) but for distance "RANGED" firing, i think if the target moves, they miss.

 

+1 ranged zoom.

Also physics to

a) farther away relative to damage

b) farther away relative to more dodge/miss

 

I think one game has perfected the use of bow and arrow, and is a good guide on how to implement it: the Thief series. You had to take the arching of the shot into account (ballistics), could choose different types of arrows, and could shoot at anything you like, without making it too difficult.

 

interesting thought... i could see this being useful for long range large scale epic battles... might as well apply it to spells and special siege weapons like catapults and such.

 

chivalry does ranged weapons pretty well. Though there is a steep learning curve.

 

There are two main types of combat that I see in games,

1) You target/select an enemy, and they are within range of an attack, they get hit
(World of Warcraft as an example)

2) You use an attack, if an enemy is in the path of the weapon, they get hit
(Skyrim as an example)


From what I saw from the pre-alpha prototype footage, the combat looked to be closer to the first type, with the red outline of the enemy indicating a "target". If that is in fact what we are seeing and that is the same system that they use for the live game, then I am not really sure how they would incorporate an aimed arrow system.

There are just so many questions that would come up that would need an answer.

If you say had a targeting system for melee and an aiming system for ranged, would you be able to dodge the arrow or would it follow you?
Would you be able to move out of the way of a sword?
Would you need to use a special ability to move out of the way of the sword?
Would moving out of the way be in addition to a dodge/agility attribute roll?
Would a missed arrow alert your target and indicate that you attacked it?
Could you fire arrows into an enemy that is meleeing you or would you need a backup weapon to melee with?

Unfortunately I cant think of any way to make it work.

 

lets make it realistic!

1) nock your arrow

2) draw your bow (takes a second)

3) aim, which moves slightly and the longer you hold the shakier you get.

4) loose.

then we'll see how many people choose archers

 

I agree that it should be all manual. As mentioned before about thief ( never played chivalry ) and also it works quite well in Mount and Blade. Just as Sir Mishri said, but also include movement penalties for loading and firing.

To me those are the most fun aspects of being an in game archer! Not sure why people are having a hard time with up close firing, especially when using a mouse!

 

Just make it so this happens...

Anyone who tries to continue to nock and shoot arrows at a person who is within melee range spontaneously combusts in flames of no that would never work.

Or the first sword swing cuts their bow string every time. Whichever is easier to implement.

Bows and crossbows would never be used in melee range by anyone who had an alternative. And anyone who engages in combat as a profession would have an alternative.

 

Still think that targeting is the way to go over mouse aiming. I don't see archery being like skyrim in an "mmo." I do think a reduction in both power and accuracy when moving would prevent kiting from being too powerful.

 

moving and shooting should be impossible. Try it IRL sometime.. it's hard enough to draw your bow and hit your mark standing still. moving then stopping to draw/loose is fine though.

 

If mages can run and hit people with spells but not archers, is there then any benefit to being a Archer?