What do you think of the Sentry Gun?

[Ricey]

Originally Posted by chilledsanity

I doubt it's that two-sided as far as the devs are concerned. Almost every single idea I've proposed regarding new gameplay ideas (especially ones designed to please both sides) have been shot down on the basis of making the game more complicated, despite having existing mechanics that are already far more complicated. I've argued how several ideas would add more depth many times. Some examples are having a variable timer (or projection speed) for blue pipes, an alternate fire mode for hwguy, different values for league mode, and new engineer buildables.

I can almost guarantee that the dev team is going to lean towards making things simpler, rather than less complicated. I think the basis is that they're worried anything new with a nuance like other TFC mechanics might discourage new players. Bridget's idea may be an exception however, because it would be trying to reverse a long-held mechanic.

If you look at the things that Valve did keep in TF2 from TFC, SG being the main concern, all they did to make it easier to understand is adding that SG UI. It instantly shows that you can build things. Not everything is about gameplay, it's how you show it.

[Rutabeggar]

Originally Posted by Ricey

If you look at the things that Valve did keep in TF2 from TFC, SG being the main concern, all they did to make it easier to understand is adding that SG UI. It instantly shows that you can build things. Not everything is about gameplay, it's how you show it.

QUIET RICEY! TF2 IZ FOR THE BABIEZ!


No but seriously, QFT.

[Ricey]

Originally Posted by Rutabeggar

QUIET RICEY! TF2 IZ FOR THE BABIEZ!


No but seriously, QFT.

I am a web designer/UI Designer, if i see a sexy UI I will fap to it, and if it is super sexah I'll do a few in a row.

To the point, every single suggestion has been how to change how the current Sentry Gun WORKS, not how it's displayed to the user. So keep changing the way it functions, but that does not mean it'll make the user understand it better.

For the SG to function properly it needs to be displayed properly , then again most people don't understand that side of it.

[Ricey]

I'll also add this, EVERY Engy buildable has 3 upgrade levels!

[Rutabeggar]

I've entertained the idea of using time as an element in the power and versatility of the SG. I've been of the opinion for a long time that instead of requiring X number of cells to upgrade it to the next level that the upgrade should be a reward for keeping your SG up, for example:

The SG would be built in appearance of the current level 3 sentry gun, but have the power/armor of a level 1, perhaps a HUD icon for the offense/defense to see what level it is and a countdown timer for the engineer to indicate the time left until the next upgrade. Perhaps after say, a minute and a half, it "unlocks" the specs of a level 2 SG. After another 2 minutes the level 3 is "unlocked" as a result of the team and the engy focusing their defense around the SG as the cornerstone of a successful defense.

I think it could make the engineer class and playing defense as a whole quite a bit more rewarding.

[Bridget]

In Team Fortress 2, the more medics you have on a target, the slower their charges progress as a consequence. They do themselves a disfavor, and it encourages medics to stick to single targets. What if this is how sentry gun nests worked? The more sentry guns in the immediate area, the slower they progressed to level up or some cut to their power or something to compensate for the numbers? It'd be pretty complex to code and balance, though, I imagine.

[Raynian]

How about small tweaks that can fix the problem?

There are subtle differences that haven't been noticed.

SGs in TFC and FF have roughly the same health, so if left unattended they will die to about the same firepower. But if you take a scout nailing it in each game while it's being wrenched, the FF engi will run out of cells much quicker. There is much less time for the engi's teammates to support him before the gun goes down due to a lack of cells.

Cells are a bitch to get sometimes. Aftershok's (I think)? engi guide, which is floating around out there somewhere, showed some cool ways to get more cells (repairing armor! to get more cells back!)

No push, which is obvious.

Hitboxes are smaller, already been touched on but that argument went nowhere. Dunno why.

Explosion damage (and for the dispenser too). Seems a spy can grenade+super shotty a SG in FF, it'll die and take the engi with it, but the spy is almost untouched despite being three steps away. The fuck? So now one of the defenders is dead but the spy is at nearly full health.

Small things. We don't need a huge revamp of the SG.