Enhanceable Weapons and Armor

[thewarsend]

Enhanceable Weapons and Armor

I was reading Cyberpunk the other day and it got me thinking, wouldn't it be nice if this game has enhanceable weapons and armor? I mean a visible enhancement that alters the appearance of the said weapon or armor just a little. (Like in Fallout New Vegas but more detailed) What do you all think?

 

[gregski]

Knowing CDPR's attention to detail, I bet CP2077 will have some awesome weapon customization options and visuals behind it.

And about attention to detail...Did you play The Witcher 2? In that game if you ehnance your sword with a rune, you actually get to see it on your blade, a tiny blue/red glowing rune. Those guys are crazy about details like this, so I'm looking forward to seeing such features in CP2077 too.

 

[Sydanyo]

Who in their right mind would use a weapon that hasn't been fully customized for your use? It's not Stylish to buy a gun off the shelf and then use it as it is. Cyberpunk 2020 has several weapon customization options, and I'm sure 2077 will have those as well. I'm not sure about armor, but when you've got enough REF, COOL and Combat Sense, you don't need armor.

 

[blank_redge]

If CDPR goes this route, I hope that they find a better way to do it than Volition did with Saints Row 3.

In SR3, every firearm had four different levels of upgrade. Each level changed the cosmetic appearance of your gun, as well as buffing various stats.

Couple of problems with the way Volition did it:

- Guns were not downgradeable. If you didn't like the way a gun looked or performed after upgrading, tough.

- On the back-end of the coding, you were carrying *all four* versions of your firearm on your character, and as you bought your upgrades, the visible model would change out / the stats would change. This was, apparently, a resource hog, which is why there were fewer customizable clothing options / vehicle options in SR3, versus SR2. (Or, so we were told on the Volition forums.)

 

[thewarsend]

Knowing CDPR's attention to detail, I bet CP2077 will have some awesome weapon customization options and visuals behind it.

And about attention to detail...Did you play The Witcher 2? In that game if you enhance your sword with a rune, you actually get to see it on your blade, a tiny blue/red glowing rune. Those guys are crazy about details like this, so I'm looking forward to seeing such features in CP2077 too.

Yeah, they did an amazing job with Witcher series. Thats why i love CDPR. Instead of taking the easy route, they do whats right and they do it better than any other company out there.

If CDPR goes this route, I hope that they find a better way to do it than Volition did with Saints Row 3.

In SR3, every firearm had four different levels of upgrade. Each level changed the cosmetic appearance of your gun, as well as buffing various stats.

Couple of problems with the way Volition did it:

- Guns were not downgradeable. If you didn't like the way a gun looked or performed after upgrading, tough.

- On the back-end of the coding, you were carrying *all four* versions of your firearm on your character, and as you bought your upgrades, the visible model would change out / the stats would change. This was, apparently, a resource hog, which is why there were fewer customizable clothing options / vehicle options in SR3, versus SR2. (Or, so we were told on the Volition forums.)

I agree that they didn't handle the upgrade system really well. For instance Fable 3 did a great job when it comes to upgrades. (it had upgrades instead of enhancements)

By the way, i believe having armor enhancements is a must. When i add extra protection to my armor, i want to see it on my armor. That was the only thing Witcher 2 was missing really.

 

[blank_redge]

Eh... there's not really a way to "enhance" modern ballistic armor, or at least, not in a way that correlates with enhancing armor in fantasy titles.

I mean, if you have a Threat Level III or IV Kevlar vest, you can swap out the steel or ceramic trauma plate for a Kevlar insert (less protection, but lighter,) but that's about it for "customization."

Firearms, though, you can customize all day.

 

[thewarsend]

Eh... there's not really a way to "enhance" modern ballistic armor, or at least, not in a way that correlates with enhancing armor in fantasy titles.

I mean, if you have a Threat Level III or IV Kevlar vest, you can swap out the steel or ceramic trauma plate for a Kevlar insert (less protection, but lighter,) but that's about it for "customization."

Firearms, though, you can customize all day.

I think armor enhancements could also include, increased strength, increased aim (by stabilizing your arms&hands), hand to hand combat, damage resistance, reflexes, could help you move faster, could make a connection with your cybernetics and work better and for helmets: night vision, x ray vision, heat vision, increased intelligence etc.. (and maybe seeing one moment into the future )

 

[blank_redge]

Mmm... I think we're getting in to the territory of Linear Frames, then.

For those readers not familiar with the CP2020 canon, a Linear Frame is an exoskeleton. There's types you can pilot manually (think Ripley and the Power Loader in Aliens,) and types that you can jack directly in to your nervous system.

I know we touched on Linear Frames in the forum previously; can't be arsed right this second to look it up, though. =p

But yeah; what you're talking about sounds more like different classes of Linear Frames, rather than body armor.

 

[Garrison72]

Knowing CDPR's attention to detail, I bet CP2077 will have some awesome weapon customization options and visuals behind it.

And about attention to detail...Did you play The Witcher 2? In that game if you ehnance your sword with a rune, you actually get to see it on your blade, a tiny blue/red glowing rune. Those guys are crazy about details like this, so I'm looking forward to seeing such features in CP2077 too.

I expect them to take the look and feel of guns to a whole new level.

 

[wisdom000]

Mmm... I think we're getting in to the territory of Linear Frames, then.

For those readers not familiar with the CP2020 canon, a Linear Frame is an exoskeleton. There's types you can pilot manually (think Ripley and the Power Loader in Aliens,) and types that you can jack directly in to your nervous system.

I know we touched on Linear Frames in the forum previously; can't be arsed right this second to look it up, though. =p

But yeah; what you're talking about sounds more like different classes of Linear Frames, rather than body armor.

It's more light power armor, like the grass hopper... or a hardsuit...

Or possibly the larger ACPA...

I would like to avoid whatever the hell that mech walker nonsense thing in the first piece of promo art... I know there are walkers in Max Metal and Chrome 4.... but they really aren't cyberpunk, and there really is no useful reason for them... it veers too far into giant robot territory for me...but thats a personal bag...

 

[Sardukhar]

It's..challenging to take the "feel" of guns anywhere, especially in a a TPS environment. Handling and accuracy are very FPS-like. Thus, a sniper rifle feels different than an SMG. With a TPS, your whole body moves when your crosshair does, typically, so it'd make you really clumsy to handle a Militech Anti Matter Rifle, even more so than it should.
There are probably ways around this, with animation and sound effects, but every TPS I played a shooter on - Hitman most recently and Saints Row 3 and Sleeping Dogs - the weapons "felt" very similar to me.

 

[thewarsend]

It's more light power armor, like the grass hopper... or a hardsuit...

Or possibly the larger ACPA...

I would like to avoid whatever the hell that mech walker nonsense thing in the first piece of promo art... I know there are walkers in Max Metal and Chrome 4.... but they really aren't cyberpunk, and there really is no useful reason for them... it veers too far into giant robot territory for me...but that's a personal bag...

I completely agree. I really dislike mech walkers. Is bulky armors really high tech? I mean a high tech armor should be light and strong. Not bulky and gigantic.

 

[Garrison72]

It's..challenging to take the "feel" of guns anywhere, especially in a a TPS environment. Handling and accuracy are very FPS-like. Thus, a sniper rifle feels different than an SMG. With a TPS, your whole body moves when your crosshair does, typically, so it'd make you really clumsy to handle a Militech Anti Matter Rifle, even more so than it should.
There are probably ways around this, with animation and sound effects, but every TPS I played a shooter on - Hitman most recently and Saints Row 3 and Sleeping Dogs - the weapons "felt" very similar to me.

I disagree. There's a huge chasm separating something like SD from ME3, or Tomb Raider from GTA4. Aside from the actual fluidity of using cover and how they implement the camera, you have muzzle flash, recoil, destructibles, character animations when hit, accuracy and responsiveness of the reticule. There's quite a bit to consider.

 

[blank_redge]

Is bulky armors really high tech? I mean a high tech armor should be light and strong. Not bulky and gigantic.

I dunno; I think "bulky" can be Cyberpunk. Specifically, I'm thinking about old Soviet cyberware.

 

[Sardukhar]

A) Sure, Slim, but Me3 and SD felt very similar to me in gunfights. The individual weapons weren't particularly well-defined by feel. Not for me anyway. Muzzle flash was negligible, recoil same, hIt-animations too remote and really too similar, environment destruction not a factor in the feel of handling the weapon and so on. Firing an assault rifle in GTA4 and ME3 and SD felt very very similar to me. Now, firing an AK47 vs an M4 felt very different in Counterstrike, for example. Muzzle climb, burst accuracy, etc were much more intimate.

B) Too high tech isn't very cyberpunk, really. "Too" being highly subjective of course. The idea is, if it seems feasible to do within the next 100 years or so, it's cyberpunk tech. If it seems impossible or magic, ( Star Trek) then it's not. Bulky, ugly tech is very cyberpunk. Presuming you don't mean steam or something like that.

 

[Garrison72]

Agree to disagree then. And my whole point was CDPR can take this aspect to a new level, such as you list in Counter Strike.

*StarTrek..magic? You must mean StarWars.

 

[ghostlee]

Not sure what would be too high tech for 2077. If the transhumanists are to be taken seriously, it is massively more difficult to get an AI that approaches human intelligence than it is to go from human level intelligence to an intelligence greater than the combined sum of the entire human race. With human + level AIs in 2020, who know what 50 years further development would generate?

But, granted, if technology starts solving moral and ethical problems and getting too clean it is not cyberpunk.

 

[Sardukhar]

Mmm. I hope they will too. Take it to a new level, that is. That they are aware of the challenge is a good sign. It's not really a high priority for me, for a few reasons: a) we want SO MUCH from this game already b) I'm pretty much gonna love it no matter what c)with cyberarms, smartguns, biomonitors and whatnot, CP2077 has a viable reason to make the guns as similar in feel as they need to: the hardware is trying to give the shooter that already.

HUD/UI, ammo counters, smooth muzzle control, unrealistic but accurate sight pictures - all these make sense for a smart weapon and the supporting cyberware.

Yeah, the "high tech" bar for cyberpunk is really feel-and-setting based more than predictions of technological advancement. sure, we might have lightsabers by 2077 IRL, but such an object would seem pretty un-cyberpunk.

*Star Wars wasn't magic. It happened! A long time ago!

 

[thewarsend]

I think it's not about what technology available, its about what technology is on the market. I mean we have the technology to make a harder than steel fabric for years now, but you don't see anybody wear it yet... So there could be lightsabers by 2077, but will it be on the market? Companies only put things on the market if they could make a profit from them.. Doesn't that makes sense?

 

[Suhiira]

Out of curiosity I have a question.

Just when are you going to wear obvious armor unless you character is police/military AND on their way to a shooting-in-progress incident?