Whoopee, a new Menace developer diary! This one goes more in-depth on the weapons that you will be using throughout the campaign. Sadly, the post didn’t really provide much new information, or anything super interesting. It did however reaffirm my thoughts that the game will be much more abstracted than I initially thought.
What I base this notion on is that the devs themselves spell it out in this diary, for example when talking about ammunition. The primary weapon used in your squad will have an unlimited number of rounds, and the reason for this: abstraction. In their own words. Now, I don’t have anything against abstraction in general for wargames, since I have played countless games with the same premise. I was just expecting something else from the Battle Brother devs. That’s not to say Menace can’t be good, which I think it will be, it’s just a tiny downer, considering how autistic their former game was regarding this. And well, I do prefer simulation to abstraction.
Weapons of mass destruction
So, what does dairy 4 tell us? Not much, beyond what we already know. A squad will consist of regular weapons of your choosing, and a special weapon, like a rocket launcher – also of your choosing. The special weapon will use ammunition, while the regular weapon does not. Since the game does not use ammunition, special “attacks” like smoke grenades will be skill-based depending on the weapon, as I understand it. It’s another abstraction, which has me thinking that most basic stuff might be locked to specific weapons.
Continuing, the devs list weapon stats. Damage to armor, armor penetration, range, and things like that. What stands out here is the stat: elements hit. It says how many targets can die from one shot by this weapon. It’s probably to limit damage, so a high damage single-target weapon like a sniper rifle doesn’t annihilate a whole squad, since squads share hit-points.
The next thing the devs talk about is “drop-off”. Something perhaps more suitable for a simulation, but it’s here regardless. Fine by me either way. It’s about the kinetic force from weapons, and the drop-off rate. It basically means that submachine-guns will be horrible at range, while rifles will excel at it. This will affect the damage output, with the weapons having an “ideal-range”. It probably translates to shotguns and pistols will be best used for close quarters, while a marksman rifle will be too unwieldy. All in all, nothing new or revolutionary presented here. It’s all fairly basic stuff and does not make me overly enthusiastic or anything like that. But it’s always interesting to follow the justifications and developer thoughts for gameplay mechanics, since it makes it easier to understand what kind of genre they are going for.
Until next time!
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 