[CONCEPT ART] [VIDEO] Shock Ball Proximity Audible Feedback

[Envarion]

I remember seeing one or a few people in the forums mention that under certain circumstances, it is difficult to perceive how far away your shock projectile is from your opponent. Typically players will use nearby surfaces that are illuminated to judge when to light a combo, more experienced players may also consider flight-time and size of the ball to judge proximity. My opinion: not always super reliable-- therefore in some situations, not very skill-based, especially on very long-range combos with no surface to be lit up by the passing projectile.

My idea is for proximity to be indicated by audible feedback. Here's a short video demonstration:

The closer the projectile is to an enemy, the louder the audible feedback (in this case a hum which you could say for 'pseudo-realism' is a tactile resonance in the shock rifle's foregrip). Other than for confirming combo placement, this does not significantly change the way players will use the shock rifle. Lemme know what you guys think! Anyone who knows how and is willing to create a working prototype mutator is awesome! (and can download the modified hum sound I used in the video here)

This is also my first time making a poll, hopefully that goes well.

[Zaccubus]

I think its a great idea and it just make the shock rifle even more scarey when u hear that hiss noise! , and i know it would improve my shock combos great deal, i often use light of the shock-ball and shadows to judge the distance of combos at range . BUt this method is much more noob friendly and i think telegraphs very well. Problems with it, it could give slightly to much information if someone is behind a corner hidden you could use it like sonar to find a hidden enemy. causing alot more spam . But if it only worked on line of sight i think it would work really well

I think its worth a try and love to test it at some point down the line

[«MechikTåj»]

This is definitely a great idea and deserves to at least be tested out! I would also agree that it should work only when the enemy is within line of sight.

[Flikswich]

Yeah, line of sight has to be a thing, otherwise you could literally spam cores across the whole map and find out where your opponent is

[Wail]

Cool idea, I might try this out with the Sapphire Shock Rifle.
The bigger argument against it is that it works best if you only shoot one core at a time, and preferably are only facing one opponent. As soon as you get these complications in the mix the feeling of immediate feedback is going to become jumbled.

[RPGWiZ4RD]

I don't like this idea because of two reasons:

1. Further clogging up the already sound FX polluted game.
2. Revealing info of non-line of sight enemies => don't think it should be a perk of the already perhaps most versataile weapon. No need for further perks.

I would welcome proper hitreg sounds though.

[ArKtur]

Compared to most of the casual games these days UT is a very fast paced game. People who are new to the "Arena Shooter Genere" are often overwhelmed because there is so much stuff going on at the same time. It seems to be definetly a great idea and it also will make the shock rifle a ton more scary. But on the other hand i think the variant shown in the video could be overpowered. A decent skilled player would fire the shock core and use this audio feedback to find the spot to deal the most damage.

You could also test a second variant where this electical sound become smore silent as further you are away you are from the fired shock core. Players within the range of the core should could now hear that "electrical sound" to give them ausio feedback that a Shock Core is passing by. The one firing the shock core will also hear that sound as before, but more silent depending on the distance to core.

[Envarion]

Addressing "sonar" issues

Problems with it, it could give slightly to much information if someone is behind a corner hidden you could use it like sonar to find a hidden enemy. causing alot more spam . But if it only worked on line of sight i think it would work really well

I agree with the line of sight thing you guys have all suggested... to an extent. Let's say you're playing a game of CTF-Face, you are standing in the entrance of the red base with your shock rifle and want to long-range combo some players camping over the "horizon" of the crossroads. Your intent is to trigger the combo just as the projectile passes over the horizon.


This is not the best example since the projectile may pass close enough to the ground to cast an an adequately indicative illumination to decently time the combo. (Speaking of that, there's an unrelated team balance issue I just realized-- if players use the light cast by the shock projectile in the CTF-Face situation shown above to combo fools crouched over the horizon, then blue team is at a disadvantage since the lighter surface on the left will not be illuminated as well as the shadowy surface on the red's right side by a shock projectile. Should I make a new thread concerning this?)

The problem with incorporating line-of-sight audible feedback is as follows: You see a pwnable player positioned near a form of cover (corner in a hallway, a pillar, a hill... etc.) and the circumstances make the distance to the point of cover difficult to judge (we're assuming you didn't experiment in offline matches to count the seconds of shock ball travel-- this should never have to be a necessary practice). As you fire your shock alternate to prepare a combo your opponent jumps behind the cover object. If we go based on simple line of sight, we lose the perceptibility that this mod is supposed to enhance! The hum sound should still play so you know the ball has reached the cover point (in other words, if the enemy was within line-of-sight when, or just before the alt was fired, the feedback should still play)... HOWEVER the undesirable side-effect you guys have pointed out is that the attacker will be able to determine whether his opponent has fled, or is still behind the cover object.

So here's my response to this issue:



Also when/if line of sight is re-established, then the original rules covered in my first illustration apply with the sound radius thing reattaching to the target player and the normal pitch sound playing.

The last established line of sight sound radius (the one playing a different or just lower pitch sound) may exist if the attacker launches a shock secondary before line of sight is lost (or perhapes say 2 seconds after? That way if an enemy ducks away the play can still take advantage of this perception feature.)

But by incorporating this solution to "Anti-sonar" sacrifices simplicity and comprehendability. It may take noobs longer to understand what the sounds mean and why they sometimes do and dont play and what the different tones indicate. So unless you guys can come up with a simpler solution, I wouldn't suggest taking this idea further than being a mod mutator to be added as a feature to the game.

I don't like this idea because...

1. Further clogging up the already sound FX polluted game.

I'm not so sure it'd be too bad. It'd be something to try to in order to be certain of the significance of that impact I think. And you don't really focus on distance enemy sounds during the short moment you're focused on comboing somebody (at least I don't, maybe I'm a terrible player ).

Cool idea, I might try this out with the Sapphire Shock Rifle.
The bigger argument against it is that it works best if you only shoot one core at a time, and preferably are only facing one opponent. As soon as you get these complications in the mix the feeling of immediate feedback is going to become jumbled.

That'd be awesome if you did this with your SSR!
I think the arguement you are referring to is mostly resolved with the addition of line of sight features, correct me if I'm wrong. It's 3 in the morning here and I can't think anymore.

I look forward to hearing what you all think!

[Envarion]

But on the other hand i think the variant shown in the video could be overpowered. A decent skilled player would fire the shock core and use this audio feedback to find the spot to deal the most damage.

Just as though a skilled player would use the light cast on nearby surfaces by the projectile? Indeed, this assists in the use of the shock rifle, but it is important to note it does not substitute skill. It only improves perception, which in my opinion could, as of this current build, be better and is awful in certain places on certain maps. Granted said places are a minority of cases but that shouldn't leave the player to have to guess under those conditions... right? (Frankly I don't have a solid stance on this when it comes to absurdly long-range shots, for instance if you launch your shock ball and wait 10 minutes to combo a guy 2 miles away... you really aren't supposed to be able to perceive anything at those distances. And perhaps this is what you are suggesting in the following quote:

You could also test a second variant where this electical sound becomes more silent as further you are away you are from the fired shock core. Players within the range of the core should could now hear that "electrical sound" to give them ausio feedback that a Shock Core is passing by. The one firing the shock core will also hear that sound as before, but more silent depending on the distance to core.

I think I agree here, fade distances should be played with.

Players within the range of the core should could now hear that "electrical sound" to give them ausio feedback that a Shock Core is passing by.

Please Epic! Consider making the shock ball ambient sound louder! Does it even have a sound???
EDIT: And actually I disagree here. I think some pro-er players will launch balls they don't actually plan to detonate in order to block off the path of their opponent. Especially in duels. And if the hum sound suddenly stops playing for the target, they'll know that it's just a decoy shot and they're good to go. Best to stick with universally heard ambient sounds-- perhaps with identical sound radius to this concept so they know when it has the potential to deal damage. Also yeah, that hum would be very intimidating and I get chills just thinking about how AWESOME it would be.

[HexxuSz0r]

i think shock core making sound when your xhair is on it is legit, but not needed it just needs no wobble, i have had considerably hard time comboing here than 2k4 and not due to core speed, i just can not shock in this game, literally anything works better

[Envarion]

i have had considerably hard time comboing here than 2k4 and not due to core speed, i just can not shock in this game, literally anything works better

Just play a couple afternoons of shockrifle arena starting with novice bots (which dont really move) and slowly working up the diffculty. I had to do this before the shock rifle became useful to me under pressure. Also consider using god mode and unlimited ammo until you are able to reliably hit stuff while moving. This will not only improve your muscle memory for precisely tracking and hitting the shock alt, but it will improve your ability to judge whether the distance is appropriate to attempt a combo. Just practice practice practice!

[HexxuSz0r]

Just play a couple afternoons of shockrifle arena starting with novice bots (which dont really move) and slowly working up the diffculty. I had to do this before the shock rifle became useful to me under pressure. Also consider using god mode and unlimited ammo until you are able to reliably hit stuff while moving. This will not only improve your muscle memory for precisely tracking and hitting the shock alt, but it will improve your ability to judge whether the distance is appropriate to attempt a combo. Just practice practice practice!

are you seriously teaching me ut supreme master leader snoke? like seriously man, i have tons of hours in ut it is not a learning issue we are facing here, it is game mechanics issue

[Envarion]

are you seriously teaching me ut supreme master leader snoke? like seriously man, i have tons of hours in ut it is not a learning issue we are facing here, it is game mechanics issue

Derp! I dunno who's a noob. I guess 'senior member' should've been my first clue... and "playing since 99..." in your sig *fp*

[Smurgl]

I think that judging the shock ball position is a skill really. I think adding a sound effect removes that somewhat, but it's an interesting idea.

[HexxuSz0r]

Derp! I dunno who's a noob. I guess 'senior member' should've been my first clue... and "playing since 99..." in your sig *fp*

aye aye captain sherlock sir : D