game weapon balance - pilkch/library GitHub Wiki
Balancing Sniper Rifles
General
- Sniper load out has only a pistol as secondary weapon
- Slower reload time
- Slower movement when using the scope
- Limited clip size and number
- Damage - Head shots instance kill, otherwise requires multiple hits
- Bullet drop, coriolis effect, cross winds
- Sniper rifle is noisy which gives some indication of where the sniper is
- Sniper rifle scope glint when the sniper is aiming at a player and the player is looking in their general direction
- Laser sight that every can see that shows exactly where the sniper is aiming
- Birds that fly out of the grass or off buildings when they hear a sniper shot, pigs/sheep/cows etc. could also run away
- Smoke or air distortion trail that shows where the shot came from
- Throw grenades, napalm, flash bangs, and smoke grenades to distract or provide cover
- A rocket launcher class could pop up, "fire and forget" to hit a sniper without being shot
- Make sniper rifle less accurate from a standing position, more accurate crouched, most accurate fully lying down
- Use DOF to show only far away things as in focus, blurring everything closer
- Force snipers to sling/unsling weapon (takes a few seconds) between running and firing
- Rifles weight more, so running speed is slower
- Aiming for every weapon gets worse when low on health
- Make accuracy start from say 50% when first scoped, after 2 seconds or so the sniper is relaxed accuracy climbs to 100%, after say 1 minute the sniper gets fatigued and requires doing something else for a bit with a cool down to recover, if you stay zoomed in you start wobbling wildly and gasp
- Bonus points for sticking with your team, who presumably are moving around acheiving objectives
Blunt
- Breakable guard towers, or even boarded up windows on a building where the boards can be shot out, exposing the sniper
- Design levels with multiple alternative routes to sniper spots, and alternative objectives so you don't even have to go near the sniper
- Add clutter, cars, rocks, walls, long grass that other players can use as cover to advance on a sniper
- Move the current objectives or the frontline or have the team cycle through a series of objectives so the sniper cannot stay in one position for long, they either have to move forward or retreat to keep up with where the frontline moves to
- If a player doesn't move for long enough broadcast their position and set them on fire, give them a points penalty or stop them shooting for 5 seconds
- Every time a sniper shoots or is spotted set a 20 second timer to air strike, artillery or mortar that area
- Get less points for a sniper kill, ie. only half a point, 1 point for other weapons, 2 points for a pistol, 3 points for a knife?
- Reduce the number of players that can be a sniper on each team? Could set limits for all classes
- Team Fortress 2 Spy is like an anti-camping character: Uses invisibility and disguises to infiltrate into enemy territory, kills instantly when stabbing their victim from behind
Encourage Movement
- Players leave dog tags when they die, which the other team can pick up for a bonus?
- Ammo/health/shields/etc. spawn far away from good sniping positions, encouraging movement
Other
- Kill cams show who killed you and where they are so you can get revenge on a sniper or flank them
Pistol Balancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOOFs485jU
- Allow medic to shoot their pistol while dragging injured players to safety
- Allow shooting while recovering the bomb
- Could hold a shield, knife, torch, GPS in the other hand
- Allow dual wielding?
- Shoot pistol while driving
- Make other guns tire the player out quicker, 3.5 Kg rifle vs 0.7 Kg pistol.