by DoctorDapper » Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:23 am
I like mines.
However, implementing them would be tricky. How do you balance them? How would you interact with one in-game? What would they look like? How much damage do they do, what range do they have, how do they detect players, etc. etc.
On having mines:
One option to consider would be to have the option of taking mines instead of grenades in your secondary slot. This forces an interesting tactical choice-grenades certainly have more versatility, but mines, when properly used, could potentially create fatal chokepoints where it wouldn't normally be feasible. This option would give everybody access to mines, and would allow for more variance in game.
Another option would be to have mines be a reward for something; either capping intel/a control point, or having a killstreak. This option would allow mines to be more powerful without damaging game balance.
On types of mines:
Three archetypes spring to mind when I think of mines. The claymore; which is a directionally dependent mine, the antitank mine; which is a powerful explosive charge designed to destroy large armored vehicles, and the antipersonnel mine; which is disgned to throw shrapnel everywhere in order to kill large numbers of infantry.
Claymore mines might be tricky to implement-mines would have to be, by necessity, placed like a block, but they care about direction when placed. Claymores are usually triggered by tripwire; so perhaps one would utilize a method similar to right-click drag building: place mine, drag tripwire to anchor point. Disregarding the issue of directional dependence, however, we find ourselves with a weapon that could have effective unidirectional area denial.
Antitank mines would, most likely, be triggered by an enemy stepping directly on top of them. A high explosive charge like an antitank mine would almost certainly result in block destruction, and would most definitely kill whoever steps on it. However, like everything else in the game, there needs to be some counterplay to it-it shouldn't be a guarenteed kill. Nothing else is, why should the mine?
The third type of mine is the fragmentary antipersonnel mine. This one bears the highest similarity to grenades-both are designed to fling shrapnel everywhere to kill as many people as possible. Antipersonnel mines would most likely be triggered via proximity; since they don't need a direct hit to kill. This type of mine is the most likely to have multiple casualties, since the other mines either have a more focused or more narrow blast shape.
On uses:
Supposing mines were implemented, who would use them, and why? The most obvious use is boobytrapping your intel or control points. They could be used to force enemies to remove the mines before taking an objective, granting your team precious response time. They can also be laid out en masse to create minefields, turning an open area into a hazard zone. This use can be used to guard an alternate approach when your team doesn't have the manpower to cover all angles of attack effectively, or to force the enemy team into chokepoints.
In solo use, mines would be used by snipers to guard their flanks and their rear while they do their job, and by picket forces to set up ambushes. Clever players could bury mines in commonly sapped bunkers or walls, killing would-be saboteurs.
Counterplay:
Obviously, nobody wants to play with instant-kill mines that are undetectable except via face. So, how would you deal with already placed mines? Supposing their implementation, mines should probably have a short 'arm' period, perhaps two or three seconds, before they go live, in order to prevent their use as an instant kill by dropping it under somebody's feet. Mines should be difficult, but not impossible to detect, by having a low profile once placed, perhaps taking the color of the block they're placed on, and should either 'take up' a whole block, to prevent building issues, or take up no space at all, allowing another block to be placed overlapping the mine to conceal it. Disabling a mine should be a possibility-unlike grenades, mines would obviously be stackable, assuming nobody sets them off, which means that a large number could accumulate in one area. I'm partial to the idea that left-clicking one with a spade should set it off (whacking a mine with a shovel is dumb no matter how you look at it), but perhaps right-clicking with the spade could remove the mine, representing the careful removal of the mine from the earth.
The boom:
This is probably the most important part: What kind of damage would mines actually do? Would they gouge craters in the ground? Would they have a small kill radius or a large one? If they don't manage to kill, how much damage should they do? When the mine 'goes off', how much forewarning do you get? Honestly, there's a half dozen ways you could go about this, but the 'bouncing betty' approach seems best: the mine is triggered by nearby enemy movement (say, oh, one or two blocks), and the mine triggers. there's a loud PING (the sound can easily use the same sound file as the grenade to save space), and, after a one or two second delay, the mine bounces one to three blocks into the air (one is waist height, two is head height, three is head height if the mine is buried one block deep) and detonates. Damage and area of effect could either use the grenade data (to potentially damage many enemies), or have a larger kill area and greater damage fall-off (to ensure that whoever triggered the mine can't just sprint away and will take at least some damage, but will be much less likely to incur multiple casualties).
I would like to see mines. I'm always open to the idea of more options. Shotgun, SMG, Rifle is three loadouts; by adding an alternative to grenades, this number jumps to six; meaning the number of potential load-outs doubles. Twice as many load-outs means twice as many ways a battle can be fought, which is never a bad thing.
