View Full Version : Droning and Angle of Aim
The biggest complaint I have about droning is the inability to aim and fire in all of the downward angles beneath the drone. This would be particularly valuable in PvP, where having a full range of fire would unleash much of the unrealized potential of combat drones.
The maximum downward angle of the drone seems to be the same as the angle for any weapon, so I don’t know if it is a game mechanics limitation, or just by design. A runner pointing a rifle or pistol straight down would see little if any benefit from this, but droners would realize a huge benefit.
A lot of time is spent maneuvering a drone for a suitable angle of attack. You get a few moments of fire time, then you have to maneuver again because the target has moved below the drones firing cone, or your drone has dropped to low because of gravity.
Since the damage of a PB-20 or Particle Nemesis is limited because of the low quality cap on drones, being able to stay on target longer to get more shots in would help offset this limitation.
I am also in favor of the ideas in Brainport for having a drone launching weapon, which could be slotted for enhancement. Then the drones would be ‘ammo’ for the launcher. Treat it like any gun/ammo relationship. Drones would be one use, but so what if the price is in line with other types of ammo.
It sometimes seems that droners are treated like a red headed step child when it comes to attention from KK. There have been some tremendous ideas for droning improvements. We finally did get some additional implants, but I have yet to see any parts drop for the rare chip, and a droner spy in MC5 is…..well…..I live longer drawing a weapon in Medicare. The implants are not enough.
We are calling for attention KK. I know there are many important issues to work on, but how about giving another glance in our direction.
Wilson
Originally posted by Wilson
The biggest complaint I have about droning is the inability to aim and fire in all of the downward angles beneath the drone.
I agree, and also find it more annoying with the UPWARD aiming limitations. Ever try to kill a hoverbomber with a drone? If you're too close to it there's no possible way you can hit it with a drone.
Also think of this... On the test server, and soon to be on retail servers, there will be new flying vehicles. Bombers etc. Every player class will be able to look straight up and shoot at them, except one.
Rifles... yup.
Pistols.... yup.
Cannons... yup.
Psi... yup.
Melee.... yup. (if they're close enough)
Drones.... NOPE
Originally posted by Cass
Also think of this... On the test server, and soon to be on retail servers, there will be new flying vehicles. Bombers etc. Every player class will be able to look straight up and shoot at them, except one.
Rifles... yup.
Pistols.... yup.
Cannons... yup.
Psi... yup.
Melee.... yup. (if they're close enough)
Drones.... NOPE
Drones ideally would be around the same level has flying vehicals. Keys to go up and down would help alot.
But ya the lacking in ability to look up and down is one of the most limiting things of drones; plus maybe there speed too, most people can outrun a drone and reach a zone line.
Helen Angilley
09-08-03, 14:05
If you know how to use Drones then that "handicap" is nothing.
Originally posted by Helen Angilley
If you know how to use Drones then that "handicap" is nothing.
I totally disagree. Having full range of fire would give many more options available to the droner in PvP. Yes we are all working around it now because we have no other choice.
This is one handicap we don't need.
ReefSmoker
09-08-03, 17:38
Originally posted by Helen Angilley
If you know how to use Drones then that "handicap" is nothing.
Completely incorrect. The issue that the threadstarter has highlighted is not something that can be overcome with 'skill'. Please refrain from posting inaccurate information, you've been making a habit of it lately and I for one am getting frustrated at the inaccuracies you have portrayed lately.
Stick to the facts Helen, not 'your version' of the facts.
I'll not regurgitate all the points I've made regarding drones, I'll reiterate the main one - it doesn't matter how much RCL or WPW a runner has, drones are fundamentally flawed.
Take care,
ReefSmoker
Originally posted by ReefSmoker
Completely incorrect. The issue that the threadstarter has highlighted is not something that can be overcome with 'skill'.
Hmm, I think I'll disagree on that a little bit. It really depends on your style of play with drones. If your a low level ground hugger rely'ing on the drones speed and manouverability (sp?) its not a big issue. If your an Altitude, death from the skies type, then it is a big issue.
The ground hugging style does take alot more skill to fly so i think that *might* be what helen was reffering too. I cant read minds tho so i might be wrong too :)
I'll not regurgitate all the points I've made regarding drones, I'll reiterate the main one - it doesn't matter how much RCL or WPW a runner has, drones are fundamentally flawed.
Take care,
ReefSmoker
Yeap, pretty much right. But you missed the fact that theyre still more fun than a 21 year old nymphomaniac. :D
ReefSmoker
09-08-03, 17:54
Originally posted by Elric
Hmm, I think I'll disagree on that a little bit. It really depends on your style of play with drones. If your a low level ground hugger rely'ing on the drones speed and manouverability (sp?) its not a big issue. If your an Altitude, death from the skies type, then it is a big issue.
But how can we become good droners without adopting both types of drone combat you have highlighted ? :) I reckon most ppl new to drones will be the ones who stick close to the ground, whereas once a droner has experienced the influence of 'death from above' (only an option if targets are not sheltered). Both are viable options but as the thread starter pointed out, death from above isn't an option if you have to readjust the drone's position to compensate for the blind spot down below, and readjust every time the target moves.
The worst part is that the new hover vehicles are based on drone code, and they suffer the same fundamental flaws that have plagued drones for so long. I guess at least we never had to worry about shooting ourselves with drones...
Take care,
ReefSmoker
Originally posted by ReefSmoker
But how can we become good droners without adopting both types of drone combat you have highlighted ? :) I reckon most ppl new to drones will be the ones who stick close to the ground, whereas once a droner has experienced the influence of 'death from above' (only an option if targets are not sheltered). Both are viable options but as the thread starter pointed out, death from above isn't an option if you have to readjust the drone's position to compensate for the blind spot down below, and readjust every time the target moves.
The worst part is that the new hover vehicles are based on drone code, and they suffer the same fundamental flaws that have plagued drones for so long. I guess at least we never had to worry about shooting ourselves with drones...
Take care,
ReefSmoker
Aaah, all so true, reefy, you read my mind. I had forgot to mention that the death from above thing really is a classy attack and a good surprise attack but due to the shitty angle thing its a pain in the ass constantly repositioning for a shot. The "fixing" of this would benefit both droners and now flying vehicle users greatly.
I would like to hear the reasoning behind this as i assume that there must be one, or if its an engine limitation. If no good reason exists, then its an overlooked drone / vehicle nerf that really isnt necessary and does indeed make drones and possibly attack flyers pretty useless.
I wouldnt say that only "new" droners use the ground hugging technique tho ;)
Can be very very very effective depending on the terrain. you can laugh at Tanks and PE's trying to target a PB20 moving full pelt 3 inches above the ground :D
ReefSmoker
09-08-03, 18:11
Hey KK - if you spot this thread, what we're trying to say is that drones can be lots of fun, but for the love of god give us 360' aiming !!!
Maybe then ppl like me will stop bitching about the fact that even with all dex skillpoints in RCL and all INT skillpoints in WPW, damage is still poor (err, that includes the best yields from the new droner imps btw) !
Take care,
ReefSmoker
PS You all know I lommed half my droning skills don't you ? Can still use the punisher, however my pistol skills increase daily :)
Originally posted by ReefSmoker
Hey KK - if you spot this thread, what we're trying to say is that drones can be lots of fun, but for the love of god give us 360' aiming !!!
yeah, exactly. Drones need some serious loving, the implants are a good start, but more needs done.
eg. Increases in armour, speed and damage (or ROF, one or the other or even both would be a major improvement) and thats just on the combat side of drones. Lets not go into the launching bugs, the stuck on scenery bugs, the lag effect .... oooh, why am i still a droner again?
:edit: example of inadequate armour, the TL91 (or is it 93?) Particle beam 1 drone can take exactly 1 hit from a Holy Lightning before exploding. thats kinda shite since even a shite setup'd spy can take at least 2 :rolleyes:
wooohooo drone thread :p
yup full aiming would be a good step to making us a more PvP orientated class (by us i mean droners not spies).. but then, kk nerfed us droners big style quite some time back, they obviously felt those changes made droning "fairer", by making more changes in favour of drones they will be addmitting they totally screwed up drones and well, since when do people like to be wrong? :rolleyes:
seen as they have given us some imps (or not in the riggers interface's case) im assuming it will be a VERY long time before drones are looked at again, and also its not a bug so its even lower in the pecking order...
my droner is my favourite character, i have alot of fun. even tho we have some fundamental flaws, perhaps i like being treated badly and hench bitching lots :lol:
annyywaayyy, this is i think #6 on my "things droners need" list
:mad: WHEN WILL THE RIGGER'S INTERFACE PARTS BE ADDED TO THE GAME? :mad:
Why is it so difficult for KK to answer such a simple question? I don't understand why developers don't spend more time talking to their customers.
the patch that put up mob damage and player hit points and armour efficiency , drones stayed exactly the same with no changes and have stayed the same ever since. Proxy Nerfed. It should be looked at.
Heh, wasn't the "reason" drones have a restricted aiming "feature" due to complaints that drones were hard to target? Something about forcing a drone to be in visual range for it to attack players?
And wasn't it again these same players who complained drones were STILL hard to target [partially because of the untargetable drone bug, which was totally unrelated to drone size] whom were listened to again and had the hitbox increased on drones?
And when drones could no longer fit through windows or doors... only then was the hitbox reduced - but the firing distance on drones shortened.
So in short I think the time we will be able to aim in any direction and get the rigger interface chip [for those droners that have a hard time in MC5 I mean, because lets face it even though people THINK we can't fight in there, we are really totally safe because we don't die when the drone does :sarcasm:] will be the day rare drones are made unblueprintable. If that's even a word.
BlackPrince
09-08-03, 22:56
Uh..no. Those complaints came from a coding bug that made drones untargettable at the first introduction of the PB series in early release. That was later fixed. I rerolled from a Pure Droner with 93 base Dex to pure rifles just because I got so tired of being proxy nerfed everytime another class got a boost.
Drones need to have a quality cap equal to that of other weapons, as well as the possibility to be slotted.
Still the fix wasn't to remove the bug at first but to make drones easier to hit, of course when the bug was fixed the size of the drones remained constant. So in effect because of a bug, drones were made weaker then before and when further changes were made to drones this 'fix' was kept in in the form of shorter range.
This leads me to believe drones are as strong as Reakktor wants to make them and nothing we do will cause them to make any sort of improvement because:
a) we are the smallest section of the NC community
b) the coders seem to have problems with drone implementation, thus requiring more resources then other fixes.
c) drones are hard to balance because of uniqueness of the class
d) as a group, the few remaining droners are skilled at using what they have, thus any boost to drones is magnified by their experience in the use of an underpowered weapon [ok this may be ego]
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