Good day, mates. I've been following these forums for quite a while. I even made some really very long posts long ago, though I was mostly in read only mode for the last few months. When BW 2.0 Gold was out, I decided to refrain from ungrounded criticism.
Well, I've played the great thing long enough so far. I have to put in a word.
First of all, BW 2.0 is simply awesome
So don't expect me to set off on a fault-finding rampage.
The only thing that I ever hated about BW and still hate is its controls system.
Why the hell with some weapons Secondary Fire toggles on the laser pointer, and with some weapons the same function is toggled with the Weapon Special function? The same goes to the silencers, as well. Why am I bound to use the Alt Fire button to place single shots from the double shotgun instead of switching between firing modes?
I can configure my controls the way I please, but still... I can't bind different weapon features to certain weapon functions. I.e. I can't bind the Toggle Laser Pointer feature to the Weapon Special or Alt Fire function for all the weapons - some of them will still use Alt Fire, and some - Weapon Special. It's just the way the guns are made.
Now, the aiming mode is in, at last! I hope it will develop into a more sophisticated and important function in BW 2.1. But at the same time, this amazing new feature demands introducing some fundamental changes into the weapon control system. Let me explain.
As of now, if I'm not mistaken, aiming (using sights) just keeps the weapons from jerking and bobbing like hell when you're firing long bursts. It makes a HUGE difference. So guys would naturally prefer using sights all the time, because it imposes no penalty on them and gives a big advantage. You can fire like mad from an M50 while using sights, and 40-50% bullets are sure to hit the target. Without aiming, most bullets will eventually hit the sky, unless you fire short accurate bursts. With aiming, the problem is gone.
This leads to a huge disbalance. The fix would be as simple as a shotgun shell. Just make a player speed penalty for those who are in aming mode, like in most shooters which have aiming! Each weapon can have its own Speed Penalty While Aiming, as well as the Aiming Accuracy Bonus could vary from gun to gun.
For example, while aiming an M50, you both get an average speed penalty and a considerable accuracy/stability bonus. When aiming an SMG, you get a slight speed penalty but a lesser accuracy bonus. When aiming from a machinegun, you get a big speed penalty and a slight accuracy bonus. Just because trying to aim a machinegun while holding it against your chest and running at the same time is no good. You have to walk rather slowly if you want to fire a machinegun that way. (Please keep in mind that fixing the machinegun on the ground is quite another function, and I'm talking of aiming)
So, when aiming a.k.a. using sights becomes a balanced function, it'll be a must for everyone to combine both aimed and unaimed fire in all kinds of situations in order to overcome the enemy. Anyone who has played Battlefield 1942, 2 or 2142 knows that both ways have advantages and disatvantages of their own.
Guess what I'm aiming at. The Use Sights function requires quick operation, so you could switch between aimed and unaimed fire ten times a second. So it will end up being bound to the Right Mouse Button.
The Left Mouse button is used for Primary Fire.
Alt Fire, Weapons Special, Switch Firing Mode - the whole jolly company will have to reside somewhere on the keyboard, as most of them do by now.
Finding the proper key for toggling the laser pointer or silencer for that particular weapon that you're using will become a real nuisance - considering that the same weapon feature often uses different weapon functions depending on the weapon itself.
Let's think logically. We use A, S, W, D for movement. R is usually Reload, Z, X, and C are usually misc controls like jumping and what not.
We still have Q, E, F available (and in fact, most of us have been using them in our control configs since the day one)
Now listen. What I propose is just grouping different weapon features in such a way that you can use all the possible options with all the weapons with the help of Q, E and F buttons, or any other three keys of your choice, just AS EFFECTIVELY AS IF YOU WERE USING THE MOUSE BUTTONS.
Here's the deal:
The E button. It can be used for melee and special attacks like grenade launcher, etc. After binding Primary Fire to E and playing for some hours with it, I've came up with a conclusion that pressing E too long quite naturally blocks you from pressing D, thus making you less 'tactically flexible'. In other words, you can't stafe right - so strafing left becomes as well useless.
But when it comes to using the M50 grenade launcher or the melee attacks, E is quite perfect. I'm a mediocre BW player and my skills leave much to be desired, but I was able to smash the enemies with the shotgun barrel or the Skrith-bayonette-thingie with a few hits on the E button without feeling any discomfort. The same applies to the grenade launcher, the awe-inspiring Flash attack of the assault pistol, etc. etc. Unlike the automatic bullet / energy fire, this type of attack requires only a few occasional hits on the E key, so your index finger won't be to busy with pressing it.
My personal experience tells me that the E key is perfect for melee and special attacks, whatever you think
What other weapon features could be associated with the E key? Second comes the laser pointer. The thing is simple: BW neither has nor shows any tendency to acquire in future any weapons which have both laser pointer and a melee attack. So it's natural to assign it to the same weapon function.
So here we have the new weapon function, called Melee/Special/Laser Sights. It's bound by default to the E key or whatever one you might like, but it won't conflict with the rest of the weapon functions, no matter how hard you try.
Next comes the F button. Let's make it Toggle Fire Mode (actually I think most people already use F in that way). The next thing I'm about to bring to use will probably raise strong objection. I propose using the Toggle Fire Mode button as the Switch Primary/Alt Fire button. Please don't beat me with the shotgun barrel
Let me explain.
Any weapon, despite of its nature, usually follows one of the two following patterns: either it has to choose between different fire modes (single, burst, full-auto) or it has Primary and Alternative fire. Most conventional ballistic weapons have to switch between fire modes. Some hypothetical laser/energy guns (that might get into BW some day) follow the same pattern as well - single/auto. The rest switch just between two completely different ways of fire - Lightning Gun is the only specimen so far, but Skrith rifle could use some neat alternative fire, too. (Special attacks like the grenade launcher and melee attacks can both be found with any kind of weapon and have a separate weapon function of their own, presumably bound to the E button)
The thing is, none of the weapons has to choose both between alt/primary and single/burst/auto. That means that we can assign both to the same weapon function which uses the same key. Since both mouse buttons are occupied with Fire and Aim, I think it's the best way to settle with the rest. At least it's better than keeping a separate key for firing Alt Fire immediately... well, who of you uses the both fire modes of the Lightning gun immediately? I might guess none. The primary fire is the most useful, while at long range the alt fire is preferable. Both can be switched between rather than assigned to two different buttons.
The only disadvantage of this is that you won't be unable to have a gun which has both Primary and Alt fire, and a few fire modes for both. For example, you can't give different firing modes to the primary and alt fire of the Lightning gun, but I doubt anyone would bother to create anything of the kind. Guns are made for fighting, and too many firing modes usually stands in the way of quick operation.
So, the second new weapon function is called Toggle Fire Mode, is bound by default to the F button, and toggles between Fire Modes or Alt/Primary fire. If we have to introduce a new terminology for this system, we might want to get rid of the Alt/Primary fire notion at all. Let's call it all Toggle Fire Mode.
At last, the Q button and a weapon function which is called Weapon Attachment. It's used for silencers, M5 camera, tactical flashlights, and attacheable bayonettes, if any appear in BW. None of these can occur in the same weapon, so all of them should be assigned to the same function. And yes, you can happily use these along with laser pointers, grenade launchers and melee attacks, which are served to the E button.
What do we get with such a system?
1. Right Mouse Button is reserved for aiming, which will become on of the important BW features and requires the quickest operation possible.
2. All of the weapon features are assigned to three weapon functions using three keys. If I'm not mistaken, it's called "ass-slappin' ergonomics" in English.
3. Every time you press a button, you won't have to remember which will happen with this particular weapon. Laser sights are always E, silencers are always Q, special attacks are always E, toggle fire mode is always F, melee attacks are always E, everything ever is always Q.
P.S. If you prefer the traditional control system, why not make an option to switch between the new and the old one?
P.P.S.
I haven't decided on the place-the-machinegun-on-the-ground function. It can both use the 'Q' (attachment) and 'E' (Special Attack) button, since machineguns usually lack specials. Though a machinegun can have some sort of an attachment (attacheable scope? LOL), probably it's better to bind that to 'E'? Anyway, it's used quite frequently, and E is the most convenient keyboard key of the three to hit quickly in a middle of a gunfight.
You caught me.
