euler_2: slows down the gameplay
I don’t like huge air control but I don’t see how it slows down gameplay? Air control in and of itself doesn’t really change the speed of a game? It might make players less predictable and give more movement options, but by itself slows down gameplay? Maybe elaborate so readers have a better understanding what you mean on that point.
makes movement unpredictable
[B]bad movement decisions should be punished[/B]
Agree 100% on punishing bad movement decisions and unpredictable. At their core FPS are about punishing bad decisions and one of the best way they do this is by making players predictable in some way – in this case by choosing to jump off a ledge into the air. Avoiding a damage using movement while airborne does take “skill”, however avoiding that situation entirely and not pressing a button to escape it also skill. Diluting the game to the point where it becomes a see thing -> react is lame.
There was a post in one of the double jump threads a long time ago. The poster commented that he was bounced in the air by rockets in 2k4. He was able to avoid the follow up shot from his opponent by jumping in the air, throwing off the other players prediction shot. This was slated as a good thing as it adds skill and depth.
While this is not exactly the same as air control it does tie in somewhat. Does pressing jump after being bounced really add depth to the game?
Now, this is not entirely bad or good, however it does have ramifications and is a fun scenario to look at. In a game that (this forum seems to think) is dominated by hitscan a player got a nice rocket hit, enough to launch the other player. Good work! The rocket user was then going to follow up with a rocket on the landing spot, one of the more gratifying FPS things imo. This takes “skill” by itself.
renders projectile weapons basically useless and limits them to spam and pullbacks, in trun makes hitscan weapons much more important, which skews the weaponbalance from the get-go
In a way it is like weapon switch. ut99 is obviously one end of the spectrum and cpma the other. In ut99 having the correct weapon out for a given situation was quite important.
Not convinced on the weapon balance point. On one hand it buffs hitscan – lets say this is the case. If a player is falling and cannot alter their course – pulse/mini tracing is very easy + reliable high damage or a projectile can be placed easily where they are falling to. The weapon balance itself is tied to how the ut4 weapons handle. If a rocket is not effective because of air control it can be buffed (examples) faster speed, more damage, larger explosive radius and so on. However what this does is skew weapon balance for players that do not have avoidance movement.
Before watching the video in this thread I was unaware that players could jump sideways then change direction back in mid air in ut3. This seems excessive – quake style air control is generally disconnected from strafe movement. To use it you hold forward and “steer” with the mouse. This is a nice middle ground where players can adjust (in some versions a lot) their direction but cannot strafe left, jump then strafe right while in the air.
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