Note: My suggestion is a replacement for the current energy system as it pertains to ranged weapons. I understand energy is used for more than just shooting guns, but right now I only seek to make ranged combat more interesting and enjoyable. For the suggestions below to work, energy might need to be reworked in some way to function. Ranged combat is currently a little bland. There are many different types of guns in game already, but they mostly rely on the same combat strategies since they all use the same energy mechanic. I propose that ranged weapons could be livened up more by changing the way in which they deal with the character's energy pool. I'll list some examples below, worded in terms of the current energy system. Each could arguably be applied to any weapon randomly as part of the procedural weapon generator. Magazine-Fed: Mag-fed guns do not replenish their "energy" in the normal way everyone is used to. Firing until the bar drains halfway and then stopping will leave it that way until a reload button is pressed or the user fires away the last of it (which automatically triggers a reload). When empty, the energy bar starts filling again and the gun cannot fire until the bar is full. I.E. the gun depletes its magazine and the only way to replenish it is to reload it entirely. Mag-fed weapons could include: assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, shotguns, and grenade rifles. Mag-Fed (special case): Not all weapons reload with a full magazine, but instead are reloaded one round at a time. When reloading, the energy bar refills a set amount (equalling the energy needed to fire one shot) at given intervals until full. The gun can still be fired mid-way, but doing so halts the reload. These weapons could include: shotguns, grenade rifles, rocket launchers. Overheating: This mechanic is closest to the current energy system in place. The energy bar fills as the gun fires, and slowly empties again over time. The energy bar turns from green to red as it reaches max capacity, at which point the gun overheats and must wait until it is fully cooled (energy bar fully empty) to fire again (this is essentially a graphical inverse of what is in-game already). This mechanic could probably encompass all weapon types. Charging: Here the energy bar acts as a charging bar. The bar fills with energy when the fire button is held, and the gun fires when released. Damage scales based on the charge time up to a maximum. Most slow firing, heavy hitting weapons could use this mechanic: sniper rifles, hand cannons, launchers, etc. Armors that give energy stat bonuses would still affect these mechanics in some way, such as increasing magazine size, overheating limit, maximum charge and charging rate, etc. If anyone has thoughts or suggestions for more mechanics like these, please share them below. I'll keep the list updated and give credit where it's due.
What is the point of overheating? Reloading seems to fulfill the same role, unless it were used for weapons such as Tesla coils and plasma weapons. Apart from that, this is an improvement over the current system, specially in that it adds more factors for which to use guns, and gives them some variation. The second variation on mag-fed would normally be called "Clip-fed". Revolvers (But only some of them) should be able to spawn with that reloading system, as should sniper rifles. The choice of reloading methods should also be partially influenced by the weapons' stats, so, for example, shotguns that can shoot 3 times per second or more would tend to use mags instead of clips, and sniper rifles would tend to use either charging or clips if they are more powerful.
It would be nice to see a good ol' pump-action shotgun that deals huge damage but takes a long time for reloading. I actually prefer this 'energy' system over the 'ammunition' system of other games but it would be great to have an in game codex explaining how arrows and bullets are generated.
Yeah, I tried to stay away from implying anything about ammunition, specifically buying or crafting it, which I'm fairly certain is something the devs do not want to implement. With controlled fire, you could conceivably fire more shots without overheating than you would by emptying a magazine on another weapon. You could continually output damage without having to pause for a reload. The difference is minor, but the variety is still refreshing in my opinion. This also opens up the chance for some heat-based weapons to apply special effects based on their heat level, like applying an elemental modifier when close to overheating.
