So, I have a problem with the way cover works in this game. It does little to help the player avoid taking damage and often gets in the way of shots. Lets go through each type of cover and talk about it.
Low cover, so you find yourself some low cover. The solider ducks down behind it, making them a harder target to hit. Yet also making their head the main target. If a low piece of cover is a post or a similar object the soldier will try to aim through it rather then step out. Heavy weapons are fired from the hip making it harder to aim over low cover.
How would I improve low cover? Well, I’d make soldiers use it to stabilise their heavy weapons. Eliminating the risk of hitting the actual cover and providing a small aim bonus. Making low cover the preferred tactical option for heavy soldiers. Their armour should make up for being in a vulnerable position. I’d also give players control over having their soldiers step out of cover, giving them four directions they could potentially move in. This would eliminate the risk of soldiers trying to fire through posts and allow heavies using launcher style weapons to step backwards from the cover. This would reduce the risk of them blowing themselves up by hitting the cover.
High cover, the soldier stands normally behind high cover. They don’t press up against it, they just stand there. This makes it far too easy for the enemy to find an angle of fire on them. The soldier automatically steps out from behind high cover to take a shot. However it is far better to stand behind the wall than at its corners.
How would I improve high cover, well I’d have the soldier push up against it. Making them less exposed and forcing the enemy to attempt a flank to find a firing angle. This will increase the tactical use of high cover, because as it stands high cover is risky. Especially when it comes to trees, posts and other narrow high covers.
Agreed. Accuracy is too high in this system, since we can’t dodge or duck and combat ranges are very close. If the aiming reticle is about the size of a head, crouching behind cover just means you’ll get hit in the head instead of the chest.
I talk about this in more detail in this topic:
You make excellent points about cover and its short comings. My suggestion is to reduce accuracy, and make aimed shots a thing.
I agree that accuracy tends to be a problem in this game, the enemy seems to be highly accurate managing to land a couple hits with burst fire weapons at range. Which is a problem when the standard enemy weapon deals 50 dam with a single bullet in a burst of six. Not to mention it also shreds armour and they have return fire. Which negates any of the marginal benefits that cover gives the player. I think aiming modes would be a great addition to the game and I’m going to mention it in a future post when I offer my thoughts on classes and soldiers. When I figure out how to link, I’ll include your thread in mine.
I’ll be sure to read that. To link posts, just click on the chain link icon, next to the heart icon, at the bottom of the post. Then, copy and paste the address that appears after clicking the chain, into your post. If you want to post it as a window with a summary, post it on its own line.