Because getting damage from gas with a gas mask is not realistic
Ive never been in a warzone, nor have i experienced military grade gas attacks, but i do think youre missing a pretty important point.
Many weapons grade gasses can penetrate skin, eyes and other oriffices and even the best gasmasks arent 100% gastight. (You’ll need a over-pressure-mask for that level of protection) If a strand of hair or beard is affecting the sealing rim of the mask, you WILL have leaks. Thats one of the main reasons why youre required to shave while on military duty.
So even tho its quite irritating that one is loosing health while wearing protection, its not unrealistic.
I for one am annoyed by the fact that you never need to replace the filter… From what ive gathered while working with asbestos and PCB, a gas filter can get used up in less than 10 minutes, if the gas concentration is high enough. Do note, thats civilian professional filters, i have no data on military filters.
But theyre about the same size, with roughly the same content and function.
Same discussion topics merged.
//Mod
So, I have some general questions about gas in Generation Zero that I feel have been left unanswered.
I figured this was the appropriate topic to do that in, instead of creating a new one.
With the updates and content added along with significant changes to how the gas mechanic works I feel it’d be nice to revive this topic since it’s after all, an important mechanic.
IMO, Gas Masks have been wonky since launch. There’s been numerous threads and video’s about them, and little conclusion has been reached wether they work as they should. I’ve made numerous experiments and video’s where I’ve tested wearing a gas mask standing in a gas-filled room (without perks) and not wearing one. The results have been inconclusive.
They’re supposed to offer resistance, but it’s not clear how much, or what kind.
Furthermore, there’s the Gas Resistance perk. What kind of resistance does it offer? Does it make health trickle down slower, or is there a delay before you start to take damage? What’s the intended effect?
And against what kind of gas? The static, yellow gas we encounter in bunkers, or the yellow gas deployed by Machines? The tear-gas fired by Hunters, or the purple gas deployed by Apocalypse Harvesters?
Cheers.
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You know your on the same wavelength as me on this. Looking back when I built the Vanguard, the gas resistance perk was a genuine consideration.
But your bang on the money here, there is no definitive answer as to what resistance it provides and against what, and for how long.
@SR_Laura can you shed any light on the specifics to gas masks ( or know of anyone? ), thank you.
Alias
Hey, I hope this will help to answer some questions about how gas, and resistances in general, works in the game.
Resistances reduce the amount of incoming damage you take from various damage types. Ex. if you are about to take 100 damage from being in a room filled with gas a gas-mask with 20% resistance will reduce that damage by 20 points. However, in the case of gas, this might be hard to observe directly in the HUD. Gas damage is typically very low per tick, producing decimal values when reduced by skills, and as the HP indicator is rounded to the closest integer you might not see it directly. With this in mind. the best way to observe the reduction should be to spend an extended period of time in the gas and measure how much longer you survive in it before you die.
Skills are multiplied on-top of the apparel resistance and they stack. Ex. A gas-mask with 20% resistance + Chemist (10%) + Amor L3 (10%) + Vanguard (25%) = 1 - (0.8 * 0.9 * 0.9 * 0.75) = 51.4 % total resistance. Note that it can get even higher if you also have the Last Man Standing skill and stick close to a team of other players.
Some of the primary things in the game that deal gas damage are:
- Yellow gas in bunkers
- Hunter gas grenades
- Tank & Harvester close range gas dispenser attacks
Purple gas causes biological damage, this is used by Apocalypse Harvesters and it is not reduced by gas resistance. It also causes sickness which can spread to other nearby players.
I hope that clears things up a bit, regards Björn
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Thanks tons, this really helps 
I’d love to pick your brains on another subject matter if that’s at all possible.
Would it be OK to drop you a direct message?
Alias
Yeah, feel free to send me DM.
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Thanks Bjorn, will do.
Ahh yes, sweet love…
The most certain thing I have to say is that gas masks shouldn’t classed as clothes, it should be classed as an item. Something you should be able to take off and put on by the press of a button, rather than going into a menu. As implemented right now, I put the mask on when needed and then might not take it off for a long time after because there’s no real downside to wearing it, apart from the game being a bit uglier. So yes, an item that you can take on and put on by the press of a button, perhaps in different condition levels.
People refer to it as realistic for masks to not give complete protection against corrosive gasses but there’s a good reason why gas masks are given to soldiers and have been since WWI. It’s not because of morale, but because a mask protects the most vital parts of the body: the eyes and respiratory system. Unless we’re talking about extremely nasty stuff that literally dissolves its victims, a gas mask enables the wearer to survive and remain active MUCH longer with a mask than without. I think it would be totally realistic if the mask would offer 80% protection as opposed to the 20% we see in-game right now.
There could also be different concentrations of gas, where the lowest concentration doesn’t cause mask-wearing players any harm at all and only when you’re closer to the center of a gas cloud do you start experiencing corrosive damage.
In the game, gas mask does the same. It keeps you alive longer than without it. But i guess there’s issue in how much longer and the extended survivability isn’t enough for many, instead, it should be longer. Did i get it right?
Yes, in-game it decreases your health loss by 20-30%. IRL a gas that incapacitates people virtually instantly (seconds), will need minutes to incapacitate mask wearers.
Soldiers aren’t taught to storm in to gas clouds just because they have masks, but they should be able to withdraw to fight another day.
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With this, there is a correlation;
IRL - instant incapacitation without mask; 2-3 mins survivability with mask
in-game - 60 seconds* without mask; 100 seconds* with mask
[*] estimation, since i haven’t recorded the actual duration, and it is also affected by the skills, type of gas and in-game difficulty level.
The funny thing about the OP is a water soaked Bandana will filter out Chlorine gas to a decent degree. It’s actually more effective than the gas masks in the game. the 20%/40% with 2 perks makes gas masks pointless as in the areas in the game where gas is permanent you’re just going to be spamming medkits anyway.
I get that they don’t want to mitigate all Gas damage, but the normal gas mask should be at least 50% base reduction raised to 70% with both perks, and the Hazard Suit should be 80% reduction at least so you can get 100% reduction with both perks. Or 90% so you get 100% from only 1 perk.
This is why I don’t bother using the gasmasks. Plus the additional clear vision.
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If you have finished the story and skilled up your character the gas masks are absolutly useless in my eyes.
For fighting machines I never used them. Bad sight and no sense. Use healthpacks and keep on moving instead.
If something needs to be revamped, then the whole system about gas.
It could be like:
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Gas hurts you, but just 3 healthpoints per second as long as you are in contact with it and 1 healthpoint per second for 20 seconds after contact. But gas slows you down and reduces your aiming abilities for 20 seconds after contact, too. Add some heavy breathe sound and maybe a vision like you have tears in your eyes.
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With the gas resistance skills this effect can be reduced (by the given percentages)
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With a gas mask at first you lose 1 healthpoint per second due to the contact, but have no effects on movement, aiming and the vision (just the current “bad sight” of the mask). After contact with the gas the hurt ends.
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a gas mask starts with 100% resistance but loses 1% per second while in contact with the gas. If it’s at 0% it will be dismissed and you have to find a new one.
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maybe the category of the gas masks and the way it gets equiped should be reworked, too. It makes sense that it is a clothe and can be used by selecting it in the profile tab. But while in battle you don’t have time to select it this way.
As a selectable item like a flare or battery this would be easier, but currently you won’t be able to use a weapon or something else then.
Maybe it could work a bit like a flashlight and could be activated by holding the left stick, like holding the right stick opens the build-menu.
… Just another between many ideas to change the gas masks 
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I would love to have the gas spread more realistic. Atm it’s just a sphere around the center of the detonation point. Inside = ow, outside = whew. The gas is spread regardless of walls, rocks and even solid ground. And even when it’s windy (noticable by the storm sounds) the gas stays at it’s original point. Additionaly after a certain time the gas is just switched off.
Everything about the gas seems a bit rough not to say lazy. Gas should not spread through solid ground and walls. If a window or a door is open it should permeate to the indoors slowly (and should stay there longer). In the outdoors the gas should dissipate faster especially when it’s windy. The effect the gas has should reduce slowly the thinner the gas gets.
One can only dream.
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That is precisely my greatest bugbear with gas. If the gas volume can’t be contained by the volume of the space it is supposed to occupy but bleeds through to other areas, then masks should provide better protection.
Also, what kind of gas “penetrates the filters” of gas masks. How small can they make the molecules to penetrate the finest filtration available and still be effective? Don’t wave the realism and lore book when the gas doesn’t even stay where it is supposed to be, like. and give us at least 50% gas protection from masks.