Title says it all. Not that the existing explosions are not already awesome, they are quite impressive, but it would be great if in future update, there was more variety in the ways in which the robots malfunction, stop working, and explode. I know this is something that is hugely time consuming and difficult though. But to start with It should be fairly easy to take the runners? (dogs) and change their deaths to say, 30 percent of the time, to simply NOT explode when they would normally. INSTEAD, have the bullet simply rupture the fuel tank(if that was the aim point) and cause a some kind of high pressure gaseous leak which will slow the movement and in a few seconds stop the robot in its tracks, but no explosion. If hitting its body, it could cause leaking fluid, and then a slowing/stopping. Or a large electrical special effect with slowed/jerky movement and then stopping. You could also have them a small percentage, maybe 6% simply freeze/lockup/ or fall over when hit in the body a few times. Mechanical things, run by computers after all, should be sensitive to critical wiring and modules being hit. I think you get the idea. There SHOULD be some EASY to implement ideas that would bring variety. Locking up and/or falling over should be the easiest, with no explosion. Hope this was helpful.
So, I like the idea about variety, but there is one rather important thing in terms of game design about how it’s done currently. When you kill a robot, you’ can be pretty much certain that it is indeed dead most of the time because the big explosion confirms the kill. It’s not really all that realistic (as you’ve pointed out), but it is important in terms of making the game-play feel smooth for people who aren’t super into the horror/survival genre.
This would be awesome! I can agree with the lack of variety so I think it would absolutely add a sense of “realism” to the experience. And with @ahferroin7’s comment in mind maybe this, in the case they’d implement it, could be an option?
I agree with you. My feeling is that hitting a tank hard in its sensor region should blind it, in which case it would go mad, firing aimlessly in all directions. If a runner is trailing smoke and sparks, it’s vision, speed and weapons systems still seem fine. Perhaps later they’ll get to it.