Robots should have finite amount of ammo

If the player has a finite amount of ammo then so should the robots. Putting the unrealistic that is inherent in almost all video games; circling a tank knowing that it can only fire 10 servos of rockets etc, is a more practical combat than it magically creating round after round. I think limiting the ammo creates a better experience and options for the robots to run (just like we do) to preserve its life. Even having ammo caches that they can head for and replenish.

9 Likes

Heyo, Iā€™ve moved your post to Feedback/Future Requests forum. Others have suggested this feature as well, so I figure it belongs there.

Balance is a hard thing to get right, so letā€™s see what the future brings :slight_smile:

[ : I concur! : It even stated in one of the Mission-Logs that the military was engaged with the robots, the bots ran-out of ammo and: retreated into the woods. : So I think so, but not to limit them as to were the fights will be cake-walks. : I will have to say, haha, I been in ~two-hour-stand-offs with these robots and: I have never had so much fun creating strategies to take them all out. : And: you know what, it always works out even with the bots having unlimited-ammo. ]

I think this is a great idea. Having the ammo loot also based on this finite cache also creates a time-sensitive gameplay mechanic. The longer you take to fight the less potential loot you could receive.

4 Likes

Being that admins in this forum like to merge threads, I decided to resurrect this thread. :smiley:

Has ammo limited bots been considered?

It is no secret we see ammo boxes (with 99mm written on it) with dropped Hunter guns. We see ammo boxes on Tank guns.

An A-10 Warthog (US military plane) can hold 1,350 of 173mm length ammo. Helicopters with the Gatling canons people shoot with hold about 3000 rounds of 7.62x51mm ammo.

Why not put a limit of a few thousand or few hundred rounds? I doubt we would rarely see a Hunter run out of ammo, but if it did, it would either 1) Run away, 2) Run to a Harvester to ā€œreloadā€ and come back after you.

Or introduce theā€¦ammo supply robot! Imagine a squarish robot (like a Borg cube) with a constant escort. It would have heavy armor (say triple or quadruple the life of an Apoc Tank) on 4 or 6 legs or tank treads but no weaponry. You see robots coming at this ammo bot to replenish themselves. It would take a ridiculous amount of ammo to crack this robot (1500-2000 rounds of ONLY AP and have no soft spots), but once you crack it, you will have ammo spilling out of your earsā€¦if you are lucky. :wink: And it would only contain ammo. No mines or grenades or other nonsense that robots do not use. Only bullets and m/49 ammo and a maybe a bunch of metal.

I would consider it an interesting mechanic seeing robots having to replenish ammo instead of thinking they have ammo teleported into their ammo boxes. Can you imagine trying to chase down an ammo bot still trying to destroy it, but it feels uncrackable, and it keeps calling in for reinforcements? Some may say well that sounds like a Harvester, but Harvesters carry different drops with them and are armed, and they are easy to kill. An ammo bot I would never let it drop special weaponry. It would only drop ammo.

3 Likes

This is such a brilliant idea! :smiley:
Imagine finally destroying one, and then having to make several trips to your Plundra to stash looted ammo before salvage units arrive!

2 Likes

Yes! And maybe not just salvage units. Robots needing to resupply would keep using the dropped ammo until it runs out.

2 Likes

I think weā€™re on to something here! :smile:
Letā€™s say thereā€™s only one AmmoBot per district, moving and spawning randomly within its borders. They shouldā€™t be trackable either, finding one should be pure ā€luckā€.

1 Like

3 posts were merged into an existing topic: All Machines Should Have Limited Ammo!

Iā€™m okay with the increased lethality of the machines, but it doesnā€™t make sense that (especially single player mode) I can run out of ammo/supplies but the enemy has an unlimited supply of ammo! Reality aside; they canā€™t possibly carry that much munitions.

In addition; besides making the game more realistic; it provides a new set of tacticsā€“everything from counting missiles fired by a Tank, to strategically waiting-out the machine as it depletes its supplies.

It could also force depleted machines to head for a depot for resupply.

If I am forced to find ammo because I physically canā€™t carry an unlimited amountā€“so should the machinesā€¦

9 Likes

Itā€™s the game balancing.

Players can heal themselves at any given point - machines canā€™t. (Except Rival when it levels up.) Same is with reviving, players can revive themselves with adrenaline shot - machines canā€™t. Moreover, players can Fast Travel to any unlocked safehouse to escape machines. Machines canā€™t Fast Travel at all.

So, to balance it out, machines need to have something that players canā€™t have, and why not unlimited ammo.

If machines would have limited ammo then i expect that they also revive themselves within 5 seconds and also heal their HP back to max, just like players can do.

1 Like

The problem with limited munitions for the AI is, theyā€™d dump it all at once. Especially given the AI seems to be bugged at the moment, and is spamming attacks.

It would be trivial to cheese machines into emptying their ammo reserves, and then killing them off with relative ease.

Used to be, their attack patterns were slow enough that you wouldnā€™t really think about how they should be running dry as the fight progresses.

That said, the hunter pods should probably be capped (unless theyā€™re supposed to have a long cooldown.)

3 Likes

I totally agree. The enemy should have limited ammo and could have several depots over the islands that they could retrieve. or something could fly in and replenish them and give us a chance to blow the crap out of that as well. It can be worked into the schematics. I like the idea of counting missiles as part of our strategy

6 Likes

How about balance as the machines outnumber player 100000:1?
How about balance when they spawn like mad?
How about balance when they produce ticks in numbers that exceed the weight of the hunter by a multitude?
How about machineā€™s fire precision that is never less than 100% ever since latest ā€œupdateā€?

Machines have plenty of things player hasnā€™t, so the mentioned argument is invalid. When a mech can produce a never ending strings of ticks then it can also take a break every 100 rounds to miraculously restock on ammo.

Discussions about ā€œmuh realizmā€ are mute as there is no realism in the game anyway. Doggos accelerate and break as if inertia has never been invented, hunters stay on their feet even their center of gravity is at the top, tanks happily lift one leg without shifting weight (or falling over), .44 rounds have a bullet drop across 100 yards as if theyā€™ve been propelled by an old rubber-band, ticks jump into Buck- and Birdshots and nothing happens, and, and, and ā€¦ there, plenty of room for an ammo-producing timeout.

6 Likes

This would require almost simulator style of game play, huge revamp of game mechanics.
Exact simulation of machine functions, etc.

But like in extended long fights machines just leaving for so called refit or repairs after you have destroyed their weapons.

For the game wise, i like how the mechanics of spawning are right now. Thou would love to see in future more dynamic fights. Like machines congest ares for their reason, and that would create dangerous areas around map. Rivals starting to hunt down players, etc.

1 Like

They do now. 1. Iā€™ve seen packs of dogs David Copperfield in front of me. 2. Thereā€™s not much of a CD in hunter sky drops too. Not to mention Iā€™ve seen dead harvs call in a hunter pack long after they died. 3. Plus seekers now call the entire region so your location turns into a slug fest.

Maybe they should have a mode where thereā€™s a CD on healz, but on the flipside the machines are using unlimited ammo either.

1 Like

So why donā€™t you disarm them?
You will have the facility to destroy them.

In all cases the disarmed machine you can flee from him and of course, meet him later in the state that you disarmed him.

After I do not know your level of play but if you are a beginner, the advice is to dodge them for the moment. history of having better weapons.

1 Like

Unless they create a repair robot.

Initially I loved the idea of the machines fast traveling, but I think they do that now. I guess Iā€™d vote to keep them ā€˜realā€™

1 Like

A bit off topic, but as a challenge Iā€™ve been going around blowing off the weapons, except the sword, from the rival hunters. Just curious what will happen to them over time. Without weapons except melee iā€™m not sure how they will behave

1 Like