Defining Awesome — IED
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  • IED

    Written by . Posted at 5:56 am on September 15th, 2010

    I’m making an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), which can be thrown like a grenade but works only with special attachments. These are easy to add with the attachment system I built. The IED attachments list is currently:

    – timer (timing detonator, when this is attached it can work like a normal grenade)
    – shrapnel (add shrapnel to the explosive damaging other players; these will be specified even more with damage particles like nails, petrol etc.)
    – sticky (glue that makes the IED stick to any surface)
    – bouncy (makes it jump like a jelly bean)
    – proximity (human proximity detector)
    – laser tripwire
    – camo (camouflage the explosive so it isn’t easily visible)
    – boobytrap (disguise the explosive as a different item, for example ammo clip)
    – devicetrap (mounted inside switches and terminals; when a player uses it, the explosive goes off)
    – remote detonator (used with remote control; this will work like pipe bombs in Duke Nukem)
    – smoke (emits smoke after thrown)
    – armor (additional layer of armor which prevents the explosive from being detonated by shooting at)
    – kinetic (explodes after contact; with ground, wall or human)

    I think one IED can have 3 attachments max.

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    28 comments.

    1. pleaaaaaaaaase release the alpha i beg you D:


    2. really awesome idea!
      How a player can come by those items? giving it all at the start would be unbalanced, i hope that you already considered a leveling system(like battlefield,et,cod,killzone) or some kind of in-server currency? (like cs,stalker) with L-D flavor?
      remember to keep the game balanced so the ubermen (retarded name btw) have counter-measures like ied detector, camouflage scrambler etc and a ‘something for something’ mechanics


    3. Humm.. Great Idea!
      You have now 13 types of attachment, but how many types of IED?
      The many types of IED can differ by explosive power, heavyness and slots it use in your backpack.
      BTW i dont see usage for the ‘bouncy’ type.


    4. Please add Automated defence turrets and deployable energy shields for the Ubermen :)


    5. EDIT: Is the class system still active ?


    6. Add infestating an area for mutants. like poison when uberman walks on it.


    7. Blacksheepboy

      Disguising IDE’s sounds completely insidious. It might be a very popular option.

      Content in a game? This gives me some Metal Gear Solid vibes.


    8. nice idea but don’t make it too complicated. keep in mind that you need to balance all these items. and I can imagine it will take much bugfixing-time.

      also some combinations of these attachments don’t make sense, like:
      – timer & any other attachment which controls the explosion moment (proximity, kinetic, remote detonator, …)
      – sticky & bouncy
      – camo & boobytrap

      and what happens if I only add one of these: armor, shrapnel, sticky, bouncy, armor. will the IED ever detonate? since it doesn’t know when it should explode (no timer, no remote, not on contact, …)

      I think the best would be to focus only on a few of them or to put them into categories (explosion moment, explosion type, …).

      good luck. :)


    9. @illu: I suppose he could have it sectioned into “Trigger” “Casing” “Explosion”, or similar.


    10. illu: Yeah, great idea!


    11. This sounds excellent! I have two suggestions on more explosion types: Incendiary and EMP.


    12. i hope that you already considered a leveling system(like battlefield,et,cod,killzone) or some kind of in-server currency? (like cs,stalker) with L-D flavor?

      No I don’t want that. I want all players to be equal. So I will work on balancing the game as much as possible. If it’s impossible I will consider an in-game currency.

      BTW i dont see usage for the ‘bouncy’ type.

      You can throw it at walls so they bounce around corners and hit the enemy that is not in direct sight.

      Is the class system still active ?

      There are classes coded, however the alpha won’t have any classes. The inventory you pick determines your class.

      also some combinations of these attachments don’t make sense, like:

      Then you don’t have to use it. This is not an EA game were I will restrict options and grab you by the hand so that you don’t hurt yourself.

      and what happens if I only add one of these: armor, shrapnel, sticky, bouncy, armor. will the IED ever detonate

      Correct, it won’t ever detonate.

      This sounds excellent! I have two suggestions on more explosion types: Incendiary and EMP.

      Oh I forgot about EMP! Of course this has to be built, to block the enemies EM weapons.

      What’s Incendiary?


    13. Fire. White phosphorus, most likely, go look it up. 😀

      Also, wouldn’t a IED with no detonator attachement be still shootable, as long as it’s not armored.

      Oh, and will there be any variation on the sprites?
      They are improvised and all.

      Will there be serious map damaging?


    14. MM: bouncing ammo didn’t work out very well in Liero. It could be effective only on slow opponents.

      Mounting a proximity, timer and remote detonator wouldn’t be a problem – giving the player a grenade that explodes when it lands on the enemy but one that can be detonated mid-flight.

      That however would make grenades too powerful.

      I think a slot system would be better.

      First, the player chooses an explosive or base. Bigger explosives are heavier and can only be thrown closer. The animations for bigger explosives are also much longer than for the short ones, as they are bulkier to use (and another thing to offset their larger power).

      After choosing the explosive, or base, the player chooses 1 timer and 0-2 extra items. The extra items also increase the device’s weight, meaning modified explosives are thrown a bit slower and closer than should no extra items be put on. An armor mod for example would add a lot of weight.

      The base could be:

      Small flash
      Small IED // grenade-sized
      Medium IED // big-pipebomb-sized
      Big IED // 1 carryable at a time, large enough to fill a 3-day pack


    15. Also, as per bouncing grenades, you could make them effective by doing a bit of cheating. By that I mean to control/change the bounce vector, so that the grenade never bounces back to the throwing player, or avoids doing so.

      You could call that Smart Bounce or something, dumb bouncing like in Liero really sucked.


    16. If you model the detonation of the ‘proximity’ IED after its F.E.A.R. counterpart, I will love you forever.


    17. “Then you don’t have to use it. This is not an EA game were I will restrict options and grab you by the hand so that you don’t hurt yourself.”

      Yeah, but some of them do not only make no sense but could also lead to glitches/buggyness. I can’t imagine how an IED would react to “sticky & bouncy”. Maybe one of the attachments has the priority or it will bounce a couple of times and then sticks to the wall/enemy. But it could also be super glitchy and jumps like crazy, don’t know…

      What I just wanted to say: It can be quite difficult to test all of the possible combinations to make sure you can’t build some uber-IED which will ruin the gameplay.


    18. I’d love an uber-IED!

      But it will be unbugged out of the game when it comes into existence, I guess :(


    19. Also, wouldn’t a IED with no detonator attachement be still shootable, as long as it’s not armored.

      Yes. You could snipe it from far away.

      Oh, and will there be any variation on the sprites?
      They are improvised and all.

      Yes there are variations of the bomb.

      Will there be serious map damaging?

      No.

      bouncing ammo didn’t work out very well in Liero. It could be effective only on slow opponents.

      That’s why you have to think before using it. A bomb is a dangerous device, I imagine many players will detonate themselves a lot of times before learning to handle it correctly. Happens in real-life.

      I can’t imagine how an IED would react to “sticky & bouncy”.>

      It just sticks, what else would it do?
      It’s like a real thing. You have a bouncy ball, cover it with glue and it doesn’t bounce.


    20. If you model the detonation of the ‘proximity’ IED after its F.E.A.R. counterpart, I will love you forever.

      You mean that it jumps at your face? That is fucking amazing!


    21. If you are planning on adding Fog Of War, a camera that gives you an PiP (Picture in Picture) view around the bomb would be fun.

      You ARE planning fog of war, right?


    22. Hmm, on the incendiary note.
      I think that would be the petrol that MM talks about in the OP
      If we used both petrol and sticky attachments, would the petrol be sticky?


    23. Cool and good, theres actually some good points on this subject post some of my friends might find this relevant, will send them a link, many thanks. Fantatic blog page! Really good stuff right here. Thanks


    24. This is cool. July has been the bloodiest month in the eitnre war in Afghanistan. It would be good if they also showed the number of soldiers killed trying to free Afghanistan of the terror inflicted by the Talliban. (Of course, now there is a corrupt government to replace it.)- David


    25. I can already tell that’s gonna be super helpful.


    26. I think you’ve just captured the answer perfectly


    27. Strong is the new skinny. This picture is invalid due to the fact you comparing skinny women to the women with curves. Try posting fitness model and ask this question again.


    28. Back in school, I’m doing so much learning.


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