Hello this is my first post on this forum.
I just got the game and I must say I'm kind of excited. It looks like it has potential to become a great game one day.
I wanted to talk about the lack of Hitsounds and damage numbers. I made a quick search on the forum and found this post from 2013 (I didn't want to necro a 2 year old post so I made a new thread):
Viech wrote:Forty-Two wrote:Damage numbers and hitsounds
Both of this doesn't quite help with immersion. Hitsounds work for arcade style games that trade all their atmosphere for flow (pretty much by definition). Damage numbers are common among RPG where you wouldn't know how much damage you are doing with your current equipment (which doesn't apply to Unv) but apart from that only cartoon shooters use them, for stylistic reasons. For Unvanquished, I'd like to preserve as much of a gloomy atmosphere as possible for a competitive game. The crosshair hit indicators seemed like a good compromise to me.
Natural Selection 2 (I'm sure you guys are familiar, but in case some of you are not https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfQFykC9-v8), is a game set in the same gloomy atmosphere and successfully implemented both hitsounds and damage numbers.
NS2 is not a cartoonish style shooter like TF2 or dirty bomb and it is certainly not an RPG.
You imply that it's somehow easy to tell how much damage you've dealt in a game like this, even without damage numbers, but no NS2 competitive player in their right mind would turn that option off. Now granted, NS2 has had a history with bad hit registration, server side damage numbers were as a result; almost necessary. But it's just a qol option imo and does not take away from immersion - or so I will attempt to argue next.
My last point, I think perhaps will be the most difficult concept to sell. I'm speaking from my own experience here:
Games that try too hard to be "immersive" always seem to fail. The first game that comes to mind is Interstellar Marines - they have compromised so much on gameplay features, for the sake of immersion that the game is just no longer any joy to play and you feel more frustrated than actually immersed playing it.
The best way imo, to experience immersion - is through tough competition. When I play chess against a tough opponent - I am completely immersed. The "atmosphere" and the "graphics" are completely irrelevant - when I play chess I'm completely in that world. Everything around me ceases to exist in that moment. Competition is what truly immerses me, not pretty graphics or atmospheres.
So I'd like to appeal this decision. I think it's a great qol option. It's great for players in learning, like myself. And it's great for competitive players, like myself :)
Thanks for a pretty cool game either way