Painsaw

Concept artwork for models and maps.
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alexbo
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Painsaw

Post by alexbo »

Quoting viech
"The painsaw is cheap but has a very high damage output. It plays a crucial role in taking out alien bases early but can also be used for making dedicated attacks against the Overmind later in the game.

One issue of the painsaw is that while it looks like it would only hurt if if you get into direct contact, it really has a small reach and can damage aliens and structures that are a few feet away. This is important for the handling of the weapon but it's also rather frustrating to inexperienced alien players.

I would like to have the painsaw replaced by something like a blowtorch or thermal lance. It should be a portable device that outputs a thin concentrated line of fire (one that is longer than that of an average real life blowtorch though). The main advantage is that we can keep the current gameplay but make it obvious that the weapon has a small range. The other advantage is that we just introduced the possibility to put alien structures on fire and I want to give this element a bigger role in the game.

The design would be entirely up to your imagination. It can run with any substance you like (gas, oxygen, plasma). It should have the tank attached to it and should not require the wielder to carry parts of it on the body (so that it can also be used together with the battlesuit or jetpack). The design should also differ from the flame thrower which will come in the form of an actual gun (see here for the latest concepts), so I propose you make it look like a military-grade tool that doubles as a weapon since they found out how effective it is against alien structures. At the same time, make it heavy enough so that the player carries it with both hands. That's about the requirements, the rest is up to you!"

Here's some very very basic thumbnails to get started.

cheers

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JOURNEYMAN
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by JOURNEYMAN »

The painsaw should be energy based like a light saber. Plasma or blow torch would overlap with the flamer.

Grab reality by the balls and squeeeeze!

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kharnov
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by kharnov »

I think that's what Viech has been going for with regards to weapons. More of an emphasis on fire, when they're not energy or physical-based.

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chris
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by chris »

JOURNEYMAN wrote:

The painsaw should be energy based like a light saber. Plasma or blow torch would overlap with the flamer.

+1

Design wise the painsaw is pretty unique in games, why we should change it to a generic blow torch? With some new concepts it would be gorgeous and would emphasize unv one step more from all other games. I personally don't want to see the same guns in every game out there.

And in most fps games the blow torch is a repair tool.

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Viech
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by Viech »

The main issue I see with the painsaw is its range, which seems ridiculous when you look at its appearance. Gameplay wise, it wouldn't overlap too much with the flamer, apart from the fact that it can set stuff on fire, too. I don't plan on giving it a splash damage that would hurt the wielder or making it ignite the environment. In fact, I would be fine if it doesn't work with fire but with some other sort of plasma/energy/whatever, as long as the weapon's range seems justified and we don't do lightsaber style troll physics.

Regarding uniqueness, I don't feel the fact that the painsaw is energy based makes it a unique weapon, it is pretty much a more futuristic chainsaw to me. But this is something that is hard to argue about.

From the three concepts, the first one would be suited best I guess, since the others overlap with the flamer too much and look too expensive (the painsaw is the cheapest weapon). But let's resolve the situation first and decide what kind of weapon we want. I'm sorry for giving you that assignment before talking to the rest of the dev team. I was in the impression that there were no significant objections since I posted about my plans to replace the painsaw before. Feel free to make up a weapon concept that is unique and fulfills all the requirements (cheap, very high damage, low range). Otherwise focus on the booster for now.

Responsible for: Arch Linux package & torrent distribution, Parpax (map), Chameleon (map texture editor), Sloth (material file generator), gameplay design & programming, artistic direction

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alexbo
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by alexbo »

Cool I'll check out the booster while not trying to forget about this one.

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Khaoz
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by Khaoz »

chris wrote:

+1

Design wise the painsaw is pretty unique in games, why we should change it to a generic blow torch? With some new concepts it would be gorgeous and would emphasize unv one step more from all other games. I personally don't want to see the same guns in every game out there.

And in most fps games the blow torch is a repair tool.

I agree, the Painsaw is already quite a unique iconic weapon (as is) and I'd hate for us to lose that.

I feel the new painsaw concept should just bet an improvement on the current model, I'm not a fan of the blow-torch look (All concepts look like they would be good flamethrower concepts imo).

Energy based melee weapon pls.

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kharnov
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by kharnov »

What if we added a sort of smaller, lighter flamer as a sidearm?

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Ishq
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by Ishq »

Why? The current flamer isn't good enough?

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kharnov
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Re: Painsaw design

Post by kharnov »

It would add some more flexibility, considering that utilizing the flamer as a primary weapon renders you impotent at anything further than point blank.

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