Game Mechanics Linking, a possible new mechanic for Rangers

[Wither Dracos]

My first (real) post. Huh, neat.



Important note: This may or may not be entirely original. I'm sorry if this happens to be too similar to another post or idea.

Also, the following idea is just a suggestion. In no way am I saying that this needs to be added.

Thank you for understanding, or attempting to.

[Introduction]
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The Ranger. You know how they work right? Just shoot at everything and win. With all the different ammo they can use, it's pretty fun, right?

Though, I can't help but feel like something is a bit...off. Something regarding the ammo. Don't worry, I'm not saying the ammo or the class itself is bad in any way. Not at all, it's all awesome. I just think the ammo usage system thing could use a little something.

I mean....there's a bunch of different ammo to use, but due to the way ammo works, we can only use a couple types at a time.

But enough of this introduction nonsense, how about I just show the main idea?

[What is Linking?]
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Linking is my idea of a possible way to allow Rangers to use more weapons at once. It would be a mechanic that would allow players specializing in ranged weapons to "Link" ammo to weapons. This would (maybe) make ranged playthroughs and/or loadouts a bit more complex, while still being simple to understand.

[How would Linking work?]​

Linking would be simple. To Link a ranged weapon, you would simply press the key binded to "Link" while your cursor is over the desired weapon in your inventory, then do the same thing for any compatible ammo type. After that, Linking is complete! That specific weapon would then only use the ammo that it was Linked to. Even if you were to move the ammo to a different space in your inventory or put a different kind of ammo in that space, that specific ammo would only be used by its Linked weapon.

For a better example, say you have a Megashark and a Shotgun, as well as Ichor bullets and Chlorophyte bullets. Linking the Megashark to the Chlorophyte bullets would make the Megashark use the Chlorophyte bullets, and Linking the Shotgun to the Ichor bullets would make the Shotgun use the Ichor bullets. Now you have two guns using two different bullets, both good for different situations.

[Balancing Linking]
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As you may have noticed, Linking would be really strong. If you could Link bullets from anywhere in your inventory, this would probably make Rangers similar to Mages,(I think? Can an expert give an opinion on that?) while only having to sacrifice a bit of inventory space.

So, the main way that I think would make this more balanced (in the highly unlikely circumstance that this gets added) is that you could only Link weapons to ammo located in the Ammo slots. This way, Rangers would still get a bit more versatile, they wouldn't become similar/outclass Mages, and the Ammo slots wouldn't become obsolete.

I'm not an expert on game balance, though, so that might be a bad way to balance it.

[Additional notes about Linking]
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Note: These are just random tidbits of info of how Linking would work. These small info bits are based entirely on the possibility that Linking could be added to the game.

• Ammo slots wouldn't be completely changed. They would work how they always do, even if you would choose not to use Linking.
• Links could be made with any ranged weapon that uses different kinds of ammo. The Vortex Beater could be Linked to any kind of bullet, but the Stake Launcher cannot use Links since it can use only one kind of ammunition.
• When using a combination of Linked and Unlinked ammo in Ammo slots, weapons that aren't Linked to any ammo would use to topmost ammo that isn't linked. For example, let's say that (assuming this could be added) you would have Ichor arrows, Cursed arrows, and Holy arrows in your Ammo slots, going from top to bottom, and you have a Tsunami Linked to your Ichor arrows. If you were to use an Unlinked Daedalus Stormbow, it would use the Cursed arrows instead of the Ichor or Holy arrows.
• When a Linked weapon runs out of its Linked ammo, it would not be able to fire until the Link is removed or is Linked to another ammo type.
• Moving a Linked weapon or ammo type to a chest would remove the Link between the Linked items. This also applies to moving said items to Piggy Banks, Safes, ect.

[In conclusion]​

So, uh....Yeah. That was a suggestion. In case you skimmed over that part at the top, I'd like to say that this suggestion wasn't made as a way to say "Hey, this needs to be added", but rather more as a "This could maybe be a thing".

But still, I don't know if my suggestion is bad or not. I might've worded things incorrectly, not made some things clear enough, accidentally broken a rule, or maybe I could even be suggesting the removal of the Ranger's only weakness.

Or maybe I'm just rambling and nothing I'm saying makes sense. Oh well.

Thoughts?

 

[Baconfry]

Okay, hear me out. This is pretty cool and very original, but I think a better way to do this would be a hotkey that shuffles the positions of your ammunition items, sending your current ammo to the back and bringing the second one to the front. The reasoning is that some guns/bows work well with different ammo types, and it would be nice to quickly switch to ichor bullets and back, for example.

Right clicking would be more logical but thanks to the rifle scope we shouldn’t do that.

 

[Wither Dracos]

Okay, hear me out. This is pretty cool and very original, but I think a better way to do this would be a hotkey that shuffles the positions of your ammunition items, sending your current ammo to the back and bringing the second one to the front. The reasoning is that some guns/bows work well with different ammo types, and it would be nice to quickly switch to ichor bullets and back, for example.

Right clicking would be more logical but thanks to the rifle scope we shouldn’t do that.

Ok, that makes sense. That would also cut down on inventory space a bit, which is always nice. (Well, compared to my idea.)

 

[Mislic]

I like the idea a lot. Would be nice to be able to switch between different bullets fast. The mechanics look nice even the way you proposed, might give it some more thought anyway.

a better way to do this would be a hotkey that shuffles the positions of your ammunition items, sending your current ammo to the back and bringing the second one to the front

No, I wouldn't like that, not in this form at least. Switching between weapons by pressing a single known button is way more stable, fast and mistake-proof. Unlike spamming a button to "spin the wheel" of all bullet types you have in your inventory right now hoping you'll manage to stop on the required one. It needs actually watching the interface, might take some time and isn't idempotent. The same way players in any shooter games never use the "switch to next weapon" button but always just stick to exact key for any of them. To be able to shoot different ammo from the same weapon just pick two same weapons and link them to different ammo. It's even possible to put different prefixes on them then, for better effect.

 

[Baconfry]

No, I wouldn't like that, not in this form at least. Switching between weapons by pressing a single known button is way more stable, fast and mistake-proof. Unlike spamming a button to "spin the wheel" of all bullet types you have in your inventory right now hoping you'll manage to stop on the required one. It needs actually watching the interface, might take some time and isn't idempotent. The same way players in any shooter games never use the "switch to next weapon" button but always just stick to exact key for any of them. To be able to shoot different ammo from the same weapon just pick two same weapons and link them to different ammo. It's even possible to put different prefixes on them then, for better effect.

I do like OP’s idea, don’t get me wrong. But it seems a little difficult to implement. I agree that what I suggested up there is inferior, but probably much easier to program since it’s just a matter of inventory rearrangement.

Maybe as an experimental feature in config.json, we could try adding hotkeys that correspond to the four ammo slots, and your gun would draw from the highlighted slot rather than the topmost one; of course, this would fail if the ammo wasn’t compatible.

 

[Wither Dracos]

Thanks to both of you for your bit of criticism/insight, and I'd very much like to hear how you think my idea could be improved. (Constructive criticism and all that.)

As for your idea, Baconfry, I do like your idea, though I can see how it could be slightly troublesome, assuming there's no immediate indicator that you switched ammo. Maybe the Ammo slots could briefly show upon switching, or there could be a special inventory space that always shows what your current ammo is. (Similar to the Auto Select thing for torches, but always visible. Does that make sense? I don't use it often admittely.) Not trying to hijack your idea, just offering my viewpoint. I dunno, what do you think?

Edit: As it turns out (and I just remembered), there's apparently a mod that implements your idea, Baconfry. Helpful Hotkeys, I believe it's called.

 

[Mislic]

Yeah, implementation-wise (why didn't you note that in the first place?) switching the order of bullets in inventory should be easier.
But changing the gun and the ammo type still requires at least two button hits, not one.
To make "linking" work in any form one mechanic should be added - hidden "ammo preference" parameter on a weapon instance. So no matter what way you change it it does one thing - consumes the preferred ammo first if it exists, and acts the general way otherwise. Maybe not even "hidden", then "no matter what way" could become some sort of reforge, just for the different purpose. Like switching to Homing Unreal Megashark (prefers chlorophyte bullets obviously) to deliver to target just pissed upon using Corrosive Rapid Minishark (Ichor Bullets). Wither Dracos's linking method could add prefixes also btw, it mustn't be a reforge.