A general point to start:
I'm not just throwing these ideas out and expecting someone else to do the work.
I've got the code checked out on my system and compiling, I've done a few smaller things already, and I am planning to do this work myself.
From what I've seen of the code, these are items I believe I can accomplish without excessive effort. (Still lots of work tho!)
Beyond that, the feedback, gameplay opinions and side effect concerns are appreciated.
1 ) At the moment, LCS swings to both extremes. You can't carry *any* extra equipment with you on missions, but you can drag home infinite amounts of loot.
Eg: Having a spare armored vest and rifle in your backpack when you're going to the jail to break your leader out would be a huge advantage, but you can't do that unless you have an expendable minion carry the vest on his chest.
Also, in relation to #6, carrying extra loot should probably provide penalties to escape on foot, mitigated by strength. Strength is a vastly underutilized attribute IMO, so it would be good to need some muscle golems to haul loot for your rifle wizards
Cars would make the weight of the loot immaterial to your escape chances, although you might lose some if its overflowing the trunk.
I'm thinking that on-site, if you start going over your carry limits, then agility stats would turn red and start dropping until you drop things or leave.
2 ) Seth: It would probably be fairly straightforward to determine the one or two best choices in a particular situation and highlight them for the user. Still, you might want to pass up the optimal choice in a certain situation if you're trying to run without racking up crimes, or if you're playing an excessively violent style. Or if you're just trying to be consistent with your past actions.
This would be an option for the driver alone. Passengers (if any) could independently attack or take cover while the driver tries to escape or attack.
Trying to ram an enemy car would, of course make you lose your entire lead relative to the first enemy car. If your vehicle is too slow to escape straight up and the RNG isn't giving you useful random events, it could be worth while.
Also, the ramming wouldn't be demolition derby style ramming unless you're very low skill and don't know what you're doing. It would be more of a PIT attempt, or shoving the car to the side to make the enemy clip a light pole or a parked car or ramp off some construction materials.
3 ) I was thinking it would only happen if your car is drastically out of place. A sports car in the slums getting jacked, or a barely running jalopy at the CEO castle getting towed away. Given that you probably got your car by stealing it from someone else while they were shopping, having someone steal it back while you're looting is only fair
Perhaps you could have the driver stay behind to keep the engine running, ensure a faster getaway and incidentally keep the car safe.
There are certainly issues to handle with the side effects of losing your car, such as how your crew get home from the outskirts. It certainly shouldn't be common, and its not a very high priority for me in any case.
4 ) The fragmentation of stats isn't too complicated IMO, and really forms the basis of a lot of the rest of it.
Without separate stats, you're just left with the "arbitrary +X car" for X=0 to 3.
5 ) That's a very good point.
Maybe your choice of downtown/suburbs/highway is determined by the site you attack, and you just need to use a car appropriate to the area.
Bridge jumps are TOTALLY going to be a thing
I'm thinking, successful roll = instant clear of pursuit. Marginal roll = crew makes it but car is wrecked on the landing (clip the edge and lose the wheels, or just land hard enough to smash the suspension out) and they have to walk the rest of the way home. Failed roll puts you in the drink, losing the car, the loot, and those who survive the crash are captured.
6 ) I suppose if you're doing a violent run and massacre conservatives all the time, you'd get an excessive number of car chases when you finally leave. My games recently haven't featured many car chases at all, though I leave before conservative reinforcements arrive.
Also, if you're doing a violent run anyways, there's not as much need to use a pristine car. Conservatives might be suspicious when the bullet riddled car pulls up, but that's nothing compared to when automatic weapons fire erupts 10 seconds later
7 ) It looks like everybody misread me on this one.
Standard cars get a speed *boost*, unless the driver is low skill and messes it up. Automatic means no messing up, but also no bonus.
8 ) Conservative Police harassment should probably also be a thing when you're walking to a site. How does your crew manage to walk all the way to the police station in heavy armor, toting machine guns anyways?
An armored van would be terribly difficult to acquire, but if you do get one, you're going to be on violence easy street for a while. It wouldn't be able to escape well, but you'd be well protected.
At least when you're not shooting back. If you have the passengers take cover, they'd be fine until the vehicle gets worn down and you have to bail. If you're shooting back, then you must be at least somewhat exposed. Its a balance issue in the end.
Author
Topic: Car chase enhancements (Read 5608 times)