The EMP

[TheOnLY]

[potterman28wxcv]

I think the effect is already decreasing on the range - it already happened to me to be under effect of the EMP for less than a second.

Maybe the decreasing gradient should be even more pronounced though. I agree that it's a bit OP right now.

[Broscar]

It's very OP and Chris said that's currently in part to compensate for the lack of proper catchup.
I'd imagine proper balancing begins (for all weapons, including drop tables) once multiplayer is well in.

[codemonkey]

The EMP is meant to try and level the field a bit, and its effect is designed around that. Players behind the aggressor, in terms of race distance, don't get affected at all in real terms. Players in front, do get affected, according to how far in front they are - the further in front, the more they get affected. This only happens of course if they get caught in the blast radius - sometimes they're so far away that they miss it altogether.

Having the effect drop off over distance would of course negate the purpose of the weapon, even though it might make some logical sense in the inverse square law etc.

You can pick up an EMP wherever you are in the field, though you're more likely to get one at the rear than at the front. We believe this is the right approach making it an effective leveller.

I've modified the next build to not affect you so much if you're already going real slow.

[codemonkey]

[Ryu Makkuro]

Since Alhatra is effectively a figure of 8, every single time you launch the EMP on the first bridge (or under it) you hit basically everyone. Definitely quite OP.

Would be nice if the EMP would affect normal weaponry, like mines, stinger missiles and machine gun, but had no effect on the Assassin. On the mines I mean more that they stop detecting cars, but once the effect wears off, they work again. Could lead to some funny moments Stinger missile simply shuts the engine and drops down, which naturally leads to a detonation on the impact. Again, possibly leading to some hilarious moments xD

I've been wondering what an effect the EMP could've if we had electric powered cars in the game. Maybe act as a massive turbo that just makes the car hilariously uncontrollable xD Something like driving at 400km/h and in less than a second your speed goes to 1000km/h (brakes don't work due to EMP). That would be spectacular and would give the EMP users a bit of a thinking. Cause that kind of a boost on a straight piece of road would effectively reverse the effect.

[potterman28wxcv]

[Queadah]

[potterman28wxcv]

[Ryu Makkuro]

[potterman28wxcv]

[codemonkey]

We like lightning effects, they're just very tricky to do right and rendering in a convincing style. This is something we would work towards, but it's going to be too time-consuming to do right now so expect improvements in the future.

[Ryu Makkuro]

[Cybruiser57Péter]

[TheOnLY]

[Ryu Makkuro]

[codemonkey]

[Ryu Makkuro]

[Sigrid]

[Ryu Makkuro]

Ok, after a bit of additional testing and being stuck in behind for longer than usual, I can say one thing... EMP is the best thing if you want to make sure that the AI won't catch up to the leader.

I mean ok, IF the leader gets hit by it, it gets slowed by roughly 5 times longer than other cars. Problem is, if someone gets the lead, due to other positions fighting against each other the 1st place will just fly away and get out of the EMP range in a matter of seconds. At that point every single EMP unleashed by the 4-6th places is extending the lead that the 1st place has.

Now a quick-fix that won't need a new visual animation. Let's say that when you activate EMP, it locks to the leader position, and then 3s after that the EMP blow explodes there (aka being shot from a satellite in the space, let's say it would take about 3s to reach the surface). In that time the leader should still be in the blast zone, unless he would be going 1000 km/h+ for about 6 seconds, which I doubt. This will effectively slow down the leader always while making sure the pack stays together a lot more effectively. Kind of reminds me of the Goldeneye satellite from the Bond movie... "Goldeneye".

But as it is now, it's just a perfect tool for keeping the pack away from the leader, just saying.