Fusionstrike
09-19-2012, 01:59 PM
One aspect to PL that's important but can be hard to get the hang of is the range aspect. Skills and weapons have a range over which they work, but it can be very hard to tell when something is in range. The skills say things like "8m range" but what is 8 meters on the PL board? It's very hard to tell. Players of course get used to the scale over time, but I think new players could benefit from a range visualization to help understand distance to targets.
My idea is that there could be an option to draw a ring on the ground around the player. The player could set the radius of the ring to something that would help them. For example, they want to hit with a skill that's 8m range, so they set the ring to 8m. Now when they walk around, they see a ring on the ground letting them know what 8m looks like. They can then judge what's in range and use their skills appropriately. Over time, they'd get used to the distances and no longer need the help, so they could turn it off.
One nice thing about this is that it could be useful in lag conditions as well. Don't you hate it when you fire a skill at a target that's in range on your screen, but is actually still out of range on the server side due to lag? You miss because your device hasn't caught up to your actual position. In that case, you could set the range ring to be slightly below the range of your skill (e.g. 7m for an 8m skill) and create some margin for error for high lag conditions. That is, the ring helps you get a little closer to compensate for lag.
I can see a lot of potential uses for this, especially as a training tool for players who want to get better at using their ranged skills effectively.
My idea is that there could be an option to draw a ring on the ground around the player. The player could set the radius of the ring to something that would help them. For example, they want to hit with a skill that's 8m range, so they set the ring to 8m. Now when they walk around, they see a ring on the ground letting them know what 8m looks like. They can then judge what's in range and use their skills appropriately. Over time, they'd get used to the distances and no longer need the help, so they could turn it off.
One nice thing about this is that it could be useful in lag conditions as well. Don't you hate it when you fire a skill at a target that's in range on your screen, but is actually still out of range on the server side due to lag? You miss because your device hasn't caught up to your actual position. In that case, you could set the range ring to be slightly below the range of your skill (e.g. 7m for an 8m skill) and create some margin for error for high lag conditions. That is, the ring helps you get a little closer to compensate for lag.
I can see a lot of potential uses for this, especially as a training tool for players who want to get better at using their ranged skills effectively.