The MUG, niggles and stuff.

[Elegnaim]

Yeah, the MUG is a bit of a resource hog. I mean, my PC is only a year old. CTF-Seminaris and the non-gameplay version of Goatwood (BTW, anyone else think that playable Goatwood would work perfectly for classic domination?) are the only maps that lag it.

the MUG kills stuff though. Given that it -- barring the the vortex -- is also easily the most deadly ChaosUT weapon, this makes it hard to dodge and, well... yeah.

Maybe some sort of configuration option could be added to change the details on the mug, or even how it works. HEck, maybe an alternate version could be selected that just lets it shoot out napalm or something, that sticks to the player and burns, or clings to the ground. Or, I guess, to just remove it from the cycle list entirely (which I guess is just me, because the MUG's the only weapon I've never really liked in any iteration of ChaosUT. Sorry guys Well, alson not overly fond of the CPP, but that's more because I just really like using enforcers ^^.)

"The MUG causes no problems when a bot is firing it at something else from a distance."

That's possibly. While a lot of things spawn a lot of images quickly, the MUG's are rather huge and bright, and the problem doesn't exist if you fire in short bursts.

[Shadowstar]

Ok, perhaps I should just say this (I've been trying to stay tight lipped since I agree with alot of the fans who are posting on this issue and had my only real effective change vetoed by the team without what I feel was a fair test), but anyway:

What I wanted to do that I figured would be the best option was to change the MUG to a fireball launcher. Basically, instead of the steady stream of fire, you get one large glob of it, that still looks pretty much the same (it arcs in flight, and even bounces like the current projectiles), the difference is that its a big glob, and the rate of fire is no longer continuous. This drastically cuts down on the effect useage, and I figured it would keep the power about the same by concentrating the same amount of damage into a more efficient behavior. In my own testing, it worked pretty well, but I never got any feedback on it, and when I asked for feedback, I got "the MUG isn't working. Let's just go with what we have in 3.1 and leave it there, and agree never to touch the thing again". I went along with it because I was also sick of it.

But every time I play Chaos anymore, I can't help but wonder if it might be better, and I always feel that my idea never got the chance it deserved. I'll probably catch hell for posting this in the public, but I think the fans deserve to at least know that someone on this team sees things the same way.

[Manta]

Thing being, that base is already covered by Napalm Grenades and/or bio rifle. Methinks that it would be better if the fire and felt like it was projected by the air ram the MUG also has.

[jb]

The mug has been tweaked to make it easier on the FPS...however it may not look as good now...CPP also was tweaked heavily..

[Kaboodles]

My one beef with the MUG is that when your roasting someone up close, you don\'t see any of the fire effects from the projectile because it hits the player so quickly. It looks weird. Same with the Ice.

For the CPP, I think it should do something unique, not just be a combination Enforcer/AR.

[Shadowstar]

For the CPP, I think it should do something unique, not just be a combination Enforcer/AR.

This is why I want to make it into a tactical tag-gun. It would stick a flare to a person that not only creates alot of light (making it hard for them to hide), but, more importantly, would make them show up through walls without scopes, as a way of team-coordinating railgun strikes.

[Kaboodles]

team-coordinating railgun strikes.

What if someone tags the enemy power core?

[Zachariah]

Even the ERDW has a Limited Range

[Shadowstar]

If you could actually fire an ERDW across a map, you wouldn't need to tag it. Just play the map offline and use spectator mode to figure out what direction you need to shoot to hit the enemy power core from your own base, and you'd be able to hit it every time. Fortunately, you can't do that with our ERDW.

[Kaboodles]

Even the ERDW has a Limited Range

Seriously?

It could still be a problem on smaller maps...

[Loki]

Is the same thing happening off line + on?Also what kind of Video card are you useing and do you have the latest driver's? I've got to admit the Mug is a little processer heavy.It's being worked on.

No, this happens to me, I run the game just under 'Holy ****' settings with 24 player offline instant actions perfectly smoothly. The second anyone gets the mug out though (edit for clarification; even on the other side of the map on say, ONS_Torlan), and buh bi frames.

[tyster]

I know there are dozens of ideas floating around for improving the MUG so you don't lag yourself to death when you get hit, but here's one more. How about the MUG shoots out a spray of napalm, which ignites after the drenched victim gets hit by something else or from the secondary (or third) fire on the MUG. The napalm spray wouldn't look as pretty as the fire spray, but would be a lot easier on the compy. I am very certain that the only reason the mug causes a framerate problem, even in single player, is because there are sprites right in your face. I've noticed the same thing when playing with my own emitters in maps I make. A napalm spray should be farily computer-friendly, since it's only a few sprites (like the blood effect when a player gets hit), and there could stilll be a pretty fire enjoyed from a distance.

Also, what if there is a volume defined around a player (say, 64 or 128 unreal units radius) where the sprites are not drawn, so it's never in your face.

[R.Flagg]

The effects for the MUG are more FPS-friendly now (our internal builds) than before. But it is still a flame-thrower, and there simply isn't any way to make a decent flame-thrower that isn't somewhat hard on FPS.

However.., if in fact the FPS drain is still too much for a particular user, they at least now have the new weapons menu which allows them to not use that weapon.

Naturally our goal is make weapons that everyone wants to use all the time, but FPS issues with a flame/ice thrower are of course a valid point for some with older machines or whatever.

[Kaboodles]

I think I would like the MUG more if the flames didn\'t fall to the ground so fast