Dev Log: Weapons
The following is an official dev log from the BATTLEGROUNDS website.
Contents
Players,
Today, our lead weapon designer Minwoo Kwon takes you through the basic implementation of weapons in the game. We will be taking a more in-depth look at the weapon systems in future posts, but for now we wanted to share the basics of the system we are creating.
Hello, this is Minwoo from PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS game design team.
In this post, I will be covering some basic concepts of BATTLEGROUNDS weapons and combat system.
First, let me start with the list of the weapons we have. Currently, we have total 17 different types of weapons: two pistols, one revolver, a classic pump-action shotgun, a double-barrel shotgun, a semi-automatic shotgun, four types of assault rifles, three SMGs, a LMG, and three sniper rifles.
When we were selecting these, we wanted players to be able to play BATTLEGROUNDS with a variety of weapons. We might be adding more to this list later on, but for now we believe this should be a good set of weapons to start with. We also will add different types of melee weapons at some stage in the future.
Players will be able to loot most of these weapons from the world as they play the game, except for some of the more powerful ones, which will only be available from care-package drops during the rounds. You will also be able to modify these weapons with variety of attachments such as compensators, suppressors, scopes, foregrips, extended magazines, and others.
Beside weapons, we have different levels of helmets, armor and backpacks as shown above. Helmets and vests reduce damages to head and upper body, respectively, and backpacks will provide more space so players can carry more items. Note that the items above are not to the correct scale as I exaggerated them a little to show them more clearly.
Combined with these weapons, attachments, and different levels of helmets & armor, a player will have the chance to level-up their character and weapon during the game.
When we designed our combat system, we believed that it is crucial that we make this as real and seamless as we can. Because this game is essentially about the battle between players, we want our combat system to be as non-intrusive as possible so they can focus on the fight at hand.
For bullet trajectory, we use weapons’ actual muzzle velocity and gravity to simulate close-to-real trajectory, so that it is as close to what people would see when they are shooting a real version of the weapon over distance. Bullet’s damage also decays as it travels over distance.
The trajectory system can be learned over time by shooting and looking at where your shot actually lands. For this reason, we specifically asked our effect artist to make sure our bullet impact effects to look realistic, yet are well-visible even from a long distance.
Another thing we have done is remove weapon sway from our game because it can be frustrating for some people due to its randomness.
We have also created a recoil pattern system for fully automatic weapons. When you spray your weapon, you’ll find there’s a pattern in it, which you can learn to master. Even though we expect more than 50% of combat will take place from mid to long range, it is there for you to learn and improve your close range combat.
That’s all from me for now,
Minwoo