So, everyone is creating their own threads with the same things.
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Bhop.
Yes, it was a bug in a first place. But now, it will be intentionally implemented part of gameplay, because it was accepted by a majority of experienced players, those who really like hl1 and spent hundred of hours to master it . This is how it was in quake series. -
Lj.
It is an important part of movement too, but even some of ag players agree that it should be fixed a bit. However, it should not significantly change gameplay in general and especially “silent” part.
So, there are two options, which seems pretty good for me:
2.1.1. Remove silent lj.
This technique is not that hard to worry about it within the context of skill cap, it won’t be changed that much anyway. We already have two types of movement, so we can make the fast one (bhop) a bit louder, and make the slow one (regular running) silent. There aren’t bhop as a movement technique in cs, so they need walking, but we actually don’t.
This would make the game a bit more unpredictable. Furthermore, “silent” version of movement is usually more useful for a player under control, but not for the one who already has lj and other things, so it would make the game a bit more “balanced” in some ways.
2.1.2. Make energy recovery system a bit more complicated. For example, decrease energy recovery rate after being hit, so it would be possible to use silent lj when it’s needed, but a player won’t be able to spam it in a fight.
Both of these options (even probably combined) are intended to keep movement and strategic parts of gameplay more or less untouched, but make combats a bit less chaotic and more elaborate.
There are several reasons for me to fix it:
2.2.1. It is too powerful, but too easy.
The only thing you need to lj is pressing a key(s). As it was already said, you almost cant control it, unlike dodges, so it doesn’t really matter how good you are - the jumps will be nearly the same. This means that a very bad player will be able to evade at almost the same level as a “medium” player. This is a problem per se, but it also means that it will be much more effective to focus on lj spam at low or even medium level, instead of aim, movement and other things.
The obvious solution is to add something which will make lj a bit harder.
2.2.2. Lj usage is unlimited.
In most of the games there are some limiting for such actions. A spring for example usually has energy cost (even in hl2), gauss need both ammo and time to charge (moreover, almost every weapon has a limiting, so it either needs ammo or time to recharge (hornet). Or it has very narrow scope like a crowbar). As for the other games - there is an energy cost for rolls (which is pretty similar to lj) in competitive/hardcore games which has such mechanics (dark souls for example), there is an energy in already mentioned tribes: ascend. These games are probably not that similar to hl, but energy management looks pretty “deep” for me, so it will not be a simplification. -
Xbow.
This is a long range weapon first of all, so I think there should be something to balance/limit it usage in close combat.
3.1. There are already two powerful hitscan close combat weapons - shotgun and 357. 357 was useless in original hl1, but now it got buffed, so it can be used as a replacement of xbow for mid and close ranges.
3.2. There are almost no consequences of the miss. So, a lot of players spam it without trying to aim. The weapon with such a high damage should have a delay either before or after a shot. You need to charge gauss before you shoot, and there are delays for switching weapon in quake, and railgun delay is the longest one. This will force players to aim instead of spam, because they know that they could be killed or damaged if they miss. This can hardly be called a noobification.
