The rocket launcher feels bad to use, the aimpunch/knockback is also terrible

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

Here you can see how the rocket launcher always hits the target much further above than intended.

Here are some examples on how both that + aimpunch screws you over.

But why is aimpunch terrible? This is something that is seriously amplified when fighting against grunts. Crossbow and the 357 can become useless when you are aiming at the sky the entire time trying to shoot someone. Not only that but it’s like grunts weapons have some sort of super knockback where a single grunt is enough to make you fly.

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#2

Grunt knockback was identical in real life testing.
The rpg has issues, aim lower until it gets fixed.

#3

"Grunt knockback was identical in real life testing."
??

“The rpg has issues, aim lower until it gets fixed.”
I know that is why I am posting this, if you haven’t noticed I am aiming at the bloody ground and it still goes above the tank. Posting this to bring more attention to this flaw.

#4

This is why you always keep the laser sight on.

#5

Does not mean that this should not get looked into to change it.

#6

the way I see it, the launcher was designed likely in Lore to only fire laser guided to it kicks up the rocket after firing. The one in the original half life did this as well. both half life’s and black mesa’s are inaccurate when not using teh laser.

#7

It’s bad design. I don’t even recall the rpg being this bad in HL1. That you can’t even hit things without laser because it will always go over targets even when aiming at the floor.

What’s the point in having a toggleable laser if it’s so useless and bad?

Again you can’t have it like this if it’s unfun and justifying it because it’s ‘lore’ or it was like so in HL1 is dumb.

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#8

Why would you ever fire it with out the laser anyway? SEriously there is no point in the game where it is useful with out the laser. Cause in those points you are generally better off using other explosives or experemental weapons.

#9

Really???
You shoot it without the laser sight so you can pop out from cover and send one down range then quickly duck back (and wait for it to reload)[/size] before you absorb copious amounts of enemy return fire.

Dr Cola is correct.[/size]
The rpg in Half Life did not have these issues. (with either laser or open sights)

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#10

Doctor Pepsi Colas analysis about RPG being fucked up is, indeed, correct! One dark, why would a game developer intentionally put a useless weapon into a shooting game? Seems silly to me. I remember someone from CC mentioning this problem to be corrected at some point.

#11

Yeah I pay extremely little attention to the weapon and combat balancing in BM and even to me the way the rocket leaves the launcher looks way too high.

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#12

Definitely don’t fire it through a door because of the way it jumps up it will hit the door frame. It’s strictly an outdoor weapon. :wink:

#13

I know I’m late, but I agree. The misallignment is really annoying. And yes, there are reasons to use the rocket launcher without laser. For instance, it allows you to shoot a rocket and instantly switch to a different weapon before the rocket has reached the target.

I actually really like the RPG, and I feel like it gets a bad rep because it’s introduction (the cliffside helicopter fight) is awful and (in my opinion) possibly the worst part in the game for the following reasons:

  1. the helicopter’s collisions are TERRIBLE (sometimes rockets just “bounce off” somehow).
  2. The rocket launcher’s laser targeting is very sluggish (Half-Life 2’s rocket launcher is way more responsive). This is particularly annoying because the skybox in that section of the game is so large: If you miss the helicopter (or didn’t miss but the helicopter decided to push the missile away for no reason), it takes AGES for the rocket to reach the level bounds and despawn, leaving you unable to defend yourself until it finally has.
  3. The cover looks bad (low poly rocks) and plays equally badly. The best strategy is crouching behind a rock until the helicopter stops shooting for a second or two, fire a rocket, then duck again. It’s not very engaging at all.
  4. Last but certainly not least: You have the tau cannon which can not only take the helicopter down much quicker, but also way easier because it avoids the dodgy collision, and the damage output is instantaneous. It just seems like bad design to me. Why bother giving the player a new weapon for an engagement where a different weapon is the better choice in literally every way?!

Anyway, that’s it. Been meaning to get that off my chest for a long time.

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#14

Something that might help with Issue 2 (which occurs in places other than the cliff battle and will probably occur quite a bit in Xen) is adding the functionality to prematurely detonate a rocket by pressing fire again while it’s in flight.

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#15

A potential problem with that approach is that in the heat of the battle, it may happen that you double-click or click fire multiple times in succession, and as a result, you risk blowing yourself up in the process. However, this could possibly be mitigated by adding a delay to the premature detonation.

#16

That’s a very interesting idea actually. Though better laser targeting on the RPG would probably be enough for me…

#17

Another thing that I think would make the RPG less infuriating would be to make it clearer whether or not the laser guidance is on. It’s hard to make a judgement call on whether or not to use the guidance system when you need a moment or two to check if it’s on or not.

#18

Could be a feature for the small viewdcreen perhaps… A symbol to show if it is guidance on or off. It has no use at present other than just being there.

Perhaps a red lit circle target shape for guidance on and normal color shape (lime / yellow) for off or simething like that.

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Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.