Predator: a lot of improvements

  I have already seen two big posts on this forum, where a lot of new things were proposed in the balance and equipment of the predator and people. My post will be less about numbers and more about functional things.


                                              Controllability

  The most important thing in the game is convenient control. To date, the Predator has quite a few problems (getting stuck in the environment, ping-pong from branches and walls, jumping incorrectly along his trajectory), which significantly spoil the gameplay experience and cause annoyance.


Trajectory

  First, the visually displayed trajectory must be fully synchronized with the real leap trajectory. If the trajectory shows that the predator will jump to the marked place, it should jump to there, and not land twice as close. If the trajectory indicates that the predator is jumping onto the roof of the depot, the predator should jump onto that roof rather than face-first into the wall.
  Secondly, during the game, situations constantly occur when, after a leap, in the air, a predator hits its head on a branch and falls, or touches a tree trunk, tower, other obstacle and bounces like a ping-pong ball in an unexpected direction. To prevent this, the visual trajectory must take into account the size of the predator and its full-length flight with its arms raised above its head, and warn the player of a future collision.
  If there is such an obstacle in the path of the leap, then the visual trajectory should be interrupted at the point of collision and show a warning frame. This will give the player the necessary feedback that his leap will be interrupted by contact with the environment, and allow the player to adjust the trajectory of the leap.

  Such a visual warning is very useful, including on the Headquarters map, where there are high cliffs that the predator cannot jump on. Currently there are no warnings other than a trajectory not appearing and camera jerking when the leap key is pressed.

  Alternatively, the shape of the visual trajectory can be changed to a rectangular corridor.


Autoparkour

  One of the problems in controlling a predator is how it stops walking when it hits an obstacle in the form of a low rocky ledge that is knee high, or a railing around a building, or a log, or a bush, or a small ledge of the landscape.
  Let the predator automatically jump/climb such small obstacles without slowing down.


Vertical jumps

  Sometimes, usually at the most inopportune moment, during the leaps, the predator suddenly flies vertically upwards. This happens when he touches some low bush, stone, tree root, rocky ledge or fence in front of him. These annoying unguided vertical jumps can be partly corrected with an updated visual trajectory that will show that there is an obstacle in front of the predator, and auto-parkour that will allow you to climb obstacles before the leap.
  But there is an easier solution, which is to let the predator fly through these low obstacles. For example, turn off for a fraction of a second the physical model of a low obstacle in front of the legs of a predator, as soon as he received the command to leap, or something like that. In my opinion, this will be a more practical and friendly option for players.


Handling around obstacles

  A door frame can be a predator’s worst enemy. Even hitting it with its shoulder, the predator will firmly bury itself in it and stand still, forgetting in sad thoughts under the bullets of the fire team. Then he will clumsily turn 90 degrees away from the wall to step to the side, and then another 90 degrees back to finally go through the door. And God forbid that he touched the second jamb!
  Similarly, the predator behaves with the rest of the environment. Even contact with the cave wall at a 30 degree angle slows it down and stops it. I’ve tested the marine and he keeps walking at a 45 degree angle to the object. At a sharper angle, he doesn’t even stop sprinting.
  The solution to this problem is improved handling around obstacles. The predator should be more slippery around the environment and slide along it. The contact shouldn’t slow down its movement and rotation around the axis so much.


Jumping off branches

  Add jumping from branches by pressing the usual small jump (Spacebar). The leap wastes stamina, and double-clicking the crouch is extremely inconvenient, long and leads to shaking the predator on the branch.
  In general, it is strange that such a logical possibility was not added initially.


Rock climbing

  Similar to tree climbing, you can add rock climbing. This would be very useful on the Headquarters map, where now a predator that climbs trees and sheer skyscrapers has to go around a waterfall and some hills for a long time to find a place to jump.
It is entirely possible for a Predator to leap onto the top half of a cliff and climb to the top using the same animation as on a tree.


Changing weapons while leaping

  The Predator itself slowly changes weapons. In addition to this, leaping from the branches to the marine, he has to spend a lot of time to get a close-range weapon. Which makes the controls artificially limited and clumsy.
  Let the Predator change weapons and gear mid-air, as well as how he can activate heat vision and stealth. This will make character control more lively and comfortable.


Locking in buildings

  The fact that a predator can still be locked in buildings, corners, scaffolding remains absurd and outright game exploit. Try to stop a 200 kg motorcycle or a 350 kg tiger. I would look at you!
  At a minimum, a predator should push away people who have blocked its passage. It would also be fun if a predator on a sprint knocked the marines off their feet or unbalanced for a short time.


Broken aiming

  This item fits more into the category of a bug or a broken game mechanic. This has already been reported here on the forum, but I want to re-draw attention.
  When attacking FT members with long-range weapons (bow, spear, plasma), projectiles fly to the left of the aiming point. This doesn’t happen with AI or objects, only with players.



                                                Informing

Spotting

  When marines spot a Predator without being seen themselves, or spot it from a distance, Predator players get confused and wonder: “What kind of cheating is that?” In this regard, I would like to propose the following thing.
  When a marine spots a predator, the predator will see a red eye icon above that marine’s head (or an eye with an arrow pointing in the direction when marking off-screen). This will give the predator information on which side they are being seen, by whom, and how many Marines (if several of them are spotted). However, this mechanic will force the fireteam to use this ability more carefully. For example, if you are a sniper sitting in ambush and don’t want to give out your position.


Cloak

  When I first started playing PHG, it was always difficult for me to determine in heat vision whether a predator remained under cloak or not. To be honest, even now in the heat of battle, I have to turn off heat vision to see this, or navigate only by sound. The fact is that the light blue stripes along the edges of the screen and the hexagonal grid above the radar completely fall out of sight during the gameplay. Attention is focused on the center of the screen and the figure of the predator, respectively, you are looking for information about the cloak on the figure of the predator, and not on the edge of the screen.
  The predator model in heat mode should get a visual representation of the cloak on it. For example, at the moment when we turn on heat vision, while a predator is cloaked, we can notice a visual effect on it in the form of running waves for a second. You can leave this effect permanent. I think it will look quite good and informative.


Buffs

  The game has a lot of buffs, both perks and specializations. Such as increasing ranged damage, increasing melee damage after uncloaking or after hitting in the back, increasing stamina, reducing damage taken on trees, etc. But in the course of the gameplay, there is no information when certain buffs begin to take effect, how long they last, when the effect ends, and whether they work at all.
  As in many other games, information about active buffs and debuffs is displayed on the interface using icons. Under the health bar, there is enough space to place such icons. For example, a melee damage buff can be displayed with the familiar image of wrist blades, a long-range one with arrows, speed/stamina with a timer, and the like.


Stamina

  As a rule, in games, the effect of fatigue and low stamina is shown by dimming or blurring the screen. It increases as fatigue increases and weakens when the stamina bar is replenished. The PHG has recently introduced a dark spot effect, however it only appears briefly when the leap key is pressed.
  My suggestion is to make this visual effect long-term. For this effect to be on the screen while the low level of stamina is not enough for the leap. When the scale of stamina is restored sufficiently, the effect will gradually disappear.


Minimap

  A lot of people have already written about the problems of the round mini-map, and I will repeat this too. The contours of the buildings should become more contrast and distinct on it, the icons of pigs should be lighter and larger. The range needs to be increased as now I can literally stand on the boar icon on the scoreboard map, but on the minimap it’s still out of range.
  So far, this is a rather useless UI element, good only to collect arrows and a disk (the only ones clearly displayed) and find the pig when it is very close.


Second wind

  In addition to difficulties in navigating due to a too dark filter on night maps, which I wrote about earlier, and the ability to block a helpless predator in the buildings, in the second wind mode it is not clear whether the predator is being pursued or not. Is it necessary to run away from the fire group or not worth wasting time on this.
  It would be nice to add a marker showing the pursuit of a predator. There may be an icon showing the presence of marines in dangerous nearness. Or even which side they are from, and how far away they are.


“Downed” status

  The scoreboard for the predator lacks the status “Downed”. Sometimes it’s hard to tell how many marines are still on their feet. Often you put down the whole squad thinking that one of them is still alive. And that he will revive the squad or be able to go on the radio. In such cases, you don’t want to end the match so quickly.
  The new status will allow the player to better see the state of the fireteam.


                                                    Balance

Axe

  The ax received a noticeable boost and became dynamic, but from the perspective of the fireteam, it became overly powerful, capable of laying down in two blows. His standard attacks look reasonable, but his strong alt attacks has two problems: with a hit zone and an ultimate combo with a quick strike. Regarding the latter, you can slightly increase the delay after a strong attack, so that the predator doesn’t make a quick attack after that so instantly.
  About the hit zone. The ax currently deals 100 damage across the entire area of ​​effect, no matter how far the marine ran. Even dodging a hit and running over the predator’s shoulder, the player still receives 100 damage. It shouldn’t be.
  The principle of dealing damage with a strong attack from behind the head should be changed so that the damage decreases towards the edges of the affected area. Let the ax have a main area with 100hp damage. From it to the edge, the damage will go in descending order up to 50hp.
  Thus, dodging and running over the shoulder of a predator, the player will receive 50-60 damage. It will be fair to the predator as well, since sometimes it is not easy to hit a nimble marine, and it will be fair to the marine, rewarding him for dodging.


Hook

  The hook definitely needs fixing for its third instant hit. He, just as physically cannot be so fast, logically looks like a piece of animation is missing there.
  And in general, the balance of speed and damage raises questions. Let, for example, it be a fast weapon, but not with such high damage to put down a marine in 2 seconds.


Сlub

  The war club suffers from poor sticking to enemies, two weak first hits and a slow third one. Currently, this weapon can only work on beginners who don’t try to dodge.
  The club should do better sticking to enemies, increase the damage of the first two hits a little, and maybe reduce the delay a little to the third one.


Katana

  The katana is well balanced in the hands of the Ghost Samurai. However, when I gave the katana to the Fervent Hunter, I spent quite a lot of time pocking the marines, and the weapon was rapidly reducing my stamina.
  I think the katana should slightly increase the damage of quick strikes and reduce the stamina consumption.


Net gun

  I wish the net would nail the marines to the walls and the ground more often, like in the movies.


Disk

  Along with the improved disk controllability, there was some imbalance. It still deals 100 damage at any speed, which, coupled with the controllability, made it a two-hit weapon.
  The essence of the proposal is to reduce the standard damage to 50-60, and leave 100 in the fast mode. Thus, we will get a slow mode with less damage, where it is easier to hit the target, and a fast mode with more damage. This will encourage players to use the disc with more dexterity, to turn on the boost at the right moment to do more damage. This will add balance and make the disc more varied.

  I don’t know what was the reason for making three discs, but I’m in favor of having only one disc by default, like originally, and like it was in the movies. A player with three discs can easily lay down the entire team without leaving the spot. It was so until he became sensitive to ping and poorly controled.
  Three discs can be moved to the Large Pouch perk, which increases the amount of gears. However, they should receive a debuff in the form of reduced durability up to 75%. Either you have one solid disk, or three brittle ones.

  Another issue with the disc is that maybe after Isabelle DLC it seems to be too sensitive to ping. I usually have a 40-120 ping and the disc is constantly teleporting and twitching while flying, making it hard to control.

  The third problem is the disk getting stuck in the air. It constantly gets stuck near objects or in the middle of a doorway.

And my favorite - the disk is stuck in the middle of nothing!


Traps

 Sometimes traps fall incorrectly, crookedly, creating an oblique or vertical trap zone. I would like to be able to pick up these back.


Fire launcher

  Today, the wrist fire launcher is gear more for some fun than use. It can’t even mark a marine for a heat marker.
  My suggestion is to increase the burning time by 1.5-2 times. So that small long-term damage was inflicted and the marine could be seen on the thermal marker.


Berserker class

  The Berserker is severely lacking in health. Although the numbers show that the Viking and the Berserker have the same amount of health, in fact, in the gameplay it is felt that the Viking has 1.5 more of it. To be honest, playing as a Viking, I don’t feel his slow speed, which should feel lower than Berserker’s.
  Berserker feels like a slow Hunter. HP drops as fast as the Hunter, but he is also too slow to quickly hide and run. Even the Scout feels more tanky due to its high speed than the tank class itself.
  Berserker should get more health. Not as much as Viking, at least something in between Viking and what we have now.


Classes in general

  In general, I would like the approach to gameplay for the three main classes to be significantly different. As well as the tactics of the fireteam in the fight against different classes. Now the variety for a predator depends only on the type of weapon. And Scout handles better with all types. Even heavy weapons (hammer and ax), which are supposedly intended for tank classes, work better in the hands of a Scout simply because he catches up with the target faster.
  I contributed an idea that could get lost in the comments of this forum. Its essence is to reconsider the stamina consumption for melee attacks of the Scout and Berserker. Heavy weapons will take more stamina from the Scout and less from the Berserker. The logic here is: let’s give a two-handed 6 kg battle ax to an Olympic runner and powerlifter, and then see who swings the most. I’m betting on a powerlifter.
  However, in PHG everything is exactly the opposite! The scout does 9 strong ax attacks and 7 strong hammer attacks, 34 quick ax attacks and 25 quick hammer attacks. Berserker makes 6 strong ax attacks and 4 strong hammer attacks, 21 quick ax attacks and 16 quick hammer attacks. It turns out that our runner wins the race, and lifts a barbell of 300 kg, while the strong man cannot run, and pulls only 200 kg from his last strength.
  Yes, I know about the different percentage of melee damage. But Scout’s 900-5%=855 is still more than Berserker’s 600+10%=660. I took strong ax attacks. The advantage on the side of the Scout is significant, and in the same way it can be felt in the gameplay without any numbers.
  Let the stamina be spent for movement as it’s now, everything is logical here - the Scout runs and jumps more, because he is light, and it’s more difficult for the Berserker, because he is heavy. But melee should work exactly the opposite - the Scout quickly gets tired with heavy weapons, while for the Berserker this is his native element.
  As a result, Scout doesn’t lose much from such a change. His tactic, just like now, is to jump, hit and quickly run away until he loses his health. The Berserker, on the other hand, gains stamina for sustained melee combat and for escaping afterward.


“Ghost” Specialization

  As far as I understand, the purpose of this specialization was one precise attack from cloak. In fact, a player can simply spam the cloak button in a fight, receiving an unlimited buff by as much as 30%. Because of what this specialization is now overpowered.
  The Ghost effect should get a cooldown of 10-14 seconds, after which it will work again. So the buff will become what it should be. With the help of the buff icons, which I wrote about above, it will be possible to visualize the cooldown for it.



                                                New weapons

Whip

  A whip can be a wide range weapon like a combi stick. The Predator spins it around him, hitting marines behind his back and sides, and makes several moves to attack the area in front of him.
  During his alternate attack, he launches the whip in a straight line in front of him, making a long-range strike. Also, an alternative attack can take a second form, where the whip wraps around some marine in the distance, and the predator pulls him to himself. It can work like this: single press of an alternative attack - the predator makes a direct long-range snap with a whip; holding an alternate attack - the whip wraps around the target and pulls it, dealing low damage.


Shuriken

  I don’t agree with the leaks that shuriken is just a smart disk variant. Shuriken works on a completely different principle. It looks more like an unguided boomerang than a disk controlled from afar. I see the shuriken as a mid-range throwable weapon that can have cool unique mechanics as well.
  The shuriken can be used for melee strikes, just like the smart disc, by simply pressing the attack button. It can get a new animation of its own.

The shuriken throw will have two options, like a bow shot.

  • First: quick throw when we hold aim + attack. The predator throws the shuriken at the aiming point, the shuriken flies 6-8 meters, then soars diagonally upwards, turning around, and returns back to the hand.

I’m not an artist at all, so these are just sketches.

  • Second: a strong throw with unique mechanics. We hold aim + hold attack until it charges. (Like a red bow shot.)
    For example, we are in a tree and we want to launch a shuriken into the building where the FT guys are hiding. We hold down a strong throw, the predator swings, we release the button, and the predator throws a shuriken at the aiming point.

  The shuriken then flies into the building and starts bouncing off the walls and furniture, slicing through the Marines and damaging them. The shuriken does 15-20 bounces and gets stuck like a disc. The FT can break it like a disk, and the predator needs to pick it up before they do.

  Shuriken can be an alternative to Plasma Caster for smoking FT out of buildings. Three of these shurikens thrown inside can wreak havoc.
  In an open space, in a forest, shuriken can also bounce off walls, objects, rocks, and maybe tree trunks, but it will get stuck in the ground. Including a strong throw can be used to reach the shuriken at a greater distance than with a quick throw. For example, when we are in a tree and see how someone from the FT puts dirt on himself.
  To prevent the shuriken from flying away after ricochets to the edge of the map, it will automatically return to the hand when it flew too far from the predator.


Long wrist blades

  Wrist blade variant or primary weapon. Due to the size, it should have a large impact zone, but be slightly slower than standard blades.


Two-handed wrist blades

  It may be a variant of the wrist blades. Two equipments on each arm. With a new animation of attacks with both hands.


Arm blades

  Huge blades that are attached to the side of the arms. Primary weapon for two hands. It can be used for sweeping strikes with a large area of ​​damage in front of a predator.


Dagger

  Ritual dagger. Primary weapon. It can move like an elder’s machete. The Predator will cut and thrust while holding the dagger in a reverse grip.


Double plasma cannon

  It’s just a stylish thing. Option instead of the standard caster. A charged shot will fire from two cannons with the same damage as a standard caster. Rapid fire will be from each gun in turn.


                                                  New gears

Falcon

  A falcon with knife from a leaks might be a good option for a smart disc. I think he will look good. But I would like the falcon to be a type of gears and perform the canonical reconnaissance role from the movies and help the predator find the marines.
  A falcon can be a cross between a motion detector and target isolation. The predator will launch the falcon, and it will rise up and fly straight to the fireteam. Having reached them, the falcon will circle above them high in the sky, highlighting their silhouettes. Marines can hide under the roof to get out of the scan and line of sight of the falcon, or try to shoot it down. The falcon will return back to the predator when the ability time runs out, or its hull strength, or the predator called him back. The falcon may have a cooldown until its strength is restored. The falcon can be launched a certain number of times, just like other gears.


Hunting dogs

  The Predator blows his whistle to activate the hunting dogs. Three dogs spawn outside the camera on the ground and run out from behind him or from nearby bushes. They run towards the squad and attack random marines. The predator can take advantage of the distraction and attack the FT.
  Dogs will have HP, FT can kill them. The surviving dogs will run away when the ability time runs out. Summon dogs should also have a cooldown so that the trio can be called after a certain amount of time. You can summon dogs a limited number of times.
  Unlike a falcon, dogs will not run towards an undetected enemy. Marines must be visible to the predator. For example, when a predator stands on a branch above the camp in which the marines run, and he calls the dogs. If there are no enemies nearby, for example, a predator whistled at its respawn, dogs will appear and will just walk and sit nearby. When the predator goes into the jungle and encounters the AI, the dogs will attack the AI ​​as soon as it enters their detection zone.


Noose

  The Predator takes out a small coil and swings, aiming. We can see the transparent silhouette of the coil, which can be attached to the ceiling, walls above the first floor, branches or alarm towers, as well as its trap area on the ground. After being thrown, the coil is attached to the surface and lowers a thin noose to the ground.
  The trap should be fairly inconspicuous. The noose should give out only a barely noticeable gleam, like a cobweb thread. You can apply the effect of partial invisibility to the coil, like a trap, and add the sound of a thread ringing from the wind.

  The loop is triggered when a marine enters the zone. The noose binds his legs and pulls him up, hanging him upside down.

  A captive marine can cut the thread with a knife to free himself immediately, or shoot the coil to fall, and then cut the thread with knife blows. The coil can be shot, including by partners, in cases where it is installed under a branch, and the marine hung high above the ground to lower a comrade and help cut the noose with knives.
  The released marine will take damage from falling from a great height.
  With the help of the loop, it will be possible to canonically hang opponents.


Net trap

  The same principle as with the noose: we attach a coil, a net unfolds under it, the marine falls into a trap, the net closes and lifts the caught up. The marine can get out by cutting the net (here he will not be able to shoot the coil like with a noose on his own). Or his teammates shoot the coil, dropping the caught on the ground, and cut the net with knives.


Hand noose

  It looks like a noose trap, but is released from the wrist device or held by the predator in the hand. Predator aimingly throws a noose around the Marine, tightening his neck, and pulls him to himself. The Marine takes choke damage. Thus, a person can be pulled up to a branch, after being released, he will fall and receive damage. Or recreate the situation from the first film - catch the marine, drag him into the jungle on a sprint, separating him from the rest of the team, and attack there.


Vibro-spike

  The Predator extends its left arm, aiming as it does with a fire launcher. It shoots out a large double-edged black spike. The spike pierces the Marine and twists into his body with a whirring sound. The spike continues to buzz and spin for a while, causing bleeding.



Blade launcher

  In some films, predators shoot with wrist blades, I think you can implement such an element in the game.
  The Predator takes aim with his left hand and fires a blade from his wrist device. I think doing a simple damage hit is boring because we already have arrows. Therefore, let the blades nail the marine to the environment. And he will have to press the action button to pull the blade out of his shoulder, legs, to free himself. If there are no objects nearby, the blade will stick in the body until the Marine pulls it out.
  The blade will deal damage on impact and cause bleeding while stuck in a marine.


Laser fence

  The purpose of this gear is to restrict the movement of FTs or block the exits of buildings and caves by placing laser walls. In the movies, these lasers cut xenomorphs with ease, but for the game they can be made less lethal.
  Touching such a fence will cause the marine to take damage and recoil with a pain sound. He can’t go through that one.



City Hunter’s first aid kit

  Aid kit variant. Instead of a syringe, the predator unfolds a plate, pours out a substance that ignites and turns into a blue gel, then cauterizes their wounds.

11 Likes

                                                  New perks

  A lot of interesting new perks have been suggested on this forum, I’ll only mention the ones that are sorely lacking in my opinion.


Invisibility while crouched

  A perk that allows you to remain completely invisible while the predator moves in a crouch.
  To be honest, I do not understand why the predator does not have such an opportunity initially. Crouching has a large speed penalty, and you can’t chase and catch up with players this way. I meet many beginners who crouch in front of the FT, believing they are completely invisible. And this makes sense, because in other stealth games, crouching gives stealth. But in our stealth game, you can’t sneak on stealth.
  If such an ability cannot be introduced on a permanent basis, because in the movie the predator was visible when moving slowly, then let there be such a perk. Moreover, I think this perk should have been slotted in the first Predator set for beginners initially, for the reasons described above.
  Crouching invisibility will allow the player to stealthily change position on the branch to get out of line of fire, and what I find more fun is to sneak into the building towards the FTs and surprise attack them.


Invisibility indicator

  Another starting perk for beginners that should help them figure out when their predator is completely invisible. It adds a hexagon indicator to the interface showing the degree of invisibility.
  More experienced players will not need this perk, as they know how cloak works.


Auto lock

  In the movies, we can see how the predator’s triangular sight automatically locks on to targets. A similar thing was implemented in AvP games. How can it work here?
  The player holds down the aim button, activating the laser sight, the triangular frame, which now just gathers in the center of the screen, grabs the marine closest to the aiming point and locks on it. The player can then release the aim button, turning off the laser, and fire plasma shots by pressing the attack button. The triangular frame is unlocked if the marine hid behind the wall, in the house, and in a word, left the line of sight of the predator. Also, the player can independently disable auto-lock by pressing the aim button again.
  When using the dual shoulder cannon, aiming can lock onto two targets.


3-6 perks

  In general, I would like to be able to install from 3 to 6 perks and more gears if extra points allow. Especially when 4 gear is already available on the City Hunter.



                                                Customizations

Heat mode colors

  It would be great to get different color themes for the heat vision. Cyan, red-orange, grey-green, red-yellow, etc.


Sound and view change effects

  In films, there are quite a few different sounds with which the vision of a predator changes. It is quite possible to use them for customization.
  At the same time, different switching effects can be made to these sounds. For example, somewhere the sound is short and the vision may change with a short effect or a vertical one, and somewhere, as in the AvP, the strip and the sound will go from right to left.

  A couple more examples of mods where the vertical effect of changing vision, different mask sounds, red and yellow color scheme.






Plasmacaster sound

  What the Predators DLC misses a lot is the different sounds of the shoulder cannons. They have different gun sizes and designs, and should definitely have different loading and firing sounds. And so that later these sounds (or guns) become available for customization to other classes.


Shoulder cannon with laser pointer

  Variant for placing a laser pointer on the shoulder gun. Like an elder. On the two cannons of the Wolf, this should look crazy.


Gear swap

  It would be great to change the shape of the blades in the wrist mount and shoulder guns. For example, put the Samurai blades and the Exile’s shoulder mount on the Hunter. In particular, predators from the DLC can be endowed with unique visors and mask sounds, unique sounds and effects of guns. And then use all these elements for customization. Well, or at least add such an opportunity for the three main classes.
  What I’m really looking forward to is the awesome sounds of the mask and caster from the AvP1 movie.


Remove weapon

  In the equipment menu, gears and perks have a “Remove” button. Add one for the main weapon too.


Statistics

  It would be cool to have an extended stats tab with health, energy, predator stamina numbers on the equipment screen. And so that it reflects the influence of the installed perks, so that you can see how much the energy or stamina consumption has changed.



                                                Gameplay stuff

Showing weapons

  I like the look of some of the weapons on the City Hunter. Add the display of weapons on the predator in the match. It will be better than when he pulls something out of thin air.
  You can also add a “Show weapons on predator” switch in Options.


Organic infrared vision

 The loss of the mask leaves the predator “blind and deaf”, making it impossible for the pigs to be spotted and for novices to find the fireteam. I suggest adding the infrared vision that the predator had at the end of the first movie when he took off his mask.
  This mode will retain sensitive hearing, which will allow the player to hear distant shots and the grunts of wild boars. Thus, the player will have a chance not to lose the fireteam and spot wild boars nearby. The sound in this case should be in contrast to the mask with a humming sound effect, and with a high pitch, when the male voice sounds like a female or child. Vision should be blurry burgundy and difficult to distinguish the outlines of the area and people.


Various long claims

  The game already has a large set of claim animations that FT see in the cinematics. Just add them to rotation for a long predator harvest. One single animation terribly tired.
Some short animations (for example, where a predator swings the head of a prone marine onto blades) can be added to a short claims.


Stealth kills

  Stealth kills are pretty cool stuff. Why not add them permanently so that they are available from the very beginning of the match? This will give the Predator a new gameplay tactic - to wait for the right moment to attack a lone marine and eliminate him at once with a stealth kill. And as a marine, I personally would be more pleased to watch a good animation than to die in two seconds from an ax or a hook, followed by a quick decapitation.
  I think having the ability to play in such a stealthy way would be more in line with the spirit of the film than the only skirmish tactic as it is now.


Cloaked in melee

  In the movies, the predator remains in cloak while fighting in close combat. Perhaps the uncloaking was done to make the predator visible to the players, but in fact the silhouette of the cloaked predator is perfectly visible, both close up and on the branches, and even more so when it is marked.
  Cloak on a predator during melee attacks will give a plus to the atmosphere (an invisible something attacks FT), and, in fact, will not change anything in the gameplay.


Mimicry wheel

  I have a feeling that the mimicry wheel was designed as a tactical thing but didn’t achieve its purpose. Now the use of human phrases is just a way to reveal yourself.
  One of the things that could make it better is to make it play the voice lines of the marine closest to the Predator. Thus, sitting next to a downed Dutch, the predator will be able to call for help with the voice of Dutch, and not a random woman.
  Another problem is that the FT have too much information about where all the squad members are, who is alive and who has died. And an outside voice immediately makes it clear that this is not a teammate or AI. If the FT didn’t know that one of them was dead, but only downed, they could go to save a mate, while at that time the predator would have already collected the marine’s skull and would have sat near the body, calling on others with his voice. That would be an interesting scenario.


Emotes

  It’s quite possible to add a few new emotions.

  • Roar in place – now with the roar emote, the predator becomes visible. I suggest adding a second roar from the opening, where the predator does it on the spot. So he will remain invisible. This can be used as a tactical thing – like parodying a sound decoy to confuse the TF.
  • Victory – the predator raises its right hand with the weapon it holds above its head and lets out a roar.


  • Respect – the predator takes out a trophy from his belt and throws it at the foot of the Marine. It can be either a default pirate pistol from the movie or a trophy that the player has hung on the Predator’s belt in the customization section. Or make a selection wheel of several trophies when choosing this emote.


  • Mask off – the predator straightens up to its full height and removes the mask with both hands, then throws it at its feet.
    The player can bring the mask back up by pointing the camera at it and pressing the interact button.


  I also note that during emotions, the predator should become immune to damage. Otherwise, the meaning in them is lost - the marine will shoot, and the predator will lose a lot of HP while he is posing.


Interaction marker

  Another thing that can make predator gameplay more tactical.
  When a marine makes a long interaction (with a computer, a chemical, an analyzer), the predator will see an icon in the place where this happens. It could be the small orange icon used by FT. The predator must be close by, for example sitting on a branch above the camp where the fireteam is on a mission.
  What is the meaning of this marker? We have the “Tactician” specialization, which, it would seem, was created in order to catch marines in interaction, but now it is only suitable for catching FT in a net or attacking while reviving fallen teammates. In another case, arriving at the camp, the predator will simply attack the marines it sees, without any sophisticated stealth tactics.
  The presence of such a marker will allow you to select targets more tactically, to understand where and what the marines are doing. At the same time, this thing will push the fireteam to more team play and look both ways, covering a vulnerable mate.


Breakable caster

  In the movies, we can see plasma casters break down. Why not add this so it can break from shoulder shots? It will be harder to hit than the mask, so the device should have a little less HP.


Active armor

  The essence of the idea is to change the hitbox in such a way that the predator takes damage to open areas of the body, and parts of the armor block it. When projectiles hit the armor, they will ricochet, and in the UI, the FT will see the shield icon, like when shooting at the armored AI, and hear the sound of the bullet ricocheting off the metal.
  Thus, the armor will perform not only a decorative function, but will also work in practice. The Scout will turn out to be more vulnerable and it will be important for him to stick to the enemy with his left side, where there is armor. Berserker will become more protected, as it is well covered with armor. Shooting for the fireteam will require slightly better accuracy, but I don’t think that will change much. Because the center of mass (belly), where the player always shoots anyway, the predator is open for everyone. The Exiled, who has wood armor, can do a reduced percentage of damage through the armor, because the wood does not stop the bullets, but dampens their energy, as well as a random chance of ricocheting or not penetrating. Have Cleo make vulnerabilities under rag clothes.
  I think this innovation will add protection to the predator. Fireteam gameplay will become a little more interesting, requiring targeting at weak points and a little closer to the concept of “different gameplay against different classes.”


Second chance for the last marine

  It happens very often that the last marine dies stupidly from AI or falling from a height. In such cases, the end of the match looks ridiculous. Especially when the predator didn’t want him dead, waited for the squad to revive on the radio, or shot him by accident, believing that there was still a member of the FT who could raise the rest. Then it makes no sense for the predator to collect the skull.
  It would be nice if the Predator got the option to revive the last marine. For example, he sits down and pricks a marine with pred’s syringe. Such a thing can only be done with a player who has received the status of “last man standing”.


Hanging

  One of the recognizable features of the predator was to hang prey by its feet on trees. If you combine this with some of the gameplay features of Dead by Daylight, then you can get new mechanics.
  After knocking down a marine, the Predator will have the “Grab” option instead of the option to pick up its skull. The Predator puts the marine on his shoulder and sees the highlighted places where he can hang a human. The Predator gets to any place and, jumping onto a branch, holds the Interaction button for a short time to hang the prey. Then he goes for the next one. The fireteam can save the teammate, or he can cut the rope himself after a while. The Predator can carry Marines farther apart to spray them more.
  The Predator must hang the Marines twice before he has the opportunity to kill them, rip their skulls off, or make stealth kills.
  This mechanic means canceling the radio and materializing reinforcements from the air. And in general, it pulls on a new game mode. It can turn out to be closer in spirit to the original source, in my opinion.


Honor points

  The novella for the first film mentions the honor system among the Yautja. Killing with a plasmacaster is considered the least respected, and killing with wrist blades is the most. On this part of the lore, a system of points awarded per match can be made. Different weapons give different amounts of honor points, depending on the difficulty and risk involved in wielding that weapon.
  In addition to weapons, this system can be used with members of the FT. It is a great honor for a predator to kill a dangerous opponent. The degree of danger can be determined from the damage they inflict on the predator and displayed using bars around the red diamond (scan icon). 0-100 damage - no bars, 100-500 - one bar, 500-1000 - two, 1000-1500 - three, 1500 or more - four. The higher the danger level of the enemy, the more honor points the predator will receive for collecting his skull.
  For level 0 and 1 enemies, the reverse prerogative can be made - the greatest honor for a predator will be to release harmless and inexperienced prey, and collecting their skulls will give little points. Collecting level 0 enemies that did no damage at all can even award negative Infamy points.
  Also, if the predator wants to, he can show mercy to the most worthy fighter, as was the case in Dutch’s story (and in one of my matches), which will give him special honor points. In this case, in addition to the options for a quick and long claim, he should receive the option “Mercy”. By selecting it, both players, FT and predator, will see a cinematic where the predator throws a trophy to a human, leaving him alive; or simply turns around and slowly walks away, dissolving into the night to the music from the final scene of Predator 2; or puts a mark on a person’s face with blades in order to leave a sign to other predators that he is a dangerous opponent.
  By the way, the cinematic of the long claim of the last survivor can be added to the playback for the predator too.



   P.s.: Thank you if you have read this to the end. Thank you if you are a developer and have read this whole long post. I tried to express all the thoughts that have accumulated over more than a year of playing.

17 Likes

This is absolutely incredible, I’ve never seen such an interesting post in almost 2 years on this forum, all your ideas are relevant, varied and interesting, and you seems to have been working on it since a loooooong while. You are probably one of the best member of this forum.

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Ilfonic NEEDS to read this, it will save the game for at least 6 years.

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Meh

I’ve seen plenty of these posts come and go. It’s all wishful thinking. Never going to happen. Coffee2Go and LazyCollinator made cool shit like this but were completely ignored. Trust me, this is like a child’s unseen and unfulfilled Christmas list

1 Like

Bring this back. Must of been causing bugs for the devs to just trash it.

Yes. Less time managing more killing.

******problem is the disk getting stuck in the air. It constantly gets stuck near objects or in the middle of a doorway.

******DOES IT STILL GET STUCK ON HELICOPTER ROPE?

Honor points

This never became unfortunately. Maybe in the future as in in-game challenges.
Ex. Your map menu will show.
1.Cause damage with plasma caster (xx amount).
2.Down 2 Fireteam
3.Use gear (gain xx XP)
4.Taunt 4 times within close proximity.
5.Cause xx damage with secondary weapon.
Completing these challenges will earn the Predator honor points which in turn equal total xp.

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DUDE THIS IS AMAZING. SUPER GOOD JOB AND I REALLY HOPE Illfonic sees this!😮

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*cloak

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This thread is too good for this forum.

6 Likes

You must be new lol.

All of this is amazing I would to see even a fraction of this implemented, but considering Illfonic is also working on other games as well as this one; and seem to be very restricted in terms of what they can and cannot add to the game as well as what they are even allowed to tell us(This is according to them of course and previous interactions with them on the forum)I don’t know how much they still have planned for PHG, I’m the first to be optimistic and hope that they plan to keep up the support for this game for a long time, but as always I’ll keep my small candle lit and not expect too much until I’m hopefully pleasantly surprised.
But I appreciate the obvious hard work and thought that went into this post, I love seeing other’s passion for Predator up here as opposed to the negativity and other weird stuff 😒

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Thank you very much! This was brewing in my head for a very long time. :))

2 Likes

And here you are right. Many of the suggested things on the forum are pretty logical next steps in adding content and developing the game. But for some reason, development is going very slowly, as if quite a few people were left to work on the Predator. Maybe they need to hire some enthusiasts.)

Without a doubt one of the best ideas for this game. I hope the developers listen to you and carry it out.

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Thanks, fixed it.

I agree with 90% of everything you said, you’re a really good man! I hope the developers will listen to your ideas, at least to the emotions that you came up with, it’s interesting, you’re well done

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This is the greatest post I have ever read. Fucking fantastic mate. We should just let you draft to the developers of Predator Hunting Grounds 2 all these amazing ideas that should be in this game. It’d add so many great new mechanics and tactics to make this game better and more interesting and more movie accurate.

One idea I had was being able to change and upgrade bio mask analytics. Would mostly just be visual changes but yeah

2 Likes

I had a similar idea but with the shoulder cannon to were you could make the shots have more power but takes up more energy or for a different upgrade you could make it so that the longer you charge it the more shots come out.

Yeah bro. I was mostly thinking about for example the Super Predators having a vision mode hud that deviates from the likes of Jungle Hunter and City Hunter

1 Like