Ranger mode is broken in this game.

So they will relesee a fix that will ruin it for me and Kommodo?

 

I have no idea whether A4 will make any changes to Ranger mode in the future. The suggestions here seems to be to add an option to look in the backpack/mags to estimate your inventory by pressing a mapped key. That would of course be optional so if one would prefer to run around in the dark (no pun intended) that would not be a problem, no? Just don't tap the button.

 

this type of behavior is exactly why gaming is being ruined.

 

An isolated gene pool. A country entirely populated with criminals. This is the result. You know who you are.

In other news, just give us our SDK and everyone can be happy.

 

Why would it ruin anything?

It's just a function I never used.

 

There's a lot of people here not making the distinction between Ranger and Ranger Hardcore. In Ranger you CAN see the weapon wheel and total filter time in the weapon HUD. In my Ranger play through I had at one point as much as 58 min filter time. By now I know where they are and where not to waste time. They DID warn you. I'm also seeing more than 5 min showing on my watch in Ranger Hardcore. Currently I'm at 17 or 18 min and just finished the boat ride with the shrimps.

I'm not worried about throwable weapon selection either. The only time I generally swap them is before a tough swarm or boss fight. They also each have distinctively different slot sounds, which is the game equivalent of reaching for them while keeping an eye out. I applaud them for such originality. As for ammo, I always use a multi round shotty and the NV assault rifle by the guy begging for his life early in the game, of which there are plenty ammo for.

When I need a bit more kick, I switch to mil spec ammo. Up though Ranger I never once bought anything and had over 360 mil spec ammo left at the end of the game. I also don't feel not being able to see ammo count is a deal breaker. It's been suggested they could have added challenge other ways, I suppose more limited ammo being one of them, but then you'd have people complaining about running out of ammo in a game that is as much shooter as horror.

I feel they struck a good balance of what was needed for the type of game it is. However, I DO feel stealth is too easy. I was hoping the AI awareness would scale some on Ranger Hardcore, but it's still very easy to do sneaks or stealth kills. That said, the DLC is actually harder than I expected in spots. I've yet to get through the two top levels of the arena in the Tower Pack.

(EDITED)
Just finished my Ranger Hardcore run and the only thing that felt slightly broken to me was some pickups seemed a bit buggy, particularly filters. Early on they picked up fine, but towards the last third of the game I had to make numerous attempts to pick some of them up, the common scenario being they wouldn't pick up until I swapped for a mask that was laying nearby.

This was exacerbated by some masks not wanting to pick up. After a while I thought it was a Ranger Hardcore restriction limiting you to a set number of mask changes per level, because flashing masks would always pickup, but not ones that weren't. Then I noticed some that weren't flashing could be picked up.

Aside from that, filter time CAN accumulate on the watch, but I noticed when replacing a filter or starting a checkpoint, it would revert to 5 min or whatever portion blow that the filter had left.

Selecting throwables was plenty doable though. You get a knife sound for throwing knives, the sound of a fuse being lit for pipe bombs, the sound of flammable liquid sloshing for incendiary grenades, and the sound of the trip beam activating for claymores.

Nothing I encountered was anywhere near a deal breaker though, and just added to the horror theme a bit. Even after playing through this game several times, I still love it.

 

Bumping this to ask if anyone knows if Ranger Mode Hardcore will be fixed in the Last Light Redux release. They seem to have largely ignored the issue for the previous release but surely it would be a small thing to add a way to check your collective ammo in the redux?

 

As far as we know they did add this function.

 

Sure, but that's just an idle animation for a weapon where the ammo is always visible. What I'm talking about is the HUD-less mode where there's no way of checking how many rounds/magazines are on your person. I have no issue with not knowing how many rounds are left in the current weapon, that's immersive gameplay to me.

 

It's not an idle animation. They haven't shown ranger mode yet, so it's impossible to tell.

 

It's not an idle animation. They haven't shown ranger mode, so it's impossible to tell.

 

First of let me clarify a couple of things. I played Metro 2033 and LL extensively and I think I earned the right to critizice the game in a professional manner.

I totally agree with your points Oppai.

But the main thing I´m struggling with is that one never knows how much ammunition one has left. And I already came up with a solution to that!

But first why is that a problem then?
Every time one enters a firefight in LL or 2033(on ranger mode) my behaviour is always, which is bad! Because I have no sense of ressource(ammunition) management, because I don´t no how much I have left. Thus it results in me being EVERY time economical with bullets and leads to monotonous firefights(keep out I didn´t said gameplay). So the rewarding part when being very canny with bullets in firefight should be rewarded by doing the opposite, wasteing them when one has earned earned it. But sadly one never knows how economical he/she has to behave in this firefight. Therefore this further layer of gameplay tactician gets eliminated completly.

My solution:
The art of of no Hud designed games is to give the player the same ammount of information by disclaiming HuD elements and instead integrating them into the game through utilities and sound clues. Because Ranger mode is basicly such a game we should base our approach on thes restrictions. In my vision the protagonist should release the magazin out of the gun, and while holding the gun in the right hand he should hold the magazin in his left hand and count the bullets loudly when holding the key for reloading[r]. The process shouldn´t take longer the 2-3s and should furthermore alert enemys near by to your present. See this adds a futher layer of tactian too to the game!
For example one has 26 bullets left:"*pulls magazin out* 10...20...26**puts the magazin back inthe gun*" he practicly skips all last digit numbers and only counts out tener.
In addition it would eliminate accidently switching to gold ammunition. by the way I would prefer if you would implement the real-time-weapon-modefication-system from the Crysis series . It would to inhance the gameplay experience.

 

I agree with almost all of your suggestions StinkeStiefel, they would make both games much more immersive without being unfair, except for the last one about real-time weapon modification. I think that would actually break immersion, because carrying all of the possible enhancements for each gun that Artyom has and being able to apply them instantly would be way too unrealistic.

 

I have the perfect solution

 

Why would it? From my mind you can speak of that this would just enhance the dynamic of combat. Just switch from a long rage loaded out revolver to a silenced one. Changing from a Sniper to stealthed soldier mid combat!

Two things:
Firstly it´s not unrealistic at all attachments aren´t heavy or big at all. A laser, little skope...
Secondly a game doesn´t have to be realistic it has to fun that´s it. And as long as these new implementation do not interfear with the gameplay,story or the atmosphere it should be fine. But it´s up to you. Enjoyment is a very subjectiv feeling and if you feel that these restriction(only carying your current attachments) enhance your experience because it limits the way you appraoch combat and thus making your choices at the beginning of every new level more meaningfull to you I´m fine.
But does it realy affect you(the player base) that hard that it would justify to not to implent this system, which will result in more dynamic gameplay so that the total quality gets boosted?

 

Of course, even several weapon enhancements aren't that heavy to carry... but then multiply that by the number of weapons you have (and all of the possible modifications each of them has) and you're taking up much more space in your backpack. You could still most probably carry it all, but it wouldn't be a wise thing to do considering the fact that you need to remain mobile in the tunnels and especially on the surface. Then there are also the weapon mods that can't just be placed directly on the gun, meaning that Artyom would have to sit there for hours trying to implement them (since he isn't a skilled mechanic, as far as I'm aware).

As I said earlier, I like almost all of the ideas you posted except that last one. You're right that games don't have to be realistic in order to be fun, but in my opinion being able to carry all of that at once would kill immersion, thus negatively affecting the atmosphere. I wouldn't mind if the player was permitted to carry a very limited amount of attachments for his or her weapon(s) of choice, but these would have to be only those that are easy to attach and detach. Otherwise, as Aaron posted:

Artyom would need to get someone to carry that stuff for him in order to remain agile enough for combat.

 

Another problem I hate in Metro is the health system.
Whats the problem with Metros health system?
-The lack of a health bar
-The unneed of the health kits

But first why is it a problem then?:
Because the player has very little information about his current healthstate, which results in the player dieing unwillingly more often that is also frustrateing him. Don´t get me wrong the game should be challenging but not frustrating! But that´s a general problem many FPS games have to face. The bloodyscreen gives only an approximation and it´s read very subjective from player to player. Secondly I wish the health kits would have a bigger role in the game SINCE the game focusses on SURVIVING! Finding healthkits should be something exiting not something you are ignoring or leaving behind.

My solution on how to implement it in the game(healthbar issue):
-implement the health bar on the watch
(A long neon tube that is framing the clock)

My solution on how to implement it in the game(healthkit issue):
-implementation of a healthbar(better guessing on when to use your health kits accordingly)
-no health regeneration in Ranger mode
-if you inject an extra needle at full health your health will be overcharged temporarly and will slowly tick down

 

Neat ideas.
You kinda want some old FPS style in metro, huh? The neon healthbar seems cool. Having it on the watch though sounds kinda goofy . That means Artyom would have a needle piercing his body somewhere and a wire running to his watch so it may monitor his "health" level. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing new gadgets implemented into Artyom's watch, and a neon healthbar might just make it even better; but having the tube fill up (light up) when Artyom gets more health or get low when he looses health seems a bit weird and too high-tech for the Metro. Good idea though.
And I've used the health kits quite a bit throughout my playthroughs of both games. I've never thought of them as actual health, but more of a shot of adrenaline or morphine -so the last proposition you made sounds good too.

 

I thought it was broken too but now I know it wasn't.