It would be very satisfying to see fire spread on jungle maps and maps with foliage and other tiles which should be able to burn wood/carpet ect, if you want an example, you can look at how fire functions on the civ servers, it works functionally but does not look very good.
It would give flame throwers, Incindary OB’s, grenades and mortars a lot more functionality and danger so they actually earn their title of being a weapon that should be respected and feared as opposed to just a little sneeze of flamer fuel.
my only real issue is how fast flames from green/blue/regular, and how OT chem flames would operate. Also the potential for FF is even greater if this is added but thats’ beside the point.
This would only work on half of two maps and would probably just be really bullshit and not fun to play with (the entirety of LV’s colony sets alight because one guy used a flamethrower once).
I believe that it shouldn’t be a rapid spread, but rather an encroaching, looming danger. This approach could serve as an incentive for marines to carry more fire extinguishers and provide a rationale for the existence of the firefighter backpack that synthetics can purchase. It’s worth noting that most of the flamethrower incidents occur during tightly confined cave pushes where there’s limited burnable fuel in the first place.
Blockquote This would only work on half of two maps and would probably just be really bullshit and not fun to play with (the entirety of LV’s colony sets alight because one guy used a flamethrower once).
It can be a unique feature on more lush maps to amplify the harsh, war-torn terrain. These maps are frequently played, and for others, it could serve as an added quirk: foliage and fuel would no longer be invincible to fires.
Primarily, this would have an aesthetic impact and introduce a temporary danger. Since the fire lacks the same qualities as flamer fuel, it would be considerably easier to extinguish, lacking the stickiness or consistency of fuel. Burnt terrain cannot ignite a second time and could be effortlessly extinguished with a single pat from a Xeno or a quick squirt from a fire extinguisher. It should only cause minimal damage to barricades and can be stopped by them, as well as solid metal/sandstone walls.
To further balance this concept, more frequent rain on LV-426 could be introduced to extinguish fires that have gotten out of control, reducing opportunities for large-scale griefing.
Here’s a neat idea that might completely fuck game balance.
No I don’t think fire should spread across like, the ENTIRE map left unattended, but maybe it could spread 2-3 tiles from the initial point of flame and then another 4~ tiles become some kind of smouldering grass that slowly turns into the scorched earth over time, but does no damage and sets nothing on fire.
We also need new sprites for jungle walls (“Dense Foliage”) that are burnt. Maybe even let incendiary OBs clear them entirely?
I’m willing to try my hand at spriting this if anyone wants to try coding it.
Agreed, though I think it destroying jungle walls is a bit much. In the end, this is mostly a coding issue/nightmare. And would only work on a few maps at best.
Though it is a niche and this game, and SS13 as a whole, is built on niches so Its good regardless.
I think it would be really cool if fire spread depending on xyz factors. The most fun i have on LZ624, a map i personally hate, is burning all the foliage but i can burn like half the bush and the rest will be completely fine. Sometimes it makes sense but at others its just 4 corners remaining and dosen’t make sense since the fire should have spread and burned the entire bush i have no idea why.