[T-Ray]

7 words.... Wep Pin Cuss Tim My Zay Shun

nuff said








My thoughts about something in the new Cycler's design.

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Hello,

TL;DR: please consider flipping the gas tube and barrel positions in the Cycler's design. It's probably a simple change, and the high barrel, low sights design is both outdated and counterproductive for a rapid-firing (typical for TR weaponry, possibly in PS2 as well) assault rifle.

Sorry to bother you, but something has been bothering me about the new Cycler's design ever since I first saw it. Nothing too significant, but something you might want to look into before PS2's content lock, or the inevitable Crunch Time[TM], kick in.

Basically, the barrel is positioned too high for a modern, practical assault rifle. This is especially relevant due to the TR's emphasis towards rate of fire (even though the STANAG-ish magazines don't suggest a high ammo capacity, I suspect the TR's tendency towards high RoF remained from PS1).

Nowadays, assault rifles tend to have their barrels more-or-less in line with the stock, for practical reasons, much like the very modern-looking NC assault rifle (is it still Gauss/conventional hybrid?).

I'm under the impression that the old M14 battle rifle was one of the inspirations behind the new Cycler. The way such rifles were designed, with the barrel placed above the stock and with relatively short iron-sights, caused significant upwards kick when firing.
This video, around 2:40 to 3:10, describes the issue in some detail:

Now, I think the Cycler's design can be very simply made compliant with more contemporary weapons design (it is the future, after all), just by flipping the positions of the gas tube and barrel. In the trailer (especially at 0:40-0:41) the muzzle flash seems to be pretty low, well suited for a lower barrel, making this change seem a bit simpler.

Ideally, the gas tube could be connected with the barrel at an angle, just like in the iconic AK-series assault rifles:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...1/18/AK_47.JPG
Creating such a similarity towards the Soviet AK-47 and its successors could be pretty awesome in itself, as it might augment the imperialistic "feel" of the TR faction.

The gas tube could also be shortened to be just barely visible in front of the Cycler's body, with the front sight right on top of it, just like in the German G3 battle rifle and its derivatives:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../c/cc/G3a3.gif

Working in the industry and having close ties to people in gamedev itself, I know that editing content can be difficult from an organizational perspective, but not impossible. Please take my suggestion under consideration, as, however cosmetic, I think it may benefit the look and feel of the TR.

Also, slapping a RIS/RAS rail or two on the sides wouldn't hurt. I'm assuming Vanu rifles use tractor beams or other mumbo-jumbo for scopes and other addons, and therefore don't need rails, but who could understand you Vanu folk? :P

As an ending statement, I totally love what you guys are doing. I haven't played PlanetSide much in a long time (due to relatively high ping from Poland to the USA now that Werner is gone, mostly), and PlanetSide 2 is a beacon of hope for me. I check Planetside Universe and Youtube for new content many times a day, hoping to find a new sliver of information to sustain me until the beta.
The art direction in particular is absolutely brilliant - both modern, futuristic and reasonable - when I saw the Vanguard and the Galaxy my mind was absolutely blown! I can't wait to see more screenshots depicting the fruits of your work.

Best regards,
Firek