You said you wanted feedback, so here it is!

Hello, everyone. It said ingame you could provide feedback, and I am a veteran of the first game, and have now spent quite a few hours in Insurgency: Sandstorm, so I felt I should contribute and give said feedback.

First of I want to say, what a great fucking game. The intensity is amazing. That feeling of being shelled with artillery, or seeing grenades flying through the air towards you is truly awesome. I love the game already. It's everything which I liked about the first game, but more of it.

I want to go over some specific things, both great and not so great, and hopefully try and provide some constructive feedback. Everything is obviously my own opinion, so you might not agree, and that's alright. I can only give feedback based upon my experience, and your experiences may differ from mine. So please feel free to comment. But anyway, let's get started.

Add different colors to the chatbox depending on whether it's actual typed chat, the team messages, or other.
Currently everything in the chatbox is the same color, and having different color text depending on what was in the chatbox could be great. It'll make it easier to distinguish typed text from team messages, etc.

I think tracer rounds should be optional
I don't see why this wouldn't be optional. Sometimes you don't want tracer rounds. Simple.

I think the maps are absolutely amazing.
It's very rare I genuinely like all maps in a game. The maps fit the game so well, both in theme and in layout. It's the perfect mix of open areas and closed quarters. Couldn't be happier about the maps.

When you are in the buying menu, it would be nice if you could see if the round or your wave was about to deploy
Currently when you're changing your kit, the information usually found in the top right corner about whether you're about to deploy or if the game is about to start isn't there. So you have to switch away from the buy menu to check if the round is starting, or if your wave is about to deploy. No reason that information shouldn't be in the buy menu.

Optional ammo types, like the original game
For some reason we lost this in Sandstorm. I don't quite understand why. I thought it was just another layer of welcome mechanics and tactics.

I'd like heavy armor to be a bit more effective
Currently heavy armor or no armor at all doesn't seem to change anything. I think it could be nice if heavy armor was a little more effective. It would give me a reason to sometimes pick it up, because as it is now, you basically die instantly, heavy or no armor at all. In my opinion it would only add more customizability to the game by allowing people to customize their build even more. This slight increase in effectiveness could come at a slight additional movement penalty as well.

Kill cam
I am not personally a fan. I don't think it adds anything to the game, but only takes away. If I get my ass shot from some obscure angle or something, I want to find the guy myself, not see him on the kill cam. It takes away skill from the game, both for the guy being shot, and the shooter who have spent time and effort to find great hiding spots.

There's no scoreboard at map end, only those award things
I like the awards. They highlight important players, but I'd also like to see the regular scoreboard. I know you can switch to it, but I think it should be displayed for everyone, seeing how sometimes people have a great score in the game, and have arguably contributed way more to the round than the guy with the most headshots. This is a team game. Show off those great team players.

Gore
The gore is absolutely fucking amazing. I love seeing characters lose limps and be ripped apart when coming into hugging distance with explosives. That's what's supposed to happen.

Invisible walls on rocks
On some rocks, my character is clearly able to get on top of them, but invisible walls are stopping him. Now this is okay, I trust your map design, and if you tell me my character shouldn't be able to get on top of this place, because it makes the map better, that's great. You are the map designer, not me. I have faith it's for the best. But then you need to make it more clear that this isn't a part of the map, instead of putting an invisible wall. Put some fences, raise the rocks more. Make it more obvious what's off limits.

Observers and Commanders
I think the commander brings a lot of interesting gameplay to this game, but the observer is completely and utterly pointless, and it's a thankless job that's neither fun, nor rewarding. You're just there to stand next to a guy so he can get both the credit and the fun of calling in things for the battle. I think this is the single biggest blunder in the game I've found. I understand why the observer is there, for balance and authenticity, but it doesn't make for fun gameplay, at all. And it's to such an extend people don't want to play observer. You're basically someone else's puppet, and while winning the match is ultimately the goal, and you're an important part of that, it should still be a good experience, and running behind someone else being their waterboy isn't a good experience.

In my opinion a possible solution to this issue is to simply nerf the tools at the commander's disposal, and let him call in things without the observer being there. Or you could go another route and let the commander keep his current tools, but only let him carry a pistol into battle. There's many way to balance this. But the observer-commander due thing isn't working. You may think this would make it too easy to use the commander's tools if you don't need to lug around the observer, and that's true, but we can find a solution to that.

The technical
So the technical seems like a great addition to the game, but I hardly see it utilized. I'd possibly make it a bigger threat, so it would see more use. Imagine if the windows were armored up a bit so taking out the driver wasn't so easy, or if the armor on the gunner was more comprehensive.

Weapon customization and selection
I think the wide array of weapon choices is fucking awesome. I absolutely love that I've got so much to choose from, and on top of that, every weapon feels unique. I'll often find myself switching up weapons because the situation on the battle field have changed, and now another weapon is more suitable, and I love it.

Sounds
Sounds in this game are great. From the wiz of a rocket flying over your head, to gunfire in the distance. I truly think it's a 10/10. Explosions are also a big part of this. They sound incredible. They're fucking terrifying. It's great.

Character animation and ragdoll
Another 10/10 in my book. I love how shooting someone in full sprint lets them keep a tiny bit of that forward momentum as they fall. Often games have these completely unrealistic ragdolls, but Sandstorm does it perfectly.

Leaning your weapon on top of boxes, cars, and similar things
I've been incredibly surprised at how damn well this feature works in this game. Countless times I'd lugged my giant ass RPK over to some obscure box or something, and been worried if the game would figure out that I wanted to use the object to rest my weapon on to shoot from, and every single time the game understands perfectly my intention and places the weapon down and lets my character rest it as I aim down sights. One time I was trying to hold some obscure angle against the incoming wave of attackers, and I saw a tiny little corner of a car and I was worried the game probably wouldn't let me use that corner of the car to lean my weapon down on, but it worked perfectly, and I had the pleasure of mowing down a whole wave as they crossed the road.

So to conclude. I hope this is some valuable feedback, and that it can spark some discussion, because I am truly enjoying the game.

@Connect

Great post. I agree with most of your observations.

AP/HP created a meta playstyle, a lot of previous threads have discussed it already and I suggest using the search tab to look it up if interested- If the devs could circumvent a new established "meta" it would be an interesting addition, still I believe devs should focus more on competetive level desig and optimization (for medium/even medium high pc rigs) before they add any more complex game features.

@Pacalis

Thanks for taking the time to read it. I wasn't sure anyone would. It turned into quite the essay before I got it wrapped up.

I'll try to search around a bit to understand more about the ammo situation. Thanks for the tip.

I mostly agree. However I don't think the heavy armor needs to be better. If it can stop a .308 once it is good enough. I personally only use heavy armor as the rifleman without ammo carrier because the armor is so heavy. I wouldn't want the armor to be any better but instead a little lighter. Currently it is a few percents heavier than light armor and light ammo west. I would like to see the H armor at most as heavy as those two combined.

The fire support thing is kinda annoying. The observer never follows the commander and playing fire support roles ruins your day. I don't think that the little team work it requires should to be removed. The observers range needs to be at least doubled that observer and commander don't have to be so close to each other.

Totally agree with the post as a whole, very enthusiastic to review the different ammunition: for example Rip for increased effectiveness against the skin of the players, or even piercing ammunition to precisely destroy armor / walls .. Also if you could add the destruction system of some walls, which could reshape the map and create a new environment of long-distance engagement or on the contrary by the ruins create zones of CQB. šŸ™‚

@Connect Oh and i think you can directly send a ticket to the developers with all your suggestions so they can see them and maybe, who knows that will apply later after the release of the night cards and other features, (see the last devs post) šŸ˜‰

@Connect
I really enjoyed reading this article, I always appreciate topics like these being discussed with us. Very good information. I will follow the article Thanks for sharing.
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You can also tag @DaraDef and perhaps she will see this. I'm guessing they are more active on Steam but who knows.

A big YES to getting rid of the Kill Cam!!!!

Come on, do we really want this to become another run-around-shoot-em'-up?

NO!

We want to cap AND hold objectives! How the heck to hold the points if every kill means you have to displace?

PLEASE REMOVE IT!!

If I wanted a kill cam, I'd waste my time on CoD or some other BS FPS.

@John-Ballbricks said in You said you wanted feedback, so here it is!:

If I wanted a kill cam, I'd waste my time on CoD or some other BS FPS.

Funny you should mention that because CoD MW doesn't have a kill cam when you play modes in hardcore. Unless you happen to spot where shot came from before you die, you won't know where the player is.

They do have the similar indicator though so at least you have and idea from what direction the fatal blow came from. IMO, that is enough.

Too often all we hear is whining and complaining and demands to the devs. So nice to hear some positive feedback. I disagree about killcam, I think itā€™s fine and it is here to stay.

Tracer rounds are optional buddy towards the bottom of the ā€œbuyā€ menu

Chat does show Team colors With red being insurgents and I think green for security and white for in game dialogue

These are some opinions of my own of content they could add.

Some guns that could be introduced to the game with existing calibers.
Maybe some IWI pistols like; the Masada, or Jericho series in 9mm and .45. HK pistols like HK45C, Or USP (9mm/.45). Or Walther p99 (adopted by the Iraqi army), Walther PP, maybe even CZ75 Or FN five seven pistol (5.7x28), HS200. Lastly the SIG P320.
http://www.military-today.com/firearms/top_10_pistols.htm

If NWI and Focus Interactive would like to introduce a new caliber to the game, maybe they could introduce the bullet that changed history.
In 2012 during the Syrian conflict a cache of several thousand STG-44s used by both rebels and security forces. The round used is 8mm Kurz and it changed history because it was the first intermediate cartridge used in a large scale and it greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the German soldier.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/sturmgewehr-44-meet-nazi-assault-rifle-being-used-syrian-civil-war-50087

The weapons lacking in some classes are the gunner and Marksman class

Gunner class
Security may benefit from the addition IWI Negev (5.56 or 7.62x51), m27 IAR
Insurgent forces could run RPK, RPD, RPKM, HK MG4

Marksman
Security: Knights Armament SR-25 (7.62x51mm), French PGM HĆ©cate II (.50cal bolt action), ORSIS T-5000 (7.62x51mm), M2010 Enhanced sniper weapon (M24 ((Upgrade from old rifles)) cosmetic purchase?)

Insurgents: Tabuk (7.62x39), Chukavin/SVC (7.62x54R), KSVK (12.7x108)

Both teamā€™s Marksman: Iranian AM50
http://armamentresearch.com/iranian-am50-and-russian-orsis-t-5000-rifles-in-iraq/

Breacher:
Uzi Pro, HK G36C

Rifleman, etc.: Steyr Aug (a1, a3) (multiple variants available for possible cosmetic dlc)

Uniform camouflage that may be implemented as part of the purchasable cosmetics or exclusive DLC for consoles:
black, or digital Chinese PLA Type 07 ā€œaridā€ pattern, Kryptek patterns

Voice:
The addition of Australian, just an idea

last edited by Far Seer

Military use of hollow point ammunition is considered a war crime by the Geneva Convention, so I think it makes sense to leave them out. Thus, full metal jacket ammunition is the only type used prominently enough in reality to be considered adding into the game, which is probably currently what's used.

@Far-Seer

I would also love to see more H&K and SIG for Security, as well as some others.

SECURITY
Breacher:
H&K UMP45 (Security's version of M3 Grease), SIG MPX, SCAR PDW (now that breachers have access to .300/5.56.

Marksman:
H&K HK417, SIG 716.

Advisor:
SIG 516 or SIG MCX, H&K HK433, and CZ 805 BREN. Maybe an AK from the 100-series aswell? (Then we need a russian accent option)

INSURGENTS
Gunner:
Bren LMG. Enough said.

Breacher:
PPSh-41 and PPS-43! Would love to see this happen! Also need the MP40..

OVERALL
More voices for Security! I'd love an English voice, and a German accent.

I really love guns, and I really enjoy this game.

I really donā€™t understand the confusion on heavy armour... it most certainly does quite a bit I can very easily tell when in a one on one battle wether a person is wearing heavy armour or not... itā€™s quite simple. I always always wear heavy armour itā€™s silly to go without it to me and I frequently take several bullets without dying and feel like super man at times. This is dependant on things such as time between receiving bullets and where they land. Not to mention the fact that often enough I drop people in one shot to the groin/stomach/chest/neck area who are quite clearly not wearing any armour and that is using a .556 caliber round which is what I use 98% of the time I play with the exception of the odd time I use a pistol/sniper/smg... I absolutely despise the fact that people are trying to turn this game into a callofduty/battlefield ā€œCOREā€ damage model which in my opinion is just sick... not saying it has to be like callofduty ā€œHARDCOREā€ where a 9mm to the foot kills but common this is supposed to be Insurgency even though itā€™s legit not anymore... you people wouldnā€™t have lasted a second in old school Insurgency. Just sayin.