Mod Ideas board

Hi all,

I'm working out a list of the mods that we want to make, and setting some priorities around which ones to start with.

Naturally, we can't do anything until the actual mod kit is released, but I'm hoping to have a backlog of items and some general idea how they'll be designed so we can hit the ground running.

Any feedback or suggestions are appreciated, thanks.

https://trello.com/b/IMoI1Bp4/insurgency-sandstorm-mods

You could add the option to eliminate the ammunition boxes. That would be a point of realism, having to use the weapons of the downcast enemies.

I would appreciate to have a "realism mod" for Sandstorm in which :

  • the sprinting speed of the characters and bots are decreased, especially those bots who are running upstairs like olympia athletes ( sometimes even silently )
  • the IED suicide attackers get a sound mod where they are calling "Allahu Akbar " before pressing the detonation button
  • the bots don´t walk in a duckrow into the fire of a molotov or incendiary grenade ( instead they should wait in a 360 degree defence formation in front of the fire until it´s burnt out )
  • laser colors are choosable ( bright green AND brighter red ) and a laser beam is added to the game ( which is partialy visible in smoky / dusty conditions )
    Please look at this post for details : https://forums.focus-home.com/topic/36674/suggestion-replace-the-red-laser-by-green-laser-add-laser-beam-in-smoky-foggy-conditions
  • gives the ability to heal teammates after getting injured ( healing procedure that takes 10 seconds or something like that ) ( but please no defibrilator to bring up the guys who were shot down , i don´t like that feature )

In addition i would love to see so many custom maps from original Insurgency converted ( for example : Panama_canal, Bridge, Kharkand, Block Party, Baghdad, CS_italy, the_burbs, and many more )

last edited by GSG_9_LIGHTNING
  • Accessories for certain handguns that are realistically equippable, such as the glock
  • Be able to use offset-optics? IDK if you can change the animation and toggle the aim mode
  • Re-animations / animation mods
  • More female voices -of course male- (I would gladly offer to be involved on voice recording for female )
  • More training maps? More advanced ones which train your reflex, aim tracking, and accuracy. Ie. CSGO training maps
  • More non-sandy maps. More with snow, jungle, city, underground environments. (Reference) (Map Ideas Thread)
  • Campaign mode? More story based scenarios if possible.
  • Unpredictable ambush events for checkpoint
  • "Traitors" to randomly spawn on enemy team.
  • customizable, and possibly animated, background menu, GUI/HUD
  • Ammo/mag pickups from dead bodies for compatible weapons? (Ref)
  • Changing expressions??? Ref
  • Running, not sprinting, while reloading
  • Map radar/navigation mods that change appearance or add something more functional such as having a border around areas your team has captured and the opponent. Source
  • Weapons on back
  • customize loadout in main menu
  • Keybind support on callouts for team/voice commands like older INS.? Ie. Enemy spotted
  • Reticle improvements and ability to change the color ref
  • Bleedout damage after getting hit on vital areas by chance
  • Add option to be extremely minimal or realistic on the HUD appearance. "No HUD" may not be helpful for knowing when the checkpoint gets captured, etc. The no HUD mode is great for full immersion, but lacks vital info
  • Objective capture notice? How van we make it clear for players to know that no one is on point? Or if we can somehow find a way to add an element of punishment for staying out of the objective? Im not sure of what to think of this
  • Mute all option? Ref
  • Respawn waves Day of Infamy feature ref
  • Fix bot mechanics
  • Scenario Editor
  • More vehicles. Humvees, SUVs, armored
  • Weather, day night

Collections

Related Games for Inspiration (FPS)

Other than that, if you're willing to go beyond, I suggest to look for ideas that may be found in general feedback, technical feedback, and/or discussions in the classic Insurgency or Sand. on this site or on steam. Maybe look at the most popular mods or ideas on the classic INS workshop or Reddit as well.
Ie. Suggestion flair, reddit or Discussion

Other tools/tips that may be useful for voting or prioritizing when it comes to feature requests

Note: May subject to updates

last edited by Divine Heroine

@jballou Are you also considering posting in the Steam discussions for Sandstorm?

I've shared your thread to the Steam forum here. Let's hope more people contribute

last edited by Divine Heroine

@gsg_9_lightning said in Mod Ideas board:

the sprinting speed of the characters and bots are decreased

but.... it's not unrealistically fast. You using very high FOV?

@mainfold said in Mod Ideas board:

@gsg_9_lightning said in Mod Ideas board:

the sprinting speed of the characters and bots are decreased

but.... it's not unrealistically fast. You using very high FOV?

Will you explain how FOV affects of sprinting speed?

@mainfold said in Mod Ideas board:

@gsg_9_lightning said in Mod Ideas board:

the sprinting speed of the characters and bots are decreased

but.... it's not unrealistically fast. You using very high FOV?

I only use 70 degrees FOV to have a more natural viewpoint.
In that reduced FOV the characters are a little bit bigger.

And yes , i think the sprinting speed of the characters ( especially of the bots in COOP gameplay ) is unrealistic high.
Have you ever had a similar equipment loaded on your body ?
Helmet, uniform including knee and ellbow protectors, boots, primary + secondary weapon ( loaded with ammo ) , 6 extra magazines ammunition for primary, 3 extra magazines for secondary, ammo carrier vest including armor plates on front and back, 2 x frag grenades and a RPG on your back !
Let´s say this is approx 30 kg ( plus / minus 5 kg ) and now you try to sprint stairs up with such an equipment or try to jump 80 cm
( 80 cm is the standard jump height in Sandstorm, if you do a crouch jump it is 100 cm ! )

Bots not only rush with such a high sprint speed into mission objectives, they also perform this without even producing noise in some cases !
I tell you what, it´s ridiculous !

Instead they should move with more realistic speeds and use more realistic tactics like : suppressive fire on doors and windows ( covering the aproach of their teammates to the entrance doors ), use flashbangs and frag grenades more efficient in buildings and take cover and watch the area when approaching a fire caused by incendiary greandes or molotovs.
Those stupid AI just walks into the fire in a duckrow like if they were all fire resistant. Not even the dumbest human on this planet would do that.

last edited by GSG_9_LIGHTNING

@divine-heroine It's only perceived speed, it looks like you're going faster if you have very high FOV, but you're not actually going faster, and it you put it really low it looks slower
For reference:
Youtube Video

@gsg_9_lightning What are you basing the speed being unrealistic on? Your average moderately in shape person can outrun the characters in the game in real life, if anything.. I'd argue rather that there needs to be more momentum and "weight" to the movement, so if you are running fast with a heavy loadout (even though you run slower in Sandstorm the more weight you carry) it would take you longer to stop and you'd have limited turn-radius&speed going around corners etc..

Btw, in the game you don't have helmet, knee & elbow protectors, your plate carrier is just your plate carrier (with some crotch-protection for the heavy one), you have a relatively light amount of ammo with a total 6+1 primary mag setup & 2+1 pistol (standard military LBE amounts) etc.. I have during service myself ran with full kit for 3km holding a steady 12km/h.. it's not unrealistic to be able to do that obviously... but Sandstorm has penalty for running for prolonged periods of time, in that you get tired and your aim and recoil control is all over the place when you go to shoot after running.

You HAVE TO REMEMBER the speeds vary depending on loadouts, so if a bot has a light loadout without almost anything, it WILL run faster than a full-on heavy loadout, there are already balancing measures in place for this.. the problem I'd argue would rather be that the bots tend to sponge more shots than they should for the loadouts they have, as it quite clearly is a bot with a light loadout and even often without anything other than a gun equipped and it still takes shots as if it has heavy armor on. (networking issues, server-side prioritizing the bots prior to players, so bots without the armor to survive multiple hits get hits not registering as they should and making it seem like they have armor on etc, same problem "BF":Hardline had etc).

@gsg_9_lightning said in Mod Ideas board

I only use 70 degrees FOV to have a more natural viewpoint.
In that reduced FOV the characters are a little bit bigger.

And yes , i think the sprinting speed of the characters ( especially of the bots in COOP gameplay ) is unrealistic high.
Have you ever had a similar equipment loaded on your body ?
Helmet, uniform including knee and ellbow protectors, boots, primary + secondary weapon ( loaded with ammo ) , 6 extra magazines ammunition for primary, 3 extra magazines for secondary, ammo carrier vest including armor plates on front and back, 2 x frag grenades and a RPG on your back !

Video examples:
Something that may be motivational

Let´s say this is approx 30 kg ( plus / minus 5 kg ) and now you try to sprint stairs up with such an equipment or try to jump 80 cm

I'd be excited if someone confirms the speed, momentum, dynamic movements, etc. by comparing the running/movement with real life demos of someone running with the same gear, same height, and weight.

Here are some examples:

( 80 cm is the standard jump height in Sandstorm, if you do a crouch jump it is 100 cm ! )

Reminds me of the CSGO days, where bunnyhopping was a thing. Crouch-jumping doesn't seem to be realistic if we all imagine trying to crouch jump ourselves. "Ninja jump! Hee-AAA!"

Bots not only rush with such a high sprint speed into mission objectives, they also perform this without even producing noise in some cases !
I tell you what, it´s ridiculous !

I agree with you on that: The bots react and move in such a way that seems wreckless, thoughtless, without momentum, and obviously robotic. They don't have the same reaction time the way the average humans would do with tactical exp. Ive seen some suddenly making sharp, super-human, physics defying turns while running, or suddenly shoot, hardly even 1 second of delay before firing, and sometimes with ludicrous accuracy while running

Instead they should move with more realistic speeds and use more realistic tactics like : suppressive fire on doors and windows ( covering the aproach of their teammates to the entrance doors ), use flashbangs and frag grenades more efficient in buildings and take cover and watch the area when approaching a fire caused by incendiary greandes or molotovs.
Those stupid AI just walks into the fire in a duckrow like if they were all fire resistant. Not even the dumbest human on this planet would do that.

Please keep in mind that these are only references and are not intended to be political

last edited by Divine Heroine

@mainfold said in Mod Ideas board:

@divine-heroine It's only perceived speed, it looks like you're going faster if you have very high FOV, but you're not actually going faster, and it you put it really low it looks slower
For reference:

I use max FOV, but I don't really think im that fast, since I'm aware that it's only for more realistic POV on a bigger screen. That is just me. Regardless, the point is realism.

Your average moderately in shape person can outrun the characters in the game in real life, if anything.. I'd argue rather that there needs to be more momentum and "weight" to the movement, so if you are running fast with a heavy loadout (even though you run slower in Sandstorm the more weight you carry) it would take you longer to stop and you'd have limited turn-radius&speed going around corners etc..

Hmm... can we (as the avg humans, assuming we have trained) really outrun them? We may have to think more scientifically by making a hypothesis or two, then test and confirm by experimenting in the real world then comparing with the game. I agree on the part about momentum for the players, but it doesn't seem to be the same thing for bots

Btw, in the game you don't have helmet, knee & elbow protectors, your plate carrier is just your plate carrier (with some crotch-protection for the heavy one)

Right. Even I almost forgot about that one. The classic Insurgency had helmets on when it came to heavy armor, but let's not forget about character cosmetics. I remember seeing the option to wear heavier pants in the customzation for Security. Now that I think about it, IDK if that would be ideal or even fair to add adjustments of weight or movement from skins. It doesn't seem plausible.

you have a relatively light amount of ammo with a total 6+1 primary mag setup & 2+1 pistol (standard military LBE amounts) etc..

Considering the caliber and total weight of the bullets while carrying, how heavy would that be in lbs/kgs (U.S. goes for lbs)? Also with them loaded into the weapons? Plus considering the other potential equipment. If we calculated approximately, how would we guess that would feel like? How can we see this in a live scenario and determine the realism comparison? I've shared some video examples prior that may at least somewhat portray what is true to the science of our momentum.

I have during service myself ran with full kit for 3km holding a steady 12km/h.. it's not unrealistic to be able to do that obviously...

I'm curious about the science of momentum behind that. How heavy really was the full kit in proportion to your physical stats? I don't mean to test you if you're assuming that. This is as a reference for the game.

but Sandstorm has penalty for running for prolonged periods of time, in that you get tired and your aim and recoil control is all over the place when you go to shoot after running.

Would we say it has the same affect on bots, not just players? I'm not sure if that applies, and if it all does then they should act properly to whats coded/instructed

You HAVE TO REMEMBER the speeds vary depending on loadouts, so if a bot has a light loadout without almost anything, it WILL run faster than a full-on heavy loadout, there are already balancing measures in place for this..

Weight to speed mechanics makes sense here. I would like to know what the balancing measures for that are. I have no knowledge of this yet.

the problem I'd argue would rather be that the bots tend to sponge more shots than they should for the loadouts they have, as it quite clearly is a bot with a light loadout and even often without anything other than a gun equipped and it still takes shots as if it has heavy armor on.
(networking issues, server-side prioritizing the bots prior to players, so bots without the armor to survive multiple hits get hits not registering as they should and making it seem like they have armor on etc, same problem "BF":Hardline had etc).

Great explanation. Are there any other links that may involve with that issue?

last edited by Divine Heroine

@divine-heroine
Thank you for your time to collect all the videos to investigate some of my thoughts.

Concerning the molotov flames i would say that the molotovs in sandstorm cause a fire that is much bigger than those shown in the videos.
The burning area seems to be approx. 5m² in sandstorm with huge flames raising head high. I don´t believe that someone would go through that fire without protective clothing.

OK this is a lot of feedback. I'll do what I can to parse through it and add it to the board.