The Hunting Shotgun Doesn't Miss

[JackTrysGames]

I used the shotgun. You know why? 'Cause a shotgun doesn't miss.

Shotguns are over-suggested, and I personally feel like they wouldn't have much of a place in The Long Dark's world. So I came up with one.

While not being nearly as effective as the Hunting Rifle at range, or the Revolver at rapid fire, the Hunting Shotgun would excel at reliability and versatility, while still being heavy and clunky to use to balance it out.

This would add four types of Shotgun Shells: Buckshot, Birdshot, Beanbag/Rubber Shells, and Improvised Shotgun Shells.

Beanbag Shells (or Rubber Shells) are the most common, found reliably in Military and Police locations, such as Blackrock and the Radio Towers. While not reliably capable of lethal damage, they'll definitely scare off whatever you're up against if it connects, and it almost always will due to the shotgun's wide cone of fire. Good luck making more of these- you'll need rubber for the actual pellets.

Birdshot is found at Hunting locations, such as Hunting Blinds. It's a lethal ammo type roughly on par with Revolver ammo, but it specializes in dealing damage over a wide cone- making it ideal for hunting Ptarmigans and even Crows.

And finally, Buckshot is a very large and very powerful ammo type that's nearly guaranteed to kill anything you use it on, but has a chance to ruin the pelt if used this way. It's also found in Hunting locations, though in far fewer numbers than Birdshot.

If you aren't as lucky as the average player, Flare Shells happen to be usable in a Shotgun (12 gauge flare shells are relatively common)- but if you can't find that, you could make an Improvised Shotgun Shell out of scrap, gunpowder, and an Empty Shell Casing (or try your hand at Gunsmithing for Buckshot or Birdshot).

That's five ammo types, for one weapon. Ideally, these would be selectable through a wheel menu instead of manually keying through as it currently sits for the Survival Bow.

[JackTrysGames]

In addition, here's a few Variant ideas, keeping with the current theme of the pre-existing Variants.

Sportsman's Shotgun
A shotgun designed for clay pigeon shooting. Has exceptional range and a tighter cone of fire.

Competition Shotgun
A shotgun with a well-oiled pump and blue polymer furniture, designed for quick yet less accurate shooting.

Rancher's Shotgun
A reliable, durable shotgun, which realistically should be on someone's mantle right now.

[xxfinebeanzxx]

On 12/25/2023 at 4:04 PM, JackTrysGames said:

I used the shotgun. You know why? 'Cause a shotgun doesn't miss.

Shotguns are over-suggested, and I personally feel like they wouldn't have much of a place in The Long Dark's world. So I came up with one.

While not being nearly as effective as the Hunting Rifle at range, or the Revolver at rapid fire, the Hunting Shotgun would excel at reliability and versatility, while still being heavy and clunky to use to balance it out.

This would add four types of Shotgun Shells: Buckshot, Birdshot, Beanbag/Rubber Shells, and Improvised Shotgun Shells.

Beanbag Shells (or Rubber Shells) are the most common, found reliably in Military and Police locations, such as Blackrock and the Radio Towers. While not reliably capable of lethal damage, they'll definitely scare off whatever you're up against if it connects, and it almost always will due to the shotgun's wide cone of fire. Good luck making more of these- you'll need rubber for the actual pellets.

Birdshot is found at Hunting locations, such as Hunting Blinds. It's a lethal ammo type roughly on par with Revolver ammo, but it specializes in dealing damage over a wide cone- making it ideal for hunting Ptarmigans and even Crows.

And finally, Buckshot is a very large and very powerful ammo type that's nearly guaranteed to kill anything you use it on, but has a chance to ruin the pelt if used this way. It's also found in Hunting locations, though in far fewer numbers than Birdshot.

If you aren't as lucky as the average player, Flare Shells happen to be usable in a Shotgun (12 gauge flare shells are relatively common)- but if you can't find that, you could make an Improvised Shotgun Shell out of scrap, gunpowder, and an Empty Shell Casing (or try your hand at Gunsmithing for Buckshot or Birdshot).

That's five ammo types, for one weapon. Ideally, these would be selectable through a wheel menu instead of manually keying through as it currently sits for the Survival Bow.

I like the idea of beanbag rounds and using the flare shells could be cool as an early-on flare gun in Blackrock there are plenty of flare shells in BRP and I'm sure a shotgun spawning in the prison is of course a great Idea.

[Stranzua]

I like the idea of a shotgun, especially if the cougar is still coming to the game. It can have 2 types of ammo. Buckshot and birdshot. If people are worried about it being too powerful, just make buckshot scarce. This way you will save buckshot for encounters with timberwolves, cougars, and bears. And then you can use birdshot to hunt ptarmigan and rabbits, or to scare away wolves. Killing ptarmigan as they fly away would be great. 

[deathbydanish]

I think one of the easy ways to discourage players from just spamming the shotgun with its short range power is to simulate how difficult and painful it is for people unfamiliar with shotguns to shoot them. IRL I've probably had the highest round count with a 12 gague shotgun but I still hesitate a little bit to shoot it because the recoil is in excess of anything that isn't a .30 caliber rifle or thereabouts.