Exio

Okay! I'm new here! Okay, Hinterland has said they're skeptical of adding new weapons for fear of turning TLD into less of a brutal survival game and more into a wildlife shooter. I understand--and I love the game as it is--however, I feel this should at least be considered. I've put quite a bit of thought into this as well, so I'm not just spitballing "hey let's add a shotgun because shotgun cool." As you'll see, I'm designing this addition not to be overpowered in any way. The double-barreled shotgun would be a close-quarters self-defense weapon, designed almost solely to scare wildlife away. Loaded with 2 12-gauge buckshot rounds, it is extremely effective at killing small targets like rabbits or crows*, albeit the former with significant damage. Wolves would be much more likely to scare off when hit/shot at by the shotgun, with severe damage to the available meat, hide, and gut reserves on the carcass should it die. It will be possible to scare a moose with the shotgun, but only at very close range (~10m); additionally, it will be quite ineffective at killing them, taking 3-4 shots. Bears will be slightly more likely to scare by shotgun rounds, but the shotgun is completely incapable of killing them. The model could be based off a very simple double-barrel--like the Stoeger Uplander Field shotgun (pictured below). It's a very cheap yet reliable side-by-side double barrel, perfect for hunting birds. Its MSRP is something around $500, making it well within reach of the salary of an isolated fisherman, miner, or survivalist on Great Bear. STATS Weight: 7.5 lbs./3.5 kg. (full) // (sawed-off) 4.5 lbs./2 kg. Capacity: 2 rounds, which can be individually loaded Reload speed (empty): approx. 5 sec. at level 1 Shotgun skill Reload speed (1 spent): approx 6 sec. at level 1 shotgun skill (as it would take more dexterity to not eject the unspent shell) Recoil: extremely high; would require significant stabilization after first shot to reacquire target // (sawed-off) No ADS ability, extremely high spread Damage (vaguely): Capable of killing wolves ~15m (~5m sawed-off), but is much more likely to merely scare them and all nearby wolves off 2 shots will scare a bear, but it is highly ineffective (if not outright impossible) to kill a bear with any number of shots 1 shot ~15m will scare a moose, ~3-4 will kill Capable of shooting crows out of the sky, rendering them able to be harvested for bird meat (approx. 4-5 lbs./1.8-2.2 kg.), crow feathers (2-3 per crow), and guts (1 per crow) Can kill rabbits from ~20-30m (chance of hitting reduced significantly at these ranges), but any closer would render the creature ruined Condition: 1 shot will drain the condition by approx. 2%. Critical hits: shotguns will not critically hit (as they would technically shoot 4-6 "projectiles" at once, this would be very hard to calculate). EFFECTS ON ANIMALS Crows: It would be possible to shoot circling crows out of the sky with the shotgun*. Doing so would leave a crow carcass, able to be harvested for bird meat, crow feathers, and 1 gut Rabbits: Shooting a rabbit from closer than 20m will significantly damage meat, hide, and gut quality; less meat will be obtained (<2 lbs./1 kg.) and hides and guts will be at a much lower quality when obtained Wolves: Wolves will be significantly more likely to scare when the shotgun is fired near them, especially when at them Unlikely to kill from >20m away, moderate chance to kill <10m => 20m, and high chance to kill <10m; however, carcass will be significantly damaged the closer the wolf is when killed (less obtainable meat, hide and guts damaged or ruined) Timberwolves: Timberwolves will not individually scare by shotgun hits, but their morale meter would be reduced much faster by successful hits on the pack Carcass quality would remain similar to normal wolves should a timberwolf be killed by the shotgun Moose: It will be possible to scare moose with shotgun hits, especially when <10m away. However, it will be rather ineffective at killing them, taking 3-4 shells. The same damage concept applies to moose, with close-range kills damaging meat, hide, and guts As it would take 3-4 shots to kill a moose, a moose solely damaged by the shotgun would have no available hide or guts to harvest, and ~50% less meat on the carcass Bears: Bears will be somewhat more likely to scare if hit by the shotgun from <15m away. However, it will be nearly impossible to kill a bear with only the shotgun, as their hides and skin are so thick the low-velocity buckshot would be rendered nearly useless against them If a bear is killed later after being hit by the shotgun (e.g. scared by shotgun, then followed up with rifle rounds), the hide will be at a sub-optimal quality Shotguns will bleed wolves, but only wolves (as rabbits and crows* would die instantly, moose cannot bleed, and bears would be unharmed by it). Shotgun Skill The addition of the shotgun would obviously require a skill based on the weapon. Training the shotgun skill would require successful hits of animals with it, OR successful flees of moose or bears. One could also find and read the Flying Game Quarterly research book, taking 5 hours to fully research and granting 10 points in the skill. Level 1: Basic shotgun skill 7% chance of affliction Recoil Sprain after firing, causing pain in the right arm for 4 hours Level 2: Reload speed decreased by 1% Wolf fear chance increased by 5% Moose fear chance increased by 2% Bear fear chance increased by 1% 6% chance of Recoil Sprain Condition gained from repairing increased by 2% Level 3: Damage increased by 5%** Reload speed decreased by 3% Wolf fear chance increased by 7% Moose fear chance increased by 4% Bear fear chance increased by 2% 5% chance of Recoil Sprain Condition gained from repairing increased by 3% Level 4: Damage increased by 10%** Reload speed decreased by 5% Wolf fear chance increased by 9% Moose fear chance increased by 6% Bear fear chance increased by 3% 3% chance of Recoil Sprain Condition gained from repairing increased by 4% Level 5: Damage increased by 15%** Reload speed decreased by 7% Wolf fear chance increased by 12% Moose fear chance increased by 8% Bear fear chance increased by 5% No chance of Recoil Sprain Condition gained from repairing increased by 5% Ability to use sawed-off shotgun as defense item against wolf attacks The Sawed-off Shotgun Perhaps the most popular gun of errant cowboys and ne'er-do-wells in banditry games and movies, the double-barreled shotgun can be, at any time, reduced down to a baby version of itself with a hacksaw, reducing the barrel length down to the foregrip and taking off the end of the stock, rendering it closer to a simple pistol grip. This action would take approx. 20 minutes in-game to complete and would be irreversible. There are significant tradeoffs to doing this, by no means making it better or worse than its long-barreled counterpart. Sawed-off Shotgun Stats: Weight reduced to 4.5 lbs./2 kg. No ADS ability Reload speed unaffected Damage range decreased (animals must be <10m away for significant effect) Weapon can be used in wolf struggles; selecting it will, after a short struggle, shoot the wolf and kill it instantly; carcasses will be ruined if killed like this Conclusion I think that, with proper balancing (something similar to what I've laid out) and efficient coding (which Hinterland has shown to be good at regarding complexity), the shotgun would be a fun and highly defensive tool for survivors to make quick work of major threats on the island. An extremely powerful self-defense tool that rivals the revolver in protection but significantly lacks in any hunting capability whatsoever, it forces survivors to gauge just how little they want to deal with wolves and wildlife by trading off their hunting rifle (lest they want to carry over 20 pounds/12 kilograms of weapons alone) for pure defense. I'm sure these numbers aren't perfect, but I've done my best to think out something that isn't overpowered but still has a use. If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think! *: as of now, crows can't be killed. Adding this would need to include the ability to interact with crows. **: I know shotguns fire something close to 30 pellets, but but simplicity's sake, the in-game shotgun wouldn't actually code 30 individual pellets, but something closer to 4-6, with the damage of each pellet increasing nominally per level to add up to a percentage increase.