Hey all! Kite here.
This week I thought we’d do a little background on the new weapon that we premiered with our E3 teaser trailer.
We’re calling it the Spiral Cannon for now. As the name suggests, it fires these spiral energy shells that damage Ghost-possessed objects.
Part lawn mower, part motorcycle, part vacuum cleaner, part deadly laser cannon - 100% dangerous!
Check out more detailed renders of the design over at Felix’s Artstation!
In a future weekly update, we will break down the visual design behind the weapon and other gadgets currently in development — stay tuned for that!
This week, though, let’s talk about how the weapon works in-game.
The Spiral Cannon is designed to be somewhat aim/timing dependent, although not extremely so. Near misses will incur some splash damage, and a direct hit will do a decent chunk of damage. This encourages smaller and more fragile Ghost-possessed objects to try to zig-zag around and move erratically in order to minimize damage. It’s a bit more dynamic and interesting than the previous default weapon.
Larger, slow props will have much more health and can tank some direct hits, but fragile and small, fast objects can only take 2-3 hits or so. It’s helpful to take this into consideration when picking which objects to hide inside.
As a prop accumulates damage, they will start to show visible glowing cracks. When HP is reduced to 0, the Ghost hiding inside the object will shatter into a pile of ghost crystals.
A fellow Ghost can still resurrect their fallen comrade while they are in their crystal form - although it is risky to attempt, as you will be exposing yourself.
However, a Hunter can “confirm the kill” and deny resurrections by vacuuming up the crystals. It’s the alternate fire function of the weapon, as seen above!
Vacuuming up Ghost crystals can be risky, because it locks the Hunter into place and takes some time to complete, make sure you have someone watching your back! There may just be a Ghost in that room that left the crystals intact to lure you inside…
This mechanic is similar to how Hunter resurrections work - knocked out Hunters can be revived by fellow Hunters (before Midnight, at least) - but the resurrection can be denied if a Ghost consumes the soul of the knocked out Hunter. Again, this is a risky play for the Ghosts because they become exposed, but it can be effective if the Hunters fail to work as a team and roam around the map as a group.
These mechanics, among others, are designed to encourage movement and some stealthy gameplay for the Ghosts, as opposed to just hiding in one spot the entire match — which isn’t much fun!
We are planning on having several additional primary weapons introduced into the game with varying ranges, strengths and weaknesses, although this next alpha test will likely only include this weapon alongside the gadgets. Let us know in our suggestions channel on our Discord what other cool concepts you would like to see explored!
Let us know what you think of the new weapon, and stay tuned for news regarding the next alpha test!
Until next time friends,
Kite out.
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