Holding a light source while having your revolver out.


frickoffanddie

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EDIT: This was addressed in #32 of the Milton Mailbag.

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We talked about allowing an off-handed Torch or Flare while the Revolver is in hand but it's a lot of extra work and complexity without adding a lot of gameplay benefit. In general there are lots of things I'd prefer to do with first-person hands before tackling that mess.

I'll keep the post anyways since I don't know how to delete it and I spent like twenty minutes writing it. You could read my reasoning anyways.

 

The revolver has the current issue of looking weird when held at the hip. You have a high movement object (being the bobbing of the revolver as you move) segregated to the bottom right corner of your screen, which can be quite distracting, especially when your eyes are concentrated on the center of your screen. This isn't an issue with any other item, seeing as they situate themselves neutrally (rifle is at the bottom of your screen, handheld items are almost in the centre). This "hip-fire" stance is usually typical of FPS games, which have very cluttered HUD systems. The viewmodel for your firearm is consolidated to one corner of your screen to give the rest of the UI room to be seen. The Long Dark has very non-intruisive UI, which automatically hides itself; that's why this conventional FPS-esque hip-fire stance looks so strange by comparison.

I think this issue would be fixed by allowing people to hold something in their off-hand while they have the revolver equipped. Specifically, light sources. I went to go into the cave in Desolation Point and all I could think about was how helpful it would be to be able to hold my lantern while I had my handgun out. What if I was wandering in a blizzard, using my light source for warmth, but also needed the protection of my gun from potential wildlife stalking me, waiting for my condition to drop just low enough to instantly kill me before I get the chance to repel them? You get the point.  

Now obviously there would need to be downsides, them being your inability to aim and inability to reload. You can't reload when your other hand is occupied; attempting to do so should result in you holstering (or dropping) the light source and starting the reloading process as normal. And the inability to aim would be merely to make this so you don't always have the light source out without consequence. But since you already aim with one-hand only, the option to be able to aim while holding something in your left hand could be restricted to say, level 5 revolver skill. That'd give the skill a better reason to max it out than just less recoil and more damage. I love it when maxing a skill gives you a distinct advantage, like how level 5 archery allows you to shoot the bow when crouched, or how level 5 cooking lets you ignore parasites and poisoning from your food. I'll leave the balancing to them.

To wrap this up, I'm sure there are many technical hurdles a suggestion of this calibre (no pun intended) would entail. However, I think they are necessary to further solidify the Revolver's unique role in the Long Dark arsenal, as the ability to wield other utility items alongside it would distinguish it as a defensive tool, and not as a hunting weapon.

Edited by frickoffanddie
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Guest kristaok

I wouldn't mind seeing the ability to hold the Revolver and a Lantern at the same time, because the Revolver is a one handed Weapon compared to the Bow or Rifle. So it's a YES from me. :D 

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While it’s obviously possible to fire a pistol / revolver with one hand in practice it’s a two handed weapon if you want to aim and use it properly. This becomes even more important if the revolver is of a higher caliber due to the kickback recoil factor. This is why you will always see cops aiming a handgun with both hands.

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3 hours ago, frickoffanddie said:

Very awesome replies guys, but they already said they're not gonna do this.

 Yeah, that's the law of the land today.  But with strong enough support, that decision is not necessarily immutable.  I too would like to see this a thing.  Any one-handed weapon, allow an off-hand light source. Flare gun with a torch, revolver with Harries flashlight grip, etc.

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