More survivor HUD state icons - solution to Solo/SWF balance and camping

_VTK_

I suggested in on general forums some time ago, but I though I'd write in the suggestions forum as well. This is not a suggestion to buff survivors, if it buffs survivors too much, killers can receive a buff in return.

The Idea

We already have a lot of information on the HUD for survivors: when someone is injured, when someone is hooked, in a dying state, in the dream world, poisoned by Plague etc. There is no need to add new intrusive mechanics like in-game chat or chatwheel, just add more HUD information for survivors, it will fit the game very naturally:

• For every survivor we need to see who is being chased (not just the obsession)
• Add a heartbeat indicator next to every survivor icon, when he can hear the heartbeat (just a beating heart next to survivor icon will do)
• Add a "repairing gen" HUD state to survivors (like, add a toolset icon next to the survivor when he is working on a gen)
• Add an "opening the gates" HUD state icon
• Add a "healing" icon next to a survivor whenever he is healing himself, is being healed by someone or whenever he is healing another survivor

Much more can be added, like "cleansing a totem", if needed.

How it counters camping

In solo games, if someone is hooked and you see on the HUD that all other survivors are working on gens, you go for a save. If other survivors stopped working on gens and you see that they can hear the heartbeat, most likely they are near the hooked survivor, so you continue doing gens. If survivors that went for a save entered the chase state, the killer started chasing them, you go for a save.

How it fixes Solo vs SWF w/o comms vs SWF with comms balance

It's actually pretty obvious. The most common phrases for SWF teams are "the killer is on me, do gens", "I go for a save" etc. All these are replaced by these survivor HUD state icons.

Provided Icons are ready, only minimal coding is required, it can probably be done in 1-2 days and solo players and those who demand a solution to camping will suddenly be satisfied.

Raptorrotas

While it does seem like a good fix for the cwf gap, I think a chat wheel would be preferable to HUD/UI additions.

Automatic instant information is way stronger than comms. With comms you still have to contemplate, intend or request information and wait for the others to do the same and respond. ( pretty sure i dont get my point formulated here, as im not surr how to say it correctly)

The chat wheel on the other hand is only doing the same thing as comms, albeit slightly weaker, maybe?

Well, thats just my opinion. The killer buffs would be needed regardless of the option choosen here, as it buffs the base sirvivor kit.

_VTK_

https://forum.deadbydaylight.com/en/discussion/comment/1768952#Comment_1768952

Many people will not like this solution, it would change the game too much. Many survivors appreciate the thrill and the atmosphere of the game. I think DEVs will never add it for that reason, otherwise it would cause an uproar. Also the chatwheel solution raises many issues - how to deal with spam, what phrases to add etc. You have to become active in order for it to work, many people will just refuse to use it, so it can be useless very often. In many situations you can't use it, because you are busy with something else (being chased, repairing, healing etc).

In some situations a chatwheel can be superior to new HUD states, because it is faster and more direct, but if you think of it, new suggested HUD states give so much new indirect information for almost every game situation and decision, you can profit much more from it and it fits the game naturally.

Raptorrotas

• Focus on repairing
• I need healing

We probably dont need much more messages. Also cooldowns are a thing.

Your point about wanting to use comms chat wheel might be valid, but you're suggesting to forcefully spoonfeed ALL survivors with UI in the same line of thought.

The thing is: comms dont give free info like spoonfed aura or hud stuff, each member of cwf still has to intend to use it, gather info themselves, and then relay it to others, who might be not listening at all.

Closing the gap isnt buffing survivors with something better than comms, but replacing comms with something similiar.

I think this thread needs other contributers for different perspectives.

_VTK_

https://forum.deadbydaylight.com/en/discussion/comment/1769044#Comment_1769044

Then you can say that the current UI spoonfeeds all survivors with free information like "hooked", "injured", "in the dying state", but currently we don't perceive it as such. So, sorry, but for me it's not a valid argument.

And the idea it's not about simulating voice comms, you can't do it and you can't accurately replace SWF comms with something else, due to its nature, due to the fact that different SWF teams share different amount of information, some SWF teams play without comms at all, not all SWF members always use voice comms. So, where do we stop? At the level of SWF teams w/o comms, at the level of teams that share little information? Our goal is to close the gap in the survivor-survivor balance, to make the game more fair and to make balancing the game (mostly killer vs survivor) easier in the future. So, we take the "highest common denominator". We give EVERYONE access to the most important information that SWF members can share. We bring everyone to the same level. We ignore the less important information that SWF members can share, solo and SWF will never be totally the same, they just need to be much closer in terms of balance. Then we either nerf all survivors in a way that affects both solo and SWF or we buff the killers, to restore the survivor/killer balance.