Skillful Objectiveplay and Secondary Objectives

A sequel to my previous post regarding the Killer experience: find it here!

This post is to address the fact that the Survivors' objective is far too easy and way outdated. In this thread, I hope to shed some light onto this problem by suggesting a few ways we could fix this. No, we aren't going to increase gen times. And yes, map sizes are a problem, but my main focus here is objectives, specifically on the Survivor's side.

The Survivors' objective is straightforward: interact with a generator for 80 seconds each MAX five times to win. This process can be sped up if your teammates assist you. Afterward, open the exit gates and escape. Seems easy enough. A little too easy.

The Killer's objective is also straightforward: find Survivors and ensure that they're hung on meat hooks whenever possible. The problem here is that, unlike Survivors, Killers don't simply hold a button for a set amount of time to complete their objective, nor do they have any teammates to support them. They must chase Survivors, other PLAYERS, before hooking them. And they must do this twelve times MAX in order to guarantee a victory.

If the issue isn't apparent already, the Survivors' objective is far too easy compared to that of the Killers. Sure, Killers can do things such as slug, tunnel, or camp in order to secure kills, but that type of playstyle is heavily frowned upon by both sides and discouraged by just about any sane person. This is isn't the only thing either.

On the Survivors' side, most players would agree that, in terms of objectives, playing the objective is incredibly lackluster and, for lack of a better word, boring. It's no wonder that KYF lobbies often finish with five gens remaining. All you do is sit in one place, holding down a button for an indeterminate amount of time, occasionally hitting a skill check or two until the generator is complete. Then you move on to the next. The only real thrill you'll have playing as Survivor is when in the Killer's presence, either hiding or awaiting their arrival to begin a chase. Now, there will never be any thrills in DbD more thrilling than chases, but we could at least try to alleviate some of the pangs of boredom we find on the Survivors' side.

Introducing: Interaction Minigames

Most interactions in this game are a simple as a push of a button on a literal standpoint. Sometimes you'll get a mediocre skill check, sometimes you won't. With the game recently starting to encourage skillful play, this shouldn't apply to just perks and powers.

Meet minigames.

It sounds really stupid if you say it out loud. But yes, minigames. Almost every interaction in the game, including repairs, healing, cleansing totems, struggling from bear traps, searching Jigsaw Boxes, etc, will include a minigame that requires constant player input in order for the action to continue. The difficulty of the minigames vary depending on the action. Triggering minigames, or interactions, can be either toggled or held, meaning that you can choose your preference in the settings if need be.

Generator Repairs Minigame

Starting off with the most important of the bunch: repairs. This is the primary objective of the Survivors, so this should be top priority. Timewise, repairs will be somewhat similar to how it is currently. Here's the chart found of the official wiki for reference:

Just having two Survivors repairing one generator nearly cuts the time in half. In 44 seconds, the Killer will be about to down their first Survivor. By the time they hook them, their teammates will be 1/4 done with another generator. Since every Killer won't always have map pressure available to them, it's only fair if the repair time be increased just a little bit. The time it takes for one Survivor will still be 80 seconds, but the time while repairing with teammates should be increased. So the chart above should look more like this approximately:

1 Survivor -- 80 seconds

2 Survivors -- 50ish seconds

3 Survivors -- 45ish seconds

4 Survivors -- 40ish seconds

The time should be long, but not obnoxiously long. What you see above is just an estimate, so don't take it too seriously. It's just to put it into perspective.

Now for the actual minigame.

You see this crudely, yet professionally drawn image(it's bad)? This is a rough sketch of what the minigame will look like. I hope it isn't hard to see. But anyways, this is my minigame concept. Allow me to explain.

The columns are the vertical rectangles on the template. These columns will slowly move off the track, either down or up, at varying speeds. The player controls the columns using their related movement buttons: WASD on PC, or the left stick/d-pad on consoles. The more progress has been made on the generator, the faster the columns will move. Their movements will also be randomized to reduce consistency and increase difficulty. If multiple Survivors are repairing the same generator, one column will be removed from the minigame for each additional Survivors on that generator, down to a minimum of five columns. Another example:

If any column veers off the track, it will pulsate red for approximately two seconds before causing the generator to explode and startle all repairing Survivors away from the generator. Failing the minigame will cause a domino effect and cause multiple columns to be disrupted and in need of fixing, glowing red to signify the danger. While red, all progress is halted, even for ally Survivors, and the generator will regress as if the Killer damaged it, and it will continue to do so until the damage is repaired.

Survivors will also receive skill checks at random during this minigame, but unlike previous skill checks, they won't appear in the middle of the screen, as that is where the minigame will now be. Instead, skill checks will appear on the generator, as a 2D texture so to speak. This means that Survivors MUST turn to look at the generator in order to see the skill check. Missing a skill check will cause the generator to explode as usual and cause the same damage as mentioned above.

If the Killer damages a generator through any means, the minigame will be affected the same as above. This removes the ability to "tap" a generator to instantaneously impede its regression. And don't fret, while fixing the columns back onto the track, all of them will cease movement. Just be wary so that no others move back off upon resuming repairs.

Another example, right before a minigame failure:

Example, after failure and gen explosion; all red columns need fixing(except for the first one, oops):

But this shouldn't be the only repair minigame. Killers will be able to use offerings to change the minigame to that of their liking. All minigames should be different (no "variations" of a preexisting minigame), and have a consistent skill cap to avoid creating "meta" offerings.

To round it all up, everything said above is my default repair minigame. Just an example, and I'd love for there to be more of its kind. Now let's move onto healing...

Healing Minigame

Oftentimes, you never go a single match without healing at least once, whether it be you healing yourself or a buddy comes along to give you a soothing back rub. The healing minigame will be way different from the generator one. Instead of it relying on simply waiting out a timer, the time it takes to heal will depend on how fast you can react. And yes, more bad drawings await you. I'll draw it in gray so you can see it easier.

So, this minigame is all about the player's speed. Upon starting a heal, either on yourself or another player, you'll be prompted this interface: nine "bubbles", let's just call them that. Each bubble will have a button for you to press, and you will only see two at a time: one for you to hit, and a preview of the next. The buttons include 1234 on PC, X-Circle-Triangle-Square on PS4, and ABXY on Xbox. I used Xbox controls in the examples.

The way you play the minigame is simple: hit the correct buttons shown to you and then hit a skill check after the set is complete to heal the Survivor by 25%. Skill checks will appear on the floor surrounding the Survivor being healed, so you'll have to turn to look at it while you're healing. Great Skill Checks start the next set with two bubbles already complete. You'll need to do this minigame four times over to fully heal. Mangled will make you have to do the minigame two extra times in order to fully heal.

Idling for 2.5 seconds, pressing the wrong button, or exiting the minigame at any time(unless you're using a medkit) will fail the minigame and cause you to lose 25% of progress, as well as alerting the Killer to your location.

That was for just a few interactions. There's plenty more where that came from, but that's all I can handle. Again, this is just to show off a concept. There are plenty of factors that need to be taken into account for, which have not. But let's move on to the last thing I have on my mind.

Secondary Objective: Map Objectives

To wrap this up, I'll briefly touch on my ideas for a secondary objective. And before you say, no, breaking totems is not a secondary objective, though it was the inspiration behind this concept. My idea for a secondary objective actually ties in with map structure. Generators will always be the primary objective, and nothing else will power the exit gates. The secondary objective will be optional, but recommended, and will be specific to the realm/map.

All trials will begin with portions of the map closed off and unable to be entered from the outside. These areas of the maps will contain pallets, loops, and sometimes generators or totems, but will remain closed off until the secondary objective is completed. This means if the Survivors don't get on that, they'll have limited options when it comes time for a chase.

Like I said before, all secondary objectives will vary. For example, on MacMillan Estate, Survivors will have to carry loads of coals to distant furnaces to power the gates leading into parts of the main building, which will be much bigger in this version. While carrying a load, their movement is inhibited and they make a lot of noise, not to mention they're huge targets. They may drop it at any time, but leaving it on the ground for too long causes it to reset.

Conclusion

I'm glad to have finally gotten this off my chest. Conclusions are always the hardest thing to do in any article, but I'll put my spin onto it. All-in-all, the Survivors' side of the game needs changing. The balance issue of the game isn't that Killers are too weak, it's that Survivors are too strong. Killers require skill to play, for Survivors much less, at least concerning objectives. Here are my suggestions. Please don't let this post go unnoticed. This game has the potential to be so much better than it is now, and it's our job as a community to get there.

Thank you for reading and see you in The Fog!