Lets mix up chases and replace some vaults and pallets with new obstacles!
I saw a post about elevators not long ago and it really got me thinking about a bunch of other old ideas I've had or heard people mention over the last couple of years that are not present in the game already in terms of map design. I honestly feel one thing that could really breathe some fresh air into the game in a way that would affect both survivors and killers would be more 'obstacles' on the map for the survivors to use and the killer to overcome or mindgame around. Now bear in mind, that these would replace some pallets, vaults, and loop locations so do not assume I'm suggesting we add all these to maps without first taking out some of these pallets and vaults first to help balance it. Some of these would be especially prominent on indoor maps or maps with buildings. The goal is to maintain balance but with a new twist to things that change the game up.
Garage doors: Garage doors, raised just high enough for a survivor to fit under. They can be crouched under by survivors with a little animation like vaulting a window, or if they are sprinting they can try to dive under it faster. They may be a bit slower than speed vaulting a window even when done quickly but are an alternative means to avoid the killer. However much like breakable walls the killer can approach one and fling it open with an animation, disabling the obstacle for good. There are already a few maps that have static garage doors where such a thing could be added to them to add a unique flavor to those maps
Doors: Just normal old doors. Doors can be opened or closed quietly by survivors when not holding shift/fast action key. Or slammed open and closed when holding the shift key which creates a noise notification. If slammed in a killer's face they will gain a mild stun, less than a pallet would cause. Killers can kick down doors the same as a breakable wall (perhaps even faster with a single fast kick?) if the door is closed when they approach it or after it's slammed on them. Chainsaws, blight rushes, and the such would still smash straight through them of course.
House Windows: Not the same as the already vaultable windows. These are normally windows that must be opened first. A survivor can interact with a window to open or close it quietly or use the fast action to slam it with a noise notification. These would replace vault locations in houses and some buildings perhaps?(Not all of course, and not things like T and L walls or other such loops), and survivors must take notice of them and open them ahead of time if they did not spawn already open. As they cannot slow or medium vault a closed window. They can however speed vault a closed window, breaking it and permanently leaving it as a normal vaulting location. But doing so can cause them to become injured, and if already injured then they will gain the laceration status effect. A killer can vault a closed window, smashing it in the process, though it is a second or two longer than a normal vault.
Pallet skins: The basic idea here is to replace pallets with other junk like shelving perhaps? Though they'd be made very obvious as a pallet type item as they will give the throw prompt, show up with aura reading that shows pallets, and would likely have the signature yellow tape and such on them that means it can be interacted with. It'd just help make maps feel a little more natural or varied with the throwable junk?
Locker skins: The same as pallet skins. Can have alternate locker skins to fit maps better. Seeing a suburban house with a bunch of red metal lockers in each room can take away from the immersion of the setting, and with map reworks like haddonfield happening that make them look way nicer and like a real house. New closet types would help too I think. Some examples would be like, a wooden wardrobe, bedroom/broom closets, etc. The yellow tape/paint could be added to them if needed to make it clear it can be interacted with if it feels like they may be overlooked if changed up.
Comments
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And a mild disclaimer. I know the game rarely makes big changes like this, and I understand such things would need to be tweaked, done differently, or have other mechanics changed to balance them, potentially on a large scale. And I don't really expect any of these to be in the game, or at least not anytime soon if they were to even be considered in the first place. But I would like to see these things or concepts like these added to the game in the future to help change things up in chases and navigating the map. I know the devs in the past wanted other ways for survivors to navigate and run chases but it just never made it in, and I'd like to see these ideas re-visited.
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New ideas for the environment would be so cool! As long as they're implemented in a healthy way.
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You're brilliant we need all of this!!! also an elevator ;)
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Such good ideas to freshen up the game. I wish they made more skins for pallets and breakable doors. Imagine closed elevator-like doors where the killer pulls them apart permanently. This would've worked really well on the Hawkins Map. Instead of pallets, you could have bookshelves/dressers in maps with houses etc
The game is so clear though in terms of visuals, with its red-only lockers and single-skinned pallets. I wish it had less of this from the beginning so that each map feels a little more distinct, but these things are so deeply ingrained into the game now that it just wouldn't feel right to change it for long-term players.
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Nice ideas love them. I would even say give the killer the option to close doors and windows to so if I take the time to prepare I can force survs to go a difrent was because the door is closed and opening them would lead to me getting closer
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One thing you could do is also make some windows spawn boarded off, requiring a toolkit or the saboteur perk to unblock.
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That's a neat idea, and stuff like that would give survivors other things to do besides gens that would benefit them in the long run
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looking at the new awesome Haddonfield rework really got me thinking about locker skins as well as pallet skins, seeing big red metal workshop lockers sitting in living rooms, and the like got me thinking about how silly they sometimes look in other locations as well. So I decided to add locker skins to the post as well with my reasoning and suggestions for them!
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I think another thing that should be considered is a weaker version of the pallet, an item that you can, with good timing, stun the killer with, but it doesn't create a barrier that they have to kick. Could be flipping down a small table, chair, lamp, trashcan, thin door, or sign; or any item that would break if it lands on the ground or hit the killer.
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I had thought about that before, and it could be useful. The door suggestion above was also kind of made to fit that niche in that it'd only do a short stun and be something you could break quickly. But basically 'garbage' you could drop instead of a pallet that maybe has a slightly longer stun but it doesn't block the path of the killer (or it only blocks it for a second or two while it's falling down and breaking apart) so it has to be timed well? I'm not sure how well that'd work though with balance but it is probably possible to some degree.
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It'd be a more high risk version of a pallet, something they can stick into hallways without creating god pallets. More opportunities to stun the killer in chase. It'd also give Smash Hit more value as it requires stunning the killer, when lithe requires you to vault a pallet.
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First off.
I LOVE THIS!
These are some amazingly creative ideas! They're amazing!
Please, keep making more quality submissions like this.!
Garage doors. YES - this needs to be in the game. Having something that survivors can open and killers can close for a quick advantage would be HUGE! The only slight issue might be clipping with certain survivor cosmetics. Sliding on your back may make some backpacks look a little funky.
Doors. This is a great idea. Killers need more to break than pallets. Pallets are boring. I'd rather have doors to break and less pallets to worry about on a map, because at least there would be variety - and perhaps a reason to bring Brutal Strength!
House Windows. I generally like the concept. I think having more open/close tug of wars with the killer would become more frustrating than it's worth, though. Garage door buttons may take time to open (8 seconds) if the devs felt like it, as it is an electrical switch. But windows become much more difficult. The injured aspect especially, while creative, may make the game feel a bit more complex than it needs to be. I'd love to see it in the game, but I'm unsure how realistic that may be with the other ones.
Pallet Skins. Not a bad idea - it gives variety, but it also has a lot of confliction with the areas around it. The benefit to the pallets is that they are so incredibly generic that people turn their brains off when they approach them - and all players, even new ones, understand what they are. If you make the pallet a bookshelf, for instance, takes a lot of work to model and work... but if you put that into RPD or Haddonfield, it's going to look MUCH more out of place than the original more 'general' design did in the first place. It's a challenge, because if each map had NUMEROUS designs to choose from, it might work!
Locker Skins. A better idea! I like having lockers that fit a bit better - maybe having some that look like actual wardrobes or refrigerators. Would take a lot more effort for little payoff - but I think it would be a great quality of life improvement.
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I love your ideas, I think they're better than mine.
The only thing I could come up with are -
Breakable Vaults. Like Breakable walls with windows in them. Killer can kick them into openings. Survivors can vault them up to 3 times, but on the 3rd time it breaks after a few seconds.
Light Pallets. These stun the killer for 2 seconds instead of 3. But they are destroyed when the killer hits them with anything - and survivors can only vault it twice before it breaks over a few seconds.
Heavy Pallets. These take a lengthy animation to drop, so survivors will have to anticipate a killer and begin to drop it long in advance - making it hard to use in a chase. Hitting a killer will stun them for 5 seconds, and these pallets take much longer for killers to break - while also being non-traversable as a survivor. Throwing one of these is a massive deal to survivors, and can be used to strengthen certain loops or close off certain passages.
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Not a bad idea - but remember, killers view this as a MASSIVE advantage. The perk that does this - Spirit Fury - requires the killer break 2 other perks before they can even have this work!
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Yeah, just saying that it'd probably be a lot more common than existing pallets are, but could work as a substitute for having god pallets everywhere on certain maps.
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True - although I think that flooding the map with free stuns may prove difficult to balance. It has a lot less guaranteed value but a hell of a lot more potential value.
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Yeah just thinking of something a bit below a pallet and a window in terms of survivor value.
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Thanks! Though your description of how garage doors would work is a bit different from how I imagined it. I feel having a button to re-close them would be a bit strong. The way I envisioned it, to keep it balanced, is that they're basically like the one garage door in the resident evil 2 remake. They're open just enough for a survivor to crouch under, but otherwise don't work and can't be opened and closed. Survivors can dive or crawl under them to try and avoid the killer. But killers can use their brute strength and/or powers to fling the door open, removing the obstacle from their path and denying survivors the ability to use it.
Much like how breakable walls next to a few vaults in the game can be broken to remove the usefulness of that vault or deny an infinite or make the loop unsafe. The killer can take the time to go open a garage door early so it can't be used but that's time not spent chasing, pressuring, or checking gens. And if a survivor uses it mid-chase, depending on the map the killer may try to go around like a normal vault if that's possible, or like a breakable wall, they can fling it open and remove the obstacle from the trial.
Otherwise thanks for the feedback. I really enjoyed your suggestions as well. Of my own suggestions, I'm honestly really hoping locker skins get in over all the other suggestions. Simply because of all of my suggestions, and those suggested by others, that one feels like something that's more likely to be considered by devs as it does not change core gameplay mechanics. And I really just can't stand the big red metal tool lockers in the middle of living rooms and bedrooms. Even a single alternative that's just a standing wooden wardrobe would be super useful and nice for many maps That said that doesn't mean I don't want these or similar ideas put into the game. Such changes could a lot more variety to the trials, chases, and the game in general.
I also really like @XStormyXDayzX suggestion as well for other hiding spots to replace lockers.
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that's cool but you have to remember that this game has been out for 7 years and not one single mechanic, new mode, or anything else has been implemented since then. so none of this is ever going to happen, unless maybe as a desperate attempt when the playerbase starts dying for good.
dbd is passive income for bhvr employees, someone wrote some wonky code 7 years ago and look at them now, still profiting off of that just by releasing one trashy skin once in a while.
they would only make these if they released a dbd2, or well, these ideas could be used by some competitors, if they actually existed. i wish they would, then we could actually boycott bhvr and they would understand what terrible developers they are.
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