Post feature Report RSS Weapon Classes in Killing, My Friend

A look at weapon classes, customization and how they work in Killing, My Friend.

Posted by on

Hello!

This is Dwayne Douglass, lead designer on Killing, My Friend and I wanted to talk about our weapon system in KMF and its similarities and unique differences to the current crop of FPS shooters. And also a compare and contrast to Action Half-Life for any of the fans of or mod who are interested.

In AHL the design goal was to have all the weapons balanced with every other weapon leaving the player to decide which load-out of weapons and gear fits their gameplay style best instead of which weapon is best. In Killing, My Friend we’ve taken that a step further. All the weapons available in Killing, My Friend are archetypes or in our case, classes. The classes cover many of the most popular weapon classes like most games and include Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Sub Machine Guns, a variety of Pistols like 9mm semi-autos or Magnum revolvers and the like. All have specific gameplay differences with range, ammo count, ROF, etc. But, rather than specific weapons that you’d find in other shooters, each class has one set of stats with a wide variety of makes and models. They function the same no matter how they look. On an action movie set, the weapons just have to look cool, not function to their specific real-world specs. This also allows us to make the weapon models as customizable as the characters.

shotgun class

An example of the choices available for the Shotguns class. Despite how they differ in the real world (the semi-auto Benelli M4 vs the pump-action Remington 870 and a generic starter pump shotgun) they will function exactly the same in KMF.

There are five sidearm classes, six primary weapon classes which includes the ability to dual wield sidearms as a primary weapon choice. The standard load out consists of one primary weapon in the Primary Weapon slot (if you choose to dual-wield pistols then that’s a total of 3 pistols you are carrying mister), one sidearm in the Sidearm slot, a single knife (which can be thrown in a pinch) and one piece of special equipment in the Equipment slot. The full list of weapon classes looks like this:

Sidearms:

  • Lower Caliber Semi-Auto Pistols: Primarily 9mm Pistols or the like. These are high capacity, lower damage weapons that can be dual wielded. Short range. High rate of fire. Iron Sights.
  • Medium Caliber Semi-Auto Pistols: Primarily .45 Pistols or the like. These are lower capacity, medium damage weapons that can be dual wielded. Short range. Medium rate of fire. Iron Sights.

pistol class

A variety of pistol choices with special emphasis on iconic action movie choices. The Die Hard Beretta, the Hard-Boiled Takarovs and Dirty Harry Model 29 .44 magnum we like to call the Murtaugh & Riggs M29. Also shown are choices that are simple texture based variations on the classic 1911’s as seen in movies like Last Man Standing or Face/Off with a standard or gold textures.

  • Western Six-Shooters: Primarily .45 single-action revolvers. These are low capacity, single bullet reloading pistols that can be dual wielded. Longer range than either of the other dual wielded pistols. Alt-Fire: Fan the hammer/rapid fire
  • Magnum Revolver: Double-Action revolver in the .44 Magnum range or the like. Low capacity pistol are reloaded all at once with a quick loader. High damage. Long range. Slow rate of fire. Cannot be dual wielded. Iron Sights
  • .50 Semi-Auto: .50 Cal semi-auto pistol primarily. Low capacity, low range, medium rate of fire, high damage. Cannot be dual wielded. Iron Sights

submachinegun class

Another example of the choices available, this time for the Sub Machinegun class. A classic Uzi because nothing says 80’s action movie like an Uzi, and a more 90’s MP5.

Primary Weapons:

  • Shotgun: Standard pump-action shotgun. Five shell capacity. Does medium damage at medium range, slightly higher at short range. Causes 2x bleeding damage to body shots. Player reloads a single shell at a time. Iron Sights.
  • Hand Cannon: Classic sawed off double barrel shotgun. Very short range, very high damage. Can be fired one barrel at a time or both simultaneously for instant kill at close range. Causes light damage at longer range. Holds two shells that must be reloaded after both barrels are fired. Alt-Fire: Fires only one barrel.
  • Dual Pistols: Any of three pairs of pistols that are able to be dual wielded. Effectively doubles the rate of fire. When more than one of a single type of sidearm is held they take up a Primary Weapon slot. Iron Sights.
  • Submachine Gun: Classic 9mm sub-machine gun. High capacity, high rate of fire. No accuracy modifier when fired full auto. When paired with the Bandolier special item they can be dual wielded. Iron Sights.
  • Assault Rifle: Medium capacity. Medium rate of fire. Medium damage. Long range. Fire rates: full auto/semi-auto (Click primary fire for semi-auto, hold primary fire for full auto). Slight accuracy modifier and kicks up when fired full auto. Iron Sights.

AR class

The Assault Rifle class can be represented by different makes such as an M4 or different models of essentially the same gun with the two different AK-47’s pictured.

  • DMR: Basic Semi-auto sniper rifle. Low capacity. Medium rate of fire. Medium damage. Long Range. 4x scope. Negative accuracy modifier when not scoped. Iron-Sights(Scoped)
  • Throwing Knives: Throwing knives are different weapons than the melee knife despite the fact that the standard melee knife can be thrown. Throwing knives cannot be used to slash and are range only weapons. When thrown it can be recovered, whether from the floor, wall or a dead body. When thrown, knives arc and have a short range. They are completely silent until they hit a wall. Can be caught and thrown back at the enemy. If the player is hit with a knife, they can also be pulled out of the player’s body and thrown. Can be dual wielded with the melee knife. High Damage. High bleeding damage. No Alt-fire/Iron Sights.

For AHL fans, there is one major difference in weapon classes between KMF and AHL and that’s the DMR and lack of a proper Sniper Rifle class. The DMR will basically function like the old semi-auto sniper rifle with some other stat changes keeping the action a little more close up and action-y. This was a design choice based on the style of game we are making vs. what AHL and the Action franchise in general is as a multiplayer game. However, there will be a way to unlock a classic sniper rifle if that’s your thing that I’ll get into in our next feature update!

DMR class

The DMR class can have a wide range of makes and models and still fall into the class. In this case the classic Russian DMR, Dragunov and an homage to a weapon made famous by the A-Team something we like to call the Murdock BA14. Also note that even the grenades can look how you want…

Post comment Comments
str00dle
str00dle

this looks great so far - is this expected to be released on steam in the near future? if so what kind of payment model are you planning on using?

Reply Good karma Bad karma+3 votes
Hard-BoiledSoftware Author
Hard-BoiledSoftware

We are looking to release on Steam in fall of 2016 with a standard, one-time payment.

Reply Good karma+4 votes
Tycholarfero
Tycholarfero

Very exciting!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Metal_Invader
Metal_Invader

I like the system! also, I just watched Hard Boiled yesterday... and now I'm totally exited for this!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
TypicalRussianIvan
TypicalRussianIvan

Oops, there is a small mistake, sir
It's not Druganov, but Dragunov

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Hard-BoiledSoftware Author
Hard-BoiledSoftware

Fixed it! Thanks for the head's up!

Reply Good karma+1 vote
Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account: