Suggestion: Sound generating "traps"

[El_Payaso 2]

Hi guys!

So I was wondering the other day, how to further secure your camp, building or back from other survivors or bandits and what other ways there could be to have the upper hand in the fight against mean bandits and/or greedy survivors.

And it's relatively simple; Sound traps.

Why sound traps, you ask?

Three main uses for you.

1. Awareness

2. Security

3. Distraction

Think of the following few scenarios (bear with me, it is well worth it).

Awareness:

1) You crawl into a big building, you hear gunshots very close nearby. Now, of course you either stay were you are and hope to remain undiscovered or you do what 90% of the players would do. Look out of the window or back or front door. This though makes you very vulnerable. There is a big chance that if the player really is nearby, looking for you and averagely clever he WILL see you peeking. If the player is a bandit, you are more or less in danger. Now what if you didn't necessarily have to peek? What if you stayed there and just focused on staying hidden or escaping? You place a sound trap and you focus on fleeing. Chances of surviving are therefore increased.

2) You and your fellow bandits/survivors raid a place for loots, for the sake of the argument, a building. Normally someone provides watch, but what if the group just isn't big enough to cover all the exits? You place these traps and you patrol said exits. All of a sudden you hear the sound. (it's obviously just an example to give you a nicer picture). When you hear that you know for a fact then that a guest has arrived and you can take defensive/offensive measures.

Security:

You and your fellow bandits/survivors/mercs have a nice cozy little camp on a hill, overwatching a popular location. Or hidden camp, deep inside a forest. Inside the camp you have tents with valuable loot. You don't want the loot to get into the wrong hands. You really don't want that. You have secured the location with tank traps, barbed wire and soon bear traps. But what if you give yourself some breathing time by placing the sound traps a bit outside the camp, just inside hearing range but still as far away from the camp as the sound range allows you to? This enables another layer of security and preventive tactical measures for your friends and your camp. So you are guarding the camp and suddenly hear your nicely placed trap go off:

1) It can scare random players away, since they know someone could be here and of course

2) You, as the guard, now know for a fact that someone is here and can start taking preventive measures.

Distraction:

You are in trouble. Big trouble. A blood thirsty bandit is chasing you and he is getting very close. The only thing that saves you is going through and around buildings to cut visual contact.

You know that you are in deep this time and you don't really have the means to fight back, plus you don't really know where the bandit is, you only know he's close. In a moment of realization you face the possibility of death with complete calm and place a sound trap in front of a building's door close to the street and run around the building into the woods. The bandit is searching for you, but is obviously trying hard to stay hidden from those brainless beasts wandering aimlessly around closeby and also to be as silent as possible. He moves towards the building and suddenly sets off the trap. The bandit now has attracted attention and there are three possibilities.

1) the Zombies now heard him, they are rushing towards him. He fights them off but by the time he is done, you are far away.

2) In his panic caused by the sudden loud sounds and the fear of losing you and attracting the zombies, he runs where the trap tells him you are. Inside the building. He quickly scans every room and then angrily realizes that you are long gone.

3) He is so stubborn and reckless that he ignores the trap and keeps running, he sees you and takes you out. Tough luck, but still you at least had a good chance of fleeing.

This was a lot of text, I know, but I wrote all this so that you could picture this more effectively.

You will probably ask: Is it technically possible to implement?. Fair enough.

From a technical standpoind they are working under the same principles as the bear trap, but instead of triggering a leg-break and damage, it triggers a sound file.

So if bear traps can be implemented, sound traps should also be possible.

Regarding the visual aspect, the barbed wire and tin cans can be recycled and used to create an alternate model. For instance, with just one wire and tin cans on it.

It will not really require a collision model, since players do need to be able to walk through it.

Another thing you will probably ask is: Do we really need this?

And the answer is honestly "No". But do we really need bear traps? No. But they are very useful and also provide a tactical advantage. Same goes with the sound traps.

These kinds of traps are in no way meant to be a main feature. They just could be a way to provide you with a bit of tactical support.

So. Tell me what you think!

Thanks for bearing with me and reading through all of this :)

Also, I have used the search function and didn't find another thread about this so in case this already has been suggested, I apologize in advance.

Edited July 13, 2012 by El_Payaso

[LumberBack 43]

What I've seen of the bear traps, then they do make some noise when triggered.

[El_Payaso 2]

Hey LumberBack, yes, sure they do. But if you hear this long sound of rattling tin cans, it creates a different reaction to both the person that placed it and the person who triggered it.

In case you missed my hyperlinks in the text, I meant a sound like this:

http://www.audiomicr...s/dialog/822167

Thanks for your comment. :)

Edited July 13, 2012 by El_Payaso

[Draco122 412]

I've got an idea for using up those empty soda cans and empty whiskey bottles as simple "sound traps". Like for example, getting several empty can's together on a string to create a "clacker" or smashing a bottle into broken glass and placing it along the floor to create a crunching effect of people walking across the glass.

[El_Payaso 2]

Yes, like your first example. But I thought it would save time, you know, development wise, by just recycling the barbed wire and the tin cans.

Your bottle smashing idea is cool, but i think it would be way harder to implement.

[Private Poptarts 23]

Sounds better than the bear trap in my opinion.

[El_Payaso 2]

I just feel that this would add to the gameplay without altering the core. Plus, it does not influence any other aspect of the game mechanic wise, so it is safe to test it without really damaging other sections of the gameplay.

One of the downsides to this is that some people tend to abuse whatever they can get in their hands. So sound traps could really just make the life of a starting survivor even harder, if said abusers spam them everywhere like those barbed wire fences.