ToastedPotato
New member
Preface:
By weight, what I mean is that becoming a werewolf with Silver's ult does not feel like I have become a big lumbering beast. It does not feel appropriately powerful, not because the damage numbers are low or whatever, but just because of something about the design. On the extreme end of what I consider weighty, calling in a titan in Titanfall and getting in is a great example of the player character becoming weighty. Hopefully, that gives an idea of what I mean when I talk about weight.
When I transform into Lycan Silver, it just kinda feels like I've had my abilities and character model swapped out. It doesn't feel like I've turned into a werewolf. I can identify two areas where I think the issues reside.
For once, I just think that Lycan Silver's model can feel a bit too top-heavy at times. In particular, her hair just seems to take up quite a lot of space on the sides. I'm not the greatest fan of this particular design choice, I feel it distracts too much from her shoulder and back anatomy, and so drags the eyes up. This kind of gives her an inverted triangle impression on the screen, making it feel like she lacks a proper base, and this contributes to her feeling floaty.
Secondly, Silver is clearly in need of an animation overhaul. I think we need a proper animation for the transformation, and of course many of the animations she currently has are placeholders. Additionally, someone I spoke to about this said the following:
I am inclined to agree. I suspect that when it comes time to give Silver her own animations, the attack speed ramp is going to place limitations on the amount of weight that can be put into Lycan Silver's attacks (purely because anticipation frames will have to be cut/shortened).
On the subject of making new assets. I think that Tail Swipe is a little weak, design-wise. Lycan Silver's tail is this big fluffy thing; hitting people with it just doesn't feel impactful in the right way.
However, I think the biggest problem might be that Silver's movement feels too nimble and humanlike in her Lycan form. It feels somehow wrong that she moves, dashes, changes direction, jumps and falls in the exact same way as she does when she is a human. I think that's what's making the transformation feel so cosmetic to me.
Of course, we don't want to limit her movement in werewolf form (i.e. by simply making it harder to change directions). Lycan Silver needs to be able to keep up with the movement of other heroes, or the ult will feel horrible to play with. I have a few ideas here:
Imagine seeing this huge wolf-like creature barreling down Broadway. She slams into the wall at the end of the lane (hopefully with a cool wallsplat animation where she absorbs the impact), snaps her head towards you, and just starts throwing herself haphazardly in your direction. Leap. Bound. She sends herself flying into the air and slams into another wall. You jump, and with her next pounce she's on top of you. Flipping cool.
I think this encompasses the power fantasy much better than Silver's existing kit.
When I turn into a werewolf, I want to feel like a snarling mess of claws and fur, and the current kit just doesn't do that at every moment for me; it only shows me that I'm a werewolf when I use one of my cooldowns. Lycan Silver needs some wolfiness in just the way she moves and interacts with the environment to really sell it, in my opinion.
By weight, what I mean is that becoming a werewolf with Silver's ult does not feel like I have become a big lumbering beast. It does not feel appropriately powerful, not because the damage numbers are low or whatever, but just because of something about the design. On the extreme end of what I consider weighty, calling in a titan in Titanfall and getting in is a great example of the player character becoming weighty. Hopefully, that gives an idea of what I mean when I talk about weight.
When I transform into Lycan Silver, it just kinda feels like I've had my abilities and character model swapped out. It doesn't feel like I've turned into a werewolf. I can identify two areas where I think the issues reside.
For once, I just think that Lycan Silver's model can feel a bit too top-heavy at times. In particular, her hair just seems to take up quite a lot of space on the sides. I'm not the greatest fan of this particular design choice, I feel it distracts too much from her shoulder and back anatomy, and so drags the eyes up. This kind of gives her an inverted triangle impression on the screen, making it feel like she lacks a proper base, and this contributes to her feeling floaty.
Secondly, Silver is clearly in need of an animation overhaul. I think we need a proper animation for the transformation, and of course many of the animations she currently has are placeholders. Additionally, someone I spoke to about this said the following:
I am inclined to agree. I suspect that when it comes time to give Silver her own animations, the attack speed ramp is going to place limitations on the amount of weight that can be put into Lycan Silver's attacks (purely because anticipation frames will have to be cut/shortened).
On the subject of making new assets. I think that Tail Swipe is a little weak, design-wise. Lycan Silver's tail is this big fluffy thing; hitting people with it just doesn't feel impactful in the right way.
However, I think the biggest problem might be that Silver's movement feels too nimble and humanlike in her Lycan form. It feels somehow wrong that she moves, dashes, changes direction, jumps and falls in the exact same way as she does when she is a human. I think that's what's making the transformation feel so cosmetic to me.
Of course, we don't want to limit her movement in werewolf form (i.e. by simply making it harder to change directions). Lycan Silver needs to be able to keep up with the movement of other heroes, or the ult will feel horrible to play with. I have a few ideas here:
- Lycan Silver's dash, could be replaced by a pounce. If any of you play overwatch, I am imagining something very similar to (tank) Doomfist's movement. Doomfist's rocket punch is like Silver's current dash ability (on 2 by default), and that would remain as it is. However, Doomfist can also move horizontally and vertically by combining his groundpound and shield ability. Instead of normal dashes, Silver would be able to move like this. She would have basically a jump that goes in any direction (including a lateral leap) based on where the camera is facing. In the air you'd also be able to "jump" down, essentially like a downdash. Using the existing walljump logic, you could even make it possible for silver to pounce off walls. The usual dash has a constant velocity throughout, and replacing this with a more violent impulse will make Lycan Silver's movement feel more visceral and explosive.
- If we take the previous suggestion, there's an argument for the removal of the Lycan Silver's double jump and airdash here, too. The air movement in Deadlock does feel a bit "dainty" for a werewolf (for lack of a better word). It would be interesting to see Silver rely more on the environment for mobility when she's wolfing out. Almost like she's forgotten the more nuanced aspects of Deadlock's movement system. Of course, this could make for an awkward moment in Lycan Silver's gameplay: If she jumps and then pounces up into the air, she'll end up flying above the battlefield with essentially no movement options. My fix for this would be to limit the amount of verticality Silver can get off of a pounce, but make it so that she "slides" up walls if she pounces into them. That way, she can access verticality only when she needs it to get over an obstacle, but will not end up stranded in the air without any movement options. It also offers some interesting counterplay for her enemies: To get to an enemy high in the air, Silver needs to pounce and claw her way up a wall, then pounce off that wall and onto the enemy. That's more complicated than just jumping up there, so enemies can try to float away from the map geometry to make Lycan Silver's engage harder.
- I think Silver needs to have a sense of momentum when in her Lycan form. She should be able to build up speed in a way almost like Viscous's goo ball. I want to see Lycan Silver slam into the wall as she chases me and I turn a sharp corner. I want to see her careering down the lane on all fours. The availability of dashes (equiv. pounces) is essential to making this kind of movement viable in deadlock. You need to be able to change direction quickly in this game, so this kind of momentum based movement only works if you have a way to cancel your momentum immediately. Dashing in the opposite direction is the only way to do that in Deadlock, so Silver would probably need buffs to stamina amount and regen in her Lycan form.
Imagine seeing this huge wolf-like creature barreling down Broadway. She slams into the wall at the end of the lane (hopefully with a cool wallsplat animation where she absorbs the impact), snaps her head towards you, and just starts throwing herself haphazardly in your direction. Leap. Bound. She sends herself flying into the air and slams into another wall. You jump, and with her next pounce she's on top of you. Flipping cool.
I think this encompasses the power fantasy much better than Silver's existing kit.
When I turn into a werewolf, I want to feel like a snarling mess of claws and fur, and the current kit just doesn't do that at every moment for me; it only shows me that I'm a werewolf when I use one of my cooldowns. Lycan Silver needs some wolfiness in just the way she moves and interacts with the environment to really sell it, in my opinion.
