Slings

Redwallzyl · 2013-05-18T22:57:00.000Z

there vary underpowered. for one thing they don’t actually throw pebbles in real life they usually through decent size rocks(like tennis ball size) at vary high speeds. they would be capable of killing a zombie vary easily if you hit it in the head and anywhere else though it would likely shatter bones which shouldn’t have much of an affect on a zombie.

jumjummju · 2013-05-19T00:05:57.000Z

On the other hand, slings are about as easy to use with any strength or accuracy as chucking a throwing knife with a lacrosse stick. Unless you’re a shepherd named David that can fight 10 ft. tall giants with one, chances are you’ll probably just peg yourself in the face with a sling.

i2amroy · 2013-05-19T00:26:23.000Z

I actually find slings to be a rather useful weapon once you have a bit of throwing skill against anything that doesn’t have high armor reduction. And while I would like to see them get a bit of a damage buff, I think the problem lies more with how the armor system currently works then how with the sling itself.

Redwallzyl · 2013-05-19T00:33:15.000Z

jum i think your over estimating the difficulty there are plenty of examples of people using them with good accuracy on youtube if you want to see examples and slinging.org has lots of instructions and examples

jumjummju · 2013-05-19T00:34:52.000Z

Redwallzyl:

jum i think your over estimating the difficulty there are plenty of examples of people using them with good accuracy on youtube if you want to see examples and slinging.org has lots of instructions and examples

That’s because they’re trained. They’ve been training for a while. I meant you’re Average Joe would be more likely to give themselves a concussion than throw it. I’m going to say that at least 99% of people don’t know how to use a sling, those people on those websites are the minority.

i2amroy · 2013-05-19T00:55:55.000Z

jumjummju:

[quote=“Redwallzyl, post:4, topic:1306”]jum i think your over estimating the difficulty there are plenty of examples of people using them with good accuracy on youtube if you want to see examples and slinging.org has lots of instructions and examples

That’s because they’re trained. They’ve been training for a while. I meant you’re Average Joe would be more likely to give themselves a concussion than throw it. I’m going to say that at least 99% of people don’t know how to use a sling, those people on those websites are the minority.[/quote]
Actually, speaking from personal experience, it’s not that difficult to use a sling even without any prior knowledge (though I still suggest you start with something a little less weighty then full-on shot). The difficulty is rather that it’s extremely difficult to actually hit what you are aiming at without practice.

Pallbearington · 2013-05-19T01:34:49.000Z

Keep in mind here that there’s no reason for your character not to be trained. If you’ve invested enough XP into throwing (that’s the skill slings use, right?) then there really shouldn’t be any reason you CAN’T use it with the same degree of efficiency as the minority on those websites.

jumjummju · 2013-05-19T01:48:03.000Z

[quote=“Pallbearington, post:7, topic:1306”]Keep in mind here that there’s no reason for your character not to be trained. If you’ve invested enough XP into throwing (that’s the skill slings use, right?) then there really shouldn’t be any reason you CAN’T use it with the same degree of efficiency as the minority on those websites.[/quote] I suppose, if you simplify it. To be completely realistic, there’s a big difference between beaning someone between the eyes with a rock, throwing a knife so that it sticks in the target, and using a sling. Hell, there’s a big difference between that, throwing spears/javelins, and throwing a sword. Even more specific, there’s even a difference between pelting people with various objects (such as discus vs. shotput)

Of course though, that’s just getting waaaaaay too specific. This is a zombie-survival game, not a Track & Field simulator. So, yeah, I suppose slings should become pretty decent later on, while with lower skills they’re next to useless.

I’d say around 3-4 they become accurate enough to hit something, and around 5-6 become really good. 0-2 throwing skill, however, should find them extremely inaccurate. (Heck, make it so that at 0 skill it could even land behind you, to simulate it slipping out of the sling at the wrong time.)

TheRealTenman · 2013-05-19T04:44:11.000Z

jumjummju:

I’d say around 3-4 they become accurate enough to hit something, and around 5-6 become really good. 0-2 throwing skill, however, should find them extremely inaccurate. (Heck, make it so that at 0 skill it could even land behind you, to simulate it slipping out of the sling at the wrong time.)

When I decided to make a sling, two bits of leather cord and one leather patch, I :

picked up a pebble (1cm by 2cm)
placed it onto the patch
spun the sling about four revs
let one side go
and the rock hit the fence that I was aiming at. A half a metre slot at 30~ metres away.

My second attempt got my mothers boyfriend who was working in a shed (I didn’t know) and hit him with enough force to penetrate his calf muscle 2 cm plus rock.

2cm-CD)

That was with my second shot…

They are retardedly stable, accurate and deadly IRL.

I got 120 odd more shots and not a single one landed behind me. Though a few landed on the shed roof.

Weyrling · 2013-05-19T06:34:32.000Z

I’ve used a sling, and I can say that slings are extremely simple in theory, and quite simple in practice, despite the potential issues it’s actually difficult to hurt yourself with one of them unless you’re genuinely clumsy or have absolutely no idea how they work.
However, in a stressful or distracting situation (such as a bunch of angry zombies charging you) I can see somebody with little skill missing most of the time. Alternatively, taking significantly more time to properly aim.

Hitting a stationary target is an order of magnitude easier than hitting a moving target, and aiming when stressed, terrified, or distracted is another order of magnitude more difficult. These problems are countered mostly by experience and skill, so I have no problem with somebody with less than 3 or 4 skill potentially failing a highly significant amount of the time.

Morrigi · 2013-05-19T17:46:45.000Z

What I’d like to see would be the ability to make sling bullets out of scrap metal.

Blaze · 2013-05-19T21:46:17.000Z

Morrigi:

What I’d like to see would be the ability to make sling bullets out of scrap metal.

Ball bearings already exist, they deal 6 damage compared to a pebbles 2. It’s a simple matter of adding a recipe to create them.

GunnerX · 2013-05-19T23:37:21.000Z

Make them from lead, that was a typical material for sling bullets. Use the Die press for a tool, or a stone pot, rock/hammer and fire I guess. Lead isn’t that hard melt or work.

I’d like to use firecrackers in them as well.

system · 2013-05-20T00:13:24.000Z

I think if you have a sling reloaded you should:
Hit 'f’ire to add revolutions (to simulate the amount of turns you want to spend, adds to damage)
After you get enough revolutions you hit 't’hrow to release the projectile.
You’ve fucked up and missed.

You have been eaten by a Grue.

Redwallzyl · 2013-05-20T02:05:14.000Z

it does not really work like that.

Tripsky · 2013-05-20T05:18:36.000Z

i was super happy to see slings make it in game, and agree that they’re underpowered. slingshots are for shooting pebbles. slings for shooting head crushing fist sized rocks. a good example as to why a shepherd can take down a 10ft giant with one (ahem, allegedly).
the romans found them so useful as a ranged weapon they had entire quarries dedicated to making ammunition (as well as specific medical tools for removing said ammunition).

i also just read that slings have been used in conflicts to launch molotovs. at tanks.

TheRealTenman · 2013-05-20T10:58:51.000Z

[quote=“gtaguy, post:14, topic:1306”]I think if you have a sling reloaded you should:
Hit 'f’ire to add revolutions (to simulate the amount of turns you want to spend, adds to damage)
After you get enough revolutions you hit 't’hrow to release the projectile.
You’ve fucked up and missed.

You have been eaten by a Grue.[/quote]

Slings can take a fairly small amount of revs to be ready to fire. When I was using pebbles it took, maybe, 4 to get fast enough.
That is about a second.

As for aiming however, that can take time. I have no idea about larger stones though.

Weyrling · 2013-05-20T20:50:50.000Z

[quote=“TheRealTenman, post:17, topic:1306”][quote=“gtaguy, post:14, topic:1306”]I think if you have a sling reloaded you should:
Hit 'f’ire to add revolutions (to simulate the amount of turns you want to spend, adds to damage)
After you get enough revolutions you hit 't’hrow to release the projectile.
You’ve fucked up and missed.

You have been eaten by a Grue.[/quote]

Slings can take a fairly small amount of revs to be ready to fire. When I was using pebbles it took, maybe, 4 to get fast enough.
That is about a second.

As for aiming however, that can take time. I have no idea about larger stones though.[/quote]
Getting a large stone up to a good speed to throw takes a couple extra revs, but aiming is basically the same for whatever you happen to be throwing, unless it has some strange aerodynamic properties.

system · 2013-05-20T23:49:51.000Z

I want to be able to load cocaine into my sling and then launch it at a hulk, smashing the brain and killing it instantly!

So I can say: Puts sunglasses on Crack Kills.
YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!