So, I have been thinking for a long time of ways that some depth could be added to the gunplay of Enlisted. There are things that I really enjoy about Enlisted, but I also have a list of some ideas I have that can add more depth to the gunplay, and to make every gun feel different from the other:
Zoom based on sight radius - Guns with longer sight radii were easier to be accurate with due to the sights being easier to line up. Allowing individual zoom levels could help represent this, for example, full-powered rifles could have a zoom range of 1.8x-2.4x based on sight radius. Intermediate-powered rifles could have from 1.5x-2.0x, and pistol caliber weapons could range from 1.0x-1.7x. In order to get this increased zoom, it will be tied to the hold breath mechanic, and the outer edges of your screen will be blurred since your character is focusing on where the sights are
Lowering weapon when obstructed by walls or other objects - Lower the rifle out of the way when it gets obstructed by a wall or other object. This will add depth to close quarters combat by making every gun differently suited towards it. A long rifle, even though it can one-shot, may not be as ideal in close engagements as a shorter weapon. Weapons with folding stocks can be folded to decrease the length even more. When your weapon is no longer being obstructed, you will raise it back up, but weapon weight can factor into how quickly it can be raised again. For example, an MG 42, which is very heavy would take a longer time to raise than an M1 Carbine, which is very light.
Modeling very sight firing delay of open-bolt weapons - Many automatic weapons, especially submachine guns, utilize an open bolt firing mechanism ,which means that the gun is ready to fire when the bolt is all the way back rather than in a closed bolt weapon where the gun is ready to be fired when the bolt is all the way forward. Due to this, open bolt weapons have a very slight delay after the trigger is pulled where the bolt has to fall before the round can be fired. This slight delay would not mean much in close quarters, where it is easy to be accurate with the first shot anyway, but in longer range engagements, it will take more skill to be accurate because of the slight firing delay. This mechanic will help balance submachine guns the most, since they only require 2-3 shots to kill at most distances and have low recoil, so they would otherwise possibly be too “powerful” at longer ranges where they would not be in real life, due to the mechanics of the gun. Of course, this doesn’t make them entirely ineffective at range, but it raises the skill ceiling for using these weapons outside of their intended role.
Folding stocked weapons - These weapons can be folded to reduce the length of the gun, although when folded, you cannot properly aim down sights and the weapon will be much less accurate on the move.
MoA Accuracy - Implement the inherent accuracy of the gun in MoA. For example, if a weapon has 1 MoA accuracy, that means all shots at 100 yards will hit within a 1 inch diameter circle, 2 inches at 200 yards, and so on. This suggestion probably will be controversial because it adds “RNG” into the gunplay, but I believe it could be a good mechanic. However, it will take a LOT of research to find correct numbers of MoA for each gun and shouldn’t be implemented unless that research is done.
Heavier weapons take longer to aim down sights - Kind of self-explanatory, heavier weapons will take longer to aim down sights from the “hip fire” position. This will help balance very heavy weapons like MG 42 or other heavier machine guns that shouldn’t be used as fast paced as other weapons.
And finally, Bayonets - Most rifles during WWII could mount a bayonet, so it should be reflected in game. Mounting a bayonet will do a couple things besides giving your rifle a better melee capability. First, since it is extra weight on the end of the barrel, it will help a little bit to reduce muzzle climb of the gun, depending on the length and weight of the bayonet. Second, attaching the bayonet will reduce accuracy on the move and hold breath time of the weapon. Not all bayonets will do the same damage either; some, like the FG 42’s spike bayonet, are very poor designs and would not do as much damage as others, although this would be subjective to decide how much damage each bayonet will do.
So, these are a few of my ideas that I think can really add some depth to the gunplay. Things like this can give every weapon it’s own identity, and in a realistic way. Instead of having guns that feel fairly similar as each other, (like SVT vs Gewher 41), they can truly have their own identities. The way the devs will be modeling recoil impulse is already to me a great thing, since guns feel different while shooting, but I think it would be nice if they could also be different than each other in these other ways as well. So what do you guys think, do you like or dislike some of these ideas, or even have some of your own ideas of how to realistically add more depth into the gunplay?