Jammers!

[PeterComputer]

So, in case you haven't already tried the new beta and would like not to spoil yourself the surprise, I would recommend you leave now as I'm going to talk a bit about one of the new features. You have been warned!



If you're still here, I'd like to share my thoughts on the new Jammer contractors. If you aren't aware already, contractors are a new enemy type which serve as a kind of minibosses in each level. One of those contractors is the Jammer, who goes around the ship laying devices that disable all player gadgets in a 3x3 room radius. Essentially, if a Jammer places a device in a room, you are not allowed to use any abilities in that room and in the 8 adjacent tiles until you can get to the device and disable it. They will keep placing their devices around the ship until there is no more space left or they are killed.

Now, I'm not completely opposed to this idea, as it add quite a bit of extra challenge but in its current state, its more of a hassle than a fun addition. From what I've played so far, I find that Jammers simply move too quickly, and in missions where stealth is key, you'll often find yourself in a situation where if you take just a little too long to deal with a group of enemies, half the ship will already be full of those jammer devices, which obviously makes stealthing past the next cells of enemies a lot harder. Add some randomly generated layouts to that and now you've got jammer devices in extremely exposed locations with no easy way to get past it and no way to disable them somewhat safely since none of your gadgets work.

Having to resort to guns and melee (which in most cases doesn't work on shielded enemies) or bum-rushing Jammers before they turn the whole level into a fortress isn't fun. Heat Signature is a fast-paced game and although pausing and planning is a crucial part of the game, Jammers unnecessarily slow everything down.

There are a few ways they could probably be fixed though. Perhaps instead of a constant nullifying field, the jammer devices could instead emit a jammer pulse every couple of seconds, giving the player a window of opportunity and putting an emphasis on timing and quick thinking. Maybe making Jammers slower, or having the devices go through an activation period during which they are vulnerable. I think little things like that could make a world of difference.

Anyways, I've ranted on for long enough. I'd love to hear what you guys think of Jammers and how you've been dealing with them so far. Space Birthday hype!

[Chiru]

Yeah I agree. Heat Signature for me is finding creative ways to get through ships using gadgets.
Jammers, which are practically around in EVERY mission beyond Audacious difficulty now, will make it so that I can only use melee, guns, and grenade launchers. Perhaps use the "throw a trap" trick. But this is an "aggro kill/KO everything all the time" playstyle, which I don't like, but which Jammers neccessitate, with no way to counter it. Especially not if you want to ghost a mission.

[Satan]

Possibly a limit on the jamming devices active at once might be nice. So they cycle through the ship and seal off parts of it behind them, but if you wait you can bypass their fields.

[PeterComputer]

Originally posted by TotalAbsolutism:

Possibly a limit on the jamming devices active at once might be nice. So they cycle through the ship and seal off parts of it behind them, but if you wait you can bypass their fields.

That sounds like a pretty good idea actually. Either a limit or have the devices shut themselves down after sometime.

[Klokinator]

I like that idea. Maybe a small tweak can be that Jammers are on for ten seconds, then they take three seconds to reboot and restart, then they're on for ten seconds again, etc. This can make a ship full of jammers have small windows where your gadgets will work, but it will require precise timing.

[Terozo]

Alternatively, allow all gadgets activated outside the device to continue to function once inside the device for their remaining time. That way there are further options to deal with the devices and also preserving the functionality of the jamming doors.

As it stands, if you use a key cloner while outside on somone inside you will succeed, but you cannot activate a stealth field outside and retain it when you walk inside.

As an aside, The I have noticed that the device area can extend outside the ships structure, potentially even jamming the area within the pod itself.

Another idea somewhat would be that after you get the guy, something would interfere with the laid devices.. Though that would not help in a situation I encountered ealier where he spawned near the airlock and literally jammed the only entranceway...

[Satan]

As I found out today, you can also Subvert the jamming devices from outside their range if you have a Long Range or Extreme Range Subverter. The former works only in a direct line from the middle edges, the latter should wokrk from further.

You should also be able to Crash them as well.

[Rediniowa5]

Love subverting them, especially on Predator Contractors, creats a save zone in the ship. (Subverter Grenages work wonders)