When I first started FOnline (which wasn't that long ago) I came across a merchant and I was eager to see the types of weapons on offer. I came across a Molotov Cocktail and I became instantly excited, everyone has a budding pyromaniac inside. Now I don't actually recall seeing a Molotov in Fallout 2 so I was eager to see the effect that such an item would have on an enemy.
It wasn't long until I got to test out my new little toy. A few minutes later i was surrounded by rats and I was smiling as I thought about what effect the infamous Molotov would have on them (do you like your rats toasted or fried?) I clicked the target and with a might swing of the arm my character hurled the flaming, petrol filled bottle into the air. It seemed to soar for ages and when it hit the ground it exploded...
It just exploded.
Now where is the fun in that? I expected to have a huge inferno engulf my enemies, or at least a small campfire... It was extremely anti climatic. I brushed off the 'old' Fallout 2 and decided to see whether Molotovs actually featured in it, yes they do. And they still have that awful effect.
What I propose is that Molotovs have some sort of burning after effect of the ground they hit. I know what your thinking... OVER POWERED much? But think about it. I believe it could be balanced (being a weapon that is sold for a little over 50 caps) by modifying the damage and the area effected. As for animating such a thing I'm not particuarly sure... Could possibly replaying the explosion animation over and over again suffice for a flame? Would do it for me! I think it would be feasible, I'm sure that Molotovs don't simply explode and disappear and even more sure that standing in the vicinity of a thrown molotv would cause a little bit of damage.
It may even add even more tactical elements to the game. Blocking the entrance to a building by chucking a molotov or creating a wall of fire to stop melee fighters (or those pesky thieves). I suppose the problem is that they would be easily spammable, but that can be solved by decresing the area of effect or modifying the damage.
I suppose another issue is the transistion between Real Time and Turn Based. I'm no programmer but considering FOnline uses a completely different engine, would it be possible to make the Molotovs burn for say 5 turns in Turn Based and then 15 or so seconds in Real Time?
It may not be actually be possible to implemented but if it could it would be a nice design feature and a variation between the startling similar thrown explosives (sometimes it feels like Interplay didn't focus as much on the explosives as much as they did with the fanatastically designed Big Guns).
So what do you think?
