Warning le wall of text ahead.
I am aware that this is not the first suggestion about implementing some sort of cover system , other topics had polls and there is no doubt that players want this , so i decided to bring this subject up again and maybe there will be something more that other suggestions have missed or didn't mention , you know fulfill the idea.
I have searched the forum via the " search " feature and found few topics about cover suggestions that inspired me , since it gave me a clear vision how i would like to see the cover system and how it should be , in my opinion , i don't see the harm of sharing it with the community :)
Cover should be a large part of combat and a big deal when fighting , since it gives you actual " cover " from enemy fire and you could use it to mount weapons on cover you are using , for example a barrel or even a mail box it really doesn't matter since you can mount a minigun on both of these objects , heck even a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher , giving you a steady aim therefore increasing accuracy. Then again it makes sense that your not really standing and you aren't facing an opponent head on , it means you should reload and shoot more rapidly and you would be harder to notice.
This is some thinking that helps me and you understand what cover actually should provide ingame.
The action itself " taking cover " should be simple like if you stand near a barrel for a second or two , but you don't gain anything if you just run by it , you gain " cover " it could actually even show up in top left corner of screen. Since taking cover is some sort of action , it should cost like 4 or even half of your current AP. This even gives me an idea for a new perk that actually counters the usage of AP's but that's a different subject i won't touch.
So i was talking about actually being harder to notice while in cover and i thought for a while how it could work , i came up that you gain a passive sneak skill like the current barrels do , only difference you don't have to " sneak " to gain the effect. I don't know what the actual numbers would be maybe the same 50 or even 100 it's only an example so don't kill me over it. :)
Then again as it provides you cover from enemy fire i had to come up with some way how to implement this , this one was a tough nut to crack , but eventually it came to me ::) . If you provide a flat amount AC , specialized builds with enough perception and weapon skill would just shit on this feature and it would be like your just sitting in an open area , the cover is denied completely witch should be impossible , so instead you decrease the maximum chance to hit by for example 15-25% from incoming fire , could be random , but random is bad so a fixed amount should do the trick.
Needs some testing anyway , so i guess this is a job for solar , btw i would gladly do it for you if i could ;D
" Mounting weapons " and gaining accuracy there are two ways how to implement this and one is better then the other at least i think that. It's possible to give a flat amount of weapon skill like +30 , +40 etc. etc. , but that isn't flexible due to the huge variations of builds and to prevent people making some gauss cover builds ;D or whatever. Instead we can increase the amount of skill by a percentage , it isn't perfect but it is flexible and i think acceptable , nothing ever is perfect but i could prove myself wrong. There could be some sort of formula the more skill points you have the less weapon skill in percentage you gain while in cover. Don't know the actual formula myself , haven't thought about that much.
Since you mount the weapon it could give you +1 str towards weapon handling , as far as i know weapon handling perk after wipe will give only +2 str if i remember correctly , so it balances out.
This one is harder to explain but well you have cover and you don't face the enemy head on so you get increased AP regeneration equal as you had +1 AP this allows the rapid firing , using inventory items and reloading costs half the action points.
Explosive hit's have only a chance to knock you out of cover and deals half damage or 1/3 , and explosive shots don't have any penalty towards accuracy against players in cover.
Don't get me wrong i don't want a single barrel to give this , there should be all kind of covers , a pile of crates would give better protection than a barrel , tree , mailbox or even a street lamp or even an open door near a building. Cover can be everything. ;)
Windows in buildings should serve as the best cover , knocked down/out targets shouldn't be visible to outside players if they are using building window cover.
Players in cover are exceptionally vulnerable to melee/unnarmed attacks.
Cars can serve as one of the best covers too as they do now.
It's possible to take cover when you are sneaking.
Ofcourse you can take cover while in combat.
Short version if you use cover you gain.
1+ str weapon handling
AP regeneration equal to as you have +1 AP.
Half the amount of AP required to reload and use inventory items.
Increased accuracy by a percentage that adapts depending how much skill points the player using cover has.
Decreased maximum chance 15-25% to hit on the player who uses cover.
Explosives shots have only chance to knock you out of cover and deals 1/2 or 1/3 damage.
Players in cover are exceptionally vulnerable to melee/unnarmed attacks.
Gain passive sneak skill.
Cars is cover , as well buildings/windows the best.
I hope i didn't miss something , may have to edit.
yeah i know cover is OP and it should be like that ;D