Something that I think the Art team can really work on is the concept of Plasma. Plasma is undoubtedly powerful. It is, in fact, so powerful that it rivals the power of the stars. As such, I'd love to see this: Coupled with this: HTML: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCUVl78PQJU To get something something like this:
I loved the plasma shots from DoW2 and Space Marine, would hope to see something like that for in-game. Idk but that is how my brain now registers or WISHES to be Plasma Cannons & Pistols to be like.
FX is one of the possiblities for artists to go completely nuts. i think they make a good part of the experience especially since you will be seing them very often. and fx has to motivate me to shoot that gun as soon as possible even if its just to see the great work the artist did with it. that said i think company of heroes 1 had some of the most detailed textures for their effects that it still overshines many modern games in that area still. this is exactly the kind of quality im looking for personally. that said, i didnt find space marine and many of relics other games appealing because they kinda lowered the quality threshold.
I also want the actual shot to have a massive impact. If you get hit with it, I want to FEEL like I just got hit with a supercharged ball of plasma. Ragdoll me all the way to terra.
I was disappointed with Space Marine's portrayal of plasma weapons. They didn't have the power that they should have had IMO. Their effect and sounds were weak and the cannon shots moved far too slow to me. And that whole secondary fire mode where the plasma bolts acted like a sticky bomb made no sense at all. I also didn't like the weird arcing fire from the Chaos plasma guns. 40k Plasma weapons fire high velocity bolts that are as hot as solar flares (tens of million of degrees kelvin), a shot from one would be vaporizing targets in a blindingly bright explosion. These weapons are incredibly destructive and terrifying, and that's what I want to see in this game. Plasma guns done right. “To his right, he levelled his plasma pistol and fired twice, point-blank, into the press. Aliens burst apart, vaporised by intense blasts of ionised gases or set alight by secondary thermal effects.” - Horus Heresy: Tales of Heresy, Pg. 84
I'm talking more about Space Marine's portrayal of plasma weapons, such as how they behaved and their visual effects. They felt very off.
How fast do plasma projectiles actually fire in the lore? In DoW2 and Space Marine it took a second or two for it to make contact with an enemy. Like how the shots are from a Wraith in Halo.
The exact speed plasma projectiles travel is unknown, but it's much faster than the ones we've seen in DoW 2 and Space Marine, based on what I've read from official lore. "Zatori’s pupils contracted rapidly as the blindingly bright bolt of plasma lanced out of the weapon’s barrel. Though not as fast as bursts from a lasgun, plasma bolts had a far greater muzzle velocity than the bolts fired by a bolt pistol or bolter, closing the distance from weapon to target in the merest fraction of an instant." - Sons of Dorn, Pg. 128
