An idea to make repairing Generators more interesting

TheEdster

For Survivors repairing Generators is currently the only objective, but what I believe the biggest issue is that repairing Generators is incredibly boring and requires almost no skill.

And because most Killers have such little map pressure, mostly because of the size of most maps, Survivors often sit at those Generators for the full 80 seconds.

I understand that repairing Generators should not be too difficult, but I have an idea to make this element of the Survivors' experience slightly more skillful but most importantly less boring.

Here's the idea:

Instead of only having to complete regular skill checks, Survivors will have to play a continuous game. I have made a very professional image that you see below. Allow me to explain:

1. This a example of what it will look like.

2. When playing this game the vertical bars will move up and down (the blue arrows indicate the current direction in this image). The weird scribbles around bar number 1 and 3 indicate that that bar is about to shoot off the horizontal bar. In game you don’t see those weird scribbles, but then those vertical bars would be shaking. This brings me to part 3.

3. When a Survivor is not quick enough to react, these vertical bars will move off the horizontal bar. When these bars move out of place (turn red) the following will happen:

• When 1-3 bars on 1 side of the Generator are out of place the Generator will not explode or regress, but the Generator will no longer progress until those bars are put back into place by the Survivor.

• When all 4 of these bars on 1 side of the Generator are out of place the Generator will explode and notify the Killer (like missing a skill check).

• When one Survivor allows 1 or more of these bars to shoot out of place, all progress is stopped for all Survivors that are working on that Generator.

• When a Survivor leaves a Generator when 1 or more of these bars are out of place, when the next Survivor comes to that Generator to repair it he'll have to fix the bars on the correct side of the Generator.

4. So let's say you are working on a Generator and a skill check appears:

• You hit a good skill check, nothing happens (the same that happens now).

• You hit a great skill check, you get the current 1% progression boost and all the vertical bars are placed back to their 'perfect' position (see part 5).

• You miss the skill check, a loud explosion will happen, the killer will be notified and all vertical bars will be shot off the horizontal bars (see part 6).

·        When the Killer kicks a Generator all bars will be shot off as well. This means a Survivor can't simply tap a Generator to pause the regression (perks like Surveillance and Overcharge will trigger when all bars have been put back into place). Only the bars on the side the Killer kicked the Generator will have to be put back. If a Survivor starts working on a wrong side of a kicked Generator, the Generator will not progress.

·        The Survivor can move across the vertical bars by using the A and D keys while holding M1, the Survivor can put these bars back into place by using the W and S keys while holding M1. A single tap of the W key or the S key is enough to place the bars back, the Survivor doesn't have to hold the keys.

·        The Survivor can’t deliberately make those vertical bars shoot off the horizontal bar, otherwise I think that Survivor can sabotage each other to easily. Pressing W and S only works when you hear those audio cues and when the vertical bars are completely out of place.

·        Despite what you see in part 2 only 1 of those bars can shoot off at a time. It can happen shortly after each other

·        The vertical bars are more likely to shoot off when the Survivor does not have the Generator on the middle on the screen.

·        When 1 of the vertical bars if out of place, other bars can still shoot off. 

·        Right before 1 of these bars if about to shoot off (the weird scribbles appears), the Survivor is notified with an audio cue and then the Survivor has 2 seconds to react.

·        The vertical bars are more likely to to shoot off the more completed the Generator is.

 

I would like to clarify for 1 last time. This proposal is not to make repairing Generators incredibly more difficult, I understand that what I said and maybe how I said it might make it sound like that. Sure this will make it a little more difficult and will take some practice, but this is mostly to make repairing Generators more engaging and less boring. With something like this I believe we can improve the Survivors’ experience.

This were my ideas and I would love to hear what you think.

Thank you for reading😊

senki527

agreed, I'm avoiding repairing gens, because it's too boring. It needs some updates to make it more fun.

Bovinity

Survivors should have to play a level of Pipe Dream to complete a gen.

When a killer kicks the gen, it makes the pipe pieces all spin around.

Trwth

I am astonished! I had the same exact idea! I gotta say though, your presentation and images are way better than mine.

@Trwth said:

A sequel to my previous post regarding the Killer experience: find it here!

This post is to address the fact that the Survivors' objective is far too easy and way outdated. In this thread, I hope to shed some light onto this problem by suggesting a few ways we could fix this. No, we aren't going to increase gen times. And yes, map sizes are a problem, but my main focus here is objectives, specifically on the Survivor's side.

The Survivors' objective is straightforward: interact with a generator for 80 seconds each MAX five times to win. This process can be sped up if your teammates assist you. Afterward, open the exit gates and escape. Seems easy enough. A little too easy.

The Killer's objective is also straightforward: find Survivors and ensure that they're hung on meat hooks whenever possible. The problem here is that, unlike Survivors, Killers don't simply hold a button for a set amount of time to complete their objective, nor do they have any teammates to support them. They must chase Survivors, other PLAYERS, before hooking them. And they must do this twelve times MAX in order to guarantee a victory.

If the issue isn't apparent already, the Survivors' objective is far too easy compared to that of the Killers. Sure, Killers can do things such as slug, tunnel, or camp in order to secure kills, but that type of playstyle is heavily frowned upon by both sides and discouraged by just about any sane person. This is isn't the only thing either.

On the Survivors' side, most players would agree that, in terms of objectives, playing the objective is incredibly lackluster and, for lack of a better word, boring. It's no wonder that KYF lobbies often finish with five gens remaining. All you do is sit in one place, holding down a button for an indeterminate amount of time, occasionally hitting a skill check or two until the generator is complete. Then you move on to the next. The only real thrill you'll have playing as Survivor is when in the Killer's presence, either hiding or awaiting their arrival to begin a chase. Now, there will never be any thrills in DbD more thrilling than chases, but we could at least try to alleviate some of the pangs of boredom we find on the Survivors' side.

Introducing: Interaction Minigames

Most interactions in this game are a simple as a push of a button on a literal standpoint. Sometimes you'll get a mediocre skill check, sometimes you won't. With the game recently starting to encourage skillful play, this shouldn't apply to just perks and powers.

Meet minigames.

It sounds really stupid if you say it out loud. But yes, minigames. Almost every interaction in the game, including repairs, healing, cleansing totems, struggling from bear traps, searching Jigsaw Boxes, etc, will include a minigame that requires constant player input in order for the action to continue. The difficulty of the minigames vary depending on the action. Triggering minigames, or interactions, can be either toggled or held, meaning that you can choose your preference in the settings if need be.

Generator Repairs Minigame

Starting off with the most important of the bunch: repairs. This is the primary objective of the Survivors, so this should be top priority. Timewise, repairs will be somewhat similar to how it is currently. Here's the chart found of the official wiki for reference:

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/576/WY8CEIBKUC8D.png

Just having two Survivors repairing one generator nearly cuts the time in half. In 44 seconds, the Killer will be about to down their first Survivor. By the time they hook them, their teammates will be 1/4 done with another generator. Since every Killer won't always have map pressure available to them, it's only fair if the repair time be increased just a little bit. The time it takes for one Survivor will still be 80 seconds, but the time while repairing with teammates should be increased. So the chart above should look more like this approximately:

1 Survivor -- 80 seconds

2 Survivors -- 50ish seconds

3 Survivors -- 45ish seconds

4 Survivors -- 40ish seconds

The time should be long, but not obnoxiously long. What you see above is just an estimate, so don't take it too seriously. It's just to put it into perspective.

Now for the actual minigame.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/041/EKVNP4N7ZZ02.png

You see this crudely, yet professionally drawn image(it's bad)? This is a rough sketch of what the minigame will look like. I hope it isn't hard to see. But anyways, this is my minigame concept. Allow me to explain.

The columns are the vertical rectangles on the template. These columns will slowly move off the track, either down or up, at varying speeds. The player controls the columns using their related movement buttons: WASD on PC, or the left stick/d-pad on consoles. The more progress has been made on the generator, the faster the columns will move. Their movements will also be randomized to reduce consistency and increase difficulty. If multiple Survivors are repairing the same generator, one column will be removed from the minigame for each additional Survivors on that generator, down to a minimum of five columns. Another example:

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/438/1CETYFIPF3AC.png

If any column veers off the track, it will pulsate red for approximately two seconds before causing the generator to explode and startle all repairing Survivors away from the generator. Failing the minigame will cause a domino effect and cause multiple columns to be disrupted and in need of fixing, glowing red to signify the danger. While red, all progress is halted, even for ally Survivors, and the generator will regress as if the Killer damaged it, and it will continue to do so until the damage is repaired.

Survivors will also receive skill checks at random during this minigame, but unlike previous skill checks, they won't appear in the middle of the screen, as that is where the minigame will now be. Instead, skill checks will appear on the generator, as a 2D texture so to speak. This means that Survivors MUST turn to look at the generator in order to see the skill check. Missing a skill check will cause the generator to explode as usual and cause the same damage as mentioned above.

If the Killer damages a generator through any means, the minigame will be affected the same as above. This removes the ability to "tap" a generator to instantaneously impede its regression. And don't fret, while fixing the columns back onto the track, all of them will cease movement. Just be wary so that no others move back off upon resuming repairs.

Another example, right before a minigame failure:

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/509/XCLGFUU8TJ9Y.png

Example, after failure and gen explosion; all red columns need fixing(except for the first one, oops):

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/036/6UESWTX2UGNA.png

But this shouldn't be the only repair minigame. Killers will be able to use offerings to change the minigame to that of their liking. All minigames should be different (no "variations" of a preexisting minigame), and have a consistent skill cap to avoid creating "meta" offerings.

To round it all up, everything said above is my default repair minigame. Just an example, and I'd love for there to be more of its kind. Now let's move onto healing...

Healing Minigame

Oftentimes, you never go a single match without healing at least once, whether it be you healing yourself or a buddy comes along to give you a soothing back rub. The healing minigame will be way different from the generator one. Instead of it relying on simply waiting out a timer, the time it takes to heal will depend on how fast you can react. And yes, more bad drawings await you. I'll draw it in gray so you can see it easier.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/665/2FZBGK1FFZBJ.png

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/322/0UVTREFW0DFQ.png

So, this minigame is all about the player's speed. Upon starting a heal, either on yourself or another player, you'll be prompted this interface: nine "bubbles", let's just call them that. Each bubble will have a button for you to press, and you will only see two at a time: one for you to hit, and a preview of the next. The buttons include 1234 on PC, X-Circle-Triangle-Square on PS4, and ABXY on Xbox. I used Xbox controls in the examples.

The way you play the minigame is simple: hit the correct buttons shown to you and then hit a skill check after the set is complete to heal the Survivor by 25%. Skill checks will appear on the floor surrounding the Survivor being healed, so you'll have to turn to look at it while you're healing. Great Skill Checks start the next set with two bubbles already complete. You'll need to do this minigame four times over to fully heal. Mangled will make you have to do the minigame two extra times in order to fully heal.

Idling for 2.5 seconds, pressing the wrong button, or exiting the minigame at any time(unless you're using a medkit) will fail the minigame and cause you to lose 25% of progress, as well as alerting the Killer to your location.

That was for just a few interactions. There's plenty more where that came from, but that's all I can handle. Again, this is just to show off a concept. There are plenty of factors that need to be taken into account for, which have not. But let's move on to the last thing I have on my mind.

Secondary Objective: Map Objectives

To wrap this up, I'll briefly touch on my ideas for a secondary objective. And before you say, no, breaking totems is not a secondary objective, though it was the inspiration behind this concept. My idea for a secondary objective actually ties in with map structure. Generators will always be the primary objective, and nothing else will power the exit gates. The secondary objective will be optional, but recommended, and will be specific to the realm/map.

All trials will begin with portions of the map closed off and unable to be entered from the outside. These areas of the maps will contain pallets, loops, and sometimes generators or totems, but will remain closed off until the secondary objective is completed. This means if the Survivors don't get on that, they'll have limited options when it comes time for a chase.

Like I said before, all secondary objectives will vary. For example, on MacMillan Estate, Survivors will have to carry loads of coals to distant furnaces to power the gates leading into parts of the main building, which will be much bigger in this version. While carrying a load, their movement is inhibited and they make a lot of noise, not to mention they're huge targets. They may drop it at any time, but leaving it on the ground for too long causes it to reset.

Conclusion

I'm glad to have finally gotten this off my chest. Conclusions are always the hardest thing to do in any article, but I'll put my spin onto it. All-in-all, the Survivors' side of the game needs changing. The balance issue of the game isn't that Killers are too weak, it's that Survivors are too strong. Killers require skill to play, for Survivors much less, at least concerning objectives. Here are my suggestions. Please don't let this post go unnoticed. This game has the potential to be so much better than it is now, and it's our job as a community to get there.

Thank you for reading and see you in The Fog!

In any case, I absolutely agree. Not only generators need minigames, but other actions such as healing should have it as well. I could see DbD being a really interactive game, so I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one here. :)

TheEdster

@Trwth said:

I am astonished! I had the same exact idea! I gotta say though, your presentation and images are way better than mine.

https://forum.deadbydaylight.com/en/discussion/137922/skillful-objectiveplay-and-secondary-objectives

In any case, I absolutely agree. Not only generators need minigames, but other actions such as healing should have it as well. I could see DbD being a really interactive game, so I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one here. :)

I just read your post and I have to say that I am pretty baffled as well. I almost can't believe it. I got my inspiration for the idea from looking at the 4 moving bars on top of the Generator. I really like your idea for healing and map objectives as well :)

KiliHD

I really like this idea! :)

I hope it will be seen by the devs.

Xyvielia

I like my boring gens... they satisfy me😌

lagosta

I'm kinda against it. Generators should be a more chill experience since chases are supposed to be the tense part of the game. Also we need to keep the awareness of our surroundings, especially in the beginning of the match or against stealthy killers.

BastardKing

Don't even need to read the post, because I just like that we are acknowledging holding M1 is boring. Specifics don't matter as much as adding some real content to survivor objective play.

smart212

sounds minigames like among us

BastardKing

@smart212 said:

sounds minigames like among us

I would be down for some mini-games. They force you to focus on the gen more.

HarlowXRaven

This may be a little too complicated trying to play minigames and focusing on you surrounding some survivor can't even hit the skill checks not to mention a long minigame lol. Seems too complicated. Chases should be the focus and hitting the skills checks.

BastardKing

@HarlowXRaven said:

This may be a little too complicated trying to play minigames and focusing on you surrounding some survivor can't even hit the skill checks not to mention a long minigame lol. Seems too complicated. Chases should be the focus and hitting the skills checks.

You are repairing a mechanical object. It should be complicated, and focusing on your surroundings instead of what you are doing should be take longer. Focusing on the objective should be riskier. That survivors cannot hit skill checks is not a reason to make the objective more interesting than hold M1. Chases are the focus for KILLERS, but are not the objectives for survivors.

Onyx_Blue

What about gens that only have one side available that it can be repaired from?