How to fix the ICO

PoseidonZombie

I'll start bluntly, the ICO is a mess, and if released anywhere close to its current state could be a disaster for the game as a whole. However the ideas behind the ICO are great and the potential this update has could go very far. So this post is simply a way to present ideas for how to make sure this update knocks it out of the park.

First a lot of the mechanics need to get dialed back, suppression, blur, recoil (recoil is in a decent state for some factions), Optic misalignment, etc... all need to get toned down by a decent bit. Currently weapons handling is more reminiscent of untrained conscripts or insurgents rather than professional soldiers. This does have the effect of making the IMF and INS factions beautifully immersive though so, not all bad. Optic blur should just be removed outside of suppression effects, and under optics should be toned down even more. This goes for that weird iron sight blur you get during ADS as well.

Beyond the gunplay mechanics though there's a lot that needs to be added to this game to make the ICO work, with the hipfire mechanic still being so inaccurate a point fire mechanic (yes I know they call it point fire, it's not point fire, I don't know what it is, but not point fire). Movement speed should be either same or slightly faster than standard walking (think combat glide).

PoseidonZombie

Movement and Bipods are another rework. Movement should include a better system for getting those cheeky holds and peeks through the various awkward murder holes you currently need to do this odd strafing movement to peek through. I would recommend a type of variable lean and stance similar to what Tarkov and Arma has. Bipods need a different kind of overhaul since it's not so much the bipod that's broken as the maps are broken for bipods.

There's so much more from vehicles, to layers, helo's, and virtually every other part of the game is going to need some adjustment. But these are the things I believe to be the most pressing issues facing the ICO right now. However the absolute most pressing issue are the bugs and optimization, this has been a major problem for years now and I believe a primary reason why the active player count has struggled to rise above 20k even at Peak Squad.

All in all these are just ideas from the perspective of someone who's been playing this game for all together too long, I'm curious to find out what everyone things though. What does this update look like to a newer player? How do we fix the vehicles? What should we do about updating layers and maps to find the overhaul?

PoseidonZombie

Some more thoughts I had during a 6 hour session on the ICO today. Fall damage, set a maximum height and make any jump higher immediately lethal. Below that height no damage should be taken to ensure you will always survive a below max height fall. Instead of damage players incur a stagger effect in 4 levels. Level 1 stumble takes half your stamina, Level 2 fall takes all stamina, Level 3 takes all stamina and causes a brief effect where your character goes into crouch. and level 4 causes your character to fall on their face and take a few seconds to recover.

Buddy and solo movement. Solo movement should have an option where instead of climbing up a wall and then standing on said wall, your character keeps their chest against the top of the wall while swinging their feet over keeping a low profile. There should also be a lengthy animation option for climbing down buildings, walls, and other obstacles to avoid fall damage. Buddy movement should allow for players to assist each other in both climbing up and down, from both top and bottom. So you can stand at the base of a wall and boost your buddy up, then your buddy can turn around and haul you up, just to give players who work together the option of being able to get into difficult to reach positions.