We've played several test games today.
First a weird bug, the sniper shoots through people now, even if it hits - i.e. the bullettrail goes through and hits the wall behind.
Overall the shotgun has improved but it is still clearly not competetive, even on ac_arid, at least in 1:1. I don't know how well it works in publics and if you are a shotgun player (I'm not), but I suggest improving its general strength by about 8 to 15%. The full damage distance is ok now, but I find it a bit disappointing that 1 cube makes the difference between full damage and much lower damage. Also it's a bit strange that with just 1 helmet you are no longer killed from point blank range, hence the suggestion to increase overall damage.
SMG is the best weapon on low and mid range atm, except if a very skilled sniper hits you immediately. It also plays very simple and hits pretty well and accurately. Overall I think it's a bit too strong, except on maps like depot.
The AR is good for its longer range abilities and plays OK but it feels a bit weak in most situations compared to either SMG or sniper. It could probably use a good accuracy boost and/or maybe a slight reduction in recoil so it has a clearly defined role on larger maps like power where you can also use it to rifle sprint.
I often had 1hp left when playing vs AR. I'm not saying that has to change, since it would maybe overpower it.
The sniper is very strong and if I could play it at the moment I probably would play it on pretty much every map. I messed up my aim with it tho (as posted earlier, but I had the same problems in the normal version, so it's me), which means I don't play it. When facing it on depot you have no chance except if they miss. It was very successful even on sunset 3:3 (see attached screens/demo, where Chris and Undead played sniper). So with the new pistol and akimbo stats the sniper could probably go back to 80 or 81 damage.
What I also experienced is that I die mostly when reloading (no I don't use autoreload). Maybe I reload too much or maybe the reload times are just pretty high. I don't know if that should change or not, just thought I'd throw it in.
For example with AR you have to reload after each opponent (or hope to hit the next one perfectly and/or finish off with pistol) and it takes a long time. So one consideration here is to maybe increase the AR clip by 2 - 5 or lower the reload time. All other guns can usually take 2 or more players per clip. (Don't change too much at once for AR tho, I'm just throwing multiple ideas that each could improve balance.)
We didn't test carbine as it is unchanged afaik and I don't see a role for it except maybe on arena type maps (douze) or when playing against many newbies because it does 600 damage per clip.
Here are various demos and screens of today, about 7MB worth: http://www.mediafire.com/?cgt6v9s6tqs3c96
First a weird bug, the sniper shoots through people now, even if it hits - i.e. the bullettrail goes through and hits the wall behind.
Overall the shotgun has improved but it is still clearly not competetive, even on ac_arid, at least in 1:1. I don't know how well it works in publics and if you are a shotgun player (I'm not), but I suggest improving its general strength by about 8 to 15%. The full damage distance is ok now, but I find it a bit disappointing that 1 cube makes the difference between full damage and much lower damage. Also it's a bit strange that with just 1 helmet you are no longer killed from point blank range, hence the suggestion to increase overall damage.
SMG is the best weapon on low and mid range atm, except if a very skilled sniper hits you immediately. It also plays very simple and hits pretty well and accurately. Overall I think it's a bit too strong, except on maps like depot.
The AR is good for its longer range abilities and plays OK but it feels a bit weak in most situations compared to either SMG or sniper. It could probably use a good accuracy boost and/or maybe a slight reduction in recoil so it has a clearly defined role on larger maps like power where you can also use it to rifle sprint.
I often had 1hp left when playing vs AR. I'm not saying that has to change, since it would maybe overpower it.
The sniper is very strong and if I could play it at the moment I probably would play it on pretty much every map. I messed up my aim with it tho (as posted earlier, but I had the same problems in the normal version, so it's me), which means I don't play it. When facing it on depot you have no chance except if they miss. It was very successful even on sunset 3:3 (see attached screens/demo, where Chris and Undead played sniper). So with the new pistol and akimbo stats the sniper could probably go back to 80 or 81 damage.
What I also experienced is that I die mostly when reloading (no I don't use autoreload). Maybe I reload too much or maybe the reload times are just pretty high. I don't know if that should change or not, just thought I'd throw it in.
For example with AR you have to reload after each opponent (or hope to hit the next one perfectly and/or finish off with pistol) and it takes a long time. So one consideration here is to maybe increase the AR clip by 2 - 5 or lower the reload time. All other guns can usually take 2 or more players per clip. (Don't change too much at once for AR tho, I'm just throwing multiple ideas that each could improve balance.)
We didn't test carbine as it is unchanged afaik and I don't see a role for it except maybe on arena type maps (douze) or when playing against many newbies because it does 600 damage per clip.
Here are various demos and screens of today, about 7MB worth: http://www.mediafire.com/?cgt6v9s6tqs3c96