What Buildables did wrong and How to Improve Them

[CRU_NINJA_575]

The topic of Buildables is a very touchy subject. Many many people don't like them because of the fact that they can be too OP, worthless, or just too tedious to get. I will tell you how they can vastly improve if they return in the next zombie installment.

Step 1:The Formula-Mob of the Dead and Origins did great with the formula but how would it work with maps like Buried you ask? I will tell you how. Each Buildable is in the select menu with the name but only one square below it. When you have no parts for the Buildables the square shows a dull picture of the Buildable. When you find a part for let's say the zombie shield, you pick it up and when picked up, you go to the select menu and that square with the picture is a third lit up and says 33% on it(25% with Buildables with 4 parts and so on). You find the last two parts and then the square is completely lit up and says 100%. You go to a work bench, build it, and now it has a check mark on the square. This way your parts can still stack but not flood your select screen.

Step 2: No tediousness- don't make the parts too spread out (besides for Buildables like the staves that are really OP). One of the biggest turn offs on Buildables is when it takes 5 minutes to run around the map to build a Buildable. A lot of players don't build them because it takes extra time. If your parts stack and are close by many more people will build them

Step 3: Useful- one of the biggest struggles Treyarch has had with Buildables are how to make them balanced. Not OP, not worthless, but useful. You should want to have Buildables like the turbine for your benefit, not be forced to use them just to progress in the map. Here's an example of how I think the turbine should be: It should be your own portable power generator. The Buildable that will get you your perks when ever you want them and not break when after a minute of leaving the area because a freaking zombie can break it! It doesn't break. Opens doors for free but there is still an alternate way too go by spending points (like in the starting room of tranzit, bring that idea farther!). It should definitely not be used for PAP but should be an easier way of doing that. There could also be other special benefits like the turret and electric trap could be stronger with the turbine but not incapable of working without it, that's way too tedious! Now off the subject of the turbine..... Some Buildables I considered worthless (turret, electric trap) because they weren't capable of working without the turbine which ruined the point of them. Others I considered OP (trample steam, head chopper, subsurface resonator) because you really didn't have to even shoot your gun the whole game! A big portion of the OPness is Burieds layout because it completely made the Buildables OP when on a map like Origins they wouldn't be as OP. My fix to this is problem is that in co op you can't have 2 Buildables in a certain radius to each other so 4 people can't have 16 Buildables in the same hallway. In solo is pretty much the same thing you can only pretty much have 1 Buildable at a time because the others will be somewhere else. Also make us choose like in Die Rise the trample wasn't OP at all because you mostly use it to get to the roof and zombies come from all directions so you can't stay in a corner with it. Two Buildables in particular I consider perfectly even. Useful, not OP, not worthless, and these are the Zombie Shield and The Maxis Drone. The Shield guards your back for 20 hits. Not the sides, not the front, the back. Not OP at all. It can be used as a minor distraction to zombies, and is a powerful melee weapon to zombies but doesn't reward points evening it out. The Maxis Drone is quadrator drone or something like that and I honestly wanted this idea for a long time and Treyarch delivered. It kills zombies but not always the ones that are trapping you so it evens out. It revives your teammates which is a great help and encourages teamwork. Another great use to it is it can get you a free PAPED MGO8 which is awesome. Now you're probably wondering what about the staves? Well here you go... The staves were OP in the ultimate form but not really in the normal form balancing out the time to get it. But when you ultimate them they are really OP but it completely balances out for the time to uprgrade them evening out once again

Step 4: Make smaller thought out Buildables- infinity ward showed us with extinction that Buildables don't need the most thought in the world they just need to be useful. The pipe bomb is useful even though it is just a stronger grenade.Things like simple Buildable attachments or small weapons. We don't need some crazy thought out ideas to have fun Buildables

Now that is all the steps I can remember right now so for this last part I will explain my own Buildable ideas

The Oven- this is basically I really strong flamethrower with a really wide radius and slow heat up time. It looks the m60 from BO1 but makes a wildfire

Soul Trap/ case- This is set down anywhere and when a zombie passes by, absorbs it's soul into the case killing the zombie. When completely full of souls it can turn your ammo blue and is a little weaker then PAP ammo

Ammo maker- sort of like vulture aid but it really slowly gives you extra bullets

Robot K9- a Buildable guard dog that goes away after a couple of minutes like the Maxis Drone to recharge

Musical Death- plays music that causes zombies to grab their heads and then their heads explode (30 second recharge and 15 second use)

Chainsaw- simple. Build it, enjoy!

Chainsaw on lawn mower- same as above but attached to a lawn mower that you mow the zombies off your lawn with

Ray gun turret- attached to Buildable turret (30 second recharge)

Buildable teleporters- u can have two and place them around the map and they work like on all other maps but you choose where you put them

Spring boots- double tap a or x and jump over zombies (3 uses a minute)

The saver-you can absorb one power up,perk, and gun at a time. You hold x or square on a power up, gun from box or wall, perk machine if you don't want it now and pull out the device and hold x or square to pull out the perk, power up, or gun from box or wall

Motion death- looks like the motion sensor but when zombies pass by sends a wide radius energy pulse killing all zombies (45 second recharge)

115 jammer- has 3 uses and lasts from 30 seconds. Makes all zombies in a wide radius freak out and run back to the barriers they came from

Clone creater- looks like a predator drone missile case when you pull it out and it creates a copy of you for 30 seconds to fight and distract zombies (5 minute recharge)

Murder machine- a giant spiked claw that when you use the trigger swipes and crushes zombies (slow semi automatic but can be upgraded to have a faster rate and hit 3 zombies at once)

Comment all your ideas on Buildables that you can think of

Edited August 17, 2014 by CRU_NINJA_575

[BestOfAllTime32]

It would be nice if the zombie shield made you legitimately slower. Like run 3/4 the length and speed. It was almost detrimental to not have a zombie shield because it is/was so OP, especially on maps with cherry...

At least you would have a decision to make if you were a lot slower with one.

So imo all the buildables should have a detrimental effect. Such as the short life span of the turbine, perfect.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

I do NOT think the maps with the shield were OP… Or at least Origins, as that stupid mud without the shield is HORRID before jug. or after losing it. 

[BestOfAllTime32]

I do NOT think the maps with the shield were OP… Or at least Origins, as that stupid mud without the shield is HORRID before jug. or after losing it.

Origins certainly less so than MOTD...

Run through a hall with the blunder, Spork, Cherry, tomahawk, and shield. It doesn't even matter if you get trapped lol. Shoot, reload, tomahawk, shoot reload tomahawk, etc. If it's below 33, spork, shoot, sprork shoot.

You are right about Origins if you run in the mud. If not, then it's too liberal. Punch + boomhilda + cherry + shield might be more OP then mob.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Except the literal point of running in the mud is to fill the chest with the punches… 

 

And trust me, that set up is NOT as OP as you think, cherry does not kill it only stuns so while it may be good at helping one reload it is a PAIN on higher rounds where one needs to clear that ONE zombie in your path to get by. if it's round 20, you run out, zap them and don't have a shield to protect from the 10 behind you, you are down. 

[BestOfAllTime32]

Except the literal point of running in the mud is to fill the chest with the punches… 

 

And trust me, that set up is NOT as OP as you think, cherry does not kill it only stuns so while it may be good at helping one reload it is a PAIN on higher rounds where one needs to clear that ONE zombie in your path to get by. if it's round 20, you run out, zap them and don't have a shield to protect from the 10 behind you, you are down.

My personal favourite training spot is in the footprint by gen 5. In solo games I just run the crazy place room, 3 guns, the two wall weapons, and boomhilda/mk2 RG.

Any ways cherry saves your life a lot of the time. Short bursts of fire, reload, short burst, reload, with a shield, and cherry you may as well be invincible if you have a staff, mk2, or boomhilda.

I don't mind the shield, just wish there was an actual detriment to having it. Keep in mind I also wish there was no wonder weapons though. I'm all for punishing the weaker players. I'm sure just about everyone here could handle no WW's, most others most likely no. The only WW I legitimately like is the Blundergat, and I don't like to use it either.