engi abilitiy that wont unstack their power

I know one problem I tend to have as an engi is I will spawn a sent on a ceiling and I just can't reach it, with double jump and everything... unless someone links to me and makes my link length normal. I propose a artifact that will extend link length to normal distance for .1 sec then go back to normal distance. there would be a timer to keep it from being spammed so they have a normal length link the whole time. so it extends to normal for .1 sec at a cost of 10 secs per use. I suggest it be separate from the spawn timer so one can link as soon as they place it.

It may not be feasible at the time, but a block would do the trick.

well its not only for that. sometimes I link to a turret and take a step back so a wall can cover my side. however... then a player runs past and breaks my link and now I have to move to get reclaim the link. this can be deadly at times considering the wave. this will allow me to extend my reach just long enough to reclaim the link so I can continue my work. sometimes I put blocks down too and they sometimes keep me from moving to get the link again. so then I have to jump up on the block, reclaim the link and then jump back again. and as soon as I do that... someone else breaks it and I have to do it again.... frustrating

EDIT: also a sent takes about a minute before I can build something else so a block is not feasible because by then its gone boom

then a player runs past and breaks my link

Why don't you set blocks to prevent players from running by?

because they do anyway

greg11 wrote:

then a player runs past and breaks my link

Why don't you set blocks to prevent players from running by?

heehee a coupla block won't stop me

Why don't you set up the block or blocks you need to reach the spot you will put the sent before you actually place the sent? Block reset time is pretty short, so you can get a block or two down pretty quick before you set you sent. Then just hop on your already placed blocks to regen your sent.

Or you could just make sure your sent is accessible for regenning when you place it.

sometimes it doesn't go where I want it... out of reach for example

can you spawn a hellbender and use it as a platform?

again... timer problem there

Why do Engineers have a shorter Link Beam in the first place? I have a hard enough time judging the distance the secondary Link Gun fire reaches even in standard UT2004 gametypes. Having to relearn the minor distance change when I play RPG is kind of troublesome.

Maybe not a request for a functionality change so much as a request for someone to look into the emitter used for the Link Gun secondary and adjust it so that it starts out straight instead of wobbling around for the first several seconds. At least if it were straight it would be more immediately obvious how long the thing is.

Wail wrote:

Why do Engineers have a shorter Link Beam in the first place? I have a hard enough time judging the distance the secondary Link Gun fire reaches even in standard UT2004 gametypes. Having to relearn the minor distance change when I play RPG is kind of troublesome.

Maybe not a request for a functionality change so much as a request for someone to look into the emitter used for the Link Gun secondary and adjust it so that it starts out straight instead of wobbling around for the first several seconds. At least if it were straight it would be more immediately obvious how long the thing is.

Does better graphic detail show any lighting effects that can make judging distance any easier? I currently only have a IGP card so I have to play with low settings.

Wail wrote:

Why do Engineers have a shorter Link Beam in the first place?

At the very least it's because they have unlimited ammo (at least I think that's Szlat's original reason). It may have something to do with the power of the link beam too.

the beam is close to if not 2x normal power so to balance it they made it shorter. this does cause a problem if you try to reach something far away which is why I was proposing this ability. at times I get lucky and get someone to link to me which extends my link to normal length so I can reach it. once I can link to it, it doesn't matter what the length of my beam is... it will stay linked. thats why i only gave it a short time.... just long enough to establish the link.

For Engineer's to be able to do their job, they needed a really powerful secondary link, which was also infinite on ammo. So as BotFodder said, it had to be balanced - and the shorter length was one way of achieving that (see other threads on comparing the Eng link to a piercing link)

However, while I was creating the Engineer class, I had a concern about a certain style of play. If Engineers could spawn sentinels to do their killing, and just safely hide in a bolt hole linking it, then it would not really be in the keeping of the style of the game. All the other classes have to risk themselves facing the monsters, and Engineers should have to do the same. And the shorter link length also achieved that. It kept Engineers closer to the thing they were linking to, and so more in the battleground. The option of an artifact to temporarily extend the link length to re-link with a sentinel goes against this, by allowing the Engineer more scope for hiding further away from the sentinel.

So, in order to approve it, I would need some counterbalancing measure that would ensure engineers stay more in the battlefield, as I do not want engineers hidden away safely.

As for ceiling sentinels being out of range, the same arguments apply. The short link length keeps the sentinel more in the field of play. Since lots of monsters target the enemy closest, having a sentinel safely high up means it would not get targetted much. It needs to be balanced - so put it too high up and you can't link it. Fair enough?
You can always spawn a floor sentinel. I suspect you are going for a ceiling one purely so it doesn't get hit so much.