T.I.M.E.S. - Update #4 news

This news is divided into two parts. The 1st part is about our system of shop and inventory, but also the different weapons of the player and their influences. The 2nd part will be available on Monday.

So let's begin with the 1st part :

SHOP
After each game you play in T.I.M.E.S., your character earn money (according to the way you played the level) and experience (each level gives a specific amount of experience). The more your experience grows, the more stuff you unlock in the shop. And before every game, you can use your money to buy what you've unlocked like weapons, attachments.

Once you have finished your shopping, you've got access to your inventory where you can put the stuff you've bought earlier in the game but you can't bring your whole arsenal on the battlefield.

In fact, you can only carry with you :

• 2 heavy weapons
• 1 handgun
• 1 explosive weapon

So you have to make some choices.

The same for the bullets you can carry :
Each weapon can have a particular amount of magazines, and each weapon has a different type of magazine, which carries a fixed amount of ammunitions. Here, you have 5 universal magazines, to place on which weapon you want. When a magazine is placed on a weapon, it is automatically filled with the amount of ammunition the magazines of this weapon can have (for example, 20 bullets for a carabin, or 8 bullets for a shotgun).

Finally, there's a parameter we didn't talk about yet. Your reputation, which is a score varying after each game according to the way you played. It can be used to compare your skills with other players, but also to sign up with sponsors if your reputation reaches a specific level, so that the sponsor would associate its image with you. It gives you special versions of your weapons, with improved characteristics.

WEAPONS

As we told you in the former news, we want our players to use tactic and psychology to stay alive instead of just killing everyone.
Thus, in the inventory, you can access the Stress Factors list. The Stress Factors are the heart of our game, because they are the sources of stress for enemy groups (leading to their neutralization).

You need to know this factors before choosing your weapons for the play : in fact, some weapons allow to activate some factors that others can't.

There are two types of stress factors in T.I.M.E.S. :

• Those you activate automatically by using the weapon (ex. "Huge noise" with a noisy gun)
• Those you activate by the way you use the weapon (ex. "Injured soldier", "Attacked from behind")

The goal for the player is to coordinate his actions to activate as much stress factors as possible. Thus, it will quickly increase the stress score of the group he is attacking, without using a lot of ammunition. Some weapons are more likely to create certain Environmental stress factors than others : it isn't judicious to use a grenade to get "Injured soldier" (which is more stressful than "Dead soldier") but it is clever to use a sniper to get "Invisible threat" because of the stealth ability of the weapon.

Of course, each weapon attachment will change the stress factors the weapon is able to activate (ex. if you add a silencer on a weapon, it won't be able to create "Huge noise", but it will easier to activate "invisible threat" factor). Knowing each stress factors and how they are influenced by each weapon and attachements is crucial. You have to use this knowledge to use your weapons in a way that maximize the stress of enemy groups and decrease the moral of the army. But enough talking. Let's begin with guns.

HEAVY WEAPONS

G52

When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Bullet rain

Classical but essential. A balanced weapon which built its reputation one bullet at a time. And this one can fire 75 of those in few seconds. And the most important : it is customisable. Here are some examples of customisation, by adding some attachments :

1st customisation : Heavy G52
When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Bullet rain, Huge sound

Here we are. Same basic weapon. But with severals adjustments. Like larger magazines, bigger caliber, but a longer reloading and a grenade launcher below its canon if you don’t mind being loud and visible.

2nd customisation : Long G52

When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Impulsive shot

2027 is the year of laser. Though, they haven't got lightsabers yet. Just some rifle prototypes able to cut every material known on earth. But this power requires some sacrifice. So if you want this improvement, you'll have to say goodbye to the automatic fire of your weapon. And hello to a brand new scope.

Shotgun

When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Heavy sound

If you'd like to be a little more "old-school", this is what you need.
As you can see, this shotgun is a pretty oldstyle one. It bring us back to the Far West’s saloon and it didn’t change much since then. Try to get close to your opponent. Fire. Job’s done.
This is one of the first weapons you can get at the beginning of the game.

Neo Luger

When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Heavy sound, Impulsive shot

A futuristic magnum. A small, but powerful, precise and noisy gun. You can also shoot few bullets in-a-row, and each of them does a lot of damages.

In the game, you will also discover other weapons, like the Sniper, currently in development. Now let's talk about explosives :

Mines

When using, automatically activating the following Stress Factor : Heavy sound, Spectacular visual

As practical as tactical. This little jewel of technology is able to kill several enemies in a spectacular and explosive way. The only thing you have to do is to drop it wherever you want, and attract opponents in your trap. How ? A special key on your keyboard triggers a sound on the mine which attracts the enemies around They’ll never forget it. Well, actually they’re going to lose every kind of memory once they step on it. The mine rises into the air and projects ammunition within a radius of several meters.

In the game, you will also discover other explosives, like Grenades, currently in development.

Here is the end of the 1st part ! See you on Monday to discover the part 2 of this news about the weapons in T.I.M.E.S. !

- T.I.M.E.S. Dev-team