It’s been a little while since our last Just Survive Producer’s Letter, so we wanted to take a few minutes and give you an update on one of the things the team has been actively working. It’s been a regular topic of conversation for many of you and we have some good news! It’s about Bullet Conversion.
First and foremost we want to thank everyone for their feedback. While most of you agreed the previous bullet conversion mechanics could have potentially created a glut of ammunition, many expressed you’d still like this mechanic to return in a different way. So, Bullet Conversion is coming back, but with some big changes.
We really wanted the process to feel similar to how other item salvaging/creation works in H1Z1: Just Survive. As such, ammunition can be salvaged with a right-click interaction for a variety of materials -- Gunpowder, Lead Alloy, Brass Shards (and Plastic Scraps in the case of shotgun shells). Also important is ammunition recipes can be discovered with these materials. Once discovered, they can be crafted at the new Weapon Workbench, which will be coming in a future update. The Weapon Workbench is a brand new crafting table (recipe must also be discovered) which can be placed once crafted Note that all weapon-related workbench recipes will be moved to this table as well.
Ammunition crafting costs have been balanced, so you will have to make some decisions about whether it’s worth the cost of breaking down a round to create a new one. You will lose something by disassembling and re-assembling bullets. (It’s the apocalypse, after all.) Additionally, more powerful ammunition (based on DPS) will cost more materials to craft. There will be no 1 to 1 bullet conversion.
With respect to bulk, we want to make sure you weren’t doubling your carrying load (or worse) when salvaging bullets, so we’ve reduced the bulk cost on Gunpowder to 1. Brass Shards, Plastic Scraps, and Lead Alloy will cost 0 bulk. This will ensure that all ammo can be broken down without dropping any parts. In fact, from a carrying point of view, it will be advantageous to break down some ammo (such as shotgun shells or .44 rounds) as they will end up costing less to carry when broken apart. Just remember it will cost more to re-assemble them later!
To give you a more detailed idea of how this will function, let’s take a look at two rounds: a low end bullet and a high end one. For the low end we’ll use the .380 Round, as it possesses the lowest DPS at 230.35. For the high end we’ll use a .44 Round with a DPS of 1351.5.
.380 Salvage Yield:
1 Gunpowder
1 Lead Alloy
1 Brass Shard
.380 Assembly Cost:
2 Gunpowder
1 Lead Alloy
1 Brass Shard
.44 Salvage Yield
1 Gunpowder
3 Lead Alloy
1 Brass Shards
.44 Assembly Cost
2 Gunpowder
3 Lead Alloy
1 Brass Shards
1 Metal Shards
As you can see, all ammo salvaging has some level of loss. Higher end bullets yield more materials, but also require more to assemble. We feel this system gives the right level of decision balance to the process, and is a more consistent way to deal with ammo as a resource in the world.
Salvage Tied from Ammo:
Ammo Recipe Cost:
These changes are still in process, and we look forward to getting them in your hands soon so you can provide specific feedback. In the meantime, let us know what you think about the ideas presented here. I know everyone is eager to hear more about longer term plans and roadmaps. Our immediate goal is balancing the core of the game that is there now and then moving into new ideas. As those solidify, we will talk more about them at the right time.