Walk intent instead of prone

[Kezza Wozza]

My primary issue with the borderline necessity of proning to avoid gunfire is that it does not fit in aesthetically with the sprites of barricades and the overall image of making a stand in a fortified holdout. I understand though that the game is balanced around the hundreds of enemies being the primary threat, so making friendly fire unavoidable would upset that balance.

Instead, I propose a WALK mode be added that accomplishes everything that the current prone mode does, preventing friendly fire but also significantly slowing movement speed.
This was a feature that tested in CM13, but was ultimately scrapped since that game is balanced in a way such that obligatory friendly fire does not upset the overall balance of the game.

The only tangible difference between a walk intent and the current prone intent is that player sprites would remain vertical, which I think would go a long way to improve the overall immersion.

 

[Kezza Wozza]

For clarification on my issue with proning, you are shooting OVER the cades, while lying UNDER them. It seems very silly to me and removes me from the overall experience

 

[Torun]

I'll say one thing for prone: It is very clear to me who I can shoot at and whom I cannot. I do my best to pay attention to standing players near my line of fire. If they prone, it is a very clear indication that I can shoot past them. They could always get up into the bullet, but that's just something I have to risk.

Walking isn't a great way to illustrate that one is not getting shot. It doesn't work at standstill, and the slow motion could easily be caused by pain or injury instead of walk intent and then players get shot because they are mistaken for walking.

It doesn't make intuitive sense either and I would argue it breaks immersion even more. All a guy has to do in order to pass bullets unabated is to think, "I be walkin'. Bulletz won't 'urt me". We're not in W40K, and we're not Orks. Then let us consider that prone also currently reduces explosive damage. Similar issue.

It is more work, but a crouching sprite could cut it. Not quite as obvious, but it's probably good enough.