Environmental hazards are features of game environments in Deus Ex that can cause harm to the player character. Hazards may serve as obstacles during the game's missions.
Overview[]
Environmental hazards come in many forms, and inflict various damage types. Some hazards, such as electrical hazards, can be disabled, with other hazards are permanent features of the game environment.
Damage caused by environmental hazards can be mitigated by using an appropriate source of resistance, such as a hazmat suit or the Energy Shield augmentation. For information on resistances, please see the above-linked article on damage types.
Game mechanics[]
Most hazards involve a DamageTrigger or ZoneInfo object, which are used to inflict continuous damage on the player at defined parameters.
- DamageTrigger (damage trigger) – A damage trigger is an invisible area, defined in terms of a collision height and collision radius, that inflicts a defined amount of damage on the player. Damage is inflicted in the form of a specified damage type, and is typically inflicted continuously based on a defined damage interval.
- ZoneInfo – The ZoneInfo object typically defines the physical properties of an entire zone, but is also capable of inflicting continuous damage on the player via its DamagePerSec attribute. Unlike the damage trigger, which inflict damage based on where it touches the player, zone-based damage is always inflicted on the player's torso health, which has a 2x multiplier for damage that is received. Zone-based damage is often accompanies by a display notice, such as "High Levels of Radiation Detected."
Common hazards[]
- Electrical hazards – Electrical hazards are distinguished by their electric arcs and are the most common form of hazards in the game. These hazards inflict "Shocked" damage, which damages the player character's health, as well as EMP damage, which drains the player character's bioelectric energy. Unlike other types of hazards, electrical hazards can often be disabled by bypassing an electronic control panel. Electrical hazards are implemented using a combination of an ElectricityEmitter, which inflicts shock damage and creates the electric arc display, and a damage trigger, which inflicts EMP damage.
- Toxic water pools – Toxic water pools are swimmable zones that inflict "PoisonGas" damage via a damage trigger. Toxic water pools can be found in the Hell's Kitchen sewers, as well as in the Universal Constructor room of the Hong Kong VersaLife facility.
- Steam – Steam is typically encountered near valves and will cause "Burned" damage, implemented via a damage trigger. Steam hazards are encountered in the Brooklyn Bridge Station, among other locations.
- Radiation - Radiation-filled rooms inflict "Radiation" damage on the player. Radiation hazards are implemented by either a damage trigger, or by a ZoneInfo object, depending on the specific instance. For example, the radiation-filled room of the abandoned skyrise in Denfert-Rochereau is implemented by a ZoneInfo object.
Special hazards[]
- In the MJ12 Helibase in Hong Kong, the player can release poisonous gas upon enemy troops. The poisonous gas is implemented by particle generators that spawn poison gas clouds.
- At the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards, the ventilation area of the naval assembly building has a heating element that deals "Burned" damage via a ZoneInfo object.
- At Vandenberg Air Force Base, there are damage triggers placed at certain locations outside of normally reachable areas that will instantly kill the player if the player manages to reach these "out-of-bounds" areas. These damage triggers inflict 3000 damage, and register damage under the damage type label "fell" (the label typically used for falling damage).
See also[]
- Barrels – Radioactive barrels function similarly to environmental hazards, since they emit radiation over a range and cannot be destroyed.
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