As we are making a platformer/shooter based on non-lethal, light-hearted combat, I decided to take inspiration from (ideally) similarly non-lethal physical games for our next weapon. My favourite childhood game was dodgeball, a game in witch you are, just like Knock Off, trying to hit opponents with projectiles to remove them from the game. It is very rare to encounter anyone who owns an actual dodgeball. So as a kid, we would often play with whatever ball we could find, but for maximum chaotic fun, the bouncier the better. Having looked into it, it turns out that bouncing a ball off of a surface to hit someone is actually an illegal manoeuvre in the official rules of dodgeball, but that doesn't make it any less fun.
The primary fire mode is supposed to be evocative of simply pelting a bouncy or tennis ball. It should bounce around all over the place, potentially colliding with multiple enemies multiple times. Its speed and smaller size will make it a bit more difficult to use than the secondary though.
The secondary mode is intended to mimic more of a beach ball type of impact. Its big and its heavy so its hard to miss and it can impart some good bounce to the target, but it is slower moving and so will not bounce around quite as much.
You may notice that unlike our other force applying weapons, I have not specified that the ball should cause enemies to ragdoll. This is because the ball is capable of multiple hits and can hit at low speed. If the ball were you hit you repeatedly it could potentially ragdoll you for an extended period of time, which would be very frustrating. If you were to be knocked over and ragdolled by a small ball rolling slowly along the ground, this would be similarly annoying, not to mention nonsensical. I may in future opt to make additions to this weapon design which allow it to ragdoll if travelling at sufficient speed and prevent it from colliding with already ragdolled opponents to address these issues, but we will have to see if this is necessary through play testing.
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