Post
Ammo replaced by heat, turning trigger discipline into the resource you manage shot by shot.
Overheat mechanics let weapons fire until a heat meter fills, then force a cooldown or temporary lockout. Unlike ammo, heat regenerates automatically, which encourages bursts instead of hoarding. The design creates a clean pressure question: keep firing and risk being helpless, or pause now to maintain tempo. It also lets designers build powerful weapons without flooding the game with ammo pickups.
Example
Halo's Covenant plasma weapons overheat if fired continuously, giving them a distinct rhythm from human reload weapons. Mass Effect 1 used universal weapon heat before later entries moved toward thermal clips. Battlefront blasters and Titanfall energy weapons use heat to make sustained fire a timing problem.
Why it matters
Overheat systems change weapon pacing without adding inventory friction. They reward restraint, create natural vulnerability windows, and make sci-fi arsenals feel mechanically distinct from conventional firearms.
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