Metro's Bullets Make A Better Currency

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

Metro's Bullets Make A Better Currency

One particular mechanic helps the Metro series stand apart from other modern shooters.

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[Rickhunter001]

In the novel that Metro 2033 is based on Artyom does use the bullets for more than just weapons and more ammo. One scene specifically relates to him buying his dinner.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

That idea at the end made me think of a (probably imaginary) Fallout 3 mod: You remove the Vault Dweller and play as a citizen of Megaton. No incredible journey to bring life back to the wastes, no reactor to climb in; just a daily grind of getting supplies, dealing with mutants and raiders, and being friendly and useful to the community so they don't pitch you out. Hell, you might find you like being an average post-apocalypse Joe, rather than Jesus with a Fat Man.

 

[Kilo24]

Treating the in-game currency as experience points (and as an exchange for health) was done quite well in FTL: Faster Than Light.

The biggest issue with these paradigms is that it's rare to find a video game economy that doesn't become irrelevant halfway through the game. The standard practice is that you buy everything you can buy and everything else that can be purchased doesn't make a dent in the massive piles of cash you have. As such, tying more and more game elements to a broken system runs the risk of trivializing those elements as well.

In general, the currency systems need to be better designed before innovations that are part of them them are anything more than stapled-on gimmicks.

 

[Xelzeno]

"Here's another one: the in-game currency doubles as experience points. " ..Dark Souls..?

 

[5ilver]

Remember Dark souls? XP was essentially your currency as well there.

As far as Metro, I have a problem with how static ammo felt. How about having more types of bullets, an option for making your bullets yourself (like in New Vegas), maybe even some bullets randomly being duds (the whole point of dirty bullets is that they're supposed to be inferior- yet they work fine in the actual game?!).

Edit: Ninja'd -.-

 

[Deminobody]

I think the easiest way to incorporate a survival for defense trade-off in the Metro series would be to require the player to buy the majority of their gas mask filters. Buying a lot of gas masks and ensuring you have plenty of time to explore on the surface could be seen as a sort of risky investment.

Want to spend an hour sneaking around looking for that lost collection of guns, ammo, and plot points? Buy a lot of filters and only a little ammo. Want to run-n-gun for four minutes to the next metro station? Buy a few filters and a lot of ammo. BAM! You now have more depth in your survival decisions.

 

[wetfart]

The "clean" rounds were also more powerful than the dirty rounds. So you could save them up to purchase items or save them to use in a deadly firefight.

 

[Xelzeno]

Remember Dark souls? XP was essentially your currency as well there.

As far as Metro, I have a problem with how static ammo felt. How about having more types of bullets, an option for making your bullets yourself (like in New Vegas), maybe even some bullets randomly being duds (the whole point of dirty bullets is that they're supposed to be inferior- yet they work fine in the actual game?!).

Edit: Ninja'd -.-

Hehe, the benefits of short posts;D

 

[StriderShinryu]

"Here's another one: the in-game currency doubles as experience points. " ..Dark Souls..?

That's exactly what I was thinnking as I read this article. In Dark Souls your collected Souls count as XP as well as your money, which is used to not only purcahse standard goods like consumables or new weapons, but also as part of what's required to permanently upgrade your gear as well. Because it's a unified "currency," every Soul you find is being pulled in different directions based on where you are in the game and what you're currently doing. The most important aspect, however, is that almost any use of Souls is a viable use so there really aren't any easily rejectable options. Oh, and on top of all of that, you drop all of your currently collected Souls upon death and have only your next "life" to retrieve them or they're lost forever.

 

[Goliath100]

I want a Metro Life-simulator now.

 

[rayen020]

That idea at the end made me think of a (probably imaginary) Fallout 3 mod: You remove the Vault Dweller and play as a citizen of Megaton. No incredible journey to bring life back to the wastes, no reactor to climb in; just a daily grind of getting supplies, dealing with mutants and raiders, and being friendly and useful to the community so they don't pitch you out. Hell, you might find you like being an average post-apocalypse Joe, rather than Jesus with a Fat Man.

kinda sucks if you get the fallout guy that blows up megaton. You just sat down for a nice lunch of dirty water and rat meat. and then the screen turns white and says the PC lost some karma.

 

[Shakura Jolithion]

Like others have said, Dark Souls and Demon Souls both used XP and currency as the same item. IIRC, Yahtzee didn't get too far into one of them because of how difficult it was and it felt too much like Stockholm syndrome to him. I think a more accurate depiction of the games would've been the way you, the player, develops skill in addition to the players character-going through a 2nd time on either of those games, things feel very different and go much smoother because you've learned a lot about how things work, beyond just basic mechanics for damage and such, and are genuinely better at the game in a non superficial or knowledge (the kind you look up on a wiki for an RPG, for example) way.

Also, not terribly relevant, but System Shock (the original) had rocket skates >.>

I know The Ship and The Ship 2 combined sims-like gameplay with shooter, but with the multiplayer most people wind up dieing before they need to fuel their sims needs (probably because of server setups)... I like a lot of Yahtzee's ideas, but there's the question of how well they're executed, too. Hopefully we can see some more unique and good games like he's suggesting.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

snip

it's not a stretch to say that Minecraft uses Experience Points as a currency. in fact, losing all of your xp upon death adds another level of risk/reward that feels like we don't see a lot in games. do you risk going with a lower level enchantment or do you save up and risk losing it all. i think it also complements the gameplay well, as we've all had those tense minecraft moments that don't seem like tbey should be as dramatic as they are. but knowing i'm thousands of blocks into a tunnel far from home running from a cave full of spiders trying not to lose my 24 xp levels and the handful of diamonds i mined for hours to find... not many games get my heart pumping like that these days.

 

[craddoke]

Gygax was equating gold and experience back in the 1970s, which was a little before Dark Souls or FTL.

EDIT: And you kids better get off my lawn!

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

In the novel that Metro 2033 is based on Artyom does use the bullets for more than just weapons and more ammo. One scene specifically relates to him buying his dinner.

Yeah, I think it is kind of unfair to say that the Metro 2033-game came up with bullets as currency, as it is just directly lifted from the book. That's not to say it isn't an interesting mechanic, but I feel it is severely underdeveloped.

 

[Flameeater]

"Every time you fired off a burst of rounds while in the field, you'd be haunted by visions of the many grilled cheese sandwiches that are now denied to you."

There is a bit of an ammo shortage here in states, prices have went up quite a bit, if it can found at all. Empty a clip of 5.56/.223 or 9mm (or others that are most likely even more expensive)and see if this very thing doesn't happen to you now...

 

[JarinArenos]

I would buy Sims: After The Bombs in a heartbeat.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

What life simulator game couldn't be livened up with occasional monsters to shoot?