Extra Punctuation: Weapon-Crafting That Works
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Recommended Videos
personally I think this could also translate to a nuclear post apoc game to, frankly as much as I like Fallout (including the old ones) it just seamed so..none apocalyptic when by the end you had a one man army arsenal.
One of the reasons my favourite post apoc thing ever is a Tabletop rpg we have here in Sweden, there the best thing you can get in a long while is a double barrel shotgun with black powered shells, current type guns are rare and energy weapons are like holy grails.
One of the reasons my favourite post apoc thing ever is a Tabletop rpg we have here in Sweden, there the best thing you can get in a long while is a double barrel shotgun with black powered shells, current type guns are rare and energy weapons are like holy grails.
Borderlands actually used a system very similar to this in order to come up with the obscenely large amount of slightly different weapons they had, only it was done in a way that was hidden from the player. IIRC, each weapon had 7 different pieces to it, the barrel, the stalk, etc, and each one of these had an impact on the stats of the weapon overall, how it looked, etc.
Whenever a weapon is spawned in Borderlands these 7 pieces are randomly generated with no input from the player, but there was external modifiers made by fans that let you choose different parts for the gun before putting it altogether in a sort of similar system to the one you're talking about, only external to the game unfortunately.
I don't see why a system similar to Borderlands' couldn't work except with the players finding different parts of the guns as various "scrap" items, and combining them as they go along to produce different customized guns with the personalized feel you were describing.
Whenever a weapon is spawned in Borderlands these 7 pieces are randomly generated with no input from the player, but there was external modifiers made by fans that let you choose different parts for the gun before putting it altogether in a sort of similar system to the one you're talking about, only external to the game unfortunately.
I don't see why a system similar to Borderlands' couldn't work except with the players finding different parts of the guns as various "scrap" items, and combining them as they go along to produce different customized guns with the personalized feel you were describing.
I like what I'm hearing. Like a 3D MineCraft weapon creator. You could also add in skill for creation, say for instance an actual bladesmith should be able to fashion a hilt from the chair leg to fit the knife blade into, while those without said attribute would just use a roll of tape.
Same thing with bayonets, the use of actual bolts to put a mount on the barrel vs. tape.
I made and have used a lot of mods made for Fallout: New Vegas that take advantage of the modification element to change scopes on weapons and I even have an AR-15 mod that can be rebarreled into other calibers in game to take advantage of whatever ammo your dealing with. Naturally weight and accuracy are adjusted based on the ammo types.
Possibilities are endless.
Same thing with bayonets, the use of actual bolts to put a mount on the barrel vs. tape.
I made and have used a lot of mods made for Fallout: New Vegas that take advantage of the modification element to change scopes on weapons and I even have an AR-15 mod that can be rebarreled into other calibers in game to take advantage of whatever ammo your dealing with. Naturally weight and accuracy are adjusted based on the ammo types.
Possibilities are endless.
I've actually never thought of that, but that would be amazing. I recently played Crayon Physics, and I guess it goes by a similar principle, and made me wonder what it would be like to use rope and pulleys to craft a spinning katana death trap in that unscripted way.
This... Is what I always wanted. I could just never really put any coherence behind it. Yahtzee: you, sir, are a god. Do you accept goat sacrifices?
Seriously though, wonderful article. Very insightful, yet again.
Seriously though, wonderful article. Very insightful, yet again.
Or, for a slightly simpler but nonetheless awesome system, just imitate Vagrant Story. I think at least half of my play time on that game was spent crafting weapons.
So you'd call it "Weaponcraft"? Isn't this essentially what Minecraft did for landscape?
Shoot Notch and email and see if he's interested.
Shoot Notch and email and see if he's interested.
I am definitely seeing where you're coming from. I was starting to see where you were going half into the first page.
Such a system would be very interesting, it seems inevitable to me too. Soon as someone bothers to make it. Biggest issue would be the styles of wielding (trying to wield the giant axe you made as a bo staff or sword), but you could just put limitations on the space you can branch out based on the weapon type. Like, you can't place material more than a foot from the shaft if you're making a staff weapon. Still, would be a cool and inventive system.
Of course, the inevitable next step......is to make your vehicle in a massive zombie killing game via this patchwork methodology. Think about it.
PS. I liked the idea of BK:N&B, certainly making the fastest, bulkiest, or most versatile machine was fun....but, i feel they could have put more effort into the game itself. More challenges than just....o look a race. Hey over there...another race. Not that racing is that bad in this kinda game, just wanted variety and challenge.
Such a system would be very interesting, it seems inevitable to me too. Soon as someone bothers to make it. Biggest issue would be the styles of wielding (trying to wield the giant axe you made as a bo staff or sword), but you could just put limitations on the space you can branch out based on the weapon type. Like, you can't place material more than a foot from the shaft if you're making a staff weapon. Still, would be a cool and inventive system.
Of course, the inevitable next step......is to make your vehicle in a massive zombie killing game via this patchwork methodology. Think about it.
PS. I liked the idea of BK:N&B, certainly making the fastest, bulkiest, or most versatile machine was fun....but, i feel they could have put more effort into the game itself. More challenges than just....o look a race. Hey over there...another race. Not that racing is that bad in this kinda game, just wanted variety and challenge.
An interesting idea, but I can see one major flaw in Yahtzee's implementation. If you can tape a knife to an assault rifle to make a bayonet, why would you want to use scrappy melee weapons when you have access to assault rifles?
P.S.: Whatever happened to Mech customization games? I'd like to see more of these kinds of games that aren't Armored Core (because Armored Core's control scheme is so clunky I've literally broken PS2 controllers while playing it).
P.S.: Whatever happened to Mech customization games? I'd like to see more of these kinds of games that aren't Armored Core (because Armored Core's control scheme is so clunky I've literally broken PS2 controllers while playing it).
Acid test for whether your crafting system works:
Players are happier using their boot and spend their money respawning, than they are dicking around in their inventory.
Players are happier using their boot and spend their money respawning, than they are dicking around in their inventory.
Me too. I would also sell your soul for it. This is a great idea. I would love to see this in some sort of open world game. With or without zombies? Doesn't matter.Jakub324 said:
This is the first thing I though of too. I spent hours and hours fine tuning my ships. I heard there were some players that just randomly threw eveything together since placement had no effect on its function, but as far as i was concerned the esthetics were just as important.demalo said:
There was also an RTS from the early 2000's called Impossible Creatures that allowed you to mix and match different animal parts in order to make specialized units. If I recall, mixing and ant's strength with the blue whale's size made for a formiddable, albeit costly, shock trooper.
Well, you can name all of your stuff in The Elder Scrolls series. There's even a little bit of customization in the enchantment system. Actually, from what little I've heard, Skyrim might actually include something akin to what Yahtzee was describing in its new weapon crafting system.JeppeH said:
Fable 3 is another good example. Your hero weapons customize themselves each time you upgrade the appropriate skill set based upon your actions. If you kill a lot of innocent people with your sword it's blade will drip with blood. Each weapon had four different aspects that could be mixed and matched, the blade, the hilt, the color and the aura I think. Of course you couldn't directly decide which upgrade you got, but the basic principle is there.
You could even take another page from the Fable book and add design cards all over the world that you can use to put on your weapons, or make little side quests to procure special materials in order to make better weapons. I'm sure we'll start seeing stuff like this pretty soon.
I don't think that weapon crafting needs to go any further than the two extremes Yahtzee gives, Dead Rising 2 where everything is extremely specific, and Fallout/Dead Island (haven't played) where it comes down to pressure cooker + steam gauge assembly + fission battery + wooden crutch = gun, or in other words, pockets full of junk.
He mentions needing to get the physics right, and of course there's always the need to make sure what you're holding near your face for 90% of the game doesn't look like an ass with a "breeze block" attached to it. Yes there's room for the entire system to grow, but how much of your resources you need to divert to getting the system working X way is an experiment that I can understand major studios shying away from. It's a risk in terms of both the mechanics and aesthetics of the game and better left to the indies to pioneer rather that have some 3A studio bumble out a crappy game which allows for life-like rat flail simulation.
He mentions needing to get the physics right, and of course there's always the need to make sure what you're holding near your face for 90% of the game doesn't look like an ass with a "breeze block" attached to it. Yes there's room for the entire system to grow, but how much of your resources you need to divert to getting the system working X way is an experiment that I can understand major studios shying away from. It's a risk in terms of both the mechanics and aesthetics of the game and better left to the indies to pioneer rather that have some 3A studio bumble out a crappy game which allows for life-like rat flail simulation.