FPS's MOST important qualities.
- Thread starter Grond Strong
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I liked what you said about guns being the "main character." I never looked at this way... Perhaps you're right! After all, no matter what, a gun will always be there in an FPS. Might as well make 'em awesome.Valdsator said:
Like I've said before, an FPS should feel like it's you and I couldn't agree more. If I had an uncomfortable gun in my hand during a world-wide apocalypse and couldn't effectively neutralize my targets. I think I'd take my chances and find a 2x4 with a nice sized nail in it. Unfortunately, most games don't have this ability...
I know some of you incredibly intellectual people out there have more ideas just waiting to be exposed to the world! Write them down! And idea not shared is an idea wasted! And I assure you, if I ever become a multi-billionaire off of videogame ideas from this post... I will put you all down on my list of people who I will consider sharing my wealth with.
What makes a good fps good?
Does it take skill to kill people?
If I can take a light machine gun, and without aiming down the sights get multiple kills through eight walls at long range, then it is not a good fps.
Does it take skill to kill people?
If I can take a light machine gun, and without aiming down the sights get multiple kills through eight walls at long range, then it is not a good fps.
Depends what kind of walls you're shooting through.bl4ckh4wk64 said:
Ah, I kid. Seriously though, it is nice to be challenged occasionally. Seems to me that some developers like to "cater" to the demands of the masses and leave out key qualities that used to make old school videogames so great. I also think this is why we can set our own difficulty. Unfortunately, setting the difficulty higher sometimes only means being able to shoot through four walls instead of eight. Instead of giving the AI more of a brain, a higher difficulty means giving them amazing accuracy and endurance but still with the battle smarts of a mole rat.
The most important thing is Commitment. If you are going for arcade don't ground it down with realistic stuff, if you are going realistic try to eliminate arcade like elements.
Other than that I think weapons should be balanced yet unique, whether these are arcade style weapons or realistic style. Essentially there shouldn't be another Goldeneye Klobb.
Multi-player wise I think there should be things that encourage players to not camp, not penalize but encourage. This is usually easy to do with pickup items or level design. Be sure to allow snipers to have a few places to perch in though.
Control options should be as open as possible, especially when it comes to toggle/hold for crouch, and zoom. Further than that open button mapping is appreciated greatly, or at least have button mapping that is the "industry standard"
Other than that I think weapons should be balanced yet unique, whether these are arcade style weapons or realistic style. Essentially there shouldn't be another Goldeneye Klobb.
Multi-player wise I think there should be things that encourage players to not camp, not penalize but encourage. This is usually easy to do with pickup items or level design. Be sure to allow snipers to have a few places to perch in though.
Control options should be as open as possible, especially when it comes to toggle/hold for crouch, and zoom. Further than that open button mapping is appreciated greatly, or at least have button mapping that is the "industry standard"
Sci-fi huh? Oh, you're one of THOSE people... Lol. I kid. In an age of Modern Warfare and Undercover Black Ops, sci-fi can be a breath of fresh air. Unless of course you are completely immersed into Crysis, Resistance, Fallout, Bioshock, Halo, Gears, Metro 2033, Borderlands, Bulletstorm or any other shooter than falls into the not-so-realistic category. In which case a realistic videogame might be a breath of fresh air... Haha. Sci-fi is always fun. I have no argument with you. Everyone to their own, which is why I wrote this thread.nima55 said:
Atmosphere, story, and above all else, actually being fun.
Realism over fun and demented scoring systems (looking at you, Bulletstorm) or annoying objectives are great ways to ruin any game, let alone FPSs.
Realism over fun and demented scoring systems (looking at you, Bulletstorm) or annoying objectives are great ways to ruin any game, let alone FPSs.
Yes! It should be harder to camp in MP than it is in a redneck trailer park! There is almost nothing that will more quickly cause a gaming aneurysm of the brain than some camping dude bottlenecking my spawn. I WILL go over the edge. And you don't like me when I'm angry... *Turns green*Rayne870 said:
Optional Controls! So I just had this sick idea and I don't know if this is where you were going with this but I don't know why anybody hasn't thought of this before. Why not make a game that allows us to customize our own button layout? I know that some have the defaults already created but say I don't want any of those? What if I was able to go through each button and pick a task for it in the options menu? THAT would be amazing. You sir, are a genius.
I have a couple brothers and friends that I love to play with. When I get a game that looks cool but doesn't have a split-screen campaign or multi-player option it's a mega-bummer. Definitely a must in my book.blakfayt said:
I'm no genius it's just little things I picked up along the way from what other games I feel did right. Quake 3 Arena is my inspiration for the controls, and anti-camping largely comes from Unreal Tournament.Grond Strong said:
I do wish you luck in the industry, and I hope one day we'll see each-other at a seminar or something. I'm looking at starting college for game development myself. Currently I'm number 7 on waiting list, but it is very likely that I will be starting this coming fall.
There are two main kinds of first person shooters. One is AI based and one is the rollercoaster ride.
The AI based one is Half-Life, Crysis, FEAR. These are the FPSs that are actually based on shooting, so they require:
-Great gunplay. FEAR is an example of this. Guns should feel great to use and sound great. Enemies should also be satisfying to kill, even when difficult to kill (e.g. in what Homefront should have been, you may find it incredibly difficult to kill the Koreans, but the game should still feel satisfying and not have tedious gunplay).
-Great AI. The AI should be trying to outsmart you. An example of this is Crysis.
-Great level design. The levels should be designed with multiple approaches. The stealthy route to flank, the frontal charge with cover that can be made use of and such. Levels should complement the AI and be based around the game's style. Don't add unecessary paths, keep everything as simplistic and clear as possible. One example of this is Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. There are multiple ways to destroy an enemy position and everything is clearly laid out for you.
-Stealth as well as gun crazy. Stealth should always be an option and it should work as well as anything else in the game. However, you should never automate stealth kills, because it removes the player from the action.
-Variety versus quality. Make sure to vary everything but consider quality at the same time. FEAR is a very 1-note game and that works for it because the gunplay and AI are so great to fight. However, even FEAR varies the elements of the game. Crysis, for instance, has far too many unecessary elements. I don't need to drive a tank or a helicopter. The game can be great without resorting to varying up for the sake of unecessary variety or for a bulletpoint on the back of the box.
General points:
-No cutscenes. A great first person shooter will make you do what needs to be done for the storyline. Slow motion should not be spammed and the game should guide you in such a way that no cutscenes are needed, which take you out of the storyline. Half-Life 2 is the best example of this, while Bioshock is a bad example. If I remember right, a cutscene triggers when you kill Andrew Ryan, which is silly. The game should make you want to kill him or make you struggle against the controls. Never take the player out of the action. Ever.
-Never take the player out of first person. Ever. This is a pretty obvious one.
-No quick time events. Base everything around a player's input device. If he needs to avoid an enemy attack, assign to a button an action that allows him to duck or roll, don't boil it down to "press X to avoid attack".
-Great graphics. The game has to be great to look at because the entire point of the first person view is to be immersive. An ugly game is not immersive.
-Don't put in multiplayer unless the game is designed around multiplayer.
Rollercoaster ride:
-A lot of variety. Half-Life 2 is the best example of this again. It's not so much a shooter as it is an empty cube in which the designers spawn whatever ideas they need to fit the situation, whether it be a car chase, physics puzzles, etc.
-Focus not on shooting. Guns should be relatively satisfying, but shouldn't be the focus. The focus has to be the story here and the varied gameplay elements.
-Enemy AI only needs to be as good as the game requires it to be, the target shouldn't be great AI if it doesn't serve the game well.
-Great story or at least great storytelling.
I think that's enough for now.
The AI based one is Half-Life, Crysis, FEAR. These are the FPSs that are actually based on shooting, so they require:
-Great gunplay. FEAR is an example of this. Guns should feel great to use and sound great. Enemies should also be satisfying to kill, even when difficult to kill (e.g. in what Homefront should have been, you may find it incredibly difficult to kill the Koreans, but the game should still feel satisfying and not have tedious gunplay).
-Great AI. The AI should be trying to outsmart you. An example of this is Crysis.
-Great level design. The levels should be designed with multiple approaches. The stealthy route to flank, the frontal charge with cover that can be made use of and such. Levels should complement the AI and be based around the game's style. Don't add unecessary paths, keep everything as simplistic and clear as possible. One example of this is Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. There are multiple ways to destroy an enemy position and everything is clearly laid out for you.
-Stealth as well as gun crazy. Stealth should always be an option and it should work as well as anything else in the game. However, you should never automate stealth kills, because it removes the player from the action.
-Variety versus quality. Make sure to vary everything but consider quality at the same time. FEAR is a very 1-note game and that works for it because the gunplay and AI are so great to fight. However, even FEAR varies the elements of the game. Crysis, for instance, has far too many unecessary elements. I don't need to drive a tank or a helicopter. The game can be great without resorting to varying up for the sake of unecessary variety or for a bulletpoint on the back of the box.
General points:
-No cutscenes. A great first person shooter will make you do what needs to be done for the storyline. Slow motion should not be spammed and the game should guide you in such a way that no cutscenes are needed, which take you out of the storyline. Half-Life 2 is the best example of this, while Bioshock is a bad example. If I remember right, a cutscene triggers when you kill Andrew Ryan, which is silly. The game should make you want to kill him or make you struggle against the controls. Never take the player out of the action. Ever.
-Never take the player out of first person. Ever. This is a pretty obvious one.
-No quick time events. Base everything around a player's input device. If he needs to avoid an enemy attack, assign to a button an action that allows him to duck or roll, don't boil it down to "press X to avoid attack".
-Great graphics. The game has to be great to look at because the entire point of the first person view is to be immersive. An ugly game is not immersive.
-Don't put in multiplayer unless the game is designed around multiplayer.
Rollercoaster ride:
-A lot of variety. Half-Life 2 is the best example of this again. It's not so much a shooter as it is an empty cube in which the designers spawn whatever ideas they need to fit the situation, whether it be a car chase, physics puzzles, etc.
-Focus not on shooting. Guns should be relatively satisfying, but shouldn't be the focus. The focus has to be the story here and the varied gameplay elements.
-Enemy AI only needs to be as good as the game requires it to be, the target shouldn't be great AI if it doesn't serve the game well.
-Great story or at least great storytelling.
I think that's enough for now.
Just like people said, good maps. But, if you're in the single player, you should be able to go into a small area where you can see a good portion of the map and pick off people until you feel it's safe to move on, without having to worry about people coming around behind you. In multiplayer, there are very, very few spots that you can do that without someone flanking you.
And the two weapon system works really good, but I think it should be a three weapon system. People can carry two rifles, two sets of four grenades, C4, claymores, and maybe grenade launcher ammo, and yet they can't carry a freeking pistol in a leg holster? doesn't make sense.
Fps's are good because of the fast paced "Holy shit" feeling that goes on most of the time
And the two weapon system works really good, but I think it should be a three weapon system. People can carry two rifles, two sets of four grenades, C4, claymores, and maybe grenade launcher ammo, and yet they can't carry a freeking pistol in a leg holster? doesn't make sense.
Fps's are good because of the fast paced "Holy shit" feeling that goes on most of the time
intuitive controls
multiplayer
story for single player
the amount of realism in a fps doesn't add or remove "fun" from the game but is a very important factor in deciding the tone/atmosphere and physics(character speed,recoil, etc..) in it
fun factor can depend on the audience
a stealth based fps would probably need a strong cover based system while an action based one might suffer with one as it slows the game flow in my opinion.
multiplayer
story for single player
the amount of realism in a fps doesn't add or remove "fun" from the game but is a very important factor in deciding the tone/atmosphere and physics(character speed,recoil, etc..) in it
fun factor can depend on the audience
a stealth based fps would probably need a strong cover based system while an action based one might suffer with one as it slows the game flow in my opinion.
I like that a few of these suggestions are things all games should be doing anyway. Responsive controls? Without them, any game is broken and may as well end before it starts. A solid framerate? Anything that makes the game jerky to the human eye means that the game is messed up in some way (or else it means that your computer is shit, either way, no good). I think we can all accept that all games need those things, and that the FPS is no exception.
But for me? Just the overall package. I generally don't play multiplayer, but like the genre as a rule, but speed doesn't matter, outside of specific firefights maybe. I like to explore the world created, so anything that is immersive and unique is good. I mean, there is no "FPS" formula. Are we talking a modern combat CoD type series, a horror-themed series a la F.E.A.R. or maybe Condemned (sort of) or an elaborate FPSRPG like Fallout 3 or what? Make the experience fun in a lasting way and you've made a good FPS. I mean, look at the FPSes of old (like, the 90s). Most of them were downright bizarre, and creative as hell too. Dare to be different, I say.
I mean, the genre is rather diverse, wouldn't you say? Just come up with an interesting concept and/or a really inventive story and go with it. Besides, if you're going to complain about something technical, complain about the almost always broken AI that games seem to include. Really amazing AI is something I am still waiting for. These days, "functional" seems to do.
But for me? Just the overall package. I generally don't play multiplayer, but like the genre as a rule, but speed doesn't matter, outside of specific firefights maybe. I like to explore the world created, so anything that is immersive and unique is good. I mean, there is no "FPS" formula. Are we talking a modern combat CoD type series, a horror-themed series a la F.E.A.R. or maybe Condemned (sort of) or an elaborate FPSRPG like Fallout 3 or what? Make the experience fun in a lasting way and you've made a good FPS. I mean, look at the FPSes of old (like, the 90s). Most of them were downright bizarre, and creative as hell too. Dare to be different, I say.
I mean, the genre is rather diverse, wouldn't you say? Just come up with an interesting concept and/or a really inventive story and go with it. Besides, if you're going to complain about something technical, complain about the almost always broken AI that games seem to include. Really amazing AI is something I am still waiting for. These days, "functional" seems to do.