Guns jamming in video games

[Eiseman]

An overlooked aspect in every shooting game I've seen (could be wrong, of course, but I'm pretty sure I'm not) is having guns that can jam on you. And for good reason, a gun jamming in a heated shootout is not only frustrating and cheap, it usually goes against your protagonist's persona of an experienced military soldier or mercenary who knows how to use a freaking gun.

But there are some games where protagonists aren't uber-manly gunmen, namely in the Silent Hill series. So, I'm curious what you guys would think if they introduced gun jamming. Such as, how would it occur? Would it be random or depend on how you handle your weapon? Maybe firing too fast or reloading when your chambers/magazine is still close to full would increase the likelihood. Maybe basic pistols wouldn't jam very often while larger, heavier, more complex guns are more prone.

Basically, I'm thinking that guns jamming could add to the tension of the survival horror genre, where the enemies are meant to be scary or shocking, and an uncooperative firearm could amplify that feeling. But what do you think?

 

[The Broodlord]

i think your right, BUT it would have to be done well. when you have a gun it should jam based on the circumstances, if your in the middle of the desert and there is sand every where, jamming in the middle of a house for example would be pointless (there would be no reason for it to jam). it should occur more in a older gun but less in a more modern one, also more in a automatic weapon and almost never in a semi auto. Jamming could add a lot to horror game but the truth is that it would happen so often its just distracting or not often enough to be considered for the time needed to program it.


PS: in my opinion it would work better in a fps like rainbow six.

 

[franzuu]

Guns jam In "America's Army" its random in that game. Doesn't happen very often (some guns jam more than others)The Barrett M82A1 jams A LOT!

 

[Slayer_2]

I'd love to see it in RO: O. Many Russian solders where pushed into the battle with little or no training, so it makes sense.

 

[Saevus]

I'd love to see it in RO: O. Many Russian solders where pushed into the battle with little or no training, so it makes sense.

...perhaps you aren't aware of this, but a Mosin-Nagant? Takes literally minutes to learn how to field strip and clean one, nevermind the inherent reliability of a manually-operated action. Seriously. Nearly every Russian gun put into service was dead-fucking-simple because they knew most of their soldiers were peasants.

The factors that cause a gun to jam are, largely, outside the scope of a game. Frequency of cleaning, properly handling, wear and tear on parts, magazine used (particularly the spring) and how full the mag is loaded, firing technique (especially with pistols; in the case of survival horror where the protagonist is inexperience with firearms, I'd lay bets that in reality they'd get stove-piping like crazy from not controlling it properly), environment, ammunition used (some extracts more smoothly, some leaves more fouling, etc.)...

Nice idea, but you can't really put it in a game and ever call it realistic.

 

[stompy]

The reason why devs haven't placed jamming in games is because it takes away from the bad-ass, gun-toting one man army that is you. If they did add jamming, it would feel cheap and subtract from the overall fun, in most cases.

Though, if it were to be used in games like Rainbow 6, games where the audience wants and expects realism, then yeh, it'd be pretty cool. Though, the ability to pick up guns from fallen enemies kinda takes away from this.

 

[lostlevelssuck]

There was a gun jamming mech in gears of war. If you missed the reload, that was called a "jam". while not as debilitating as a real gun jam the mech had the same effect, you could not use the gun until you cleared the jam. The only reason why I did not hate the mech it was because if my gun jammed it was my own fault, not an act of random chance.

 

[Juan Regular]

There was a gun jamming mech in gears of war. If you missed the reload, that was called a "jam". while not as debilitating as a real gun jam the mech had the same effect, you could not use the gun until you cleared the jam. The only reason why I did not hate the mech it was because if my gun jammed it was my own fault, not an act of random chance.

Yeah, that was a great feature. It added something to the heat of the fight, but was never frustrating. Along with Marcus shouting "aaah, come on!" to his weapon.

 

[The Wooster]

Because ultimately it takes control away from the player and gives it to random chance. Which is never good.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Stalker had gun jams, the weapons slowly degrade over time and become useless. It makes some nice ?Oh Shit!? moments.

I'm downloading stalker on steam at the moment!



Farcry 2 Will have gun jams because it fits very well..If a Ak-47 jams though there will be blood on the streets.

 

[teknoarcanist]

I think something like that could definitely add to the mood if randomly activated, but only at certain times. In a survival horror game, you're walking down the hall, the door burts open, something really not nice comes charging at you. You shoot, there's a possibility that your gun jams. Oh shit.
In a third-person action game, you're hiding behind cover, safe; you go to blind-fire, your gun might jams. Your character could then shout something like 'I'm fucked!' to his teammate, who pops out and lays down a spray while screaming masculinely.
Although what Saevus said contributes. If you find a gun in an old spooky house, chances are it wasn't cleaned properly, ie, it's gonna jam (which you and I wouldn't know because we're stupid ). Would make an interesting mechanic during a cutscene in a third-person shooter if you could make your character take his gun apart and clean it while everyone was talking.

 

[Brett Alex]

There was a gun jamming mech in gears of war. If you missed the reload, that was called a "jam". while not as debilitating as a real gun jam the mech had the same effect, you could not use the gun until you cleared the jam. The only reason why I did not hate the mech it was because if my gun jammed it was my own fault, not an act of random chance.

Yeah, that was a great feature. It added something to the heat of the fight, but was never frustrating. Along with Marcus shouting "aaah, come on!" to his weapon.

It was also sweet cause you could get the bonus (I think it was extra ammo? Or more damage? can't be sure) if you got it right, made you feel much more bad-ass if you timed it perfectly and kept on blasting away, especially on the sniper rifle where you did it after every shot.

EDIT: Perhaps some form of timed mechanic in the survival horror scenario mentioned above could be a good idea? Something jumps out of the doorway at you and your gun jams, but if you react quick enough you could uber-melee them for an instant kill, or maybe just a knock-back on tough enemies, giving you time to change tactics. I think that would just make it more adrenaline charged to go "oh shit monster! oh shit gun jam!" then *pow* right in the kisser and win anyway.

 

[Ohnoes11]

I think this idea would be great and already is great depending on where you place it. In my experience with Americas Army if you pull the trigger down too fast the gun would jam much quicker. Also in Gears of War they created a whole new system of "jamming" that in a firefight that could pretty much make any bad ass in heavy glowing armor wet himself for fear of become swiss bullet cheese. I think placing this mechanism into more shooters would create a much more thrilling experience, but then they would have to do something with the actually game play mechanics that might set everything askew. So jamming in games is a birthday cake baked with gun powder.

 

[stompy]

It was also sweet cause you could get the bonus (I think it was extra ammo? Or more damage? can't be sure) if you got it right, made you feel much more bad-ass if you timed it perfectly and kept on blasting away, especially on the sniper rifle where you did it after every shot.

It was extra damage, and a faster reload. Yeh, I think it was a nice idea, and it felt like a nice addition, not something just placed in there.

 

[Jumplion]

Well, i think guns jamming could work in the FPS genere, especially if you include disarming techniques.

For example, my cousin who works in the army taught me (very loosly) some disarming techniques for if your gun is either jammed or empty and an enemy is coming at you so you can check to see if your gun is jammed or if you need to run for cover and reload.

It could work in some FPS/TPS titles, but i'd be worried if it would make the game fun or just frustrating.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Well, i think guns jamming could work in the FPS genere, especially if you include disarming techniques.

For example, my cousin who works in the army taught me (very loosly) some disarming techniques for if your gun is either jammed or empty and an enemy is coming at you so you can check to see if your gun is jammed or if you need to run for cover and reload.

It could work in some FPS/TPS titles, but i'd be worried if it would make the game fun or just frustrating.

Disarming is fairly easy I thought? You get out of the way of the gun barrel and get up close enough so he can't shoot you anyway knock his feat from out under him and take his gun away?

 

[Squarewave]

Because ultimately it takes control away from the player and gives it to random chance. Which is never good.

Bingo

Gun jamming falls into the same category as being killed in one hit, not being able to restore health, highly limited ammo and not being able to jump. It looks good on paper in the name of realism but in practice the additional satisfaction of beating the level is more then offset by the frustration of having to replay the level over and over

 

[Jumplion]

Well, i think guns jamming could work in the FPS genere, especially if you include disarming techniques.

For example, my cousin who works in the army taught me (very loosly) some disarming techniques for if your gun is either jammed or empty and an enemy is coming at you so you can check to see if your gun is jammed or if you need to run for cover and reload.

It could work in some FPS/TPS titles, but i'd be worried if it would make the game fun or just frustrating.

Disarming is fairly easy I thought? You get out of the way of the gun barrel and get up close enough so he can't shoot you anyway knock his feat from out under him and take his gun away?

Well, there are various disarming techniques. The one he showed me was him having the gun clip in front of him, pushing that in the enemies stomach, smashing his head down, then up, then push him away, then you check the gun barrel to see if it's empty or jammed, you hit the enemy again and either fix the jam or go for cover to reload.

And you try disarming an opponent when there are dozens of bullets flying over your head and your enemy possibly having an equal amount of CQC training. It sounds fairly easy, to get in close to your opponent, but that's why soldiers usually have knifes and pistols.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Well, i think guns jamming could work in the FPS genere, especially if you include disarming techniques.

For example, my cousin who works in the army taught me (very loosly) some disarming techniques for if your gun is either jammed or empty and an enemy is coming at you so you can check to see if your gun is jammed or if you need to run for cover and reload.

It could work in some FPS/TPS titles, but i'd be worried if it would make the game fun or just frustrating.

Disarming is fairly easy I thought? You get out of the way of the gun barrel and get up close enough so he can't shoot you anyway knock his feat from out under him and take his gun away?

Well, there are various disarming techniques. The one he showed me was him having the gun clip in front of him, pushing that in the enemies stomach, smashing his head down, then up, then push him away, then you check the gun barrel to see if it's empty or jammed, you hit the enemy again and either fix the jam or go for cover to reload.

And you try disarming an opponent when there are dozens of bullets flying over your head and your enemy possibly having an equal amount of CQC training. It sounds fairly easy, to get in close to your opponent, but that's why soldiers usually have knifes and pistols.

Yeah its much easier in context but then if a soldier is on drugs/viagra he would have cock of steel and not enough blood running to his head to be scared and then it would be as simple as to keep him from pointing his gun at you.

Heres another one that probably has holes in it but on paper it should work.
You grab the enemys gun bewteen your rib and your inner arm and you do a judoistic throw him over your shoulder. He would be incapitcated at that point and have very little use of him arm and you could simply take his gun from him.