I'm a game designer working on a team-based multiplayer indie FPS (all those adjectives!) for Windows and Mac. I want to share a lot of our game design bits during development here in order to get feedback from here so we don't end up pushing out a big ol' turd.
Before I dive into the main topic, here's some background on a couple, relevant bits of game design:
Our game features classes that have specific class equipment options. We're big fans of customization so we give players 6 slots to put weapons and class items in. They can put in 5 weapons and just 1 item or 1 weapon and 5 items or anything in between. The only other limit is that they need at least one weapon and one item. Why would a player want to have just one item and one weapon if they could use 6? I'll cover that in a couple paragraphs
Another major divergence from other team-based FPS games is that the player can "hot swap" classes without having to respawn/killing themselves; this process takes a bit of time and Shakti (a regenerating energy source for infantry). They can also change around what weapons and equipment they're using for a specific class by burning up Shakti and time instead of having to respawn or suicide. It's a little feature that we're really proud of.
However, Shakti not only powers these shifts in class and loadout, but it also powers a whole host of infantry powers. These include a jetpack, an extremely fast sprint mode, a grappling hook, a cloaking mode, an enhanced armor mode, and other things that boost maneuverability or survivability.
In other words, Shakti (and how quickly you regenerate it) is a big deal if you want to stay alive. The regeneration speed and total amount of Shakti are both tied to how much crap you're carrying so while players get 6 slots for weapons and equipment, their regen speed and total Shakti reserves would take a massive hit if they used up all 6 slots.
So while a player carrying just one weapon and one class item would be a lot more maneuverable than a player who maxed out their slots, their options on the field are going to be a whole lot more limited compared to the player filled to the brim with 6 weapons/class items.
Anyway, sorry for all the background.
Here's option one with eight classes and three class items each: http://i.imgur.com/pZBlh.png
Here's option two with four classes and five class items each (I removed tactical explosives from all but one of the classes because of the resultant redundancy in anti-vehicle capability): http://i.imgur.com/0XPid.png
In both cases, players still get 6 slots to put weapons and class equipment in. The only other loadout limit is that they need to have at least one weapon and one class item. And in both cases, Shakti regeneration is still affected by the loadout. So with either option, they're still making challenging decisions about how they want to customize their class (and that's what we want to see!).
One can look at it as the difference between Team Fortress 2's classes and Battlefield 3's classes.
I'd love to hear feedback about what system you would prefer since I'm pretty torn between the two (and the rest of the team has pretty much dug into their respective trenches regarding how they feel). However, in discussing this elsewhere, I'm starting to lean towards option two simply because of the exciting flexibility afforded by all the item options. I guess that makes sense since Battlefield is one of my favorite series of all time
Thanks! I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Before I dive into the main topic, here's some background on a couple, relevant bits of game design:
Our game features classes that have specific class equipment options. We're big fans of customization so we give players 6 slots to put weapons and class items in. They can put in 5 weapons and just 1 item or 1 weapon and 5 items or anything in between. The only other limit is that they need at least one weapon and one item. Why would a player want to have just one item and one weapon if they could use 6? I'll cover that in a couple paragraphs
Another major divergence from other team-based FPS games is that the player can "hot swap" classes without having to respawn/killing themselves; this process takes a bit of time and Shakti (a regenerating energy source for infantry). They can also change around what weapons and equipment they're using for a specific class by burning up Shakti and time instead of having to respawn or suicide. It's a little feature that we're really proud of.
However, Shakti not only powers these shifts in class and loadout, but it also powers a whole host of infantry powers. These include a jetpack, an extremely fast sprint mode, a grappling hook, a cloaking mode, an enhanced armor mode, and other things that boost maneuverability or survivability.
In other words, Shakti (and how quickly you regenerate it) is a big deal if you want to stay alive. The regeneration speed and total amount of Shakti are both tied to how much crap you're carrying so while players get 6 slots for weapons and equipment, their regen speed and total Shakti reserves would take a massive hit if they used up all 6 slots.
So while a player carrying just one weapon and one class item would be a lot more maneuverable than a player who maxed out their slots, their options on the field are going to be a whole lot more limited compared to the player filled to the brim with 6 weapons/class items.
Anyway, sorry for all the background.
Here's option one with eight classes and three class items each: http://i.imgur.com/pZBlh.png
Here's option two with four classes and five class items each (I removed tactical explosives from all but one of the classes because of the resultant redundancy in anti-vehicle capability): http://i.imgur.com/0XPid.png
In both cases, players still get 6 slots to put weapons and class equipment in. The only other loadout limit is that they need to have at least one weapon and one class item. And in both cases, Shakti regeneration is still affected by the loadout. So with either option, they're still making challenging decisions about how they want to customize their class (and that's what we want to see!).
One can look at it as the difference between Team Fortress 2's classes and Battlefield 3's classes.
I'd love to hear feedback about what system you would prefer since I'm pretty torn between the two (and the rest of the team has pretty much dug into their respective trenches regarding how they feel). However, in discussing this elsewhere, I'm starting to lean towards option two simply because of the exciting flexibility afforded by all the item options. I guess that makes sense since Battlefield is one of my favorite series of all time
Thanks! I look forward to hearing your feedback.
