Ways a WW1 game could work

[Flishiz]

I'd love a WWI game to have historical accuracy applying to everyone but...you. One thing I think would be fun, that is often overlooked by people in every war is intelligence. Yes, I know, intelligence was not what it became twenty years later, but it would be a fun game nonetheless sneaking, not in enemy battlefields, but rather within command centers or around major cities. Try and convince me it wouldn't be fun with a pulse-pounding assassination job in London, holding your weapons tight, keeping from speaking a word, lest your accent quickly identified, and making your way to a well-guarded location of the target (well, maybe Assassin's Creed 3 could take a pointer from this instead of boring-old WW2).

And yeah, I DID imply you played as a German spy. Everyone else implies being a part of the Allied side, and someone's gotta stick out for the krauts, eh?

 

[almostgold]

I'd love a WWI game to have historical accuracy applying to everyone but...you. One thing I think would be fun, that is often overlooked by people in every war is intelligence. Yes, I know, intelligence was not what it became twenty years later, but it would be a fun game nonetheless sneaking, not in enemy battlefields, but rather within command centers or around major cities. Try and convince me it wouldn't be fun with a pulse-pounding assassination job in London, holding your weapons tight, keeping from speaking a word, lest your accent quickly identified, and making your way to a well-guarded location of the target (well, maybe Assassin's Creed 3 could take a pointer from this instead of boring-old WW2).

And yeah, I DID imply you played as a German spy. Everyone else implies being a part of the Allied side, and someone's gotta stick out for the krauts, eh?

Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. Nazi's weren't around in WW1, and the Germans didnt start the war, so really they are just as much of good guys as the Brits or Americans. The whole war was just a fuck-up of nationalism, so there weren't really any bad guys. Just guys. So why not play as a German?

 

[Carlston]

WW1? Well... aircraft "Curse you red baron!"

Have it like risk, any one recall Secret weapons of the Lufftwaffa? Lucas arts game?

You can have missions, set up npc missions, then send the troops out and their success is based on yours.

Play it like Axis and Allies, as Germans we're the total Nazi evil's we like them to be, Eastern front? Bout as cold and dull as durring WW2. A big battle followed by never ending sniper resistance....and the first tank did appear...could be a fun thing to drive.

 

[Spiner909]

I imagine this hypothetical game would be very much like Battlefield. Capturing stuff and LOTS of vehicles. And dying. Also like the idea of using RTS elements. But then again, Brootal Legeend tried that...

 

[Flishiz]

I'd love a WWI game to have historical accuracy applying to everyone but...you. One thing I think would be fun, that is often overlooked by people in every war is intelligence. Yes, I know, intelligence was not what it became twenty years later, but it would be a fun game nonetheless sneaking, not in enemy battlefields, but rather within command centers or around major cities. Try and convince me it wouldn't be fun with a pulse-pounding assassination job in London, holding your weapons tight, keeping from speaking a word, lest your accent quickly identified, and making your way to a well-guarded location of the target (well, maybe Assassin's Creed 3 could take a pointer from this instead of boring-old WW2).

And yeah, I DID imply you played as a German spy. Everyone else implies being a part of the Allied side, and someone's gotta stick out for the krauts, eh?

Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. Nazi's weren't around in WW1, and the Germans didnt start the war, so really they are just as much of good guys as the Brits or Americans. The whole war was just a fuck-up of nationalism, so there weren't really any bad guys. Just guys. So why not play as a German?

I'm all for creativity and such, but it's a seriously untapped market for creators of all forms of media to just focus more on the opposite side of an overdone theme. My aunt was a Nazi sympathizer until the war ended and she moved to America. I'd like to see an RPGish game where you grow up under the terrible postwar inflation in Germany and become a Nazi sympathizer through mostly reasonable experiences before being trained in something like intelligence or reconnaissance, then bringing the hurt on those Frenchmen.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

In addition to the shooting I think a WWI game would have a more complicated melee system as well. You would have three different melees: Bayonet, rifle stock, and brass knuckles. bayonet out ranges brass knuckles and is a one hit kill. Rifle stock deflects bayonet and is a two hit kill. Brass knuckles would beat the rifle stock and be a three hit kill(fastest melee speed).

 

[almostgold]

In addition to the shooting I think a WWI game would have a more complicated melee system as well. You would have three different melees: Bayonet, rifle stock, and brass knuckles. bayonet out ranges brass knuckles and is a one hit kill. Rifle stock deflects bayonet and is a two hit kill. Brass knuckles would beat the rifle stock and be a three hit kill(fastest melee speed).

That's a pretty neat idea. My worry would be too many buttons needed for 3 different melees. Maybe just two? Knife which is a weapon you switch to and is a one hit kill, and brass knuckles that you use anytime (think MW knife) for a quick but non-lethal strike (enemy stumbles, drops weapon, etc.)? Could highlight the difference between the paranoia of running around in an enemy trench where you would want your knife out at all time, and a still keeping a classic quick melee for gameplay reasons? An idea?
I would honestly want choking to be a melee option (in a WW2 game too). Like if your close to the enemy and hit him with a melee that's not a one hit kill and hold down the button, you choke him. I don't want this because it would be fucking awesome (it would)but because it would be a very good way to illustrate the brutality of war (holding an enemy down and watching him die in the mud, inches away from your face).

 

[TheRedMax]

If a WW1 game was to have a trench battle that not only had soldiers in trenches, but also Tanks (early, dodgy tanks) but also aircraft, i think it could be really fun. Add craters and smoke and ... perhaps even mustard gas to really mess with people ?

Games such as Battlegrounds 2 manage to recreate the old style of muzzle loading weapons (slow and innacurate) and still manage to be fun, so why shouldn't ww1 be as exciting?

 

[Leodiensian]

Maybe by remembering that WWI also had an Eastern Front.

ZOMG! You mean there was a part of the war without trenches???

Stalingrad would be a pretty awesome game setting. Enemy At The Gates: The Game is something I would totally buy. I know that's WWII, but just saying.

I think the atmosphere of the trenches just has something more iconic to it, though. It lends itself to so many things. For instance, let's put out some horror into the mix. You find yourself killing Germans, it's all good... but then you realise you're killing the same Germans. Not the same character model, but the same people, still bearing their previously 'fatal' wounds. And the mist outside is so thick you can't see more than a few feet beyond the tangled, heaving barbed wire, which moves like tentacles, as if alive...

 

[samsprinkle]

I think a WWI game would be amazing, and could provide some pretty epic moments...but WWI soldiers died...a LOT! so yeah, it would have to be like battlefield where everytime you died you just became another soldier, and so on.

 

[Spiner909]

Great idea about the espionage. Really, that's brilliant. Too bad every one in the world would ban it

 

[TheRedMax]

Stalingrad would be a pretty awesome game setting. Enemy At The Gates: The Game is something I would totally buy. I know that's WWII, but just saying.

One of the old Call of Duty Games already did a direct take on Enemy At The Gates! It recreated the boats crossing the Volga, the "One man gets a gun, one man gets ammunition" scene and all that


and then Call of Duty World At War managed to totally capture the "hiding in the fountain amid the corpses and sniping the enemy officers" scene

 

[CD-R]

Maybe by remembering that WWI also had an Eastern Front.

ZOMG! You mean there was a part of the war without trenches???

Stalingrad would be a pretty awesome game setting. Enemy At The Gates: The Game is something I would totally buy. I know that's WWII, but just saying.

I think the atmosphere of the trenches just has something more iconic to it, though. It lends itself to so many things. For instance, let's put out some horror into the mix. You find yourself killing Germans, it's all good... but then you realise you're killing the same Germans. Not the same character model, but the same people, still bearing their previously 'fatal' wounds. And the mist outside is so thick you can't see more than a few feet beyond the tangled, heaving barbed wire, which moves like tentacles, as if alive...

I think they already made a game like that. I know they recently made a game for PC I think that takes place in WWI. Don't remember what it's called.

 

[GreyWolf257]

I think playing as a regular soldier would be a fairly difficult game, and it would be very hard for the game designer to pull it off effectively. Maybe they can put you in the shoes of a Special Ops soldier, so to speak. It wouldn't be a mission based game, but rather an open-world game. I don't know, it will take a lot more thinking to get these ideas to fruition.

 

[irmrbrian]

Im guessing the trench warfare would make regular battles last hours (or days). I guess digging the trench could be an element. Or killing rats. Or amputating people with trenchfoot. Better yet trying to lift a tank out of one of the trenches while getting shot at could be fun. Also going with Miracleofsound's idea have a christmas football game and then be forced to fight and kill your newly made german-austrian friends the day after. I think it would at least be the most realisic war game yet.

 

[josetaco]

Just to throw this out there world war one most of the rifles were all bolt action so slow rate of fire. But the pistols they had, colt 1911 or the mauser broomhandle during this time
could come with a rifle stock and an extended clip basicaly giving the gun a 20 round capacity and the look of a modern day smg. The trench warfare was very horrible from what i read coming down to folding shovels and brass knuckle knives, as well as bayonets as long as short swords.
The air combat was the first air combat in human history where all of the abc's of air combat were worked out which would make for awesome gameplay.
Not to be a douche but I would also like to point out that "enemy at the gate" was set in world war two not world war one.

 

[FURY_007]

I always envisioned a RTS game, where there were 3 depths, say levels of gameplay. In game, you could focus only on one level at a time (as in your point of view) all in real time

There is
1. the ground level aka No Man's Land if there's trenches involved and tanks
2. The above-ground level. This is where you'd have airplanes combat, and observation balloons
3. and underground level. the trenches, and also you could have mining parties go out and mine to disrupt enemy trenches or create an underground tunnel to move troops undetected, also there were anti-mining parties, and so underground battles in tunnels could be fought (this actually happened, and at one point the Brirish moved a whole battalion of troopers underground)

Obviously just because your PoV is at one level doesnt necessarily mean you can't see the other ones, aka the planes looking down and the ground level and so on, but I always though it'd be interesting