• Sprint meters in open world games suck, and here's how to fix them
    19 replies, posted
[url]http://www.pcgamer.com/sprint-meters-in-open-world-games-suck-and-heres-how-to-fix-them[/url]
Arma is the only game I've played that handles sprint decently. Every other game should imitate it or just remove their sprint meters entirely.
[QUOTE=lonefirewarrior;51119232]Arma is the only game I've played that handles sprint decently. Every other game should imitate it or just remove their sprint meters entirely.[/QUOTE] How does Arma handle sprint?
Im looking at you fallout 4
It's borderline upsetting how many game mechanics are implemented in games without any thought as to why they're there or if they improve the gameplay experience. When no one in your studio says "ok but why" when you add a feature you need to find someone who will :v:
Given the size of some open-world games, and the nature of the human body, it'd probably make sense to have the stamina run out in a matter of minutes, rather than a matter of seconds. Even someone who's out of shape could keep running for at least 30 odd seconds, right? That's probably one solution to consider, tweaking numbers.
Fixing the sprint mechanic in an open-world game is [I]solving the wrong problem[/I]. Sprint mechanics are almost always designed to be relevant for small-scale combat - it's a way to make it safe(ish) to dash forward from cover to cover, but unsafe to just run around killing people. In non-open-world games, like Half-Life or Call of Duty, it works perfectly fine. In a game where you have to cross large distances without fighting, you need something better than sprinting. Battlefield, for instance, has vehicles. You sprint in combat, and when you need to travel further, you get in a jeep, because that's even faster. In Arkham City, gliding is much faster than sprinting (although I don't remember if that game had limited sprinting anyways). Far Cry 3 and 4 have so many ways to travel quickly that it's absurd. Even The Elder Scrolls has several fast-travel systems - riding horses, hiring a carriage, instant warp to places you've been (and certain books would give you a warp point to major cities, even if you hadn't visited them yet). Or you can provide ways to limit the drawbacks of a stamina meter, but only when crossing non-combat regions. Take a look at Skyward Sword (I'm doing a blog series on every Zelda game so this is on my mind lately). You can dash by holding A. In areas where the focus isn't on fighting, or in boss fights where you need to run constantly, they put fruits on the ground that instantly refill your stamina meter when you run over them, and they're consistently placed just a bit before you would run out of stamina when running between them. The player only has to learn a single mechanic, but it can be used in a wider variety of situations while still being interesting. It's actually even more engaging than just having infinite sprint, since you have to route with some care (but the penalty for failure is rarely high, so it's not that much of a focus).
[QUOTE=ironman17;51119588]Given the size of some open-world games, and the nature of the human body, it'd probably make sense to have the stamina run out in a matter of minutes, rather than a matter of seconds. Even someone who's out of shape could keep running for at least 30 odd seconds, right? That's probably one solution to consider, tweaking numbers.[/QUOTE] Actually, if you notice, in most games your player character is practically always running. The run key is usually actually sprint. Sprinting is much harder so it makes sense for it to be only sustained for a few moments. Though it's still absurd when you consider that every main character in every video game is basically a superhuman endurance athlete capable of marathoning non-stop for hours and hours.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;51119469]How does Arma handle sprint?[/QUOTE] mentioned in article, but as dayz cause for some reason the original game it was built around was forgotten.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51119916]Or you can provide ways to limit the drawbacks of a stamina meter, but only when crossing non-combat regions. Take a look at Skyward Sword (I'm doing a blog series on every Zelda game so this is on my mind lately). You can dash by holding A. In areas where the focus isn't on fighting, or in boss fights where you need to run constantly, they put fruits on the ground that instantly refill your stamina meter when you run over them, and they're consistently placed just a bit before you would run out of stamina when running between them. The player only has to learn a single mechanic, but it can be used in a wider variety of situations while still being interesting. It's actually even more engaging than just having infinite sprint, since you have to route with some care (but the penalty for failure is rarely high, so it's not that much of a focus).[/QUOTE] I remember Shadow of Mordor had a similar system. You had infinite endurance for sprinting (you are a ghost, after all), but you could unlock a special ability that gave you a small speed boost whenever you vaulted over rocks, and by chaining them together you would keep up your momentum as well as your combo meter for use when entering combat. Suddenly traversing the world became a game of finding the nearest rock. [editline]27th September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=matt000024;51119969]mentioned in article, but as dayz cause for some reason the original game it was built around was forgotten.[/QUOTE] Ah, didn't realize they didn't change the mechanics.
Infinite sprint out of combat Limited sprint in combat perfect
I know some games had super quick endurance refill out of combat (can't remember which though)
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;51119973]Ah, didn't realize they didn't change the mechanics.[/QUOTE] Article doesn't really do it justice either, since it just says "more sprint = less aim". Sprint does a [I]lot[/I] more than that to your character. Yeah, you [I]can [/I]sprint forever in ARMA, but doing so is actually slower than pacing yourself properly. Your character gets exhausted after a while of sprinting, his pace slows down, his vision gets blurry and his breathing gets heavy. You can keep sprinting at this point; though your sprint will only be a heavy, thudding, strained jog. Still faster than regular movement when exhausted though, but certainly not a way you'd want to cover a kilometer or more of ground. The fastest way to move long distances in ARMA is with your weapon lowered all the way and then doing the regular jog. This preserves stamina and keeps a good average speed. However, moving like this isn't 'free' either. Your reaction time is lowered because your weapon isn't at the ready, and your head-bobbing increased (unless you're a scrub that play with that turned off), making your ability to react to fire and spot enemies worse. Sprint is practically reserved for combat or emergency use only, not a way to get around. Which makes sense. Nobody sprints to get from A to B.
Isn't this why games usually have vehicles or fast travel?
Man, I don't know what it is about game characters, but they almost always lack THE STAMINA. They just don't have THE STAMINA.
[QUOTE=Pops;51121406]Isn't this why games usually have vehicles or fast travel?[/QUOTE] MGSV has both as well as infinite sprinting. It's nice.
[QUOTE=gk99;51125501]MGSV has both as well as infinite sprinting. It's nice.[/QUOTE] my friend and i came up with a theory as to why big boss is so physically ridiculous, it's his sort of ability, like the rest of that ragtag group in mgs 3.
Deus Ex Human Revolution: Be a top augmented soldier. Run for 1.5 seconds before you're out of breath.
[QUOTE=Antimuffin;51125988]Deus Ex Human Revolution: Be a top augmented soldier. Run for 1.5 seconds before you're out of breath.[/QUOTE] uh yeah sorry jensen we needed some room to give you rockets that shoot out of your body so we kinda removed one of your lungs
[QUOTE=redBadger;51120405]Infinite sprint out of combat Limited sprint in combat perfect[/QUOTE] A crab has spotted you from 2 miles away, you are now in combat.
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