Game Mechanics - FPS - General

Hey guys, Just wanted to pose a question. When you look at a game's key game mechanics(how the game plays) E.g. An rpg would have things like skills that are acquired through leveling up by killing and completing quests. where as an FPS would probably be how the guns are acquired, are they bought, picked up, and how are they used? do you solely shoot players or will you shoot objects to fulfill an objective. ... Do those game mechanics solely make the game unique or is the the overall experience? I have been pondering on making a game(well many games actually, but this time it is an FPS) that incorporates many game mechanics unique to several popular games and original mechanics as well. Things like skis, jetpacks, teleportation, vehicles, class systems, and various other elements i could add on. I want to combine these elements into one game. So before I get in too deep, I want to see what you guys look for in an FPS. And please stay away from vague mechanics like 'Realism', 'Super powerful guns', or 'zombies' Edit: If you want to include zombies, don't just say 'zombies', I mean how do they work? Are they Intelligent? do they have special vision? Can they see? are they faster than normal humans? etc. What do you like that was done that made those zombies unique from any other game?

Fast gameplay, balanced weapons, customizability through custom huds and configs, open maps, reliable hit-detection and skill-based movement (rocket jumps, strafe jumping, air control/ airstrafing etc) is mainly what I look for in an FPS game I'm not a huge fan of jetpacks but the original Tribes games had pretty interesting movement options. As for gamemodes, if everything I mentioned is done well the usual suspects (TDM, capture the flag, FFA) are usually enough to keep me happy

Heeyyyy... I've been toying with the idea of a "universal FPS engine" that could be adapted to various types of FPS games. What I look for. weapon resting and environment collision (like RO1/RO2/arma) correct bullet origin (bullet comes from muzzle not your face) multiple stances with correct variations (iron sight causes you to raise your stance) leaning ability to give weapons advanced functionality (+1 loading, multiple ammo types) consistency between world model and view model (scope on world model should appear on view model) for weapon attachments reload cancel with proper animations (I have yet to see a game do this properly). free look (as in arma) if you want an amazing overview of realism mechanics in FPS I recommend you read this [url]http://dslyecxi.com/bestoftactical.html[/url]

Uhh guys.... no. FPS means nothing more than fighting enemies with projectile weapons from a first-person perspective. Most of what Pootis said isn't in "FPS". For your game though, I'd advise you not to start off with a genre and then limit your mechanics based on that genre. Rather, make a game with the mechanics you want and then categorize it, or make up a genre. Saying to yourself "Ima make an fps" before you even begin is gonna hinder you. If you want me to shell out a design document worth of ideas for a game you can try to make I'll be happy to do that, but you understand I doubt you'll actually make something.

One of my current favorites right now is E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy. It's a source engine FPS that heavily relies on RPG elements. there's skills, hacking, research, shops, four endings and it has a fairly non-linear gameplay to it. I really love complex games that take a while to understand, and E.Y.E. is a great game. I've finished my second ending a while back, and each ending gives you a powerful 'spell'. It's the only game that I have ever seen to integrate mental illness states. there's also loads of ways to perform combat: you can hide in a corner and use the hacking system to kill people individually, or force them to kill each other. you can use psychic 'spell' attacks you can sneak using invisibility cloaks, and backstab your enemies in melee. you can deploy sentries or utilize drones. or you can simply shoot them. I personally like carrying a turret in front of me while it does all the dirty work. EDIT: here are some images. [img]http://i.imgur.com/9FiPA.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/PaMEu.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/TWEYf.jpg[/img] I really wish this game's files would be added to garry's mod.

I made a thread about that game, ironically. It's got nothing to do with the point of the thread though.

I feel that the game integrates RPG elements into a FPS very well, better than almost any other FPSRPG I have ever seen. I probably should have made that as the basic point of the message. Sorry.

Stats don't have enough impact in EYE, and there aren't any real skilltrees or something like that. Borderlands is more of an FPSRPG than EYE is. Not saying EYE is bad, I love the game, but it really isn't that much of an FPSRPG.

Asking what people want in an FPS is how you end up with games like CoD, designed to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Don't ask what a consumer wants, give them something new and exciting that they haven't seen before.

As far as my introductory game design course taught me, defining FPS to something singular is hard, and as Squeaken said, not optimal. If you make an FPS with the audience in mind you get stuff similar to CoD, because "it works". Rather work on innovating the genre. The FPS genre can be divided in many different genres. There's milsim, arcade, arena-style just to mention a few. When you make an FPS consider what world the game will take place in and work from that. If it's some sort of crazy fantasy world then having realistic guns are just plain boring. Don't ever just consider one factor when deciding on gameplay.

[QUOTE=G-Strogg;37895768][B]If it's some sort of crazy fantasy world then having realistic guns are just plain boring.[/B] Don't ever just consider one factor when deciding on gameplay.[/QUOTE] bahahaha disagree one of the reasons why I think orange maps on DoD:S are pretty fun. likewise crazy guns on realistic maps could be loads of fun (think district 9)

The ability to really suit yourself up to your own role, ie having weapons, armor and whatnot in vastly different configurations is fun. Also, vehicles that have an extremely high skill ceiling.

[QUOTE=Squeaken;37894118]Asking what people want in an FPS is how you end up with games like CoD, designed to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Don't ask what a consumer wants, give them something new and exciting that they haven't seen before.[/QUOTE] Are you telling me that the mainstream gaming crowd were going "WE WANT LOW AMMO COUNTS AND WE WANT INACCURATE HIPFIRE AND WE WANT INSANE AIM FLINCHING WHEN HIT AND WE WANT LIMITED SPRINT WITH EXTREMELY LONG RECOVERY TIMES AND WE DON'T WANT TO RELOAD WHEN SPRINTING" and then the first CoD game was made?

Full customization, Being able to change every single part of a gun.

[QUOTE=fishyfish777;37896979] Also, vehicles that have an extremely high skill ceiling.[/QUOTE] blending vehicle and infantry gameplay is amazingly hard to do in a balanced way. CS and Quake, the most "skilled" FPS don't have vehicles.

if we are talking singleplayer, player should be able to out-manouver enemies, whilst enemies should be able to out-gun / overpower the player in a standoff like in doom, you circle strafe that cyber demon while spraying plasma at it until its dead or quake, you corner camp with the nailgun until that shambler is down and there [del]should[/del] has to be weapons that are a little more imaginative than the basic bullet/ rocket/ grenade shooting devices, be it black magic (im looking at you hexen, blood and heretic) or scifi high tech weapons (that means you quake 4) (take turok for example, a gun that shoots a homing drill thingie that makes enemies' heads explode) or a gun that shoot shurikens and lightning a gun really cant get better than that [editline]asd[/editline] and difficlty settings should include a "unfairly hard without the ai blatantly cheating and still being playable"

adding tools as weapons is always cool too, think fire extinguishers, power saws, throwable items, etc.

Hmm, maybe I should have been a bit more specific. When I said I wanted to make an 'FPS' I ment just that. the player would play from the first person perspective with weapons that shoot projectiles. I never said I would limit myself to the stale standard that is the current FPS. I do plan on implementing rpg style elements and also making melee vs guns more practical. So, I guess what i really should have asked, was, what do you think makes gameplay fun in any type game other than a unique experience or how 'this game innovated the genre'. Do you prefer games that make you think(that require a bit of strategy or teamwork) or games that is just mindless killing or who can kill the fastest? Oh and this game I will be making will be a multiplayer game.