Other What cool features would you like to see in an FPS?

I've already seen most of them, it was called Crysis. Pity the entire games industry refused to learn anything from it and quickly reverted to the same old boring crap (c.f. Far Cry 2).

 

FarCry2 is not the figurehead of the entire games industry. It was also designed and most of the development work was done before Crysis was even released. It takes a few years to make a game, and Crysis is only about a year and half old. So it'll take a while until we see games that learned anything from Crysis.

Personally I quite liked Crysis but there isn't a whole I would want future games to take from it. I liked the graphics and I liked the concept of the suit but I didn't like how the suit worked in reality. Besides that, there isn't really anything else.

 

/me bows before the awe that is Crytek and Crysis.

 

I think I must have been one of the few who actually liked Far Cry 2. I really enjoyed it...found the ending a bit wet, but loved the game map, the dynamic weather and the fires. I didn't like the constant respawning enemies and I occasionally found the long walks annoying, but on the whole it was good. A fast travel system like Oblivion would have been nice, and it would have been great if the enemy checkpoint respawn had been extended to a day or so, but never mind.

Crysis would have been better if it was just Koreans all the way through - bit like Far Cry 1 really.

 

Far Cry 2 isn't bad, in fact I still play it when I just want something gratifying and straightforward. But in terms of game design and gameplay it's remarkably average (if that makes sense (which it doesn't)). It has absolutely nothing new at all beyond graphical advancements and subtly improved versions of long-established game mechanics. So it's very fun and stylish, but very unprogressive.

The triumphs of Crysis aren't immediately obvious, because in direct opposition to FC2 it's not really that fun to play most of the time. A lot of the gameplay involves creeping around at a deathly slow pace, hiding behind rocks, getting blinded by 'pain' indicators any time you're shot, which is all the time, and constructing elaborate plans of attack that instantly fall on their faces.

What made it progressive was that the game responded so fluidly to different play styles. The realistic combat, damage and weapons were balanced out by the realistically fallible AI to create an all-around uber-realistic experience - anything you could imagine doing in real life worked in the game, so you didn't have to worry about getting the "knack" of the game's mechanics - you just immersed yourself 110% in it, and it worked. It was very emergent sometimes.

The stealth mechanic was massively underrated as well; stealth has been done before, but it's always static, part-time or totally underpowered and trumped by all-out combat. In Crysis, the suit made your stealth portable - but short-lived. You couldn't just sit around indefinitely without people seeing you, or run around constantly without people seeing you - the suit ran out proportionately fast. So instead, you had to use it on-the-fly, so to speak, adapting stealth into the motions of your all-out-combat rather than alternating between them. The faster and more intelligently you integrated action and stealth, the more you were rewarded with effortless kills and masses of confused, scared Koreans.

(That sounded a bit racist, but I suppose it's a bit of a racist game, and I can't fault it for it because scaring Koreans with your invisibility suit is somehow more satisfying than scaring butch Americans. I guess I'm racist too.)

Hot-modding guns was the pinnacle of the game for me: ducking behind cover, swapping 3 parts, flicking my suit to stealth and suddenly finding myself playing a different type of game whenever I felt like it - that was a breakout gameplay concept for me. It took realism to a different level, because the hot-swappable weapon mods replaced the role of the impossible 10-strong arsenal of weapons most game protagonists carry around. Instead, Nomad just had two rifles and a pocket full of scopes and silencers. It felt authentic.

Crysis also did the Half-Life trick of seamlessly integrating cinematic cutscene material into the gameplay rather than just jumping out of the protagonist to expose some plot. More games could learn from that, it makes you identify with the character a lot more. Crysis also proved that the camera-headed PC can talk, it's okay, he can, really, even while the player is controlling him. It's not a bad thing.

I'm sure there's more about the game that was fresh, but I can't think clearly at this time of morning. More later.

 

Guns that kill with 1 or 2 shots would be appreciated

 

One of the most fun online FPS' i have ever played was the Medal of Honour: Allied Assault with the realism mod. One shot to the head instant kill, a few shots to the body for a kill and a great recoil system. Automatic weapons had limited recoil but with the rifles if your sight was on the person when you pulled the trigger it hit them. Nice and simple and great fun.

 

Audio, I'd like them to get weapon sounds not only right, but with slight distortions so that every single shot doesn't sound the same.

HUD, it'd be nice if the HUD could be taken away altogether. Compass and map from Farcry 2, graphics from Crysis and ammo system from... Jurassic Park: Trespasser? Yeah, the game was full of bugs but it had some cool ideas. There was no ammo counter, instead the protagonist would 'weigh' the weapon and tell you how much ammo remained, e.g. "about eight shots". That or have the character slide the mag out and look at the damn thing to see how many shots are remaining.

Oh, and do away with cheap tricks like infinitely respawning enemies and1990's era "boss fights." Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, I'm looking at you.



.

 

The thing I miss most in other games after playing FC2 is the bush fires! Wish that was in everything now.

 

I think that in some games, like crysis or halo, a HUD is incorporated into the suit the player wears and helps with the immersion into the game.

However I do agree with you that HUD is pointless in something like COD5 and destroys the 'feel' of the game. Although Farcry 2 wasn't great I liked the map in it. But having to check the mag for ammo levels would make the game more realistic but it would get very tedious.

 

DEATH TO REGEN-HEALTH!

 

Perhaps CoD2-esque compass/map i.e. direction of shots is shown but not the actual position.

HUD-less is a nice idea but the map in FC2 was really annoying and the GPS and zoom thing were useless. I find I can live without the ammo counter but if you're doing a clip system rather than total number of shots rolling over from clips it might get a bit confusing.

 

Some good ideas coming out here. I like the idea of having to cope with being shot, rather than just dying tho.

If i get popped by long range shot, i could hide up and swap gun to other arm, or patch up leg etc.

The recovery system employed in CoD is pretty good, but i think you should have to work at it i.e, find bandages (or perk) Level up left handed (or right) usage of weapons.

Could also have blood soaked vision if you get caught by some shrapnel.

there are lots of areas where an FPS could be improved, but the distinction should be whether the MP or SP mode is affected.

 

Oh BTW, does anyone want to see some fraps footage of the thus-far aiming/recoil system?

Also in terms of health system this was one of my ideas:

You have health and stamina/trauma each starts at 100%. If you're hit you'll take damage to your health and stamina but your stamina level will start to regen to your health level. When your stamina goes below 0% you die.

Example:

Player is hit: -55%, - 20% health
45% stamina, 80% health
Player is hit again: -55%, - 20% health
-10% stamina, 60% health
Player is dead.

Player is hit: -55% stamina, - 20% health
45% stamina, 80% health
20 odd seconds later.
70% stamina, 80% health
Player is hit: -55% stamina, - 20% health
15% stamina, 60% health
Player remains alive.

 

You don't need an FPS ...
Go out and buy a gun. That will give as much realisim as you want.

 

More boobs, realistically bouncy etc

 

Ninja Gaiden 2 and The Witcher should sort you out there.

 

Jurassic Park: Trespasser. You had to look at your boobs to determine your health, although it'd be painful to play even if you could get it to run.

 

To me, one of the most obvious improvements a developer could make to a game is to give the AI realistic reaction times.

At the moment, if a scenario calls for you to sneak into a building and take the occupants by surprise, the moment the AI player sees you they are raising their weapon, and firing in a split second. It would be really great to have the ability to literally "Surprise" an opponent, and watch as for that extra moment they widen their eyes and suddenly realise they've been confronted by a one-man army commando carrying umpteen weapons, and riddled with bullet-holes...

 

what would be in the most awesome FPS in history?

a good storyline.

oh, and SPEESS MEHRINNNNSS.