Quote:Original post by Dreddnafious Maelstrom
mmm. not technical words, just slang used to describe types of implementations.


paper/rock/scissors- if you've ever played counterstrike and also planetside you'll notice an extreme difference in how much skill plays a factor.

an ace countertstrike player can kill a mediocre player with consistancy even when he is outgunned. the collision detection is tight enough and the refresh high enough where players with a good connection will "agree" with the outcome. that is, what you think should have happened and what the computer simulated are in agreement.(as opposed to, i shot that guy 5 times in the head but the computer didnt register the hit.) when you and the computer are in agreement as to the simulated outcome consistently then the hit detection is said to be "liquid".(my terminology, but pretty common in FPS's)

planetside projects a cone at the tip of whatever weapon you are firing and resolves its collision system through this projection. if you look at your display, whenever you target something it shows you the range and it also shows you the refresh rate for the simulation. 300millisecond refresh rates are not at all uncommon, even with a good connection.

the paper/rock/scissors term means that two players of equal skill but armed with different types of weapons will result in a consistent outcome. at a given range one weapon is demonstrably more lethal than another.(e.g. in CS i can go on 10 man killing sprees with a pistol, in Planetside i can rarely score a kill with a pistol even against a mediocre player if he has an anti-infantry weapon)

paper beats rock beats scissors: this mechanic mitigates skill in exchange for itemization.

the further removed combat resolution is from the physics system the more "watery" it becomes, to the tipping point commonly employed in MMO's like WOW or EQ, where range and occasionally your position relative to your target(e.g. a thiefs backstab ability) is all that is factored.

I thought that's what you meant. It's funny, I complain about games becoming more and more "watered" down all the time - I didn't know that they were actually becoming more "watery" for the sake of online ;P

I hate the dissociation of skill and luck that tends to occur in online games...now how do you fix it?