6 replies to this topic

[Johannes Kjems]

Hello!

The last couple of weeks i've been going around with an idea for an FPS shooter in my head. Same idea as CS with players fighting each others in maps, but with an (in my own opinion) original twist.

The basic idea is a team based gamed (e.g. blue, red). Every player has a standard weapon that kills the other player, just like a normal weapon. But in every map there is also a big dice. The idea is that all players are able to pick up the dice and throw it at members of the opposite team. The dice simply bounce off of the player, but the value it land on affects what happens.

For example:
Imagine the dice has six values like a standard dice. If you throw the dice at a player, and it lands on 1, 2 or 3, the player you threw it at dies. If the dice lands on 4 or 5, the player who threw it dies. If it lands on 6 the player you threw it at changes team.

Several other values could be added like: "Damage bonus for your own team/or opposite" - "Speed penalty for the enemy team/or opposite" etc.

Of course the chance of getting something that benefits your team should be slightly higher, so people actually wants to gamble and try their luck. And while the dice gets thrown around, the other members of the teams simply run around and kills each other like a normal shooter.

I hope that was not to hard to understand!
I would love some feedback on the idea.
Thank you

Regards
Johannes Kjems

[eugene2k]

It's most likely that the dice will not be used, because there's a 50/50 chance of a negative outcome for the user as opposed to 100% positive outcome for the user of a weapon.

Quote

Several other values could be added like: "Damage bonus for your own team/or opposite" - "Speed penalty for the enemy team/or opposite"

etc.

Make the dice a power-up type thingie (I'm thinking Quake2 et al. here) where the player can affect the probability of a certain outcome, and you have a nice addition to team deathmatch and ctf-like game types. Implementing that as a mod for something like Warsow shouldn't be too hard.

[Stroppy Katamari]

The dice as described aren't interesting or usable.

Their randomness is a problem on a fundamental theme/feel level. Most multiplayer FPSs are pretty competitive and cutthroat games, and mixing in some randomness in such games is extremely unpopular. Such a game that had random stuff happening better have a *lot* of random stuff happening in order to even out the odds, have ways to control the randomness and/or effectively prepare for its consequences, and effectively communicate it to the players that dealing with the randomness is a core design feature.

Then there is the aspect of player assignment. Fixed teams in organized play, autobalancing teams on public servers are normal. Even with autobalance people generally expect to stay on one side of the match; that stability enables longer-term plans and strategy, and emotionally allows identifying with the team as well as developing/maintaining rivalries. An in-game effect throwing people on another team is pretty drastic and rare, generally only within asymmetric games/modes where it is the whole point (like a zombie survival game where the survivors join the zombies upon death).

[LorenzoGatti]

There's also a trivial but general issue with throwing dice at enemies: you'll be shot while you wait for them to settle, and while you go wherever they land (to pick them up again).
This is the sort of hazard that could be acceptable for high-risk, high reward weapons, like a reusable high-power hand grenade that doesn't kill friends; if the weapon is useless but dangerous it will simply be ignored.

[jefferytitan]

I think the dice thing is being too literal (and random!). Forget the visual of a dice. Maybe a button, or a triggered area, or a one-shot weapon that can be shot like any weapon (but with fuzzy dice around the muzzle if it makes you happy). Maybe something that is one-shot and respawns every x minutes of game time / only x times during a match.

I think whatever mechanism you use, it needs to be advantageous to the team, or give the player a special achievement, or just be really cool. But I agree with others that it should have a positive effect for the player shooting it more often than not. Even if it kills *all players* except the person holding it sometimes, that's okay. It's cool and has griefing value. ;)

[Angelhelm]

Just brainstorming here, but it seems you are attempting to incorporate a random element into the traditional First Person shooter. (Generally speaking)

The problem is the fun part or ascetic of fun in a FPS comes from competition and sometimes fantasy. (Generally speaking)

Now i believe that this dice mechanic could be useful but, because of the random nature of it is not conducive to competitive play. Thus i believe that players would not choose to use it however, if the players weapon was a dice to begin with, it forces players to have to interact with this random mechanic.

What could make it very interesting is if the worse effects where the higher number 6,5,4 and the neutral or positive effect were 3,2,1. If you created a system to give a bonus to the attacking player role, (+2 hitting the enemy player's head with the dice or +1 being further away to reward player for being skillful or +1 hitting them with a dice from behind, i am sure you could think of many or ways to give a bonus to a role. ) then you can keep an aspect of the competitive play.

Essential you want to design a system that players can use to best each other. That relies on skill and chance allowing for both a fun and competitive experience.

Hope it helps

[Heath]

jefferytitan, on 13 February 2012 - 03:02 PM, said:

I think the dice thing is being too literal (and random!). Forget the visual of a dice. Maybe a button, or a triggered area, or a one-shot weapon that can be shot like any weapon (but with fuzzy dice around the muzzle if it makes you happy). Maybe something that is one-shot and respawns every x minutes of game time / only x times during a match.

I think whatever mechanism you use, it needs to be advantageous to the team, or give the player a special achievement, or just be really cool. But I agree with others that it should have a positive effect for the player shooting it more often than not. Even if it kills *all players* except the person holding it sometimes, that's okay. It's cool and has griefing value. ;)

Sort of like the Blue Shell, but in an FPS. Or maybe the helicopter in Call of Duty... And only a little like the golden gun in GoldenEye.