How many of you would make traps out of a level?
Just an exploration, out of curiosity: If you could rig triggers into the environment, would you bother with making up your own puzzles to trap / disable / kill enemies?
Forgetting difficulty for a second, let's say you could somehow dig out a tiger trap, or even suspend a log or net above a spot on the ground. Or imagine that you could rig an industrial floor panel to suddenly swing open over a chasm.
If you had weapons, but constantly had to mind ammo, would you bother getting elaborate about digging pits or getting creative with the environment. Or would you need to have absolutely NO WEAPONS in order to justify playing like this?
(Again, I ask you not to be so concerned with implementation details simply because there are many ways you can implement such a feature.)
As long as the effort in creating such traps wasn't too prohibitive, and the gameplay elements were conductive to making trap-setting worthwhile (i.e. there's a good chance that enemies would be following you, and you wouldn't have a good chance of falling into your own traps), then trap setting would be a very useful addition to a game design.
It's pretty much the same principle of setting mines in FPS games; I personally love setting ambushes for opponents that way as it removes the possibility that my avatar will get hurt. It's also a strong gameplay component of Dungeon Keeper; setting up a series of traps to lure enemies to their deaths was a lot of fun in that game.
It's pretty much the same principle of setting mines in FPS games; I personally love setting ambushes for opponents that way as it removes the possibility that my avatar will get hurt. It's also a strong gameplay component of Dungeon Keeper; setting up a series of traps to lure enemies to their deaths was a lot of fun in that game.
It'd certainly be a cool way to deal with your opponents. [evil] Personally, I like nothing more than laying mines all over the place in BF2 then drawing opponents in. [lol]
If you wanted to encourage the use of such traps, then limiting ammo would be the way to go, IMO, rather than taking out weapons all together: sometimes, there just ain't time to build a trap.
It may be just me, but I'd use the traps more even if there were plenty of guns 'n' ammo, just to watch someone disappear into a trap [grin]. Especially if you could see the look on their face...
If you wanted to encourage the use of such traps, then limiting ammo would be the way to go, IMO, rather than taking out weapons all together: sometimes, there just ain't time to build a trap.
It may be just me, but I'd use the traps more even if there were plenty of guns 'n' ammo, just to watch someone disappear into a trap [grin]. Especially if you could see the look on their face...
I think it is definatley appealing to be able to use more creative options like traps.
A somewhat similar example would be the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. I personally used the gravity gun for half the game, even when ammunition was plentiful, due to it offering more creative options in destroying things, and from anecdotal evidence so did many other people.
This was to the extent of quite a bit of premeditation, much the same as you are implying in the complexity of setting up a trap. For example, I would happily drag a bench behind me for half a map simply for the fun of then being able to hit a creature with a bench instead of bullets.
In much the same way as players like to customise their character look in an RPG, I think there is the same appeal to being able to customise your chosen method of death-dealing.
A somewhat similar example would be the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. I personally used the gravity gun for half the game, even when ammunition was plentiful, due to it offering more creative options in destroying things, and from anecdotal evidence so did many other people.
This was to the extent of quite a bit of premeditation, much the same as you are implying in the complexity of setting up a trap. For example, I would happily drag a bench behind me for half a map simply for the fun of then being able to hit a creature with a bench instead of bullets.
In much the same way as players like to customise their character look in an RPG, I think there is the same appeal to being able to customise your chosen method of death-dealing.
I think light ammo could be a consideration, but when I was initially thinking about the concept I kept in mind for some reason that I would be in the area for a very short time, that my enemies were right behind me (or atleast within a minute's run away.) This type of thinking would derail the use of traps if ammo were supplied.. hell I often have fun in FPS just using the Knife, so ammo is a definite issue. Though another way to think of it is that your enemy is not within a minute's distance from you, but you know it's out there, either you're looking for it or it's looking for you. You've been hunting or running for hours with no luck, you become tired, but you know if you go to sleep you might not wake up, so why not set up traps and alarms to protect yourself? I think this is the only way you could realistically use the trap concept, any other way would be just-doing-it-because-I-can.
In addition to enemy proximity, number and type would be big factors for me as well.
Consider Pain Elemental, circa 1994. Luring an infinitely annoying creature like this into a crusher, or sealing it into a room, then detonating an explosive I have placed on a water main would please me immensely. I might, however, want to do battle with Ocarina of Time's Queen Ghoma, particularly because it's an awesome enemy, and I wouldn't want to cheapen her death.
As well, it would be satisfying to drop the floor on 20 or so marines into a pit of asps. But for a more linear, one-shot game, I'd probably want to snipe, use stealth or go in guns-a-blaze, depending on time alotted and available weapons/ammo.
:stylin:
Consider Pain Elemental, circa 1994. Luring an infinitely annoying creature like this into a crusher, or sealing it into a room, then detonating an explosive I have placed on a water main would please me immensely. I might, however, want to do battle with Ocarina of Time's Queen Ghoma, particularly because it's an awesome enemy, and I wouldn't want to cheapen her death.
As well, it would be satisfying to drop the floor on 20 or so marines into a pit of asps. But for a more linear, one-shot game, I'd probably want to snipe, use stealth or go in guns-a-blaze, depending on time alotted and available weapons/ammo.
:stylin:
Traps can be things of beauty or traps themslves in the games design.
They CAN be great fun and instill you with power as you watch the unsuspected get mauled/trapped in some way but it's all about weather you NEED to use them and how it will benifit you:
Traps are unique contraptions intended for special purposes-if you can just as easily shoot a guy dead with your shotgun that is packed with ammo it's use will most likely become obsolete.
Commandos 1+2 is one of the few franchises I can say implemented traps well. The levels did not always lend for their use but the inclusion of sound vibrations via walking/running and shooting and the steady/stealthy progression needed equalled 'need traps'.
It's all about how they work, how you are able to interact with the environment and their real usefulness-if you are gonna have traps they MUST have a real use in the game.
Using the 'Driver' in 'Commandos 2: Men of courage' you could set up a trip wire, fire a gun thus making a near by gaurd run to check it out and watch with great delight as he trips up and knocks himself unconcious-of course then you can either tie him up, rob him of his cloths/weapons or kill him quietly.
Why the above WAS great fun/worked is because:
1) The gaurd NEEDED to be killed as they sound alarms when they spot you and your probably dead meat
2) The inclusion of sound reverberations and with the element of surpirse in your hands you feel very much in control and can mess with them abit-make a noise and watch them turn their heads/sigh in disbelief-it's simple intricacies like this that are great fun because when you act you get a RE-action just like in real life-it's fun hitting a character who tells you to 'stop it!' but if they scream in terror ala GTA/HL then you feel satisfied because it's realistic-the less RE-actions to get in a game the more your reminded that you ARE playing a game.
3) Like I said previously as the gaurd is knocked cold you can rob his cloths, take his weaoons, tie him up/kill him-you are his GOD and you can take the gun/ammo to increase your chances or take his cloths to disguise yourself.
They CAN be great fun and instill you with power as you watch the unsuspected get mauled/trapped in some way but it's all about weather you NEED to use them and how it will benifit you:
Traps are unique contraptions intended for special purposes-if you can just as easily shoot a guy dead with your shotgun that is packed with ammo it's use will most likely become obsolete.
Commandos 1+2 is one of the few franchises I can say implemented traps well. The levels did not always lend for their use but the inclusion of sound vibrations via walking/running and shooting and the steady/stealthy progression needed equalled 'need traps'.
It's all about how they work, how you are able to interact with the environment and their real usefulness-if you are gonna have traps they MUST have a real use in the game.
Using the 'Driver' in 'Commandos 2: Men of courage' you could set up a trip wire, fire a gun thus making a near by gaurd run to check it out and watch with great delight as he trips up and knocks himself unconcious-of course then you can either tie him up, rob him of his cloths/weapons or kill him quietly.
Why the above WAS great fun/worked is because:
1) The gaurd NEEDED to be killed as they sound alarms when they spot you and your probably dead meat
2) The inclusion of sound reverberations and with the element of surpirse in your hands you feel very much in control and can mess with them abit-make a noise and watch them turn their heads/sigh in disbelief-it's simple intricacies like this that are great fun because when you act you get a RE-action just like in real life-it's fun hitting a character who tells you to 'stop it!' but if they scream in terror ala GTA/HL then you feel satisfied because it's realistic-the less RE-actions to get in a game the more your reminded that you ARE playing a game.
3) Like I said previously as the gaurd is knocked cold you can rob his cloths, take his weaoons, tie him up/kill him-you are his GOD and you can take the gun/ammo to increase your chances or take his cloths to disguise yourself.
Hells yea...Rambo style (First Blood).
Traps are suppose to be a major feature in the Far Cry game for consoles.
I'd use traps based on not only how much ammo i had but health, I imaigine it's a stealther way of getting rid on eneimes. It's also depends on how lon it would take/difficulty.
But you know what would really great...If there was a trap where you can knock a player into a pull of sharks, with "fricken" layers beams on their heads...You know, like in Austin Powers
Traps are suppose to be a major feature in the Far Cry game for consoles.
I'd use traps based on not only how much ammo i had but health, I imaigine it's a stealther way of getting rid on eneimes. It's also depends on how lon it would take/difficulty.
But you know what would really great...If there was a trap where you can knock a player into a pull of sharks, with "fricken" layers beams on their heads...You know, like in Austin Powers
Dungeon Keeper from Bullfrog. Build a dungeon and populate it with monsters and traps in order to prevent Hero types who were trying to get in and steal your treasure http://noctalis.com/dis/dk/.
There was a ps1 game called Deception 3 - Dark Delusion which was trap/rpg game. Basically there where 3 types of traps wall, ceiling, and floor each tied to a button on the controller there player could only have one trap of each time at a time. The player built traps by choosing a type, a device and an element. So combing pendulum and impact would create giant hammer ceiling trap that would knock enemies across the room. Placing the traps consisted of pausing the game and deciding where in the current room you wanted to place your three traps. Traps where activated but pressing their corresponding button after which you had to wait for them to recharge before using them again, traps could also be linked to form combos and take advantage of room hazards. The game consisted of a series of levels where you had to use traps to kill a number enemies before they killed you, traps where your only weapons.
It was really interesting idea for a game and created a very different type of gaming experience. So I would be all for an interesting trap aspect to the game the question of course is how it's handled, and where does it fit into the game?
Why am I building these traps? Is there a reason why I can't just leave the alien infested ruin? Generally if your using traps that means your involved in one of three activates:
1) Guerilla Activity.
2) Long term defense.
3) Holding out against superior enemies for some period of time.
It was really interesting idea for a game and created a very different type of gaming experience. So I would be all for an interesting trap aspect to the game the question of course is how it's handled, and where does it fit into the game?
Why am I building these traps? Is there a reason why I can't just leave the alien infested ruin? Generally if your using traps that means your involved in one of three activates:
1) Guerilla Activity.
2) Long term defense.
3) Holding out against superior enemies for some period of time.
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