I''d have to say that one of the best features to be added to any game has to be a really, really rapid fire machinegun. like the Chaingun in Q3:TA. oh god... turning an entire hallway black with bulletholes in just a few seconds really makes you feel powerful.
that and fire. the molotovs in max payne were great. didnt like anything else in that game though.
another thing is sniper rifles. the whole process of finding a great spot and then calculating the arc of fire and the best way to position yourself for quick escapes is gud. and um my grammer just died.
and blood. lots of blood.
i like stuff that has that "holy sh*t!" factor. like in MOH:AA when the Germans GOT BACK UP after you mowed down a crowd of them with the STG44.
dynamic lighting. good stuff.
good vehicle physics. realistic shocks and rolls are great.
a couple of really cool scenes:
in the test version of the game i''m working on, my friend was playing as an Old World soldier dressed in ranger/swat gear (contemporary) and was crouched behind a thin metal wall/sheet. with the splash model system going and the wall penetration going along with the dynamic light/particle thing we got going the effect witnessed when that flimsy little sheet of metal got strafed with .50 caliber bullets from a mounted Browning machinegun was sooo awesome. later we played it back from the "observer" viewpoint from his side of the wall and all you saw was a series of silver buds flowering with a puff of smoke and sparks magically appear along the metal, followed by a bunch of thin shafts of light... and to top it all off, he calmly, almost jokingly said into the mic: "oh shit. wow. don''t do that ever again..."
ah, the wonders of the ingame mic communication system.
um, next would be realistic physics. it''s always good to have that.
...this is a recording.
Favorite gameplay feature of all time.
Hmm, good thread. A few that spring to mind:
* Jedi Knight II - the lightsaber. The best implementation of a melee weapon in an FPS that I've ever seen. Combined with the acrobatics and the 3rd person view, one on one saber dueling with a Dark Jedi has to be one of the best elements in the game.
* The vehicles in an old Psygnosis game called Armour Geddon (round 1993, I think). Some kind of 3D RTS job - you could control various vehicles (planes, tanks, etc) from the first person, but you also had an overall map + research + resource elements. Haven't played it in years, but I seem to recall the gameplay worked very well - a nice hybrid of vehicle combat and strategy.
* Bullet time. Has to be one of the visually coolest gameplay features ever. Looks very cool in Max Payne, though I've only played it once, briefly. Also worked nicely in Jedi Knight II with the Force Speed effect.
* Sniping is always good fun. Especially with a nice set piece - a hill or tower or some such providing a nice overview of a large area patrolled by hostiles.
[edited by - NeverSayDie on June 7, 2002 6:11:10 AM]
* Jedi Knight II - the lightsaber. The best implementation of a melee weapon in an FPS that I've ever seen. Combined with the acrobatics and the 3rd person view, one on one saber dueling with a Dark Jedi has to be one of the best elements in the game.
* The vehicles in an old Psygnosis game called Armour Geddon (round 1993, I think). Some kind of 3D RTS job - you could control various vehicles (planes, tanks, etc) from the first person, but you also had an overall map + research + resource elements. Haven't played it in years, but I seem to recall the gameplay worked very well - a nice hybrid of vehicle combat and strategy.
* Bullet time. Has to be one of the visually coolest gameplay features ever. Looks very cool in Max Payne, though I've only played it once, briefly. Also worked nicely in Jedi Knight II with the Force Speed effect.
* Sniping is always good fun. Especially with a nice set piece - a hill or tower or some such providing a nice overview of a large area patrolled by hostiles.
[edited by - NeverSayDie on June 7, 2002 6:11:10 AM]
Hmm. I kinda like...
Grappling hooks. These be cool. What I''d eventually like to see is grappling hooks that actually grapple (i.e., they get stuck on scenery) rather than just sticking to whatever they attach to.
Shooting through walls. I''ve never actually seen this except in a Quake2 mod, but I liked it there. More games should do this.
Interactive scenery. Hexen 2 had very interactive scenery (although the rest of it wasn''t that impressive).
All your weapons remaining viable. Quake 2''s first weapon never runs out of power. Unreal''s first weapon can be upgraded throughout the game. I like having weapons that are useful until the end of the game.
Weapons that have unexpected uses. In Heretic 2 you can use the ''staff'' weapon to pole-vault. I like. And, of course, the staff remains viable throughout the game (it becomes more powerful as you become more powerful).
Defensive weapons. Heretic 2 is good in this respect. Most games don''t get much further than armour. I like Quake 2''s power shield.
Vehicles. Of course. Cars, tanks, spaceships, planes, submarines. I like them all.
In-game cinematics. Great when used effectively. These must be skippable, or I will not play your game more than once.
Freedom of choice. Being able to choose what to do is nice. I liked that Deus Ex had different endings. Most games don''t offer much freedom of choice, but then it is difficult.
Saving. Anyone who doesn''t let people save their game is just facist, IMO.
Non-lethal methods. It makes a refreshing change to be able to take someone down without killing them. I''d like something better than Deus Ex''s poncy tranq darts. Where are all these stun-guns that sf literature is full of?
Smart enemies. Not just in terms of fighting strategy. If an enemy comes across a fallen comrade, I want him to run for cover and raise the alarm. If he doesn''t find a comrade who he''d normally see on his patrol route, I want him to go look for him. I want enemies to congregate in barracks or canteens, to be too frightened to follow a hero who''s currently got an invunerability powerup and a chaingun. MGS enemies are fairly smart. I heard that H&D had smart enemies.
Grappling hooks. These be cool. What I''d eventually like to see is grappling hooks that actually grapple (i.e., they get stuck on scenery) rather than just sticking to whatever they attach to.
Shooting through walls. I''ve never actually seen this except in a Quake2 mod, but I liked it there. More games should do this.
Interactive scenery. Hexen 2 had very interactive scenery (although the rest of it wasn''t that impressive).
All your weapons remaining viable. Quake 2''s first weapon never runs out of power. Unreal''s first weapon can be upgraded throughout the game. I like having weapons that are useful until the end of the game.
Weapons that have unexpected uses. In Heretic 2 you can use the ''staff'' weapon to pole-vault. I like. And, of course, the staff remains viable throughout the game (it becomes more powerful as you become more powerful).
Defensive weapons. Heretic 2 is good in this respect. Most games don''t get much further than armour. I like Quake 2''s power shield.
Vehicles. Of course. Cars, tanks, spaceships, planes, submarines. I like them all.
In-game cinematics. Great when used effectively. These must be skippable, or I will not play your game more than once.
Freedom of choice. Being able to choose what to do is nice. I liked that Deus Ex had different endings. Most games don''t offer much freedom of choice, but then it is difficult.
Saving. Anyone who doesn''t let people save their game is just facist, IMO.
Non-lethal methods. It makes a refreshing change to be able to take someone down without killing them. I''d like something better than Deus Ex''s poncy tranq darts. Where are all these stun-guns that sf literature is full of?
Smart enemies. Not just in terms of fighting strategy. If an enemy comes across a fallen comrade, I want him to run for cover and raise the alarm. If he doesn''t find a comrade who he''d normally see on his patrol route, I want him to go look for him. I want enemies to congregate in barracks or canteens, to be too frightened to follow a hero who''s currently got an invunerability powerup and a chaingun. MGS enemies are fairly smart. I heard that H&D had smart enemies.
Another few:
* Lots of enemies. Serious Sam or DOOM being good examples. Facing one or two smart, tough, long lived enemies is all well and good, but at the end of the day there''s nothing like opening up on a massive horde of zombies, or being chased by two dozen angry guards, with a flock of giant bats overhead, and three dozen snakes crawling in from the flanks....
* As the previous poster mentioned, well thought out weapons. A game''s weapons should really serve a purpose for as long as you''re carrying them. This could be achieved through upgrades, balanced power/effieniency or some special property - eg, your first weapon is pretty weak, but it''s the only one that fires underwater, or doesn''t need ammo, or some other unique benefit.
* Lots of enemies. Serious Sam or DOOM being good examples. Facing one or two smart, tough, long lived enemies is all well and good, but at the end of the day there''s nothing like opening up on a massive horde of zombies, or being chased by two dozen angry guards, with a flock of giant bats overhead, and three dozen snakes crawling in from the flanks....
* As the previous poster mentioned, well thought out weapons. A game''s weapons should really serve a purpose for as long as you''re carrying them. This could be achieved through upgrades, balanced power/effieniency or some special property - eg, your first weapon is pretty weak, but it''s the only one that fires underwater, or doesn''t need ammo, or some other unique benefit.
How about these:
- Real character death: When you die, you die. Your saves don''t work anymore, nothing. You''re really really very dead. Should only be used as an option, not as standard and it''s not suitable to all games but it makes for very intense gameplay.
- special moves: I''ve seen a matrix mod for quake2 once where you could do all the stuff they do in the movie (except bullit time) like walking on walls, doing flips, massive dodging etc. Also the normal move available in Quake2 are great like rocket jumps, quad jumps, double jumps etc. this brings me to:
- masterability: a game should be easy to learn but hard to master. Again: look at quake 2. I''ve seen ppl pull off the most impossible actions and survive purely because of skill. One of my old clan members had a hit ratio of 94% with a railgun. Now that''s cool!
Sander Maréchal
[Lone Wolves Production][Articles][E-mail]
- Real character death: When you die, you die. Your saves don''t work anymore, nothing. You''re really really very dead. Should only be used as an option, not as standard and it''s not suitable to all games but it makes for very intense gameplay.
- special moves: I''ve seen a matrix mod for quake2 once where you could do all the stuff they do in the movie (except bullit time) like walking on walls, doing flips, massive dodging etc. Also the normal move available in Quake2 are great like rocket jumps, quad jumps, double jumps etc. this brings me to:
- masterability: a game should be easy to learn but hard to master. Again: look at quake 2. I''ve seen ppl pull off the most impossible actions and survive purely because of skill. One of my old clan members had a hit ratio of 94% with a railgun. Now that''s cool!
Sander Maréchal
[Lone Wolves Production][Articles][E-mail]
My favorite addition to gameplay : grabbing/hanging on to ledges when your jump is short and then being able to pull yourself up or drop down.
The later Commander Keen games were the first to do this, I believe. Prince of Persia and Mario64 also did this well.
The later Commander Keen games were the first to do this, I believe. Prince of Persia and Mario64 also did this well.
I really liked Tribe''s jump-jets. They were cool and fun.
Jedi Knight 2''s force powers were wonderful. High-level Force Push to push a group of enemies down, or Force Pull to pull all their weapons towards you along with themselves - especially fun to Pull a guy to you and slice him with the saber while he''s still moving towards you. And Force Speed was great.
~CGameProgrammer( );
Jedi Knight 2''s force powers were wonderful. High-level Force Push to push a group of enemies down, or Force Pull to pull all their weapons towards you along with themselves - especially fun to Pull a guy to you and slice him with the saber while he''s still moving towards you. And Force Speed was great.
~CGameProgrammer( );
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