It's been so long since I've been active on these forums. I haven't done much since 2004. First off, I am glad to be back. I've been working with computer stuff for the past year and am currently working on building a projector. I wasn't very active back when I frequented here, but I went by Griz, with the poop smtih avatar, however I have seemed to lost the where abouts of my password and email for that account. I still recognized many of you who have been devout to the forums for longer than the past year, and I knew many were devout far longer than that in previous years. So really, its great to see some very familiar faces.
I have had Half Life 2 ever since it was released and am still impressed with its ability to entertain. Specifically I've been following Fortress Forever for the past 6 months and am eagerly awaiting its release. Currently I don't have any busy DIY projects, as the projector seems to move at a very slow pace. I just recently upgraded my PC, though looking to upgrade the 8 month old graphics card to a X1800XT and can't wait.
So I guess I am in the mood for ideas. I'll throw one out, and let you guys tear it apart, put it back together, adjust it, and what not. It's more for me than the Half Life community, but I would expect I will be able to make something enteraining that goes beyond enteraining just me. I will say I have experience with Hammer, bits and pieces of XSI, texturing, and coding. I gained magority of my experience from playing around with the software, just like any other app I use. I would also like to say it will not amount to much, something I could handle myself, but am willing to share the burden with any glad volunteers.
I was imagining a different sort of gameplay. Something that sat in the realm of tactical based, squad based, stealth based, etc. Its hard to explain, and thats why I planned to whip up a decent little demo on the gameplay, so you can get a taste for it.
I realize from playing such a variety of FPS games that there are many, many different variables that can be adjusted to change the 'feel' of the game. You may notice this when you play several games like Halo 2, Battlefield 2, Half Life 2, Call of Duty 2, Far cry, and TimeSplitters 2. It is a combination of the different values given to the variables like, speed, gravity, acceleration, etc. I often find myself admiring the different values given to variables in many different games. Though I have never found one game I deem to have all of these variables perfect.
There is also the gameplay, like a mentioned before. You might play Far Cry, and notice the infiltration involved. You might play Doom3 and notice the amount of gore to make up for the lack of tactics. You might play Battlefield 2 and notice the amount of team work needed for success. You might play RTS games and notice the amount of strategy required to win. I never find anyone of them to be completely satisfying, though Far Cry has come the closest. I like to be able to choose different ways to carry out my tactics or manage my squad or decide which guns to carry along. It feels like there is a new area of skill. You now don't need the quickest aim or the most steady timing of a grenade. It feels more real, and makes my character more unique. Imagine the pride taken in multiplayer games when the fastest quickdraw aiming gamer gets pwned by the tactics of another gamer. Imagine when how more diverse we can vary our clans, our teams, our squads. I see that though some teenager who will never be able to be a good marksman, can outwit the best marksman, and possibly succeed in a new way.
I guess I will not force you into my line of thinking, and I wouldn't want that necessarily, for I would rather have discovered things I missed or never thought of from you guys.
I would again like to stress the importance of something short if I were the only one taking on this miniature project. I was actually also leaning towards a lesser known gametype to channel this idea through. More so for two reasons than any other I can think of. I need something that is replayable, something that will allow me to come back 1 hours later and want more. I need something that is compact, thrilling, and short. I figured an arcade style would fit this perfectly. I don't want to go through with a story, thus entitling me to a corresponding modeling, texturing, setting, plot, gameplay, coding, etc.
The arcade style always seemed to attract later generations like we see today with out old school games and such. Though not for that reason, I want something that is thrilling every time you play it, has a clear objective, but the player gets so distracted by the constant need for interaction that the end in sight is no more, until that heated, bloody battle is over, and then it starts up again. The next time you come through, it is a bit different, it might require a new strategy, there is something different, and it can't be completed the same way.
Im not asking for random mapping or anything close to that, maybe something random, but something that gets the player to change up their strategy, reproducing the feel from first time they played it, something that will want them to come back and play more, something that will make them come back and become better at something they have never actually played before. I don't think any other style represents this idea better than an arcade style.
I wanted something that will allow for both planning and on the spot thinking. You don't get to many story games where you have to multitask on the spot and come up with the best solution before that grenade blows up. I wanted something that could simulate real-life thinking, like you really were in a heated battle, the illusion that you were really fighting for your life.
I won't expect you to interpret this idea the way I did, and like I said before, I don't really want everyone to. It is something that I hoped I could fuel by myself and with the help of other visionary people. Something that I could build myself and with the help of other creative people. Make of it what you want but I hope to create some sort of demo in the mean time. Maybe a bit of a sample will fuel those interpretations and reactions of your's.