I'm back, but need your help! Created 18 years ago2006-04-02 23:37:50 UTC by Professa Oak

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.

Welcome back, even though I don't remember you

I figured I would remember mostly everyone that stood out, you being one of them, and I wouldn't be the one remembered. But theres nothing like a reunion.

Cant remember you being here earlier, but the more the merryer!!

Hello! I might recognise the old avatar, but still. I could update your old username and password, otherwise?

I have no clue who you are, and I've been here for quite some time.

Thought I don't stand out, so you wouldn't know me.

Welcome back.

As for your idea, it's a good idea to use paragraph titles now and then and for such long texts, a short overview or conclusion wouldn't be too bad either. I mean, I can't really say what that was all about after a quick scan. Yeah, a 'different gameplay mode', but what specifically?

I belive he was simply throwing around different concepts for a fresh style of game play, one that has more planning and strategy than most FPS games you see today. Most FPS seem to follow the trend of 'New area, kill everything, new area, kill everything, new area, get new gun, kill everything.'

Even Half-Life 2 had this base element in it, though it was made up for with the graphics, story and physics. I think what Proffessa Oak is getting at is giving the player much more freedom.

"No, I dont want to have to kill that Combine, I want to sneak past him or knock him out or even bribe him." Deus Ex is one of the games which had this done quite well in it, you could build your character completly freely depending on what game style you wanted. You could just train yourself into some sort of walking guns platform and expert but the option was there to do so much more. There was also a lot more freedom in how to complete the levels, nothing in the game was liniar, which is somthing a LOT of games these days dont have.

I am interested in your idea Proffessa Oak and look foward to this demo to get a better insight into what you have in mind.

Alright to clear it up, I remember each of you pretty well, and I doubt you remember me. I doubt you would really treat much different anyways had you known me or not.

Tycell, you got a pretty decent idea. I didn't want to do anything that extreme, the point at least where you could train yourself. I know it might be hard to imagine, but bare with me. You have 2 guns in your inventory, and a third one which is 2 pillars away from you in this facility. You are being held down by constant fire and need to get to the end of the hall. Your main goal can be accomplished in a variety of ways: distraction, sneak, guns-a-blazin, or a combination of such to get to the end of the hall. Now if you want to do a distraction: grenades, cover fire, or a decoy, might be advantageous. If you want to go guns-a-blazin, that gun 2 pillars a way would give you enough fire power, but getting there might be tough.

As you can see, there is emphasis on constant pressure on the player to think, for there may be a grenade coming his way, so a decision must be made. There is no way to retreat once you have started and there is no picking off each one, one by one. None of this recharging shields so you can go hide behind a pillar and fight only 2 guys instead of 4 at full health.

It's much to hard to explain without at least some sort of demo or experience in which you have to think and react. I actually did do this with Half Life 1 and I must say I played a three room series of action like this for 3 straight hours. I continued to play it because I wanted to try it on a harder level, finish with more health than the previous time, finish in a certain time period, etc. I'm not quite sure I still have it but it only took 2 hours to make. No real texturing and nothing fancy, pretty blocky, but loads of fun.

I'll get that demo out hopefully by the end of the week.

Very interesting. (I remember Griz, btw.)

So you basically want a more stategic approach to a FPS? Something that more resembles real-life (i.e. you can create diversions, you can sneak around without getting found, etc etc). I'm not sure how this could be accomplished with Source though: I don't think its A.I. was designed for this in mind. However, I must admit that I agree with you, so long as it isn't too insanely difficult.

Looking forward to the demo.

With Half Life 1, I used the sheer amount of grunts as being the tough enemies. Hopefully Half Life 2 will either allow for smarter enemy use, rather than so many grunts on the screen at once.

Ever played Brothers in Arms? I think you'll like it a lot.

Basically, instead of giving the player (most) choice at a higher level, where combat is just a part of the gameplay next to puzzling and exploration, you want to give the player (more) choice within the combat?
Interesting. Looking forward to that demo.

Welcome back....I remember you very well actually..I could have sworn your avatar was smaller.

Perhaps you would like to Upload the HL1 version while we wait for the HL2 version?

That is if I can find it, which doesn't sound to promising. Though if you want a Half Life 1 demo because you don't have HL2, I could certainly put in the 2 hours I did before and whip it up again.

I do have HL2, but I cant play it at the moment because my main computer is still down, HL1 barley runs on this one.

I don't know much about coding for Half-Life 2, but this sounds like it could use a good amount of it. I would make it so your health would drop faster, wich would force you to think more carefully.
Welcome back, I can't wait untill you make something.

Sorry its been so long, and to tell you the truth, I haven't done a darn thing with the demo. School is a botch on my time, I'm also a dedicated discus thrower in track . We are also moving in the next few months and prom is this weekend. I believe after this weekend though, I should be able to whip something up.

If anyone has an idea, please, do tell. I need brain thought; I feed off of it . Anything at all, could even be stupid, I tend to think genius when someone says something stupid; I don't know why, I just do.

I just spent an hour this morning and got a quick little demo. I haven't been able to get it to run, something about a
"Brush 629, Side 2: duplicate plane
Brush 629: FloatPlane: bad normal
Side 5
Texture: BUILDING_TEMPLATE/BUILDING_TEMPLATE013A"

I won't have time the rest of the day to fix it, so I'll put it in the unfinished maps section under, "Tactical Map"

I just got it to work so check it out under the Unfinished Stuff section.

join us

sounds a lot like what we're trying to do