What would/can you do to revolutionize the FPS genre?

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larryBird44

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I been playing since I was a kid..grew up on the very first of the FPS games: Wolfenstein 3D, Blakestone, DOOM, ROTR, Quake, and so on.
For each of the above, it seemed there was a logical progression of technology.

Wolfenstein 3D = Arguably the first FPS
Blakestone = Very generic shooter, except I do remember that windows broke if you shot them. I think there were bullet hole decals too. Exciting stuff!
DOOM = I recall when I first pushed the UP button and the character's camera swayed left and right a bit as he walked. Amazing!
Quake = Allowed the player to look up and down, jump, etc...no one had seen that before IMO.

What do we have today except for better *looking* graphics. I see nothing that increases the immersion. I want to load up a game and say, HOLY FUCK and show all my friends. That doesn't happen anymore.
 
IMHO FPS's are very basic, not much improvements you can make over the latest releases. Maybe good 3D effects that make you do the matrix in your chair, but nothing much can really be done
 
Well it isn't correct that Wolf3D was the 1st FPS, but saying that I know where you're coming from.

There have been some/a lot of revolutions within the genre.

IMO....

Half-Life.
Deus Ex, System Shock.
Wolf: Enemy Territory.
Descent.
FEAR.
Quake 3.
Mirror's Edge (?).
STALKER.

And it has certainly evolved with RPG elements (Borderlands et al).

Every couple of years there's a title that does shake things up.

What would I do?
Well that'll be telling :p
 
You can stop trying to revolutionize a genre whose founding grace and glory rests in a single notion: great gameplay. Keep the controls tight (I'm looking at you, console ports with built in mouse acceleration), hit detection solid, balance good, maps and weapons interesting and you've got a winner. Trying to blend in other shit... well then you go the way of id software and nobody on the internet will be able to name a decent game you've made in the past decade.
 
MULTIPLAYER! build a decent multiplayer base, with exciting fast paced gameplay and you will have a winner.
quake 3 and ut2k4 are great examples of this.
 
riot8ap said:
I been playing since I was a kid..grew up on the very first of the FPS games: Wolfenstein 3D, Blakestone, DOOM, ROTR, Quake, and so on.
For each of the above, it seemed there was a logical progression of technology.

What do we have today except for better *looking* graphics. I see nothing that increases the immersion. I want to load up a game and say, HOLY FUCK and show all my friends. That doesn't happen anymore.
Click to expand...

The original half life was a major moment in games - it was the first time I felt part of the world, people would interact with you in a way that made you seem like you belonged there - you weren't just being ordered around by cut-scenes and audio clips.
I don't think you'll see that kind of shift in games again, because (in some senses) games have gotten so much better at telling a story, and making the player part of that story. Most times the quality of the story is something akin to the SciFi channel's movie of the week, but it's being communicated to the player effectively without being disruptive.

I disagree there's been no progress in the genre, Deus Ex made the RPG elements popular, you can't hardly find a shooter anymore that doesn't incorporate those in some ways.
Games like battlefield, Unreal Tournament 2004, and more recently call of Duty Modern Warfare have had a huge impact on how we look at the multi-player aspect.
We've seen the rise of the open world / sandbox shooter like ARMA II (which also has some interesting ways it deals with 'failing' missions which can't be done in the more traditional: you're the super-soldier who's going to save the planet mold).
 
I've gotten the impression that revolutionary gameplay doesn't sell, at least for shooters. One of the most inspired, unique shooters of the past five years was Prey. That game brought in a lot of innovation combined with top-notch production value, but it hit the bargain bin more quickly than anyone could have expected. I don't think it was due to marketing failures, either, because the game was fairly well marketed.

First person shooters are primarily about production value and the overall 'feel' of the shooting. Storylines, innovative, complex gameplay and the like aren't really that important. They've pretty much evolved, gameplay-wise, to a point where further evolution would be almost unwelcome.
 
Immersion IMO. If you've ever played games that makes an extra effort like Half-Life or the Penumbra games, you know what I mean. Console games with quicktime events and constant popups with "press x to reload" fx, are a massive step in the wrong direction
 
1) regenerating health, but in tiers, allows for more and stronger enemies, avoids health "management"
2) loot & weapon upgrades should always be able to find loot and to upgrade to better weapons
3) infinite replay, can be done open world where bosses respawn (borderlands) or by replaying previous chapters and previous bosses with current loadout
4) optional missions, achievements and challenges get rewards (either in game or side games) ie: painkiller gives tarot cards, necrovision gives permanent weapons
5) some sort of warning on approaching level transitions, RtCW did this best, with a stats screen appearing as you approached the end
 
jiminator said:
1) regenerating health, but in tiers, allows for more and stronger enemies, avoids health "management"
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I always found it "fake" that with 1% health you can run around like normal. Nobody about to bleed out can run around a jump and have perfect aim.

We have alot of focus on destructable environments, but what about destructable players. If you get shot in the leg perhaps your character should limp. Shot in the arm maybe your aim and nade throwing is affected. Stuff like this.
 
jadams said:
I always found it "fake" that with 1% health you can run around like normal. Nobody about to bleed out can run around a jump and have perfect aim.

We have alot of focus on destructable environments, but what about destructable players. If you get shot in the leg perhaps your character should limp. Shot in the arm maybe your aim and nade throwing is affected. Stuff like this.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Army

It's pretty realistic— you take one or two shots and you go limp, you take one more and you're done. Another game review describes America's Army as "the most realistic portrayal of weapons and combat of any game".
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(I admit I know you're probably already aware of the series...)
 
phide said:
First person shooters are primarily about production value and the overall 'feel' of the shooting. Storylines, innovative, complex game play and the like aren't really that important. They've pretty much evolved, game play-wise, to a point where further evolution would be almost unwelcome.
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This is a very insightful statement. A great shooter is like a great Bond movie, formulaic but with ever increasing production value. People have come to expect that a shooter is about, well, about shooting and not a whole lot more. Sure you can add gimicks like time manipulation and a nano suit, but if that gets in the way of the shooting then the game fails as a shooter. That's why Crysis is such an excellent game. It took the basics of a shooter and applied FANTASTIC production values and actually sold pretty well for a title that was meant to push the limits. Unfortunately as a PC exclusive it suffered from piracy and of course being the game that all PC gamers died for in the end we didn't give it the justice it deserved. That's why over the years I bought several copies as gifts just to say to Crytek, job well done!
 
Btw. I think that with gaming in general and fps games being mainstream now more than ever because of big bussiness consoles, we will have to rely on small and indie developers to ensure the innovation, quality and enjoyability of fps games in the future.

Companies like:
Frictional games (Penumbra, Amnesia: The dark descent)
4A Games (Metro 2033/2034)
Tripwire Interactive (Killing Floor, Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad)
and Unknown Worlds (Natural Selection 2)
 
I think the only direction that FPS's can go in and still remain a shooter is better graphics or more realism. If you start adding new things, then it becomes more of and RPG or an adventure game.
 
FPS's can be improved in a few ways.

  • Continue to build FPS with real story's that draw the players in.
  • Add mechanics that are outside of just what weapons to carry. non-weapon equipment, RPG elements, etc.
  • Another trend I see is non-linear FPS's
  • Do away with endless amounts of enemies at every corner. Sometimes is OK but not like Painkiller (most boring FPS I ever played).
 
there really isnt much you can do anymore for FPS. FPS is getting old thats why I have switched up my gaming to more MMO & RPG's.
 
jadams said:
(I admit I wasnt probably already aware of the series...)

I would like it if more games used this method. At least in a "hard core" server.
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Okay, since you hadn't heard of AA, have you played Action Quake?

That was a blast back in 1998... You get hit, you slowly bleed, and you have to find a spot to bandage yourself to even survive the bleeding...

I'm pretty sure some shots could be instant kills, etc.

And you had to be bothered with opening doors that gave you away, guns that jam IIRC, and other things I can't rem right now...

It was the most realistic Quake mod around back in 1998 that I'm aware of... I gave up rocket arena once it came out...

(1998 was before HL and Unreal was in its infancy...)

(Dunno if there's an Action Source or etc out there...)
 
4LC4PON3 said:
there really isnt much you can do anymore for FPS. FPS is getting old thats why I have switched up my gaming to more MMO & RPG's.
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Which is cool but a lot of people still just want basic and GREAT looking games and aren't intrested in investing much time in it like me. Something that looks great, is fun to play for like 30 minutes at a time and then on to real work and other things!
 
syn3rgyz said:
i would get rid of fps on console controllers
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+1, stop making crappy console ports, and make them first and foremost for the PC.

Next, start suing the pathetic losers who make multiplayer cheats.
 
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phide said:
I've gotten the impression that revolutionary gameplay doesn't sell, at least for shooters. One of the most inspired, unique shooters of the past five years was Prey. That game brought in a lot of innovation combined with top-notch production value, but it hit the bargain bin more quickly than anyone could have expected. I don't think it was due to marketing failures, either, because the game was fairly well marketed.

First person shooters are primarily about production value and the overall 'feel' of the shooting. Storylines, innovative, complex gameplay and the like aren't really that important. They've pretty much evolved, gameplay-wise, to a point where further evolution would be almost unwelcome.
Click to expand...

Prey had a lot of good things going for it, but it never pulled it together into something I would call a AAA blockbuster. I remember the first time I played the demo, my thoughts were immediately "good game, but nowhere near game of the year." Plus, Prey had an insanely long development cycle, which lead to a certain elevation of expectations for the game that were truthfully unrealistic.
 
#1 thing to revolutionize the FPS genre. Make a game that lasts more then 9 hours. I know they have them but dang.. Its shouldn't be that hard to make a 20 hour single player campaign.
 
I think FPS games need a better feel when you shoot something/someone. In some games it just seems like you pour lead into an enemy and you can't tell you're damaging it. I think a lot of FPS should incorporate the feel of shooting something, like you see bullets making holes in someone and/or dismemberment. Soldier of Fortune, anyone?
 
I think more games with the open world,non-linear approach like the STALKER series are needed. The RPG elements add so much to the game play. The standard "corridor shooters" seem so stale and limited in comparison.
 
michael.pa2 said:
I think more games with the open world,non-linear approach like the STALKER series are needed. The RPG elements add so much to the game play. The standard "corridor shooters" seem so stale and limited in comparison.
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Far Cry 2's as open-world as you could ever get, yet it's pretty well hated. You can even approach each mission from different directions, so a second playthrough can be like a whole new game.
 
I saw this thread and was really intrigued by what's being said here. However, with no disrespect to some of the good ideas presented here, dare I suggest that some of these ideas are really just tweaks on an already set platform? I mean, some of it is more evolution than revolution. Removing stuff like quicktime time events or more non-linear progression are all good things, but in my mind, a real revolution requires changing the fundamental way we interact with the genre.

We've been using the mouse and keyboard in the exact same way since what, quake 2? I think what will really revolution the FPS is whenever we find a peripheral system that is more accurate and more immersive then the keyboard and mouse. I hate to bring it up, but think of the concept of the Wii ( not so much the execution ) Something as simple as Wii Play's golf, where you actually swing the controller instead of pressing enter or X or B. I mean, at the time, that was pretty impressive. Sure you can argue that the Wii is just casual game fodder, but it made mainstream, perhaps even invented the concept of motion controls. That's what FPS needs, a completely unique and dedicated control set up that makes the mouse and keyboard method an antiquated disadvantage. What that system should be? i have no idea, that's for smarter men to decide.


edit: damn, I took so long to write this that Sly brought up the exact same ideas using actual concepts. I was thinking along the line of really complicated VR tech that monitors the eyes for stuff like depth of focus etc. borderline star trek holodeck stuff.
 
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Looking around I saw this which is apparently freeware that does the same thing with a wii controller and a webcam. http://www.free-track.net/. I don't have a wii so can't test it. It looks very...old. But apparently works with Americas army, Armed assult and Insurgency and loads of driving games.
One problem about the greater physical aspect of doing this, as anyone who has played nights on the ps2 shall know, is that you get tired holding your arms out. Need mind controlled games already. I don't know if that headband thing works properly.
People blame everything on consoles. Companies go for that market because it's larger, and it is a buisness at the end of the day. I'm not saying it's better by any means, i've been playing fps since I could move a mouse (wolfenstein etc.) but it can still be enjoyable, it's just different. One shall not destroy the other, and infact popularisation of games leads to bigger budgets, which means more champagne and hookers for games developers. Also occasionaly bigger game budgets to do new things.
Something new...well what about a multiplayer game, where players make clans, or gangs. Each new gang gets 3 territories. Now the game comes with a simple block based map editor or something. Something any idiot can use. Now each gang fights a team deathmatch over the territory, and other ones can invade or something. You fight to control more territory and the winning team claims the territory. They could do different things, like a weapon factory or a command center, or something. Then when you win all the squares you win the map. I'm sure thats been done before.
 
Portal and Portal 2 are the only games I can see that are really pushing the single player FPS genre forward. The way that they tightly integrate storytelling with the action (in this case Glados' voiceover being a response to your actions and her descent into madness) and introduce innovative gameplay elements that work well within an FPS should be take-aways for every other developer out there.

Everything else, making it prettier, etc, is easy and inevitable at this point. Gameplay dictated by hard and fast rules that are designed to surprise and delight the player are what people will remember.
 
I think in future FPS games are going to wow us when they make environments seem more realistic, we're not just talking better graphics and higher fidelity but also having the world behaving in realistic ways, allowing the player to manipulate the environment in ways that extend past simply shooting things.

A game that caught my eye was Dark messiah, a FPS game a while back which was playable as several characters, a sort of generic knight, an assassin or a mage, the game was really in its element as the mage. The game sported several dynamic elements such as fire, physics objects, breakable objects, and also had some interesting spells (flame, ice etc)

What really made it an enjoyable game was that the environments could be used to kill your opponents just as readily as the spells and weapons at your disposal. You could kick enemies and if they were off guard they would fall/stumble backwards, if they fell down a large flight of stairs they'd get injured or die, if you kicked them through a camp fire they'd get set on fire and die. If you kick/smashed a supporting beam, whatever it was supporting would come crashing down. You could mix these things in a large combination of ways to make more deadly attacks, for example you could use a flame spell (or put an arrow into fire) and set alight a bunch of wooden barrels and crates that are being supported by a beam, now when you kick the beam away its not just crates falling on the enemies head it's flaming crates.

You could for example kick a barrel down a flight of stairs causing it to tumble and roll faster and knock enemies over like bowling pins, you could light the barrel before you did it. The mage had a particuarly amuzing freeze spell which froze enemies, but when applied to surfaces made it slippery and enemies would fall over and slide a short distance, you could put that before a fire/ledge/spikes/stairs and your oppenent would slip and fall/impale/whatever.

Now extraplote that by todays standards and level of physics and bring me a game like this but allows a wider range of options, maybe I can throw around explosives, flamable substances (like In Postal2 with the gas can) maybe just allow me to tie rope to various objects so I can create my own traps that cause enemies to yank anvils from a ledge onto their head, maybe have properly modeled fire propogation and smoke propogation and even gas propogation so that I can put a candle in one side of a room and break a gas mains at the other side and after x many minutes get an explosion, have properly modeled electrisity so I can just smash a water main then yank a mains cord and create a water/electrisity trap, or transmit electrisity through any metalic object, rubber objects are insulators and are safe. Have realistic buildings made with real materials with real properties, wood burns, stone doesn't, stone is heavy and crushes wood so like in Red Faction Guerrilla you have to build houses with proper structual integrity, equally they can be collapsed in realistic ways.

Do you know how many ways I could kill a person with even half of the above system modeled correctly. Garysmod made money just by allowing players to tinker with the relatively limited source engine because these dynamic systems are FUN!
 
For interesting features, there are a few games that really wowed me.

1st I'd say was Doom3. I loved how you interfaced with wall computers using your reticule as a mouse on the screen. And the PDA system was very cool. When i saw these features, i thought they were the coolest thing ever.

2nd, Dead Space. Having all of your menu items displayed in real time projected from Isaac's suit blew my mind.

3rd Metro 2033. This was the most intuitive game I have ever played, i really wish it was longer. Holding buttons to do different things with items was amazing. I really liked the holding R on pneumatic weapons and then pressing "fire" to pump them up for more power, i thought the was incredibly creative. And the whole wristwatch timer showing you how much time you have left in your gas mask filter, as well as the amount of light you're standing in so you know where to hide. And constantly switching gas masks when they break, or switching the filters. All of it was super cool.

Speaking of breaking gas masks; holes in the glass of vehicles. First time i saw this was Mechwarrior 3 when somebody hosed me with a machinegun, and it put holes all through the cockpit glass, super cool.
 
In terms of the environments, there is much to be improved upon. How many times have you walked into an invisible wall or couldn't jump over a two foot high obstacle?

Various games tinker with various cool affects, with limited success, but no one game pulls all of these elements together.

Was it the Soldier of Fortune games that had the ability for limbs to be blown off?

Various games have implemented damageable environments.

There is a console game coming out next year that gives water extremely realistic abilities. It has the ability to reshape rooms, carry burning fuel, or kill based on its own mass.

Game companies use all of these features as bullet points but there has never been a game to bring all of these features together in one package.

As for the controller interfaces, I believe we are still quite a few years away from being able to have realistic controllers in games. Yeah, you can carry a gun shaped controller but that doesn't do you much good without the surrounding video and a moving platform that reacts to your movements.
 
Multiplayer and destructible environments were huge.

I'm playing BC2 right now and the fact that you can down trees and buildings is a huge thing for me. So much more immersive when things act more like they would IRL.

Was so tired of shooting buildings with rocket launchers only to have it deflect the damage.
 
Personally I'm getting tired of all of these modern day hyper-realism special forces clones. I miss my sci-fi games like the UT's and Quakes. I guess I actually like to feel like im playing a game.
 
PrincessFrosty said:
I think in future FPS games are going to wow us when they make environments seem more realistic, we're not just talking better graphics and higher fidelity but also having the world behaving in realistic ways, allowing the player to manipulate the environment in ways that extend past simply shooting things.

A game that caught my eye was Dark messiah, a FPS game a while back which was playable as several characters, a sort of generic knight, an assassin or a mage, the game was really in its element as the mage. The game sported several dynamic elements such as fire, physics objects, breakable objects, and also had some interesting spells (flame, ice etc)

What really made it an enjoyable game was that the environments could be used to kill your opponents just as readily as the spells and weapons at your disposal. You could kick enemies and if they were off guard they would fall/stumble backwards, if they fell down a large flight of stairs they'd get injured or die, if you kicked them through a camp fire they'd get set on fire and die. If you kick/smashed a supporting beam, whatever it was supporting would come crashing down. You could mix these things in a large combination of ways to make more deadly attacks, for example you could use a flame spell (or put an arrow into fire) and set alight a bunch of wooden barrels and crates that are being supported by a beam, now when you kick the beam away its not just crates falling on the enemies head it's flaming crates.

You could for example kick a barrel down a flight of stairs causing it to tumble and roll faster and knock enemies over like bowling pins, you could light the barrel before you did it. The mage had a particuarly amuzing freeze spell which froze enemies, but when applied to surfaces made it slippery and enemies would fall over and slide a short distance, you could put that before a fire/ledge/spikes/stairs and your oppenent would slip and fall/impale/whatever.

Now extraplote that by todays standards and level of physics and bring me a game like this but allows a wider range of options, maybe I can throw around explosives, flamable substances (like In Postal2 with the gas can) maybe just allow me to tie rope to various objects so I can create my own traps that cause enemies to yank anvils from a ledge onto their head, maybe have properly modeled fire propogation and smoke propogation and even gas propogation so that I can put a candle in one side of a room and break a gas mains at the other side and after x many minutes get an explosion, have properly modeled electrisity so I can just smash a water main then yank a mains cord and create a water/electrisity trap, or transmit electrisity through any metalic object, rubber objects are insulators and are safe. Have realistic buildings made with real materials with real properties, wood burns, stone doesn't, stone is heavy and crushes wood so like in Red Faction Guerrilla you have to build houses with proper structual integrity, equally they can be collapsed in realistic ways.

Do you know how many ways I could kill a person with even half of the above system modeled correctly. Garysmod made money just by allowing players to tinker with the relatively limited source engine because these dynamic systems are FUN!
Click to expand...

this
 
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