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What should a First Person Shooter have?
Maps are very important to me. Include a wide variety of these and come up with some ideas that haven''t been done yet. The same goes for weapons. Also, in my opinion, have only a maximum of 10-12 weapons. The physics are also extremely important. Make the speed of all the game elements as realistic as possible (ie. running, walking, jumping, swimming, flying (?), etc).
I don''t know about other people, but the only games that I play know are ones where you can just beat the living @#$@# out of something. I play games to let out aggression and stress. Before I programmed I used to play adventure games, but they take too much thinking, and all my thinking is now going towards programming.
*** Triality ***
*** Triality ***
I agree with what was mentioned before. I feel the most important thing in any game...fps included, is atmosphere. I feel a game should not only be played, but be an experience for the user. And the experience is created through the general mood and atmosphere of the game. Hopefully you get what I mean 
good luck on your game 
good luck on your game
I love the replys you get to these types of posts,
The weirdo "I like to murder people. I like games where I can murder children, yeah they are cool"
The dumb fu*k "I like games where you use the screen, they rock. So do those ones where you have to press buttons."
The lazy picky bastard "I love the replys you get..."
ummmm, yeah, he he he.
As Mr Cup always says,
''I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.''
The weirdo "I like to murder people. I like games where I can murder children, yeah they are cool"
The dumb fu*k "I like games where you use the screen, they rock. So do those ones where you have to press buttons."
The lazy picky bastard "I love the replys you get..."
ummmm, yeah, he he he.
As Mr Cup always says,
''I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.''
A couple of things to consider.
1. Make sure you aren''t creating the same FPS that a million guys before you have created.
2. All your weapons should have an advantage and a disadvantage. I''ve played way too many FPS''s where you find the BFG, and that''s all you need the rest of the game. Look to the big boys like ID to see this done well. You don''t want to use the machine gun all the time anymore than you would the rail gun. Both have their place for individual players and levels.
3. Levels will make or break FPSs. I don''t care what new feature your engine has, if the level isn''t enticing and fun, your game is sunk. Make sure you got good level creators. There are web pages out there that give tips on what to watch for. Look for them.
4. Now a days, I think it''s important to have a good solid story to set yourself apart. In a genre such as the FPS, it''s soo crowded your going to have to excel at all parts of the game in order to stand a chance. An involved story is just another hook to plant people into this "reality" you are creating. Of course this more applies to the single player missions, but who says it can''t apply to multiplayer?
Can''t think of much else. Good luck to ya!
Ut
1. Make sure you aren''t creating the same FPS that a million guys before you have created.
2. All your weapons should have an advantage and a disadvantage. I''ve played way too many FPS''s where you find the BFG, and that''s all you need the rest of the game. Look to the big boys like ID to see this done well. You don''t want to use the machine gun all the time anymore than you would the rail gun. Both have their place for individual players and levels.
3. Levels will make or break FPSs. I don''t care what new feature your engine has, if the level isn''t enticing and fun, your game is sunk. Make sure you got good level creators. There are web pages out there that give tips on what to watch for. Look for them.
4. Now a days, I think it''s important to have a good solid story to set yourself apart. In a genre such as the FPS, it''s soo crowded your going to have to excel at all parts of the game in order to stand a chance. An involved story is just another hook to plant people into this "reality" you are creating. Of course this more applies to the single player missions, but who says it can''t apply to multiplayer?
Can''t think of much else. Good luck to ya!
Ut
Be original. You obviously can''t make a game that everybody will like, so you have to decide.. are you catering to the multiplayer deathmatch crowd, or the ''I wanna kill lots of people with really huge guns and super realistic blood!''. Or, will you break the mold and do something truly different? Look at Thief or System Shock for examples, or maybe Deus Ex (I''ve only played the demo, but it looks pretty neat.) These are all games that go beyond the Quake mold and get people''s attention.
At the very least, if you want to make a fairly traditional FPS, look at Half-life for a prime example of what to do right.
Finally, here are some things that I personally would love to see in a FPS:
1. interesting enviornments with a lot of variety. The entire quake series has the most boring levels imaginable, and they don''t change throughout the entire game. Lots of colors are always nice, as is interactivity and ''realistic'' enviornments which seem familiar to the player. For example, setting a level in a New York City skyscraper is a lot more fun than wandering around through an anonymous brown labyrinth.
2. stories are nice, but if you decide to do one, then really do it, and make the entire game integrated into the story. it''s always nice to have a motivation for going to this place or killing this thing, besides ''get to the next level''. But, if you decide not to have a story, then you don''t even need any sense of continuity among your levels. If you don''t have a story, what''s wrong with setting one level in a spaceship and the next in a medieval castle?
3. I always like to have multiple ways of doing something. For example, there''s the classic blasting your way through with big guns. But maybe you could also sneak around the back, or even talk your way out of it. Just make sure you don''t say "Ok, you can do this three ways, but this is the best way..". Let the player decide which way is the most fun for them.
That''s getting long but it doesn''t even cover multiplayer.. then again, Quake III and Unreal Tournament pretty much have the multiplayer aspect down. Just make sure there''s more than deathmatch =).
Good luck!
-RWarden (roberte@maui.net)
At the very least, if you want to make a fairly traditional FPS, look at Half-life for a prime example of what to do right.
Finally, here are some things that I personally would love to see in a FPS:
1. interesting enviornments with a lot of variety. The entire quake series has the most boring levels imaginable, and they don''t change throughout the entire game. Lots of colors are always nice, as is interactivity and ''realistic'' enviornments which seem familiar to the player. For example, setting a level in a New York City skyscraper is a lot more fun than wandering around through an anonymous brown labyrinth.
2. stories are nice, but if you decide to do one, then really do it, and make the entire game integrated into the story. it''s always nice to have a motivation for going to this place or killing this thing, besides ''get to the next level''. But, if you decide not to have a story, then you don''t even need any sense of continuity among your levels. If you don''t have a story, what''s wrong with setting one level in a spaceship and the next in a medieval castle?
3. I always like to have multiple ways of doing something. For example, there''s the classic blasting your way through with big guns. But maybe you could also sneak around the back, or even talk your way out of it. Just make sure you don''t say "Ok, you can do this three ways, but this is the best way..". Let the player decide which way is the most fun for them.
That''s getting long but it doesn''t even cover multiplayer.. then again, Quake III and Unreal Tournament pretty much have the multiplayer aspect down. Just make sure there''s more than deathmatch =).
Good luck!
-RWarden (roberte@maui.net)
Oh, one other thing. Depending on your experience, try to shoot for attainable goals. It''s much better to finish a project with the technical traits of Wolfenstein than it is to start on EarthQuake 4: The Quake Killer and have snippets of code waiting to be complete years from now. In fact I would say that''s the number one flaw of everyone trying to become a game programmer. Make your goals reachable.
Ut
( again )
Ut
( again )
Gee''s there''s so many things one could say but i left out one crucial thing in my last post which was brought to my attention here.
COHESION - cohesivness between music/gfx/map design really hits the spot when your talking abedience and atmosphere. The great thing about having the atmosphere as thick as cow soup is this:
It attracts more people without turning anyone off. I mean if you can get thick atmosphere into your game its an ingredient that can hit a mass market. Everyone likes because you can''t critise it.
How could i have forgotten to add this before, gee''s
WE are their,
"Sons of the Free"
COHESION - cohesivness between music/gfx/map design really hits the spot when your talking abedience and atmosphere. The great thing about having the atmosphere as thick as cow soup is this:
It attracts more people without turning anyone off. I mean if you can get thick atmosphere into your game its an ingredient that can hit a mass market. Everyone likes because you can''t critise it.
How could i have forgotten to add this before, gee''s
WE are their,
"Sons of the Free"
i have to say, just take a look at what fps''s people are saying are good, and figure out what made them that way. the one''s that come to mind (mine, at least) are jedi knight, half-life, and thief.
jedi knight:
because it had the star wars-thing going for it, plus it had the extra special addition of a saber and force. those are the kind of things you don''t see too often in an fps, usually it''s just strafe-shoot-run, strafe-shoot-run, but with the force and the saber, and the dark and light side to choose from, you really got the chance to play the game a different way each time, and those different things make the multiplayer effect way better.
half-life:
how many games have you seen that have a storyline like half-life, and in-game scripting, such as in the beginning where you see how the whole thing started, *without* cutting to a movie, or a cheesily done 3d film thingy. my jaw nearly dropped when i was playing the opposing force demo, and i saved the mechanic guy, and then he whipped out his blow-torch after making some silly remark and cut open a door, then kicked it in, and tryed to take out a stationary gun before it got him. that was all *in-game* and didn''t require you to stop playing to see it.
thief:
what a concept! a fps where the focus is not on shooting! stealth was the key, and you had to be good at it and learn a new way of thinking to survive. awesome.
just my ideas...
jake
Sometimes even chickens need to eat... Don't bang your head against a wall just to enjoy the good feeling when you stop.
jedi knight:
because it had the star wars-thing going for it, plus it had the extra special addition of a saber and force. those are the kind of things you don''t see too often in an fps, usually it''s just strafe-shoot-run, strafe-shoot-run, but with the force and the saber, and the dark and light side to choose from, you really got the chance to play the game a different way each time, and those different things make the multiplayer effect way better.
half-life:
how many games have you seen that have a storyline like half-life, and in-game scripting, such as in the beginning where you see how the whole thing started, *without* cutting to a movie, or a cheesily done 3d film thingy. my jaw nearly dropped when i was playing the opposing force demo, and i saved the mechanic guy, and then he whipped out his blow-torch after making some silly remark and cut open a door, then kicked it in, and tryed to take out a stationary gun before it got him. that was all *in-game* and didn''t require you to stop playing to see it.
thief:
what a concept! a fps where the focus is not on shooting! stealth was the key, and you had to be good at it and learn a new way of thinking to survive. awesome.
just my ideas...
jake
Sometimes even chickens need to eat... Don't bang your head against a wall just to enjoy the good feeling when you stop.
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