The Firefight Project

    The "Firefight Project" (http://www.projectff.com) is looking for mapping talent to contribute to the project. Our team is currently consists of a core team of 4 people, including myself, who are producing content for the project. We are now undergoing the preproduction stages of our mod, testing gameplay mechanics, before we go into full swing on the mod. However, we are trying to obtain talent now so that we can have the ball rolling when testing is over.

    Below is an excerpt from our temp site, detailing our intentions.

    Quote

    This project, simply named the "Firefight Project" for the time being, is a serious gameplay experiment with the goal of discovering the specific elements that produce fun and exciting firefights in multiplayer games. It is a study into how cover, weapon potency, weapon effects, and various other gameplay mechanics play into creating interesting tactical situations. Situations that involve more struggle oriented interactions between opposing players. The Firefight Project is the pre-production stage of what will hopefully turn into a full multiplayer mod for HL2 that, naturally, will incorporate the results of the project.

    Please consider, and feel free to contact me should you want more information.

    Email: fconcepcion[at]gmail.com | AIM: NervouSquirrel

    errr what?

    Anyways,

    nervousquirrel, I really think you should take down the images of the "maps"

    it gives a really bad first impression. Stay in the dark, no need for pictures of squares in more squares.

    Its an experiment, like hes told u 2 times before.

    Anyways i could tell u straight away what makes an exciting gunfight. Im glad theres at least one mod that knows what to focus on, but once u figure out how to make exciting gameplay, the real work begins

    Quote from |FRITZ|

    nervousquirrel, I really think you should take down the images of the "maps"

    it gives a really bad first impression. Stay in the dark, no need for pictures of squares in more squares.

    Yeah I've thought about that. Although I do plan to use that map for testing, I've wondered whether or not it turns people off since it's basic. Does anyone else feel this way? EDIT: I've removed it.

    Back to the focus though, I am a level designer myself, but I need some help. We are looking for level design talent to help contribute, please contact me should you prove interested in the project.

    Thanks. I think that one of the most importaint things in a game, insofar as gameplay and general feel, is the quality of the map design. I hope we can have some of the talent from this community contribute to our project.

    Interesting. I guess a good firefight is at least down in part to your subjective opinion though. Are you leaning the way of realism or arcade action? Are you going to force players to adopt certain tactics/styles of play?

    Our project's focus is on the following:

    Designing gameplay dynamics that support and perpetuate...

    a) engagements that are significant and last

    b) realworld tactics such as maneuvering around the battle field,

    suppression fire, and flanking

    c) the use of cover as an effective tool in combat (if you're behind

    significant cover, but have a bit of a leg or something sticking out, the

    odds of getting hit are fairly slim)

    With regards to your question about realism... I see it this way: there are two schools of thought when considering realism.

    The first is the prevalent model that focuses on high damage and an accuracy system that allows for very accurate fire under certain circumstances (i.e. CS, Rainbow 6, Ghost Recon, etc..). This sort of gameplay does not particularly allow a real exchange between opposing players, as the accuracy system only allows for pointing and clicking... and exposing yourself at all in games like this usually means death and the end to what could have been and interesting encounter.

    The second is ours, the model focuses on the reality that firefights do not end quickly. Engagements in the realworld are struggles that involve more than just crouching, pointing, and killing. Engagements last for indefinite periods of time, but for lengths of time that are more than the standard game dynamics in the so called "Realism Mods" allow. There are elements like fear and skill with weapons that one cannot translate so well into a game (refer to the article written by W. J. Frisbee Jr. entitled "Fire fight Dynamics"). In order to have the same dynamics, one must look at other solutions to creating a sustained firefight in a game.

    In my model the way you simulate this reality is by designing the game so that it is more about manuvering and getting the "one up" on the opposition, rather than finding the single pixel floating above cover and clicking on it. We change the objective from quick kills, to having to work for a kill. This involves manipulating dynamics such as accuracy, damage, movement, etc... so that no one person could end an engagement so quickly as they could in "realism mods"; but are still capable of killing, should they be in a tactically superior position/situation (whatever that entails). In the real world, it's all about exposing your target and making sure you are covered adequatley, and we have not overlooked that.

    More about cover:

    Where I think the first model mentioned above is lacking is in it's support of cover. Any "exposedness" in the first model equates to quick death, whereas in the real world that is not precisely true, and where in a game that makes for "point and click fests" rather than involved, exciting circumstances in which teams can employ necessary tactics in a virtual world.

    Basically:

    Having an engagement that can be ended by the click of a mouse before anything has really even begun is not as awsome as having to fire at eachother, suppress the enemy, and go in for the kill.

    It's an interesting concept certainly, my first instict upon reading that was that you might be heading the way of giving damage/accuracy bonuses based on how favourable your position is or if your team mates are providing suppressing fire, that kind of thing.

    Say there's three of you behind some sandbags, A & B are providing suppressing fire on the target so that C is provided with enough of a bonus to aim decently enough to hit the other guy, whos partially covered.

    Thats just me throwing ideas around though. Certainly I think you're going to have to retain some element of skill with a mouse, beause thats always part of the fun, but by combining it with the system of tactical advantage you're talking about you could be in for some fun. What I, personally, wouldn't want to see is a system that basically reduces you to spamming and being unable to hit shit from five yards because you ahve no tactical advantage. If I see a guy at the end of the street, I want to be able to hit him if I aim properly. Having to run behind cover to get 'tactical advantage' just so I can aim properly would be intensely annoying. I think the hardest things will be balancing that aspect of things with normal combat situations and providign the users with simple useuful feedback on whats affecting them at any given time. Maybe your accuracy is affected when you're getting shot at?

    Anyways, sounds like you've given this a good amount of thought, I'm just spitting things out as they occur to me. I reckon it could work nicely if it's done well.

    Well, we're not implimenting the bonus system. However, I've made a point of making sure that, should you have the shot (like your "end of the street" example), you can take it and kill. Testing will tell. Thanks for your compliments...

    Wanna map for us?

    I would be tempted, but anythin Source based is out until I get a decent PC. Hammer barely functions and the in-game results are so far away from what most people will see that it renders the whole excercise pointless.

    I'll certainly be tracking the progress of your mod though and if need be can sling a few models your way when you get to that stage.

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