Introduction
A common topic of conversation that arises within the blind community revolves around what games are being played. Popular among discussed titles are multiplayer FPS games. They combine the action with the thrill of the hunt, leading to hours of fun. However, with few exceptions, playing one of these titles feels like playing any other. The purpose of this thread is to spark discussion on how the developers among us can innovate and iterate upon a successful formula to create something that's even better.
What's the problem?
Before talking about possible ways to solve a problem, we must first define the nature of it. First and foremost, it is stale mechanics. Let's dive in with some examples.
Our player — Let's call him Justin — is running around collecting items. He has enough weapons so that his entire number row is filled. He's looking to get in a fight, so he presses tab for as long as it takes to reach a healing item. He'll be ready to spam it when the time comes.
Even in this short example, several points can be made.
- Too many weapons
- Too much time avoiding others to find items
- The inventory system is a disaster
- Healing items can be spammed
Avid FPS players might baulk at point number one, so let's elaborate. One common question on the chat channels of these types of games is, "What's the best gun?" That's the crux of the issue, there should never be a, "best", gun. Now the only thing a player must do is grind away looking for weapons until they find the best one. that puts them on an equal playing field with everyone else, at least in firepower if not in skill. So, even if a game's weapons all sound unique, they are in fact, one-dimensional.
Another common problem is that the game loop is mind-numbingly simple. Collect items and weapons until we're uber powerful, try not to die in the process, pwn newbs, repeat. The player with the better gear will usually win against someone who barely knows how to play. They also have little to lose unless they're fighting their equal in equipment and skill. This allows people to nolife the game until they have everything in great quantities and then fight. As long as they have a stable internet connection, and the game server is stable, this will work.
Possible Solutions
Inventory Management
Let's start with some low hanging fruit. As a player, is it really necessary to be able to see all the various types of ammunition in our inventory? This author suggests that it isn't. Why? Because, in the time it takes to go into the inventory screen, select the ammo category, and scroll down or press tab until the ammo is announced, we could simply switch to that weapon and press our ammo reporting key.
Now that's out of the way, let's talk about this overdone tab, shift+tab inventory. It's terrible! Why? Because it's a linear interface to something that's inherently nonlinear. Of these games that offer this interface, how many of them do not offer an inventory screen which is usually accessed with the, 'i', key, and which displays the inventory as a list filterable by category. The point could be made that the tab key is faster whilst in combat, and that's certainly true; however, it would be more valuable to have a key for cycling through categories, another through cycling through items in the selected category, and shift would reverse the direction of movement.
Healing
In half-life, there are healing terminals spread throughout the Black Mesa compound. Step up to one that's lit up and hold down the interact key until health reaches 100% full or the terminal darkens. In Grant Theft Auto V, health packs the player has in their inventory will spawn somewhere nearby when needed. They must make their way to one and walk over it to pick it up. The point? There are more ways to do healing than to switch to a healing item and be prepared to spam it when needed.
Weapons
So much could be said on this topic that it could very well be a post of its own. For the sake of brevity, let's go over the broad strokes. Every weapon in the game should serve some sort of purpose. Even a starter pistol that isn't good for much except fighting others with the same gun has a purpose. For each weapon a developer wants to add, they should ask themselves why they want to add it. If the only answer is something akin to liking the way it sounds, that's not good enough.
Two of a kind?
This becomes more of an issue when we have two or more weapons of a type. Two shotguns, two revolvers, two submachine guns, etc. What does one shotgun do differently than another? One answer could be ammo capacity.
Breechloaders exist. This is when the barrel pivots down, exposing the back end, or breech. These types of firearms hold only one shell at a time. So, if we're limiting a user to one shell, what can we do to make it worth using? Increase the damage of course! Breechloaders kick like a mule as well, a concept this author has never seen in an audiogame. You, dear reader, could be the first developer to feature it.
Objectives
Game modes and objectives can be the difference between a game that feels mostly the same day-to-day. Developers could iterate on classic tropes like cops and robbers, in which one team are attempting to rob a bank, another team are hostages in the bank, and the third team are cops attempting to kill all the robbers without hitting any civilians. Another mode could be one in which one team is attempting to deliver a minecart full of explosives to a mine while the other attempts to stop them from reaching it. The cart is full of explosives as well as valuables that both teams want to hold onto. So combat must not take place too close to the cart, because one stray could end the mission for both sides.
Conclusion
We've explored some mechanics in online FPS audiogames that seem to have been overdone. We've laid out problems and solutions in an attempt to spark discussion because NVGT is a powerful engine, and we can do better. The examples shown here aren't intended to call out games or developers. to get where we are now, we have had to progress. But we shouldn't stagnate, we should keep moving forward and keep innovating.