It's no secret that one of FPSC's largest problems is it's uncanny inability to make even the most over-the-top gunfights inexplicably boring. Most of the time this is due to the engine, but the best thing to do to be sure that the gunfights are never boring because of YOUR OWN fault, is to be sure you do everything "right"
In this tutorial, I'll provide step by step guidance on how I do it, and some interesting ways to work with the engine's setbacks and create an interesting fight-scene.
Step 1- The blank editor.
we've got a clean slate to create our firefight. the best way, it to make the basic geometry first, and be sure that the player has plenty of cover, space, and that the atmosphere and lighting is condusive to shooting. here are some tips.
*try to avoid large fights indoors if at all possible. most people don't use guns inside, because most interiors tend to be smaller. even if in game, your interior isn't small, it will naturally "feel" smaller than an exterior.
*don't use the same scenario over and over again in a game. if one encounter sees you shooting at enemies from below, at close range, maybe change it up and make the next fight from above at long range, or something like that.
*keep the guns unbalanced, but the fight balanced. never give the player more firepower than the enemy. feeling completely confident when fighting can be a big factor in boring fights.
okay. so I've decided our fight will be in a city street/alley area. we'll need gates, buildings, and perhaps planters and fences. it'll be an upscale city. the player will have to fight to get into a building.
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there's the general layout.
Now, let's add the most important entities: cover
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excellent. notice I've only put very important basic structural objects, and added little detail. now, we'll add a light, and test to see how it looks.
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nice! we've still got work on the actual level, but first let's add some enemies. I'll be sure to use only freebies, model pack stuff, and stock scripts. everyone can make fun combat! you don't need to be a great scripter! (but it definitely helps)
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now, this is a key part of making a fun fight. note some things about these enemies.
*the closest enemy has the lowest health. he'll be where fire is directed first, and closer range bullets should naturally do more damage. as the player advances past him, he'll be shooting at a slightly larger range at the other enemies, meaning they should naturally last longer.
*each enemy is on the same level as the player. we'll fix this later.
*the enemies are spawned all together, before the player reaches the point, in those spots.
*each one is a high-poly character because the player is up close to them. if a special sniper who is scripted to be such is super far away, just use a low-poly character model to not cause lag.
let's see how this looks in game.
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TAKE CAREFUL NOTE OF WHERE THE DEAD BODIES ARE.
yes I kept the dead bodies here. it's a lot more satisfying to kill someone when their body stays there, however, for some games, this just isn't possible. the best way to have the best of both worlds is to put a timer in the death script to have the body fade after about 30 seconds.
as for the bodies in this screenshot, notice that they're generally in order from where the spawns were- I.E. one was closer one was further one was in the middle. The enemies stayed in front of the player. the choke point at the fence with the lack of cover in front prevents the player from wanting to enter without first killing the enemies. why? that brings me to an interesting topic~
Surrounding the Player
yes, several games do it. It's a very stressful situation, but it can play into the feeling of a situation. in a game like call of duty, the ally ai system makes a point to be sure that the player is never surrounded. it makes levels flow, and leads players from point a to point b by making them follow the enemies. there's nothing fun to do behind you. getting surrounded in COD is often annoying, and usually ends up getting a rifle but shoved into your skull from behind right quick. in an action packed first person shooter, try to make sure the player isn't surrounded ever.
however, in games like splinter cell, being surrounded creates a very tense situation, the idea is to get away unnoticed, but often the only way to do this is to surround yourself, and move rhythmically through the enemies as they walk about. it also prevents a more loud approach. in a game where getting into a large open fight usually means quick death, surrounding the player is the best thing to do, as it presents in interesting tactical decision as to how to kill the opposition, and not get overwhelmed from all sides. it can be a very tense, exciting moment when you're surrounded, unnoticed, and must make a quick decision on who to kill or where to run, or you'll be spotted.
while you listened to me prattle on about that, I added more much needed things to the gunfight scenario.
I put some little details, added some new lights to highlight the area and draw the player's attention. I've also added a sniper up high. his purpose is to keep the player pinned long enough for the other enemies to have a chance to advance. he will naturally be the first character that the player sees.
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this has, in turn, caused a few problems. first- green isn't exactly the kind of colour you'd associate with violence, so we'll be changing that. second, as you can see, all these enemies are the same model. BORING. Last, the player weapon is overpowered. let's fix that stuff.
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great. new bodies, new lights (maybe even more orange next time to more sharply contrast the blue and draw the player's eye). Now, to finish it up, we'll put music (as it's needed) and explosions (give one enemy an explosive weapon like a grenade launcher) we'll also contrast the lights some more. Perhaps it's time for a video?
I hope this tutorial has helped, and serves as an example of a more convincing firefight in fpsc. there is always more to be done, however. here are some things that could be added for even more excitement-
+new bullet impact decals
+new explosion decals
+small dynamics in the level, around the player's line of sight
+bullet tracers
+enemy voices
+proper ragdoll physics
+more enemies
(keep in mind these may contribute to lag which immediately make any game-situation terrible)
thanks for reading!
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skype = isaacpreston. I want to talk to YOU
