ACS: Mercenaries
by Zen_Budha · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 10/13/2004 (3:21 pm) · 3 replies
A new project I've started working on. Thought I would lay out the basic elements and get some opinions.
Anyway before anyone asks the "ACS" stands for "Advanced Combat Simulations" I'm not sure if thats a taken name or not, but it sounded cool.
Anyway the idea is simply your basic run around complete objectives shoot'em up. Except with a twist...
It'll offer two kinds of online play (hopefully). Standard which will be various game formats, but not unlike anything we've already seen.
The second will give the player the oppertunity to build a Mercenary semi-rpg style. They will make their mercenary by choosing body styles, races, faces, etc. There will be 3 training modes depending on how fast the player wants to get in game will determine which ones they want to do.
They will be Street (pretty much a quick control tutorial), Para-military (SWAT tactics, room clearing, etc.) and Military (Heavy weapons training, etc.)
The player will also have abilities and skills which their character will develope from actual play. So that if they use an AK-47 all the time before long they will have mastered that weapon and be able to use it to it's full potential.
Online the player will have 9 lives like a cat. After 9 online deaths the player is really dead, and must restart that character or make a new one. All hard core style online characters will be maintained on a central server to prevent cheating of any kind.
Completing missions will earn them spoils, and money as well as skill points, etc. The skills points go where they are relevant. Thus the player can't run around with a Beretta earn skill points and put those points to an LAW rocket launcher.
With the money earned the player will be able to purchase equipment, weapons, and supplies for their next job.
Play will be very realism based yet not so much as to unrealistically overtask the player with buttons to push and hopefully that will keep it fun, but serious.
All character data will be able to be viewed by other players. So if a mercenary team is hiring they will be able to basically look at the players resume.
Also completing the training missions will give the player bonus stats to start off.
It will have a multitude of available weapons in game to select from. As well as gear, etc.
I think this will encourage strong team play due to the limited lives, and make for good online competitions.
Matches will be various objectives sometimes Mercenaries vs Mercenaries, and other times Mercenaries vs rebels, etc.
Any time the opposing side is rebels players will be able to join that side without it counting towards their character. They will however receive spoils from playing the rebels. However equipment and skills for rebels, etc. Will be issued by mission parameters, as will skills.
I hope also to have servers self balancing. Thus if there are 5 mercenaries, and 10 rebels, but they are poor rebels. Then there might be 30 rebel lives. Thus the rebels will respawn untill the total lives have run out. The mercenary side will not have this advantage. Their advantage will be the ability to use their skills, and purchased equipment.
Mission difficulty will be listed before the game starts so players can decide if they want to risk their necks for big cash, or go somewhere else (another server) for a little easy chump change.
Individuals will be able to setup their own servers with rotating missions, custom missions, etc. Custom missions will need master server approval before counting. After each mission the server will then send a character update report to the master server or servers.
Anyway opinions?
Anyway before anyone asks the "ACS" stands for "Advanced Combat Simulations" I'm not sure if thats a taken name or not, but it sounded cool.
Anyway the idea is simply your basic run around complete objectives shoot'em up. Except with a twist...
It'll offer two kinds of online play (hopefully). Standard which will be various game formats, but not unlike anything we've already seen.
The second will give the player the oppertunity to build a Mercenary semi-rpg style. They will make their mercenary by choosing body styles, races, faces, etc. There will be 3 training modes depending on how fast the player wants to get in game will determine which ones they want to do.
They will be Street (pretty much a quick control tutorial), Para-military (SWAT tactics, room clearing, etc.) and Military (Heavy weapons training, etc.)
The player will also have abilities and skills which their character will develope from actual play. So that if they use an AK-47 all the time before long they will have mastered that weapon and be able to use it to it's full potential.
Online the player will have 9 lives like a cat. After 9 online deaths the player is really dead, and must restart that character or make a new one. All hard core style online characters will be maintained on a central server to prevent cheating of any kind.
Completing missions will earn them spoils, and money as well as skill points, etc. The skills points go where they are relevant. Thus the player can't run around with a Beretta earn skill points and put those points to an LAW rocket launcher.
With the money earned the player will be able to purchase equipment, weapons, and supplies for their next job.
Play will be very realism based yet not so much as to unrealistically overtask the player with buttons to push and hopefully that will keep it fun, but serious.
All character data will be able to be viewed by other players. So if a mercenary team is hiring they will be able to basically look at the players resume.
Also completing the training missions will give the player bonus stats to start off.
It will have a multitude of available weapons in game to select from. As well as gear, etc.
I think this will encourage strong team play due to the limited lives, and make for good online competitions.
Matches will be various objectives sometimes Mercenaries vs Mercenaries, and other times Mercenaries vs rebels, etc.
Any time the opposing side is rebels players will be able to join that side without it counting towards their character. They will however receive spoils from playing the rebels. However equipment and skills for rebels, etc. Will be issued by mission parameters, as will skills.
I hope also to have servers self balancing. Thus if there are 5 mercenaries, and 10 rebels, but they are poor rebels. Then there might be 30 rebel lives. Thus the rebels will respawn untill the total lives have run out. The mercenary side will not have this advantage. Their advantage will be the ability to use their skills, and purchased equipment.
Mission difficulty will be listed before the game starts so players can decide if they want to risk their necks for big cash, or go somewhere else (another server) for a little easy chump change.
Individuals will be able to setup their own servers with rotating missions, custom missions, etc. Custom missions will need master server approval before counting. After each mission the server will then send a character update report to the master server or servers.
Anyway opinions?
About the author
#2
It's not the gameplay that is special your right it basically is just another FPS. It's how the game is played thats different. I think it will bring out a lot of teamwork, and will be a very fun setup for ladder matches between teams.
Because how much you've played, and how well you've done will determine if your at an advantage or a disadvantage. It's an uneven playing field where the best most experienced man wins.
For example if you have a poor assault rifles skills compared to someone with a good assault rifles skill. You won't be nearly as accurate, fast to reload, or capable of fixing malfunctions as your opponent.
To be a sniper you can't just buy a sniper rifle. It'll take survival, and hard work (game wise) and you will be forced to really develop sniper skills. Plus there will be a lot of weapons and not just military gear. It wouldn't serve much purpose having to buy gear, and weapons if it was just the standard batch of weapons you see in just about every FPS.
Plus weapon accesories, variable types of ammunition. Real ballistics, realistic damage. Of course I don't plan to implement all of this on my own. I'm really just hoping to get the basic content, and have a demo FPS going. Then hopefully once at that point I will be able to team up with some team members to take it down the home stretch.
Plus we're talking about online missions. Against human opponents. Not the standard capture the rag, deathmatch type play. Yet missions with real objectives, human opponents of varying levels. Maybe your last mission didn't go well at all. Maybe your last few have gone sour. So it puts that much more tension on this mission before your out of cash or perhaps out of lives.
I also plan to have a way for players to flee. Since it'll be reality based most of the time the money is not worth dying over. However what if it is? What if when the smoke clears you are the last man standing? Then there is no dividing up the money. It's all yours.
So you have to decide stay and fight for the cash or run away to fight another day. Like I said that with skills, and the way things will be set up will add a real RPG style of play to the game. Where you are playing a character not just running around shooting people.
I think you are reducing my idea to less than it's bare parts there in your statement.
10/13/2004 (8:00 pm)
You forgot about player skills. Otherwise it is just a shoot'em up game and we're talking about online vs. human opponents. Computer opponents are a joke in comparison to real people.It's not the gameplay that is special your right it basically is just another FPS. It's how the game is played thats different. I think it will bring out a lot of teamwork, and will be a very fun setup for ladder matches between teams.
Because how much you've played, and how well you've done will determine if your at an advantage or a disadvantage. It's an uneven playing field where the best most experienced man wins.
For example if you have a poor assault rifles skills compared to someone with a good assault rifles skill. You won't be nearly as accurate, fast to reload, or capable of fixing malfunctions as your opponent.
To be a sniper you can't just buy a sniper rifle. It'll take survival, and hard work (game wise) and you will be forced to really develop sniper skills. Plus there will be a lot of weapons and not just military gear. It wouldn't serve much purpose having to buy gear, and weapons if it was just the standard batch of weapons you see in just about every FPS.
Plus weapon accesories, variable types of ammunition. Real ballistics, realistic damage. Of course I don't plan to implement all of this on my own. I'm really just hoping to get the basic content, and have a demo FPS going. Then hopefully once at that point I will be able to team up with some team members to take it down the home stretch.
Plus we're talking about online missions. Against human opponents. Not the standard capture the rag, deathmatch type play. Yet missions with real objectives, human opponents of varying levels. Maybe your last mission didn't go well at all. Maybe your last few have gone sour. So it puts that much more tension on this mission before your out of cash or perhaps out of lives.
I also plan to have a way for players to flee. Since it'll be reality based most of the time the money is not worth dying over. However what if it is? What if when the smoke clears you are the last man standing? Then there is no dividing up the money. It's all yours.
So you have to decide stay and fight for the cash or run away to fight another day. Like I said that with skills, and the way things will be set up will add a real RPG style of play to the game. Where you are playing a character not just running around shooting people.
I think you are reducing my idea to less than it's bare parts there in your statement.
Eli McClanahan
It's just another shoot-'em-up game, except basically GTA+military goods.