Thoughts: Stealth/Sniper Multiplayer Conquest Game
by Eli McClanahan · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 09/23/2004 (5:37 pm) · 32 replies
I've been playing with the idea of making a game themed around tactics and gaining territory more than mindless fragging, but I need some ideas on how to enhance the idea. What follows is my personal record of what the game would entail thusfar.
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FPS Conquest Stealth/Sniper Game
Combat is zone-based on battlefield influence. Map-defined areas are capturable. Zones are either gray (uncaptured), red (enemy-occupied), green (friendly-occupied) or yellow (occupied by both). Owning a maginot line of zones makes all unoccupied zones behind them owned as well. Owning a circle of zones around other unoccupied zones makes them owned. Owning zones gives team points, a value determined by either the mapper or by a predetermined matrix value like terrain/object height. Personal points come from kills and capturing zones. When no one is in a zone that is not enclosed by other zones, it becomes nuetral (gray, uncaptured.)
Gameplay is based around using long ranged weapons and secondary, silenced short range weapons, as well as items such as normal grenades, smoke grenades, gas grenades and various deployed detection items.
The more sound you make, the more visible your IFF is. No detectable sound means no IFF. Smoke from grenades mask your IFF, while items like deployed sensors and flares increase IFF visibility. Sound increases based on speed of movement and material type being stepped on. Map areas players may hide in, such as areas with high amounts of foliage or water, decrease IFF detectability. Player-worn items like grass outfits or rock jackets decrease detectability when worn in the right areas; in other areas they increase detectability (such as wearing a rock jacket in a blue-tiled room).
Movement options consist of jogging, crouching, going prone, crawling, creeping, leaping, and wall-straddling. Also, bodies and some map items may be held and used as shields. Generally, movement is much slower than most FPSs. Movement creates detectable sound.
All weapons are either long range or short range - none have splash damage, and all are hit-scan. Heavier, more powerful weapons and weapons with the longest ranges have slower aiming movement speeds. Smaller weapons, especially close range weapons, are easier to adjust aim for or have no restrictions at all. Different weapons create different levels of sound. Generally, most weapons are near one-hit kills.
Being hit will cause the player to stop or slow and experience recoil from the damage, depending on the strength of the weapon and the range from which it was fired.
Small game objects like boxes, barrels and logs, etc. may be moved slowly to be put into position to act as cover.
Maps are zoned in the same way the area map is: all areas have some sort of cover to use, and are sometimes enclosed to prevent sniping of that area, forcing infiltration to kill opponents.
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Right now my main concern is slowing down the game too much. There needs to be a way to actively encourage snipers to not camp in one spot for too long, so the game doesn't degrade too much into endless standoffs. I feel how scoring works will counter this somewhat, but I'm not convinced.
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FPS Conquest Stealth/Sniper Game
Combat is zone-based on battlefield influence. Map-defined areas are capturable. Zones are either gray (uncaptured), red (enemy-occupied), green (friendly-occupied) or yellow (occupied by both). Owning a maginot line of zones makes all unoccupied zones behind them owned as well. Owning a circle of zones around other unoccupied zones makes them owned. Owning zones gives team points, a value determined by either the mapper or by a predetermined matrix value like terrain/object height. Personal points come from kills and capturing zones. When no one is in a zone that is not enclosed by other zones, it becomes nuetral (gray, uncaptured.)
Gameplay is based around using long ranged weapons and secondary, silenced short range weapons, as well as items such as normal grenades, smoke grenades, gas grenades and various deployed detection items.
The more sound you make, the more visible your IFF is. No detectable sound means no IFF. Smoke from grenades mask your IFF, while items like deployed sensors and flares increase IFF visibility. Sound increases based on speed of movement and material type being stepped on. Map areas players may hide in, such as areas with high amounts of foliage or water, decrease IFF detectability. Player-worn items like grass outfits or rock jackets decrease detectability when worn in the right areas; in other areas they increase detectability (such as wearing a rock jacket in a blue-tiled room).
Movement options consist of jogging, crouching, going prone, crawling, creeping, leaping, and wall-straddling. Also, bodies and some map items may be held and used as shields. Generally, movement is much slower than most FPSs. Movement creates detectable sound.
All weapons are either long range or short range - none have splash damage, and all are hit-scan. Heavier, more powerful weapons and weapons with the longest ranges have slower aiming movement speeds. Smaller weapons, especially close range weapons, are easier to adjust aim for or have no restrictions at all. Different weapons create different levels of sound. Generally, most weapons are near one-hit kills.
Being hit will cause the player to stop or slow and experience recoil from the damage, depending on the strength of the weapon and the range from which it was fired.
Small game objects like boxes, barrels and logs, etc. may be moved slowly to be put into position to act as cover.
Maps are zoned in the same way the area map is: all areas have some sort of cover to use, and are sometimes enclosed to prevent sniping of that area, forcing infiltration to kill opponents.
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Right now my main concern is slowing down the game too much. There needs to be a way to actively encourage snipers to not camp in one spot for too long, so the game doesn't degrade too much into endless standoffs. I feel how scoring works will counter this somewhat, but I'm not convinced.
About the author
#2
*make weapons give off "radiation" so that if you shoot a lot of fire the area becomes polluted with poisonous material for a while
*staying in one position steadily increases your IFF visibility ("We've looked everywhere but there, so he must be there.")
*players need to move around to breathe (weird suit, other species, something)
First solution is the best one so far, although it bothers me a little.
Second really doesn't keep standoffs from happening, it just makes a sniper more prone to attack, but if you can't get into position to attack him it doesn't really matter.
Third solution would just make players get up, run around a little then go back to what they were doing.
09/23/2004 (6:40 pm)
I was considering several ideas to keep people from settling in:*make weapons give off "radiation" so that if you shoot a lot of fire the area becomes polluted with poisonous material for a while
*staying in one position steadily increases your IFF visibility ("We've looked everywhere but there, so he must be there.")
*players need to move around to breathe (weird suit, other species, something)
First solution is the best one so far, although it bothers me a little.
Second really doesn't keep standoffs from happening, it just makes a sniper more prone to attack, but if you can't get into position to attack him it doesn't really matter.
Third solution would just make players get up, run around a little then go back to what they were doing.
#3
I, too, have toyed with the idea of a sniper game. I simply love grabbing a Sniper Rifle in Halo and levelling the opposing team.
09/23/2004 (8:03 pm)
How about making their IFF slowly give off a pulse. The longer they stay still, or within a predefined radius per pulse, the stronger a signal it gives off. Therefore, if someone just runs around, then they may not go outside their needed radius. If they do, then they would actually be considered "on the move".I, too, have toyed with the idea of a sniper game. I simply love grabbing a Sniper Rifle in Halo and levelling the opposing team.
#4
09/23/2004 (8:13 pm)
Sounds cool. Why would you need them to keep moving? If they can manage to stay in a sweet snipe spot, why force them to move?
#5
Rather, the level designer should do this. No spot should be so sweet, a player is invicible there.
Perhaps intentional blind spots so a 'nade can be dropped in? That's always fun.
Please, please put in sticky 'nades. I always get a kick out of someone running around in Halo with a nicely placed grenade on their faceplate.
09/23/2004 (8:47 pm)
They're trying to prevent a standoff. I personally agree. If the snipe spot is that good, then someone should be able to locate another spot that is good for eliminating the other.Rather, the level designer should do this. No spot should be so sweet, a player is invicible there.
Perhaps intentional blind spots so a 'nade can be dropped in? That's always fun.
Please, please put in sticky 'nades. I always get a kick out of someone running around in Halo with a nicely placed grenade on their faceplate.
#6
I want to keep snipers from being stuck at their bases, with the real action occuring out of their sight in the trenches and ruined buildings. Sniping certainly needs to be long range, but there's no reason it should be as long range as possible. I'd like to keep everyone in the action as much as possible, so basically both teams are trying to capture territory by sending up their stealth guys and letting the snipers clear the way while they clean out the territories. After those have been captured, the stealth guys hold their position while the snipers move up. That's what I'd like to encourage, not endless camping at one position.
09/23/2004 (9:07 pm)
Basically, level design would be, essentially, "sniper zone (base), stealth zone, sniper zone, stealth zone, sniper zone (base)."I want to keep snipers from being stuck at their bases, with the real action occuring out of their sight in the trenches and ruined buildings. Sniping certainly needs to be long range, but there's no reason it should be as long range as possible. I'd like to keep everyone in the action as much as possible, so basically both teams are trying to capture territory by sending up their stealth guys and letting the snipers clear the way while they clean out the territories. After those have been captured, the stealth guys hold their position while the snipers move up. That's what I'd like to encourage, not endless camping at one position.
#7
Kinda like spent shell casings?
Or fuse the IFF Pulse with what Seg suggested about a lack of (totally) "Safe Zones".
But I remember from my Quake games at work. A "Sweet Spot" could be worth it's weight in gold.
09/24/2004 (3:12 am)
Hold on! Quote:
*make weapons give off "radiation" so that if you shoot a lot of fire the area becomes polluted with poisonous material for a while
Kinda like spent shell casings?
Or fuse the IFF Pulse with what Seg suggested about a lack of (totally) "Safe Zones".
But I remember from my Quake games at work. A "Sweet Spot" could be worth it's weight in gold.
#8
09/24/2004 (6:25 am)
I favor radiation...its semi-permanent and its unusual.. You could have it decay slowly if you like. But yeah, no matter how good a job you do map designing there will be places that are unintentionally choke points. Some sort of mechanism to encourage movements a good thing. With the addition of radiation, you could always include effects like...w.eapons that cause radiation, thereby denying sniper locations. A grenade-launcher style weapon like this would be effective for support.
#9
09/24/2004 (6:39 am)
If realism was desired, why not equip the people with heat sensors? As a person sits still, the area around them warms up. Yes, someone could always run in a little circle. But the area wouldn't have enough time to "cool down", therefore leaving the heat signature behind. You could also tweak the idea and use it to track footseps if you were close enough.
#10
Pop-up some sorta HUD like window that would show where shots were fired from.
At least you'd have people moving, as even if they moved from one cell to another in a given area, you could still perhaps get "in the ballpark".
09/24/2004 (7:03 am)
How about a "Shot Spotter" that can be activated as need be. Pop-up some sorta HUD like window that would show where shots were fired from.
At least you'd have people moving, as even if they moved from one cell to another in a given area, you could still perhaps get "in the ballpark".
#11
A type of vision that can pick up recently fired weapons' signatures would probably be appropriate.
09/24/2004 (11:56 am)
I'm not above introducing another type of vision, but it would have to be something that's useful enough to be warranted while it doesn't take the focus away from the sound-orientation. For instance, I don't like the idea of someone carefully creeping around a corner and then being detected because someone can see his footprints.A type of vision that can pick up recently fired weapons' signatures would probably be appropriate.
#12
09/24/2004 (3:51 pm)
Infared vision would be what you would need. Say a sinper w/o any extra coverings/suits is prone on a hill, you'll beable to spot him. If he was there for like 5 min, and then he went behind the hill, the heat would still be there giving a false reading. The sinper could be equiped with a heat/cammo covering and give off very little heat(wouldn't stand out).
#13
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FPS Conquest Stealth/Sniper Game
Combat is zone-based on battlefield influence. Map-defined areas are capturable. Zones are either gray (uncaptured), red (enemy-occupied), green (friendly-occupied) or yellow (occupied by both). Owning a maginot line of zones makes all unoccupied zones behind them owned as well. Owning a circle of zones around other unoccupied zones makes them owned. Owning zones gives team points, a value determined by either the mapper or by a predetermined matrix value like terrain/object height. Personal points come from kills and capturing zones. When no one is in a zone that is not enclosed by other zones, it becomes nuetral (gray, uncaptured.)
Gameplay is based around using long ranged weapons and secondary, silenced short range weapons, as well as items that mask detection or illuminate it.
The more active you are, the more visible your IFF is. No activity means no IFF. Activity is determined by the amount of sound you make while moving and by using weapons, in order from least noisy to most:
*crouching
*going prone
*crawling (moving while prone)
*creeping (moving during crouch)
*normal walking
*mimicking
*jogging
*leaping
Players all have stamina, which they may use for more demanding activities, such as maintaining a weapons' reticle position while zoomed, jogging, leaping, using the alternate vision mode or mimicking. Once stamina is depleted, players revert to normal movement.
Mimicking is the ability the take on the form of one's surroundings. Players may change into nearly anything, as long as it is approximately their mass, such as boxes, barrels, grass, even the ground and walls below and around them. The obvious limitations in this is that other players will recognize whether or not an item belongs somewhere, whether or not the grass is waving with the wind and if there's a mound on an otherwise flat surface. Players may move while in these forms, but at a much slower pace and at risk of detection. Players are also unable to carry some larger weapons while in some of these forms, forcing them to discard them. Mimicking takes a few seconds to begin and end, meaning if a player begins or ends the transformation, they will be vulnerable for a few moments while they finish (or cancel) the change.
The extra Vision mode is used to detect emissions from fired weapons, which linger both where they are fired and onto players that pass through these clouds.
Fired weapons consume either ammo or stamina. Ammo weapons typically have very high amounts of ammo but are less powerful than normal weapons. Stamina-using weapons expel harmful clouds of depleted energy, but will not damage players until the area becomes saturated in it. Ammo weapons do not expel this energy.
All weapons are either long range or short range - none have splash damage, and all are hit-scan. Heavier, more powerful weapons and weapons with the longest ranges have slower aiming movement speeds. Smaller weapons, especially close range ammo weapons, are easier to adjust aim for or have no restrictions at all. Different weapons create different levels of sound and expel different amounts of energy. Generally, most weapons are nearly one-hit kills.
Being hit will cause the player to stop or slow and experience recoil from the damage, depending on the strength of the weapon and the range from which it was fired.
Small game objects like boxes, barrels and logs, etc. may be moved slowly to be put into position to act as cover or to confuse the enemy as to a mimicked player-item's position.
Maps are zoned in the same way the area map is: all areas have some sort of cover to use, and are sometimes enclosed to prevent sniping of that area, forcing infiltration to kill opponents.
09/24/2004 (9:37 pm)
Here's a revised version for you. It operates under the basis of a sci-fi theme, as will be obvious.----------
FPS Conquest Stealth/Sniper Game
Combat is zone-based on battlefield influence. Map-defined areas are capturable. Zones are either gray (uncaptured), red (enemy-occupied), green (friendly-occupied) or yellow (occupied by both). Owning a maginot line of zones makes all unoccupied zones behind them owned as well. Owning a circle of zones around other unoccupied zones makes them owned. Owning zones gives team points, a value determined by either the mapper or by a predetermined matrix value like terrain/object height. Personal points come from kills and capturing zones. When no one is in a zone that is not enclosed by other zones, it becomes nuetral (gray, uncaptured.)
Gameplay is based around using long ranged weapons and secondary, silenced short range weapons, as well as items that mask detection or illuminate it.
The more active you are, the more visible your IFF is. No activity means no IFF. Activity is determined by the amount of sound you make while moving and by using weapons, in order from least noisy to most:
*crouching
*going prone
*crawling (moving while prone)
*creeping (moving during crouch)
*normal walking
*mimicking
*jogging
*leaping
Players all have stamina, which they may use for more demanding activities, such as maintaining a weapons' reticle position while zoomed, jogging, leaping, using the alternate vision mode or mimicking. Once stamina is depleted, players revert to normal movement.
Mimicking is the ability the take on the form of one's surroundings. Players may change into nearly anything, as long as it is approximately their mass, such as boxes, barrels, grass, even the ground and walls below and around them. The obvious limitations in this is that other players will recognize whether or not an item belongs somewhere, whether or not the grass is waving with the wind and if there's a mound on an otherwise flat surface. Players may move while in these forms, but at a much slower pace and at risk of detection. Players are also unable to carry some larger weapons while in some of these forms, forcing them to discard them. Mimicking takes a few seconds to begin and end, meaning if a player begins or ends the transformation, they will be vulnerable for a few moments while they finish (or cancel) the change.
The extra Vision mode is used to detect emissions from fired weapons, which linger both where they are fired and onto players that pass through these clouds.
Fired weapons consume either ammo or stamina. Ammo weapons typically have very high amounts of ammo but are less powerful than normal weapons. Stamina-using weapons expel harmful clouds of depleted energy, but will not damage players until the area becomes saturated in it. Ammo weapons do not expel this energy.
All weapons are either long range or short range - none have splash damage, and all are hit-scan. Heavier, more powerful weapons and weapons with the longest ranges have slower aiming movement speeds. Smaller weapons, especially close range ammo weapons, are easier to adjust aim for or have no restrictions at all. Different weapons create different levels of sound and expel different amounts of energy. Generally, most weapons are nearly one-hit kills.
Being hit will cause the player to stop or slow and experience recoil from the damage, depending on the strength of the weapon and the range from which it was fired.
Small game objects like boxes, barrels and logs, etc. may be moved slowly to be put into position to act as cover or to confuse the enemy as to a mimicked player-item's position.
Maps are zoned in the same way the area map is: all areas have some sort of cover to use, and are sometimes enclosed to prevent sniping of that area, forcing infiltration to kill opponents.
#14
But why not make "Mimicking" generate a pulse as well.
09/25/2004 (10:45 am)
We're gettin' somewhere here! But why not make "Mimicking" generate a pulse as well.
#15
09/25/2004 (12:24 pm)
Then it'd be too easy to detect hidden players. It'll already be hard enough once players start to familiarize themselves with the maps and the possible locations of things.
#16
I see, the "That rock wasn't there when I went past awhile ago", idea.
I also think I may have an idea for a name--"Crosshairs"
09/25/2004 (6:12 pm)
Quote:
Then it'd be too easy to detect hidden players. It'll already be hard enough once players start to familiarize themselves with the maps and the possible locations of things.
I see, the "That rock wasn't there when I went past awhile ago", idea.
I also think I may have an idea for a name--"Crosshairs"
#17
The best part about sniping is picking off a large percentage of the enemy team rapidly. If the enemy team is also snipers (or other stealth characters) then this sort of event will be rare. Also, it's great to snipe, but terrible to be sniped. If the gameplay is mostly sneaking or waiting for 5 minutes to face about a 50% chance of being shot by an unseen sniper (and then repeating the process) - it will get frustrating fast.
These two factors lead me towards a single-player design for a sniping game. You could be the guy in the nest back at base making important shots to help your AI team take control zones from the entrenched enemy.
Actually, multiplayer could work well with a hybrid of these ideas. Each player is a sniper backing up a team of 15 AI soldiers. Your AI team works to control zones (maybe based on your commands) while you snipe from afar.
In any event, I think it's important that there be bots on the field to receive sniper bullets. This way there isn't a 1:1 ratio of satisfying kills:frustrating deaths.
10/01/2004 (11:07 am)
I really like the idea you came up with of having rifles drop radiation when fired. That's a great way to keep snipers looking for new positions after taking advantage of a good one for a short while.The best part about sniping is picking off a large percentage of the enemy team rapidly. If the enemy team is also snipers (or other stealth characters) then this sort of event will be rare. Also, it's great to snipe, but terrible to be sniped. If the gameplay is mostly sneaking or waiting for 5 minutes to face about a 50% chance of being shot by an unseen sniper (and then repeating the process) - it will get frustrating fast.
These two factors lead me towards a single-player design for a sniping game. You could be the guy in the nest back at base making important shots to help your AI team take control zones from the entrenched enemy.
Actually, multiplayer could work well with a hybrid of these ideas. Each player is a sniper backing up a team of 15 AI soldiers. Your AI team works to control zones (maybe based on your commands) while you snipe from afar.
In any event, I think it's important that there be bots on the field to receive sniper bullets. This way there isn't a 1:1 ratio of satisfying kills:frustrating deaths.
#18
The big way I thought of countering this, which I'm still working on, is not having deaths perse, unless you're shot at a short range. Think of a sort of "soul stealing" scenerio, when you can't make a player respawn unless his stamina is at zero, and you're nearby - not necessarily touching, but not so far as to make it abusable. Otherwise, when you "die," you run out of stamina and are forced to stop for a couple of seconds. After this, you can get up and move around normally, although you can't use your stamina, which means you can't run or use energy weapons or concentrate while zooming or change shapes or anything like that. Maybe, you also have a harder time swinging around weapons (it's slower). Of course, this only lasts long enough to let you get out of fire, or what have you.
10/01/2004 (8:10 pm)
I'm actually heavily anti-sniper in most games, since having fun as one relies so heavily on someone else not having fun - just having waves of players run by you so you can have target practice.The big way I thought of countering this, which I'm still working on, is not having deaths perse, unless you're shot at a short range. Think of a sort of "soul stealing" scenerio, when you can't make a player respawn unless his stamina is at zero, and you're nearby - not necessarily touching, but not so far as to make it abusable. Otherwise, when you "die," you run out of stamina and are forced to stop for a couple of seconds. After this, you can get up and move around normally, although you can't use your stamina, which means you can't run or use energy weapons or concentrate while zooming or change shapes or anything like that. Maybe, you also have a harder time swinging around weapons (it's slower). Of course, this only lasts long enough to let you get out of fire, or what have you.
#19
And here's an idea to make it more enjoyable for non-snipers... no one-shot kills... if the player has 100% health and gets hit in the body area he'll drop to say 50% (necessitating a second shot to kill), and if he's shot in the head, then he'll drop to 10% (still requires a second shot to kill).
However, there would be one exception, if you shoot sniper who is prone... he'll die in one shot (if it's a clean/accurate shot to the head). That way, in a sniper war, it's more intense... if you get shot, you die and cant re-locate.
Also, include the sun/light reflecting of the scope lens idea (like in FarCry)... so that a regular soldier at least has a chance to find the sniper if he's careful. Also helpful is a tracer line from the bullet... so that you can quickly tell where, approximately, the shot came from.
10/01/2004 (11:19 pm)
The sniper should have an accuracy bar for one thing... so it's not so easy to just aim and shoot instantly. He has to wait for about 5 seconds for maximum accuracy.And here's an idea to make it more enjoyable for non-snipers... no one-shot kills... if the player has 100% health and gets hit in the body area he'll drop to say 50% (necessitating a second shot to kill), and if he's shot in the head, then he'll drop to 10% (still requires a second shot to kill).
However, there would be one exception, if you shoot sniper who is prone... he'll die in one shot (if it's a clean/accurate shot to the head). That way, in a sniper war, it's more intense... if you get shot, you die and cant re-locate.
Also, include the sun/light reflecting of the scope lens idea (like in FarCry)... so that a regular soldier at least has a chance to find the sniper if he's careful. Also helpful is a tracer line from the bullet... so that you can quickly tell where, approximately, the shot came from.
#20
As far as accuracy goes, I'm trying to think of a good example... Maybe... the Goliath tank in UT2K4. You move the reticle, the barrel doesn't line up right away. That's sort of how all the long range weapons will be. The most powerful ones will have limitations like that. I've always thought that limiting powerful weapons by making them drain all your energy or take away your life or something is asinine - they need to be harder to use, not have more penalties.
Only one or two weapons will have the capacity to kill in one hit, and those will either have excessive aiming problems and high radiation output or will require you to fire off three consecutive shots (closest thing to automatic weapons) that each do 1/3 the necessary damage. Things like that. All the long range weapons in the game will do about 50% to 90% damage, each having their own limitations, consisting of ammo/radiation limitatons, aiming problems and energy requirements. The short range weapons will be much easier to use in comparison, although they do much less damage, of course.
Not your typical sniper game.
I was considering the implications of using items like grenades. I've basically ruled out explosives, since they just don't fit, but I'm still considering things like grenades that would increase radiation in an area, or impede movement. Not sure though.
My main concern right now is how well sniping is going to mesh together with players sneaking around near mid-field. They can fool the people around them but they'd have a hard time evading the sight of players at longer ranges. I think keeping those areas enclosed and hard to see from distances will remedy the problem a great deal, and coupled with the aiming problems of strong weapons, it should go away, but I'm not thoroughly convinced about how well the whole idea will mesh together.
Thankfully since I'm working on another game I don't have to worry about it for a long while.
10/02/2004 (3:05 am)
That's the thing - everyone is a sniper and a stealth soldier. I don't want to encourage anyone to just snipe and that's it, but I wouldn't want to make it impossible either. That was the initial concern, which I think has been worked out fairly well.As far as accuracy goes, I'm trying to think of a good example... Maybe... the Goliath tank in UT2K4. You move the reticle, the barrel doesn't line up right away. That's sort of how all the long range weapons will be. The most powerful ones will have limitations like that. I've always thought that limiting powerful weapons by making them drain all your energy or take away your life or something is asinine - they need to be harder to use, not have more penalties.
Only one or two weapons will have the capacity to kill in one hit, and those will either have excessive aiming problems and high radiation output or will require you to fire off three consecutive shots (closest thing to automatic weapons) that each do 1/3 the necessary damage. Things like that. All the long range weapons in the game will do about 50% to 90% damage, each having their own limitations, consisting of ammo/radiation limitatons, aiming problems and energy requirements. The short range weapons will be much easier to use in comparison, although they do much less damage, of course.
Not your typical sniper game.
I was considering the implications of using items like grenades. I've basically ruled out explosives, since they just don't fit, but I'm still considering things like grenades that would increase radiation in an area, or impede movement. Not sure though.
My main concern right now is how well sniping is going to mesh together with players sneaking around near mid-field. They can fool the people around them but they'd have a hard time evading the sight of players at longer ranges. I think keeping those areas enclosed and hard to see from distances will remedy the problem a great deal, and coupled with the aiming problems of strong weapons, it should go away, but I'm not thoroughly convinced about how well the whole idea will mesh together.
Thankfully since I'm working on another game I don't have to worry about it for a long while.
James "Neo" D
This sounds like something I would play. I loved a level from "Deus Ex" where I basically had to snipe at the enemy from a rooftop.
I thought of doing a "Sniper Mission" mod called "Operation Eagle Eye".