I’m not sure what got me thinking about this but I know that a lot of players are really interested in different types of weapons. I’m not. I’ll take whatever the mapper gives me and use that.
I wonder if players would like more “load-out” style rooms before certain sections of mods. I understand that it gives mods some replay value by adding more variables but just feels too artificial for me.
Many players download and install weapon replacements for various reasons, but I’ve never really done that. Very few SP mods focus on weapons and I think that’s the right decision. Giving players the choice seems wrong to me.
What do you think?
The Poll
Players often know the difference in power of a crowbar, a pistol, a smg and a rifle, but sometimes some visual differences may do all the difference. Think of it like Counter-Strike: There are always 2 or 3 weapons that have the same power, but making it visualy different will give the player some sense of reallity. Even in a mafia group people wouldn’t use the same type of weapon ever and ever.
I think mods should come with something like a random model choose to the weapons. Making the weapons limited is like having only 4 scientist models in Half-Life. You can make with it like that, but some replacements would give a much better feeling.
There’s a difference between giving them control and having replacement skins. I am talking about letting the players actually choose what types of weapons to take into various situations, rather than just giving them what you, the modder, wants them to have.
For me weapons should be tied to playstyles. Though in terms of HL series mods. They tend to focus on one style of play. Therefor the weapon selection is boring. If a mod could offer you the ability to play stealthy. So you could have a choice of silienced weapons and knives. Be in your face Gung-Ho. So offer shotguns and automatic rifles.
The thing I like most about games like Fallout 3 etc. Is that I can choose a game style and have weapon choices to match that. HL mods are about getting from A to B with only 1 route and very limited weapon selection for that route.
Also I didn’t vote as I don’t think my views fit into the voting options.
Answered no but sometime I really miss the crowbar.
I think, if a player has the choice of choosing his/her weapon, he/she will always choose his/her favorite weapon, even if he/she knows that there is less variety and less fun while playing…
However, this is what Valve took care of in L4D2, by forcing the player to change weapons more frequently.
The weapon choice belongs to the mapper in singleplayer stuff. Also the style of the weapons change the feel of the map and the experience…
I wanted to go in more depth, but now I’ve become too lazy. I bet the people above me wrote some more constructive stuff! 🙂
I think that weapons are an important aspect of level designing: where to introduce them, where to provide ammo, how to use them. It’s important to place the right weapons both for strategy and to add tension and difficulty to the map. Whilst it may be that the player wants lots of weapons, it can be disastrous to overpower them, as this can not only remove any drama, but can also make players completely ignore the story/dialogue and plough on (especially relevant in story-based mods).
Take Research and Development: the only weapons were the gravity gun and bug bait. If these had been misplaced, it would have ruined the whole mod. It’s something of a unique thing, but the weapons were meant as something of a challenge to get before being able to use them, adding both to the plot and the gameplay. But then again, in HL2, if you’d gotten the pistol earlier on, it would have ruined the beginning of the game as I’ll bet most people would just kill all the cops. Not having weapons for that part, then slowly building up your arsenal was an important part of the game.
I will wind up wanting the same HL2-based weapons pretty much whenever I play anything. Counterstrike confused the hell out of me, so whenever I play scifi hardwired, I pretty much always choose the hl2 weapons over the “more MORE MOAR!” of the css stuff.
So I don’t mind at all when I’m given a limited choice. Hopefully it means that the modder has put some thought into what I’ll be going up against and placed them accordingly.
I just generally prefer to have the weapons in the game be something I have to personally obtain through the course of the game. The weapons you should have should have reasons for you having them, there should be a story(even if not a complex one) behind why they are where they are, and obstacles to overcome in getting access to them.
So basically, both and neither. The mapper decides what overall weapons I have access to, but I also like the option to bypass weapons if I just don’t feel like picking them up. just knowing that part of it is my choice is plenty for me.
I think weapons should be mostly up to the mapper. It’s all about balance. A map can be thrown out of whack if you give the player too much or too little armament. Most fpss dole out their weapons carefully and at very specific moments for a very good reason. They’re part of a reward and of the challenge of the map.
But hey if blazing through the level with an infinite ammo minifun is your thing. Why not?
Well I love weapons, but I never had done that, just download more skin or weapon replacements, just seems stupid to me, waste of precious MB, I love NEW weapons in mods cause to me that’s what show kind of the inovative aspects of the maper, but I mean the developer, I thnk he should control that aspect…
The weapons aren’t that of all that much importance to me in a mod. I’m far more concerned with a good solid story line and well constructed environments to better accommodate game-play immersion. Although custom weapons and swapping out can be fun, I don’t find it necessary The weapons on hand will do just fine.
Voted no if the mapper is good and provides weapons as needed.
The mapper should be in control of the weapons.
To take down a gunship, you need the RPG and the ammo” box. OK, put them somewhere where the player get some hits; that’s fine with me.
No RPG until needed.
Then, you can have some fun watching the Combine fly through the air 🙂
On the other hand, when the weapons needed are not provided, yes.
It can take a while and get very boring to take out a hunter, say, with the little pistol.
Thing with ‘load out” rooms, as you call them, it invariably warns me that the crap is about to hit the fan, so in some ways, they are actually a spoiler, though of course, you’d have no chance without them….
I personaly, think that weapon placement should be strictly contolled by the mappers. weapon loadout rooms are kinda unweildy.
I didn’t vote because I honestly can’t decide, I really think it depends what the aim of the map/mod is. I mean sometimes a certain weapon would just break a section, or distract the player from trying out a new ability (e.g. end of HL2 with the super Gravity Gun), but then if you look at a game like Dead Rising, it kind of demands that you give the player tons of weapons to play with, cuz that’s the point, killing zombies, although bizarrely they make it a massive pain in the backside to manage it all, where as say Mortwood Plaza looks like it’s doing it the right way.