Game Design Tips for First Person Shooter Designers

First person shooters (FPS) are one of the standard computer game genres. After the phenomenal success of Doom, many companies tried this type of game. Today there are single player first person shooters, multiplayer combat first person shooters, multiplayer cooperative first person shooters and all of the above come in both direct combat and multiplayer based forms of combat. in the plot Some of the first person shooters are about problem solving, some about stealth, and some about getting the BFG-9000 to create as many bodies as possible.

The tasks of a game designer in these types of games are to determine the direction the game will take, create the setting, and increasingly create the tools to allow players to modify the game, adding their own content or even replacing everything but the game. game engine with a completely different look.

The game designer must struggle with realism. This comes in two flavors. One is the type seen in the US Army, where the goal is to replicate reality well enough to serve as a recruiting and training tool. You can’t carry a zillion weapons and you can’t run across an open field at a hundred enemy soldiers and kill them with impunity. The other is basically an attempt to do the slasher genre of movies, only more so. Blood and flesh fly from the bodies with each impact, leaving stains on the walls and floors. Bullet holes are stitched into the walls and the drums explode when hit. It is the latter form of realism that receives the most complaints.

There are critics who try to link FPS games to murder, and almost any very violent action will be scrutinized for a link to a computer game. Dealing with those kinds of challenges is for lawyers and scientists, rather than game designers. The end of the game design problem is knowing why you are designing to serve a specific market. If the game is meant to appeal to adults who like dark comedy about gruesome death, blood and meat will likely be needed. If you’re producing a game about hunting cartoon creatures, that would be a mistake.

The game designer must determine the objectives of the game. Some are puzzles, where the player tries to learn enough to solve some mystery. Some are tactical games in which battle drills are selected, practiced, and used as needed. Others try to get some MacGuffins.

A growing feature in FPS games in interactivity. Classic examples of the genre featured a single player who would do it all, with computer controlled enemies. Later games provided multiplayer modes where humans battled each other. Then it became possible to cooperate in team play, and even later, reasonable computer-controlled allies were available for a player to direct and influence. It’s now normal for a first-person shooter to be built around online play in at least some form, with many games providing support for both single-human computer play and multiplayer online gaming.

In many ways, the FPG game designer faces one of the most difficult challenges. That’s because they need to be able to take a genre with so many stereotypes and so much public opposition, and create something unique that stands out and commands attention in the marketplace.