Realism, consoles, two trunks. Or why in shooters they give you only two guns.
Imagine the situation: you are rushing along the doom corridors, Teat the heads of the demons with your super-shower, then grab a rifle with an eye to smash a cakodemona. After that you land and notice a mankubus in front of you, the cartridges are in a shotgun, that in a rifle ended, but it doesn’t matter, because you have a bazuka. It was more precisely … After all, this is a doom from a parallel universe, in which the player can carry only two guns.
It is difficult to imagine such a modern doom, true? But if he came out during the wild popularity of “limited” shooters, he could be like that.
One of the recent blogs covered a claim to Bioshock Infinite, namely the very notorious mechanics, not allowing the player to wear more than two trunks. Why at some point the developers decided that to give the player only two types of weapons is cool? And why this decision became so popular? Today we will try to figure out what is the cause of this phenomenon and whether it is justified?
In the beginning there was a word and the word was – Halo.
And indeed, if you try to find the first game that used such a mechanics, then it was Halo. Mr. Chif’s cosmic adventures are rich in arsenal, but he is limited only by two slots. And the player either has to juggle with all the trunks that fall into his hands, or find the optimal combination and go through the game with it.
Some alien trunks are made in such a way that they have a strictly limited number of charges, because of which they will not be able to use for a long time and, most likely, you will throw them out immediately after the start of the battle. Some kind of illusion of vast inventory.
Limited gamepads
Why so? Here we get to The first theory of the occurrence of a limited arsenal is the absence of hot keys in gamepads. And, it seems, it is true when you play a PC, there are digital keys at hand, and, accordingly, the ability to switch the weapon at any time with a quick movement of the hand. The controllers do not have so many buttons, and it is not very convenient to scroll through the inventory with constant jamming, especially if you play a score or dynamic game in which you have a minimum time to reaction. So it turns out that switching a weapon to a conditional “triangle” is simply conveniently convenient.
But, stop. But what about the wheel of weapons, you ask you? And you will be right. Many games already use mechanics in which you clamp the button and with the help of the stick select the barrel you need. It turns out Halo developers simply did not think of this? I doubt.
Weapon wheels in: 1 – doom;2 – far Cry 4;3 -Red Dead RedMption;4 – GTA V/
Weapon wheels in: 1 – doom;2 – far Cry 4;3 -Red Dead RedMption;4 – GTA V/
Weapon wheels in: 1 – doom;2 – far Cry 4;3 -Red Dead RedMption;4 – GTA V/
Weapon wheels in: 1 – doom;2 – far Cry 4;3 -Red Dead RedMption;4 – GTA V/
A similar wheel is perfectly used in the GTA, Far Cry, Doom and many others games. If you take the Thy Doom, we will see the most competent implementation of this mechanics: when the weapon is opened, the time around the executioner of the rock if it does not freeze, then it moves very slowly, which allows you to choose the desired barrel without the loss of precious CP. But you can also switch between the current and previous barrel just by pressing the button, so as not to lose in the dynamics. What prevented me from doing so in Duke Nukem Forever, which was recently in the parsing of flights? There were also complaints about the fact that Duke was carrying only two guns with him. Of course, if you have checked the settings from the beginning of the game, then you can increase the capacity of as many as four trunks, but this does not change the situation much.
POV: You ride a radio -controlled typewriter, hold a shotgun with one hand, but you can’t wear more than two guns.
More realism is needed?
Maybe The point is the desire to give the game more realism – the second theory of a limited arsenal. I beg you with what realism in Duke Nukem? This is a classic Shutan, in which, first of all, a cool sensation of shooting is important, and not the realism of the physical capabilities of the protagonist. If this is really realism, then why not cut out of the game Rampage Mode after a jar of a beer? Suppose, in the case of Duke, a puncture just went out and back to Halo.
The distant future, space, extraterrestrial technologies, was it really impossible to come up with any levitizing holster so that the third barrel simply flew nearby? But this is a pickup.
I do not deny that all of the above is exclusively subjectively, but you can also make a limited arsenal organic. Take Max Payne 3. In it, they approached the creation of realism extremely responsibly. Когда главный герой слышит речь на иностранном языке, игрок не увидит субтитров и скорее всего не поймет, о чем был диалог, ведь как и Макс не знает этого языка. The interaction with the weapon also looks realistic: the protagonist has two holsters in which he wears pistols and two hands to hold the gun more. If there is a need to grab the pistols, if you are good to drop a long -barrel, and then pick up if you need it so much. Well, or carry an automatic machine in your hand, but there will be an opportunity to shoot only one pistol. Realism? Realism. And the fact is that realism is justified. Hero Mah Payne is the most human person.
And Captain Chif from Halo, although a person (or rather, the super -soldier, charged in the most), but chained in fantastic armor, and he is in a fantastic universe, in which an arsenal could be increased.
Another example of justified realism is The Last of Us series. The main characters are people who are simply physically at the beginning of the game are not able to carry more than two weapons with them. But in the course of action, the player can purchase various holsters and already wear 4 trunks.
That in the first, that in the second part, the heroes wear guns exclusively in holsters or on the back. No invisible pockets in GTA style.
That in the first, that in the second part, the heroes wear guns exclusively in holsters or on the back. No invisible pockets in GTA style.
The Bioshock series of games, which has already been mentioned today today, gives a large scope for reflection on the subject of the blog. In the third part, the booker wears only two trunks and a whole wheel of plasmids, with which he literally jugles on the arenas. Suppose this is done for greater realism, because, in fact, plasmids are chosen by the power of thought and do not require anything to “transfer” them in ourselves, so we can choose any of them at the right time. But the guns still have weight, and therefore in this part of the series their number is limited. Is it necessary and how good the choice was to abandon the wheel of weapons from the first and second parts – the question is controversial. After all, most likely, the player will choose one combination and will be 80% of the game with it, and you can try all weapons only if you try to perform acuks. But, from the point of view of realism, this approach takes place to be.
From here the conclusion asks: that the decision to make a limited arsenal out of the desire to add games more realistic is not always justified.
Try to get a bell out.
Well then, for sure The case is the third theory of a limited arsenal. Consider it on one of my favorite shooters – Legendary, in which part -time the player’s arsenal is also limited by two firearms and one near -fight weapons (in which the ax is located).
Disclaimer: I have never been engaged in the balance of games, so I will judge purely from the logical side of the layman.
Let’s start. We have a typical first -person https://gamesnotongamstop.co.uk/ shooter, which in the tenths came out, judging by the sensations, packs. And immediately from realism. Suppose our main character is endowed with the power of a standard man and cannot carry a bunch of trunks with him at the same time. But to carry a rocket launcher, which is about the size of it, a machine gun and a fire ax in addition to him does not cause problems. GG has the ability to restore HP due to the absorption of the souls of opponents. Then what is the problem to just bring more blanks and give the player a complete arsenal of weapons? After all, more enemies per square meter increase the average damage received by our hero, as well as the volume of cartridges necessary for stripping opponents. So, the player simply needs to use all the guns lying in his inventory. Although, perhaps, due to the fact that all the weapons in the game are boring and is not distinguished by any effects except rate of fire and damage, and so not a very interesting shooting process would be just nudyatina. Plus, most likely, interest in the battle with fantastic monsters would have disappeared completely. The griffins that have become a visiting card of the game, and with two guns in the pocket, did not cause problems, completely from the word. And with a full arsenal, they would even become bags for bullets.
In order for the entire arsenal to be justified and interesting, there must be different types of enemies against which certain guns are effective. But again, this complicates the task of gamemeraduers and people involved in balance. After all, you need to calculate which ligaments of enemies can be in the same arena, how many enemies are optimal and so on. It is much easier to make mobs susceptible to the same damage, and just set the limit on two trunks.
We summarize
And now we collect all the facts together and try to draw a conclusion.
The player wears two guns only because of the absence of hot keys on the gamepads? – No. If this decision was originally made because of a similar reason, then it has already been proven a thousand times that we can make a choice of a large amount of weapons convenient.
The player wears two guns only because this gives the game more realism? – not always. There are famous examples when this mechanic really added games to the feeling of realism. But otherwise, this only reduces the capabilities of the project, forcing the player to be within the established framework.
The player wears two guns only because it is so easier to get a game of the game? – a difficult question that requires a commentary on a specialist who is able to tell for the game balance (well, or your opinion in the comments). From logical reasoning it is clear that in some moments such a solution simplifies the game balance and is able to hide the shortcomings and the meager “bestiary” of opponents. Implement the entire arsenal in shooters is not easy and requires great efforts, temporary and monetary resources, which not all companies can afford.
The player wears two guns only because this is a convenient design move, which has found success in large projects? – This is the option I adhere to. Seeing the success of Halo using this mechanics, the studio picked up this trend and used it in their projects, and then the chain reaction. The number of successful genre projects with one mechanics gives rise to a bunch of feeding projects with the same mechanics.
Now the Julesheurus genre (and especially in the first person) is not as popular as in the 10th year, and in our time, in order not to be known as a second-rate shooter, the developers are trying to come up with new mechanics, against which the hero of the game wears is no longer so important.
The best comments
Somehow spread a lot of thought in the tree. =)
But, stop. But what about the wheel of weapons, you ask you? And you will be right. Many games already use mechanics in which you clamp the button and with the help of the stick select the barrel you need. It turns out Halo developers simply did not think of this? I doubt.
In vain you doubt it. Look at the dates – when there was Halo, and when the wheel of selection of weapons was popularized. When things are invented, they naturally seem obvious. Well, then, as copy/imitation said. =)
If you still remember games, where the restriction in 2 trunks was extremely superfluous, then it immediately comes to mind Bulletstorm. A game about various methods of murder limited these very possibilities.
As for the first appearance of restrictions on 2 types of weapons, I can recall the Robocop VS Terminator 1993 on the Sega Megadrive 16-bit. And there it is apparently a deliberate gam-design solution, since often the choice of weapons in the “shooters” of those years was not limited to the choice of 2 trunks.
The wheel of selection of weapons and skills appeared relatively recently. So that before, most likely, they simply did not think of it (as they already wrote above).
About realism – I agree. Such a solution may be caused by the desire for realism. But sometimes a causal relationship can be the opposite-we are slipped by a restriction on 2 trunks and motivate this with a desire for realism.
Regarding the fact that it is easier to get a game of the game – it may well be. But on the other hand, in many shooters with a normal selection of weapons, you can shoot from everything in a row, and the player, meanwhile, runs up with a couple of the most favorite trunks.
Just a convenient designer move? It may also well be. But again, how often are games with a similar restriction now? If anything, the question is not rhetorical, I thought.
Personally, I am most inclined to the first option, as the most likely. Well, in some cases, to the stop for realism.
And Shadow The Hedgehog is so hardcore that only one weapon can be carried with you! XD
Very interesting reasoning. I thought about it myself, and now what conclusion I came. Bungie could have several reasons to use two types of weapons in Halo.
Firstly, as already mentioned, they could simply not reach the idea of the arms wheel. The first game to use the wheel I used was Mass Effect (for which the shooting gameplay, in fact, is not the main thing), and it came out five years after Halo if I remember correctly. After all, Halo is the first completely three -dimensional console shooter, if I remember correctly, at least one of the first. Creativity for this just could not stay
Secondly, perhaps they did not want to bring down the dynamics of the battle. The selection of weapons on the wheel takes much more time than a simple button press. Yes, and the battles in Halo are quite tense, the enemies are very well -aimed, and spending time on it would be unpleasant
Thirdly, this may be due to the presence of multiplayer in Halo. In any match in the shooter, every second is critical, especially when a certain skill has developed. And the need to spend precious seconds on switching a weapon could annoy the players, so the option “one button – two weapons” could be more logical for them.
But again, how often are games with a similar restriction now?
If you take a classic shooter in its direct sense, then not often. But the same Call of Duty, Battelfield, roofs by the type of Areh, still use. The Top Shuters 2020 runs, in the pen of Disintegration. I didn’t hear anything about the game, but it also has two guns in it. (Not one at all, but sometimes the second barrel is given).
The listed games are multiplayer projects (Pvpwe disintegration, as far as I remember). And literally a comment above they wrote that in PVP this option is better suited so as not to waste time on the wheel. It seems to me, there is not even so much a matter in the wheel, but that there is no more than 2 trunks for PVP, usually.
It so coincided that the commentary was written above while I wrote mine)).
I agree that for multiplayer projects it is more convenient.
As always a very cool blog on a very uninhabited topic. Thank you)
Well, for the link by itself
Great game, I remember how I was firing when choosing a weapon. So I did not want to throw away a sniper rifle with controlled bullets). But there it was leveled by various methods of murders and an outrageous action.
By the way, then Duke was brought to the game, but the opportunity to switch at least between 4 trunks is not.
Duke did something? Or it was an ordinary skin?
Yes, because 1 for the enemy, the 2nd for a girlfriend!
The bottom line is that you are forced to use trophies. Ammunition for the main modular gun stupidly on all enemy steel, chitin and scaly snouts simply lack.
So it turns out that switching a weapon to a conditional “triangle” is simply conveniently convenient.
It’s not just convenient. This does not destroy the dynamics of what is happening. You yourself write about it below.
If you take the Thy Doom, we will see the most competent implementation of this mechanics: when the weapon is opened, the time around the executioner of the rock if it does not freeze, then it moves very slowly, which allows you to choose the desired barrel without the loss of precious CP. But you can also switch between the current and previous barrel just by pressing the button, so as not to lose in the dynamics.
When choosing a weapon through the wheel, you are pulled out of what is happening and transports you to a relatively safe place where you spend a certain amount of time, choosing the right weapon, and the game at this time is paused or, as in the case of DOOM, will slow down.
In Last of US, as I remember, in battle you switch between the chosen weapon with a single or double pressing to the cross to the left or right. The game does not stop at the same time, the enemies do not freeze, you are still in danger. And the change of chosen weapons is not so fast and requires a safe atmosphere around the player.
Or take Control. There is essentially one weapon on which the shooting modes change. The weapon changes the firing mode between the two selected button. From the player it is required to just in the pause menu choose the two shooting modes that he likes. Your cartridges are endless and the same for all shooting modes. There are no enemies that require a certain shooting regime. And from this moment before the player wants to change these firing modes, or before he passes the game, not a single shootout will slow down and stop. The player is just in battle with one button to switch two weapons modes.
And besides dynamics, the wheels have still problems. They became multi -level. In the same Farcry, the inventory with buffs is at 2 wheel levels. In RDR2 tonics at 2 levels, and horse -level items are at 3 level. The choice of the right weapon in GTA 5 is generally quiet horror, if you reason. You need not only to enter the category of weapons, but then also to the cross -cut to the desired trunk. And all this is so due to the fact that the wheel has a restriction on 8 positions. And it turns out that a convenient wheel in doom only because there is a choice of 8 trunks. And in Eternal, due to the addition of one powerful weapon, they threw out the gun and put BFG in his place, so that later, when you got Unmaykr, you can get it by selecting BFG and switching the shooting mode on it. And except as a crutch, I can’t call it.
There is a funny situation. Duke replaces the Glaveroa, but all this is ignored. What he is constantly reacting to.
I also remembered the republic of commando, which also recently reached the blogs, where there was the main multifunctional gun and auxiliary “trophy”. And it seems to be even in the subject, but the game was destroyed by the constant deficit of charges to the basis.
I longly drove into the republic and already weakly remember, but it seems that there, the gun was something like unknown swords in the first witcher. It seems to be there but no one uses them. Unless the Drobash was such a trivial one if I remember everything correctly