Farcry 3

[Art Blade]

The HitMan game series makes use of winter and polar settings in two missions over two sequels. Was fun :)

[mmosu]

Yeah it did, and those missions were fun because they were different, but there was just not the level of environmental interaction I was hoping for there.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE me some Hitman, but Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4 are still the only two games I have played that I felt did even a half decent job of bringing the effects of a cold environment into the gameplay. 

[Art Blade]

I have one more thing on my wish list: land mines  ;D

Gee, how I'd love to lay them out and trap chasing cars or sneaking mercs with them  :)
Hell, why not water buffalos LOL would make a great random fuse... mercs going to check it out... you and your sniper rifle in their backs :)

[PZ]

I have one more thing on my wish list: land mines  ;D

Speaking of which, have you ever tried running over IEDs to see if they would explode?

[Art Blade]

I had entire arms dealer's mission convoys run over them - harmless as pan cakes. Unless you detonate them remotely. At least I never saw them set off by simply running over them.

[Art Blade]

Just tested it to make sure: they don't blow up. Feels and sounds like driving over a rock :)

[PZ]

That's too bad - would have made great land mines, and lots of fun playing with the ATP mercs!

[Art Blade]

yeah, I always loved games with mines... DukeNukem3D was one of the best, and FEAR(1) was also fun using them. Especially MP :) One of the oldest games was on the C64, RacingDestructionSet, you could pick either oil or mines as "loadout" and drop that on the track, so your opponent would either slip on the oil (and fly off the track) or blow those mines, taking heavy damage. I used to play that on split screen with a friend, for hours  ;D

[RedRaven]

C64 . . . . . now thats going back some! used to have a VIC20 (think it was the poorer cousin of the C64)

[Art Blade]

no, VIC20 was the predecessor of C64 :)

[RedRaven]

cool, simpler times eh

[Art Blade]

C64 was cool when new... three soundchips for music, 1 for sfx, 16 colors, paper and border as seperated coloured backgrounds. Type SYS 64738 as a reset. Peek(addresss) and Poke(address) to manipulate the memory. Oh yes... Back then I was dreaming of a game like FC2 to become real one day... so these are the days :)

[RedRaven]

indeed, now there is that much difference from one persons system to the next they release games early and need to make several patches to finish them off. All good in the end i guess, but sometimes i do miss the sound of a game loading from cassette :)

[fragger]

Peek(addresss) and Poke(address) to manipulate the memory.

:) C64 was my first machine. Peeks and Pokes... I'd forgotten all about that! I used to have a lot of fun with it.
"32K Basic Bytes free". Oh, the heady power...

[Ceres Tauri]

Rico suggested South America higher up.  I could see playing between the CIA, drug cartels, rebels...  You're a merc, so how about giving you the option to roam where you like and complete an ongoing series of missions for whomever you want to w@&k for.  Took so and so bridge already, well the rebels took it back : repeat mission.  Already killed the druglord?  his henchman is now the druglord... SO some could be repeatable if you really want to just grind away for one faction, your choice.

More factions, in other words.

Real faction conflict.  It makes no sense that these guys don't ever shoot at each other.  You should be able to pull some mercs chasing you to their enemy's GP, when you w@&k for one of them.

Your current employer faction should NOT SHOOT YOU!  I know the guy in the GP doesn't know that you switched sides and are working for them now... but sheesh. somebody somewhere should not shoot you.  How about they have to figure out you're working for the enemy or you can roll by unharmed?  They should not be shooting at wandering armed guys like they do in FC2.



Customizable weapons. Another layer of custom.  Not quite where Call of duty is but closer. As you use a particular weapon type you get skilled up in that type and can upgrade that type with silencers, stock, scopes, etc...

[Art Blade]

A friend of mine told me he heard FC3 was about ready...!!! Like in one month's time... got to check that out!

[PZ]

You mean Fedora Core 3?  ;D

[Art Blade]

hehe, just tried to dig up any new information, but there is nothing. He was probably mistaken  :)

[PZ]

Unless he is a fan of Linux, and the term "FC3" means something completely different to him  ;)

[Art Blade]

does his PS3 run on linux? Have to ask him...  ;) ;D No, he isn't - he thought he had read about farcry3 somehwere.

[mmosu]

yeah, that sounds a little too good to be true . . . pitty  :'(

[PZ]

I haven't heard a peep out of Ubisoft lately, but about a year ago their thought was to keep with the African environment because that would simplify production which would lead to a quicker release.

[B33 ENN]

Many of these suggestions have also been proposed by others already, but here's a summary from my own observations playing so far. Much of this occurred to me after I started playing heavily, and compared gameplay to the opening intro where you get taxied in. I expected the 'world' to be like that on the ride in, with civilians as well as mercs involved actively.

(Before I start, just would like to say, the developers have done an amazing job with the game as it is currently. I have done some programming and know it is easy to ask for things, much harder to deliver them. Whatever happens, people get used to the good things fast, and tend to not forgive the things you missed.)

Having said that, it is also necessary to set the bar higher everytime, else we wouldn't have progressed from the "ladders & levels" days to the amazing stuff we have today like Far Cry 2. Graphics engines have come a massive way to where it all began with four colour blocky 2D of yesterday, to photorealistic 3D virtual terrains of today. Physics engines have progressed similarly. However, I think Gameplay engines, although also advancing, are lagging behind somewhat in comparison.

So this list is really intended to be a constructive comment on what the developers could aim for in a potential future release. The way I have tried to set them out, I think, is acheivable for the developers by building on what is already there, given the constraints of time and money enforced by publishers. There is one proviso, I'm taking the PC perspective as they have the power easily in memory storage and processing power. Consoles might not, so it all depends whether FC3 would be a port over from PC to console, or console to PC as has become the norm now (sadly).

Ideas for a future Far Cry release

0. Settings:

   a) Africa again   (Jackal gives a popular encore while on safari)
   b) South-east Asia (Jackal supplies revolutionaries while chilling on beach)*
   c) South America (Jackal supplies drug cartels while cruising on his yacht)*

*Not necessary to change venue in my opinion, but press reviewers would likely punish the developers if they released a new game with the same setting as before.

1. More dynamic Enemy AI:

   a) Different behaviour depending on zone or classification (i.e. checkpoint, mission location, patrols etc)
   b) Difficulty pinpointing your location so precisely after one or few shots, especially from far away.*

*I find right now, that even in the dead of night, hiding in the cliffs, using a sniper, mercs pinpoint me too easily.

2. Different levels of NPC's and game politics:

   a) Civilians (Kill these and lose Underground allies and independent buddies)
   b) Faction 1 (Kill these and gain Faction 2 and Underground allies, make enemy of others in this faction)
   c) Faction 2 (Kill these and gain Faction 1 and Underground allies, make enemy of others in this faction)
   d) Underground (Kill these and gain Faction 1 and Faction 2 allies, make enemy of others in this faction)
   e) Buddies (Independent characters like you, choosing their own side, will ally to you for personal gain)

*Reputation here can be a calculation of how many of each of these types of A.I. you have helped or hindered.

3. Enemy and environmental regeneration:

   a) All man made objects should be destructible. (Even those you need or depend on.)*
   b) Item regeneration times should vary according to type. (Longer for larger, less for smaller.)
   c) Enemy combatants respawn randomly from a min time to max time. (Say 6-12hrs for checkpoints)
   d) Some of largest items (buildings/bridges) cannot be regenerated. (Or need days of game time.)**
   e) Limited reserve supply of enemies. (respawn uses up a limited amount of total enemies)

* Tricky this, but would add a whole new dimension to freedom, you would lose options if you destroyed things you need.
**i.e. checkpoints could take hours to repopulate, buildings days to reappear.

4. Multiple choice dependent story outcomes:

   a) Player interaction of destroy, collect, retrieve or protect results in 4 different logical routes for AI.
   b) Plot history changes with choices player makes. (Tree branch structure leading to many possible endings.)
   c) Choices are mutually exclusive. (You cannot experience all events and missions on one playthrough.)

5. Improved realism:

   a) Bodyshots by bullets cause more damage to enemies unless they are wearing armour.
   c) Health system requires collecting food/drink for longevity every few hours
   d) Player has climbing ability. (Improved through climbing gear purchases)*

*Imagine climbing up a tree and sniping or lobbing grenades! Or reaching the Fort in map 1 by going over the mountains.


6.   Additional vehicles/weapons:

   a) Small armoured vehicle.
   b) Motorbike, or even mountainbike!
   c) Powered glider. (Like an Ultralight, would mean a whole new way of travel and attack)
   d) Parachute ability. (For those special "Milk Tray" man missions :) )
   e) Protective clothing. (To improve player survivability rather than just more syringes and pills.)
   f) Allow weight dependent loadouts rather than fixed slot choices.*
   g) Infra-red goggles (Expensive, but available.)

*i.e. you could decide to load up on just grenades if you are having a particularly bad day and need to vent. :)

7. Additional wildlife:

   a) Predetors (Crocs, lions, hyenas that player must avoid, could even guard map edges)
   b) Non-threatening (Monkeys, girraffes etc along with the ones already present)


9. Game stats and options:

   a) Specific controls for difficulty settings. (Like respawn interval, player damage, enemy damage, health realism etc)
   b) Replace journal with more alive newspaper (Reuban's Daily digest, reports progress of war daily)*

*This changes depending on what you destroyed/defended in missions the previous day. It could also be the tool you use to find your next mission, by hearing how the opposition reacted to the news.

These suggestions would create a more dynamic response to the players character and an "unending" storyline, not to mention reduce the repetitive feel after a few missions. For instance, civilian life goes on all around and can get caught up in fighting resulting in casualties (which effects game politics depending whose side player is currently on, as noted in section 2). Finding and killing the Jackal is possible, but he is heavilly defended and moves around all the time anywhere in the environment. Tracking him is your responsibility, no mission structure will lead you to him by default, only provide location clues.

Player should be able to move around kinda like he does in ceasfire zones through checkpoints unless he acts agressively; OR, player has to stop at checkpoints and produce "papers" or bribes to be allowed through, or fight it out like now. Papers can be won by working with a faction, and only allow passage through their checkpoints. (So or instance, being able to travel freely to different areas of the map requires completion of certain mission winning papers, or collecting bribes.)

Too frequent respawning enemies can remove part of the free roaming openness of the game, especially at checkpoints. Perhaps if the game had a total reserve supply of civilians, buddies and enemies at different difficulty settings, it would add another dimensions to playability and defining your own purpose? As a rough example to illustrate:

Hardest settings = More enemies, less civilians and buddies (i.e. 10,000/1000/1)
Easiest settings = Less enemies, more civilians and buddies (i.e. 1000/10,000/10)

So, theoretically, you could rid the land of all humans and wonder about alone with just the wildlife LOL. But realistically, you don't have the firepower to reach them all.

[GPFontaine]

I think that guard posts should re-spawn based on response to user interaction.

Guard posts are re-populated by soldiers that arrive on trucks and cars from either a central town or a special route into the main map.  The repopulated soldiers aren't called in until someone requests them.

Each guard post has a radio tower for requesting assistance.

Each patrol that scans the roads attempts to check in with guard posts as they drive by.  If a patrol doesn't check in on time, alerts are made and soldiers are called in.  Total time for a guard post being down would be 10-20 minutes depending upon how far away the post is from other posts and patrols.

Also, posts would be rebuilt over a period of 5-10 minutes after the new guards arrived.  Starting with weapons and ending with structural fixtures.

If everything could burn down and remove cover, fire based attacks would be devastating to a guard post.



Also, I would very much like to be able to purchase modern weaponry at a very high cost for import.  This would include goggles with various capabilities:  Infrared, heat, night vision.  In addition, rifles with scopes that can be modified for additional zooming.

[Art Blade]

Interesting stuff there, guys :)  :-X

Nick, I can see the doability argument you were taking into consideration from a programmer's point of view, nice  :-X And I like the ideas. Some already exist, but not all of those are to be found in one game. For example, SimCity and HitMan:BloodMoney both have newspapers that contain elements of what you did, in HM:BM it's basically a summary of your previous mission.