[et:qw]: "non violence" mod idea

(nUllSkillZ) #1

ATM I’m thinking of a mod with a constructive gameplay (actually all war games are destructive - that’s the nature of war).

Background of these thoughts:
Here in germany a discussion is going on about violent games.
So I thought it could be a good idea that games could also be used to encourage teamplay in a constructive way.

Yesterday I had the idea to create some kind of “life saving game”.
With fire fighters, medics, and engineers.
There should also be AI controlled civillians that the team has to rescue.

Situations could be fires, earthquake’s, volcano’s, high water etc.
The scenario would be picked up randomly during the beginning (first minutes) of the map.
May be also combinations to keep the team under pressure.

I’ve seen some RTS like games with this game play.
Not sure if a non-violent FPS game with this game play would be played.

BTW what’s so fascinating about (virtual) violence?

(Ifurita) #2

OMG FPS SimCity

(iwound) #3

Virtual Fire-men.
Special weapon - big hose.

I think this would fall into the realm of team based arcade game.
But who is the opposition making life hard for your team.
Maybe a rival rescue team.

(carnage) #4

i think you might have something in the way that virtually all first person games are about shooting the other team when it seems other styles of play have barely been explored. thief is a good example of how a first person game doesn’t have to be all about getting head shots

however i think your ideas could use a bit of work. i don’t think players would get the same exitment when taking on some AI simulated task like putting out a fire. it just doesn’t have the unpredictability of fighting a real opponent

(signofzeta) #5

Maybe if you put hard work into that mod, maybe the government will use it as a training tool.

(Dr_Tenma) #6

Interesting mod idea, first of all. For some reason, the first thing that pops in my mind for a “constructive game” is that old puzzle game Pipe Dreams =P.

I agree with these other guys though, “carebear” style gameplay isn’t as popular for online play - it doesn’t have to be violent, but some degree of competition makes things interesting. Have you ever played a console version of Tetris (or some other puzzle games, like Bust-a-Move) on 2P versus mode? When you do a big combo move, it drops a bunch of blocks/rows/bubbles onto your opponent’s side. Or like the Warcraft 3 Tower Wars custom maps, where you buy NPC monsters to run through the opposite team’s tower maze, and they do the same to you. I think that might be a decent model of indirect competition for this…

I don’t know if it would destroy the core of your idea, but what I’m thinking is that two teams are on 2 separated sections of a map. They each play a rescue team with disasters to deal with, but when one team accomplishes their objectives it causes disasters to spring up on the other team’s side. In effect, the two team races each other in efficiency and/or try to indirectly overwhelm each other.

(SniperSteve) #7

see who can shoot healing salve out of their heal-guns the most to be the winner!

(Sir. Darth_Master) #8

Sandbox QW FTW :shock:

(carnage) #9

just brainstorming some ideas for a potential W:ET map and came across this idea when searching the net for other people map ideas

there idea was though when watching the film titanic and they wanted to make a map where the aim was to escape. a actual version of this may not be in a ship but in some environment where the players are most likely against the clock and in a race to escape with scores awarded on time to escape and perhaps other bonus sub objectives that could have big score rewards but put the player at risk of not getting out in time… e.g. downloading research data from a PC in a locked room

my interpretation of this idea would be perhaps the reversal of this where two or even more rescue teams (most likely of a small number of players… 3 or 4) get into a map and bring back objectives or injured people etc

however when you consider the overall lack of shooting this leaves relay only movements to overcome obstacles and i cant see that being too challenging. so something like zip lines and ropes etc would probably have to be implemented so players can navigate a much more hazardous environments. other obstacles like fire, water, radiation, dangerous chemicals etc that can be overcome or avoided would make it more interesting

i keep coming back to the disaster on the ship idea where just you and your team stand in a dark corridor of a ship knee deep in water and rising, every second you stand working out what to do next the ship is tipping and soon the corridor will be to steep to climb back out of

major flaws i can see is that since there is no dynamic opponent making your life hard to maps soon become easy to learn then the game play becomes repeating the same actions for each map. if maps could be generated from mapper build components (rooms etc) so they are different every time it would be better

other flaw is that one team might “sabotage” them other by blocking them or cutting there ropes etc. to overcome this a q4 tourney style could be used where both teams are playing there own individual copies so cant influence the other team(s). or all players are part of the same bigger team and divided into sub rescue teams to tackle there own objectives. players can be scored on. individual success > squad success > overall team success. this also allows the option for a squad to them self become injured and stranded and request help from another squad

there are lots and lots of potential things a game like this could use in many more ways then a conventional shooter could e.g. flares could be dropped to check the drop of a tunnel or colors used to signify danger, safety, supplies. extraction points or even just to provide light for a player

(nUllSkillZ) #10

Wow, very nice ideas.
Thnx very much for the suggestions.

I think to have some kind of competition the maps could be mirrored.
With the same objectives for both teams.

Objectives (combinations of objectives) should be created ramdomly at mapstart.
So you never will know what objectives will be played.

(Ifurita) #11

Or you spawn team members from 2 teams in random locations and they have to 1) regroup and 2) be the first team to the goal. The competitive slant might be that actions of one team (opening a door and flooding a section) might block off other routes for the other team.

(nUllSkillZ) #12

The progress of both teams could be broadcasted in look like TV news shows.

(mortis) #13

You could make a UN mod, where you place sanctions on “rogue countries”. You could run around networking and making contacts, defusing bombs, conducting nuclear inspections, disabling enrichment equipment, etc.

Ah well, that idea is too preposterous to be true! :wink:

(Hakuryu) #14

I’m pretty sure I saw a paramedic or firefighter game at Best Buy in the value software area.

I thought about doing a non-violent mod also, but in a different way. Instead of removing the battle, just change it.
Backyard Warriors is the temp name I gave it. It pits two teams of children in a neighborhood against each other, played around houses and the (blocked off) street, the children use items such as water balloons, hoses (like a deployed mg-by spigots), kickballs, water guns, and even snowballs in a winter themed map. Instead of dieing, when hit by several enemies the child will be ‘out’ and transported back to their house (to spawn again).

I hadn’t thought much about gameplay, but I think the houses on the street locale lends itself well to some sort of capture and advance gametype. Even an ET style gameplay might work… build the launch ramp to use a skateboard to jump high and get the frisbee out of the tree.

I find it interesting to hear new ideas like this…anyone else got any different ideas?

(stephanbay) #15

We will kill people with firefighter water injection :stuck_out_tongue:

(Flesh) #16

War between children? :o

puts bullying in a whole new perspective

(]UBC[ McNite) #17

The whole “killer games” discussion in Germany is overrated. Only politicians with no idea what they r talking about and nothing else to do (which is REAL sad looking at the latest ecological reports) can get such ideas IMO.
The 2 last incidents with ramboing pupils were clearly cases of social rejects or feeling-rejected’s, and luckily the last one didn’t even use any legal guns (else there would be another sad discussion on weapon-laws again).

Anybody starting to even discuss the subject of “killer games” should get a life.

About the water-guns: we used 50ccm syringes for that purpose at school: strong waterbeam and reliable aim at about 10m :lol: 8) :lol:

(igl) #18

I am from germany aswell, i think the whole debate (again) is reactionary talk, by some clowns who like their names in the newspapers.
We already have the right laws, but if they don’t want to earn taxes on the rest of them anymore… ^^ I buy uk imports only alrdy.

(carnage) #19

I thought about doing a non-violent mod also, but in a different way. Instead of removing the battle, just change it.
Backyard Warriors is the temp name I gave it. It pits two teams of children in a neighborhood against each other, played around houses and the (blocked off) street, the children use items such as water balloons, hoses (like a deployed mg-by spigots), kickballs, water guns, and even snowballs in a winter themed map. Instead of dieing, when hit by several enemies the child will be ‘out’ and transported back to their house (to spawn again).

although its arguably a non violent game its not exactly a um… very different style of game to any other shooter with the exception that when u lose you “out” and not “killed”

i think the point of this thread is to discus the possibilities for a non violent games and not cosmetics to make our current games more “PC”

(Hakuryu) #20

You never had snowball fights or water balloon fights when you were a kid in your neighborhood? We may have called it war, but it was just fun.

Although using a hose on someone can be violent (riot control), I’m talking about how we played as children. If someone hit you with a water balloon or sprayed you with a hose you didn’t cry… you tried to get the other kid wet and had fun.

I only mentioned ET to give an idea of how the game might play. Perhaps I should have mentioned Mario with water balloons. I’m not talking about a childs ET, but rather a childs game that uses elements from a shooter in a non-violent way if that makes sense… it’s early :stuck_out_tongue: