Game based on heart rate


(Lequis) #1

So I write a heck of a lot (as you can see per my history of ridiculously long posts) and I am, not surprisingly, making a game based on heart rate (something I am pretty sure has never been attempted before).

The game premise is very long and I’ve written 32 pages of word on it (no-lifin’ it up, no doubt (not really I just play too many FPSs and happen to write)), but I wanted to get a gamer based opinion on the concept.

Players spawn at a basal 70 heart rate, which can increase based on movement/running, shooting, going prone/standing and instantaneous turn speed (or decrease at the lack thereof). The max heart rate is 200 (adrenaline increases this to 250), the minimum is 30.

Heart rate determines the delay to firing (30seconds divided by heart rate), recoil (more for low heart rate), run/walk speed (slow with low heart rate), jump height (lower with low heart rate), and maybe a few other things (although snipers get bonuses for low heart rates). I literally just made this up, low heart rate bonus: faster regeneration (because you can’t stack everything against campers).

This is sort of counter-intuitive in the sense that heart rate would probably just make you tired, but the game is futuristic and some human evolution could be implied. The point of this was to make the game fast-paced and camping obsolete.

The game also contains a character system (similar to classes in a sense).

Most characters have special abilities. A notable one would be blink (its in other games), where the character “teleports” a not-so-short distance away.
There are others (note: some aspects of the game are hard to program), such as walking through walls (or if you want, bullets), but I don’t feel like listing them all in the case someone does choose to steal my ideas entirely.

The game has a bit more health than usual (definitely not hardcore), though health is based on characters, highest hp is ~4x the lowest.

Also the usual ET damage tables, which I put in more recently, where head does a lot, then neck, then body, while arms/legs receive the lowest.

I was thinking of adding in crippling (like Fallout 3), crits (like TF2), and a lot of other stuff I can’t think about.


(stealth6) #2

isn’t this basically an elaborated stamina system?

And i definately don’t see how this will speed up the gamplay, i see it having the opposite effect. People standing around as not to waste their heartrate, also the defending team has an advantage.


(PSG_Mud) #3

This is kinda difficult to comment on, I will try to think about commenting later.


(signofzeta) #4

I know a great example in which this kind of thing can be used. It can be used by developers who develop horror games. That way, they know when their game is actually scary, and when it is said to be scary, but isn’t (Doom 3).

Or maybe something to monitor frustration level of other online gamers. That would be kind of neat.


(brbrbr) #5

so its “old-good” stamina-based thingy ?
with more complex and thus [appearing like]more realistic implementation ?
with activity itself have impact[of both polarity]on activity[of other kind].
so players may/can/must play more real-life-alike, rather than movei-like-style.
its good then.


(BioSnark) #6

[quote=signofzeta;217013]I know a great example in which this kind of thing can be used. It can be used by developers who develop horror games. That way, they know when their game is actually scary, and when it is said to be scary, but isn’t (Doom 3).[/quote] What’s being discussed is not a heart rate monitor but a purely in game heart rate dynamic. Think the horror game, Call of Cthulhu, (I think that’s the one) with in-game measure of character fear/sanity with negative effects if you let it get too high.

Or maybe something to monitor frustration level of other online gamers. That would be kind of neat.
The L4D ai director tries to estimate stamina/stress for each player if I understand it correctly.

It’s more of the reverse as I understand it. Like a less dramatic and much more realistic form of Max Payne bullet time, where you get faster for being in action (raising your heart rate)

I would also recommend higher accuracy if you’re looking for more realism.

Mine is negative, in regards to multiplayer. Generally speaking, I prefer players to enter combat with a roughly equal chance of winning in terms of gameplay factors. However, that’s just my opinion on how mp pvp should work and I don’t want to discourage you from such a novel idea.


(signofzeta) #7

[quote=BioSnark;217018]What’s being discussed is not a heart rate monitor but a purely in game heart rate dynamic. Think the horror game, Call of Cthulhu, (I think that’s the one) with in-game measure of character fear/sanity with negative effects if you let it get too high.

Remember Blake Stone? It sort of has a similar thing where the health is, but it is kind of fake, where if you live, there are some spikes, and if you die, the bar turns red, and the bar flatlines, but I played blake stone long ago, so I don’t remember that much.


(Lequis) #8

Nah, it’s not stamina, the game incentivises/rewards players for moving by increasing heart rate, thus giving bonuses. Normally stamina would stop a player from running or jumping, this would do the opposite (until stamina kicks in), though there would probably be a perk that eliminates stamina effects.

The major effect of heart rate on combat is its reduction on bullet spread (while increasing shake (Acog/sniper)).

None of this is completely nonsensical because you would run faster/jump higher/react faster/ and control recoil more effectively after warm-ups (increasing heart rate).

Heart rate: (bps=beats per second)

prone (not moving): -3 bps/s
Prone (moving): -2.5 bps/s
Crouching (not moving): -2 pbs/s
Crouching (moving): -1.5 bps/s
Standing: -1.5bps/s
Walking (scoped): -1 bps/s
Walking: -.5 bps/s
Running: +3 bps/s
Shooting: +1 bps/s
Reloading: +0 bps/s
Jumping: +3 beats per jump, +3 beats per landing
Going prone: +3 beats
Standing from Prone: +5 beats
Standing from Crouch: +3 beats
Turning: (based on turn speed) 1 bps/s for 1 sensitivity, 10bps/s for 10 sensitivity.
Being shot: +5 bps per bullet

I made this up on the spot, but the more a player camps the greater his opponents advantage (which ideally will be canceled by the element of surprise the camper has). Thus a players will not feel obliged to camp, as they can have the same K/D either way (and have more fun moving).


(Nail) #9

why not have it controlled by an actual heart monitor


(brbrbr) #10

thats what i mean, guessing about “more realistic” implementation.
like in real life you get boost from adrenaline rush[for example]and from other things and get drawback from same sources.
if SD not make it one-sided effect, it will be okay[like in real life does].

thaats a good idea, as well as other input devices[im previously pointed toward AmBX and TrackIR 5Pro, for example], but point is, this depend number of such peripherals among potential gamers/consumers.
IF Brink will come with such device[in “Deluxe” edition]INSIDE box, this problem can be resolved in root.


(Lequis) #11

In response to Nail:

Although it would be cool because players do get adrenaline rushes when near death etc, it would be an unfair advantage (which most players hate). Then you have technical problems. First, people could hack it. Second, they could more easily attach it to an animal with a naturally high heart rate (ie mice). Even if these factors could be eliminated, players that are lazier would have a higher basal heart rate (because basal heart rate goes down with exercise), so it would actually promote laziness (video games shouldn’t discourage exercise), also adrenaline causes stress on the heart, which shouldn’t be promoted either.

Out of curiosity, was that a serious comment?


(Nail) #12

yes, was serious comment, working with such an input on a non gaming program analyzing heart rate in regards to anxiety provoking activities (ie: high speed manouvering) We found instances of subdued heart rate in high stress situations when people felt themselves “in the groove”


(light_sh4v0r) #13

It could work for singleplayer horror games, where you get a advantage if you remain calm.


(brbrbr) #14

so you can acuse in cheating fellow guys, whose consume TOO MUCH cofee, while gaming ? :slight_smile:
“dirty haxxor !! i saw you in StarBucks !” © Me


(Lequis) #15

No discouragement taken. Your post was very constructive. The main point behind the advantages for movement was to balance out the advantages campers get from surprising their enemies.

Of course there are situations where even campers are caught off guard, but heartrate would primarily be used to balance out the K/D’s of campers and rushers, so no one tactic is superior.


(Lequis) #16

I feel like releasing more random info.

Might as well start with grenades and bullets considering it might take players a while to understand the character special system:

Grenades:

Fragmentation: Travels the furthest distance. Pegs mess up aim and do .1X dmg. Grenades do massive damage in buildings, concrete is just a death trap from pressure burns and shrapnel. When grenades blow up in a room, everything in that room is destroyed (with the exception of a the best character if he has full health)).

EMP: disables/blinds electronics (no vehicles, but there is one player that is affected by this), buffs another player. Direct hit on enemy causes instant EMP on enemy hit.

Nail Bomb-- 30ish nails glued onto a glass bottle, which is filled with gunpowder (can stick)(can get headshots (by randomly fired nail projectiles, which can travel across the map, but getting kills by long distance headshots from a grenade is all down to chance)) tetanus–slows movement (b/c the nails are rusty) (momentary).

Molotov: All objects on map have the potential of being flammable (including entire buildings), Can light enemies on fire if it hits directly or close enough to the feet, damage over time depends on strength of flame, flame stays for a while 10-20 secs, probably can’t do much but you could potentially block an alley or something. Probably going to add something like “Press X to stop, drop and roll” although it would be worded differently. Cannot heal while on fire. Cannot light non-organic units on fire.

Smokes: Probably going to be multiple so that you can section off entire areas with smoke for flanking. (As in you recieve 3-4 smokes instead of 1) Can be seen through by thermal.

Black Thunder:chemical based black-smoke grenade that can’t be seen through by vision/truth/thermal scope. Anyone who walks into it receives shock damage (except an electric character, who is healed), when the black dust settles it is explosive (like gunpowder).

Assassin Shroud: Smoke Grenade, Instant, Thrown straight down. A vanishing act of sorts.

Chronosphere–Throws anyone in the radius back in time 5 seconds, even dead corpses.

Poison Glass: Heals organic teammates, damages organic enemies. 3x splash radius underwater. Ability to crush in hand, cannot throw.

Poison dagger–throwing knife that cripples the body part it hits and deals poison damage over time (Head/neck=instikill, body=stop regen, arm=reduce turn sensitivity by 25%, lower accuracy, leg=lower movement speed by 25%, and decreasing poison damage over time))

Bullet/Shell types:

Hollow point (increased damage w/o armor, less likely to penetrate walls), makes gun less accurate.

Deep impact FMJ (wall/armor/player penetration, damage is not reduced, even through multiple walls), superheated/[plasma?], no bleed damage, does less damage.

Poison clip (poison on impact, slow/stop/reverse regen, weak wall penetration, only effective on human targets).

TAS-ER (Tactical Assault Sensor-Effector Repressor): bullet type that momentarily stops enemy aiming, instantaneously blinds, and slows enemy movement upon receiving each bullet wound (.1seconds). Basically a mini-stun.

Knock-out/sleep rounds, gives trigger delay (creates moving shadows, causes player to hear noises that aren’t there, etc).

Ricochet bullets (therefore no penetration) (3 Ricochets max, ricochet damage reducer over time + after first ricochet the bullet’s ability to ricochet diminishes over distance), can damage yourself, always recoil even perpendicular to the wall (perfectly elastic collision with all surfaces (except water).

Shell ShockR (SSR)–screws up aim of enemy if the bullet is in proximity of the body.

Sonic Boom–distorts vision, loud noise, can be heard across map.

Silenced–bullets, do less damage, but have no damage reduction at a range, have no flash (oxygen depletion) and little sound (frictionless, but explosion can still be heard, acoustic), extra bleed damage.

Ice bullets–increases bleed damage

Rubber Bullets–massive aim distortion, cause tremor, half or less damage?, mainly for LMGs/crowd control.

Formation Breaker–bullet shells that burst in a cone shape upon impact. Refer to picture:

… /
Shooter–>Target{ cone of death (~40/180 degree cone spread behind exit wound in target)
… \ ____________ (isn’t actually this severe, it’s more like “<”)

This bullet shrapnel can effectively damage large clusters of enemies, and allows one man to take out multiple enemies simultaneously while keeping pressure on entire groups.

This is where my free time goes lol.