Destruction, Vehicles, and Bullets

[SGT*Nasty]

Why don’t developers put destruction in my videogames? It hurts my brain when I think about it. Destruction makes a dynamic play space, which is what gamers want. I want a game that changes every run though, without having to drop some dollars on DLC. I would think that destruction would benefit both parties, developer and end user. Why stop at first person shooters (FPS)? What about real time strategy (RTS), or platformers? I thought Star Craft 2 bit the big one; I didn’t even play though the whole game. Lack of vision on Blizzards part is what held back SC2. FPS, and RTS genres destructible environments make sense, it changes the way people play games. So instead of shoe horning silly gimmicks in games like perks, kill streaks, or 1.5 syndrome, put some time into worthy advancements.
Exploding vehicles in FPS is dumb. It is quite apparent that developers don’t go out to the shooting range very often. If you unload a magazine into a car, it does not explode. The bullets go though the damn thing. The safest place to get cover with any vehicle is the axels and engine. I know because I have had the training. I have been in a war, and bullets go right through; vehicles are concealment, not cover. I saw bullets catch the interior on fire, but that was it. I know it’s for cool effects, gotcha. I am just throwing it out there.
Next on the list are bullets. Bullets fly fast and far, it’s a known fact. Bullets trajectory depends on the weapon it comes out of. Actually it depends on a lot more than that, but for videogames sake, let’s just keep it at that. Nine millimeter pistol is good for about fifty meters. If you want to kill or hit something, twenty meters(ish). I could go on, but I want to focus on bullets and penetrating things like tin (sarcasm). I see this all the time, a 7.62 round will go through most manmade materials, especially wo/man. Gravity bring bullets towards earth, it’s called bullet drop. Also, you can crumble a cinderblock wall in no time with an AK-47. Developers need to get with the program! I want real time bullets! (RTB, first)
I just recently play tested a shooting game. I know it’s in alpha phase, but there were no environmental effects what so ever. If the shooting genre wants to progress, developers need to implement these feature into their product. I don’t play shooters that do not have these features, thanks BFBC2! So in closing, I just want to say, Get the lead out, and start making some dynamic play spaces that crumble, and leave out all that gimmicky stuff.

[Lunch Meat]

We got word, directly from DICE that in Battlefield 3, falling debris may kill you or an opponent. On some of the breakdowns we did, with a lot of input from the audience by the way, things were paid attention to and noted. Even recently when some things were called out, people were taking some notes about what was being said.

I can't/won't speak about other games and companies, but with this one title I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results. Probably won't have everything, but I know for a fact it will have a lot of what you are looking for.

ARMA III is looking good to, I know from others that ARMA II was nearly a full on Military Simulator.

[FirstPersonSarcasm]

Nasty, I wanted to touch on one subject in your post. The hand full of bullets blowing up a car scenario.
While I completely agree with this argument and reflect on how cool it would be to use strategic cover such as the axel of a vehicle. The sad truth is, making a car go bang with the simple 4 second grip of your in-game trigger, isn't going away.
The greatest of developers will always push for a more realistic game. However, they will never truly give us pure realism simply because we(the general gaming public) define realism as "SHINEY." Again, sad but true.
Every year it's the games that look, sound, and maybe add one or two new movement mechanics that year which take the cake as far as the most realistic shooter exp goes.
The teens and parental basement dwellers which crowd the gaming community will always demand a hue of Micheal Bay in their gaming experience no matter what the laws of physics say.
One day I hope pure detailed realism can be attained, until then, we just shoot the shit out of everything and watch it go BANG!!!

[EODTech]

Simply, developers don't WANT too much realism. To their way of thinking, there is a point beyond which more realism=less fun. And although I disagree to some extent, I don't disagree totally. It does suck, a LOT, having to do mag drop drills for the hours it takes you to be able to reload in under 5 seconds without taking your eye away from the sight. Putting that in a game would make it seriously not fun.

Honestly, as long as the uniforms and physics are correct, I usually don't care if the characters have awesome abilities. Unfortunately, most developers can't even get the uniforms and physics down.