Firstly, let me say that I am both an avid Mass Effect fan and FPS fan, and that this is mostly geared towards actual game developers, not fans, although i am interested in what the community in general thinks of my ideas. I have gotten quite good at online mulitplayer games such as halo 3, in which I have played over 7,000 games on my main account only (adding others would probably push it to around 9,000) and have a 50 in mlg (http://www.bungie.ne...swordsy ii&sg=0), and attended the MLG Meadowlands 2009 event where I LANNED with CallMeGod in my hotel, and I've beaten plenty of pros and even semipro teams online. I feel that I am fairly good at both games, although obviously I have spent much more time on halo and am definitely better at it, and that there is not multiplayer function for ME1 or 2. As a result of this I feel that I have gained a certain understanding of how multiplayer shooters work (in terms of what makes a game balenced and what makes it fun). I've also designed and programmed several games that I play with my friends on the PC. all of this is my qualification for creating this thread.
Mass Effect multiplayer is something that I dreamed of for a while. I've beaten the game roughly 10 times, about 7 of which were on insanity mode, but single-player has a certain repitition (although mass effect has less of this than almost any game i've played, the exception being super smash bros melee) that grows old after a while. also, i realize that it certainly seems like there will not be mulitplayer for ME2 and that it is FAR too late in the development process (which is pretty much over to my knowledge) to add it. this is more for future ME titles and a portion of this is for just any shooter multiplayer. The ME series is perfectly designed for compeditive team based play, similar to shadowrun's (except the ME series is a smash hit and bioware isnt bankrupt), as well as casual messing about. this comination is VERY RARE and should be valued very highly when found. other games with this balence would be titles such as starcraft and halo CE. however, there are obviously some hoops to jump before this could be realized. there are the issues of the power/weapon wheel (time stopping to be specific, and the compensation that must be made in control scheme as a result), the issue of weapons and weapon control (obviously the game is designed in a way that the player meets obsticles in a very specific order, which would not be the case in multiplayer), balencing of gameplay (some classes are just better than others), and spawning. I am not fully aware of other issues that there may be but these seem to be the first and foremost in my mind and they are the ones that i will address here.
I believe that the solution to most of these problems is one and the same; rebuild the way game mechanics work during multiplayer. Getting rid of the rigiddity of the classes seems like a good idea, and I would suggest replacing it with a much more malliable system. have a set number of powers that go with each class, which can be assigned to the D-pad by the player, but let the player choose which ones s/he wants for that specific character (sort of like the perk system in Call of Duty 4) before the match. for example, when playing a vanguard, the player can choose two out of four biotic powers before the game and assign them to different directions on the D-pad. whichever power was selected could be activated by pressing the a different button, for example LB or RB. for this to work the specific skill level of each tech/biotic power would have to be pre-set and possibly slightly altered from its campaign counterpart. also, each "power slot" would have to have a pre-set association to match the single player. for example, an infiltrator could not choose biotic powers. also classes that were not "combat" focused characters (adept, engineer, and sentenel) would have more powers than more combat focused ones. this is the hard part; how should combat classes be compensated for this? obviously more health should be one aspect of this, but that is not enough to compensate for lack of ability. the new addition of access to all ammo types and the new version of adrenaline rush (minus the slow in time) would be perfect for this. infiltrator and vanguard classes would also have to have access to some but not all ammo types, which would again be pre-decided. these ammo types could possibly be placed around the map but only certain classes could pick them up. I could imagine weapons working similarly to ammo in this regard. the idea of any class using any weapon would be less preferable than an alternitive system; have which weapons can and can't be picked up be pre-decided before combat based on how combat based your class is. soldiers have access to all weapons, infiltrators and vanguards have access to one less, and adepts, sentenels, and engineers use yet one less again, but let the player decide which ones they wish to use before the match.. the final issue of spawning is also key. there have been games made that have had completely broken spawn systems (such as halo 3) where you can spawn in places where you are literaly behind an enemy and all you have to do is melee to kill them, or the other way around. that is not to say that spawn trapping isn't part of shooter multiplayer, esspecially in shooters that have slow movement speeds and slow kill times (mass effect falls into both of these catagories, relative to other modern shooters). in games like this spawn camping is unavoidable. but it can (and in order to make an enjoyable multiplayer expirience, has to) be minimized, and made predictable. players who do not expect to spawn in front of enemies are the ones who get angry and quit the game. to minimize this design the multiplayer maps with that in mind; be thinking of the spawn points while designing the multiplayer maps. create specific areas of the map that are designated "spawn sections". but there is a warning here; these areas cannot be small rooms off in the corner, or the entire game will become spawn trapping as players will be completely trapped in these areas repeatedly.
I believe that these changes will set the ME series above and aside from the rest of the games on the shooter market, specifically the spawn system. also, if there are any bioware employees reading this, please read the whole thing and follow the examples of bungie and infinity ward in these ways, they will GREATLY improve the quality and replay value of your game:
-reuse parts of the campaign in multiplayer maps to save time. this will also make casual players who have just played the campaign already familiar with the maps.
-make maps with an intended use. sand trap (halo 3) was specifically designed for big 8 on 8 gametypes and warlock (halo 2) was definitely created for much less players. this way each gametype and each map has several sort of pre-existing "fits".
-make multiple objective gametypes, and at least one that is unique. i don't know any other game series than halo that has "oddball".
-don't market these things. no one will get this game because the ads say that the multiplayer is great. its a waste of money. but they will go and buy it when their friend tells them that its amazing and that they won't have to buy another game in a while if they get it because of the replay value (which is what everything in this post adds to the most).
-every area of a map has to have a purpose. when adding something to a map, think "what is the purpose of adding this bridge, wall, etc.". randomness is very much overused in multiplayer design and this will greatly increase the quality of the gameplay.
I apologize for my horrific spelling and awkward grammer. i am not really editing this. if you read the whole thing than i thank you. if not i understand that its a mouthfull and i stil love you.
Multiplayer
Débuté par
SworDsyv2
, janv. 18 2010 11:15
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