Improving "Presence" in FPSs
by Will Harrison · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 05/17/2004 (1:18 am) · 14 replies
Hi everyone. I just bought the torque engine and so far it's great. :)
I'm thinking about making some kind of FPS to start, so I'd like to share this one general idea I've had... any feedback or discussion would be helpful.
First of all, here's a problem that I see in today's FPSs: when playing online and observing a teammate or opponent, they do not look very alive and do not have a "strong presence". Players in FPSs tend to look like stiff puppets.
To elaborate, think of any fps you may have played recently and invariably the players all have a glazed, static, and lifeless expression. For one thing, they do not appear to be looking at anything or focusing on anything... i believe that this reduces realism significantly. In fact, this is the case in most games today, but in first person its more obvious because you can see people close-up. I believe this lack of realism has gone mostly unnoticed because fps games are usually fast-paced and you're generally not standing around looking at other players -- you're just shooting at each other and running from place to place. But even something as subtle as making the eyes turn in the head to look at something would really increase the "presence" of that player. So here's a list of things that would improve this:
- Move the eyes, head, and neck (each independantly) to look at something. For example, if one player walks in front of another player, why not have the eyes of the player look into the eyes of the player walking by him as he goes by? Or if there's a health kit lying on the ground nearby, have the player look at it as he walks over to pick it up.)
- Make the player's breathing match what's happening. For example, imagine a player just sprinted down a long hallway, climbed up a flight of stairs after being chased by an enemy, and has very low health... and let's say you're a medic and the player stops in front of you for a medkit -- shouldnt he appear to be out of breath or at least breathing harder?
- Conversley, if a player is mostly idle and not fighting much, then he should look somewhat relaxed... and smoke a cigarette or something.
- Here's a useful one: when standing in front of another player, your mouse moves your head only, while your body remains relatively still. Meanwhile your eyes are looking at the other playe's eyes... even as your head turns. This would allow players to be more expressive to each other. For example, a player could nod (move the mouse up and down on y-axis) to silently agree with what another player has said... or shake their head from side to side (move on x-axis) in disagreement. Again, this would increase the "presence" of players when you see them.
- Another improvement to communication would be to make the players faces change expression according to any emoticons or keywords that may have been typed in chat. So, if the player types ":P", then the player's face will reflect that by making the tongue stick out... or if you typed "lol" then the player would start to laugh out loud.
These are some changes that I believe would make playing fps online more fun... simply by making it seem more realistic and cinematic.
What do you think about these ideas and how feasible it would be to do in TGE? Also, what other ways could a player's "presence" be improved?
Thanks for any comments/input on this!
I'm thinking about making some kind of FPS to start, so I'd like to share this one general idea I've had... any feedback or discussion would be helpful.
First of all, here's a problem that I see in today's FPSs: when playing online and observing a teammate or opponent, they do not look very alive and do not have a "strong presence". Players in FPSs tend to look like stiff puppets.
To elaborate, think of any fps you may have played recently and invariably the players all have a glazed, static, and lifeless expression. For one thing, they do not appear to be looking at anything or focusing on anything... i believe that this reduces realism significantly. In fact, this is the case in most games today, but in first person its more obvious because you can see people close-up. I believe this lack of realism has gone mostly unnoticed because fps games are usually fast-paced and you're generally not standing around looking at other players -- you're just shooting at each other and running from place to place. But even something as subtle as making the eyes turn in the head to look at something would really increase the "presence" of that player. So here's a list of things that would improve this:
- Move the eyes, head, and neck (each independantly) to look at something. For example, if one player walks in front of another player, why not have the eyes of the player look into the eyes of the player walking by him as he goes by? Or if there's a health kit lying on the ground nearby, have the player look at it as he walks over to pick it up.)
- Make the player's breathing match what's happening. For example, imagine a player just sprinted down a long hallway, climbed up a flight of stairs after being chased by an enemy, and has very low health... and let's say you're a medic and the player stops in front of you for a medkit -- shouldnt he appear to be out of breath or at least breathing harder?
- Conversley, if a player is mostly idle and not fighting much, then he should look somewhat relaxed... and smoke a cigarette or something.
- Here's a useful one: when standing in front of another player, your mouse moves your head only, while your body remains relatively still. Meanwhile your eyes are looking at the other playe's eyes... even as your head turns. This would allow players to be more expressive to each other. For example, a player could nod (move the mouse up and down on y-axis) to silently agree with what another player has said... or shake their head from side to side (move on x-axis) in disagreement. Again, this would increase the "presence" of players when you see them.
- Another improvement to communication would be to make the players faces change expression according to any emoticons or keywords that may have been typed in chat. So, if the player types ":P", then the player's face will reflect that by making the tongue stick out... or if you typed "lol" then the player would start to laugh out loud.
These are some changes that I believe would make playing fps online more fun... simply by making it seem more realistic and cinematic.
What do you think about these ideas and how feasible it would be to do in TGE? Also, what other ways could a player's "presence" be improved?
Thanks for any comments/input on this!
#2
I admit, it would be cool for these things to happen just by playing (ie, no extra controls required). I especially like your chat -> animation bit. But like Paul said, no indie will probably ever do it because its really just fluff :\.
05/17/2004 (3:13 am)
Quote:... but they are ultimately cosmetic. I think that's mainly why you haven't seen them being explored by current FPSs...lol, the fact they are purely cosmetic probably means that every big game would pick them up :) I mean look at shaders :|
I admit, it would be cool for these things to happen just by playing (ie, no extra controls required). I especially like your chat -> animation bit. But like Paul said, no indie will probably ever do it because its really just fluff :\.
#3
05/17/2004 (6:36 am)
I agree with you, will. in fact, im currently working on doing things JUST like that in the game im working on. the things you suggest are cosmetic, but i wouldnt use the phrase "merely cosmetic"; its the cosmetic that lets a player suspend disbelief. the issue at hand is immersion. if making something pretty will give a player a reason to say "wow" and forget they are playing a game, then im going to try and put it in. these things ultimately have to come second to issues of gameplay, but its a damn close second as far as im concerned.
#4
It was what set halflife apart from every other fps at the time imo and with the new lip syncing technology it will only get better.
I was amazed watching halflife 2 has he is going through a block of units. A couple crying on a couch, people looking outside windows, guards breaking down doors.
Now whether thats all scripter i have no idea. Obviously to some degree it would be but even just watching the g man smirk or smile is just amazing.
Having that in an online game would be awesome. I remember a halflife mod which suprised me as i hadnt seen it done before was frontline force where the characters would blink as your talking to them.
It set me back initially but from then on it was something i look for in most games (luckily most games do it now).
Halflife 2 should allow heaps of "presence"
05/17/2004 (7:11 am)
Half life 2 is the perfect example of why this "presence" is important.It was what set halflife apart from every other fps at the time imo and with the new lip syncing technology it will only get better.
I was amazed watching halflife 2 has he is going through a block of units. A couple crying on a couch, people looking outside windows, guards breaking down doors.
Now whether thats all scripter i have no idea. Obviously to some degree it would be but even just watching the g man smirk or smile is just amazing.
Having that in an online game would be awesome. I remember a halflife mod which suprised me as i hadnt seen it done before was frontline force where the characters would blink as your talking to them.
It set me back initially but from then on it was something i look for in most games (luckily most games do it now).
Halflife 2 should allow heaps of "presence"
#5
But I think there's more to it than just looks. That's defintely part of it. It would increase immersion and make you go "wow" initially as Adam and Ian suggest. ...but everything you see in a game can mean something. It's up to the person making the game. You can make something happen or appear a certain way cosmetically and have no bearing on gameplay whatsoever. Or, you can make it mean something. Like when I suggested changing the breathing animations of players, this not only heightens realism, it tells you in an obvious way that the player is tired or injured or even scared... maybe it means they have only 50% health, and if you were a medic you would help him, or if you're not, then you would call for one.
Now, the eyes moving in the head to look at things... yes, I would say that is pretty much cosmetic... but how hard would it be to do? And isn't it worth the increase in realism? I think so.
As far as controlling the head directly with the mouse when near another player... Once when I was playing RtCW online, and I was crawling through a duct, a teammate was up ahead at a junction in the ducts. When I came up to him he turned his body and head repeatedly back and forth towards one path in the ducts to silently indicate that he wanted me to go that way while he went the other way. Now, this all happened quickly and it probably does sound like a big deal, ...but I thought it was pretty cool, 'cause I never saw that happen in a game before. So being able to communicate with your body like nod or shake your head from side to side would be useful to some extent for gameplay.
...Adam, what exactly is it that your going to do in your game? sounds interesting.
Ian, about Halflife 2, I totally agree. It's going to change FPSs in that they will become much more cinematic. You will look at the characters and players and you will see more "life" in them.
05/17/2004 (10:52 am)
Paul, I'm glad you brought up that point. These things do appear to be ultimately cosmetic, as you say...But I think there's more to it than just looks. That's defintely part of it. It would increase immersion and make you go "wow" initially as Adam and Ian suggest. ...but everything you see in a game can mean something. It's up to the person making the game. You can make something happen or appear a certain way cosmetically and have no bearing on gameplay whatsoever. Or, you can make it mean something. Like when I suggested changing the breathing animations of players, this not only heightens realism, it tells you in an obvious way that the player is tired or injured or even scared... maybe it means they have only 50% health, and if you were a medic you would help him, or if you're not, then you would call for one.
Now, the eyes moving in the head to look at things... yes, I would say that is pretty much cosmetic... but how hard would it be to do? And isn't it worth the increase in realism? I think so.
As far as controlling the head directly with the mouse when near another player... Once when I was playing RtCW online, and I was crawling through a duct, a teammate was up ahead at a junction in the ducts. When I came up to him he turned his body and head repeatedly back and forth towards one path in the ducts to silently indicate that he wanted me to go that way while he went the other way. Now, this all happened quickly and it probably does sound like a big deal, ...but I thought it was pretty cool, 'cause I never saw that happen in a game before. So being able to communicate with your body like nod or shake your head from side to side would be useful to some extent for gameplay.
...Adam, what exactly is it that your going to do in your game? sounds interesting.
Ian, about Halflife 2, I totally agree. It's going to change FPSs in that they will become much more cinematic. You will look at the characters and players and you will see more "life" in them.
#6
Check a field of view for the mouse pointer on the screen. If it's within a certain bounds, then it just moves the eyes. It it's in another bounds (peripheral vision) then move the head to match. I don't know how well it would work in a deathmatch, but in a co-op game as mentioned in RtCW, it makes perfect sense).
I don't know about online FPS's, but it would make MMORPG's more interactive.
*edit: fixed my "[qoutes]"
05/17/2004 (8:34 pm)
Quote:Move the eyes, head, and neck (each independantly) to look at something.
Check a field of view for the mouse pointer on the screen. If it's within a certain bounds, then it just moves the eyes. It it's in another bounds (peripheral vision) then move the head to match. I don't know how well it would work in a deathmatch, but in a co-op game as mentioned in RtCW, it makes perfect sense).
Quote:Make the player's breathing match what's happening.Silent Hill did a great job at this. You knew that Harry had been running because his breathing matched his action, though the designers made sure it didn't impede gameplay (he could run forever if you wanted, but he'd still breathe heavily for a set amount of time after running). Resident Evil: Outbreak did an excellent job of matching health conditions with movement as well (it did a lot of things wrong, but it also got a lot of things right).
...
Conversley, if a player is mostly idle and not fighting much, then he should look somewhat relaxed... and smoke a cigarette or something.
Quote:Another improvement to communication would be to make the players faces change expression according to any emoticons or keywords that may have been typed in chat. So, if the player types ":P", then the player's face will reflect that by making the tongue stick out... or if you typed "lol" then the player would start to laugh out loud.As long as a fit of laughter from "lol" doesn't impede gameplay, it would be interesting. Of course, if it didn't impede gameplay, there would probably be a frame flash as if the animations didn't match up because they went from "lol" mode to "I'm doing something" mode.
Quote:These are some changes that I believe would make playing fps online more fun... simply by making it seem more realistic and cinematic.
I don't know about online FPS's, but it would make MMORPG's more interactive.
*edit: fixed my "[qoutes]"
#7
05/17/2004 (10:17 pm)
I know that There takes a lot of cues from chat - your character picks up on lol, smileys, keywords, etc.
#8
06/15/2004 (5:44 pm)
If you want an alive presence, check out Half-Life 2... They've got (I think) 40+ movable "Joints" in the faces alone. They are supposed to be able to present a real representation of ANY emotion.
#9
That kind of immersion also opens up more opportunities for gameplay, but is beyond what most people are capable of, and you can only go so far before realism becomes boring. Where too after we've modeled every atom in the universe and have a complete physics model of the Big Bang? As I said before, you would be better off giving that wish list to a good programmer, and then work on new gameplay ideas completely unrelated to them.
06/15/2004 (8:21 pm)
Half-Life is an excellent example of course, but they've put 5 years of research into it and paid an expert doctor to help model all the muscles in the face. It does help make the game more immersive, I agree... there's nothing worse than watching say, Jedi Knight 2 cutscenes, where the models have 2 frames of animation for their stiff talking. My God that looked bad.That kind of immersion also opens up more opportunities for gameplay, but is beyond what most people are capable of, and you can only go so far before realism becomes boring. Where too after we've modeled every atom in the universe and have a complete physics model of the Big Bang? As I said before, you would be better off giving that wish list to a good programmer, and then work on new gameplay ideas completely unrelated to them.
#10
And little things, like a lack of expression, break that illusion for the player. I'm going to be looking into alot of this stuff soon for my game (a WWII FPS/RTS type game) Sure, I wont have the detail of HL2, but even just a little effort (like the breathing heavy thing, the head rotation thing) go a LONG way to make a game seem more real.
06/15/2004 (8:42 pm)
I think this is an important point. What really makes a game fun for me is the feeling of really being there. When I can forget who I am and get caught up in another world, that's cool.And little things, like a lack of expression, break that illusion for the player. I'm going to be looking into alot of this stuff soon for my game (a WWII FPS/RTS type game) Sure, I wont have the detail of HL2, but even just a little effort (like the breathing heavy thing, the head rotation thing) go a LONG way to make a game seem more real.
#11
so what was there? completely consistant visuals combined with fanTAStic voice acting. its like paul said, you dont need to have cutting edge technology. you just have to go the extra step with what you do have.
its all about suspension of disbelief. people suspend disbelief over spoken stories. its a phenomenon that happens regardless of technology.
06/15/2004 (9:25 pm)
One of my favorite games of all times was interstate 76. the characters in the cutscenes were blocky and didnt even have mouths. they still conveyed emotion that most games struggle to even come close to.so what was there? completely consistant visuals combined with fanTAStic voice acting. its like paul said, you dont need to have cutting edge technology. you just have to go the extra step with what you do have.
its all about suspension of disbelief. people suspend disbelief over spoken stories. its a phenomenon that happens regardless of technology.
#12
slate.msn.com/id/2102086
The article argues that improving realism in human avatars is good up to a point. Up to that point, it assists the imagination. But above that threshold, the viewer's mind focuses very sharply on the nuances which a real face / body would provide, but the avatar simply cannot.
I'm not sure I agree with the whole point, but the general idea has some real merit.
06/16/2004 (9:11 am)
Here's an interesting article that was linked off of slashdot a few days back.slate.msn.com/id/2102086
The article argues that improving realism in human avatars is good up to a point. Up to that point, it assists the imagination. But above that threshold, the viewer's mind focuses very sharply on the nuances which a real face / body would provide, but the avatar simply cannot.
I'm not sure I agree with the whole point, but the general idea has some real merit.
#13
I think the master of realism in the gaming world is Squaresoft/Square-Enix... they prove that it is possible.
06/16/2004 (8:54 pm)
That's an interesting article, Eric... I think that it is true because it's harder to make something look real, then to make it look simple and abstract. I see alot of games, in fact 90% of games, are falling into this so called Uncanny Valley. That's just because it's hard to do right... but certainly not impossible.I think the master of realism in the gaming world is Squaresoft/Square-Enix... they prove that it is possible.
#14
Don't know how many have seen this (Everyone with an NVidia card, right?), but if you want to play with facial expressions, check out the Dawn Demo from NVidia. You can tweak the expressions quite a bit... sometimes it can get a little weird, but most of the time it's just damn cool! Get the demo here.
(Here's some info on the demo, FWIW:developer.nvidia.com/docs/IO/11557/Chapter_3.pdf)
I think the source or additional info might be available on Nvidia's site somewhere, but I'll leave that up to you all. =)
06/21/2004 (3:26 pm)
Will, your ideas are right on, particularly about the eyes. It's been said that the eyes are the window to the soul... so it only makes sense that designers should be concentrating on making the eyes as expressive as possible. I think creating realistic eyes can go further to making a character real than anything else. So many emotions can be expressed with the eyes; from a squint to a blink to looking away.Don't know how many have seen this (Everyone with an NVidia card, right?), but if you want to play with facial expressions, check out the Dawn Demo from NVidia. You can tweak the expressions quite a bit... sometimes it can get a little weird, but most of the time it's just damn cool! Get the demo here.
(Here's some info on the demo, FWIW:developer.nvidia.com/docs/IO/11557/Chapter_3.pdf)
I think the source or additional info might be available on Nvidia's site somewhere, but I'll leave that up to you all. =)
Torque Owner Paul Malyschko
If you want some new ideas, think about how you could make a different FPS.