Next big thing in FPS?

[ferum]

Besides graphics (I personally belive we are coming very close to the point where it will be impossible to tell a difference), what do you think will be the main selling point for FPS games in the near future?

[Skorche]

The immersion factor. A mouse and keyboard just doesn't feel natural. Give me a more elegant way to manipulate the world around me than just pushing the action key.

This is why I think that the Wii could be cool for FPSes. I'll hold out the final judgement until I try it, but being able to pull and turn a doornob would be so cool if it can actually work that way. Heck, I would probably buy a game where you do nothing but that!

[skyhawk]

Graphics: stylization (once they get past realism). pastel coloration, better cel shading, something like A Scanner Darkly (http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/ascannerdarkly/)

Physics: more accurate representation of natural objects, aka trees, grass, water in real time.

Gameplay: an untapped market is animals in FPS. Controlling a bird, a frog, a cheetah and what have you. David (of Lugaru fame) almost touched it, but he went anthropomorphic and does a good job with his nearly intuitive counter/reversal system. That's also more third person (not far from FPS in my opinion)

Sound: more aural immersion. Hopefully more dynamic sounds, and less static sounds. Procedural sounds I guess.

[igame3d]

but being able to pull and turn a doornob would be so cool if it can actually work that way. Heck, I would probably buy a game where you do nothing but that!

Then when you can't open the door people will call you a Knob Noob.

I think skyhawk has the answer down.

There is also the progression of the third person view of MMORPG into the first person. Halo 3 will have multiplayer online play against bots that will, from what I heard, actually allow people across the globe to progress through the story together.

Eventually we might actually see the online version of Halo they showed us back in 1998...were the world is really miles and miles across and tens of dozens of people can experience it together simultaneously instead of being confined to a virtual football field with a maximum of 16 people per online game.

Of course that might rely on the telecom companies end their stifling technology and make T1 line like connections as common as the ethernet port.

[AnotherJake]

This isn't just for FPSs, and I am actually starting to wonder a little bit if it'll ever happen in my lifetime, but what I would really like to see (or hear rather) is realistic speech synthesis. I've heard some examples from, who was it, AT&T? They were really good, but not quite as good as I think the technology could be, or should be at this point. Plus, as far as I know, all the high-end speech synth out there requires a hefty fee to license. I think with an accessible, high-end speech synth technology we might see more involved products from indie developers. You would think that with all the dialog in modern games they'd have invested more in it by now, but the big game houses are still relying on high-priced voice acting, and old fashioned text to fill in the gaps.

[imikedaman]

For the Xbox 360 and PS3, I don't think there will be any innovations in the FPS industry. I've seen one after another FPS released, and they are all essentially the same. *sigh*

[ferum]

For the Xbox 360 and PS3, I don't think there will be any innovations in the FPS industry. I've seen one after another FPS released, and they are all essentially the same. *sigh*

fine, then to restate the question : what would you like to see in future FPS games?

[Najdorf]

fine, then to restate the question : what would you like to see in future FPS games?
nothing, FPS games are so dumb...

[Achithyn]

Future FPS? Well, I'm sure no one will object to Virtual Reality. :p

~Achi

[unknown]

nothing, FPS games are so dumb...

I Absolutly agree! :D
puzzle games for ever!

[igame3d]

This isn't just for FPSs, and I am actually starting to wonder a little bit if it'll ever happen in my lifetime, but what I would really like to see (or hear rather) is realistic speech synthesis.

yeah why do we have basically the same exact speech capabilities that we had back on the commodore 64 and the same voice as W.O.P.R in Wargames.
Kind of crazy.
One would think the voice abilities of computers could at least be matching the lip synching abilities in current software.

Funny thing though, I hear radio stations and even some songs use the generic mac voices over and over again. While I'm thinking of that, I've never seen someone on a PC make it talk, is it even capable of doing that out of the box?

Oh and what I'd like to see in FPS games...those people above who don't like them, online, so I can snipe them...ka-plow! :)

[MilesBaskett]

"Besides graphics (I personally belive we are coming very close to the point where it will be impossible to tell a difference), what do you think will be the main selling point for FPS games in the near future?"

As per the original thread question, FPS's can only go bigger really. Once our computers can handel it, I could see games going into full scale war as far as arena size and player count at least(huge land mass', 20,000+ people...like a real war). Maybe updated camera systems to allow 3rd person points of view for stealth like manuvers(wall hugging,ect).Ducking is real limited as one of a few secondary positions(depending on the FPS).

[Baldock]

Well there are the physics cards now..the new Ghost Recon is pretty special on a good gaming rig. Team play with headsets or hell just all in the same house is good fun.

But why not in 20 years time have 6 ro 9 projectors projecting the entire world and you stand in the middle with laser movement scanners scanning your actions and placement in a movenment zone. ie centre of zone no movement, step to the left to start side stepping. I think I saw someplace the 3 screen video card which came with software which allowed some of the fps to display your side vision on those screens so you as the player got a true 90o angle of view

Really with some of the stuff I've seen I don't think it is far off, it will just take time to filter down to home use.

[Fenris]

If I can be a bit avant garde here: drop the goddamn weapons from the genre.

[reubert]

For the Xbox 360 and PS3, I don't think there will be any innovations in the FPS industry. I've seen one after another FPS released, and they are all essentially the same. *sigh*
Yeh, but think of the first games on the PlayStation1 compared to those at the end of it's life or the PS2 or xbox's life for that matter.

We wont see any genres pushed for a while yet, but the future looks fun.

I was just stoked when I played Rockstar's table tennis. It has achieved an element of immersion that I haven't seen in any game for a long time.

As hardware advances, there are more and more opportunities to achieve that kind of immersion across all genres. All that is needed is the odd gamehouse that has programming experience in the latest hardware, and a lot of artistic talent and we will see games that blow us away. It can only get better from here.

[Rincewind]

Instead of focusing on FPSs we should help bringing back adventure games with all new kinds of audio- and physics-based puzzles et cetera, which don't involve point and click-gameplay and obscure pixel hunts ;)

[skyhawk]

But why not in 20 years time have 6 ro 9 projectors projecting the entire world and you stand in the middle with laser movement scanners scanning your actions and placement in a movenment zone. ie centre of zone no movement, step to the left to start side stepping. I think I saw someplace the 3 screen video card which came with software which allowed some of the fps to display your side vision on those screens so you as the player got a true 90o angle of view
this would almost feel like work... having to move and shoot on my own...

However, I must say I'm a HUGE fan of the Time Crisis genre. Where the movement is mostly done for you, and you must do the shooting. Only trouble with this is the home market, it's almost unfeasible without the proper hardware. On a side note, Time Crisis has some of the best guns on any gun shooter game I've seen.

I would also like to see more development on the arcade side. Sadly, the arcade business hasn't been thriving like its console counterpart. They had a quakelike 4 machine hookup in arcades not too long ago... I blew like $3 on it one day... it was WAY fun.

Also, a step back into third person, Holography. Hasn't been tapped since the early 90s in video games. I think it would bring a whole new level to gaming if you could actually visualize your enviroment that way. We have the processing power.

[skyhawk]

Instead of focusing on FPSs we should help bringing back adventure games with all new kinds of audio- and physics-based puzzles et cetera, which don't involve point and click-gameplay and obscure pixel hunts ;)
This would be ignoring the original poster's query and intent. He is (to the best of my knowledge) trying to find out what lies beyond "we've hit maximum realism on a 2D screen, what do I do next to enhance my game"

[JustinFic]

I think we'll see a move into more character-based games, and we'll see The Popular Shooter shift more towards third person. Also, with squad-based FPS games becoming saturated, computing power getting ever greater, and graphics apparently hitting a plateau, I wouldn't be surprised to see someone attempt full-blown war FPS, where the player is one soldier out of hundreds fighting hundreds of enemies at the same time.

What I'd LIKE to see is more stylized gameplay. There's been one iterative innovation so far after another, but I'd like to see someone rip the genre down to its foundation and build it back up in a totally fresh way.

[ferum]

He is (to the best of my knowledge) trying to find out what lies beyond "we've hit maximum realism on a 2D screen, what do I do next to enhance my game"
True, my main interest is in FPS, but a thread on the "what's next" subject in most other genres have kinda obvious answers.
Sports: better, more emersive controls.
Adventure/ Puzzle: exciting new puzzles.
Fighting: new controls, non-cookie cutter moves/combos.
RPG/MMORPG: Bigger, new stories, more freedom/choices.
the only other really mysterious genre is racing games.

[Jones]

A more diverse genre, packed into one.

For example, a shooter with puzzles in it. Elite Force II was like that, with little games where you had to match up circuits so as to avoid fused wiring, and fix parts of stuff, or games where you had to match wave frequencies with your tricorder. Good fun, good fun.


But I don't really care what's in a shooter. I can play a perfectly horrible fps with little story, mediocre graphics and other bard aspects, and enjoy simply because of the challenge. And it keeps me buying too, I always need a new challenge, so in a way, I help fuel the economy. ;)