As we have mentioned before, the hugely successful crowdfunded deep space game Star Citizen will contain a first person shooter (FPS) mode. We previously saw the space combat modes in Arena commander develop and come to fruition; now the RSI blog has been fleshing out details of its intentions for the FPS game mode.
The FPS mode, like the entire game, is ambitious. Rather than following conventions of FPS gaming the designers have decided to basically re-invent the wheel. "In designing and engineering Star Citizen's FPS mode (which players will first test in Star Marine), we've made a conscious effort to throw out systems that have become standard in first-person shooters in favour of taking an entirely new look," says the RSI blog. "We've gone back to the drawing board to look for ways not only to set Star Citizen apart, but to add more balance to gameplay."
The FPS mode will boast added realism and strategic considerations thanks to the unique stances and breathing techniques used in combat. There are two normal stances in an FPS game; shooting from the hip or shooting looking down the sights. RSI will offer three stances to gamers in its FPS mode; the lowered, ready and aiming down sights (ADS) stances. These are supposed to be more realistic in terms of stances and movement compared to how humans would operate.
The Lowered, Ready and ADS stances - respectively.
The lowered stance allows faster movement, sprinting and jumping etc. However to shoot something/someone you will have to switch to being ready or ADS – that takes time. The ready stance has your weapon at your shoulder but not looking down the sights. RSI says this is the mode most like the 'ships' stance in a traditional FPS. In this mode you can shoot without delay and can quickly move to ADS or stay in ready mode and be fairly accurate. Finally in ADS mode you have the slowest movement but the most accurate shooting. This mode must be actively selected and won't be a default movement mode.
The reasoning behind these stances is as follows "From a gameplay perspective, players will be forced to think about their natural movements during a combat scenario. Sprinting from place to place now carries the additional balance layer, making it take additional time to aim your weapon accurately once you have stopped sprinting. The intention is that players will make smart, tactical decisions based on their overall abilities rather than attempting to blindly run around and gun down everything that moves!"
For further realism in the 'living breathing universe' breathing is important in combat. Depending upon your character stamina and weight of kit they are carrying it will take more time to aim steadily after a sprint, series of vaults or climb. At best you will be able to pause breathing for 10s so you can aim without sway, at worst you might get just a 1s sway-free shot window.
If you've grasped the above ideas get ready for more to come from the development team. They are now looking into a new better way to implement melee and brawling, expanding on the traditional severely limited 'press space to punch' option. Details about this are expected in a forthcoming transmission.
If you want to see some Star Citizen FPS in-game action have a look at the video below from last month's PAX East presentation (mainly 25mins onwards).
