Duel Idea

[NickOuellette]

This is an idea I came up with yesterday. Obviously there's a lot of room for improvement, so I'm looking for critiques and feedback, as well as any indicators of whether this has been done before, or name suggestions

Duel kinda sucks.

Overview: Duel

Duel’s inspiration comes from a combination of sources. First and foremost is The Man with the Golden Gun, an early James Bond film in which 007 faces off against a reclusive megalomaniac in a deadly funhouse game of cat-and-mouse. Second are the innumerable short stories out there about wealthy, sadistic gamblers who bet on the lives of others (a la Battle Royale, but with money). So Duel is, perhaps not unexpectedly, two games in one. On one side it is a fairly traditional shooter pitting two players against one another, but with an added degree of tension… each player is armed with a very powerful magnum, carrying only six bullets. Because the two players are alone in regular-sized maps, they will have to use stealth and tactics to find their opponent before their opponent finds them. Games are played in rounds, with the surviving player being the victor.

But I don’t want to limit it to two players at a time. When not in the “arena”, the other players are spectators in what I’m calling “The Lobby”. The lobby is basically a special interface that will be designed to look like a Sports-Center type of screen, with little windows displaying camera shots of the action in the arena, as well as maps of the arena and the players’ positions. There will be a chat box, and a large amount of space devoted to displaying the current “queue” of observers and their statistics, which will be much more in-depth than most shooters (displaying factors such as accuracy ration, number of headshots, etc.). At the start of each round, the observer at the top of the queue will be placed in the arena as the “challenger” against the previous round’s victor, aka the “champion”. They will return to the starting positions with fresh clips, and the previous rounds loser will be returned to the lobby at the bottom of the queue. In this way players will be cycled through the queue, each taking his turn in the hot seat.

At the start of each round, there is a ten-second period of downtime where the observers are shown the two players about to fight, and a cross-analysis of their relative statistics. They then choose to wager an amount of cash (in-game cash, of course) on one of the competitors, after which they are taken to the lobby. They may also choose to “abstain” from betting, which makes them take a very slight cash penalty, but they are at no risk. In addition, the game will determine, based on the two competitors statistics, a House Favorite and an Underdog. The House Favorite will be assigned a minimum betting value, based on the relative difference in their statistics, and the Underdog will receive a Bet Incentive… i.e. if an observer risks his money on betting for the Underdog, he has an additional chance of a larger payout*.

Once the round starts, the observers will be confined to the lobby, but will be able to watch the action on overhead maps, through the players “helmet cams” (basically just first-person spectating, but through a filter to make it look like a camera, a la Fear Factor) or through various cameras positioned throughout the level (think combine security monitors in HL2). Additionally, they will be able to use any money they have to purchase better equipment to use in the arena (which remains with them permanently, unless they go bankrupt, in which case they lose any equipment they have), or to arm and operate various traps in the map itself, such as mini mounted turrets (which charge the operator on a second-to-second basis) or arming proximity mines (charging a flat rate) to try and swing the contest in favor of their chosen competitor.

While in the lobby players will also have access to detailed statistics of all players, so that they can plan their gambling a few rounds ahead and hopefully outshark their opponents. The victorious player in the arena will be awarded the total amount of money bet against him†. Additionally, if he goes six rounds undefeated, he will be ejected from his position as “champion” and returned as an observer, but rewarded with a huge cash bonus.

This pretty much sums up my idea. The basic concept was to make a game that was as exciting and strategic to watch as it was to play, and you can probably see some of the possibilities that it invites. As far as the gun itself goes, I would consider it perfectly adequate just to use the HL2 magnum, and stock player models could be used until we found the time to make a Challenger and Champion model (I’ve become attached to the idea of them being “Silver” and “Gold” players, respectively.) Also, at some point an announcer’s voice could be added, to make it more like the sports-cast experience I had envisioned. I’d love any feedback or comments people could offer me, as well as any offers for help

If you’ve read this far, thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

-Nick Ouellette

*So id Observer A bets $1000 on the Underdog with an incentive of %20, and wins, he will receive his winnings plus %20 of his original investment... $200 in this case.

†So if Player B has four observers betting against him, for a combined total of $5000, he will receive $5000 in winnings.

 

[CookieCuttah]

Rune had something like this come with Halls of Valhalla, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3 and even 4 on 4 face offs while everyone else waited in the lobby. SOmetimes it was just plain face off or an arena type of thing. It was called that- arena. Fun stuff, always get warm memories when I think of the 4 on 4 battles with a wall of shields charging in. But a modern one would be fun too, you'd be focused on only one person, that'd be cool.

 

[Dr. Nelly Lemon]

That is a very good idea, as long as you implement it correctly. The guns should be more or less instant kill, with dramatic lights and sounds for suspense, in a small map. And perhaps you can set how many players you want playing at once, for more chaos to ensue.

You need more tricks then just turrets and mines, though. I like the cardboard cutouts idea with gunshot sounds, although it may be easy to distinguish, it may catch them off guard and make them waste a shot, at a very low cost. Or maybe a device that closes some doors and opens some other, before hidden, spots. That sounds good.

I hope this is made

Now that I think of it, no ambiant sounds would be preferable for suspence like this.

 

[armanguy]

Wow very original man i like it i would help but im already working on a mod but still i love the idea!

 

[Crispy]

I think it could work, but you'd be aiming it at a fairly limited audience (the kind who doesn't mind watching and waiting when they could just as well be playing non-stop in another game/mod).

You'd require a bunch of servers to host the statistics (including all of the transactions in the betting side of the game). You may or may not run into trouble with the fact the game allows you to gamble (albeit not in cash).

You'd probably want to include things like control rooms in the maps, where you can see a bunch of camera screens watching various key corridors in the maps. Perhaps the attacker could start off in this room, and have the task of hunting down the defender. It also might be interesting to have a whole bunch of alternate routes to use to evade the cameras. This might lead to boring gameplay where one player sits still until he catches sight of the other on one of the screens, though.

 

[NickOuellette]

I hadn't originally planned on having stats and money be something that carried over from one game to the next. I knew the kind of server power that would demand, and I just don't have that much money!

As far as the control room goes, I think I'll just spring for the "Both players are compeltely ignorant of the other's position" route, both to increase tension, and to prevent exactly what -Crispy- described from happening. In order to make sure the players don't just camp somewhere waiting for the other, maybe there should be two or three limited boxes of ammo scattered at various junctures throughout the level, so that players will be taking a big risk by trying to get to the ammunition?

The message I'm getting from here and from ModDB is pretty much that the biggest problem will be with impatient players wanting to fight right away. That's what I had guessed would be the biggest design issue, so I came up with a slightly revised plan.

The observers, instead of having a special spectator screen, will instead be inside of a small series of rooms somewhere else on the map (such as the relationship of cyberspace to real-space in Dystopia). Several walls will be screens displaying maps and feed from the arena, and the whole thing will be done up to look like a little high-tech gambling parlor or sports bar. Consoles would be on hand to allow players to operate the traps and machines in the arena, and maybe there could even be a firing range (?) in a separate room for players to practice on. This way observers could move around, see the other gamblers, and all the data in a more real-time way, so they don't feel so separated, and still have something to do. What do you think of that?

 

[Crispy]

In order to make sure the players don't just camp somewhere waiting for the other, maybe there should be two or three limited boxes of ammo scattered at various junctures throughout the level, so that players will be taking a big risk by trying to get to the ammunition?

The observers, instead of having a special spectator screen, will instead be inside of a small series of rooms somewhere else on the map (such as the relationship of cyberspace to real-space in Dystopia). Several walls will be screens displaying maps and feed from the arena, and the whole thing will be done up to look like a little high-tech gambling parlor or sports bar. Consoles would be on hand to allow players to operate the traps and machines in the arena, and maybe there could even be a firing range (?) in a separate room for players to practice on. This way observers could move around, see the other gamblers, and all the data in a more real-time way, so they don't feel so separated, and still have something to do. What do you think of that?

Excellent idea. I'm not sure about the traps, perhaps an assault course to practise on or something that would keep players happy. It would also provide a tutorial map which isn't standalone and where other players will be onhand to help people out if they're having trouble.

I thought that a counter measure to stop players from running around too much and playing it too deathmatch would be obstacles in rooms and corridors. Certain rooms (perhaps the ones with the ammo?) could have an alarmed floor, or laser beams that, once tripped, would set of an alarm for a brief period (~5 seconds). To get to where you want to get without giving away your position, you'd have to negotiate a simple puzzle. It shouldn't be so difficult that you'd spend a lot of time or effort to get past it, but it should be demanding enough to provide a small challenge. Another example would be a noisy flatbed trolley piled with crates that blocks your path. If you push it out of the way its wheels squeak and give away your position, if you try to vault it in one jump you'll make a jumping noise. If you carefully and silently clamber over it you won't make a noise but you'll be taking a lot more time to do so. I think sound should play a big role in this mod.

One of the main problems with your proposal is what happens when players run out of ammo. They need a last resort to help them out if they both miss all their shots. Perhaps you could have two of the same weapon in the level (at key locations) that the players could pick up en route, or if necessary. Picking up the weapon also has the potential to give away your position, as if the other player passes where the weapon should be they'll know that you're somewhere in the vicinity (= more suspense!). Something like a fire axe would fit in as a realistic example of a weapon you might find and use as a last resort. Or a fire extinguisher that you pick up and hit people with, but that would be slower to wield.

 

[NickOuellette]

I thought that a counter measure to stop players from running around too much and playing it too deathmatch would be obstacles in rooms and corridors. Certain rooms (perhaps the ones with the ammo?) could have an alarmed floor, or laser beams that, once tripped, would set of an alarm for a brief period (~5 seconds). To get to where you want to get without giving away your position, you'd have to negotiate a simple puzzle. It shouldn't be so difficult that you'd spend a lot of time or effort to get past it, but it should be demanding enough to provide a small challenge. Another example would be a noisy flatbed trolley piled with crates that blocks your path. If you push it out of the way its wheels squeak and give away your position, if you try to vault it in one jump you'll make a jumping noise. If you carefully and silently clamber over it you won't make a noise but you'll be taking a lot more time to do so. I think sound should play a big role in this mod.

I really like that idea. Plus, if a player's trying to negotiate a mini-jumping puzzle to get o some ammo, it would be the perfect oppurtunity for the other player to sneak up behind him and waste him, while his concentration is otherwise occupied. :thumbs:

Could you explain what you mean by a tutorial area? I like the sound of it, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean. As far as the "running out of ammo" thing goes, my original plan was to let players pistol-whip with their magnums, but the fireaxe thing is just way more hardcore, lol.

I think I'm also gonna nix the equipment-buying, at least for the first version. That seems like something that would be better implemented once the main portion of the game is locked down and running smoothly.

At the moment, I'm working on editing the main menu and the HUD's colors and fonts and such. I'd like to display the player's ammunition as a cutaway of the rotating magnum chamber, so that with each shot they fire, a bullet disppears and the chamber rotates into the next position. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that (i'm not a coder at all) so if anyone has a suggestion I'd be very appreciative.

 

[Crispy]

Could you explain what you mean by a tutorial area? I like the sound of it, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

I meant you could have an area that would allow people to get familiar with the weapons. I'm not sure whether you'd have a crosshair or not. But without one the only way to stop blue-tacking would be a loose-aim system like the one successfully implemented in MoveIn!. In this case new players wouldn't be familiar with the aiming style, and it would be beneficial to introduce them to this in the 'lounge' area so that when it comes to their turn they don't get frustrated by being taken out within seconds and not getting a decent round's play. You could also have some puzzles in the 'lounge' to get newbies accustomed to sneaking and controlling their movement to the best of their ability.

As far as the "running out of ammo" thing goes, my original plan was to let players pistol-whip with their magnums, but the fireaxe thing is just way more hardcore, lol.

I didn't think about a pistol-whip. That would be one way of doing it, with perhaps the fireaxe -or picking up heavy objects and throwing them- as a more powerful option, but with consequences (the fireaxe would be in a known location; the weightier the object, the slower your movement and the shorter the distance thrown/swung).

I think I'm also gonna nix the equipment-buying, at least for the first version. That seems like something that would be better implemented once the main portion of the game is locked down and running smoothly.

Probably best to give this a low priority for the time being.

 

[JNightshade]

That sounds awesome!

 

[Crispy]

Name ideas:

Duel
Mano-a-Mano (literally hand-to-hand in Spanish, but it has come to mean something slightly more appropriate in English)
Pistols at Dawn
Sixshot Survival

 

[Crispy]

I thought of this one yesterday. How about: Revolver

There are six shots in a Revolver. The duelists lineup is picked by revolving through the players waiting in the 'lounge'. Seems to sum up both the gameplay nicely in a concise manner.