Mike's advice to FPS devolopers.

Hi, my name is Mike, one of Kirk's stooges on his superb website, Gametrash, and I have much to say on the FPS subject.

Let's begin by saying that Kirk must be my brother from another mother, because he has an uncanny ability to say what I'm thinking. So take this letter of sorts with his.

Now. Let's talk about recoil. If I, a teenage guy, can shoot a M16 on full auto and group on the paper at a decent range, then there is no reason whatsoever that a trained-military grunt can't let loose an entire clip into someone without turning aforementioned M16 (or M4. Same difference) turning into an anti-aircraft gun (I'[m looking at you Counter Strike). Recoil is not that bad. MP5s do not recoil super bad. AK47s tend to kick much more, so factor that in, but don't wrench my view up in simulation of recoil because that does not happen. I have fired an AK47, and that did not happen to me, so that should not happen to a soldier.

Shotguns are nice, but TIGHTEN THE SPREAD! A can of spray paint is more accurate then a shotgun in most FPS today. That's unacceptable, buy a shotgun and go down to the firing range and see how the thing spreads.

Make me laugh, and make me cry. Give me squadmates I care about, who are intelligent with personality. Actually implement a story that I care about, not just "Oh no, I'm stranded on Mars and there's lots of bad things to kill". This is not too much too ask. Also, if there's a girl in the game, she should not be the one I have to rescue mission after mission. She should not be Princess Peach. Make her an actual character that doesn't suck. Make her kick butt.

I should see my feet now. There is no reason in this day and age that I can't see my feet. I should also see my hands when I climb a ladder. Look at FEAR, that's the way to do it.

Give my martial arts attacks. At least let me rifle or pistol whip someone, and knives are overdone. I should be able to kill someone with my bare hands, I don't need a gun. (I'm looking at you Halo) Make the hand to hand combat responsive and realistic.

Pattern the game world after reality. Look at Condemned: Criminal Origins. Most of the levels and environments are taken from the real world. FEAR was great because, for the most part, you felt like you were walking through real places. Sierra took reality and added a twist to it, and as a result, FEAR was interesting.

No more WWII shooters, and if you're going to do a sci-fi FPS, make sure it has something to offer. No more generic games. If you're going to spend so much time and energy creating a game, at least make it unique and worth our time.

Make the enemies realistic. My foes should act like real people. They should duck and cover, lay down suppressing fire, lob grenades at me, and cower when I eliminate their entire squad before their eyes. Make my enemies intelligent, they should not act like the Nazis in Medal of Honor.

Scare the shizznat out of me. If you're going to do a scary game, make it genuinely scary. Monster closets are not scary, get into my head and psyche me out. The best way to look at this is to make a comparison between FEAR and Doom 3. Doom 3 was scary on a primal level, but after a while I realized that I was more then a match from anything that leapt form the shadows. In FEAR, I was kept on edge constantly. Alma's giggles and strange whispers set the stage and the creepy visions added to the ambience. FEAR was almost two games, a fast paced FPS and a scary horror game. The two elements blended, and as a result, I think FEAR is scarier and more captivating then Doom 3. Both are great games, but FEAR is better.

I agree with Kirk, no more platforming. Also, make the ladders easy to use. id Games did it well in Return to Castle Wolfenstien, there was a small cage of sorts to prevent me from falling down a ladder. FEAR did a good job, making me grab the ladder. In real life people do not fall down ladders constantly, it should not be that way in games.

So here we go. A quick reference to what gamers want in their FPSs. Take notes and come up with an innovative, solid product, and I assure you it will do well.