Star Citizen Developer Wants to Reinvent the FPS

@jonnyc0mbat: That is literally the opposite of the point of what they did with this game. Jesus.

@jonnyc0mbat: It was part of the plan all along to keep backers informed of progress and future plans.

@Richardthe3rd: Most games don't have the delineation for lowered weapon out of sprinting, this does. Sounds like that mechanic will similar to ArmA, with a manual lifting of the weapon (even if it's just pressing fire, you can do that in ArmA to achieve the same thing). And no one was saying that aiming down sighs was new, but you can't just assume it will have it. Yes, it has it, they stated it. They didn't claim to have reinvented that mechanic.
Thene there's the stamina stuff which is another thing that shouldn't just be taken for granted. Most games don't have stamina use impact point of aim, most games don't have realistic breathing impacting weapon handling, etc.
Making a game feel significantly different doesn't always need huge strokes. It's the details that really change how a game feels.

@Richardthe3rd:

Its not really the important part.

This is the main difference between Star Citizen and mainsteam shooting games.

Stamina is a resource you will need to manage. Performing actions such as sprinting, vaulting, mounting, climbing and breath control (detailed below) will lower your stamina. Low stamina will have several temporary knock-on effects, such as drastically reduced sprint distance, diminished ability to aim properly, and even a reduced amount of time that breath can be held. This is intended to slow the pace of combat, so that it feels more tactical and reinforces our intention that survival takes consideration, rather than random firing. Actions such as sprinting, jumping, climbing, vaulting and holding breath reduce stamina, while walking slowly (slow regeneration), standing still (faster!), staying behind cover, or aiming without holding breath will regenerate it.

Additionally, your armor and other held equipment will have a direct impact on your stamina consumption. If you are in large heavy armor, then stamina will drain at a much faster rate. If you are wearing light armor, then stamina will go down more slowly and you can run around a bit more. The armor you wear should have little impact on how fast you regain stamina so long as you remain still. This should add a nice choice when you have to sacrifice maneuverability for defense and vice versa! The design team is experimenting with several different options for ‘displaying’ stamina without taking you out of the universe; the current thought is to indicate on the HUD how much stamina is available via a heart rate monitor.

If you have little to no stamina remaining, your character will be breathing very heavily. This will make the bullet spread and sway increase dramatically. This will help prevent you from running around and expecting to be able to fire as accurately while you run. This also will make natural pauses during breathing (after heavy exertion) very short, making accurate fire a lot more difficult. Your helmet will make small changes to the HUD and even your helmet’s glass, depending on the level of stamina. With low stamina from running around, you will breathe heavily, fogging the helmet and further obscuring the view.

We intend to prove that breathing can be an active, interesting part of the FPS experience. Soldiers must control their breathing in order to fire more accurately, so why not simulate that in the game? Firing at the top and bottom of each breath, or holding your breath entirely, are ways soldiers learn to fire their weapons most effectively, so it makes sense to reward players for having the skill and patience to do the same.

Firing at the top and/or bottom of your natural breaths mean that there is (briefly) no movement of the upper chest to move the barrel, making your shots more accurate. Holding your breath is another way which can be used for a longer stabilization time, at the risk of waiting too long and needing to catch your breath — with a resulting loss of stamina, should you hold it too long!

These “natural pauses” during the breathing cycle will only occur while in the Aiming Down Sights stance. There will be a pause at the top and bottom of each breath. During this pause there will be almost no movement to the sights and it will be the best time to fire. We might also tighten the spread of the rounds when firing at these points. (See below picture for the range explanation.)

Breakdown of full stamina breath pattern:

• 1 Second pauses at the top and bottom of the each breath
• 2 Seconds to move from the top to the bottom of the breath
• Left and right sway and up and down limits are dictated by the weapon and attachments’ values
• Up, down, left and right sway values should be determined by modifiers on the weapon’s sway

Breakdown of no stamina breath pattern:

• Very short pauses at the top and bottom of each breath, about .2 – .3 seconds
• Very rapid up and down travel time of about 1 second
• Left and right sway and up and down limits can have a modifier on top of the base weapon and attachments’ values
• Up, down, left and right values should be determined by modifiers on the weapon’s sway
  Holding your breath is the active part of the breath system. By holding a button, you will hold your breath for a specific amount of time before your character releases the breath for you. The longer you hold your breath, the lower your stamina gets. If you have little to no stamina, then you will not be able to hold your breath very long.

Breakdown of full stamina breath hold:

• Holding [key] will begin the “hold breath” state
• Sway is reduced to 0 for the duration
• You can hold your breath for 10 seconds before needing to release (this action will be involuntary)
• The release will create sway for 3 seconds, with a modifier making it a bit more extreme
• After the sway, breathing returns to normal

Breakdown of no stamina breath hold:

• Holding [key] will begin the “hold breath” state
• Sway is reduced to 0 for the duration
• You can hold your breath for 1 second before releasing
• The release will create sway for 6 seconds, with a modifier making it a bit more extreme
• After the exaggerated sway, breathing returns to the breath cycle based on current stamina

@ggsimmonds: fps is a part of the game, them detailing how its going to work and sharing it with us does nothing detrimental to the game being developed, if anything it helps since we are able to help them test and iron out any bugs or major balance issues we find.

@ggsimmonds: I know with all the news it feels like Star Citizen has been in dev 6+ years but its only been 4. Well within how long it takes most AAA games to be developed.

@ggsimmonds: Due 2016.

@Sushiglutton: All baseless assumtions. They have 7 studios working on the game pretty sure they are able to work out the FPS and Dogfighting. Among the studios is Infonic who made Nexuiz and who are in charge of the FPS part of the game. Let alone that they have people from Crytech US and Germany working for them now.

@Sushiglutton: "Not exactly an appetizing combination"...if that was in fact real but it is not.

@virtualskill: No need to bring up the "M" word. That person's name is banned around here :D

@virtualskill: Just wait till it releases if you don't have any faith in the project. They set about 4 years for releasing the game which is not unreasonable.

@virtualskill: Reasonable time has already passed for this game.

What's wrong with Skyrim Walking system?

@lrdfancypants: and that is?

@mari2kde: that would be hilarious

@mari2kde: They are going for the realism thing, turn based doesn't fit that.

Be interesting to see what Battlefront is fling to do in this department . If anything.

Just don't buy them . That's how i fight against it :)