In this post I present an idea for a Single Player campaign against other humans. It’s in the draft stage and as such there are many factors that require more thought. Like many game modes, one key element is the balance and getting this right may take a little while.
We all like to be the hero or heroine, that's one of the key elements of good story telling – placing the reader/player in the shoes of the main character. Who doesn’t dream of being the one to save the day by doing something that nobody else has or can do? Who dreams of being part of the crowd or group that gets eliminated at the beginning of an adventure?
We struggle against seemly insurmountable obstacles, fight our way through hundreds of grunts and are rewarded with glory. Even though the going is tough we know at the back of our minds that we will prevail. That is the point; we HAVE to succeed.
It is widely recognized that the best human players far exceed the abilities of the best A.I. currently available. Each and every new game released seems to extend those abilities, including being aware of possible objects within their environment that can be used as weapons (Half Life 2) to working in coordinated teams (Far Cry).
Multiplayer games pit opposing teams against each other, where both have a different set of advantages and disadvantages. Overall they are usually well balanced. It is purely the skill and tactics of the players involved that determines the outcome. This is clearly a big difference from Single Player games. We know from the beginning that the hero will overcome tremendous odds to fight their way through to final victory. This doesn’t normally detract from the fun but it did get me thinking.
How could I combine the hero elements of the Single Player game with the option of fighting other humans without taking away the best aspects of both gameplay modes? Perhaps more importantly – would I want to? Should these elements be kept separate? I don’t think so.
Players create an account, which holds their playing history and rating points. Players join a game starting at one of several key points during a single player campaign. They start as the enemy and accrue rating points based on the amount of time they play. As they die they replace another one of the A.I. controlled enemy until the level is completed. (They do not respawn as the same player!) They then move onto the next level.
Their abilities are far below the Hero’s. They can kill him or her but it is very difficult. Their role in this game mode is to provide a greater challenge to the Hero. For example their weapons have less impact or their speed of movement is reduced.
Players are only allowed to become the Hero once they reach a predefined level of rating points. This is to encourage the feeling that for this game mode to work players HAVE to be prepared to play as the enemy fodder. (There’s a special psychology involved here which I will talk about later.) This is true even if they are currently the only human player on the server.
These players can communicate with each other and plan attacks and any other tactics they desire. They will also have the ability to control the other enemy bots.
As mentioned earlier, once a player reaches the required number of rating points they are allowed, although not required, to play as the Hero. From their point of view it’s no different to a normal single player campaign except that the enemy is a lot smarter and provide a much tougher challenge.
Let’s take Half Life 2 as an example. In this example players require 100 points before than can play as Gordon Freeman. A player can join a game at any stage but we will assume they start at the very beginning. They start by seeing Gordon Freeman in the stairwell and chasing him up the stairs and across the rooftops. If they kill him they force him to start again. Jumping further into the game we find the player as a zombie in Ravenholm desperately trying to avoid being shot and creeping up on GF.
Players would have the opportunity to pilot a helicopter or even a walker. The game continues until all human players sign off. New players may have to spend quite a few hours playing as the enemy before they accrue enough points.
If there is more than one player with a rating of the required points then each ‘Hero’ has three lives, after this the next player takes his place. And the previous Hero either leaves the game or becomes the enemy.
Each new level would start with a summary of the players logged on and a brief review of their stats.
The rating points are designed more around the time played rather than the hit ratio etc. This is to encourage enough players to play as the enemy so that they are available for human Heroes to play against.
Once a players reaches 100 points he is allowed to play as the Hero, BUT these points slowly reduce as he plays. This is to ensure that they are required to play as the enemy again. Otherwise the number of humans who play as the enemy may dwindle to zero.
I'm sure there will be a number of players who will relish the challenge of being the enemy, especially because they will have limited abilities. It will be a challenge as much as being the Hero. In fact there may be players who prefer to stay as the enemy because they may have access to weapons, vehicles or areas that the Hero does not have.
Perhaps Clans will form who are specifically focused on being the enemy and will evolve special tactics based on the exact circumstances.
People are selfish and require reasons to play as the underdog. Perhaps a simple formula of: sixty minutes of enemy time equals 12 minutes of Hero time. Most players will want to play as the Hero but if there aren’t enough human enemies then the idea falls apart. By forcing players to play as the enemy it makes it better for everybody concerned.
Please remember, this is just the first draft and I know it still needs some refining.
The question is: Would you play?
27th April 2005
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21st November 2005
I think this is very interesting idea.
21st November 2005
So do I, unfortunately I don’t have the time or skills required to create a beta version for somebody to test.
4th February 2007
Looks like somebody else thought it was a good idea:
1Up.com