FPS games have a first-person perspective and share the core actions of moving, aiming, and shooting. First-person shooters are an old genre at this stage and many new mechanics have appeared as the genre has snowballed. The ability to throw grenades, meleeing enemies with a weapon, reloading systems, and even more complicated mechanics like commanding a squad have found their place in the battlefield.
FPS game design is one I never engaged with – my hand-eye coordination and shaky hands meant these types of games were always extra difficult for me to play. We have talented people out there that understand these principles, but keep in mind that fundamentally, FPS gameplay is about pointing, clicking and the position challenges that come with that.
Other genres and variants such as metroid prime soften these challenges to make them more accessible. In fact, Metroid Prime was one of the first FPS platformers I could truly enjoy. Read on to learn more about the broader possibilities of the genre. See how classic FPS games have added their own twists, and where to find resources online for getting started on your own game.
What are the fundamentals of shooter game design?
The fundamentals of shooter game design use the personal perspective to challenge players’ mastery at moving, aiming, and shooting. With the help of responsive visuals and punchy sound effects, shooter games have a unique ability to put players directly in the shoes of their avatar. Decisions about the core gameplay loop such as whether to go first or third person, or singleplayer or multiplayer, are other fundamentals to consider early in the design process.
The FPS is unique in how the player’s perspective is tethered to their character. An on-rails shooter has no movement control, and even a top-down bullet hell game has a top-down, 360 degree, synoptic view of the battlefield. First person provides a challenge because players have a narrow perspective and must aim precisely to take out targets. Some FPS games keep it simple and leave the challenge there. Games like Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army (a third-person shooter) have enemies with simple AI, and glorious, gory shooting is the main attraction.
The personal POV means a player doesn’t feel they are taking on a separate persona but fully inhabits the new perspective. Valve made the protagonist of their Half Life series mute so nothing stops players from fully inhabiting them. The player never leaves the first-person perspective for a cutscene, nor do they lose control of the character, unless the player character is themselves bound. The player is free to watch exposition or explore the labs and resistance bases of Half Life 2 as they wish.
Story-driven shooters use the personal perspective to their advantage. Other genres like RTS games promise involvement in historical battles, but only from a place of total control. The shooters Medal of Honor and Call of Duty reached mainstream success with their soldier’s-eye-view of the battles of WWII. Operation Overlord in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault uses the perspective to communicate the fear, chaos, and peril experienced in the D-Day assault on Utah beach.
The perspective’s storytelling potential is secondary to what gameplay designers are concerned with, turning first-person shooting into a fun activity. Enemies are the bread and butter of the experience, targets against which players test their mastery of the core toolset. A diverse enemy cast must be effective at different ranges and against different weapons to keep players interested. Now rather than center the screen and fire, players need to prioritize enemies and carefully choose the weapons to bring into combat.
The primary goal is for the enemy to present a challenge to the player and block their progress. A secondary objective is for the AI to feel reactive, lifelike, and intelligent. As seen above, zombie games prove that even the appearance of intelligence isn’t necessary. The goal is making sure enemies react enough to challenge the player without enemy decision making being unreadable. Reactive enemies search for players when they hide, throw grenades to flush the player out of cover, look for vantage points in a map with high and low spaces. Players expect enemies to do one of these tasks when they take cover. Enemies the player isn’t able to react to aren’t fun.
The foundation of an FPS is the perspective and combat, so many shooters overlay elements from other genres. System Shock in the 1990s introduced the idea of a shooter mixing with RPGs to create the immersive sim. BioShock, Prey, and Horizon Zero Dawn have continued the genre into the modern era, giving players a variety of abilities and upgrades other than shooting to overcome challenges: other games mimic the party management found in RTS games and RPGs. Republic Commando and the Ranbow Six games have players command a squad in combat.
A strong audio-visual experience is necessary to maintain immersion and balance weapons. Whether a weapon feels good to use has more to do with the SFX and VFX than damage. Getting weapons to feel good is essential when that’s one of the core mechanics of the game. Gunshots are loud, explosions are bass-y, and dead enemies audibly splatter. Guns visualize their impact on the environment with blood spatter, bullet hole decals, scorch marks, and the scattering gibs of shredded enemies.
Third person shooters (TPS) are similar to FPS games but go with a third person camera. The new angle benefits gameplay while still keeping the player close to their avatar. The wider view of the battlefield yields more control to players. Cover shooters benefit the most from this arrangement, since the camera lets players see over cover while they’re character hides. The battlefield isn’t the only thing players get a better view of, but the player character too. Since they’re on-screen at all times, the player identifies with them in a different way. The player is more aware of who they’re controlling, and they get to see customized gear and clothing as well.
The choice to go multiplayer or singleplayer affects the approach to balancing, levels, and virtually all aspects of a shooter game. Singleplayer is regularly unfair in the player’s favor for the sake of fun; multiplayer doesn’t have such an option. Jaime Griesemer at Bungie and Chet Faliszek at Valve recommends balancing for competitive multiplayer first. Gear balanced for competition is already suitable for casual modes or singleplayer. PvP players are then sorted into competitive, ranked modes and casual modes to separate the two target audiences.
What mechanics are used in FPS game design?
The mechanics used in FPS game design are divisible between moving, aiming, shooting, and reloading. The core gameplay loop consists of switching between these four actions. Each of the four actions consists of several mechanics. Movement, to start, is boring if players only walk: the ability to run, crouch, crawl, and jump adds variety to the toolset.
Moving is the first core mechanic in a first-person shooter and the most critical, since the player’s position governs their sightlines. Movement means more than just pushing the stick to walk in a certain direction. Jumping and crouching are common additions, and recent titles use other advanced movement tech like wall runs, slides, and double jumps.
Movement verbs encourage players to think strategically. An on-rails shooter is only fun for so long because the player has no control over the pace. The simple verbs of walking and sprinting allow players to get in and out of combat quickly to reload and recover, creating a natural rhythm. The rhythm of movement itself has the potential to be a fun experience. Mirror’s Edge shows that first person is a good lens through which to build a game based entirely on first-person parkour.
A good movement verb is multifaceted. Crouching is an example of a mechanic that has a different use depending on its context. Crouching allows players to sneak past enemies and choose when to attack. Crouching at the same time is necessary for taking cover in intense combat. One movement verb gives players agency in navigating the world between battles, choosing how to start them, and managing the pacing of a combat encounter.
Movement tech that combines with other abilities in predictable ways adds depth to movement without adding new buttons. Map out the movement verbs and how they interact with each other in the final game to plan these interactions. Crouching from a sprint engages a slide in games like Horizon Zero Dawn, for example. The slide is used to move at high speed while also getting low to the ground and out of view. Enemies have trouble following players through low passages and lose sight of them.
Multiple movement verbs encourage players to create their own strategies and engage with the game over and over again. Sliding is an intended button combination, but other combos require more skill to execute. Crouch jumping is an example. Crouching in older shooters didn’t lower the player down, but pulled their feet up, with gravity doing the job of pulling the character to the ground. Crouching at the right time allows players to reach new heights by pulling their feet out of the way, meaning skilled players are able to reach areas other players can’t.
The movement tech in Quake shows how complex 3D movement lends to replayability and emergent gameplay. Quake was the first Id Software shooter to include a full 3D environment. Grenade jumping and bunny hopping are tricks developed in Quake that have remained in shooters all the way up to the Titanfall series. Players with enough health are able to use the knockback from grenades to launch themselves quickly across gaps and up levels. Combined with bunny hopping, where players minimize time spent on the ground to increase speed, the skill ceiling for first-person movement is high.
Aiming is the second core mechanic in a shooter. Aim assist ensures aiming feels good while not eliminating the role of skill. A player firing in one direction while the bullet ends up somewhere else disconnects player skill and execution. The best adjustments, therefore, come before a shot is fired.
Reticle friction, rotational aim assist, and bullet magnetism help players acquire a target without aiming for them. Reticle friction makes the reticle slow down when it’s over a target, allowing players to aim with a thumbstick, where controlling speed is difficult. Rotational assist essentially locks the camera to a target once a reticle is over it; the lock on breaks easily so it doesn’t feel heavy-handed. Bullet magnetism tells bullets there’s a max amount the bullet is going to bend closer to a target. The player still needs to get close, but some error is allowed.
Console shooters have tried several methods of aim assist over the years. Aim down sights and dual-stick gameplay weren’t always the norm. Older console shooters like Metroid Prime use lock-on but add other mechanics to make combat more engaging. The combination of unique abilities, movement, and exploration made the game fun and challenging in ways other than mastering shooting.
Shooting is the core action players use to interact with the challenges and obstacles of FPS games. Players most commonly shoot to damage enemies, but much like jumping in a platformer, which is a tool for moving and attack attacking, shooting is multifaceted. Players in FPS games choose whether to shoot at enemies, exploding barrels, crates, and even collapsible structures. Shooting in Spec Ops: the Line becomes the player’s verb for making narrative choices. A CIA agent asks the player to make a choice not by pressing F but with their rifle: execute a man who stole water, or execute the soldier that killed his family in retaliation.
Guns fire simulated projectiles or register hits against targets instantly, the latter of which is called hitscan. The two types of weapon come with other tradeoffs so players have a reason to switch between them. The plasma rifle in Halo is effective against shielded enemies, but shoots slow projectiles. The weapon is difficult to aim at a distance, meaning players risk getting up close to the game’s most dangerous enemies. Hitscan weapons are more effective at range, but perform badly against shields in contrast.
Reloading is the simplest core mechanic and is easy to overlook. Not all shooters need reloading after all. Classic shooters such as Doom and its reboot do without reloading, letting players unload bullets for as long as they have ammo. Reloading adds extra strategy to the game, giving the player another factor to consider when they play. The player isn’t just thinking about attacking but when they have time to hide and reload. A slower reload also creates a tradeoff for using a powerful weapon.
The rare shooter turns reloading into an engaging mechanic. Perfect reloads in Gears of War makes reloading more than an automatic button press. The next magazine has more damage and finishes reloading early when the player hits the button at the right time.
The four mechanics (moving, aiming, shooting, and reloading) interact with each other. Movement is used to get a break for reloading, or to get a better vantage point for aiming and shooting. Shooting in turn affects the environment, creating areas of safety by clearing out enemies or breaking destructible parts of the environment
A predictable control scheme is necessary for players to feel at home with the core mechanics. Players have expectations about what happens if they throw a grenade while reloading: the player cancels the reload and throws the grenade. List an input, and then every other input a player is able to hit at the same time. Think about what a player expects to happen when they hit other buttons while ADSing (Aiming Down Sights). Map out what happens when a player in ADS jumps, reloads, melees, sprints, and so on until all the possibilities have been accounted for. Do the same for each action to make sure shooting feels right.
How to design a level for an FPS game?
Design a level for an FPS game with preset beats and variety. Knowing the targeted experience beforehand prevents back and forth at a later stage when significant resources are at stake. Levels designed by experienced developers for Titanfall 2, Half Life 2, BioShock, and Duke Nukem 3D provide examples of level types with strong hooks and an idea of how to create an engaging experience for the player.
Define the level beats and pacing before creating the level layout. Consider what enemies, obstacles, mechanics, and events the player is going to encounter during the level and in what order. Each component takes players through a different level of intensity. High intensity moments see players in combat, or crescendo in a boss battle. The intensity comes down at other points, with players completing a puzzle or sneaking. Game designer Pete Ellis suggests putting in the lulls first (mini-games, puzzles, cutscenes, story moments), and building combat around that to ensure everything makes it into the game that needs to go in. Narrative beats and teaching new mechanics are low intensity but essential to include.
Creating level beats gets tricky in levels with multiple routes. The intensity curve varies from player to player in such experiences. One player who sneaks through areas gets a slow-burn intensity compared to other players who go in guns blazing. The latter player blasts through an encounter in a fraction of the time as the stealthy one. Some games thrive on giving the player choices, but if a strict intensity curve is desired, make sure the encounter changes depending on what the player chooses. Consider having the aggressive player fight several waves while the stealth player only gets one set of enemies, for example, so both experience a longer, tenser moment.
Plan out the level beats and the desired intensity on paper before doing so in-editor. Starting in 2D means the obvious problems pop up early. Drawio or Miro work for planning out the early 2D mockup. Consider secrets, alternate paths, or shortcuts between areas at this stage. If a path or shortcut skips critical content or puts players in a position without the right resources, modify the level now. Once there’s a good idea of the intensity and pacing behind the level, blocking out a low detailed 3D version to play around with in-engine is the next step.
Shooters use different strategies to lower and raise the intensity from section to section. The Call of Duty games have big set pieces mowing down enemies with machine guns, or low-intensity sniping sections. Squad-based shooters vary between all out firefights and quiet sections where players carefully set up the team before engaging the enemy. Other shooters, especially immersive sims, sprinkle in hacking mini-games, dialogue, audio diaries, and puzzles, features which empower the player, deliver story, or just give them a break.
Squad-based shooters and stealthy tactical shooters are slower than most shooters and give players several avenues for approaching a level. Players have multiple angles from which to gather information about a situation and plan their attack. Players must be able to walk around the encounter without being noticed. Ample cover lets players sneak or take cover once combat begins.
Such tactical shooters offer several ways to vary the intensity. Enemies in low-intensity scenarios aren’t aware they’re being watched, so players have plenty of time to plan their method of attack. Tenser situations have open spaces between the enemy and the player, so players must carefully consider their movement to avoid alerting them to their presence. Navigating through tight corners and rooms dense with cover blocks the player’s view, giving the enemies an opportunity to ambush the player in turn and surprise them, raising the intensity as high as it gets.
Survival horror games use the limited perspective of an FPS to their advantage, surprising and challenging the player. The Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation is undefeatable, giving players no choice but to try to ward it off with flames or hide. The levels, as a result, are composed of many small rooms and long hallways that block the player’s and the enemies’ view. Vents and alternate paths reward observant players with safer methods of navigating the level.
The cramped space, locked doors, and vents also create opportunities to block the player’s progression and challenge their expectations. A player has the objective to use External Communications in the fourth level, but multiple times unhelpful synthetics, locked doors, and disabled communications terminals frustrate the player until they reach the objective. Kinks in the plan vary pacing and force the players to use the tools at their disposal to progress.
Levels in all genres exist in a broader context and must continue the visual language present in other parts of the game. The game slowly introduces new mechanics, and introduces them in future levels in increasingly difficult situations. Consistent visual elements set up expectations about how to use a space strategically. A player entering a large open area with cover in Gears of War knows a battle’s about to happen and begins thinking about where to make a stand. Other visual elements signal hidden items or a useful utility.
Multiplayer maps don’t have beats in the same way, as players control the action. Clear lanes give players options, which creates an ebb and flow that is a multiplayer level’s pacing. David Vonderhaar of Treyarch said in an interview to never give the players more than three options for navigation at a given point. Maps nearly always have 3 main lanes for this reason. The map however needs to be open or readable enough that players know where to look for combat. A readable map, like a boat, gives the expectation most combat occurs on the open deck in the middle.
Levels each have something new to interest the player: new mechanics, things to discover, enemies, or even just new visuals. Levels from classic FPS games demonstrate different ways to hook in players. Consider a few specific examples before learning about weapon design, since looking at effective levels critically is the best way to understand shooter design.
Valve bases Ravenholm in Half Life 2 around teaching players how to use a new mechanic, the gravity gun. The gravity gun enables players to pick up, drop, or launch any inanimate physics object. Explosive barrels, saws, and spinning blades are useful for taking out enemies quickly.
The level has a horror aesthetic which isn’t replicated elsewhere in the game, making the introduction a memorable experience. The game teaches the player to use the objects in their environment through its visuals. They see zombies chopped through with saw blades as they explore a ruined, desolate town at night; as soon as the player picks one up, a zombie lumbers into view, ready for the player to bisect them.
Titanfall 2’s level “Effect and Cause” took a big risk on a tricky mechanic which paid off. The level gives players a time travel device. They travel between the present and past as they explore a facility, learning to use the device at the right time to get past obstacles. The mechanic fits well with the game, showing off the movement tech in a new light. Players take leaps of faith towards collapsed platforms, switching to the past to land on the past platform in its pristine condition.
The new mechanic works because the designers introduce the mechanic slowly. The time travel first happens on accident, in an environment where it doesn’t have consequences. The player sees a mob of surprised security bots before suddenly getting pulled back to the present. Next the time travel lets the player pass through rubble, demonstrating it is possible to get through obstacles this way before setting the player loose to platform through the facility.
Neptune’s Bounty in BioShock introduces a style of level common in the remainder of the game. Neptune’s Bounty has a hub (where Peach Wilkins asks the player to do tasks), and spokes, along which the player journeys back and forth. The layout creates tense moments, as players encounter new splicers when they journey back through an area they thought was safe. The layout also piques players’ curiosity, as no one vantage point allows players to see the whole area. Players don’t unveil the whole level until it’s almost time to leave.
Locations and items off the beaten path add replayability. Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, and other old shooters have secret areas with special rewards. The end of every level tells the player how many secrets they missed, encouraging them to come back and find them all. Secrets are sometimes locations off the main path of the level, and other times much more obscure: shooting an explosive at a crack in the wall to reveal a hole, or jumping into a fake wall.
How to design weapons for an FPS game?
Design weapons for an FPS game that give the player control over how they respond to the environment. Players have strategies and tactics for dealing with enemies. Strategies are what the player chooses before a fight, tactics are how the player responds during a fight. Weapons take on different roles so the player always has strategies to choose before facing a challenge. Multiple utilities give the players the ability to choose the right tactic once combat has begun.
Weapon roles and categories have become fixed in the FPS genre after decades of new releases. Players choose short range weapons when indoor play is expected, long-range when outdoors. Clear roles in turn signal how to counter enemies using the same weapons against the player. Enemies with long range weapons are less deadly when the player moves inside or between cover, and vice versa.
Weapon spread and range define weapon roles. Weapon spread is how far from the center of the crosshair that bullets stray as a result of recoil. A sniper, for example, has a high range and low spread that allows players to pinpoint distant targets. It doesn’t work well at close range due to a slow fire rate and limited magazine size. SMGs have high spread and lower damage but a high firing rate, making them an effective close range weapon.
Spread comes in the form of random spread or set spread patterns. Managing recoil is simpler with random spread, since players only need to vaguely adjust downward to account for recoil. The advantage of set spread is that the skill floor still remains low: players aren’t required to memorize each weapon’s pattern to control its recoil well enough. The skill ceiling is even higher, though, since skilled players are able to memorize the patterns for max precision. Bots are able to account for set spread with ease, so some shooters favor random spread to take power out of cheaters’ hands.
Quality SFX is important for balancing weapons. Weapons that sound weak feel weak, regardless of the damage they deal. Pitch variation, different delays of the sound, echoing, sounds for casings landing on the ground, and any randomness make the effect more believable than the same repeated stock gunshot. Source material is sourced from different mikes for creating dynamic sounds. A few examples of mike types are listed below.
- Mikes on the gun to capture the mechanical sounds of the gun itself on firing
- Mikes near the gun in different areas to capture the gunshot
- Mikes far away to capture the lingering noise from a distance
- Other sounds/different gunshot noises mixed in to make it unique
A gun which doesn’t have muzzle flash or bullet trails doesn’t feel like it’s affecting the environment. A weapon’s visual effects make a weapon fun to use. What Jaime Griesemer of Bungie calls this is the “YouTube” test. A viewer who pauses a YouTube video at the right moment should be able to catch a cool shot of the gun in action.
Accompany the SFX with quality visuals, since both give players solid feedback on what they are doing. Examples of visual effects are muzzle flash, bullet hole decals in walls, and blood spray on enemies. The gun animations are visible up close, so they should look right and enhance the reactivity of the weapon. The player pulls back the lever on a bolt-action rifle after each shot, sees the hammer strike the bullet, and observes the hammer sliding back after each shot. Movies similarly focus on the spectacle of gunfights, so classic action movie scenes are another source of inspiration for making spectacular gunplay.
Consider finer details in response to testing once the weapons are in place. Time to kill (TTK) is the primary influence on damage. Each weapon takes a certain amount of time to reduce enemy HP to zero if every shot hits. To keep TTK consistent, a slower attack does more damage than a quicker one. Competitive shooters have a quick TTK, while more casual experiences like Call of Duty have a longer one.
Grenades and melee shore up weaknesses in the rest of the sandbox. The way grenades bounce allows players to reach out-of-view areas that shooting doesn’t. Grenades further specialize through the function of area denial, flushing out enemies from cover and creating chaos.
Melee is useful since it remains effective even without ammo, so players who run out of ammo have an option to keep playing. Some games have an infinite ammo pistol for this reason, but melee is interesting because it occupies a space distinct from firearms. Melee is more effective in cramped rooms and small hallways, and, in larger spaces, melee damage is a reward for being able to get close amid gunfire.
Balancing in older singleplayer games was a state, but is a continuous process more and more. The goal is for weapons to keep players in the flow state, where nothing prevents them from expressing their skill against challenging obstacles. The player is strategically nudged into situations where they’re skill isn’t up to the task to test the player’s skills, and then nudged back to an easier difficulty, making sure players aren’t able to predict exactly what is going to happen. Live service games make nudging a continuous process. Designers constantly tweak weapon stats and add new weapons to shake up the status quo.
Weapon customization is tangential to balancing but adds a way for players to express control in multiplayer. PvP is an environment where designers aren’t able to contrive every sequence. Players have no control over what other players do but do have control over what they enter a match with. Loadouts in Call of Duty let players pick the best weapon for themselves. Other games such as battle royales have even starts, in which case players are able to customize their weapon’s appearance rather than its stats.
Customization lends itself to progression systems that keep players returning. Seeing how many guns and skins they have to unlock motivates them to return and keep beating challenges. New customization options further reinforce the game economy. Players play through a battle pass to earn rewards in the store, rewards which the player is able to enhance by paying cash for a better version of the pass.
How to design enemies for FPS games?
Design enemies for FPS games which create the opportunity for tactical decisions in combat and provide more challenge than a shooting gallery. Enemies are a large part of the level designer’s toolset, dictating much of the pacing during combat and the level of intensity over a level. Enemies must come in a variety of types that counter the player effectively in a specific way. They need an AI which allows them to present a challenge in said scenarios without their decision-making being unpredictable for players.
Varied enemy roles ask players to make tactical decisions beyond point and shoot. Players must decide which enemies to prioritize and which to avoid. The small number of enemies in Doom demonstrates how the simple difference between range and melee separates enemy types. Human soldiers have hitscan weapons which the player isn’t able to dodge. Imps have stronger attacks but their fireball attack is dodgeable. Lost souls and pinkies are melee enemies, so they aren’t a threat until the player is forced into close quarters with them. Players have to choose whether to eliminate the hit scan enemies first or take out melee for more breathing room.
Enemies are a large part of the level designer’s pacing toolkit. Not all combat is high intensity. Introducing new enemies and new combinations of enemies makes players anticipate what comes next. Some combinations of enemy roles produce lower intensity combat. Melee enemies in a large open space are easy to avoid, for example. Higher intensity encounters have players fight combinations of ranged and melee enemies, enemies coming in waves through doors, or surround dangerous enemies with foot soldiers that distract the player.
Distinct enemy roles tell the player about the universe they inhabit as well. The enemies in Half Life 2 are faceless drones and strange alien machines that fit the modus operandi of an extractive alien empire. The enemies in Doom are demons from hell whose hostility is without question. Some shooters change the idea of what an “enemy” is. The “No Russian” mission in Modern Warfare 2 asks the player to participate in an airport mass shooting. Spec Ops: The Line has players commit a similar atrocity but this time forces the player to participate.
Designers use several strategies to create opponents that are reactive enough to present a challenge. AI boils down to a set of instructions or a set of states for the enemy to be in: hide, search, shoot, throw a grenade. Distinct enemy roles take a lot of pressure off the AI system. A Jackal in Halo, for instance, is interesting because of the way the shield covers its body and how aggressive it is when approached; these two characteristics don’t require intelligence.
Finite state machines (FSMs) and behavior trees are common strategies used to create enemy AI. The original Half-Life uses FSMs. Enemies move between states (hiding, attacking, moving), and the game switches from one to the other. Behavior trees are more difficult to visualize. A player has a series of potential instructions: run, hide, search, attack. The enemy loops through these actions in order. The action is likely to have another set of sub-actions attached to it called children. An action might be “go through door”, and its three children are “go to door, open door, walk to other side”. Based on events in the environment, some actions are disabled and others are given higher priority. An enemy isn’t going to open a door when in a vehicle, for example.
Designers make a trade off between AI that reacts to the player like a human and AI the designers are able to feasibly control. Level designers often include targets in a level so enemies know what’s cover, what they’re able to leap over, and where to get a vantage point. The topic is too detailed to cover here, and there are many strategies for giving enemies the correct instructions at the right time. Goal-oriented action planning is a system not mentioned here, but praised for its effective implementation in FEAR. The YouTube channel AI in games discusses the strategies in detail.
Where to integrate barks into the FPS gameplay?
Integrate barks into an FPS as a way to communicate the enemy state to the player. Barks are short pieces of dialogue that enemies (and sometimes friends) throw out during gameplay. Barks tell players about the world they live in and add life to the game. They also cue players on what NPCs are doing.
Barks in part serve the purpose of environmental storytelling. Just as enemy types and roles say something about the story, their dialogue is another way to communicate the world to the player. The crazy ramblings of splicers in BioShock are unsettling and give players a glimpse at the complete meltdown that has occurred in Rapture. The dialogue of enemies and allies in Halo is primarily comedic, and the way grunts yell “run away!” as the player approaches reminds them they’re controlling a badass killing machine.
Barks serve the gameplay purpose of cuing players to the current game state. One way to give players feedback on enemies is for them to yell what they’re going to do. The radio chatter in Half Life tells the player whether the marines are going to throw a grenade, flush the player out of cover, or if they’re unaware of the player’s presence.
How to design UI for an FPS game?
Design UI for FPS games which keeps players immersed in the moment to moment gameplay. UI design comes down to the HUD, in-game menus, and game mode navigation.
The industry has set strict expectations about the HUD FPS games. Players expect an ammo counter, an indicator of how much of the magazine is left, crosshair, and hit direction indicators. Players already know how to read these. The challenge is when to selectively include or exclude certain elements of the HUD and how to help players manage complex systems in games with inventories, stats, and abilities to handle.
The HUD isn’t a realistic piece of technology unless the player is in a sci-fi universe. Designers take away key information from players to enhance realism and change the way players approach the game. Insurgency began life as a realistic modern warfare multiplayer mod for Half Life, and the game has no crosshair to fulfill the fantasy. The gun doesn’t always point at the center of the screen either, so players must use iron sights and scopes to aim. Escape from Tarkov is an extraction shooter that prides itself on realistic, customizable guns and deep survival mechanics, so there’s no ammo counter to preserve a sense of realism.
UI runs the risk of becoming overwhelming since FPS games mix with other genres. Ghost Recon: Wildlands has skill trees and a map to navigate so players are able to explore the game’s open world. Wildlands doesn’t require the player to use menus in combat, but squad shooters and extraction shooters have several utilities the player must use in battle. Commands, messages, and looting require an elegant solution to avoid overloading the player.
Giving players options other than menus to help manage the headache. Rainbow Six: Vegas goes with a d-pad command system; player doesn’t have to menu to find the right command for their squad. The disadvantage is the player must learn how to effectively use the system from memory. The problem is solvable in other cases by simplifying the UI. Collecting and swapping items in Apex Legends is possible without any menuing, and the full inventory screen is reserved for use outside of combat.
UI clarity is important in the menus, especially in a game with numerous single and multiplayer game modes. The menus are challenging in a game with many multiplayer and singleplayer game modes, and it’s easy for the experience to become frustrating. Players of the Modern Warfare 2 remake complained that accessing the campaign through several sub-menus was far too tedious for it being one of the game’s major attractions.
What are the key elements of extraction shooter game design?
The key elements of extraction shooter game design are a large open map for players to run, shoot, sneak, and loot through and then get out. Players that die before they’re able to leave with their loot or after finishing the objective lose everything. Players are able to buy gear, ammo, and supplies between matches, but every match players risk losing it if they don’t succeed. Escape from Tarkov began the genre by remixing elements from STALKER and DayZ. The format takes inspiration from the battle royale format in the fact it gives players an open approach and layers survival game mechanics on the base experience.
Survival game mechanics add urgency. Survivability during the match is determined by having the right gear to heal injuries and keep up player stats. Players who don’t bring the right gear into the match must find it in the game world, but if they do bring the right supplies they risk losing it on death. Players in Escape from Tarkov have several stats to worry about. Eating refills energy, drinking prevents dehydration, bandages stop bleeding, and surgical kits heal a damaged stomach. Each issue affects how much damage players are able to take and how quickly they recover.
Levels in extraction shooters are unique in making PvP optional from beginning to end. Players don’t need to fight other players to get in, complete the objective, and get out. The main objective is to get loot, but other side objectives challenge players in different ways. Hunt: Showdown 1896 tasks players with completing bounties against monsters. The competitive aspect comes from finding the monster first and killing it before other players are able to collect the bounty.
The large map sizes allow players to choose whether to hide or fight. Maps in extraction shooters contain a mix of AI enemies and other human players to give both types of player an obstacle to overcome. AI bosses even have better loot and abilities than normal player enemies, making them an interesting challenge for both types of player.
Narrative in extraction shooters tends to be implicit or external to the gameplay. Environmental storytelling motivates players to replay maps and explore. Escape from Tarkov maps are different parts of the same city. Players see the apartments of the affluent corporate class in Tarkov, the fortified positions and empty ammo boxes that show off the city’s war-torn state. The devs added the Labyrinth without telling players, a secret bunker unlocked with a keycard on the map Shoreline. Secret areas and storytelling moments drive players to explore and re-explore the maps each playthrough.
Where to find a shooter game design template?
Find many shooter game templates online. Members of the community have made mods for FPS games for years. Creating and critically consuming the maps is one way to get an idea of the possibilities of the genre. Bungie has published and discussed their design process along with many other developers, so see what information they’ve made available. Game engine asset stores have a number of asset and game templates for playing around with, if you’re looking for a way to get started with some basic resources.
Engines designed for FPS games with extensive toolsets are available for free. The Build engine by Ken Silverman created for Duke Nukem 3D has been used to make games as recently as 2019 for Ion Fury and 2022 for AWOL. Source engine/Garry’s Mod community has allowed community content to flourish
The Halo 3 HUD specification is an example of a feature document at a AAA game studio, and is freely available online. The document begins with open issues, putting the most important, known problems at the start. The document follows this with the location in the files of HUD resources, an important resource for designers starting to work on the HUD. The document includes numerous screenshots of the editor and mockups of the HUD to demonstrate the goals of the HUD. The document lists everything the HUD has and is able to include: the minimap, health bar, ammo counter, and notifications.
Popularity of the genre means many templates are available in asset stores. Unreal engine and Unreal have a number of visual assets and character controller templates in their online stores. The templates come with animations, first and third person cameras, and UI. Both stores also have paid packages which include enemies, AI systems, and predefined game modes.
What is an example of an fps game design document?
An example of an FPS game design document is the Doom GDD, which demonstrates some basic principles of a GDD. The Doom GDD is rather old and outdated, but shows how a GDD works to focus the development process. A general GDD template is a suitable solution for an FPS project, and the one available at Game Desing Skills shows the basic sections that need to appear in any GDD.
The Doom GDD is an older example but concise and organized. The version currently available is incomplete, but contains sections describing the gameplay loop, the enemies, how to end the game, and the story. The GDD is used as a place to assign priorities so the team is on the same page. All sounds, props, and usable items that are planned for the game come with a ranked priority: V for Vital, D for Desired, and N for Non-vital. The enemies themselves have descriptions telling designers what they do and how the player is able to counter them. Important information for new hires in the appendices: known bugs, functions to not use in the editor, and, most importantly, when the deli is open
Our Game Design Skills GDD template comes with a main template and feature docs for creating detailed documentation. The general template is suitable for many types of games including an FPS. The template contains pages both for a main GDD and feature documents. The main template includes an area for a game summary, description of the core gameplay loop, and the core pillars. The “Golden Triangle” of Halo is an example of a core pillar: balancing weapons, melee, and grenades so each is powerful in its respective situations. The Game Design Skills template includes feature documents as well, which give spaces for assigning responsibilities and tracking progress.
If you have experience with first-person game design, please give us your feedback below. FPS games are a big topic, so there’s a lot more to add. Do you have anything to say about level design for other types of games? Do you have experience with enemies, combat systems, or other systems we haven’t discussed in detail? Please leave a comment with your thoughts!
