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Perfect Dark Zero > Your Ideas
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Seeing that Perfect Dark Zero's release date is so far away, and the fact that there is hardly any news, we've got to find a way to hype you guys, and this is it! Until this section is finished with construction, this page will have to do. These are ideas from members of RareDark.com's message board. This section will be updated often, so keep checking back.
Click here to scroll down to the latest addition.
Last Updated 15 December, 2001
Ideas from Postmordum:
Alot of friends of mine have just one big complaint about PD's arsenal - TOO FUTURISTIC..... and i agree with them to some extent..... allot of weapons of pd had that lack luster appearance to them of "yeah it's great, but does it have to be bulky or flashy?"
What all of them are looking for are the time honored classics we have in video games today: the AR-15, AK-47, FN-P90, MP5(k), and so on. All of these were in GE and that is one of the many reasons that the game became so popular ..... it was down to earth and any gun respecting citizen that would play the game would be like "Kool i get to waste someone with an AK!!" and that was fun. It still is and there are more and more modern day war sims out there using these weapons.
No i don't want the old guns back per say (i do, but we just might get some of them back anyway with there being a possible time travel element to the game:dental: ), i just think that the new looks for any guns that are to be changed should be slimmed down and made more plain...... i'm not saying less accessories to the gons, no no by all means keep em', i just mean for the most part stick to some plain colors... say black, grey, "army" green, and metal...... those are just dandy.
Better gun designs, or even just colors, in general would defentely be better.... the first time i saw the avenger i was like yeah kool gun.... but it kinda looks like a flashy, baby blue radar gun with barrel jammed into the front and a magazine in the back. I found this to be true then with alot of weapons..... the rocket laucher, for instance, is short, fat and stuby making it feel kinda slow and junky......
All the alien guns i feel hit there mark though.... i mean hey, they're alien! They aren't supposed to look down to earth... but the earth weapons look just as alien sometimes......
Over all though the PD weapons are great i just think some of the "earth weapons" need to take a backwards step in design....
Anyone ever see the movie STARSHIP TROOPERS? if you did you'll know what i mean.... the rifles they use there are Assault Rifle/Shotgun combos..... They look very much like the Dragon but have a shotgun built into the front underside of the gun allowing you to fire the shotgun simply by pulling another trigger and pumping it to load another shell in .... i think that it would fit right in with the arsenal of PD0 - good secondary fire...plus it is good at short to long range between the two modes........
Everyone wants a good support weapon eh? well the closest thing we've got as of now is the Reaper and it just doesn't cut it for alot of us.... PD0 could have a gun more specialized for support weather it replaces the Reaper or not. It could be a rifle perhaps like a LMG or HMG 3-round burst as primary and secondary would be full auto....being entirely too inacurate for practical use - in the standing position that is. So in addition to the full auto fire, you unfold a bypod and lie prone on the ground to fire it making you inable to move and thus making you very vulnerable to attack from the rear and sides. From an elevated or covered position however it could be a VERY strong element of defence while at the sametime it would be an average offencive weapon because it would lack enough power for the 3-round burst to be extremely deadly (on a side note, the AR34's 3-round burst fire can be extremely deadly as is so i suggest the power of the support weapon's 3-round burst to be weaker.....). A 50 -60 round magazine would be ideal to put a lot of lead into the air (or uranium slugs ...... whichever the case may be for the funky guys in Rare's future weapon's concept department)
3rd, a versitile sniper rifle is indeed needed....... It could have magazine of 12-15 rounds and be able to be fired automaticly (primary fire) and sigle shot (secondary fire). The primary would be an average to weak power automatic with a decent rate of fire. The secondary however would make the shot very powerful (same as the Magnum: 1 shot to head kills..... 2 to body kills..... multiple limb shots kills) while decreasing the rate of fire to the speed of the Magnum's fire as well.
Last, an upgrade to the way launched grenades work in PD. in so many other games the grenade launchers lobb grenades which have a timed fuse .... the bouce and slide till the fuse goes then BOOM!!... well i am not saying that that is the best way because every other game has it that way i am simply saying that although the secondary fire for the Devestator is efective and fun too use i think it is less useful than the secondary as being the grenades bounces and slides like othergames till the fuse is up. One more thing on grenades..... with that being said about the Devestator.... there is something else. The grenades for the SuperDragon...... i think that the SD is frikking great, i really do but the power of it.... and the way it fires keeps me from using it in multiplayer for anything outside meat/easy sims and humans..... sure mabey i just suck (i doubt that) but i think a couple of changes could really help.
1. The grenades' explosion and radius are great i think it is just fine...... perhaps slightly too powerful though it is about (if not the same) power as it's cousins grenades..... that needs to be slightly toned down ..... just SLIGHTLY though...
2. The way the are fired...... it is just like the Devestator's where aim strait ahead will end up with the grenade exploding very close in front of you.....modern grenade launchers, however, the grenade is fire with more velocity so that is goes straiter....and farther. Again i'm not saying it has to be perfectly strait only that it should be alot more level with what your gun is pointing at .... The MAR-4 from TWINE had a higher velocity which i believe was close to ideal.
3. Last is this... ok AI is AI but PD's AI is just WRONG..... wrong with how the use grenade launchers that is. I mean an easy sim could virtually be halfway across a open level and still manage to bounce the grenade off of every obstacle in the room, make it do a loop and still land it within 6" of your right foot. Sorry i know that is an exageration but you DO have to admit that the AI does seem just a bit too good/cheap with the grenade launchers more times then not...... a fix on this or the addition of the obove features.... or even both would make using these weapons alot more fun.
Another thought.... what about a shrapnel effect or partial one for some or all of the explosions...?
On another note somthing i liked about TWINE was the Wolfram P2K and guns from other games such a Counterstrike was the ability to activate/deactivate attach/deattach accessories like scilencer, laser pointers..... perhaps they can use that for a secondary on the Duetsch and PP7... eh? Or even on some of the new weapons i hope they include..... the secondary fires don't have to be completely unique and out of this world for them to be good ... just functionall and realistic.... ALL of TWINE's weapon's i feel felt realistic though a few were not as functional as others.
About other wepons...PD seemed to lack any real descent sniping action... TWINE had a couple sniper rifles why not give PD0 a pair?... one can be just a strait forward sniper rifle with a small magazine powerful shot and for a secondary you could activate a special scope (IR, Nightvision, or mabey a different/better IR than before?) or a laser....... the other could be like the one i described above i think that that would make for a good balance not to mention a big difference between the 2. This way one of the 2 could suit your style and/or the type of situation you are in at the time....other games (including PD) also had rifles and guns that could double as semi-sniper rifles. With these staying (Dragon, AR34, etc.)and having some new ones ..... a sniper scenario would be finally be ideal.
One weapon, though, that i had a great deal of fun with was the Farsight. BUT IT WAS EXTREMELY CHEAP - in a good players hands... if we could change one of 2 things.. (or both) it could stay as a more than welcome addition to PD0's line-up.....
1. Fix the target locator make it so you have to get a lock on somone just like with the CMP before it will follow them then if you did it, in battle you can wait till the right time then acctivate the locator from your safe spot, shoot them and tada dead toast!... and it would take alot of "cheapness away 2"
2. Second would be the previously metioned ability to activate/ deactivate primary and secondary fires for weapons in the weapons menu..... that way you can just plain turn off the features of guns you don't want.
Ok lets see here...options.....options... no doors would be great, no lights/strobe lights(mabey) would be kool of course only if you include Nightvision Goggles that you don't lose.....The ability to close off 1/2's, 1/4's, or even 1/3's of a level was mentioned before and it could work. I know that it wouldn't be a bad idea to close off a little of the Ravine or open up the Falicity more. And how about a gauntlet-type mode were you set up the order in which you play levels and go through 4 or 5+ games before having to go out to the main menu..... and while we are at that mabey a restart option at your match stats screen ...... it'll save a second or 2 perhaps. Number of lives was said before and i agree with it ... it gives you more ways to play... go conservative and let the other players duke it out while you hide then just jump in when they lose alot of lives.... or play as normal relying on all your skill......and you could have the number of lives ajustable for each player as mabey another handicap.
The ability to pick your own base..... Say for the first min or 2 nothing is in the level only one player from each team... they can carry around their flag and drop it anywhere .... then that room/area would be their base....... jumping it off a ledge and dropping it would result in it spawning in the next cloest area and that would be your base (that way you can't make it "un-capable") i doub't that there will be many levels that will have some way to make it imposible to get the flag, but hey, with things like the one-way door in the falicity, we already have that .... besides how the hell is your own team gonna get to the flag to cap it then.......?
More scenarios should be added (it's obvious that Rare will make at least one more), and one way or another they have to put a level editor in. Weather it is just things like barriers, drone guns, vehicles, spawn locations, crosswalks, whatever..... things like that, that you can move around in a level - even THAT would be great. On the other hand, what i would really like to see is a pc level editor and be able to make maps and put them up for download then even if you don't want the editor you can still get good maps.
Team names are kool - the ability to edit them anyway.....a little more customizeability with the teams could be kool too (eg. picking a teams flag, symbol, etc.). Sims should be more customizable, if only a little, and be able to be individually saved and/or "copy-and-pasted" somehow so that you can avoid making the same sim 7 more times.... i know that got anoying in some instances. And being able to download more characters and music tracks too would be good but unlikely (the music that is)... i can see it now the Napster controversy all over again ...... alot of things could be downloadable with the sizes of the SD cards we'll be able to use ... not just a crap load of levels....but even the levels alone would be great.
Updated 18 November, 2001
OK a few Ideas.......
1. Scenarios. They were great in PD and fun as hell to play (too bad the touch the box got cancelled). With PD0 being a better game, features such as more simulants have to be expected .... that or at least a very good framerate to back up the current number, the game will alomost definetly be online and more scenarios are to be expected. With that said, other similar games come to mind: Half Life (and mods for it like CS, TFC, and DoD), Tribes, the Quake series and so on. One thing these all share is scenarios.
Senarios are great. They can be fun for small or large groups of players and it helps to give a sense of mission-oriented play to the multiplayer. Take TFC (and it's soon to be brother TF2), the capture points and capture the flag scenarios are both great and can be used with any number of players. I think that Rare should step back and look at these games then capitalize on the already established means to fun. Don't get me wrong i think Rare can and will come up with some interesting scenarios of it's own which will be completely original, i just think people spend alot of time trying to duplicate scenarios like these as it is (ala gameshark) so, hey, give the people what they want!! ........... anyway on the a couple level ideas.....
Alot of games have a classic attack defend level for multiplayer..... one team attacking - one team defending.... things like the classic "Omaha Beach" scenario to a "King of the Hill"-type layout - the defenders have the highground/advantage yet the attackers are more numerousor are in some way shape or form evenly matched. A level like Statue Park from GE only strait forward and with a builing or highground at the one end to defend against would be pretty ideal for this. Or even a mock "beach-type" level of some sort could be in there....
Next on the list i think should be a town/city block. I mean a group of building with alleyways, fire escapes, 3+ floors and plenty of obstacles...... of course we don't have to get complicated, simple is good (keep in mind the framerate of course). The buildings could be abandoned, making for less furnature and and the like, but still some there non the less (you need SOME cover). A few garbage cans and a secret area or 2 couldn't hurt...... especially with the whole explodable walls idea that we hope the will put back in.
Last, some type of true capture the flag level..... two sides very similar to each other but each with it's own advantages/disadvantages and unique parts.......
For every scenario though we HAVE to have extras..... drone guns, cameras, vehicles, something extra....... with all that crap as options, it would make multiplayer ALOT more interesting.....
Updated 19 November, 2001
First 3 words..... JUNGLE.... STATUE PARK..... these 2 levels are perhaps the greater bulk of,(if not all), Goldeye player's most wanted multiplayer levels ever!!! They combine tons of cover, good sniping/camping spots, are linear so capture the flag is very easy to do, and lastly if a raging war is what you want it is perfect for that too. I don't have too much to say on the subject because i think most if not all of us understand and know everything about these levels already... Just one thing when experimenting with gameshark and being able to play in the Statue Park level for multi (just slightly glitch... ground texture disappears in certain sections on and off....) with or without the darkness/ fogging(preferably without it or at not least as much) there were a handful of INCREDIBLY GOOD sniping positions... and plenty of cover from them......
On the other hand if i had to/could suggest changes for either one i'd have a couple for the jungle. If there could be a heavy machine gun and the sniper rifles i discussed ^up there^ that would postively rock for multiplayer ...things to change though....alot less fog (but make sure to keep some)and if you keep all of it, try making in kinda folumetric so it at least shifts and moves. Keep the drone guns and allow them to be controlled in some way and don't allow them to repsawn if destroyed. Changfe the placement of drone guns so that they are farther apart and add a second gaurd tower somwhere. Perhaps place a few more boxes to the level (wood preferably), form mounds built into the sides of the level to give a few other elevated possitions. A tree stand or 2 would also be nice to replace/add to the 2 towers, a fallen log or 2, a wooden bunker (like the forest multiplater level for TWINE) again, or 2. For the ravine though.... mabey sheltered way like a tunnel that goes down into the ravine (which could be foggy to lessen the visiblity down there), or a fallen tree across the ravine, perhaps make the bridge destroyable, and take the end part out...... i'd love to have that part in but it might make the level too long..... if it DOESN'T then keep it....then the bridge could be like no-man's land or the center..... other wise it would be too earlier in the level.........
Just some ideas... mostly though any combination of those would be great as long as the "sides" or ends of the level are balanced.... mabey they could even widen the level and shorten it's length, who knows. All i know is that the Jungle and Statue Park are incredibly unique and cover infested levels that beg Rare to put them in, though we hope with some positive changes.
Updated 1 December, 2001
I can't wait to see what Rare is doing in the way of a level editor. One option is a level editor with predetermined "pieces" that can be assembled in millions of different combinations to form levels. Then you can pick a texture set and add in the extras... it would be good and most people could use it.
Now for an editor that every one can't use well at least not without a little practice... a PC editor could be released or perhaps a close to PC quality one could be included on the disk. Hey, i mean, mabey it could even be a 2 disk title, with the second one including the level editor and mabey even a charactor maker, mission editor, gun editor, ets.? It could be possible, and it would make for ALOT more customizability. The second disk would contain all the editors and all the art and models and such to be able to create tons more crap. But... i doubt that. With a PC editor, though, you would get a huge volume of maps. I think they will just include a simple to very good editor ... way above crap but bellow PC level.
Lastly Rare themselves could just make more levels that they could release regularly if the decide to can the in-game level editor idea. The same could happen for the other above mentioned editors.... Rare could design and modify things and release them as they see fit. They could release anything from new weapons to new skins to new music or levels, and the replay value would be almost undying.
NO MATTER WHAT though, Any of the above being included will make for a hugely popular and rarely boring multiplayer experience.
Updated 2 December, 2001
I always thought that multiplayer could use some sort of camera gadget. Hmmm... let's see here....Camera Pickup for multiplayer. Pick it up select it, pulling the trigger will throw it then the handheld TV screen shows you a fullscreen of the camera's view you can zoom in/out a little and look around within a small range. While doing this you are vulnerable unless you have an extremely good hiding place. Keeping that in mind there are a couple possible options for a secondary that can increase the usefulness of the Camera.
1) You cloak and return to normal view for 30 sec.
2) The camera cloaks turning your screen black.
3) The camera (with a pull of the trigger) falls to the ground and explodes on impact (ala Devestator secondary)
One of these could be good to either protect you or the camera. The one thing they can't do is make the controller's cloak unlimited. Then there will be a hard time finding cloaked players.other than that though it could work pretty well.
Also, with the third unused portion of the screen in 3-player multiplayer, more camera options will ber available for multiplayer matches allowing for some interesting situations and strategem.
What I do think could happen is people could send in their ideas for levels and even levels themselves (in a predetermined format/formats) and have a weekly or bimonthly release of a couple of levels..... they would be designed by you and made by Rare who then release them to the public giving you credit. Rare too, could release their own level so that beta levels that don't make it in could eventually make it to the product anyway. The same can go for Skins and Guns and whatever other extras we could possibly be able to download.
A sentry gun kit is I very good idea. Perhaps they can make it different looking as well. I know that alot of times in PD multiplayer, if a person had a laptop gun somewhere in a large open area it was kind of hard to hit because it is so small. I don't want them much bigger, but mabey designed different so that they are a less difficult target.
A couple secondary fire possibilities...
You have a remote control.
1) You can set it to proximity detonate.
2) You can control it via a small screen on the remote.
3) You can have it repair/recharge it's self if the gun had more health/ran off of energy.
Updated 7 December, 2001
The Chicago and Villa levels are exactly the type (though in the case of the Villa, not quite the right type visually.... too colorful..just my opinion though) of levels that the deathmatch in PD0 needs. At least 2 partially external levels like it should be included with the game. For a totally external map we could have the Jungle or a level like the Jungle. A city block of sorts would be very nice. A military base, both inside and out, would also be excellent selections on the part of Rare. A ship ala the Frigate would be great as well, especially for "hostage" type scenarios. A level like the Caverns in GE or in a mine .... something made of tunnels - dark, rocky, winding. And of course everyone wants some classic levels included, with even more from goldeneye. There are so many suggestions that would be great for maps that the list can go on and on and on.
The Datadyne building itself wouldn't be very good but an abandoned apartment building or an office building would be great, though not as tall. Camo is definetly needed and a level to use it in too (Jungle ). I hope they have a military base as large as the frame rate will permit. and if they throw in hostage sims... well let's put it this way: The hostage sims almost shouldn't be in the game if the frigate or a map extremely familiar isn't in there. And as for real world locations: I, too, would rather have realistic locations instead.
Hopefully we can get these to rare somehow..... perhaps we can continually send them summaries of our ideas from here and they either ignore us or say hey lets read up. Hmmmm...
On another note, I think Rare should look at the AI personalities. The ones in PD were great but a couple need to work better. So they should improve those and throw in some new ones. We probably already have a HostageSim so now we have to get others. Mabey SniperSim and CampSim who would set up "traps" or make players come to them.
Updated 15 December, 2001
We should also be able to modify the personalities in game too. While the Sims will do whatever they are programed to do, CowardSim SniperSim KazeSim, Similar comands should be available in game based on some of the Sim types.
Camp/Snipe would be a good comand......... waypoints could be put in a map so that when given the command the simulant will go to pre-determined sniping/camping areas or points........doing one or more of the following along the way:
1. Find weapon (accuracy could possibly play a roll here)
2. Find Cloaking Device (if possible)
3. Gather Ammo
............all of the commands no matter what they are would force the Sim to follow a certain system. The Attack command would be like seek and destroy:
1. Find a weapon
2. Defend against but do not pursue other players
3. Seek opponent
.......... and it would be that simple.... perhaps it can have the priority to stop and wait (kinda like an ambush) if the target is nearbye and continue on if he moves away. Or that could be a totally different command all together: Ambush.
The Defend command could be beefed up also by adding the priorities to:
1. Find waypoint (as in the same camping/sniping ones described above) in the room/area
2. Man any guns (and etc. if they were to put drone guns and crap that can be controlled in levels) that are in the area
.....these 2 things would GREATLY enhance the ability of Sims to defend, and even perhaps they could find a way to let the Sims recognize cover on their own, rather than just selecting covered points.......
Alot of these things seem to be possible if you have played Conker's Bad Fur Day (Another RareWare title). In the game, AI readily grab sniper rifles and snipe opponents with good accuracy (but not perfect) and jump into gunners chairs without being commanded to do so, all at the same time being able to recognize cover and creap around corners! Also, the AI pick's elevated sniping and camping spots on it's own and isn't afraid to stop moving if it finds itself a nice comfy spot and a big powerful weapon. The AI is truely a step up. Don't forget though that these are two different titles.
Because Rare knows how to do this, making these commands only go active when the said order is given would change the way AI works in PD0 so much that getting a little practice with the commands will allow you to perhaps take on a human team with your AI team with almost equal performance.
In PD Rare had presset weapons: Automatics, Pistols, etc.
They were all made from the same list of weapons already in the game just in different combinations. Well, some thing else Rare could implement for PD0 would be the ability to create your own AI. You would have a list of priorities (as mentioned in my last post) and/or personalities which you could combine in many different ways to make more and more AI types. Then you could save the presets to a memory card. This would be a subsection to each of the 8 (hopefully more) Sims. In addittion you would have present AI such as the existing ones, Kaze, Prey, etc. If they could do that, Rare would be one step closer to earning the title the will put to their game.
On another note I was reading a small article on a review conducted with Miyamato and I quote: "There are a large number of online games in development [for the GameCube], which are secret." That was taken from the review as is, and the review was based on Nintendo's online networking plans..... So expect the best and being as PD0 is pretty much still secret you can bet on it being one of those such titles.
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