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Forums - Gaming Discussion - How do you make a non generic FPS?

Sky Render on 30 May 2008

You can make a non-generic FPS the same way you can make a non-generic game in any genre: do something that surprises and pleases the users. You do not surprise the user (though you can still please them) by doing what everybody else is doing, nor by stepping it up a notch. Anybody can make it bigger, better, and more violent, but it takes true genius to go the other way (to paraphrase Grampy's Einstein quote).

Portal is the best example in recent years of an FPS which did this: it's not bigger (quite a bit smaller, actually), it's not better (there's only one gun which can't actually hurt anything by default, and one enemy type), and it's not more violent (there's basically only two ways to even die). But it is brilliant, because it takes the risk of doing something that no FPS has ever done before.



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FJ-Warez on 30 May 2008
twesterm said:
A generic FPS is one that does exactly (or really close) what every FPS before it has done.

Halo 3 - It was Halo 2 with a new coat of paint which was Halo 1 with a new coat of paint. The gameplay in Halo can be found in any number of FPs games and that makes it pretty generic. I suppose it did at least have 45 player co-op which helped.

Gears 2 - Looks to be like Gears 1 with some new gameplay mechanics and color but still Gears. Gears 2 gameplay has been copied and done several times, but Gears pacing and gameplay still feels different enough.

Killzone 2 - Nothing about that games seems new.

Portal - Brought a fresh new gun to the mix

Half-Life 2 - Was heavily physics based FPS in a world where there were not a lot of physics based FPS's. They also introduced us to the gravity gun.

Bioshock - Plasmids brought a semi-new twist to console players and the atmosphere was amazing.

 Far Cry... Free Roaming -> Generic -> Crysis-FarCry2



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twesterm on 30 May 2008
FJ-Warez said:
twesterm said:
A generic FPS is one that does exactly (or really close) what every FPS before it has done.

Halo 3 - It was Halo 2 with a new coat of paint which was Halo 1 with a new coat of paint. The gameplay in Halo can be found in any number of FPs games and that makes it pretty generic. I suppose it did at least have 45 player co-op which helped.

Gears 2 - Looks to be like Gears 1 with some new gameplay mechanics and color but still Gears. Gears 2 gameplay has been copied and done several times, but Gears pacing and gameplay still feels different enough.

Killzone 2 - Nothing about that games seems new.

Portal - Brought a fresh new gun to the mix

Half-Life 2 - Was heavily physics based FPS in a world where there were not a lot of physics based FPS's. They also introduced us to the gravity gun.

Bioshock - Plasmids brought a semi-new twist to console players and the atmosphere was amazing.

Far Cry... Free Roaming -> Generic -> Crysis-FarCry2


 I've never played FarCry or Crysis so can't say anything about either.



 

Imperial on 30 May 2008
tombi123 said:

What would a FPS have to do to not get labeled generic?

 


Not be an FPS.

 

Because of the sheer number of FPS's availible an FPS needs to be entirely different or set a new standard in order to avoid the genric/mediocore label.



azrm2k on 30 May 2008
thekitchensink said:
Portal is not a generic FPS.

 I wouldn't even consider Portal an FPS honestly.  It's first person and you have a "gun" but that's as close as it gets.  It's more a puzzle platformer than a shooter. 



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disolitude on 30 May 2008

+1 to azrm2k about portal comment.

-1 to this thread for completely missing a point of the word generic.
Generic = not able to establish a brand.

Halo, Gears and Far Cry have nothing to worry there...Conduit and Haze on the other hand...Killzone is in limbo.

+1 to whoever gets me a starbucks latte



obieslut on 30 May 2008

Generic, alot of first person shooters come under this cataogry, however far cry and gears are far from it. And halo is to FPS as DQ is to JRPG.


If only a first person shooter could be based back in the 60's with you playing the role of a mobsta, now that would be great



HappySqurriel on 30 May 2008
obieslut said:
Generic, alot of first person shooters come under this cataogry, however far cry and gears are far from it. And halo is to FPS as DQ is to JRPG.


If only a first person shooter could be based back in the 60's with you playing the role of a mobsta, now that would be great

Dragon Warrior essentially created the Japaneese Role Playing game, and later became the Dragon Quest series ... Halo is an over-rated first person shooter that implemented elements that were already available in PC FPS for years. In other words this comparison is not good at all.



ssj12 on 30 May 2008
rocketpig said:
People who call Gears, Far Cry, or the original Halo a "generic FPS" don't play many FPS games.

 its a generic FPS, everything it did was done on PC before it was released.



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TheRealMafoo on 30 May 2008
tombi123 said:

What would a FPS have to do to not get labeled generic?


Nothing. If you change it enough to make it not generic, people call it something else, like a FPRGP, a Sandbox game, a stealth shooter, or something else.

It's just the way it is.