First-person shooter
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A first-person shooter (FPS) is an action[1] video game from the shooter game[1] subgenre. Like all shooters, they involve "an avatar, one or more ranged weapons, and a varying number of enemies".[1] FPSs are distinguished by a first person perspective, that renders the game world from the visual perspective of the player character. The character is nominally a literal person; humanoid movement is expected. Games that primarily involve piloting vehicles are more correctly classified as vehicle simulation games.
In the modern era of video games, FPS was one of the first genres to use key technologies such as 3D graphics, online play, and modding. Enhanced realism combined with graphic violence has also made FPS a common topic in ongoing controversies over video games.
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[edit] Overview
The first-person shooter is a sub-genre of shooter games. Many other shooter genres, such as on-rails shooters, are viewed from a first-person perspective, while flight simulators frequently involve the use of weapons; however, these are not considered FPSs. In the early 1990s, the term came to define a more specific type of game with a first-person view, where the main character's gun and part of his/her hand is shown, almost always centered around the act of aiming and shooting hand-held weapons, usually with limited ammunition. The focus is generally on the aiming of one's own guns and the avoidance of enemy attacks, but the player is given more control over their movement than in on-rails shooters and most light gun games.
Many third-person shooters (where the player sees the game world from a viewpoint above and behind the main character) are commonly treated as first-person shooters, due to similarities in gameplay. In some cases, it is possible to toggle the game between viewpoints and play the entire game from either perspective.
More frequently, a first-person view will be adopted in a third-person game only for brief periods for certain situations when it is advantageous. Since a first-person view usually allows more precise refinement of a player's aim than most third-person aiming systems, many third-person shooters allow the player to switch to their avatar's viewpoint in order to fire a weapon; sometimes this may only be done when specific weapons (a sniper rifle, for example) are equipped. In addition, certain third-person shooters let the player switch to a first-person perspective in order to observe their surroundings, but do not allow them to shoot any weapons while using it. Some first-person games switch by default to a third-person view when a melee weapon, such as a sword or a lightsaber, is selected on the theory that a wider perspective makes those weapons easier to manage.
The term first-person shooter has also been applied to games that take advantage of the first-person view and allow for free movement by the player, but are not heavily dependent on the use fired weapons but instead focus on melee attacks or even a different form of gameplay altogether.
[edit] Gameplay
All FPSs feature the core gameplay elements of movement and shooting, but many variations exist, with different titles emphasizing certain aspects of the gameplay. The lines between sub-genres are not distinct; some games include stealth elements in addition to action-packed sequences more typical of a "run and gun" FPS.
[edit] Realism
Settings may vary from accurate recreations of historical periods to fantastic sci-fi depictions of the distant future. Damage to the player and enemies may be modeled fairly realistically, with the possibility of dying by a single shot, or wounds to different body parts having a visible effect on the gameplay. A very common simplification of the main character's overall condition is to represent it as two sets of hit points: a base "health" meter representing the "naked" character's vitality, and another gauge measuring external protection provided by body armor or shields.
The type of weaponry found in an FPS, and the realism of guns' accuracy and power, is usually appropriate to that game's setting. Frequently, the most recently-found gun will be the most powerful, and players will retain every weapon they have discovered, ending the game carrying an unrealistically massive arsenal of guns and ammunition. However, developers have also attempted to improve the realism of their games by placing a limit on the number of weapons players may carry; some games, such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Counter-Strike limit the player to two firearms, in some cases one large weapon like a rifle and a side arm as a secondary weapon, along with certain equipment such as grenades.
Some FPS games strive to increase visual realism while retaining unrealistic gameplay. As a result, in many games the player has exaggerated physical capabilities and resiliency, such as absorbing many hits from small arms fire, surviving a tank shell or falling 15 feet without a scratch.
[edit] Structure
Most FPSs employ the videogame convention of being split into distinct levels separated in time and space, each set in a specific environment such as a warehouse, desert, laboratory, or castle. The linearity of FPSs also varies, with some leading the player as directly as possible through the game through as many gunfights as possible, while others give the player numerous options regarding how they tackle each section. More recent titles, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Crysis, have allowed the player to wander around large sandbox environments.
[edit] Combat and pacing
Many FPSs maintain a focus on "run and gun" gameplay, with quick movement and near constant combat. Other titles adopt a slower pace, with the emphasis on puzzle-solving, or interaction with characters in ways other than combat.
- Stealth is a common feature of FPSs — firefights in some FPSs are extremely risky and require the player to avoid detection. But even in games that feature numerous shootouts, sneaking up on an unaware opponent can be an advantageous technique. In addition, these games also have non-ranged weapons.
- Strategy and planning are emphasized in tactical shooters and military simulations. These often allow the player to fight alongside and issue commands to squads made up of AI-controlled companions or human teammates. There have also been games that blend Real-time strategy gameplay to FPSs. In these games, the player appears on the field as a single unit, but is able to give commands to other units, construct new units, and control the overall strategy. Some RTS/FPS hybrids use teamplay approach where one player is the commanding officer, responsible for the strategy part, and the other team members are ordinary soldiers.
[edit] Multiplayer
Many first-person shooters are designed primarily as multiplayer games, and the single-player component (if any) consists entirely of play against bots. The MMOFPS combines first-person shooter gameplay with a large number of simultaneous players over the Internet. Most FPSs feature competitive and/or co-operative online multiplayer modes. Players of these games often form into teams, or "clans" and participate in organized tournaments and championships.
[edit] Control schemes
The control scheme for first-person shooters require allowing the player to control the direction their character is looking, the direction the character is moving, other character movements such as running, crouching, or jumping, firing and switching weapons, and other actions that specific games may need. As such, the control schemes for first-person shooter games can be extremely varied depending on the game's platform, as well as with limitations of control hardware.
For most first-person shooter games on PCs, as well as for select console games that support such input hardware, the control scheme utilizes a combination of keyboard and mouse inputs. Directional keys are typically placed on the WASD keys, with other character actions such as strafing, jumping, and the like placed on nearby keys. "Free look" or "mouse look" is controlled by moving the mouse around, weapon activation by the mouse buttons, and weapon management through the scroll wheel. Prior to the common inclusion of the scroll wheel on computer mice, the number keys or the tab key was often used to switch weapons. Keyboard and mouse control schemes are almost always customizable, allowing the player to assign various actions to other keys or mouse actions to their preference.
The controls for console games are limited by the available keys and controls on the system's control pad. Pads for early consoles such as the Mega Drive's D-pad provided only a single digital directional input and limited buttons, and early FPS console games used the directional input and another button combination for the input of additional movement commands like jumping. With control pads with a single analog stick, movement is primarily controlled by the analog stick, and additional movement and actions are performed using the other face buttons. Most modern controllers offer two direction inputs through analog sticks in addition to several more buttons than previous systems. This had led to two primary control scheme variations. In one configuration, one analog stick is used for forward and reverse motion and strafing relative to the current viewpoint, and the other thumb stick used to look around. An alternate variation provided forward and reverse movement and to look left or right on one thumb stick, and vertical aiming and lateral motion on the other thumb stick. Weapon activation is set to the control's shoulder triggers, and other functions such as jumping, reloading, or interaction with the environment is performed on other buttons on the controller. Many console-based FPS include or offer both "lock-on" (auto-centering the aim to a target) and "auto-aim" (adjustment of the user's aim to a target when they are aiming slightly away from it) features to account for the loss of precision that a player has when aiming with the analog controls over a PC mouse. Control customization is available for console FPS titles, but is not as widely available as for PC games. Many games for both PC and consoles allow the user to invert the look axes as to allow the controls to behave more like a flight simulator joystick.
Newer controllers for the current generation of console hardware have brought additional variation to how the player interacts with an FPS game. Motion-sensitive remote controllers have allowed several FPS games to use the remote similar to a mouse to provide more accurate aiming than a typical controller and a more immersive environment as actions acted out by the player with the controller (e.g., swinging a sword) translate into those same actions taken on the screen.
[edit] History
First-person shooters came to be recognized as a genre in the early 1990s, and many of the genre's most common conventions date to this time. However, the modern genre is an extension of earlier games, particularly those involving 3D graphics. While some of these early games are not First-Person Shooters in the modern sense, some of them might be retroactively included in the genre, and many others contained ideas which later influenced the modern genre.
[edit] Origins
It is not clear exactly when the first FPS was created. Maze War is the most likely candidate, but even its developer cannot remember exactly when it was produced.[2] The initial development of Maze War probably occurred in the summer of 1973.[2]
In the early 1980s, the home computer market grew rapidly. While these machines were relatively low-powered, limited first-person-perspective games appeared early on. In these games, computer-controlled opponents were drawn using bitmaps. Phantom Slayer (1982) restricted the player to 90-degree turns, allowing "3D" corridors to be drawn with simple fixed-perspective techniques.
Later in the decade, the arrival of a new generation of home computers such as the Atari ST and the Amiga increased the computing power and graphical capabilities available, leading to a new wave of innovation. 1987 saw the release of MIDI Maze (aka Faceball), an important transitional game for the genre. Unlike its polygonal contemporaries, MIDI Maze used a raycasting engine to speedily draw square corridors. It also offered a networked multiplayer deathmatch (communicating via the computer's MIDI interface).
In 1991, the fledgling id Software released Catacomb 3D, which introduced the concept of showing the player's hand on-screen, strengthening the illusion that the player is viewing the world through the character's eyes. In 1992, id improved the technology by adding support for VGA graphics in Wolfenstein 3D. With these improvements over its predecessors, Wolf 3D was a hit. It would be widely imitated in the years to follow, and thus marked the beginning of many conventions in the genre, including collecting different weapons that can be switched between using the keyboard's number keys, and ammo conservation.
In the year that followed the success of Wolfenstein 3-D, many imitators quickly arose, including Ken's Labyrinth by Epic Games, and several games licensing the Wolfenstein 3-D technology like Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold. Softdisk also released a series of sequels to Catacomb 3D using a modified version of id's engine, but id had no involvement with these games. Because of this sudden boom of games with a pronounced influence from id's games, the term "first-person shooter" was coined to describe the budding genre.
[edit] Doom era
Id followed up Wolfenstein 3D the following year with Doom (1993). While still using sprites to render in-game opponents, and raycasting to render the levels, Doom added texture-mapping to the floor and ceiling, and removed some of the restrictions of earlier games. Walls could vary in height, with floor and ceiling changing levels to create cavernous spaces and raised platforms. In some areas, Doom removed the ceiling altogether to create the outdoor environments that were generally lacking in previous genre games. However, Doom wasn't truly 3D; id used a line map system which the game would make into a 3D looking environment, and they added the height later; this meant they couldn't put a room on top of a room, but they could create an Automap more easily.
While the graphical enhancements were notable, Doom's greatest innovation was the introduction of network multiplayer capabilities. While similar multiplayer modes had existed in previous mainframe- or arcade-based games, Doom was the first mass-market game to gain a significant following dedicated to multiplayer (usually, but not exclusively, LAN-based) contests, and guaranteed persistence of the FPS in gaming formats; the real thrill of these already-atmospheric games comes from blasting human opponents, be they friends or strangers on the Internet. Doom was also one of the earliest FPS games to gain an active community of fans producing add-on maps.
Doom dominated the genre for years after its release. Every new game in the genre, such as Heretic, was held up against its masterpiece, and usually suffered by comparison. However, some developers wisely chose not to attack Doom head-on, but instead to concentrate on its weaker aspects, or expand the new genre in alternative directions.
The games Rise of the Triad and Star Wars: Dark Forces introduced some technologies that were more advanced than those used in Doom, for example real time lighting and level-over-level areas.
Marathon (1994), together with its sequels Marathon 2: Durandal (1995) and Marathon Infinity (1996) by Bungie Studios, added AI controlled teammates/friendly combatants, unarmed/ambient characters, dual wielding, secondary functions on weapons, and free look as it is known today. It also allowed one polygon (the Marathon equivalent of a sector) to be placed over another and one character to pass over/under another, this made much more complex architecture and game play possible. In addition, Marathon included a voice-chat feature for LAN play. However, these games did not reach a wide audience[citation needed].
[edit] After Doom
Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996, was the first game using what proved to be the most popular engine of the decade (12 released titles), Ken Silverman's Build engine. Build was outwardly similar to Doom's engine in that it used many 2D tricks, but was somewhat more advanced in this regard. It introduced the ability for players to swim and fly using a jetpack. Duke, and Build, are also notable for having one of the simplest map editors of any 3D game ever made.
In 1996 id Software released their eagerly-anticipated Quake which significantly enhanced the network gaming concept introduced by Doom. Like Descent, it used a 3D polygonal graphics engine to render enemies, but also added support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics with GLQuake. In addition, id released an internet-optimized network client called QuakeWorld. Quake also actively encouraged user-made modifications. These "mods" contributed to its longevity and popularity with players; the most important of these was Threewave's CTF mod, which defined the now-standard Capture the Flag mode found in many FPS games.
In 1997, GoldenEye 007 was released for the Nintendo 64. It was praised for a realistic setting, incorporating impressive artificial intelligence and animation, elaborate bullet-hit detection (permitting a player to inflict maximum damage through accurate "head shots"; a practice encouraged through the incorporation of a "sniper scope" weapon function), and mission objectives and well-designed environments based on the GoldenEye film's sets. Its split screen multiplayer deathmatch mode was also well-regarded for the range of options offered. Console first-person shooters have for many years been criticized for having control schemes less precise than the keyboard and mouse of PC titles, yet GoldenEye overcame such complaints to be considered the first great FPS for a console, as well as one of the best movie-to-game adaptations.
In early 1998, Rainbow Six helped to popularize tactical FPS by using a realistic combat-simulation approach to the genre. Player characters and enemies could be killed or critically wounded with one shot, and weapons were relatively inaccurate and unreliable, especially at long range -- a player could not aim a perfect shot just by keeping the crosshairs steady. As a result, the game encouraged players to employ real-world tactics such as taking cover and using flashbangs and other forms of stun grenades to incapacitate enemies before exposing one's own body. Additionally, the cartoonish acrobatics that are possible with most FPS games were eliminated in Rainbow Six -- players could not jump, and movement speed was relatively slow.
In 1998, Half-Life was released, featuring a single-player game with a narrative focus directing the action and the goals of the player. The combat sequences were heavily scripted throughout the game.
Another game of 1998, Starsiege: Tribes, was the first attempt to create a large, team-based arena FPS requiring strategic coordination. Supporting large numbers of players, vehicles, wide-open landscapes and movement mechanics provided by the jetpack all players spawned with, Tribes can be considered the ancestor of shooters like Battlefield 1942 and contributed greatly to the creation of the massively multiplayer FPS genre. This game also spawned a large functionality based modding community, that created numerous ui changes and scripts that made play easier, including complicated inventory management scripts, and movement aides.
1999 was another important year for FPS, as two competing franchises were pitched head-to-head: Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament. At this point both franchises concentrated on multiplayer gameplay over a LAN or the internet, reducing the single player experience to arena-based bot matches.
The Half-Life mod Counter-Strike was released in mid-1999, and became one of the most popular multiplayer FPS titles ever released.[citation needed] The game is a tactical shooter in much the same vein as Rainbow Six, though it places slightly less emphasis on realism and more on team coordination.
[edit] Strides for realism
In 2001, Operation Flashpoint was released, creating a new level of realism in an FPS environment with extensive vehicles and aircraft, seamless indoor / outdoor environments, and view distances an order of magnitude longer than anything else released before it in the genre.[citation needed]
Also released in 2001, World War 2 Online (WWIIOL) was released, expanding the FPS genre to a massively multiplayer audience. Unlike most FPS games of the time, which had limits of 32 players, WWIIOL could support thousands of simultaneous players. As such, WWIIOL is recognized as the pioneer of the MMOFPS (Massively-Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter) sub-genre. Placed in a WWII setting, players could compete in realistically modeled tanks, airplanes, ships and infantry of the WWII era on a massive 1/2 scale map of Europe.
Doom 3 made use of a graphics engine featuring new real-time lighting and shadows, used to create an atmosphere of fear and danger for the player.
Half-Life 2 made extensive use of shaders, advanced lighting, 3d textures, AI with squad tactics, Havok middleware physics engine and relatively large maps for its level of graphic detail. The level of detail seen in the game is perhaps best exemplified by the complex character facial models developed especially for the game. The behind-the-scenes character engines can use voice recognition software, and the mouths of the models in the game move according to what the character is saying and express emotions when combined with script.
The Nintendo Wii, which uses the motion-sensitive Wii Remote, approaches the genre from a new direction. First person shooters like Red Steel and Call of Duty 3 use the remote as its gun-pointing input.
In 2007, the AGEIA PhysX engine was extensively used in the production of the game Warmonger: Operation Downtown Destruction. The game introduced extremely realistic cloth animation and almost perfect terrain destruction. The game introduced free-form building destruction - for example, a sniper could drop a grenade under a set of stairs to destroy them, and firing a rocket into the floor below the sniper could cause it to collapse.
[edit] Genre-blending
While not an FPS, Ultima Underworld (1992) is of importance to the genre's development. It was a 3D role-playing game developed by Blue Sky Productions, (later merged with another developer to create Looking Glass Studios) and marketed by Origin Systems. Unlike Wolfenstein 3D, Ultima Underworld supported many true 3D features such as non-perpendicular walls, walls of varying heights, and inclined surfaces. A technology demo of this game was, in fact, John Carmack’s inspiration for Wolfenstein 3-D’s game engine. [1]
In 1993, Pathways into Darkness was released by Bungie. It mixed the elements from an FPS with those of an adventure game. It is notable for having a stronger narrative component than its contemporaries. However, Pathways only experienced limited commercial success, partially due to its difficulty level, but mainly due to being available only for Apple computers. It is considered the spiritual ancestor of the Marathon and Halo series developed by Bungie[citation needed].
The 1995 game Descent used a fully 3D polygonal graphics engine to render opponents (previous games had used sprites). It also escaped the "pure vertical walls" graphical restrictions of earlier games in the genre, and allowed the player six degrees of freedom of movement (up/down, left/right, forward/backward, pitch, roll and yaw). Thus, Descent was the first FPS in the modern era to use a fully 3D engine. However, because the player character is in actuality a space vehicle, Descent is not always considered an FPS in the traditional sense and may be classified as a space-sim hybrid.
In 2000, Deus Ex was released, a single-player FPS that blended elements from RPG and adventure games. It featured many side-quests and multiple ways of completing each mission. This game also had a character building system similar to an RPG where the player gained experience points for completing various objectives, which were then spent on upgrades for your character, as in the System Shock games. Additionally, it incorporated stealth elements that first appeared in Thief: The Dark Project.
The Half-Life mod Natural Selection blended a multiplayer FPS with some RTS elements. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory blended some RPG elements with an experience and skill-based point system that can work across matches. Battlefield 2 has a stats tracking similar to Enemy Territory, and a complicated scoring system. The Wheel of Time attempted to blend an FPS with an RPG and was one of the few fantasy games to be a first-person shooter as most fantasy games are RPG's. The game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also blends FPS and RPG elements, notably creating a sense of non linearity gameplay in which the player can set their own pace or accomplish sidequests or choose not to, somewhat like an MMORPG.
[edit] Modding
Many FPS games are designed with a core game engine, separate from the graphics, game rules, and levels. This "plug-in" design allows users to add new content to games. This has contributed to the longevity both of the genre and of individual games. Many games now include the custom software that the designers themselves used in the game's production. Some of the skills displayed by individual modders are of such high quality that FPS companies regularly hire new talent from the modding community.
[edit] Platforms and hardware development
The primary platform for modern FPSs has traditionally been the PC, though there have been notable games on other platforms, and the number of releases on consoles are increasing steadily.
FPS are among the most demanding programs for computing resources, persuading many users to upgrade computers that are still suitable for more mundane tasks, such as online browsing and office work. According to IDC analyst Roger Kay, high-end games serve as a catalyst for the mainstream personal computer market. FPS games can stretch the capabilities of CPUs and the graphics cards ([2]). The rise of the genre has been a significant driver in the market for consumer graphics cards, particularly with regard to support for hardware acceleration of 3D graphics. Recently, consumer HMDs have been introduced which should further drive developments in virtual reality technology and better game play by providing a more immersive experience.
[edit] Controversy
Critics argue that the first-person perspective adds a level of imitable realism to the act of killing, and that FPS desensitizes gamers to this sort of behavior. The most widely publicized link between FPS and real-world violence is the Columbine High School massacre. Both of the shooters were fans of Doom, and Eric Harris had actually published a set of Doom levels on his website; the levels are now known as the "Harris levels".
[edit] See also
- First-person shooter engine
- Free look
- List of free first-person shooters
- Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter
- WASD keys
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2003). Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design. New Riders Publishing, 290-296.
- ^ a b http://www.digibarn.com/history/04-VCF7-MazeWar/stories/colley.html
