There is a significant obstacle when developing first-person shooter games, and that is conveying the sense of weight and physicality when the player pulls the trigger. Often the single most important object in these types of games is the weapon in the player's hands, as it is the primary method of interaction that the player has with the world, and it is usually the only on-screen representation of the player's digital avatar. When a game has believable gun recoil, bullet physics, reload animations, and damage output, the player is able to immerse themselves deeper into the game world.
Contents
- 1 Examples
- 1.1 Battlefield
- 1.2 Arma3
- 1.3 Rainbow Six Siege
- 1.4 Alpha Protocol
Examples[]
Battlefield[]
The team behind the Battlefield series does extensive research into the real-world guns before they recreate them in the game world. Rate of fire, muzzle velocity, max distance, directional recoil, and spread increase per shot are just some of the variables that they take into account when designing each gun experience. In these games snipers must adjust their aim to account for bullet drop over long distances, which can lead to some immensely gratifying player experiences.
Arma3[]
The game itself started out with a military simulator. The map was based on real-world location and the weapons was designed based on real-world stats. Every fire rate and muzzle velocity was adjust to match the real world stats.
Rainbow Six Siege[]
The most recent Tom Clancy game does an excellent job at attempting to replicate realism in its guns and siege tech. Besides the interplay between different weapons, the game also goes several steps further in having realistic and destructible environments, low player health, and character designs based on real-world tac squads.
Alpha Protocol[]
In Alpha Protocol every shot has an indication of where you're aiming, plus an outer circle of where the shot can go wide. The only way to get pinpoint accuracy is to hold your reticle on a target for several seconds to steady your aim, like a real weapon. Very few people are able to pull a pistol out of its holster and snap off a completely accurate shot in under a second, but many games feature gunplay that's exactly that. Also, physics are used to vary different properties of the guns like its muzzle velocity, penetration, reload time and bullet velocity being affected by various environmental factors like wind speed. So, I appreciate Alpha Protocol's realistic shooting mechanic more than most, because it felt like handling a real gun.
