how long can you push it? how mutch action can you put into a game? i mean, is the limit of action in games reached? Im not talking about speed, im talking about action! :-) For example, you could do alot of things in a secound, and with effects like bullit-time you could do a hell of alot more... What gameplay experiense tops your list when it comes to action? Im not talking about moments of action, but overall high action gameplay... Could it be pushed even longer? Or is it imposible for an average player, to do more then x things in t time? is the limit reached? when i see long velldesigned action sceenes in movies, it realy raises my puls, but i dont find this in games to often... Im not talking about if it''s tecnicaly possible, or about any special type of game genre, im only asking: could we have more? (I know that its impossible to combine a looooong game with full blow action all the time, but this is not my question) (dont mind bad english)

I dunno, back when I played a lot of Quake II and Unreal Tournament, I would break out in a sweat playing for hours on end.

There is a lot of action in a FPS.

I believe you can put in an infinite amount of action into a game if you can figure out a way to fit it all in without ruining the game.

I would probably be one of the first in line to play an FPS game, say, that involved you fighting a combined army, navy, and air force of a couple million men all at once. And required you to escape their nuclear missiles too. The problems with doing one, though, are that we first don''t have the technology to do a million men at once, and also that it would probably be too challenging unless you were able to dodge with dexterity that would make Max Payne look clumsy, and run fast enough to evade all the shells and bombs and rockets thrown at you.

I''ve been playing the new X2: Wolverine''s Revenge, which is a good example of an action-packed game -- in small spurts. Another good example is Serious Sam, which is a very shallow FPS but has more heart-pounding action than any game I''ve played in awhile.

I would love to make a game with non-stop, insane action... a wild 3rd person action-adventure game where you fight hordes of enemies with one uber-talented character, using tons of different melee combo moves.

Imagine wading through literally hundreds of enemies and fighting them all off with dozens of sweet melee combo moves, then whipping out the big guns for the bosses. It needn''t have a strong story -- this is the kind of game you play when you just want an adrenaline rush.

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Brian Lacy
ForeverDream Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?
brian@foreverdreamstudios.com

"I create. Therefore I am."

So you think that you can create more action, by adding more enemies! I agree totaly, but you got a limit in hardware on this point, so i dont want to continue it!
irbrian ''s game would be great! But maybe expesive on system...
Now how can you have the same level of action with few enemies?(from 1-8 at any given time)...
The problem i think is that you need to revard the player, and if your enemies dont die like flies, you will not get that big revard from doing a super combo on an enemy witch continues to fight(im talking about adrenalin rush revard)....
Do you think its possible to make the player fight 4 enemies at the same time, for 1-2 minutes, and still get that rush? what trics can you do? How do you reward a player when enemies dont die? (Because if they died, you could kill 100eds in hours... sounds a little boring..) Im thinking about bullit time(in a new way), with bullits flying by, and the posibility to dodge them, and so on... i also think that it would be great if the world sloved more down then the player( just like the player getting faster... relativly) what do you think???
i surly can see irbrian gameworld, but i think this will rise a problem with hardware...
New question:
Is it possible to push the action limit in a 1 to (1-8) combat??? what tricks could you use???

In smaller fights the weapons and abilities should either be unbelievably powerful(like superheroes, as mentioned with the X2 game above), or display great timing and technical ability(a fighting game, especially more sim-like ones - the Fire Pro Wrestling series, at least the ones following the 16-bit era, is a good example of a well-made fighting simulation).

Basically, no matter what the player faces, sie should encounter one small obstacle after another in rapid succession and have little opportunity to take a break. Harder levels/better players simply speed things up a notch, and limitations impeding a player from upping the pace any further should be kept to a minimum.

One thing that drags down the action level of a lot of FPS games, in my opinion, is a near-impossibility of avoiding injury in many spots combined with high enemy hp levels, forcing the player to work at a much slower pace with little opportunity to show up his opponents by beating them to the punch. Wolf3d, the original FPS, still excels as a game because it does not have either of those problems - if you open the door and shoot everyone fast enough, you can win a fight uninjured, every time. It''s the times when you slip up that get you killed.

In a super-busy action game, it''s easy to feel overwhelmed at times. Halo on Legendary comes to mind. So many enemies, and all so powerful, compells even the most skilled player to slow down and think about the next move, and employ less dramiatic tactics, such as sneaking around picking off stragglers until you get noticed. I''ve always wanted to play a difficulty on Halo with the weak enemies of Easy in the vast numbers of Legendary. It''s extremely satisfying to dive into a mass of enemies and come out on top.

One of my favorite books is Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand. There''s a point in the play at which Cyrano, an exquisite fincer and fighter, takes on a hundred goons whom have been hired to assassinate a friend of his. He kills a few, wounds a dozen or so more, and the rest flee. To duplicate that level of skill and derring-do in a game would be a huge challenge, but I think that''s pretty much what we''re talking about here.

As I see it, there are three types of intense action sequences: The hero against a nemesis, the hero against a horde, and a huge all-out brawl. In any case, melee combat, either armed or unarmed, is the more impressive format. I remember a lengthy discussion among the Black Hat team regarding bar fights, and the best way to design them. It was a neat discussion.

For such intense, fast-paced action, I''d say that games like Super Smash Brothers have the right idea. Simple, intuitive controls, a variety of moves, and the ability to knock opponents silly.

I think Badminton is an excellent model for a huge fight. You''ve got your high deep clears, your drop shots, and your smashes. You can get clever and try to place the shuttlecock where your opponent doesn''t expect it, you can man up and go toe-to-toe with smashes, or if it gets too rough, you can clear it and take a quick breath before charging back in.

Dynasty Warriors (2, 3 and presumably 4) did this very well. You can get all nuanced with blocks and stun attack and whatnot, or get out the bow, or use a musou attack, or knock the enemies back for a little breathing room, or else just whip out the rapid attack and jumps and try to power through the throng. Swarms of sissies, punctuated by worthy, sometimes intimidating nemeses, made the game diverse and engrossing, and there was seldom a dull moment. I think that of all games, these ones had the most concentrated action of all. Enough strategy and large-scale tactics to make it somewhat brainy, and the button-mashing, health-seeking, level-raising, Lu Bu-duelling fun that keeps you coming back for more.

I''m sure it could be managed in other styles and genres, but if you need an example, try it out.