Lots of great suggestions. Since I would want this to be more of an adventure game than a shooter and I wouldn't want the player to use violent means to solve problems. I agree that it would be cruel to the player and stupid from a design perspective to require anything that you can use up. This is a game where encounters would be few and far between and somewhat scripted. A bullet to the head might provide an instant win, but that wouldn't always be an option. I would also like to make the gun impractical unless you really need the range. Since you would be playing as a scientist, your aim could be shaky and movement could be slowed.

I was thinking about adding a ranged item/weapon without ammo or anything later on just to put players at ease and maybe get more creative with puzzles. I was thinking about a ranged key/stun weapon. It could shoot small balls of light that stun enemies, disrupt machinery, open doors, etc. This wouldn't need ammo and could spawn some fun Metroid-esque puzzles.

Quote:

Original post by Kazgoroth I'd say the option of making the gun an easier way out but never an actual requirement is probably a good one, and then just make the player aware that ammunition is scarce. Hope my thoughts are of some help. [smile]

Yeah, that would probably be it's function. Sort of a way to bail out of difficult fights or maybe a way to access something hidden in the game (like an optional bonus).

Quote:

Original post by Funkymunky Quote: Original post by Flarelocke One game I played (can't remember which) had a good solution to this: when you're pointing your gun at someone the game designers don't want you to shoot, your character lowers the gun and won't fire. HL2

Doom 3 as well.

Quote:

Similarly, you can't let me use those bullets to kill off a character that needs to be around later on.

hehe, was just thinking of the old Sierra type games, and I guess it would defeat the purpose bringing up a message saying "I'm sorry, but you have killed a key character and wasted a bullet you needed to use later on. New Game, Reload Game or Quit to Windows?" [lol]

Sorry if someone has mentioned this before, but if it's going to be an adventure game, maybe you could structure your environment/stages such that you only encounter one bullet at a time along the way, and the person/thing you need to use the bullet against is in that area (prior to finding the bullet). But I guess it would be too obvious. This is definitely a tricky problem. Do you need to have a gun in the game? Is it a necessity?

Maybe you could have it that you can use a gun against anyone (but if it's against a character that shouldn't be killed or harmed by a bullet, have a scripted event or something that prevents this from happening). But make it so you can find another bullet later on, so when one is wasted you are able to complete the game.

Quote:

Original post by Sandbar Quote: Similarly, you can't let me use those bullets to kill off a character that needs to be around later on. hehe, was just thinking of the old Sierra type games

Indeed, so many of them unfortunately suffered from this problem, and it's a massive design flaw.