Gaming clichés?

[Chris]

Another cliché, that is more a plot problem, are fearless characters. The example that comes to me is Dead Effect. The game starts trying to makes me "feel fear". But, as soon as the character gets a weapon, he makes funny comments about it.

Because player characters automatically running away like a *cat* because they got scared is not a fun game mechanic

The Amnesia games would like a word with you. As would most of Alien: Isolation.

[Trance]

Is there a game where your character automatically runs away in fear? I know there are games where the only practical response to certain threats is to run from them, but I don't know of any games where that happens independently of player input.

[Chris]

Is there a game where your character automatically runs away in fear?

Sort of, though I'm not sure of one where auto-running in fear is the entire point of gameplay (though it's kind of hard to call it gameplay if the game unavoidably does it automatically..). Some RPGs have a Fear effect that automatically causes your character to run away without your control, though it's not a regular occurrence.

[Naniyue]

I'm always trying to break windows in FPS games, usually to get at an enemy ahead of time.

AVGN did a review of Lester.

Yes, I'd like to play an FPS where the main character is simply another John or Jane Doe trying to survive something they accidentally got caught up in. And not being skilled with any weapons. Let the game make you get better as you play. Not exactly RPG, but meant to simulate an average person in the situation, getting better with time.

I think I sort of mentioned the morality thing with zombies myself.

[Viscra Maelstrom]

And if you don't believe him, please go (try to) play Lester the Unlikely.

to be fair to the game, these are just scripted events that happens during the beginning part of the game that eventually stop from occurring. but it sure is a very bad way to sell a game: it also doesn't help that the game is slightly obtuse at times, as these Prince of Persia-alikes likes to be, and punishingly difficult at the end.

please don't try to finish this game.

[Oberron]

Mooks that carry the same gun that you have equiped. This is averted with Duke3D, the assault troops drop pistol clips, but they use laser guns.

Tomorrow Never Dies on the PS1 always has the assault rifle in every level.

Also an unlimited ammo starting weapon. Die Hard Trilogy, anyone?

[Reactor]

Guns with unlimited ammo is pretty uncommon. I recall the Quake-series, namely, the blaster. It's weak and slow, but has infinite ammo, and thus, you can never really run out of ammo in Quake 2 or Quake 4. Another instance is the alien hand from Half-life, which shoots hornets, and that shock-roach in Opposing Force. But really that's all I could find.
It was more popular at NES games, the system was really stingy with memory, so several times, it was wiser for the programmer to ensure the gun never runs out of juice. In later SNES and Sega games, finite ammo was introduced. Unlimited ammo was also very scarce at early PC games.

Classic cliché regarding switches: "ON" is always green, "OFF" is always red. Yuh, Doom, Duke Nukem, Half-life and most games utilize this one as well. In reality, pretty few switches have added light indicators, and even less of them has the classic "traffic light" colours. What are your thoughts about this?

[Gez]

Guns with unlimited ammo is pretty uncommon. I recall the Quake-series, namely, the blaster. It's weak and slow, but has infinite ammo, and thus, you can never really run out of ammo in Quake 2 or Quake 4. Another instance is the alien hand from Half-life, which shoots hornets, and that shock-roach in Opposing Force. But really that's all I could find.

Rise of the Triad.


Also, it's a third-person shooter, but Shadow-Man's gun has unlimited ammo while on Deadside. And if we go away from the FPS genre even more, the blasters and rifles in the KOTOR series are all unlimited use.

And pretty much every single shoot-them-up. It's basically the defining feature of the genre that you shoot constantly.

[Naniyue]

In most (spaceship) shooters, you don't really have a choice but to keep firing. There just isn't enough time from sight to shoot! And if you're going to pause to build up a charge shot, you'd better have the stage patterns down!

I know, I know, I'm mentioning it again, but Toy Robot Force for the GBA utilizes limited ammo pretty well.

[Reactor]

Energy-based weaponry are prone to having unlimited ammo. It is mostly explained with a small generator built within the firearm (or the spaceship in space shooter games). The Star Wars universe defines the unlimited laser as a byproduct energy of the ship's main engine. If you redirect energy from engines to laser cannons, they regenerate faster. If you transfer energy from cannons to engines, you go faster, but your laser energy slowly dwindles. Warheads are always limited in these games...yours, that is (of course, enemies' missiles never run out!).
Top-down shooters rarely have limited ammo. In Tyrian, even warhead weapons are unlimited, and use generator energy instead. Sidekicks, however, DO have limited ammo. It's hard to find the perfect balance when it comes to limited/unlimited ammo.

[Rachael]

The threadpocalypse takes no prisoners!

On a more serious note, this is basically just postcount++/nitpicking at this point. I think most of everything that was actually useful to be said in this thread already happened much earlier in it.