So, finally, the
full release. It's been a long
stretch; my first full release, my
first Installshield installer, my first
ActiveX code, my first launcher... and so
on.
GunFrenzy
started out as a testbed for something I
got obsessed with some months ago -
lightguns. I really wanted to use
them for a project for several
reasons. First, they're fun.
Second (and this is the important one), anyone can
use them.
I consider
FPS games to be at the cutting edge of
what will eventually become virtual
reality. Not because of the
hardware involved (we obviously don't
have HMDs etc. yet), but because of their
real-time nature and the way they
encourage you to take on a persona in a
virtual world through a first-person
perspective. Games like Quake are
making it happen now, at high frame rates
(this is the crucial part). Anyone
who's ever played hour long sessions,
night after night, meeting with the same
people over and over in familiar on-line
environments knows exactly what I'm
talking about here.
Problem
is, the way we control these games right
now is highly abstract; if you have the
talent for it, you're fine (we techno
geeks seem to have no problem).
Then there is everyone else - your girl
friend, your parents, and all the other
people who don't know how to program
their video ;)
I have
time and again seen friends of mine who
would never dream of playing a game with
a mouse and 20 button presses to remember
love GunFrenzy. Most
were reluctant to try - a minute later
you couldn't get them off the
machine. Great moments...
This
doesn't necessarily mean that lightgun
games have to be unchallenging just to be
accessible - it's all about how you use
them. Eventually I'm pushing for
true VR, where if you see a gun, you pick
it up and use it. The game can be
as complex as you wish - it's the
interface to it that has to become more
natural...
... so anyway, I'd been dabbling in Quake
programming since Q1. The most
intense programming probably went into my
(mostly unreleased) Q2 mod, the Q2DEATHTRAP ! (a lot of Deathtrap stuff
actually ended up in GunFrenzy).
The idea
was to find some lightguns, and try a few
things. Quake2 was the obvious
candidate for getting something up and
running quickly (knowing it inside out),
and it was always going to be really
interesting to see how FPS games would
work with lightguns instead of mice.
The
die-hard quakers amongst you will never
give up mice. I understand
that. Simply bolting lightguns onto
existing FPS gameplay also isn't the
answer (that much became clear) - try
standard Q2 mode to see what I mean...
not bad, but not exactly exciting.
No, the
trick is to write a game with the guns in
mind from the start. Arcade mode is
one approach to the problem. Well,
actually, Arcade Mode is inspired by
arcade lightgun shooters like House of
the Dead - shoot anything that moves, as
quickly as your trigger finger (and ever
more tiring arm) will allow. But it
works extremely well.
Getting
back to the background story, I started
looking for PC lightguns - and couldn't
find any. There was a very old
system that didn't exist anymore as far
as I could tell. Other than that,
nothing. I even mailed a few
console lightgun manufacturers, trying to
get info on whether it was possible to
convert their guns for use with a
PC. They were less than
helpful. One reply (well, not
exactly a reply). So I wrote the
whole thing off.
Bizarrely,
about a month or so later, I catch a
press release by ACT LABS on a news site,
announcing their extremely cool looking
GS system (and I'm not easily
impressed). I sent them a nice
email on the spot, and was beta
testing an early development kit
within days ...
What
started out as a simple testbed turned
into an obsession. Here is the
result.
Enjoy.
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