Paint FPS [How's this idea?]
Just had a good idea for the name of my “quick and dirty” ideas section, I present: “How’s this idea?”.
This idea I had while playing TF2 which is prone to graphical glitches every now and then. In this case, I was minding my own business as an engineer when a shadow starts moving down the corridor towards me. I’m not that fussed probably just some mis-render. The shadow then proceeds to 1) shoot a jet of fire right at me (as you can imagine, I was quite taken aback) and two 2) run directly into the line of my turrets fire and be instantly turned into a highly visible assortment of arms and legs.
This gave me the idea of an FPS or mod called “Paint FPS” where all the players play in an enclosed space and begin the match entirely invisible, I remember seeing this a while ago on Kotaku, where someone had made a game in which you fire blobs of paint at your surroundings in to change them from the monochrome white to monochrome black (I say monochrome twice as there was no shading between black and white).
How Paint FPS would work would place players in a familiar deathmatch arena setting with a weapon similar to a rocket launcher which explodes on impact with a target and creates a large paint mark around the impact zone. While the player is invisible against the environment, the paint cannot be seen through players (you simply see the environment) so it can be used their own paint rockets to spot other players.
Now, whenever a player fires their gun (other weapons to be decided upon)
[!Idea fork!]
Idea fork A: When a player fires their gun it sprays paint around you which shows where the person firing it was.
Idea fork B: When you fire your gun, your body fills up, partially, with paint (or fades towards your colour), making you visible, if you then walk, a trail of footprints forms behind you and the paint drains out of you. In addition, the paint you fill up with acts as a shield against enemy damage so if you become visible you can then try and fight of less visible enemies before fading back into invisibility and waiting to strike again.
Visually the game should be very stark with only one faint colour for all the platforms and little in the way of visual clutter. Paint should be vivid soon after being fired but fade over time and become dull unless the player who created it remains nearby (this way campers will cause the area they stay in to show up very quickly), paint should also soak through platforms and spill around if the player stays too long (even if not visible, should a player stand in their own paint, it will glow and spread.).
To clarify
- Players are invisible.
- Paint fired from guns, guns also spill around players and players fill up.
- If a player comes into contact with their own paint or stays near, it becomes bright and glows.
- (! Coming into contact with other player’s paint fades it towards your colour?)
- Either stay invisible or become visible with paint but become shielded by it.
Please remember this is just rough ides jotted down on the side of the intertubes but if you have something to say, the comment box is right there! Damn I could murder some garlic bread.
This sounds like a great idea if it can be well executed.
Would there be any penalty for standing still without firing? Unless every level is an arena, I can imagine every kill consisting of painting a hallway, moving somewhere else, and waiting for someone to walk through.
Would there be any variation in color in the levels? Or would you have to reveal the levels in an Unfinished Swan sort of way? I think the second one would lead to wonderfully hectic and confusing fights, but it might be a huge disadvantage to newbies who haven’t memorized the layout. Maybe if the level consisted entirely of moving walls and platforms it would be harder to memorize anything. Another advantage would be that making the game would be much easier. You might even be able to make a Half Life 2 mod if you cut some corners and re-skinned the existing models.
Overall I think it’s a great idea, and could make a very fun game if executed properly. If you do go the way of a Half Life 2 modification, I’d love to try mapping for it.