GoldenEye: Source Forums

Global Communications => Development Media => Topic started by: VC on January 27, 2009, 07:54:53 pm

Title: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: VC on January 27, 2009, 07:54:53 pm
Seven Habits of Highly-Effective Agents, by VC, the GE:S Weaponsmith.

Goldeneye Source Beta 3 brings for the first time Goldeneye combat and gunplay rules to the PC FPS arena. As we all know, Goldeneye is great because it is different, but this also means old techniques developed over years of Doom, UT, Quake, and TF2 don't apply anymore.  I present herein a primer to get you up to speed.

1. Don't spam.
Goldeneye damage is very large per-strike with even the pistols earning 50% damage for a headshot, but any strike grants the victim a moment of protection from further damage.  During that time, extra bullets that strike are worth zero.  Short bursts will keep your ammo use frugal and are as, or more, effective at defeating the opposition.

2. Aim.
Your victim gets the same moment of protection no matter where you hit him. If you spam and hit his arms, he will last a very long time.  You are almost always better served by taking a moment and using your sights to aim properly than just holding the trigger and charging like a fool.

3. Reload.
Weapons are not a free magazine anymore. In keeping with Goldeneye standards, a weapon is a pickup with a low ammo value. If you pick up an RC-P90 and have no 9mm in your pocket, you have 10 bullets because that's all RC-P90 comes with. Check your weapon's magazine before going into battle, and think of your teammates, too. Let your buddy have the weapon your last victim dropped, and don't suck up all the ammo crates and leave your team standing around waiting on the resupply.

4. Choose the Right Tool.
Because all weapon damages are large, you will choose your gun based on the situation, not the power level.  In Alpha, it was a very simple progression. PP7S < ZMG < KF7 < AShot < AuG.  With Beta 3, you will be choosing your weapon based on combat ranges and weapon abilities.  Shotguns are good if you can get near melee range, but start to feel like Klobb from down the hall.  PP7-S or Phantom?  Phantom is less accurate and the PP7-S is silenced, so PP7-S is better on Runway surface, but in the underhalls, the Phantom is the clear winner.

5. Don't be afraid to use melee.
Slapping isn't exactly savage, but you certainly can bring down a foe who's unaware and weakened. Just don't try to chase him down while he fires on you, go find a weapon instead. If the server gives you hunting knife (ge_startarmed 1) you can do some serious damage.

6. Don't get ganked while waiting on an item respawn.
One change in Goldeneye Source is that weapon respawns are dynamic.  Fewer players mean longer resupply times.  If there are only two or three players, items will wait more than 20 seconds to respawn. If the server is packed, respawn times will decrease toward 10 second intervals.

7. Use your sights.
Goldeneye 007 has a very complicated system that handles the "breathing effect." Your view and line of aim drifts around, and the amount depends on your activity. If you run around, you will drift a lot. If you stand still, the drift decreases.  We haven't implemented this behavior, but we have implemented a surrogate.  In simplest terms, using your sight will increase your accuracy.  This is particularly noticable with high-accuracy weapons like Golden Gun, and with the pistols. However, every weapon benefits from being sighted, even the shotguns and the Klobb.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Sean [Baron] on January 27, 2009, 08:37:16 pm
Official Guide to playing GoldenEye: Source!
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: PPK on January 27, 2009, 09:30:51 pm
Official Guide to playing GoldenEye: Source!

This is great. I think you should post a PDF version of the official Goldeneye: Source manual. :D
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: kraid on January 27, 2009, 09:52:27 pm
Write a Book: GES for Dummies/Noobs
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: CCsaint10 on January 28, 2009, 09:52:53 pm
Nice Guide VC. So the effect of the gun swaying depending on how much you run when you use your sites has or hasn't been implemented yet? I got confused near the end. Thanks
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Sean [Baron] on January 28, 2009, 10:14:26 pm
It hasn't been implemented yet.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Wake[of]theBunT on January 29, 2009, 01:23:52 am
It should never be, this is PC. My opinion, but ill fight for it :P
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: CCsaint10 on January 30, 2009, 12:25:45 am
why should it never be? Because it's PC? What does that have to do with it? It just makes sense that if you are running around a lot that it would harder to shoot the other person because you aren't shooting right on perfectly. I don't know, just my two cents.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: pod0087 on February 11, 2009, 11:16:11 am

Goldeneye damage is very large per-strike with even the pistols earning 50% damage for a headshot, but any strike grants the victim a moment of protection from further damage.  During that time, extra bullets that strike are worth zero.  Short bursts will keep your ammo use frugal and are as, or more, effective at defeating the opposition.

2. Aim.
Your victim gets the same moment of protection no matter where you hit him. If you spam and hit his arms, he will last a very long time.  You are almost always better served by taking a moment and using your sights to aim properly than just holding the trigger and charging like a fool.

Is there any command to disable this 'protection' mechanism?

Edit: I realise the wiki server commands page shows commands to disable them, but they are unrecognized.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: PPK on February 11, 2009, 12:37:21 pm
@pod0087: the protection shouldn't be disabled. It was part of the original and it not only discourages you to spam but also encourages you to time your shots and improve your accuracy, making the gameplay more strategic and less "Run and Gun". That's just my opinion, of course.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: pod0087 on February 11, 2009, 03:59:18 pm
@pod0087: the protection shouldn't be disabled. It was part of the original and it not only discourages you to spam but also encourages you to time your shots and improve your accuracy, making the gameplay more strategic and less "Run and Gun". That's just my opinion, of course.

Yes, I'm aware of what you're saying and agree with keeping the remake faithful to the original, but sometimes it's frustrating, and I'd like to be able to modify the protection values (not necessarily just disabling it).

Apparently the modders also thought something along these lines with the wiki showing the commands that *should* do it, even though they're unrecognized commands by the engine.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Jeron [SharpSh00tah] on February 11, 2009, 04:05:04 pm
Is there any command to disable this 'protection' mechanism?

Edit: I realise the wiki server commands page shows commands to disable them, but they are unrecognized.

Play LTK, one shot one kill
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: VC on February 11, 2009, 04:09:15 pm
If anything, it's too low.  Misbehaving Forces set it to 0.500 default instead of 0.666.  This altered the behavior of shotguns somewhat.  I was argued that the extra time made battles take too long, but playing Beta 3 so far, I don't think it would make skilled battles longer, but it would reduce the effectiveness of RCP90 death-beaming.
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Sp1nn3y on February 11, 2009, 04:12:30 pm
6. Don't get ganked while waiting on an item respawn.
One change in Goldeneye Source is that weapon respawns are dynamic.  Fewer players mean longer resupply times.  If there are only two or three players, items will wait more than 20 seconds to respawn. If the server is packed, respawn times will decrease toward 10 second intervals.

I did not know this :D This is good stuff.. Thanks. i hope i can go 50-3 like i've seen VC go   :angel:
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: killermonkey on February 11, 2009, 04:18:19 pm
Is there any command to disable this 'protection' mechanism?

Edit: I realise the wiki server commands page shows commands to disable them, but they are unrecognized.

Where are you looking on the wiki because it's not the right location??
http://wiki.goldeneyesource.net/index.php/Beta_3_Release_Documentation#Server_Variables_and_Commands
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: pod0087 on February 11, 2009, 04:45:01 pm
http://wiki.goldeneyesource.net/index.php/Server_Commands

Searched for Server commands, came up with that. I guess it's not updated then...

Quote from: Sever_Commands
Gameplay Tweaking/Testing

It is not recommended that you change these at all.

ge_explosiveatten
Test explosive damage

ge_gethit_bullet_force
Amount of force a bullet hits a player with

ge_gethittime
Delay before player can shoot again after getting hit

ge_invultimer
Amount of time player is invulnerable after getting hit once

ge_invulhalfhealthamount
How much extra invulnerability if health is under 50
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Doc.NO on February 11, 2009, 08:53:45 pm
http://wiki.goldeneyesource.net/index.php/Server_Commands

Searched for Server commands, came up with that. I guess it's not updated then...

These are 1.x commands... Use KM link :/
Title: Re: VC's OpEd Column 90127
Post by: Jonathon [SSL] on February 11, 2009, 11:41:35 pm
Write a Book: GES for Dummies/Noobs

(http://apal.isa-geek.org/filehost/ssl/GES-DEV_Application/book2.jpg)

already a prop for my beta 3 port of my ge_basement_ssl map (needs to be flipped though)