This is just something that I found interesting when thinking about it lately…

They changed the way enemies die in Halo 2, moving from pre-animated death sequences to the now-common rag doll technique. This makes things look a bit more realistic, but created an interesting effect: the combat now seem less like a game of paintball, and much more deadly. Without rag dolls, when a grenade “killed” enemies they would fly through the air with a flailing animation, as if they were still alive and were merely losing consciousness upon hitting the ground. Defeated enemies on the ground that would later be sent through the air by an explosion also displayed this flailing animation, giving the impression that they too had been unconscious on the ground, but still alive. In Halo 2, once you dropped an enemy, he truly seemed dead. It is a subtle, but to me, profound difference. Combat felt like it was more ‘fun’ in the first game (an important note, unlike most of the game industry, I don’t feel that games need to be ‘fun’ to be good, I feel they need to be ‘compelling’. That distinction will be good fodder for another post.). Even though the first game left me hoping for rag dolls in the sequel, now that I have them I kind of miss the more innocent playfulness of the first Halo.

I have had a game idea swimming around in my head now for several months that would make use of that ‘fun’ combat model. The thrill would be fighting and defeating your enemies, not killing them. But, clever as I am, it’s still gleefully violent, but doesn’t revel in the taking of lives. I was thinking about the look that Valve is using in Team Fortress 2 game, and I think it might be well served in my theoretical game as well. With TF2, there is almost an acknowledgement of how silly all this violence is that we partake of in games. Not that I have a problem with serious approaches, I certainly enjoy the realism found in Gears of War. But I also like the idea that when the game is over you can imagine all the characters in it picking themselves up, dusting themselves off, and going for a beer together.

Footnote: I first saw screenshots of Team Fortress back when I was stilling using a Pentium 133(!), so it’s good to see the thing finally coming out soon. Now, where’s Duke Nukem Forever?

-Jason