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Old 02-11-2018, 10:53 PM   #11
Minuteman37
 
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

GURPS has good rules for high resolution, realistic combat. The primary limiting factor is that the system runs on "people" and is limited by our capacity to do the math easy enough to bother and fast enough we don't lose momentum. A computer game solves that issue nicely.


That's why I think combat heavy historical fiction would suit gurps best. My two suggestions would be A Roman Gladiator game, all about rising to the top of the pit, there could be a good deal of social interaction inbetween fights while you go about the city markets or or your Ludus and interact with NPCs.

The Other idea I had was a Tactical Shooting, squad based WWII game. You create your team, designate your voice character, and possibly assign personalities to your other teammates to establish an intersquad dynamic. Different combinations of characters would interact differently and that could add to the replayability. Maybe Scout is a SPY!
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Old 02-12-2018, 01:12 AM   #12
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

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Computers only need angle, distance, and elevation. If you want, you can code that information in hexes, but it is not necessary.
Yeah but to figure out those you need to know where thing are, and that means a co-ordinate system, which means either hexes or squares, guess which a GURPS based game would use?
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Old 02-12-2018, 02:19 AM   #13
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Yeah but to figure out those you need to know where thing are, and that means a co-ordinate system, which means either hexes or squares, guess which a GURPS based game would use?
A coordinate system doesn't need hexes or squares. It can just use numbers. Most computer games will prefer to treat characters as circles or spheres (the usual rule would be that you can hit something if range from your center to target is at least your reach plus the target's radius).
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Old 02-12-2018, 05:33 AM   #14
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

And numbers are easily to work with in GURPS because of its underlying rules. Even definitions of front, side, and rear just depend on the angle of the attack.
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Old 02-12-2018, 09:35 AM   #15
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

This gets me thinking, maybe one of the questions behind the question is what sort of computer game would feel the most GURPS-y?

I think we can all agree that GURPS handles tactical combat situations very well and has a greater level of optional detail (via rules) than many video games. Some of the core questions here are, do these optional rules add value or fun to the game? Do the rules help convey the feel of the setting? Do the rules bring focus or a feeling of importance to activities important to the player? I think these questions and their answers are similar to what a GM would ask themselves when considering whether to include a new rule in their game or not. For a video game featuring arena combat or small scale tactical battles on a hex grid, the rules for facing; movement points; hit locations; telegraphic, deceptive, committed, and defensive attacks; and techniques from Martial Arts would be far more important to include than the rules for gadgeteering, TLs, Legality Class, and Status. Not that the less important things couldn't be included and be appropriate, but the LC of a weapon typically wouldn't matter while in a tactical battle.

While GURPS could certainly be the engine behind an FPS game, you have to wonder why a game developer would want to do this as opposed to just making something up that is easier to code. Even though die rolls wouldn't be front and center in a typical FPS game, there are certainly GURPS rules that could make for a more immersive, detailed video game experience, which would appeal to a certain crowd.

Sometimes examples help so let's look at a typical lockpicking scenario in an FPS game. Lockpicking in some games (e.g., Skyrim) is handled as a mini-game where you have to rotate a tool around the lock with one hand while turning a tool inserted into the lock with the other hand. The action stops around the player while this occurs (in combat a foe is effectively frozen in time). If we GURPS-ified this scenario, it might look more like this. Is it dark? If so, take -5 to skill for working by touch. Does the character have the appropriate tools? Apply Equipment Modifiers (B345) as appropriate. Make the skill roll to see if the lock could be picked. If successful, the lock opens in 1 minute - 5 seconds per point of success. The timing bit would probably have to be accelerated for an FPS game, but you get the gist. Adding this level of detail could add a bit of depth and excitement not typically associated with lockpicking. "Argh. My lockpicks are damaged, it's pitch dark in here, and I hear some creature stomping down the hallway towards me. Do I have enough time to pick open this lock so I can get out of here?" Yeah, I'd play that. :-)

Even looking at GURPS core gameplay, the simple mechanic of critical failure, failure, success, critical success, and margin of failure/victory can add depth to video games that is typically not there. Sure, a lot of games have the idea of critical hits, but these typically just do more damage and have no other effects. I can't recall ever seeing anything like critical failures implemented in a meaningful way in a video game. GURPS gives us plenty of handy tables to help describe a variety of possible outcomes that would add depth to many video games' current approach of hit, miss, hit, ad nauseam.

Maybe I'm a minority, but I've often felt like video games are too simplistic and repetitive at times. Adding some GURPS complexity could make many video games feel more realistic, detailed, and consequently fun.
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Old 02-13-2018, 05:07 AM   #16
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

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Make it a TL 5 setting (circa 1850, or so), and a skilled craftsman can make just about any technology routinely available to normal people. My friend Dave points out that one of the unique things about the U.S. Civil War is that it marked pretty much the last time that the soldiers who fought in it could make most of their gear, themselves -- especially the Yankee craftsmen on the Union side of things. Give those guys a workshop and they could pretty much produce just about anything short of a high-pressure steam-engine (and they could repair one of those).
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Originally Posted by Minuteman37 View Post
GURPS has good rules for high resolution, realistic combat. The primary limiting factor is that the system runs on "people" and is limited by our capacity to do the math easy enough to bother and fast enough we don't lose momentum. A computer game solves that issue nicely.
Two things set GURPS apart from many other games; Generic and universal. I think those would have to be part of a game for it to feel like GURPS. Ie. you need to some sort of cross-genre/setting.


I think it would be awesome if the game started out like tshiggin's example. But then suddenly people start showing up with automatic weapon trying to "change history" ie. Centrum. And you get drafted into helping Homeline fight them. First on you hometurf, then taking the battle to another, completely different setting. But the homeline team is stranded there, they know high-tech and counter-espionage stuff, but they do not know how to survive in a forest with TL:5 equipment.

You character might focus on learning their new technologies. They might discover they have innate magical/psionic powers or they might just continue developing the skills they are already good at, becoming even better.



You would need "outdoorsy"-skill like survival to survive (find resources and animals to hunt and so on).
You need combat-skills to fight animals as well as centrum agent and other "bad guys".
You need social skills to socialise with the other locals who might otherwise join centrum. And to gather intel.
You need tech skill, especially if you want to learn the higher tech stuff.



A key factor of the game would be the "survival part" of gathering resources for survival and to maintaining equipment.
And also tactical combat, with a turn-based hex-grid combat system.



Well thats something I would play.
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Old 02-13-2018, 10:39 AM   #17
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

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Originally Posted by Maz View Post
Two things set GURPS apart from many other games; Generic and universal. I think those would have to be part of a game for it to feel like GURPS. Ie. you need to some sort of cross-genre/setting.
That's one possibility, but you could also inject some GURPS flavor by having world-hopping, multiple magic systems, a wide variety of monsters, and varying technology levels in a DF-type world. It would certainly remain truer to the Basic Set to use the Infinite Worlds setting though.

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Originally Posted by Maz View Post
I think it would be awesome if the game started out like tshiggin's example. But then suddenly people start showing up with automatic weapon trying to "change history" ie. Centrum. And you get drafted into helping Homeline fight them. First on you hometurf, then taking the battle to another, completely different setting. But the homeline team is stranded there, they know high-tech and counter-espionage stuff, but they do not know how to survive in a forest with TL:5 equipment.
This would be a great opener, and I think this last bit would really highlight some of the GURPS feel as the homeline team has to attempt using their high TL skills in a low TL situation and rely heavily on lower TL natives to help them in some areas where they are clueless. Of course, they'd have to be somewhat prepared for the possibility of getting stranded, but maybe they run out of supplies, an important team member is gravely injured, or something else to require reliance on locals.

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Originally Posted by Maz View Post
You character might focus on learning their new technologies. They might discover they have innate magical/psionic powers or they might just continue developing the skills they are already good at, becoming even better.
There are a lot of ways this could go. It would be interesting to have lower TL natives start learning higher TL skills and learning how to use these strange new automatic weapons. Throwing in the weird powers would be a great twist too, which the homeline team may or may not know anything about.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maz View Post
You would need "outdoorsy"-skill like survival to survive (find resources and animals to hunt and so on).
You need combat-skills to fight animals as well as centrum agent and other "bad guys".
You need social skills to socialise with the other locals who might otherwise join centrum. And to gather intel.
You need tech skill, especially if you want to learn the higher tech stuff.
I think the socializing aspect would be really important for building a team to combat centrum and other potential foes. This would be interesting to implement with GURPS given the breadth of social traits available and the NPC reactions mechanic. I could see the recruiting aspect being a core feature of such a game.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maz View Post
A key factor of the game would be the "survival part" of gathering resources for survival and to maintaining equipment.
And also tactical combat, with a turn-based hex-grid combat system.
I think GURPS would be perfect for highlighting the survival part, particularly if realistic construction times, numerous required skill rolls, significant quantities of resources, and the need for maintenance on anything constructed were required. A lot of survival games allow objects to be built instantly or very quickly with little to no maintenance required. GURPS provides a good framework of narrow skills, rules for dealing with differing TLs, and construction timelines. There would need to be a lot added, but there is quite a bit in the system already to provide a good starting point.

Turn-based hex-grid combat would be really fun with a diverse team of people from different TLs, possibly with magical/psionic abilities. There could be a lot of variety with battles happening in wilderness environments, in a homeline or centrum base, or in urban locales. You could even have vehicle combat.

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Well thats something I would play.
I would totally play this too!
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Old 02-13-2018, 10:48 AM   #18
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

I think Gurps would do tactical turn-based squad tactics best. That's what its been made for from the beginning. Gurps doesn't do as well with one man groups.

I like the way Gurps does mysteries. You can force the player to make interesting decisions by varying what information you get for sending them to each site. I'd certainly add a strong element of that.
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Old 02-14-2018, 12:36 PM   #19
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Default Re: What sort of computer game suits GURPS best?

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I think Gurps would do tactical turn-based squad tactics best. That's what its been made for from the beginning. Gurps doesn't do as well with one man groups.
Agreed. I think any kind of party or squad based game played out on a hex map would be ideal for use with GURPS. XCOM is a good current example of this in the video game world. There are a lot of ways a game like this could be enriched with some GURPS grittiness and detail.

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I like the way Gurps does mysteries. You can force the player to make interesting decisions by varying what information you get for sending them to each site. I'd certainly add a strong element of that.
I'm not as familiar with this one. GURPS certainly does have a lot of skills well suited to investigative games and I think varying the information extracted from clues based on skill results could add an interesting dynamic. This could also work well with teams of investigators where different people in the group are using different skill sets, and you could have team members helping each other through complementary skill rolls.
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Old 02-14-2018, 02:45 PM   #20
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I'm not as familiar with this one. GURPS certainly does have a lot of skills well suited to investigative games and I think varying the information extracted from clues based on skill results could add an interesting dynamic. This could also work well with teams of investigators where different people in the group are using different skill sets, and you could have team members helping each other through complementary skill rolls.
Yep, coloring the clues based on what skill was used to locate the clue is a strong feature. Team work in gathering the information is also very colorful, as you said.

A pure combat game is nothing special. A tactical game where you have to identify your enemy as well as kill him? that's interesting and challenging. Its also one of the primary ways I play Gurps. The clock is rather important to making these challenges interesting.

If you haven't done much with investigative Gurps games, monster hunters is a decent place to start looking. Monster Hunters can be played combat heavy or investigation heavy, but most games will feature both.

Action also features a large amount of non-combat scenarios, but its not as easy to see.
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