Red Orchestra 2 in comparison to Ost Front and Darkest Hour is more accessible but in what way and by how much? What are the determining factors that make gameplay more fast paced than in the other two games and how can they be measured?
I can't pin it down to just one function. I know that when I play Darkest Hour I value my kills more whereas in RO2 I don't have to use as much effort to kill another player, I tend to rack up kills. In Darkest Hour I find myself suppressing players more with my weapon rather than near instantly killing them, meaning I miss more shots and the player I'm shooting at has more chances to get away from my line of sight. This prolongs the firefight but is it too frustrating for the average gamer who buys the game and doesn't hit anyone? Which I'm guessing was a primary reason behind many RO2 decisions.
The categories that I believe all contribute are:
Weapon Handling
This would cover making the weapon appear to weigh more by increasing the time it takes to pull out the weapon and the time it takes to go into iron sight, sway, reloading times, all these aspects add up and give players a chance to escape your line of sight.
Weapon Recoil
When comparing Rising Storm weapon recoil to Darkest Hour, try the M1 Garand you'll notice subtle differences nothing drastically different when using the M1 in DH but enough to let enemy players get a chance to break out of your line of sight if you were rapid firing. That extra second or two when you have to readjust your weapon back onto the target could be the difference between life and death.
Shift Zoom
Ironically, this feature I see endorsed often by Ost Front players but it is one of the reasons why level designers have to provide so much more cover than in Darkest Hour or Ost Front in order to give players a fighting chance to reach the objective. If you go back to those games you'll notice open fields with literally nothing in them and the only thing to use as cover is a subtle curve in the terrain or some grass, sure you can still die, but you can sprint through and survive - in RO2 it's like you hit a wall of bullets and it takes copious amounts of smoke and artillery to get across open ground, but not after dying many times first. Classic mode disabled this feature and the effects in gameplay were noticeable. By allowing the player to zoom in that much it means the defender can be a lot further back with a nice clear view of you which means open ground becomes problematic to say the least, you end up having to give the attacker stepping stones to the objective or just make the areas the attackers have to cross a lot smaller.
Stat Bonuses
While they're only small bonuses and not even noticeable when playing, they do add to the pace of the game.
Movement
Movement is more responsive in RO2 and I do appreciate that, between Realism and Classic modes, and the Overhaul Mod, Classic has a good balance and I remember clearly when that game mode was released slower gameplay occurring. The main feedback at the time was to increase stamina for sprinting just a tiny bit more and I could agree with that.
So if you had the chance to design RO2's gameplay at the beginning with only one game mode but you knew it had to be more accessible than previous games to attract a larger audience what would that look like? Is there some middle ground that can be reached between Ost Front, Darkest Hour, and RO2 and if so can you describe it?
I can't pin it down to just one function. I know that when I play Darkest Hour I value my kills more whereas in RO2 I don't have to use as much effort to kill another player, I tend to rack up kills. In Darkest Hour I find myself suppressing players more with my weapon rather than near instantly killing them, meaning I miss more shots and the player I'm shooting at has more chances to get away from my line of sight. This prolongs the firefight but is it too frustrating for the average gamer who buys the game and doesn't hit anyone? Which I'm guessing was a primary reason behind many RO2 decisions.
The categories that I believe all contribute are:
- Weapon handling
- Weapon Recoil
- Shift Zoom
- Stat bonuses
- Movement
Weapon Handling
This would cover making the weapon appear to weigh more by increasing the time it takes to pull out the weapon and the time it takes to go into iron sight, sway, reloading times, all these aspects add up and give players a chance to escape your line of sight.
Weapon Recoil
When comparing Rising Storm weapon recoil to Darkest Hour, try the M1 Garand you'll notice subtle differences nothing drastically different when using the M1 in DH but enough to let enemy players get a chance to break out of your line of sight if you were rapid firing. That extra second or two when you have to readjust your weapon back onto the target could be the difference between life and death.
Shift Zoom
Ironically, this feature I see endorsed often by Ost Front players but it is one of the reasons why level designers have to provide so much more cover than in Darkest Hour or Ost Front in order to give players a fighting chance to reach the objective. If you go back to those games you'll notice open fields with literally nothing in them and the only thing to use as cover is a subtle curve in the terrain or some grass, sure you can still die, but you can sprint through and survive - in RO2 it's like you hit a wall of bullets and it takes copious amounts of smoke and artillery to get across open ground, but not after dying many times first. Classic mode disabled this feature and the effects in gameplay were noticeable. By allowing the player to zoom in that much it means the defender can be a lot further back with a nice clear view of you which means open ground becomes problematic to say the least, you end up having to give the attacker stepping stones to the objective or just make the areas the attackers have to cross a lot smaller.
Stat Bonuses
While they're only small bonuses and not even noticeable when playing, they do add to the pace of the game.
Movement
Movement is more responsive in RO2 and I do appreciate that, between Realism and Classic modes, and the Overhaul Mod, Classic has a good balance and I remember clearly when that game mode was released slower gameplay occurring. The main feedback at the time was to increase stamina for sprinting just a tiny bit more and I could agree with that.
So if you had the chance to design RO2's gameplay at the beginning with only one game mode but you knew it had to be more accessible than previous games to attract a larger audience what would that look like? Is there some middle ground that can be reached between Ost Front, Darkest Hour, and RO2 and if so can you describe it?
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