Shooting mechanics in an MMO game

I am building a futuristic MMO game, and of course a lot of guns will be involved.
I have a question about mechanics of such a game, whether you think such an approach is a good idea.
The approach would be like:
- Each gun has it's damage-per-shot value
- Each gun would have it's shots-per-second value
- Each gun would have it's accuracy rating

Now, the question is: should I calculate the probability of each shot hitting the target, multiply the damage of the weapon by it's accuracy (in a way a weapon with 50% accuracy would have 50% of it's shots hitting the target therefore dealing 50% of the total damage), or just ditch the accuracy thing altogether?

What is your opinion on this?

 

It just depends on what you want, I think. Like, if you want a rapid fire weapon to be obviously more valuable than a slower weapon, then you can scale things up in that way (2x the fire rate = 2x the damage). Or if you want a rapid fire weapon to be roughly equal to the slower weapon, or just slightly better, you can use the accuracy principle to make the damage per second more comparable (the slower weapon is more accurate, and the faster weapon is less accurate).

 

It also depends greatly on the gameplay and realism of the game ; for example, is it important to have recoil the player has to compensate for to maintain a decent accuracy ? This might be important in a FPS but not at all in top-down twin-stick shooter, regardless of the MMO-component.

More info on the game concept would help, but all in all this does sound like a balancing detail that is likely to change during the course of the development once you get a playable version in hand. Unless this has been identified as a core gameplay-risk for some reason, I wouldn't worry about the "formula" at this stage, knowing the model is likely to change anyway.

 

Yeah, maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough; I want to build a classic MMORPG, with lock-on targetting, loot drop systems and all the usual stuff. The difference I want to make, is that there would be no pre-defined classes. All your skills that are available to use would depend on what armor/weaponry/addons you are using. The character itself may have a proficiency e.g. in shotguns, which would increase his aim with them, but overall it would not have any innate skills. This is why I think accuracy is such an important thing, so that people really consider which weapons they use in which situations.

 

Consider sticking to what players are used to with relation to a common term.
With accuracy most players who play shooting games are accustom to the definition being how accurate is the weapon.
Usually a higher rate of fire reduces accuracy and also damage.
Usually a lower rate of fire has increased accuracy and also damage.
So the player can make a simple informed decision about choosing a faster shooting weapon that deals less damage and is less accurate vs. a weapon that shoots slower but hits the target more often and deals more damage.
This is married within the design that a weapon will be programmed to not shoot directly at the cross hairs X% of total number of bullets in the magazine.
Coupled with bonuses to increase accuracy when a player is proficient or receives a buff for a specific weapon, and you have a system the player can understand quickly because this is the way most shooter games are designed.

 

This is my point, I'm NOT designing a shooter game. It is supposed to be a futuristic MMORPG, with TPP camera and lock-on targetting.

 

It's hard to define what "realism" means in the context of "futuristic" ; the boundaries of what is acceptable, so that the player experiences a coherent universe, are yours to define, but we don't have that vision of what the end-result should be.

In certain sci-fi literature, there are things like the concept of "neural weapons", basically extending the body capabilities with plug-able devices, allowing instant hand-eye coordination and assisted targeting for 100% accuracy, in combination of motorised prosthetic limbs to totally eliminate recoil (I'm thinking ShadowRun, CyberPunk, etc.). It's an extreme example, but it shows how important it is to define how far you want to go before it's possible to get a feel for how things should behave - moreover, does that lead to fun gameplay :-?

 

His advice wasn't really genre specific. I think his main point was make sure players understand whatever system it is you design, and try to keep it familiar.

But honestly don't even spend time on this now. You have to work out the mechanics of it all first. Like what are you using physics for, do projectiles use physics vs simple parabolic curves. Do you have mechanics where say relative velocity matters? You might end up with different types of weapons that work very differently also.

For example in my game I have some weapon projectiles that are physics. Some parabolic curves. And some parabolic plus guided so that I can actually have accuracy stats that are accurate (due to relative velocities coming into play).

Most importantly I decided how all of this works by what feels best. The formulas and math I layered over what I felt was the best gameplay. I don't think players care about the distinctions you are making really.

 

Whatever the rule is, players like predictable patterns, so try to be even-handed in the application of your rule.

 

Yeah - I should have been clearer - thanks snacktime! The important unclear point I was trying to make was - make sure the players understand the concept of accuracy clearly, and keep it as simple as possible.

 

I'm not understanding the distinction here. Rule systems often involve to hit and accuracy calculations, even with lock on targeting or even turn-based RPG. Consider AD&D with its "to hit versus AC0."

The point is, only include calculations for accuracy or whatever if that's a mechanism that affects player choices in the game, like whether they should choose this weapon or that, or this buff or that, or this ability or that, etc.

 

I think a simple accuracy * damage is a lazy and unnecessary way to do things - there's no lack of horsepower on modern rigs. I think per-shot accuracy is best - depending on how fast players react, the chances of hitting may change between shots. It's also a little clearer to the player. If I know I have 6 shots in my revolver (accuracy = 0.5), there's no tension in knowing that i'll do 50% of my max damage with those shells - I want to be able to luck into 5 or 6 hits. That's tension.