Geek
Toys:
ACT
Labs GS
By
Russell "RadPipe" Lauzon
|
Vol.
2, Issue 6
December 16, 1999
|
The Glitterstream
mod for the GS is called Gun Frenzy. It’s definitely a mod
in its own rite as it modifies a number of aspects of the game.
Thankfully it comes with a handy launcher done all in html. You
can play classic Q2 mode, arcade style, or Frenzy. People
familiar with arcade shooters will recognize arcade mode; you
have a certain number of bullets in your clip and you fire off
screen to reload. Frenzy gives you unlimited ammo of whatever
weapon you’re carrying (you can only carry one at a time)
and lots of health, plus the knock-back factor is insane. Enemies
fly across the map when you shoot them. Q2 mode is just
like the original.
Okay here’s
the real meat of the article. If you’ve been skimming, stop
and read this paragraph, ´cause here’s what the deal
is. The system was designed to work with a controller in each
hand. You hold the gun in your focus hand, the phaser in your
other. In Quake II, for example, you would move forward,
and backward with buttons on the front of the phaser, and you
use the hat on top to look around (+mlook). The gun is for aiming
at what’s onscreen and for shooting. And I couldn’t
get used to it. For one, I like both hands on the gun. I know
for a fact that very few pistol purists would hold a handgun one-handed,
so I hope they aren’t marketing this system to those fine
folks. And holding a gun up at arms length gets very tiring very
quickly. How the heck do you strafe? Not without manually binding
keys.
I think
it can’t be done technically, but what I really wanted to
see was a way to look around my environment using the gun. Get
rid of that silly little phaser. If I aim the gun off the screen
to the right, then my view should shift to the right. If I aim
anywhere on screen then my view doesn’t shift. It should
work the way a mouse works now. Again, technically I think that
it’s impossible, because when the gun is off screen you can’t
tell where it’s pointed, but that’s the way I would
like to see it happen. Call me crazy, but I think this system
is just begging for foot pedals. I’ve seen them used in arcade
shooters, and I think it could really work here. All I really
need is forward/backward and side to side strafing movement. Would
that work? Maybe a “hat” on the gun where the hammer
would normally be? But still, this only works if I can look with
the gun.
I think
the Gun System has a chance in the FPS market, but not as it’s
currently designed. Just for fun I stuck my wife in front of the
computer with the GS, as a test for a non-hardcore gamer, and
she couldn’t get used to it either (would you believe she
still prefers a joystick?). But I will say the GS definitely has
promise. I think the GS is better suited for arcade style games
like Area 51. I love that game, why hasn’t it made it to
the PC? Waiting for the GS maybe?
The GS
is a little ahead of its time but it’s gaining ground. It’s
slowly gaining support from developers and the list of upcoming
titles that supports the GS is encouraging. I hope the GS does
well because I really think it’s a step in the right direction.
-
Russell "RadPipe" Lauzon currently holds the world record
for using the word "exhumed" 15 times in a single sentence.
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