First-person shooter: Difference between revisions

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(Total rewrite. History of FPS is irrelevant to Halo and covered on WP. More Halo-specific info added. Will add additional sources soon.)
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'''First-person shooters''' are a genre of video game. You play looking from the character's eyes, I.E. from the first-person perspective, whomever that may be.
'''First-person shooter''' ('''FPS''') is a [[Wikipedia:Video game genres|video game genre]]. FPS games center around the usage of guns and other projectile weapons in combat, and the action in these games is depicted from a [[Wikipedia:First person (video games)|first-person point of view]] -- that is, the player experiences the game through the eyes of their character.


== History ==
== First-Person in ''Halo'' ==
The first person shooter that brought it into the world was the game [[wikipedia:Battlezone|Battlezone]], although the first game to make it truly popular was [[wikipedia:ID Software|ID Software]]'s [[wikipedia:Wolfenstien 3D|Wolfenstein 3D]].  
Nearly all of the action in the ''Halo'' games is seen from a first-person view. There are certain circumstances (such as driving a [[vehicle]]) that will switch the viewpoint to a third-person view, however. Players can see their character's arms and [[weapon]] on-screen, and from ''[[Halo 2]]'' onwards, a player's legs are also visible.


ID Software's next game, [[wikipedia:Doom|Doom]] truly established the genre, with it's many evolutionary leaps forward, including the ability for players to move in three axes via stairs and with it's inclusion of [[multiplayer]] modes, allowing players to play with or against each other over a distance for the first time.
In all<ref group="note">Countless [[Halo Custom Edition]] mapmakers have worked with this system, proving its usage in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' and its derivative games, [[Halo PC]] and Halo Custom Edition. (An abundance of [[tags]] for first-person arms exist on [[Halomaps.org]].) Two [[glitches]] ([[Corpse Respawn]] and [[Higher Weapons]]) prove that the system is used in ''[[Halo 3]]'' (both de-synchronize a player's third-person arms from their first-person arms). Because the system is used both before and after ''[[Halo 2]]'', it is extremely likely that it is also used in ''Halo 2''. Finally, one can safely assume that ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' uses this system, as it is based upon the [[Halo 3 Engine]].</ref> of the ''Halo'' games, each playable character actually has two sets of arms.<ref>[http://www.modnexus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=7763&p=81740 '''ModNexus Forums:''' MC Arms?] ([http://www.webcitation.org/5kkQre7MS WebCite])</ref> The third-person arms are visible to everyone except their "owner", and tend to be relatively lacking in detail. The first-person arms are visible only to their "owner", and since they are much closer to the in-game camera, they tend to be far richer in detail.


[[Halo: Combat Evolved]], [[Halo 2]], and [[Halo 3]] are also first-person shooters, although when you enter [[Vehicles|vehicles]], or use [[turret|turrets]] the view changes to third-person.
In ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', the entirety of a player's body is hidden, and the first-person arms are shown. ''[[Halo 3]]'' does not hide the player's legs, but does hide everything else.<ref group="note">This, too, is demonstrated through the Corpse Respawn glitch. When a player corpse-spawns, they find themselves looking through their own midsection at a rubbery, black object: the "base" of their torso. The torso is not rendered invisible as a result of [[Wikipedia:Hidden surface determination#Backface culling|backface culling]] -- if backface culling was making the torso invisible, then at least a few "stray polygons" (polygons whose [[Wikipedia:Surface normal|normals]] still face the camera) would be visible when observing the glitch from the first-person in [[Theater]]; no such polygons can be seen from ''any angle''.</ref>


== First-Person in Halo ==
== Notes ==
<references group="note"/>


The first [[Halo]] game introduced few changes to the idea of a first person shooter. However [[Halo 2]] introduced an interesting aspect never before seen: The character's own body. In most other first person shooters, when the character looks down they see only a shadow below them, as though they are a magical head and gun floating throughout the levels. However in [[Halo 2]] when the character looks down, they see their own body. Characters are able to see themselves run, jump, stand or even stick a [[Plasma Grenade]] to their feet because their body exists in real-time during the game. The exact same happens on the next Halo game, [[Halo 3]].
== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Terms and Phrases]]
[[Category:Terms and Phrases]]

Revision as of 16:26, October 23, 2009

Template:Ratings Template:SeeWikipedia Template:Realworld

First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre. FPS games center around the usage of guns and other projectile weapons in combat, and the action in these games is depicted from a first-person point of view -- that is, the player experiences the game through the eyes of their character.

First-Person in Halo

Nearly all of the action in the Halo games is seen from a first-person view. There are certain circumstances (such as driving a vehicle) that will switch the viewpoint to a third-person view, however. Players can see their character's arms and weapon on-screen, and from Halo 2 onwards, a player's legs are also visible.

In all[note 1] of the Halo games, each playable character actually has two sets of arms.[1] The third-person arms are visible to everyone except their "owner", and tend to be relatively lacking in detail. The first-person arms are visible only to their "owner", and since they are much closer to the in-game camera, they tend to be far richer in detail.

In Halo: Combat Evolved, the entirety of a player's body is hidden, and the first-person arms are shown. Halo 3 does not hide the player's legs, but does hide everything else.[note 2]

Notes

  1. ^ Countless Halo Custom Edition mapmakers have worked with this system, proving its usage in Halo: Combat Evolved and its derivative games, Halo PC and Halo Custom Edition. (An abundance of tags for first-person arms exist on Halomaps.org.) Two glitches (Corpse Respawn and Higher Weapons) prove that the system is used in Halo 3 (both de-synchronize a player's third-person arms from their first-person arms). Because the system is used both before and after Halo 2, it is extremely likely that it is also used in Halo 2. Finally, one can safely assume that Halo 3: ODST uses this system, as it is based upon the Halo 3 Engine.
  2. ^ This, too, is demonstrated through the Corpse Respawn glitch. When a player corpse-spawns, they find themselves looking through their own midsection at a rubbery, black object: the "base" of their torso. The torso is not rendered invisible as a result of backface culling -- if backface culling was making the torso invisible, then at least a few "stray polygons" (polygons whose normals still face the camera) would be visible when observing the glitch from the first-person in Theater; no such polygons can be seen from any angle.

References