I know a lot of you folk are accustomed to the rusty, obsolete gameplay mechanics of PlanetSide, to the extent of being afraid of headshots, but it's 2011 already, and I had a thought on how to give hacking a bit more thrill and depth.
Hacking could require that the player complete a QTE (Quick Time Event) sequence in the form of pressing WASD buttons when required, just like fistfighting in The Witcher 2 (the most convenient QTE implementation I've seen in a PC game).
It's not exactly a logical puzzle like in some RPG or action-adventure games, but it goes a long way towards adding the human factor into the otherwise boring, not even statistical hacking.
A simple QTE, unlike a progress bar, makes the process more demanding on the player, thus more engaging and eventually fun.
Here's how I see the rules:
- Hacking would still have a progress bar (or circle, to make the UI more interesting). Every few seconds, the sequence would be paused and require you to press an appropriate button to proceed. This forces you to rush it, at the cost of making mistakes.
- As usual, the higher your Hacking cert, the shorter the actual hacking. In this case, it shortens the delay between the button you just pressed and the next one that will be shown and wait to be pressed. So, a higher Hacking rank will actually require extra player skill (reflexes and hand-eye coordination) to use properly.
- If you miss a button, the sequence is interrupted with a "static" effect for, say, 5 seconds. Not too much, but enough to let the enemy gain ground if you screw up.
- If you miss too many buttons (3 for a tower, 6 for a base, if PS2 has these), the whole sequence is interrupted and you start over.
- A higher Hacking cert, in addition to making the whole hacking sequence go faster (less buttons to press), would allow you to make more mistakes (one per skill level) without the whole sequence being interrupted.
Imagine having to hack into a security system while under fire. Your comrades are covering your ass and are counting on you. Whether or not you claim that tower boils down to whether or not you work fast and smooth.
The QTE would simulate the suspense of risking a screwup, with guns blazing all around and your buddies' lives depending on you doing the job quick and without too many mistakes.
Now imagine you're just holding a button and watching progress bar, along with your health dial, just in case. Is that boring or what?
QTEs for reviving would be a bit excessive, though, but it might be a thought worth exploring.
What do you think? Just in case, "QTE=consoles", "consoles=evil" or "I'm too old to do QTEs right" are not arguments, they're just whining.
