Firearms (video game)

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FireArms
Some of the weapons that players can use in Half-Life FireArms
Developer(s) FireArms Development Team
Engine GoldSrc (Half-Life)
Version 3.0 (April 18, 2005)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date 1998
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer
System requirements 500 MHz processor, 96 MB RAM
Input methods Keyboard, mouse

Firearms (commonly abbreviated as FA or FA3.0 depending on the version in question) is a first-person shooter video game for Half-Life which originated from a Quake modification. Initially developed in 1998, Firearms was created as a quasi-realistic team-based FPS. The mod's main feature is the large amount of playable weapons in the game.

Contents

[edit] History

The current, and apparently final build is Release Candidate (RC) 3.0 which was released on April 18, 2005. Under the leadership and programming of Eric Smith (Zerk) and Ben Irwin, Firearms was also included in the Counter-Strike retail package and was later awarded PC Gamer's Mod of the Year award and PC Gamer's Best Multiplayer Game of the Year Runner-up in the year 2000[1]. Firearms was at one time the #3 most popular mod based on the Half-life engine, after Counter-strike and Team Fortress Classic. [2] [3]

[edit] Gameplay

In FireArms, players are divided into a red and a blue team and are to complete objectives. Objectives can vary from controlling areas to destroying objects. The main objective in all maps is to reduce the number of the opponent team's reinforcements to zero. Reinforcements determine the amount of times players on a team can respawn. A team loses reinforcements when killed players respawn. The loss of reinforcements on a team can be stifled by completing map objectives and the direct and indirect actions of medics on the team. As long as a team has more than 0 reinforcements, players can respawn instantly.

FireArms was also the first FPS game to feature parachutes. There are a few bots developed for this mod, the most notable one is called Marine Bot (current version 0.91).

[edit] Map Objectives

There are 5 official map objectives:

  • CTI (Capture The Intelligence) Known in other games as Capture The Flag. Players have to pick up an object (usually a suitcase) and bring it to their designated capture area. The opposing team can shoot down the player carrying the object after which it will drop to the ground to be picked up by another player or left to respawn when it is not picked up for a certain amount of time. Once brought inside the team's capture area, the team receives reinforcements and/or point depending on the map.
  • PS (Push) Players have to control a series of areas (marked with flags) in a particular order to complete the map objective. On most maps, the areas are situated near both team's spawn area and closer to the center on the map, usually counting between 3 and 5 control areas. Depending on the map, teams are rewarded with reinforcements for capturing an area which was neutral or controlled by the opposite team. Teams can also receive reinforcement penalties when the team does not control more than half of the control areas. When one team controls all the areas in the map, that team is rewarded with reinforcements and/or points.
  • SD (Search & Destroy) The map objective in sd maps is to destroy certain objects which are usually located near the opposing team's spawning area. Objects range from crates with ammunition and guns to trucks. Some objects can be destroyed by simply doing damage to it, while others have to be destroyed with a claymore mine.
  • TC (Territorial Control) Teams are rewarded with points and/or reinforcements when they control certain areas. Unlike the Push mode, players can capture any area regardless of which team controls the other areas. On some maps, players are awarded with points for every 30 seconds they control an area while on other maps, teams are rewarded with reinforcements every 30 seconds when every single area is controlled by that team.
  • OBJ (Objective) The last type of objective is a collective of objectices that don't fall under the other 4 types, or is a combination of different types of objectives. On most obj maps, players have to plant bombs in order to destroy certain map areas. The bombs can be defused within 30 seconds by the opposing team to prevent this.

[edit] Weapons

Unlike other games, players are free to choose what weapons they want to use. There are no classes (although players can choose predefined and editable weapon configurations) or a money system used to buy weapons. Instead, FireArms uses a credit system where every player can spend 30 credits to his or her liking. Every player receives a free knife regardless of the weapons configuration they choose. Players can spend their credits on weapons and equipment, ammunition is free and can be obtained from ammunition boxes available throughout most maps for when a player runs out.

Hand Guns

Submachine Guns

Shotguns

Assault Rifles

Sniper Rifles

Machine Guns

Demolition

Items

Map-object Weapons

  • M2HB Heavy Machine Gun
  • 155mm Artillery

[edit] Skills

Players can buy skills by spending skill points. Every player starts out with 1 skill point and can earn another skill point for every 10 points they have. No more than 7 skill points can be obtained this way. The skill points can be used to buy skills which help the player. There are 7 different skills to choose from, 3 of which have a followup skill.

  • Marksmanship

The marksmanship skill improves the guns accuracy and allows the player to use scopes on certain rifles.
Marksmanship I: +1 accuracy and allows the use of scopes on the Anaconda pistol and the M14 rifle
Marksmanship II: +2 accuracy

  • Nomenclature

The nomenclature skill reduces the reload time by approximately 25% on several weapons.

  • Battlefield Agility

With the battlefield agility skill (commonly abbreviated as BFA) players sustain no leg injury from falling, damage caused by falling is reduced by 50%, are able to get up from a prone position faster and the amount of stamina is increased.

  • Leadership

The leadership skill gives the player a special player model skin, additional radio commands and an improved HUD displaying the position of team members and the status of map objectives.

  • First Aid

The medical skill allows the player to heal other players and bandage their wounds. Healing costs 1 set of bandages per action.
First Aid: 5 free bandages, medic symbol on player models helmet or headpiece, ability to heal a player (or himself) once for 15hp, ability to treat wounded bodies on the ground (for which the player receives one point).
Field Medicine: Ability to heal a player once for 30hp, heal leg injuries, inject adrenaline to instantly give full stamina, set up a hospice flag, call a MEDIVAC helicopter to treat wounded bodies on the ground (for which the player will receive one point and the team one reinforcement).

  • Artillery

The artillery skill allows the usage of additional explosives equipment such as attachable grenade launchers and mortars.
Artillery I: Can fire mortars owned by team members, set up mortar targets, use grenade launchers on the M16 and the AK74 rifle.
Artillery II: Can build and dismantle mortars

  • Stealth

The stealth skill allows the player to equip silencers on several weapons, reducing the sound they produce while shooting drammatically and also reduces the sound made by footsteps. Attacks with the knife do twice as much damage.

[edit] Controversy

A controversy about the follow up projects, successor mods and the name Firearms has started in summer 2005. The Firearms development team has since moved onwards to produce the "World at War mod" and is no longer actively developing Firearms. As of August 2006, the official sequel to Firearms is Firearms: Source; however the development is being done by a new team, approved by the original developers. There is a third mod, called Firearms 2, however according to the Firearms official website it is not an approved nor supported mod of the series.

On August 2nd, 2005, the Firearms forums were attacked. The website was hijacked, and the forums were taken over. According to the official website "The same can't be said for the Firearms 2 Team, who kicked off their mod in August 2005 by hijacking the Firearms Forums, FTP, and servers using back-door access supplied by our server provider, ReconGamer. Every single team member and most of the forum admin/mod staff were banned, and we lost all of our art source and personal files stored on the server." [4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ PC Gamer
  2. ^ http://www.download.com/Half-Life-Firearms-mod/3000-2113_4-10291769.html cited as award-winning
  3. ^ For statistics, see Firearms mention on Half-life retail box
  4. ^ Firearms website, http://www.firearmsmod.com as accessed Nov. 2006

[edit] External links