LCJr.
Erudite
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2003
- Messages
- 2,469
Gambler said:The problem is that most of the modern RPGs are based on completely unrealistic equipment. It's not really noticeable in sci-fin or fantasy games, but in a western game that would be immediately obvious.
As always it would depend on the implementation and how grounded in reality the game was. There's quite a few real modifications a gunsmith can do that give you your weapon bonuses as one example. And if the game went for the more Hollywood/steampunk approach you could have mad inventors ala Deadlands/Arcanum or Briscoe County Jr.
Say hello to armor. http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs ... pter11.htmSay good-bye to armor.
"Body armor is not new."Some form of personnel protective device has probably been used in every war which has been recorded in the pages of history.
During the Civil War,a number of types of protective shields and breastplates were developed by interested parties, and some of these were considered for possible official military usage. However, no standard official form of armor was available, and all forms were purchased by individual soldiers. Two types have been described as being most popular among Union soldiers. These consisted of the "Soldiers’ Bullet Proof Vest" manufactured by the G. & D. Cook & Company of New Haven, Conn., and the second most popular type of breastplate was manufactured by the Atwater Armor Company, also of New Haven. Both types consisted of metallic ballistic material made up of a number of steel plates. The product from the Cook & Company consisted of two pieces of steel inserted into pockets in a regular black military vest. The infantry vest weighed 3½ pounds, and another model for cavalry and artillery weighed 6 pounds. The purchase price of a vest for an officer was $7 and for that of a private was $5. The Atwater armor consisted of four large plates of steel held in position on the body by broad metal hooks over the shoulders and a belt around the waist. In addition, smaller pieces could be attached to the bottom of this cuirass. This vest was heavier than the Cook models and cost approximately twice as much. The supply of these finished commercial products was augmented by specimens of armor apparently of individual manufacture by some local blacksmith.
During the course of his investigations, Dr. Bashford Dean of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was able to test the Atwater armorplate and found that it would defeat a jacketed bullet fired from a caliber .45 pistol at a distance of 10 feet. In his short but excellent discussion of body armor in the Civil War, Harold L. Peterson felt that the chief factors in the discontinuance of body armor at that time were the inconvenience due to the extra weight and bulk and the marked ridicule of those individuals who were wearing the armor by their comrades who did not avail themselves of the protection.
Add to that the classic spaghetti western boilerplate. If you're going more Hollywood/fantasy you'd have the classic tin star or bible that stops a bullet, medicine bags/indian charms or even a Ghost Dance shirt.
Say good-bye to performance-enhancing stuff. Heck, even health potions would look completely retarded in a western setting. Mind you, it's not really the problem of the setting - it's more of a problem with design of modern RPGs. But it still is a problem.
Again depending on how much realism you're going for. Realistic you have drugs like cocaine and amphetamine(1887) for a performance boost. Opium, first aid and doctors for healing. Hollywood style you have the classic snake oil. And lets not forget good ole alcohol to make you brave and kill the pain.
Trains move, though.
Which doesn't matter if you're already on the train. Or use one of the often used ploys of stopping the train by sabotaging a trestle, barricading the tracks etc... Another one was catching the train on a steepest grade on the line where it's speed would the lowest.
Again I've yet to see any crpg really do a good job with crime.
Skill progression. In an average RPG you become more, and more powerful as the game goes. Why? Because you completely suck at everything in the beginning, and because you have hitpoints. Now, imagine a quickdraw duel where shooters miss half the time, and it takes 6 shots to kill someone.
And how would that be any different than any of the fantasy or sci-fi games where you start out not being able to hit most of the time? While your at it read some period accounts of gunfights. Even the professionals missed and it generally does take quite a few bullets to stop a determined human.
Well, yes, but many of them suck too much to be put into a semi-realistic setting. Overall, wild west is much closer to our everyday life than usual fantasy and sci-fi settings are. You can't put masked dungeons and artifacts into western setting and expect players to buy it.
I'd be very happy if I went the rest of my gaming life without seeing another dungeon. Why even bring up something that illogical? Do you feel crpg's have to have dungeons? Towns and wilderness settings work just fine for me.
But to the point. Social interaction will stay the same regardless of the setting. Killing is killing, just the tools change. Same thing for theft, obstacles, methods and tools change based on the setting.
Artifacts can be changed to fit the setting. On a small scale you could be sent out to retrieve someone's great grandpappy's watch that was stolen. On the major quest scale have you ever seen James Stewart movie Winchester 73' or John Wayne in The Searchers? In Winchester 73' they're after a prized rifle and in the Searchers a kidnapped family member but they serve the same purpose. That of being an item of great value that takes the hero on a epic quest.