Transfer Your Consciousness

14th September 2006

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half Life 1, 2 and 3
About

This is a gameplay mod idea where you can jump from one player to another. Allow me to explain further. Imagine you are playing a game and in this game you never play a particular character. You can jump between any players you want to but you can’t die. If you die then the game is over and you have to start again! Sounds strange? Let’s take a specific example.

Half-Life 2 Mod

I’ll use the idea of a Half-Life 2 mod to explain. The mod starts with you as a group of rebels inside a hideout. The rebel commander gives the order to locate and destroy a Headcrab firing compound. Off you go into the stairwell, soon after you encounter a Combine patrol, which obviously attacks you. In the fighting you notice your health disappearing. You get close to another rebel fighter and transfer your consciousness. You now control this rebel and the rebel you just left continues to fight as normal. If their health finishes, they die, same as a normal game.

You are now in a new body but does it have full health? This depends on whether it was hit or not. You get the health that the rebel had when you entered it. This could add an element of strategy, where you control your squad knowing you may need their body later in the game.

Transferring

You need to be very close to either a rebel or a Combine before you can transfer. Also, the transfer cannot be made back to the same player. Once you transfer, that’s it. In this example you can only transfer between Rebels and Combine. You can’t be a Headcrab or Zombie, although that might be fun.

Enemies Too?

Yes, you can even transfer into your enemies but beware the other enemies will fire on you if you fire on them. In addition the rebels will also be firing on you.

The Hidden Premise

Of course this doesn’t happen in normal play so how can it happen now? Well, I just stole the idea from a number of science fiction stories: aliens coming to earth for a holiday. They can take control of any human do what they want. The theme has been explored in Star Trek and Stargate but it is much older than that.

Why Bother?

Because it may add an interesting aspect to gameplay. I don’t know how hard it would be to implement but I would certainly like to try it. What do you think?

9 Comments

  1. leon/SPY

    the idea is quit original, at least I haven’t heart of it before. but like you mentioned Phillip, this can only be done with other mods, ot the maker(s) of this mod version should add maps that are builded for this purpose. still, I have to say that I never liked playing in groups (that also the main reason why I dislike mp gaming, or games like Call of Duty(1+2), (although I still have played it and even SP-mapped with it). specially in Cod2 you have to run all the time to be able to kill some enemies, otherwise the AI of your teammates make that they kill all the resistance even before you get to them, what’s the fun in that?). but, like I mentioned, this is personal, other people love to play such games.
    but I go off topic in a big way now. to get back to the idea, I think it would a successful mod, if it is well made. because there are enough people that love group fighting, and this future would add a special touche to it, (it’s a very original way of leaving out healthpacks, so you can only keep alive after getting hit massively by changing character).
    about making it, I think it will take quit some impressive harcoding to do so. for sure it will not be easy to make at all.

  2. I greatly dislike playing when there is a squad around and was trying to find ways of making it more interesting.

    Yes, I agree that maps would proabably need to be made specifically for this style of gameplay.

    Perhaps it could even be turned into an MP game mode where you have to try and kill one particular opponent?

  3. Zakalwe

    There was a SP game that came out a few years ago that advertised this type of play. (I never played it so I can’t comment on if it was any good.) The premise was that you were a little angelic cherub that could possess people and direct their actions. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the game’s title.

  4. Gelo

    The name of the game was Messiah

  5. Darth Marsden

    There’s a game which is smiliar to what you describe in the main article which I picked up a couple of years ago – The Nomad Soul (originally known as Omikron).

    http://uk.pc.ign.com/objects/010/010509.html

    is the IGN page for it. It’s a fantastic game, and if I can quote from the review…

    “In Omikron, you play… yourself. When you start up the game, you are visited by a man named Kay’l, who tells you of a parallel world that need your help. Transfer your soul to his, and you have a chance to help out a universe you never even knew existed…
    On top of being able to switch bodies, the number one gossip among fans about Omikron is that it’s the first real “all-in-one” gaming concept in years to come around. Though you’ll spend the bulk of your time exploring the vast cities that make up Phaenon, you’ll also have the chance to take out enemies in a first-person mode, and fight them in hand to hand combat using combos and techniques similar to console fighters like Tekken…
    Once you’ve attained the resurrection spell in the game, you’ll have the ability to move bodies using Mana and some know how — there are a variety of characters just waiting to be inhabited, from Betsy, a Journalist that you find in a drugstore, to an alien-looking Azekeel Farmer name Fodo. There are over 30 characters in all, some of which are vital to the plot, and others which just allow you to fit yourself in a different skin for a while. Access their apartments, see their lives, and sometimes, get another key to the puzzle of Omikron.”

    It’s a pretty good game if you can track it down, although it does differ from your idea slightly – you can only transfer between certain characters, and once you’ve transfered you can’t go back, although you can transfer to someone else; it’s mostly set in third person, although it does have some short FPS sections; it has David Bowie doing the soundtrack.

    Give it a try if you can track it down.

  6. Zakalwe

    The name of the game was Messiah

    Yep, that’s the one I was thinking of. Thanks Gelo.

  7. Ezequielhl

    For Zakalwe

    I think is GEIST for GAME CUBE.

    But if Gamespot gave it 65/100… you can tell what are you losing if you don’t have a GCN.

    Pd: it sucks a lil.

  8. Flecky

    Hmmm….There is something similar in any of the Ranbow Six games. Once the person you are using dies, you play one of the nearby squadmates.

    I found this out when I accidentally didn’t give the order to advance and well, I opened the door, hoping to be backed up by my squadmates and was shot.

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