Medal Of Honor Exec Producer: Authenticity Can Be Bad

15 Apr 2010 at 11:56:40 by Tim McDonald

An update on the Medal of Honor blog made by executive producer Greg Goodrich has elaborated on how too much authenticity can be a bad thing.

Spotted by DailyGamesNews, the blog post highlights that when it comes to certain things - particularly sniping - authenticity can be bad.

"By now, most people know we've been trumpeting 'authenticity' as one of the core tenets of Medal of Honor," writes Goodrich. "But how far is too far? Can a game feature or mechanic become too authentic and ruin the experience? Absolutely."

Goodrich details the maths required to accurately judge a sniper shot, before adding "Yes, it is accurate and authentic, but when you place a controller in the hand of most gamers, they instinctively think one thing. If I place the crosshairs on a target and pull the trigger, I will destroy the target. Doing math, estimating holdovers or adjusting turrets for windage or elevation isn't something they bargained for."

"What if we asked the gamer to consider bullet weight, muzzle velocity and terminal ballistics? After that, we asked them to think about eye relief, respiratory pause, temperature, barometric pressure, spin drift and the Coriolis Effect?" continues Goodrich.

"Imagine this. You've finally figured it all out and you send the shot. But then you realize that you forgot to consider whether Afghanistan is in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere to determine if the bullet will move slightly to the left or the right because of where you are located in relation to the equator.

"It can quickly become a rabbit hole of endless possibilities to define what is authentic and real versus what is fun," he concludes.

Fortunately, Medal of Honor's sniping will apparently be "very cool."

"It's accessible, fun and provides the sort of immediate feedback you would expect from filling the role of a well trained sniper... without having to do the math."

Medal of Honor is due out this autumn for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Check out our interview with the developers here.

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