I was watching my brother play Call Of Duty and I noticed the way it displays your remaining ammo. It uses a numerical counter for overall ammo, but for the ammo remaining in in the current clip it uses a graphical one (I don't think 'graphical' is the right word, but I can't think of a better one). Which I don't think is a good way to do it.

I personally don't like graphical counters, I look over and I have to either make a vague guess, or count the little symbols. Since the latter would cause my arse to get murdered, I have to go with the former, which also gets my arse murdered because I misjudge how much I have left and run out at precisely the worst time.

On the other hand, a numerical display quickly and accurately tells me how much I have left. I do still have to guess, since an FPS should too fast paced for me sit there working everything out, but it makes the guess far more accurate and allows me to use my ammunition much more efficiently.

I've noticed the same thing happens to my brother, he runs out of ammo at inconvenient times much more often in games with graphical ammo counters. I asked him about it, and he told me he hadn't actually noticed until I mentioned it.

I've never really thought that much about ammo counters. Just reload as a reflex nowadays, either one doesn't matter as long as I can guess how many guys I can take per magazine.

Then again, most shooters today don't drop the remaining rounds in a magazine, so reloading whenever you get the chance isn't going to hurt at all.

Yeah, i dont quite read the ammo counters anyway. Its reload or die for me.

I like it, I can just tell when it's low without fractioning all over the place. Not like I'm going to be planning everything out like "I'll spend two bullets on that guy, rush forward and shoot the remaining five as a warning at the sniper then that will finish my clip and I'll reload."

No, more like "LOL AMMO LOW RELOAD HAIL OF BULLETS"

Atom Apple
No, more like "LOL AMMO LOW RELOAD HAIL OF BULLETS"

This is why it's so much fun to go with a proper belt fed machine gun. :)
Except in those games that make them amazingly weak and inaccurate, even at point blank range... Bloody BF2... And I don't even KNOW the strength of that rotary gun in TF2 T_T

Saving bullets is annoying. Much better to waste the rest of your load if it's low and reload a full clip in case you get ambushed.
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Then again, that's for online games. Sometimes in singleplayer you just don't have the luxury of extra reloads. So yeah, a good counter would be good.

The FPS games I play only have a numerical ammo counter. I could see how a graphical one would be irritating though.

In House of the Dead they show a bullet on screen for each bullet in your gun's chamber. This doesn't bother me, because with the way I play you're either fully loaded or completely empty. I unload my gun in bursts.

I haven't had a problem with graphical ammo counters since I reload very often anyway. The CoD 4 one doesn't bother me at all since it still gives a decent indication of how many shots you have left at a glance. Most of the rifles reload fast enough that getting caught reloading isn't a huge problem (unless you don't have nearby cover, in which case you were probably screwed anyway). Machine guns, on the other hand... well if you get caught reloading once of those you might as well just kick back and wait to respawn.

RentAThug
. Machine guns, on the other hand... well if you get caught reloading once of those you might as well just kick back and wait to respawn.

I've only played the CoD4 demo, but they seem pretty pointless there. They don't even have that big a load.

I have no idea, whatsoever, as to why some video games have the little counter that shows how many bullets you have, not by number, but by pictures. No one's going to take the time to count all of them...

Puff_Of_Smoke
I have no idea, whatsoever, as to why some video games have the little counter that shows how many bullets you have, not by number, but by pictures. No one's going to take the time to count all of them...

True, but when you see fewer of those "pictures", you know you have to reload soon.

ozoneocean

RentAThug
. Machine guns, on the other hand... well if you get caught reloading once of those you might as well just kick back and wait to respawn.

I've only played the CoD4 demo, but they seem pretty pointless there. They don't even have that big a load.

Most of the machine guns have 100 or so rounds per clip. The ammo ticks are in three or four rows, so until you start firing it looks like there's less ammo than there actually is. 100 rounds gets chewed through pretty quickly if you aren't careful, though.

100 for a machine gun? When the other rifles have 30? They just function as a less accurate rifle that you don't need to reload as much.

You can't use them like you should with a machine gun. They're a joke.

Lonnehart

Puff_Of_Smoke
I have no idea, whatsoever, as to why some video games have the little counter that shows how many bullets you have, not by number, but by pictures. No one's going to take the time to count all of them...

True, but when you see fewer of those "pictures", you know you have to reload soon.

Well, if you know the maximum amount of ammo your gun holds per clip, wouldn't it be easier to go by it being a really low number in comparison to the maximum?

How about we return to the days of Doom and have no reloading at all? Just one bigass counter for 300 ammo :D

I liked those days >_>

For CoD4, I never really payed attention to the ammo counter.

I think it follows the "realism" rule. So if you know your guns in real life, you should know them in the game. That's usually the logic that I use in any FPS that is set in a present day setting.

Frankly, I just reload everytime I stop firing.
And I really should stop doing that. My habit's gone so bad that I actually reload in a middle of a firefight when I don't need do. Cost me a lot of points. =(

Anyways, the whole ammo counter things don't bother me that much. In one occasion, you'd take cover and reload before actually running out of ammo. In another, you're immediately wasted by your enemy after going Rambo for a brief moment. All you'd ever need to know is total ammo. Well, at least for me and it served me pretty well.

Now, if the spare rounds are to be wasted during reload, that's a different story. Thank goodness that doesn't happen much in video games.

Dan
Now, if the spare rounds are to be wasted during reload, that's a different story. Thank goodness that doesn't happen much in video games.

Marines and other armed forces have drop pouches, so those spare rounds aren't really wasted.

I guess they use that in the game, and then they're really good at taking the bullets out of the mag and fill another one up, whilst in a fire fight.

JoeL_CQB
Marines and other armed forces have drop pouches, so those spare rounds aren't really wasted.

I guess they use that in the game, and then they're really good at taking the bullets out of the mag and fill another one up, whilst in a fire fight.

Using the second set of arms hidden under the nearly bulletproof shirt.

That's the thing. If you make the game too realistic, you die from one bullet and the game becomes boring (or a tactical shooter, which can be equated with boring or frustrating, depends whether that 10 minutes you spent crawling through the bushes ends with you getting shot by an invisible sniper or not).

On the other hand, if you go too far in the opposite direction... why not just use one bigass counter? I think Painkiller did that, and it was an FPS that gave me the most fun shooting at things :)

Aurora Borealis
That's the thing. If you make the game too realistic, you die from one bullet and the game becomes boring (or a tactical shooter, which can be equated with boring or frustrating, depends whether that 10 minutes you spent crawling through the bushes ends with you getting shot by an invisible sniper or not).

Very true. If games realistically portrayed war you'd only get one life...

And real battle isn't sustained action over and over and over for ages, being able to use any weapon with good proficiency, drive any vehicle...