#gunfighter

[usafphantom2]

And Again

@CcibChris via X

#phantom Phriday

[thestonecuttersguild]

Mustang Time! Oshkosh 2023

[anim-ttrpgs]

I was looking over the itch.io page for Eureka, and surprised that Blood (1997) was listed as an inspiration. That’s the build era shooter right? If so, I’m curious how the Blood inspiration shows up in Eureka (either mechanics or lore). I’m a huge fan of that game!

Oh yes, that Blood, the best build engine game.

We put Blood on the list of inspirations both because the unpublished novel that Eureka gets a lot of its world building from takes a lot of inspiration from Blood, and also because we want Eureka combat to feel a bit like Blood when the heavy-hitter monsters like vampires get involved.

The unpublished novel gets a lot from the ludonarrative of Blood in its first part. In Blood, a powerful cultist guy, Caleb, is betrayed and killed by the demon he worships, but rises from the grave and fights his way through the whole rest of the cult on a quest for vengeance. Though he isn’t exactly a vampire, he is undead, and can take a few more bullets than your average guy, but he isn’t invincible. A hail of gunfire can drop his HP to zero real fast.

The unpublished novel bears some similarity to this in that it is about a vampire that goes on a gun-slinging rampage in revenge against a powerful cult, though this ends up focusing a lot more on her own self-acceptance and learning to embrace being a vampire and the selfishness that necessarily comes with that rather than making herself as unintrusive to the lives of others as possible to the point of starvation. The antagonists, a sort of gnostic-inspired sect that consider the world a prison designed to inflict maximal suffering, and humanity to be both the wardens and the prisoners of it, purport that the death of all humanity is the only moral course of action. This mirrors the vampire’s own struggle with and eventual rejection of the idea that, as a vampire that can only exist by draining others of life, suicide is the only moral course of action.

And also, like Caleb, she’s undead but she’s not invincible. Normal bullets can put her down for a while in a high enough volume, so success in these shootouts becomes about making the most clever use of vampiric powers that she has thus far in her unlife felt too ashamed to utilize under any circumstances.

As for Eureka, we also just kinda want Eureka gunfighting combat to feel like Blood combat. Bullets can put Caleb or a Eureka investigator down quick, even if they’re a vampire. The guns in Blood are “hitscan”, so instead of there being a physical projectile represented in the game engine, when it is pointed at Caleb there is basically a dice roll as to whether he gets hit or not representing the aim of the enemies. In most games of that era that had “hitscan” enemies, there was nothing the player could do to avoid it or reduce the chance of being hit short of breaking line-of-sight completely. However, in Blood, moving fast, jumping, diving, crouching, etc. actually *do* reduce the enemy’s accuracy. This encourages a fast, high-energy style of combat. So surviving a gunfight in both games is about doing everything one can, from cover, ducking, running, etc. to reduce the chances of dying from a hail of bullets - or just throwing a stick of dynamite into the room.

Eureka is a very intentionally realistic game, but it works a lot with ‘heightened reality,’ meaning, like, the most interesting things that still fall within the realm of possibility. Normal mortal characters are still usually best served by keeping their heads down, but characters like vampires who can take a few extra bullets, and don’t die permanently when they go down, can really push their luck with bold, aggressive maneuvers more reminiscent of John Woo films like Hard Boiled, or the gameplay of Blood.

[cowboygunfighter5]

Cowboy with his Henry rifle. Clad in leather, waiting for some action…

[daniel1876]

About to draw..

[nocternalrandomness]

Gunfighter

[pulpsandcomics2]

Gunfighter

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Great Ride by Jeff Hooten Via Flickr: A lucky individual appears to have enjoyed his historic flight experience aboard the CAF P-51 Mustang, "Gunfighter". _DSC4080

[originalgravity]

[trve-grimdark]

El Borak

[usafphantom2]

A 335th TFS F-4E Phantom II 29JAN90 (h.h. deffner)

@kadonkey via X

[thestonecuttersguild]

The famous Gunfighter. Oshkosh 2024

[cowboygunfighter5]

My tight leather pants creaked and my spurs jingled as I walked calmly and purposefully down the dusty street. I could feel the weight of my two Colt .45s in my custom made gunbelt. My revolvers have served me well. Many bandits and outlaws have fallen for my bullets. There was something special about facing a well-armed cowboy or cowgirl. Would your opponent be faster and more accurate than you. Or my Colts would be drawn first and I would hear the loud bangs and feel the hard recoil in my gloved hands. Watch my opponent stagger around while my Colts were blazing.

[daniel1876]

[nocternalrandomness]

Gunfighter parked in the Warbird Area at KOSH

[pulpsandcomics2]

Double Fist by Gabe Leonard