This is what I think could help nexuiz. They probably arent feasible, but in case they are:
1. Reticle change based on weapon. for example, a shotgun would have a very simple retical, while the nex would have a sniper-esque one.
2. Some kind of superweapon. Like the redeemer in UT 2k4, there wouldnt need to be alot of them, and they could respawn slowly/ with very little ammo, but they would add a really cool element to gameplay.
3. Weapon sounds and animations. In my opinion, the weapons in Nexuiz look really cool, but the animations are a bit poor, except for the animations of the hagar and the mortar, which rock. for alot of the energy weapons some kind of "charging" animation would be awsome, especially for the nex which has a long recharge time between shots. I was thinking like the minigun "spin up" animiation in UT 2k4 and Doom 3.
Same goes for the sounds. The hagar, the mortar, and the nex all have really cool sounds, but the other weapons' sounds are a bit tinny and weak. When you use the hagar, it sounds and feels like you are blowing the opponent into oblivion, but the machine gun (which is one of the best weapons in the game) sounds really weak.
4.I think that nexuiz needs an aspect of its gameplay that is really unique, and sets it apart from all the other quake based fps. For example, the upcoming half life 2 release, episode 2, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(computer_game) , is something that really sets half life apart from other fps, along with the gravity gun. And im without a doubt going to buy that game. Nexuiz doesnt have to be changed so drastically as to make it slow, but right now, in the words of my friend chris when I told him about nexuiz,
"just sounds like another first person shooter"
In some ways, the hook accomplishes this, but many people dispise the hook (although i think its great fun).
5. Accurate gravity. Right now, the source of gravity is always "down," but not in relation to the map- in relation to an arbitrary set of coordinates. For example, in facing worlds, a player can "fall off" the map. With accurate gravity, a player could walk on the underside of the map, because the source of gravity is the mass of the map. While this may not work with the current version of facing, if accurate newtonian gravity were accomplished (or even to have gravity coming from source points placed by the map maker), some really cool things could be done- like maps in a battle school type area (from the book ender's game). Of course, im sure implimenting this would be a herculean feat.
6. A standard model format, like said above.
7. Many of the things rufsketch1 pointed out about gameplay, although aside from character models I dont think that Nexuiz looks bad at all, especially with a skilled map maker.
I think that if ANY of these could be added, nexuiz would be improved immensely, and even be able to compete with commercial games. Nexuiz should be unique in some way- otherwise (aside from a great helpful community, cost, and overall funness of fps like these), there is not much that would attract new players- especially over games like F.E.A.R., which are also free.
