 The concepts behind the episode were difficult to transfer from script to film . Spotnitz later explained that , " William Gibson and Tom Maddox always get us into trouble . They always come up with these great ideas that are always hard to execute . " In addition , budgetary challenges faced the production of " First Person Shooter . " Due to all the special effects needed for the episode , the episode nearly drastically went over budget . In order to not over @-@ spend , the production crew was lent various virtual game layouts from video game companies . Not wishing to simply " copy existing designs , " production designer Corey Kaplan and his design team created " some pretty pictures " to differentiate the crews ' design from the video game companies ' . Much of the opening action was filmed at a <unk> food distribution company in Los Angeles . At the time , the company 's owner was the uncle of X @-@ Files producer Paul Rabwin . In addition , a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles filled in for the backdrop of the opening scene . 
