Bad AI?!!

[adam100]

Hi.
I'm currently in the middle of Half Life 2 and i think i played enough to say that the AI in HL 2 is very good. I really don't know why the hell everyone is saying that it's bad. Sure - the zombies don't use too much tactics but you can't blame them can you? :upstare: But the combine soldiers are acting very realistically. When they see me(one soldier particually) he starts shooting at me with rage but when he realises that i'm not an easy target (meaning when i start shooting rockets at him :E ) he quickly hides behind any coverage he can find,sometimes throws a grenade afterwards and so on. They throw the grenades off when you do which isn't new but it adds to the wholeness. I must say that i couldn't make the combine break my blockades so far but i didn't have too much chance actually and since the zombies manage very well in such situations :E then i consider that combine does even better. But i did catch them do something simmiliar in such situation and very clever indeed. I was in the building with two doors and i made mess with grav gun after entering so the combine far in the room couldn't pass through the debris. Instead of trying to break through the obstacle right into my fire they suddenly retreated. I waited a while thinking that they took cover but all of the sudden i got spiked from my back by them! They took the way around and got me by suprise. So you can't say that the AI is bad for christ's sake! I could go on and on about the AI but i think it's enough. :upstare:



With Regards , Adam

 

[$niffy]

I completely agree

 

[Analogy]

Even the headcrabs are pretty smart. I was shooting at one once and it hid behind a pole to get away from me.

 

[ahardy668]

The initial combine you meet are not as tough but the ones after Ravenholm step it up about 10 notches.....they are very tough......I'm playing on hard too.

One part on the road to City 17 where you initially get the crossbow I zoomed in on two combine and decided to take one out sniper style and the other immediately retreated into the building......it's hard to beat that for realistic AI. Of course I then put a rocket through the door he just went in.

 

[MikeH]

They are smart, I remember hiding behind some stuff, waiting for them walk right up to me before popping out and shooting them, but they remained hidden aswell!

 

[Absinthe]

There were many times in HL2 where I'd shoot a Combine soldier and watch him retreat out a door. I'd wait there for a while, thinking it would only be a matter of time until he popped his head back into view. Imagine my surprise when the bastard ran around and ambushed me from behind or began taking shots at me through a window.

 

[ailevation]

:cheers: Yeah, I thought the AI was quite impressive... there was some times where they'd flank me and I lost too much health, to the point where i'd get pissed... so i'd quickload back and do the scene back over, hehe. I am anal like that... when I play FPS I always make sure I have sufficient ammo and health, meaning almost to the max, if I feel somethings wrong. time to do the scene over to my best approach while convserving all my supplies.

 

[MiccyNarc]

I find the AI to be good.
In the one fight in Entanglement, where you have 3 turrets to set up to cover an area, I just hid in one of the holes where there wasn't a turret, and camped there with my shotgun. The first combine there would run past me, and I'd shoot him as he ran.
The next wave would come up, and stop just outside the hole, and sneak into my view. Of course, I always nailed them, but they put up a decent fight.

 

[ailevation]

I find the AI to be good.
In the one fight in Entanglement, where you have 3 turrets to set up to cover an area, I just hid in one of the holes where there wasn't a turret, and camped there with my shotgun. The first combine there would run past me, and I'd shoot him as he ran.
The next wave would come up, and stop just outside the hole, and sneak into my view. Of course, I always nailed them, but they put up a decent fight.

By far that was the most challenging battle in the whole game in my opinion, those fools would run and knock down the turrets, toss a nade and then ambush my ass.

They took out the most dangerous thing, the turrets that was the most lethal priority that had to deal with. Every try I took that's what they always went for first. They knew I wasn't gonna be any challenge without turrets.

 

[lans]

The reviewers never said the A.I. was "bad". They merely said it was "dissapointing" compared to HL, which's A.I was groundbreaking.

The initial metrocops were really, really bad A.I. I had a very bad first impression, although the soldiers and the elites were pretty good. I guess, most reviwers didn't like the inconsistency. If only the metrocops were also smart, the game would have been even more amazing!

 

[Kyorisu]

The AI isn't bad it's just your imagination.

 

[DSDchemE]

I think it makes sense that the metrocops aren't as tactically bright. From what I've seen, cops have less tactical knowledge then SWAT or the military. (No offence meant to any cops on the forum) Many times cops move out into the open around a potentially hostile car with their gun drawn, instead of staying covered behind the car (like soldiers typically do). Plus the metrocops are probably more used to people throwing cans than people throwing bullets, so they're more careless to begin with.

Note: I haven't played the game yet, so maybe I'm just underestimating the CP's stupidity. Sorry

 

[lans]

That's very true DSDchemE.

Valve wanted to make realistic acting enemies. The metrocops just animate like those 70s badass cops. But I'd at least like them to do some better cover tactics, instad of moving left and right, in full exposure.

 

[Wiseman]

I didn't find it that impressive. Although they do flank a lot, many times I've been able to just hide in a corner, wait for a guy to run after me, shoot him in the head, and repeat. They rarely tried to get me with nades when I had cornered myself, and whenever they did try to get me with nades, I'd just use the gravy gun (gravity gun) and toss 'em back, yet they'd still keep throwing nades. That'd repeat until I'd killed them all with their own weapons. And recently in Highway 17 I was sniping people with the crossbow, and then a combine would run up to his dead comrade, I'd snipe him, and then a combine would run up to his dead comrade...

So in conclusion I found them to be able to react to basic techniques well, but they were unable to learn when I found a way to exploit their weaknessess. Still, hard on HL2 is much harder than hard on HL1, so I'm happy.

 

[Cole]

The AI in HL2 in perfect, Our AI in life is not perfect.

 

[Solver]

HL2 AI is awesome. None of the old tricks seem to work - like you see an enemy go into a door, sit outside, wait for him, blast with shotgun. Won't work anymore. The way the Combine take cover behind stuff (stuff that moves too thanks to physics), cover each other, retreat, etc., is great. And yeah, while metrocops display limited tactics, the other combine soldiers and their elite special forces are even smarter. I've seen them flank me effectively, come from unexpected directions, take cover behind stuff I had been throwing around... very intelligent.

 

[Texter]

I find the AI to be good.
In the one fight in Entanglement, where you have 3 turrets to set up to cover an area

Hehehe I had 4...just dragging one around since I got to use them...they actually keep shooting when you hold them
:naughty: Opponent AI is very good. Squadmembers mostly just run after you getting shot a lot and getting in the way.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Hehehe I had 4...just dragging one around since I got to use them...they actually keep shooting when you hold them
:naughty: Opponent AI is very good. Squadmembers mostly just run after you getting shot a lot and getting in the way.

Hehe, I tried bringing the 4th but it got annoying.
I tried carrying the turrets once and just running around shooting with them, but I'd be better off with the shot gun.

 

[ailevation]

Hehe, I tried bringing the 4th but it got annoying.
I tried carrying the turrets once and just running around shooting with them, but I'd be better off with the shot gun.

Grabbing a turret and have it shoot while holding it = ammo conservative's dream.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Grabbing a turret and have it shoot while holding it = ammo conservative's dream.

I'm only conservative when it comes to politics

 

[wilka91]

the AI in HL2 is just like the AI in HL1

I mean those poor combine soldiers are stupid like hell

they commit suicides with grenades, don't move when I start shooting at them ... just plain stupid AI

 

[pomegranate]

At some points the AI reminded me of Goldeneye on the N64...hordes of soldiers piling forward in their keeness to be shot at. Dumb.

 

[Mac Daddy]

enemies ai is good but your friendlies arent that good because they always gte in my way and as soon as they see a strider they say "STRIDER!!!!" whilst running right at it shooting it with their machine guns and they get in your way a fair bit. but other than that they work perfectly as a team eg "cover me while i reload" "ok" and they tell you to reload and shoot whilst your reloading and the medics dole out medpacks very efficiently.

 

[NB.]

I thought the AI was very disappointing, the amount of times i threw a grenade into a bunch of combine and not one of them even tried to get away just wasnt funny. The best i saw the AI get was 'duck behind pillar for 4 seconds, jump out and shoot for 4 seconds, jump back...' *repeat*

 

[Revenge]

Gah, I found them telling me to reload the instant I killed an enemy and had 8 shots left in my 30 round clip rather annoying, especially since by the time they spat out the line I was already half way through a reload anyway...

I wouldn't have minded if they waited a bit longer before giving the reminder...

 

[Gordons_nan]

What happened to blocking a door with a table and the combine kicking it in, like in the E3 demo? I've tried to recreate this numerous times by putting stuff in front of doors but they just hang around outside.

I haven't found the AI to be any better than any other game, it's totally average imo.

 

[NB.]

That was entirely scripted by valve, the AI never has been, and never will be that good unfortunately

 

[Gordons_nan]

That was entirely scripted by valve, the AI never has been, and never will be that good unfortunately

WTF?

But that's false advertising, surely? :S

 

[lharc]

Annoying radar

The AI is very good. Its entertaining. To me AI is the most important factor for a good gameplay. The only thing that I don't like is the fact that, whenever the enemies has seen you, they know where you are. Like they have a radar. They would appear soo much more alive if you could hide from them, and they would search. As it is now, you can sneek up to them, but after one has detected you, all hell breaks lose, and its no point of hiding again.
All I'm saying is that the characters doesn't seem so alive, because of this.
Ravenholm wasn't scary at all because of this. After meeting every type of enemy you know how they would react.
I know I cant expect everything. I'm comparing this AI to the thief3 AI, that is very good, although thief3 AI is very repetetive, they don't have a radar, so it realy get scary. And thief3 isn't an FPS game.
But none the less, the cradle mission in thief3 is still more scary.
Thanks!! No I get back to gaming hl2!!

 

[Dasparov]

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

i really wanna play the game now

 

[Dasparov]

That was entirely scripted by valve, the AI never has been, and never will be that good unfortunately

omfg that is what i was expecting, i even thougth of how they 'did' it, like they would check through transparent objects or like maxpayne sort everything into groups and ave them look through a window(window catergory) or something ='[

 

[Warbie]

The AI is ok and does the job fine, but certainly nothing special. The enemies are also rather easy to kill. On the whole, the combat is rather repetitive and offers little challenge.

This doesn't really bug me, though. I didn't buy HL2 for the fighting (there are quite a few games that do this alot better - off and online) but for the gameworld, physics, and the sense of immersion they bring.

HL2 is an excellent game imo - and excels in many areas (just not in fighting/AI)