I never knew the AI was That good!

[Phantom118]

The only thing that spooked me in doom 3 was the floor tiles that flew up because of a steam pipe.

Other than that, you could almost tell when the deamons were coming, because you could hear them.

 

[ríomhaire]

bah...when it comes to fear, doom 3 owns, for the first few lvls at least..

You must be joking. Ravenholm was scarier than all of Doom 3 I played put together. (I got bored somewhere in the first few hours of gameplay and just stopped. Of anything I have ever experienced, nothing comes close to being as scary as Silent Hill 2.

 

[guitars savior]

I never jump because of anything in games, with the exception of Silent Hill. But, Half Life just throws shit at me, and all I'm left to do is jump out of my skin. On Episode 1, when I saw the first Zombine, I was like damn, thats pretty cool, I was wondering when the headcrabs were gonna suck at their brains (well, mechanical/organic brains). I walked forward and left him behind me. I heard a groan and turned around because I pretty much expected him to get up when I passed him. The second he came into view, the ****er had a grenade in his hand. I just looked at him for a few moments, in shock, as the zombine did the same. I finally double shotguned his head, he shook it off and ran right into me. Never expected that.

 

[Thrasher720]

If they AI were REALLY smart they would use crossbows and revolvers on us.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

If they AI were REALLY smart they would use crossbows and revolvers on us.

No, if the AI were REALLY smart they'd ****in' surrender to the unstoppable onslaught of The One Free Man.

 

[ríomhaire]

If they AI were REALLY smart they would use crossbows and revolvers on us.

You fail at understanding AI.

 

[Narvi]

You fail at understanding AI.

Well, you just fail. At life, humour, and everything. :frown:

...

 

[soulslicer]

hahahaha, when i read that post abt one thinking that smart ai has to do with revolvers and corssbows, i laughed my ass off....

i mean like seriously, that is just..just...arghhhh..4getit

 

[Tagaziel]

There were also a few moments in Unreal that made me uneasy... like, for instance, the introduction of the Skaarj Scout (corridor blocked, lights go off... and suddenly the slasher attacks...).

 

[soulslicer]

fear scared me when it all the lights shook and flickered and in a far distance i saw alma..

 

[cvbul]

Yes the zombies and AI, I think that is a cool aspect of the game.

 

[leib10]

The best example of AI I saw in HL2 was last night. I was on Highway 17, at the point where you have to get the battery down from the windmill to open the gate. I parked my buggy right after the rocks you have to drive up and waited for the Dropship to unload its soldiers and fly off. I figured the soldiers would come straight at me, making it easy for me to kill them with mounted Tau cannon on the buggy. A few seconds later, I was neatly sandwiched by Combine soldiers, who had snuck through the tall grass and popped up 10 feet in front of me, and other soldiers that went around house unnoticed and hit me in my left flank. They also brought the rollermines along with them, and I was dead in about 4 seconds.

It may not be the best job ever done by the AI, but it was the best I've ever seen.

 

[Baratos]

Wait...fast zombies cant open doors? I just assumed they would open it back up if I bothered closing it. I cant believe I have played this game for 2 years and never noticed that.

 

[Tomi]

I don't know why the most of you say, you were scared of the headcrabs or that fast zombies. I thing the most scary things in the game are definetly the sounds. I really don't like that sound when slow zombies are burning... first time I heard that was like a cold shower down my back.. :rolling: Insane screaming ...

 

[Planetary]

I don't know why the most of you say, you were scared of the headcrabs or that fast zombies. I thing the most scary things in the game are definetly the sounds. I really don't like that sound when slow zombies are burning... first time I heard that was like a cold shower down my back.. :rolling: Insane screaming ...

Or when you take damage from manhacks, it really sounds like flesh slicing, and the suit informing you "minor lacerations detected" isn't very calming, either.
How do they make all those sounds?

 

[leib10]

Synthesizers and computers, mostly. However, I remember in Raising the Bar they said something about using game calls, such as an elk call.

 

[Planetary]

Synthesizers and computers, mostly. However, I remember in Raising the Bar they said something about using game calls, such as an elk call.

I imagine that's what they'd started with when making all the strider noises, like the pain grunts, and such.

 

[leib10]

And the Poison Headcrab attack cry sounds like a coyote call with the pitch bent up.

 

[Planetary]

Well, I heard someone once compare it to screeching cats.

 

[victor]

don't they use real objects to get the sounds first? like slicing fruit or whatever.

 

[morgs]

Man, this thread just keeps going and going.

 

[leib10]

I will say one more thing about the sound in HL2. As I go through the sound files, I am suddenly appreciating just what an awesome job Valve did on the sound, especially NPC sounds, and the voice acting in general. It just adds to the whole experience in such a great way.

Back to the original topic- why do the fast zombies seemingly pause in flight right before making contact with the player? A glitch? A chance to hit them in the face with shotgun pellets? What?

 

[soulslicer]

dammit, i always wanted to email this to valve:

why can't the combine have ai where they go to health stations to refill when they are low on health, like republic commando. even, the citizens refill each other with health packs and the combine can't do that...

 

[Glenn the Great]

F.E.A.R. is the only game that I've ever found legitimately scary. At the age of 22, I had a hard time mustering the nerve to push through that game.

To contrast, I played Doom 3 and it had absolutely no effect on me.

I had just gotten done giving up on the single player of FEAR because the game was creeping me out too much, and I became fascinated with the idea of games actually being scary. Everyone hyped Doom3 as being the scariest game ever, so having just been terrified by FEAR, I was expecting a lot, and my nerves were on end in the first area in the darkness. I was expecting something horrible to happen that would be on the level of what I experienced in FEAR. When the first monsters started showing up, that's when all the fear disappeared. Doom3 simply feels way too cartoony to be taken seriously. The monsters look like cartoons, more comical than horrifying. The environments also. They don't have the gritty feel of FEAR.

I'm just not afraid of hostile monsters anymore. I've been playing games where I fight off monsters who are actively trying to kill me for most of my life, so it's become a comfort zone to have it happen. It's the more abstract non-violent threats, like you face in FEAR, that get me nowadays.

 

[leib10]

HL2 wasn't really scary, for the most part (it had its moments, like the first encounter with a Fast Zombie). It is just really creepy.

 

[victor]

citizens use healthpacks?

 

[soulslicer]

not only do they use healthpacks, they give each other too, an awesome thing in their ai actually.. you should spawn two citizens with you in a lvl youre alone in and check it out. of course you have to enter some code in the console to allow them to give you ammo and give you healthpacks, or give each other healthpacks.. really awesome..

 

[leib10]

citizens use healthpacks?

You didn't notice that?

But yeah, Combine soldiers having the ability to heal themselves would add more dimension to the game, if making it a lot more difficult. You'd have to kill them the first time to avoid that problem.

 

[Tomi]

[...] you should spawn two citizens with you in a lvl youre alone in and check it out. of course you have to enter some code in the console to allow them to give you ammo and give you healthpacks, or give each other healthpacks.. really awesome..

can't you enter these codes for combine in the console too ?

 

[Narvi]

can't you enter these codes for combine in the console too ?

I don't think the Combine have the proper animations for it.

 

[Rapstah]

And most importantly Combine don't have medics, who are the only Citizens that can heal others.

 

[jesse19901111]

That is the same thing i thought. I was going in to the room with the elevator and i heard the pipe rumbling so i ran in and closed the door. Next thing i know there are like 3 in there with me and i just had a pannic attack and took my machine gun and KILLED them ALL!

 

[Rapstah]

Someone ban jesse, he's to stupid to be here.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Although he is crazy, he's talking about the event in Ravenholm when the 3 fast zombies climb up the pipe as you are waiting on the elevator. If you shut the door, they still smash through the skylight window. Don't worry about Jesse's status too much thank you, he's already on watch.

 

[soulslicer]

that sounds very combine like. anyway, i think i would like to email valve that suggestion.

 

[8DigitSin]

a moment when i made mistake on sandtraps. it was realy scary.

 

[Narvi]

a moment when i made mistake on sandtraps. it was realy scary.

Elaborate.

 

[Baratos]

Wow, I just had the best moment:

I had taken all 5 turrets in Entanglement before you enter the teleport chamber, and was in the area where Overwatch turns off the lights and throws flares. I had all the turrets in a line and let them rip through the Combine--it took 30 seconds for them all to die. Afterwards, Alyx turned to me and said "That was BRUTAL!"

 

[Kevin]

a moment when i made mistake on sandtraps. it was realy scary.

You mean when you accidentally stepped on the sand?
REALLY hated when that happened.

 

[Exploder]

Unfortunately that event was scripted. But yeah I did the same thing, I thought I was smart so I blocked the doors. I didn't mind the roof at all.

I regretted instantly when they burst through the ceiling. I freak out when I'm surrounded by the screaming zombies, I can't concentrate when they scream in my face!