the soldiers

[Reaktor4]

I hope they have better aims in the finished game than they do in the binks because they cant hit shit in the binks. It might even spoil the game for me because i prefered fighting the soldiers than the aliens in hl1.
That is all.

 

[poseyjmac]

personally im not too concerned with their aim, as i don't plan on resisting the combine. i plan on conforming to the great society that is present in city17 and live my life in one of city17's fine residential establishments. i suggest you do the same if you want to avoid any trouble.

 

[Yellonet]

It was said that the AI was "toned down" for the demo. You can count on the combinears to be more accurate in the real game. At least on higher difficulty settings.

 

[Annihilator_91]

In the lastest bink (Coast) they aim quite well! They pin you down by a building so you can't move (i believe that it's scripted though). And, I really don't think that we have met the Combine soldiers yet in a bink, only the Metrocops... :bounce:

 

[Homer]

I hope the dificulty has more to do with the ai and less to do with how well they aim or how much damage they do.

 

[Yellonet]

I hope the dificulty has more to do with the ai and less to do with how well they aim or how much damage they do.

As do I.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

I hope the dificulty has more to do with the ai and less to do with how well they aim or how much damage they do.

exactly, and Im hoping that nightmare/hardest difficulty isnt a joke ...like doom3's, neither difficulty actually offered any challenge at all.
(AI in doom3 was abysmal/non-existent, and their idea of a nightmare mode was simply making your life tick down to 25hp at all times)

the AI hopefuly matches the calibur of everything else hl2. (except PR and the schedule keeping abilities at valve of course)

 

[Spiffe]

I hope that a lower difficulty will give you more health. What I dont hope for is that there are less enemies in easyer difficulties... That would suck....

 

[czrsink]

Yawn, yawn, yadda yadda, yawn. I'm getting so bored of these 'what if' threads. What's the point of guessing how the game is going to play, exactly? Will people not buy HL2 because the soldiers have crap aims?

Dear God, no. I won't be rushing out to get HL2 if the soldiers have a bad aim! OH NOES!

 

[Yellonet]

Yawn, yawn, yadda yadda, yawn. I'm getting so bored of these 'what if' threads. What's the point of guessing how the game is going to play, exactly? Will people not buy HL2 because the soldiers have crap aims?

Dear God, no. I won't be rushing out to get HL2 if the soldiers have a bad aim! OH NOES!

I've seen no guessing about the game here. The first poster hoped that the AI would be able to aim better than in the demo. And they will. Nor has anyone said anything about not buying the game because of not being satisfied with a specific feature.

If you're so tired of "these" threads, why are you posting a reply?
Now here's some guessing for you; I guess that I speak for most of the forum members when I say: We're tired of trolls like you.

 

[ShinRa]

Welcome to last year!

AI was toned down, they're not stupid, don't worry, you can sleep comfortably at night now.

 

[ShinRa]

I've seen no guessing about the game here. The first poster hoped that the AI would be able to aim better than in the demo. And they will. Nor has anyone said anything about not buying the game because of not being satisfied with a specific feature.

If you're so tired of "these" threads, why are you posting a reply?
Now here's some guessing for you; I guess that I speak for most of the forum members when I say: We're tired of trolls like you.

actually i completely agree with him. the lack of intelligent threads and the over sized mass of stupidity and what if threads are disgusting.

 

[Annihilator_91]

exactly, and Im hoping that nightmare/hardest difficulty isnt a joke ...like doom3's, neither difficulty actually offered any challenge at all.
(AI in doom3 was abysmal/non-existent, and their idea of a nightmare mode was simply making your life tick down to 25hp at all times)

the AI hopefuly matches the calibur of everything else hl2. (except PR and the schedule keeping abilities at valve of course)

So the difficulty is supposed to be related with AI?? I don't think so. I believe that it should not be a "hard" difficulty when your hp ticks down to 25 immediately! NO! But I believe that it should damage you more and have you bleeding and loose hp which forces you to find a medkit ASAP!!! A good "hard" difficulty is a realistic "hard" difficulty!

 

[Epsi]

The AI in the finished game will almost certainly be able to shoot straight.

If anything, the challenge is to dull up the reflexes and aim of the AI so that it can't snipe you dead on in the head from half a mile across the map in a fraction of a second.

 

[Yellonet]

So the difficulty is supposed to be related with AI?? I don't think so. I believe that it should not be a "hard" difficulty when your hp ticks down to 25 immediately! NO! But I believe that it should damage you more and have you bleeding and loose hp which forces you to find a medkit ASAP!!! A good "hard" difficulty is a realistic "hard" difficulty!

I would like to have smarter and better shooting enemies on harder difficulty levels. The damage the player (and the enemies) can take/inflict can be the same on all difficulty settings, but as the enemies shoot better on harder difficulty you will certainly die more often

 

[Yellonet]

Welcome to last year!

AI was toned down, they're not stupid, don't worry, you can sleep comfortably at night now.

Mm.. yes.. as I said

 

[OmegaBlue]

combinears

gayest word i've heard them reffered to, congrats you won the prize.

Yellownet, no body here really likes you. No body here wants you here. You suck at life, You suck at the internet. Your annoying, Tie a rope around your neck so you can stop hogging air that could be used for someone important.

I guess that I speak for most of the forum members when I say: We're tired of annoying bajoina's like you.

 

[Yellonet]

gayest word i've heard them reffered to, congrats you won the prize.

It's tiresome to write combine soldier all the time.

Yellownet, no body here really likes you. No body here wants you here. You suck at life, You suck at the internet. Your annoying, Tie a rope around your neck so you can stop hogging air that could be used for someone important.

I guess that I speak for most of the forum members when I say: We're tired of annoying bajoina's like you.

Ah, another troll, couldn't even get my name right huh? *sigh*

Edit: I guess you had a bad day or have a bad life. But you can take your aggressions out on me.. it's ok. I forgive you.

 

[Annihilator_91]

I would like to have smarter and better shooting enemies on harder difficulty levels. The damage the player (and the enemies) can take/inflict can be the same on all difficulty settings, but as the enemies shoot better on harder difficulty you will certainly die more often

Sounds good enough!!! XD
A very logical system!!!

 

[Annihilator_91]

gayest word i've heard them reffered to, congrats you won the prize.

Yellownet, no body here really likes you. No body here wants you here. You suck at life, You suck at the internet. Your annoying, Tie a rope around your neck so you can stop hogging air that could be used for someone important.

I guess that I speak for most of the forum members when I say: We're tired of annoying bajoina's like you.

Go and nuke yourself D*CKHEAD!!!!!!!!! :flame: :flame: :flame:
We hope even more that you go and hang yourself! ID*OT!
Find a forum especially made for flaming innocent people... Nobody wants you here...

EDIT: PLEASE!!!! LET PEOPLE BE A LITTLE BIT HAPPY!!!!

 

[Feath]

I was going to write this post a bit later but seeing how certain argumentative people are turning this into a lock-worthy thread I'm going to have to reply now and eat my tea later.

In the E3 2003 videos the AI was obviously not finished; it didn't even move, for god's sake. Some people say it was "toned down" but the AI not being finished months before the game's release is not a special thing (even for the old September 2003 date).

The AI in the E3 2004 video is fnished, and the Combine Soldiers tend to aim a bit better.

Anyway, I hope their aim isn't deadly perfect (I think it's fine as it is actually) because you're going to meet these Combine Soldiers at the start of the game. I don't know about you, but I like being able to kill the enemies at the start of the game easy with my limited weapons.

In the lastest bink (Coast) they aim quite well! They pin you down by a building so you can't move (i believe that it's scripted though).

Yes, unsurprisingly that is scripted. I mean, AI that makes it's own choices is a long way off, so the AI is told what to do in certain situations (ie, See player, shoot).

But that's probably not what you meant by scripted, you probably meant something along the lines of the Map maker made the AI shoot there if the player. What's the difference between that and having an AI script file that does the same? In terms of a gameplay point of view?

I don't believe that it was scripted by the map makers, and that the AI actually does actually shoot near where the player is, no matter what part of the map he's on or whatever. Half-Life's AI was pretty advanced and Valve would've undoubtedly improved on it.

 

[Yellonet]

Anyway, I hope their aim isn't deadly perfect (I think it's fine as it is actually) because you're going to meet these Combine Soldiers at the start of the game. I don't know about you, but I like being able to kill the enemies at the start of the game easy with my limited weapons.

That's exactly why I think that enemies should, on all difficulty levels, be able to take the same amount of damage (they should die from a(1) shot to the head) before dying. The difference between difficulties would be that the player is more likely to get hurt on the higher ones.

Sorry about the tea btw

 

[Annihilator_91]

That's exactly why I think that enemies should, on all difficulty levels, be able to take the same amount of damage (they should die from a(1) shot to the head) before dying. The difference between difficulties would be that the player is more likely to get hurt on the higher ones.

Yeah! In HL1 the difficulty only made you use more ammo! (it took 2 shots to kill a Headcrab on normal and 3 on hard )

 

[theGreenBunny]

I would prefer health/damage scaling to AI scaling with difficulty. If I play on normal or easy, I want to see good AI. I hope valve doesn't force me to play on some uber hard setting the first time I play through it if I want to see the best AI the game has to offer.

So in my opinion the AI should always be at its best, while they should use health, armor, healthpacks and the like to make things more difficult at higher settings.

 

[Yellonet]

I would prefer health/damage scaling to AI scaling with difficulty. If I play on normal or easy, I want to see good AI. I hope valve doesn't force me to play on some uber hard setting the first time I play through it if I want to see the best AI the game has to offer.

So in my opinion the AI should always be at its best, while they should use health, armor, healthpacks and the like to make things more difficult at higher settings.

They could be just as smart but be poor shots on easy difficulty

Edit: So you would be faced with the same AI in all difficulties but on higher settings they're crack shots...

 

[Annihilator_91]

Well Green! That is a little bit what I said in page 1 of this thread! It gets more realistic for every level (with damage and such)!!!

 

[Yellonet]

Well... I guess we'll just have to wait and see

 

[Annihilator_91]

Sounds logical enough!

 

[Brian Damage]

Tighter hitboxes on hard?

 

[Yellonet]

Tighter hitboxes on hard?

How do you mean?

That they should be outside the body on easy and on the body on hard? - Which would mean that you can kill someone by shooting next to them.

Or on the body on easy and inside the body on hard? - Which would mean that you can shoot someone without them taking any damage.

 

[Annihilator_91]

How do you mean?

That they should be outside the body on easy and on the body on hard? - Which would mean that you can kill someone by shooting next to them.

Or on the body on easy and inside the body on hard? - Which would mean that you can shoot someone without them taking any damage.

I believe he means that you have less HP.... And I say !NO! to that. :bounce:

 

[theGreenBunny]

He means the hitboxes would be smaller, which would mean the combine are harder to hit.

 

[Annihilator_91]

He means the hitboxes would be smaller, which would mean the combine are harder to hit.

OH! Silly silly me.... No I must live the rest of my life in shame... ;(

 

[marshmallow]

Most likely it takes more bullets to kill them and less bullets to kill you, perhaps also they have higher accuracy. It's pretty easy to change these values, whereas "changing AI to fit the difficulty" doesn't really do much to make it harder. A good player won't even notice the difference because the enemies will be dead before they can use their "amazing" AI.

 

[God[TM]]

I would hope by now games would rid themselves of difficulty settings.

Couldn't it adjust to how you play? Being relatively easy for the first few scenes, 'learning' what skill level the player is at, progressing to hard (hard enough to where that someone will die every once in a while) as the game goes on? If you keep on dying, the game will give you a little slack. If you're like rambo, the game sharpens up.

I thought I saw a game that attempted this a while back?

 

[Yellonet]

I would hope by now games would rid themselves of difficulty settings.

Couldn't it adjust to how you play? Being relatively easy for the first few scenes, 'learning' what skill level the player is at, progressing to hard (hard enough to where that someone will die every once in a while) as the game goes on? If you keep on dying, the game will give you a little slack. If you're like rambo, the game sharpens up.

I thought I saw a game that attempted this a while back?

Hmm... well, FarCry has "AI auto balancing".

 

[marshmallow]

Because that's dumb...

You could run past, shooting and missing on purpose, and what, all the soldiers would miss you or do little damage?

Difficulty settings are the way to go.

 

[FoB_Ed]

He means the hitboxes would be smaller, which would mean the combine are harder to hit.

Why would they do that? The hitboxes they have now are just as good as per-polygon hit detection

 

[Yellonet]

You could run past, shooting and missing on purpose, and what, all the soldiers would miss you or do little damage?

Don't know actually.

If I could decide how the difficulties would work, it would be like this: The damage that the player and enemies can take and the damage that the weapons inflict would be the same on all difficulty levels. The thing that would differentiate the difficulty levels would be the enemies reaction times and how good they aim. Nothing more nothing less.
I'm just hoping this is the way that valve has chosen to go...

 

[God[TM]]

Because that's dumb...

You could run past, shooting and missing on purpose, and what, all the soldiers would miss you or do little damage?

Difficulty settings are the way to go.

...but if the player were to do that, they'd just be ruining the game for themselves (and with difficulty settings set to low, the game can be easy throughout, so they'd might as well be shooting/missing/running past as it is. Why even bother with low/easy difficulty then?).

I envision games that learn from you and adapt dynamically. It could even help with the replayability factor I would imagine (characters won't just aim better and be harder to hit, but will act smarter and try different tactics).

In the example you gave (and i'm not dissing you in any way... just dialogueing), you're basing difficulty on just one aspect. Difficulty could also be determined by how long your health stays strong (and with base/minimum difficulties built in, it wouldn't ever get to the point of no AI), among other things.

Of course, AI is somewhat limited right now. It's pretty much mostly aim, health, and some rudimentry movement (hiding/finding/listening/looking). Where this idea would really shine is when you have some AI characters that can co-ordinate with other AI characters on the fly (organize search parties, actually try to hunt you down rather than giving up when you get out of a certain radius, etc.).

I just think this would be a better alternative to selecting a difficulty level, finding it's too easy halfway through the game, and then switching it over to hard and starting over. If you would want it harder from the get-go, perhaps it could have the default/base difficulty set high, and just have it go up from there?

I'm sure it's easier said than done naturally... and it's not like we'll really see something like this for a few years anyhow... it makes so much sense to me, but what do I know?...