Comments on: Challenge Series 2009: Challenge 04

By: C:17183 » Podcast17

C:17183 » Podcast17 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:21:13 +0000

[...] PP 10 Week Challenge #4 [...]

By: Ade

Ade — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:45:37 +0000

This is a tough one.. What if I have 99 health and see h packs in a room but I hear combine in the next room.. With the HUD, I’d first take the combine out then come back for health; without the HUD, I’d waste a pack, no good As others indicated, you can’t know how much damage you take, I think shots to the head do 3xdamage in HL2, as well. Also, it’s impossible to keep track of all the ammo for all the weapons. Only counting what I have left in just 1 round is not enough.. How can I tell how many rounds I have left if I constantly switch between weapons
I think this one is the toughest yet, I’ll give it a try, but will definitely not stick to it..

By: Kyouryuu

Kyouryuu — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:47:05 +0000

The recharging health gameplay was arguably popularized by Halo and is the logical extension of the removal of lives from video games. Done right, it shouldn’t make the game easier because enemy AI compensates by adapting a strategy of hitting fast and hard, rather than taking its time. Keeping in mind that in Halo and Gears of War, it’s entirely possible to die even with health regeneration and the ability to “hide” while your health regeneration is not always available.

There are a few reasons why this has seen widespread usage. Chiefly, most players hate having to replay segments of levels they already completed. It’s an inverted form of backtracking. This becomes especially true when you have games that center on tightly-scripted narrative sequences. Similar to being forced to sit through cutscenes more than once, the thrill is never present the second time around, so why bother showing it again?

By: Jasper

Jasper — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:42:46 +0000

Bit of a cop out I know but I used Rats Nest. Succeeded, did not enjoy it, will not do it again!
Moving on to CSS SCIFI3 with the HUD on!

By: Ol' Scratch

Ol' Scratch — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:08:31 +0000

The HUD serves a greater purpose than just reporting shield/ammo/light/battery stats: it replaces human factors feedback that we already naturally have in real life.

Case in point: ammo. IRL, when the gun is nearly empty, you can feel it if you’re actually paying attention. I can see your point about taking off the ammo counter, because more often than not we don’t know we’re emptying a gun ’til it’s too late; on the other hand, the *feedback* that we have IRL isn’t there in a game, so SOMETHING is needed to do just that.

As for health/armor: again, human factors IRL make the difference here. When you’re worn out or injured, you *feel* it, unequivocally. In a game, however, that feedback is missing, so *something* has to replace it. In “Get a Life” (iirc), they had a health system that actually affected how the player played/walked/etc, as the damage mounted, which more closely mirrors how it happens IRL–and after a bit of getting used to it, I liked how it worked.

Battery/light status: when a flashlight fails, it tells you just before it’s going to go by going dim for at least a few seconds, and even the LED flashlights I’ve used tend to show you the power’s almost gone. Atop that, batteries when they’re being used hard tend to get hot, which is another indicator of what’s about to happen.

So, yes, I can see how it makes things more challenging, but I can see how it can make things more frustrating as well because the little clues we take for granted IRL are already missing, and are really needed to play properly.

By: jjawin118

jjawin118 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:56:23 +0000

Hell,I’ll do it!Anything for the Cause.You’re right though;I rely heavily on the HUD.
Just started a new mod,”Joutomaa”so lets give it a try!
Good luck everyone!
( gonna get crowded with us all crowded outside our comfort zones )

By: Jasper

Jasper — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:24:34 +0000

I play every mod and map as if there are no power ups ahead at all. Ie, what you have is what you carry forward.
To me, this is a game play technique question and I like to keep as near to 100/100 as possible. This is an important part of achieving my personal satisfaction. The HUD is vital to my style of game play.
Strategy and tactics are my thing, not ‘run and gun’ That said I do run and gun for the sheer hell of it sometimes but reload and do it ‘properly’.
I’ll give it a go but I bet I won’t you like for making me do it when I’m done – a jest Phillip, I do that.
Now to find a really easy map, plenty of them.

By: Grey Acumen

Grey Acumen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:51:18 +0000

also, does disabling the hud also disable the crosshair? I wouldn’t mind missing the hud if I had crosshairs that allowed me to be sure I was shooting accurately. If we could use only the quick info crosshairs, that would be perfect. I wouldn’t even care about losing the hud.

By: Grey Acumen

Grey Acumen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:48:42 +0000

I have to admit, I hate this. In a way, this actually inhibits you beyond what is realistic. Certainly the numeric indicators are far too concrete to represent what your health is and how close you are to dying, but in reality, you can tell these things about yourself based on how you feel. This isn’t possible in a game, which is why health indicators are so essential.

Essentially, playing a game this way would be like being on drugs.

By: SPY-maps

SPY-maps — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:56:32 +0000

i am not sure anymore which games i played that had the option to disbale the Hud, but when this was possible i did notice that i did disable the hud. it does make playing harder, but, it s extra fun because like you pointed out above, you do need to change your normal gameplay. you have to think indeed all the time about how high or low your health will be.
this does bring me to saying that i hate it how health is handled in lots of new fpshooter. there is no health there anymore. when you get shot you just need to wait in a corner to get your health back up to 100% again. what is that !! with that there is no real fun anymore. but, i get a bit of track.

i couldn’t find out in your text above Phillip if you also mean loosing the crossfire, because that’s a whole nother story. i remember playing Crysis on max difficulty, and there you also lost the hud AND crossfire. and although it does made the gameplay much much more realistic, it also was to difficult i thought. so, loosing HUd i do like, but please with crossfire.

leon