Halo 3: ODST Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: AI, Stealth And Concerns
  • Subject: AI, Stealth And Concerns
Subject: AI, Stealth And Concerns
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I'm concerned will stealth actually work in ODST. Bungie (at least mostly) did take mistakes and problems to account in previous Halos for the next one. So i belive they will with ODST too.

Here's about AI and stealth in Halo CE/2/3, in my experience.

CE:
Enemies had good AI for that time's games, though they didn't react to sniping from a distance.
What the AI also did was to forget things. At least in some parts. If you attacked sleeping grunts and they woke up, and the patrolling elites attacked you, you could retreat and if you hid long enough, the grunts and the elites didn't bother you anymore and continued what they were doing, sleeping and patrolling. So you could do hit and run attacks use stealth quite well for a FPS.

2:
The Covies didn't forget you that easily... but they seemed to lose interest in you and lose alertness, making it easier to make an surprise attack again. Or hide. Stealth was primarily the Arbiter's area though.

3:
I swear sneak attacks and surprises after the intial contact are impossible. The enemies don't really forget you and seem to know where you're the whole time. Outside certain moments (sleeping grunts), stealth is useless. Even Active Camo doesn't help much due it's single use nature and shortness.

Since ODST is heavily based on Halo 3, i fear the AI is too much same and doesn't allow effecitve stealth. Of course Halo 3 map desing didn't really help with stealth, ODST's "map", New Mombasa helps with that.

Note that all gameplay vids were the campaign menu and gameplay is shown, the difficulty has been normal and the player has attacked the Covenant pretty directly.

I have a couple of ideas that would help with stealth in ODST.
First, enemies should forget the player after a moment, lose their interest, allowing easy attack again.
Secondly, silenced weapons (and maybe sniper if fired from a long distance enough) should leave the enemies surprised for a few seconds so that you could easily decimate a packs grunts for example. Or take out the Brute. Or similar.

Since i'm going to play on Legendary (or on Heroic if Legendary is too hard) i'm very concerned whether the important (for ODSTs) stealth works.

  • 06.04.2009 8:43 AM PDT

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Well, Halo 3 wasn't really supposed to be a stealthy game. It was definitely supposed to be run-n-gun.

ODST - so I've read in the weekly updates - has had tweaks to the AI to make sure that there are very subtle touches of stealth added. It's not supposed to be a primarily stealthy game, but damn, it'd be so cool to be able to sneak around a pack of Brutes.

  • 06.04.2009 8:48 AM PDT
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NO GROUP INVITES!!!

Indeed, i know Halo 3 wasn't supposed to be stealthy game (but unlike the predecessors, even a little stealth is impossible really) and that AI is being tweaked for ODST (remember that Brutes have "cover first"-doctrine now? At least supposedly) but i fear it's not enough.

Of course i'm not speaking about Splinter Cell stealth levels... even though similar system would be cool :P

  • 06.04.2009 8:57 AM PDT