- Acres 057
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- Fabled Mythic Member
I'm an Anarchist. I don't need a government to be a good person, but I'm glad it's here because some of you clearly do.
The biggest problem in making canon-faithful game mechanics is that no matter how fine-tuned damage ratios are, the AI just isn't good enough to replicate actual rational thought, so they have to compensate by tilting the odds in the AI's favor and screwing the player, resulting in AI being able to take way more damage than realistically possible.
There is no surprise and shock in AI. In the end, they're predictable down to the last movement. Nervous and aggressive model animation and speech disguise this.
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is a fine example of predictable AI. By taking different routes to the same objective, AI will spawn in different predictable locations, but will behave the same basic way regardless of where they're spawned.
Despite the predictability of their spawning, the gameplay feels quite realistic (in comparison to other shooters) because the enemies utilize cover and react to the player, rather than just a random sequence of shoot and cover, like in Call of Duty (not bashing).
The behavior changes from Game to Game, obviously, and finding the right balance between frustration and difficulty remains as a key component in the AI design, just like any other part of the game.
I think Bungie did a fantastic job with the Brutes from Halo 2, where they'd go from tactical to berserk, but I think it would've been better if that transition weren't so predictable.
This predictability is also present in games like Forza where AI drivers will stick to the driving-line with little variation, and even Puzzle Games. It's not just a shooter thing.
Ultimately, and simply, the AI just ain't good enough for the realism to match the graphics and physics, and they can't just put more effort into the AI and cut back on graphics and physics because the technology for more realistic AI just isn't there yet.
Unfortunately, a lot of modern developers try to make the game realistic by tilting the odds too much in the AI's favor, attempting to force the player to play very carefully, as they might in real life combat. What happens in this scenario is the player usually becomes stuck at a certain point, and no matter how they approach that point, they get stuck behind the same rock or tank, and can't get past a handful of well-positioned enemies, when in reality if they were to approach that isolated situation differently, the sequence of events would probably lead the opposition to being positioned differently, granting them an easier advancement... but instead they begin to recognize the pattern in the AI, and become frustrated.
I think the very high-end PC RTS games are the best examples of AI with good algorithms and behavior, but those games usually showcase good unit behavior, rather than good individual AI, which is what we want in FPS games.
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If you really want Canon-faithful game mechanics, what you'd have to expect is a game that plays entirely slower, because Spartans are totally faster than we are; in thinking and physical movement.
You'd have to expect AI that doesn't so much react to the player, but to the other AI, friend and foe.
You'd have to expect damage ratios to be realistic - 8 AR bullets to take down an Elite - shields and all, and 2 AR bullets to take down a Marine.
You'd have to expect absolutely minimal checkpoints.
lol, it'd be a lot like classic gaming.
The game would change entirely, and it would not be what we have come to know and expect as Halo.
Not to mention the flood of threads about how 343 broke the game and everything is overpowered.
[Edited on 06.15.2012 1:24 PM PDT]