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don't stop to breathe
Posted By: butcher <butcher@finality.net>Date: 11/4/01 3:15 p.m.

In Response To: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty? (Max Payne)

: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty? Will the game be of real
: challange? Any one have any idea?

hmm. the AI doesn't have any special features that are only activated on higher difficulty levels, but most of their attack options and maneuvers will increase in likelihood of appearance - plus some of their general behavior changes subtly. for example, the AI is tuned to play a more defensive game on higher levels because if it was to launch a full-fledged offensive you wouldn't stand a chance. there are many other changes by difficulty level of course, but those are the ones you asked about. :)

to give you some idea of the difficulty levels, whenever I want to show off the game to someone I play on Normal (never Easy, aka Grandma Mode). of course we know all the levels and AI behavior back to front by now, but once you know what you're doing there is zero danger of ever dying. you can pull off the most outrageous frontal assaults and basically own the entire Covenant force with style; on this difficulty level it's clear that you are the super-warrior that the story implies.

if I'm playing to have fun without thinking too hard, I choose Heroic. this difficulty is tailored to be an interesting challenge for skilled players, and a little light exercise for the experts. you'll be required to think tactically and understand the weaknesses of your foes - giving quarter or being reckless will still get you killed, but at this level it's still possible to be the hero if you're skilled, or you know what you're doing.

for an epic battle (or if we're playing co-op) I pick Legendary. it took me about 60 hours of continuous play to finish the game on this difficulty, and that's after months of developing and playtesting the game. it's a very different kind of challenge to, say, myth's legendary difficulty. many of your enemies will be outflanking you and firing from multiple directions, and they'll retreat and build up their shields if you damage any individual too heavily. also, if you don't know what you're doing, or you get taken unaware, it's very possible for a single covenant elite warrior to nail you (and don't talk to me about the commanders).

this means that you can't afford to try and set up a trap / kill zone like you would in myth, or doom. you'll spend a lot of your time at long range trying to take individual targets down before they know what hit them, or else getting up close and personal in an attempt to pull off the perfect assault.

it also plays rather differently to marathon's Total Carnage difficulty because you have shields that will continuously recharge if you can give them a few seconds to 'rest' without being hit. so rather than being about endurance like marathon, vidding halo is about controlling the action, striking quickly and being able to disengage if you need to... of course this isn't always possible, which means you have to look at it from another point of view: I have this buffer of shields, which means that I have about six seconds to clear the room. two grenades, one half-charged plasma pistol, one clip of assault rifle ammo, four elite warriors on the other side of this door. go.

last night I went to see the movie 'the one' with jet li. there's a sequence near the start of the film where jet li moves through a group of police officers and drops them with pinpoint precision before they can even react. if you want to play legendary halo with style, you'll basically need to be this good. of course you're welcome to try anyway - as dan says, "just because you play on legendary doesn't make you a legend!"

poenas dare,

- butcher

Message Index



Replies:

How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?Max Payne 11/4/01 1:53 a.m.
     Re: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?Allenthar 11/4/01 2:50 a.m.
           Re: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?Skeletor 11/4/01 2:57 a.m.
           slobber slobberslumbermonkey 11/4/01 8:37 a.m.
           Re: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?vector40 11/4/01 4:18 p.m.
                 hell yeah *NM*slumbermonkey 11/4/01 5:29 p.m.
     Re: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?XBOX 11/4/01 8:42 a.m.
           Re: How good will the AI be at Heroic difficulty?MSN 11/4/01 11:57 a.m.
     don't stop to breathebutcher 11/4/01 3:15 p.m.
           Re: don't stop to breatheFuolornis Fire Dragon 11/4/01 3:40 p.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breatheVacindak 11/6/01 8:37 a.m.
           Re: don't stop to breathejeremedia 11/4/01 3:49 p.m.
           **LOUIS, post on front page... *NM*Djof 11/4/01 3:52 p.m.
                 Umm...Louis Wu 11/4/01 4:15 p.m.
           Re: don't stop to breatheXBOX 11/4/01 4:03 p.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breathevector40 11/4/01 4:22 p.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breatheMax Payne 11/4/01 5:04 p.m.
           Son of a bitch.vector40 11/4/01 4:21 p.m.
           just to clarify...butcher 11/4/01 4:32 p.m.
                 Re: just to clarify...Louis Wu 11/4/01 5:18 p.m.
           Re: don't stop to breatheVan Fanel 11/4/01 4:48 p.m.
           Ah... loooong Range!Ph.D. 11/4/01 5:16 p.m.
                 Re: Ah... loooong Range!Luckey the parrot 11/4/01 11:40 p.m.
           Re: don't stop to breathePhysalis 11/4/01 7:56 p.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breatheRAZORBACK 11/5/01 10:45 a.m.
                       Re: don't stop to breatheMr. Zarquon 11/5/01 10:20 p.m.
           Re: don't stop to breatheRAZORBACK 11/5/01 10:34 a.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breatheRAZORBACK 11/5/01 10:49 a.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breatheLouis Wu 11/5/01 11:09 a.m.
                       Re: DAMMIT I only invent things that have alreadyRAZORBACK 11/5/01 11:49 a.m.
                 BLP!vector40 11/5/01 7:43 p.m.
           PC release now!! :]LaZ_EyE 11/5/01 2:44 p.m.
                 Re: PC release now!! :]slumbermonkey 11/5/01 2:54 p.m.
                       Re: PC release now!! :]-Life- 11/5/01 3:09 p.m.
                             Re: PC release now!! :]vector40 11/5/01 7:45 p.m.
                                   Re: PC release now!! :]slumbermonkey 11/5/01 9:13 p.m.
                                         Re: PC release now!! :]vector40 11/5/01 11:06 p.m.
                                               purely curiosity *NM* *NM*slumbermonkey 11/5/01 11:48 p.m.
                                                     wups *NM*slumbermonkey 11/5/01 11:50 p.m.
                                   Re: PC release now!! :]-Life- 11/6/01 2:50 a.m.
           Re: don't stop to breathefisk 11/6/01 6:16 a.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breathebutcher 11/6/01 10:41 a.m.
                       Re: don't stop to breatheLophan 11/6/01 11:58 a.m.
                 Re: don't stop to breathevector40 11/6/01 4:45 p.m.



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