I wish the gaming industry would get rid of regenerating health but..........

[Zersy]

What would they replace it with? Would the go back to good old health bars, or make up some new and magical system? If a few good ideas come up could have a poll on the best one

without regenerating health we would never get past level 6

 

[mr mcshiznit]

Honestly i hope they keep it. I HATE HATE HATE looking through a level for health kits. All it does is slow down the game for me and makes me play in ways i really dont like. I like playing through a game and progressing through it at a moderate pace that is not interrupted by my flashing red health bar.

 

[Beetlejooce]

Regeneration is good or bad depending on which game you are playing. In Gears of War 2 for example, if you are getting ripped apart by the locust, you will die. If however you can tactfully retreat then you'll be ok and can get on with it. There is still an element of challenge

With games like GoW2's insane, seeing as it takes about one bullet to put you in the red, you would run out of health packs in 0.2 seconds. Also it's to encourage you to use the cover system more. Because otherwise you could stock up on health packs, charge out and take out the entire opposition army, then run back and get some more health packs.

The half life games however, worked better with health packs as there was no cover, and in some parts of some levels you were being set upon from all sides and angles without a cover system. Regeneration probably wouldn't work here.

I haven't played Fallout 3 (I've been meaning to buy it for ages) but the health style sounds interesting.

Just depends which game you're playing.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

I like health regen. Wandering around with 1 health point, knowing you are effectively dead anyway and just looking to throw that one point away, was always a crap element in games. Much the same as "lives" in games of yore, health bars are an anachronism.

 

[Archemetis]

What would they replace it with? Would the go back to good old health bars, or make up some new and magical system? If a few good ideas come up could have a poll on the best one

Regenerating health systems use health bars though? so how would you go back to something that they already use?

To be fair i like the idea that if your health is low you do something about it, like not catch your breath, good old fresh air may be good for you, but i doubt it removes bullet or stab wounds.

Maybe have med-kits, but not the "Fuck this i keep TRIPPING on them" kind of med-kits, more games should infuse a state of reality, kinda like the healing section in MGS3, that was a good system. It also provided the player with the need to be actually careful. I'd love to see an FPS game where they have to bandage their own wounds and actually employ some kind of cautious tactic.

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

i liked the health system in far cry 2 multiplayer as if you took a small amount of damage that would heal but if your health goes too low you will bleed to death until you do emergency first aid, this was probably the most realistic system i have seen and is a nice break from normal regenerative health.

I haven't played FC2 but that does sound like a more logical and effective system. Combining the two is better than one or the other. I mean, it doesn't make sense to get shredded and be on the brink of death and then be fine because you hid behind a boulder or something for three seconds, but it also doesn't make sense to have a meter representing your health and to just instantly die when it gets to 0.

 

[666thHeretic]

Here is my idea for health, I can't remember if another game did this or not. But my way would be sort of a "luck" meter thing for military games, the longer your out in the open or away from cover the more your odds go up of getting hit until that one bullet finally does get you. I'm sure somebody can work the math/balancing for it.
So istead of regenerating health you just have "luck" so when you take cover or people stop shooting at you your "luck" meter goes back up.
I really can not think of a way to describe this clearly.

Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway did that. The longer you stayed out of cover the more likely you would get shot, and I think on higher difficulties the odds of getting hit randomly goes up (regadrless of where your "health" was).

 

[Dubiousduke]

I prefer the segmented health bar. That works best. I think it's the most balanced.

 

[DerekWillis]

How about this, you have this type of health system as an option as well as the standard bar and regernerative health.
In this system you could die of blood loss, internal organ failure or a bullet to a vital; it would be a VERY slow regen process (blood cloting to stop bleeding and slow creation of red blood cells only) with quick pick-me-up health packs (Insta-IV for blood transfusions or adrenaline pills to stave off the organ failure until you get to a health professional) as well.

 

[nova18]

Did anyone play Quake Wars.
There they have a system where if you need health, you click on to a set of voice commands and shout for a medic, who will run over and fix you up.

Seeing as a lot of games now feature allied AI running with you (Resistance, Gears, Killzone), if one of your teammates was a medic, you would have to rely on the medic instead of your health magically regenerating.

This would be a more realistic system and would increase the level of teamwork needed in FPS.

 

[rdaleric]

what does everyone think to a slowly decreasing health meter?

You are going to have to elaborate a bit on that. A constantly dropping health bar sounds like a fancy lime limit and I despise time limits within a game.

My big worry about med packs is not with the system itself but more a concern about how it saves. A few times I have lost hours of gameplay due to a whack saving system that leaves me with no health and miles away from a med pak (or it could be right around the corner but it may as well be on Mars) and no previous saves to boot up. So my only choice was to restart the game entirely.

In a multiplayer game regen health sucks. Turok for the 360 proved how broken it can be. Where FEAR Files was the most balanced MP game I have ever played. No health regen or storing 10 med paks to spam in a bind. You kill a guy he drops a med pak you run over it and use it automatically.

I think the only way to come close to pleasing everyone is with a L4D director type AI. Getting your ass handed to you and the enemies will drop more med paks, doing well they drop less. That is the only way for a casual gamer to enjoy it as well as the "hardcore" gamer.

I meant like say if your shot have like a bleed time or somethin to slowly drop your health maybe 6 - 10%. but i agree L4D has it best, intelligent placing of medi kits

 

[barryween]

I think I have a good plan. As you take damage, your sight desaturates (like Mirror's Edge) but you don't get health back, only when you use a first aid kit.

 

[barryween]

I prefer the segmented health bar. That works best. I think it's the most balanced.

Elaborate, please?

 

[VoltySquirrel]

What would they replace it with? Would the go back to good old health bars, or make up some new and magical system? If a few good ideas come up could have a poll on the best one

Resistance: Fall of Man had the greatest health system ever.

Firstly, you get a Health Bar so you know how much health you have.
Secondly, your Health Bar regenerates, but only to the nearest quarter.
So, if you take 24% damage, you will heal back to 100% if you get out of fire. If, however, you take 26% damage, you will only heal back to 75%.

Ninja Gaiden 2 and a few others did that as well.

 

[Sewblon]

The best health recovery system is where you can carry multiple medkits and apply them when necessary.

XIII, Deus Ex, -Shock series, etc.

Yes! some one understands!

 

[Johnn Johnston]

Have regenerating health if you want a game to move quickly. Use a health bar system if you want it to be slower paced, with longer gaps between encounters. For a mix of both, have medpacks scattered about strategically, but with a (limited) health regeneration system.

I haven't played Fallout 3 (I've been meaning to buy it for ages) but the health style sounds interesting.

What's interesting about it?

You have hit points which are replenished by health packs and/or sleeping in beds.

It's about as traditional as you can get.

I think it's more the whole 'Crippled' part, where legs/arms etc can be individually damaged that interests him.

 

[Xvito]

Half-Life 2 has an amazing health system. Too bad the rest of the game is pretty, you know... Just above average.