Poll: Healthpacks vs. Regenerating Health

[Deonysus]

I don't wanna sit behind a bloody box and wait for five seconds before I can get back to the fun part. Just let me down some pills or something instead.

 

[funguy2121]

Now with the Duke Demo out and it's release imminent, many old school gamers cry out in dismay because the Duke features regenerating health (slightly glorified as "Ego" in game) over the traditional healthpacks the originals had.

As I see it, both systems have advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage of healthpacks is that they add another ressource to manage, and the scavange for healthpacks make the players search the maps more thoroughly. Basically having low health is a state which encourages activity from the player.
But healthpacks can cause frustration, for example pitting you against great odds when you're down on health and no packs available before difficult passages.

Regenerating health on the other side prevents said frustration, as full health is always just a cover away. As RH systems generally tend to kill off players faster when not in cover, RH promotes more "realistic" approaches to encounter and advancing more cautiously in firefights. thus it shifts the focus more on the actual battles than the scavanging for ressources.
The downside is that gampleay becomes more static, and in many games you spend as much, if not more time staring at a chest high cover wall until your healed than actually shooting stuff. Thus, it's basically a mechanic that encourages passive behaviour.

IMHO hybrid systems rather combine the downsides of two than the upsides...

EDIT: An explanation of hybrid systems, as seen in Far Cry 2 and the Riddick games: the health bar is segmented: each segment will refill after a certain amount of time, unless it's completely depleated. You need to use a healthpack of some kind to regain those depleated segments.

So conclusively, I prefer games with no health meter, where one or two hits kill you (original R6, Red Orchestra, ArmA...)

Now, what's your take on this?

How do you like my new depleated skirt?

 

[Hamish Durie]

personally i like ye'olde just cause 2 where you take damage and you can only regenerate half of it and you have to fin health packs to get to full

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Regenerating health games mean that those games don't need to be properly balanced and thus is cheating!

Umm... you got that backwards, in terms of single player at least. Regenerating health keeps it more balanced. Without it, you never know if someone enters a room with 5 health or 100, so you dunno how to set the room up. With regenerating health, you can assume they are always at full, so you know how to set the room up.

OT: I still think The Chronicles of Riddick games had the best set up...

 

[Kaymish]

well i like both and it depends on how the game is balanced out and set up here are times where the health pack set up works or the times where the health regen works and yet more times where helth "potions" in your inventory work al la the RPG and hybrid systems are pretty good too on occasion

 

[LogicNProportion]

I'm going with Regenerating Health...at least for FPS's

I really enjoy the idea that I have nanomachines and I'm some kind of abomination of science unleashed upon the battlefield. Hence, why I am able to clear everything by myself.

...Seriously, I do imagine this, and it makes the games much more enjoyable.

 

[Iron Mal]

You wish to compare the mob mentality of addictive substances and the associated peer pressure, to that of a completely elective and free market for video games? I find that analogy strained at best and utterly wrong at worst.

I was just comparing mob mentality in general actually, something being popular doesn't inherantly make it good or bad, it just makes it popular (if you want one that isn't linked to addictive properties, millions of people commit crimes every day and even that still isn't a good idea).

If you found it strained or completely wrong then maybe you looked into the smoking part of it a bit too much?

 

[SyphonX]

Why does there have to be a universal standard.

I didn't read through this whole thread, but at first glance, it seems like everyone wants everything to be the same, "as they prefer". Not all games should be the same folks. Rainbow Six shouldn't use the same mechanics as Duke Nukem.

 

[Max David]

in singleplayer I still prefer the healthpack system, never had so much tension when going low hp against a mob because I didn't find any health pack!

Multiplayer however it would improve camping at healthpacks, nothing as frustrating as too get someone 1hp and then boosted too 100 because he sat close to it

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Healthpacks or hybrid. Reach did a decent job at that as well, the shields and then health not regenerating. Made things a lot more tense when your shields were low and your health was as well.

Issue is, developers won't get rid of it. Regenerating health makes the game a lot friendlier to those who haven't played and they see it as a good gap for more customers because of it.

 

[katsabas]

Depends. Online FPS should come with regen or something like the Unreal Tournament health vials and packs. Offline however, everyone should follow Bioshock and AVP. You get shot, you don't regen. End of story.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Why does there have to be a universal standard.

There doesn't have to be one, but at this point there practically is one.
By far, the majority of FPS titles released today use regenerating health simply because it makes it easier for the developers; not because it necessarily enhances the gameplay (it might, but most times I find it does not).

 

[WanderingFool]

I would prefer hybrid system, with locational damage ala Dues Ex (the first).

 

[Carbo]

I'm fine with both methods, although lately I think I've become a bit more partial to regenerating health, if only cause it gives me less of an incentive to backtrack or literally scour out an entire level without having any other reason than actually wanting to do so for fun. Not to mention there's just certain points were you just reach a point of no return with health packs and you might as well just give up and restart. Hiding behind cover is a surefire way of pacifying the game play perhaps, but it gives you a fighting chance at all times.

I haven't played Far Cry 2 but I did like Transformers: WFC's method. The health is split into bars that recharge, but if one bar is fully depleted, you have to actually find energy to restore it.

 

[Shio]

You wish to compare the mob mentality of addictive substances and the associated peer pressure, to that of a completely elective and free market for video games? I find that analogy strained at best and utterly wrong at worst.

I was just comparing mob mentality in general actually, something being popular doesn't inherantly make it good or bad, it just makes it popular (if you want one that isn't linked to addictive properties, millions of people commit crimes every day and even that still isn't a good idea).

If you found it strained or completely wrong then maybe you looked into the smoking part of it a bit too much?

Again, mob mentality has no place here and crime certainly has less of one. People dictate the market and developers create what we want them to - after all, they only make money if we buy their games.

Regardless of how good or bad you see the move to be, it is undeniable that we, the market, have chosen this for ourselves.

 

[Pyrosomniac]

To be honest I feel that quite a bit of tension is lost when a regen system is used. Health Pack system games were tense in themselves, and gave you a huge sense of accomplishment for taking out a horde with less than 25% health, while also having slower searches that were rewarding themselves. Regen cuts out the slower parts and subs in more tense situations. I feel it leaves me too... high gear. Too tense, and the accomplishment is gone because I know I can run the same level multiple times the same way and on my last attempt it suddenly works (the first Favela level in Modern Warfare 2 comes to mind, having loaded it plenty of times trying it on Veteran).

That being said, I do enjoy both, but as it stands the regen system is broken as it can be too easily exploited and recovery has no weight on the players experience. The more recent Call of Duty games are too tense and it always feels like you're being carted off to the next mission for more adrenaline straight away. There's always more stuff happening then to feel awesome for surviving. You mow down enemy soldiers like they're nothing. The pacing just feels way off because of this, as there is only one speed: GO! It's the main reason my dad stopped playing FPS games, and why he doesn't want to play Duke Nukem Forever even though he LOVES DN3D and Doom.

Recovery in FPS games should always feel rewarding, as well as in every facet of the game. So does that mean regen health is a bad thing? The way it's used today, yes, but with some alterations it could work really well. I like the idea of a hybrid system but I would make different segments. This might be hard to explain but imagine a health bar at 100%. Now take away 50%. No matter what % health you are on, you will always regen 20% from that point, but no more. The rest has to be healed by a health kit or bandage. If you take over 40% health without getting some regen, you start bleeding out, which forces you to take cover and rest for a bit otherwise you'll take small damage over a period of time, meaning you have to prioritize your healing first otherwise you risk not having as much health. Finally, limbs could be damaged and give bad effects until you use a few bandages, like slower walking, and shaky aiming. I would use this system in Call of Duty as well without the bleedout or bad effects, as it then gives you a priority and reward for prioritizing healing above anything else.

Until that's done, I'm a health pack guy.

 

[Shock and Awe]

I personally like Halo Reach's system with a layer of regenerating shields over your health that requires packs.

 

[Nightvalien]

regenerating means you suck at the game and can suck your thump every so often, it's just a mechanic to sell more to a broader more stupid crowd that wouldn't be able to play a game unless they are led.

 

[silasbufu]

I bet people who prefer healthpacks do it for the realism, but I don't see any realism in a healthpack being able to heal a bullet in your brain, or a grenade blowing up near you.

I think games should just have a hardcore mode and maybe everyone will shut up about it then. Regenerative health in normal mode, death after a few hits ( and the possibility of healing SOME of the wounds ) in hardcore mode.

Still, it's complicated.