The Health Bar is more realistic than Regenerating.

[nuba km]

Regeneration is regarding as a more enjoyable experience however.

actually I find health bars much more enjoyable. but I find games that have a mixture of health bars and regenerating health work quite well (e.g. resistance).

 

[Minky_man]

Regenerating Health makes games have a focus on Speed.
Health Bars makes games have a focus on Ability.

Taking into account a GOOD game based on each, with Regen you appeal to an audience that wants to blaze through a level feeling like a badass, with only surprises or complete stupidity being their downfall; with Health bars, you pretty much have to take the game slower because a GOOD game won't have Medikits laying every 50ft or give you the ability to quick save so easily.

As you can tell from the tone, I prefer Health Bars in a purely gameplay sense. You play the game differently depending on whether you're on 100%, 50% or 20% health, as a previous poster said, it changes the dynamics of the game, with Regen, it's the same shoot-out again and again.

Saying this, NEITHER are more realistic, hell, why do gamers even WANT realism in --->*GAMES*<--- Do you know how much of Real Life is spent sitting and waiting for something? Escapism people! What is the bloody point of Games if it's all leading up to just another 'Real Life'?

With games:
Realistic Graphics? Awesome
Realistic Sounds? Awesome
Game based, but not rooted in Reality? Also Awesome
Having to stop and watch my in-game character sleep for 8 real-time hours? Hell-The-Fuck-No!

 

[nuba km]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Resistance: Fall of Man yet. I prefer the segmented health system that game had.

I actually liked that as well. Of course, the healing was justified by the bacteria jugs of magic sauce.

yea that I think is one of the best health systems I have seen in a game (also off topic second player plays a black guy that never appears in the cut scenes me and my friend had many jokes related to that)

 

[DoctorObviously]

Please bring the health bar back.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

MGS 3 and LOTRO might have been mentioned, but if not;

MGS 3 had a bit of both, health slowly regenerated and you had a whole menu screen for treating injuries. There was also the occasional medkit (stimpack-looking thing) for emergencies.

LOTRO does the typical MMO regenerating health bar, but calls it "morale," your character's fighting spirit. In character, this makes a bit more sense to me, you and your foe(s) don't supposedly hit one another until the killing blow is dealt. (unless I've misconstruen it somehow)

 

[minka1995]

I definatly prefer health bars they make the game much more challenging and make you think out your tatics more

 

[Ice Car]

The problem with health meter is that you can have 1 point of health out of 100 (i.e. almost dead) and you can still work completely fine. At least I don't know many games that have any punishment for being low on health. In some, like Doom 3, there is some effect on the character, i.e. you hear your heart pounding or your vision is blurred/bloody, but to be at least somewhat realistic, that would have to happen when the player is, say, on 90 points out of 100, and that wouldn't be much fun. I think.

The problem with regeneration is obvious, but let's state it anyway: you get shot and you have to freaking WAIT under the table or something to heal. That's just a stupid concept.

The best compromise would be to have renenerating armor and non-regenerating health, with the player's status degenerating with every point. I.e. on 90 health, the sounds get a bit weird, on 80, the vision gets a bit weird etc., but due to full armor, you can still survive fine. Why haven't anyone thought of this?

Does the word "HALO" ring any bells?

Armor that regenerates but health that doesn't has been done. Minus that second part you put.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

LOTRO does the typical MMO regenerating health bar, but calls it "morale," your character's fighting spirit. In character, this makes a bit more sense to me, you and your foe(s) don't supposedly hit one another until the killing blow is dealt. (unless I've misconstruen it somehow)

yeah, and it also makes it seem less unlikely that you can kill someone by singing at them

...god i wish they hadn't gone to that atrocious f2p model, i'd really like to play my old minstrel again...

 

[silver wolf009]

Regeneration is regarding as a more enjoyable experience however.

I find that the tension I feel when I look down to see my health bar all but gone to be much more enjoyable than sucking my thumb in the corner for a few seconds. Personal prefrence though, just wanted to share my experience.

 

[XMark]

I want a game where if you get shot once you have to spend a week in the hospital followed by months of physical therapy after which you never quite fully recover. Also the game should delete itself if you die.

 

[Clockwork Scarecrow.]

Yes, we already know this, it is not a new idea.

 

[ToboTheHobo]

If a game gets too realistic it ends up loosing its fun imo, but some games do pull off a more realistic health system and thats cool for games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R but it would not work in a game like CoD where its very fast paced.

 

[Iwana Humpalot]

How about someone makes a game where you die when shot once or get injured so bad that you can not fight? I am tired of this conversation.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

How about someone makes a game where you die when shot once or get injured so bad that you can not fight? I am tired of this conversation.

Try Deus Ex on realistic.

 

[Torrasque]

Personally, I enjoy games that have regeneration over health bars, because you can just wait a second and regen your health instead of having to take the time to find health packs.
I still enjoy Starcraft and other games that have health bars, but it was so very frustrating to have my marines damaged, and not being able to refill their health bars (in SC1 mind you).

Health bars are more realistic than regeneration, of course, but video games are not real.
Any game that says it is "more realistic" is just mocking itself really, no matter how real the physics is, how real the guns are, how real the settings are. Video games are a parody of real life.

I find regeneration-style games (especially FPS) are more fast paced and allow you to be as reckless as you want, and wait for your health to get back.

 

[WanderingFool]

I view both health bars and FA kits and Regenerating Health unrealilistic, so there.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Ok lets be honest no one with half a brain considers a game like CoD or BF or MoH realistic sure BF has bullet drop. So your annoyance should not be that regen is considered realistic but that people have a bad idea of what a realistic game is. Of course no game is really realistic but things like Red Orchestra, Arma and Flashpoint are about as close as you can get.