The Health Bar is more realistic than Regenerating.

[Gitty101]

I'm not sure I prefer either one of them to be honest. They both work in their own way I suppose.

 

[Arduras]

I'm a fan of health bars, they add a layer of challenge to games, forcing to to move a bit more cautiously and use cover, etc.
But, regen has its place too, in CoD, the bar probably wouldn't work because the whole point of it is fast paced do-or-die style gameplay, which the bar doesn't really permit, because you have to think about the nice fight, and the one after that etc.

Remembering correctly, I personally enjoyed the SWAT 4 health system and an old game, 101st Airborne (Squad Based Strat) where damage was locational, but there was also a damage system as well.

You could take a shot to the leg, but it might have been a solid hit, shattering a kneecap, knocking that troop out of the fight; you can't fight with a shattered kneecap.
And even if they weren't knocked out of the fight, you need to get someone with them and fix the wound up ASAP or they'd bleed out.

It was tough, but I enjoyed it

 

[Silversheath]

Neither are very realistic. Realistic would be pretty much one hit one kill.Or rather, one hit, one kill, blackout form pain or near incapacitacion followed by bleeding to death. The ultimate difference is one of pacing. Health bars will allow for increased tension as level goes on, while regen allows for less tension building but has the adrenaline more evenly spread.

 

[Treblaine]

Well I think there needs to be a clear distinction here:

Rebounding health: you DO have a "health" counter (though it is usually invisible or abstracted), it's just it will heal within a few seconds

"normal" health: you also have a "health" counter (usually more quantifiable) but it is recovered by OTHER MEANS!

Now those other means can vary hugely in their realism. For example if health recovers instantly from health-packs, that's not very realistic.

But I prefer proper health as it makes the game far more engaging. With rebounding health getting shot is meaningless, it's like playing with cheats, you will only die if you REALLY screw up and get hit at lot in a single moment.

A non-rebounding health-bar makes every hit important. It also means far more interesting level design



I am however not COMPLETELY against all forms of rebounding health. Obviously you should not recover from bullet wounds with just a few seconds of rest, but lets treat the "health bar" as less "damage" and more "how close am I to death".

For example Left 4 Dead, it has a 2-tone health-bar, the full-colour represents your physical health, once that drops to zero you ago down. However it can be topped up with painkillers, those don't fix the physical damage that pushes you to the brink, just gives you the extra physical will to ignore your injuries temporarily.

Half Life series as well had a 0-100 health bar that would deplete if you were poisoned, suffocated or otherwise put under stress, yet the health would "rebound" with time. So you could stay underwater and watch your HP drop down to 1hp and jump out just before you passed out from lack of oxygen, you would recover all your health as you breathed again but you WOULD be in a weakened state, a single bullet would still kill you.

I think in-depth health meters like that would be much appreciated.

____

I just find and rebounding health/shield (as it is used today) as lazy Game Design. It is a simple drop-in work-anywhere solution, designers don't have to be so careful with the pace of enemies and placement of items. That's why I find Halo games so boring, there is nothing nice to find.

The EXCITEMENT of finding a health pack when you survived a prolonged gunfight with 1-10hp, that is something.

Halo needs more LOOT! I don't even like finding guns in Halo games as it's a zero-sum encounter, I have to give up one gun to get another.

 

[fatmrbunko]

well if you want realism why do u do the fallout limb mechanics put with enough realism that a shot to the head will kill you and if 1 of your limbs gets hit ur just as good as dead because health bars and regeneration are just as stupid as your not gonna know how many more shots you think you can take or have a set amount of 'life' tbh the only way you can make that system semi realistic is if you say its shields or armor only and hell i spose shields can regenerate and once theyre broken ur pretty much dead

sorry sooo long am very bored

 

[Virus0015]

Operation flashpoint: dragon rising had a very nice health system, locational wounding with a variety of wound severity that you had to stop and fix, if the wound was bad enough it would affect you for the rest of the level. To my recollection severity depended on what someone shot you with and from what distance (you could die in a single shot). Close range engagements were over pretty quick.

Of course Dragon Rising was a slow paced shooter, so the system would need to be adapted (maybe a regenerative version of this?).

 

[HeySeansOnline]

In my opinion the most realistic game out there is Reach, technology is actually heading that way, also I like how it does health. You have an outer system ( shield, armor, dodge abilty ) and then your inner health which is mediocre and can easily be damage.

 

[Caliostro]

First, I'm perfectly aware you're not debating which is better, simply which is more realistic. That said:

So called "realistic" games have done away with the health bar in favor of the get shot, regenerate form of gameplay.

To call this realistic is moronic. I'm not saying that the mechanics of a health bar are any better, but the concept is much closer to realism.

For example, a Health bar can represent how much a soldier knows they've been hit. Looking at it from an in-universe example, the soldier knows they've been hit, and should move with more caution until they can find a way to patch themselves up.

I wasn't aware soldiers had a graphical or numerical representation of the objective relative damage they've taken. I, for one, have suffer my fair share of injuries and damages and have never noticed a graphical or numerical representation of how much damage I've just received. Maybe it's different when you get shot. Generally when you're hurt all you get is pain... You can try to estimate how badly you're wounded from our much it hurts, how badly it affects you, and how it looks (providing you can see it)... But that's it... Mhh, wonder what system does that whole "No objective numbers, you gotta try to estimate how badly you're wounded by how it affects your performance or the visual cues" thing.

Speaking of which, did you get get shot or had a serious injury, such as the kind one finds in most videogames? I never got shot, but I've had my fair share of serious injuries, as I mentioned before. As such, I have to ask, can you PLEASE tell me where you can find those magical health kits that instantly makes everything better? Usually I take some painkillers, get surgery if needed, maybe take some antibiotics depending on how bad it is, and wait for my body to heal... Wonder what system does that again...

With the regeneration, it doesn't matter how badly you're hit, all you need to do is duck into cover until you grow your limbs back. You don't need to know how bad it was, you don't need to think over how to change your survival strategy, you just get back up and do it again until they die.

As opposed to simply walking over/using a magical pill/medkit that makes everything better in a few seconds?

The health pack pickup method of healing is about as close an approximation of real world first aid this side of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It forces you to take time out of combat to find a way to heal yourself, just like medical aid in the real world.

There are several regeneration systems that do that as well... Namely ones that only start healing once you haven't received damage in x amount of time.

Also STALKER's system is a mix of both. You take something to trigger a process of regeneration, which honestly is the most "realistic" system.

The MOST realistic I've seen is also an hybrid: America's Army 3. Again, slow and limited regeneration. If you're incapacitated you need medkit and assistance from a fellow team mate, and you can only heal a small portion of your life back, depending on your injuries. Some injuries are fatal, and therefore you can't be helped at all.

Either ways, games are about fun, not realism. That's what simulations are for. Both systems can work, it depends on how they're applied (see TF2 Vs. Monday Night Combat). Personally I prefer regeneration, but health bars can work too.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Sure health bars are more realistic, just less fun.

 

[spartan231490]

So called "realistic" games have done away with the health bar in favor of the get shot, regenerate form of gameplay.

To call this realistic is moronic. I'm not saying that the mechanics of a health bar are any better, but the concept is much closer to realism.

For example, a Health bar can represent how much a soldier knows they've been hit. Looking at it from an in-universe example, the soldier knows they've been hit, and should move with more caution until they can find a way to patch themselves up.

With the regeneration, it doesn't matter how badly you're hit, all you need to do is duck into cover until you grow your limbs back. You don't need to know how bad it was, you don't need to think over how to change your survival strategy, you just get back up and do it again until they die.

The health pack pickup method of healing is about as close an approximation of real world first aid this side of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It forces you to take time out of combat to find a way to heal yourself, just like medical aid in the real world.

The health bar is much closer to a real world method of combat in games than regenerating will ever be, while still being a true game mechanic.

EDIT
I leave for a few hours and the thread gets away from me. Allow me to clarify my stance above. I am not trying to imply that either system is inherently better than the other. A lot of my favorite games use the regeneration system.

What I am commenting on is the ridiculous notion that game developers have towards realism. Many games that tout realism as a selling point are misleading their buyers. (Looking at you COD and Medal of Honor)

If a gamer wants realism, they should play Arma 2 or Stalker. Then they can bleed out to their hearts content.

This rant just came off as an annoyance I have with the big time game developers. Sorry if my main message was a bit jumbled.

There is not one realistic shooter on the market. neither of these systems is any more realistic than the other, they are both completely unrealistic. When you get shot in real life, one of three things happens. Your armor stops it, you keep going. It's a graze, you curse loudly, and keep going. It's a solid hit, you are likely dead, and at the very least almost entirely unable to crawl, much less fight. This is not so much true with pistol and very low caliber rifle rounds, but it is true of shotguns, snipers, and most assault rifle rounds. Also, you don't respawn, but get to watch the entire rest of the fight as a spectator, either as a ghost, or while some medic tries to keep your insides from becoming outsides permanently.
Surprisingly, this doesn't make for a very interesting game.

 

[hyzaku]

Most realistic "damage meter" I saw was in the first Ghost Recon. You got shot in the leg? Then you can't run. Both arms get hurt? No weapons for you. Sniper round to the chest? You just died.

It hurt because it was a squad based shooter and if you lost a guy he was gone forever. Injuries didn't seem to heal much between mission either so that sucked too. It was frustrating because you basically had to spot every single enemy before they spotted you or you would die in a split second from a sniper or get wounded trying to find cover. I never made it very far, only 4 or 5 missions before I gave up. That game was a great example of too much realism hurting the "game" part of the game. It just wasn't fun having to restart the missions 20+ times just to get through simply because of realism.

 

[mrF00bar]

I don't have an issue with either, infact I like regenerating health because if you are good enough you can keep yourself alive for a long time.

 

[Sovereignty]

I personally think medi-packs only work in games where team work and AI are apart of it...

Otherwise taking the time to heal when you're solo means you get overwhelmed and can't keep the pace moving fast enough.

 

[DracoSuave]

Neither Health bars nor regeneration exist as game mechanics used to foster realism.

Regeneration is used to remove the health bar iconography from the screen, attempting to create immersion.

 

[demoman_chaos]

I prefer healthbars. Even if there is auto regen, a health bar is still very much prefered. Far too often am I slain simply because U have no idea how many more hits I can take. The screen turning red is a very bad design choice. It doesn't tell you anything about how much life you have left and all it does is hidner your vision so you can't see where cover is.

Killzone had the best setup, a segmented healthbar. You regen only the section and not back to full.

 

[WolfThomas]

I honestly like both like in Condemned 2 or a lesser extent Farcry 2. Seemed the most realistic with the minor damage you can shrugg off, versus heavier damage that needs medical aid.

 

[Firetaffer]

Regeneration is regarding as a more enjoyable experience however.

It's different but I wouldn't call it more enjoyable. Personally I find the whole health pack thing more enjoyable.

So do I, I'm getting a bit sick of getting ketchup all over my face before wiping it off a few seconds later.

 

[Klopy]

I suppose I agree. I liked where Mass Effect's health system went, with shields and a health bar, but it did regenerate after a while...

Perhaps a new system where, the more you get hit, the more total health gets taken away until a single shot can kill you. Between shots, health regenerates to its new total until a medical kit...

I dunno. Heck, I'm not a game designer, and I came up with a new idea. Good or not, I don't care. Its new!

Perhaps someone with a payroll could do better instead of using the 'regen' template.

 

[pwnzerstick]

I consider regenerating health lazy design, looking at half life, the game has an extremely meticulous design in terms of pacing. While you might say that regenerating health makes the pacing better, it is really just a cop out for developers to keep the action going.