Gamespot have posted a new F.E.A.R. Q&A session. They've interviewed Craig Hubbard, the lead designer and creative director for the title. It's interesting because the interview left Gamespot with more questions than answers. Here's a quote: GS: Tell us about the artificial intelligence of the game's enemies? Judging from our recent experience with F.E.A.R. they seem surprisingly skilled at defending themselves against incoming fire and aggressive enough to crawl under tight spots to get at us. What went into creating the AI enemies and what kind of tactics and challenges can we expect from them? And actually, what else can we expect to encounter in the game besides well-trained soldiers? CH: Our emphasis is on close-quarters combat, so enemy behavior was obviously a major focus. We wanted you to feel like you're fighting trained Special Forces units instead of rank amateurs. The AI is squad-based, meaning that enemies coordinate and communicate with each other as teams rather than individuals. They have pretty extensive environmental awareness, which factors into their navigation and use of cover, even allowing them to create cover by flipping a sofa or knocking over a cabinet to crouch behind. They'll also use hazards against you, so if you duck down next to a fire extinguisher, they'll target it in an attempt to damage you. You'll encounter various other types of enemies throughout the game. We've already shown the assassins, which are recon units with stealth camo. They're pretty fleet and acrobatic and rely on hand-to-hand attacks. We've also shown heavy-armor soldiers, who use heavier weapons and can take a lot of punishment. It looks to be shaping up to be one of the must-play titles of 2005 - my list of games is already long enough! Read the full Q&A over on Gamespot
Sounds good, hopefully theyll have a nice engine to go with the AI. The cynic in me is going to say though: People are gonna complain it isnt realistic enough (like it isnt meant to be - i know) with "arcade stylee" approach that they've used. I bet the CS players with throw a fit. People are gonna complain that the slow-mo is a rip from max payne or the matrix. It's inevitable. From the screenshots it looks alright. I wouldnt say "amazing!!!11oneoen" like Gamespot, there's little/no use of HDR or SM3 pixel shading by the looks which could have really added to the "creepy" effect. - For example that fire could light up the whole room, and with HDR would make the enemies look even creepier/fiercer. It's just like HL2 - great model detail, but rather average-above average world detail. Meh tbh. I bet the single player isnt as creepy as Silent Hill. Ooo a little girl, like that hasnt been done before either. The AI is gonna be hard which is GREAT, but i bet people will just lob it on easy and complete it in a record time then complain it's "too short" in the usual fashion. Either that or people will say it's impossible and get frustrated and uninstall it. /cynic off. Which is??
sounds like a mighty complex AI system compared to what we have seen in the past, (and i have a degree in AI so i should know ) lets hope they pull it off and it actually works
Rich, I understand your concerns, but if you check out what was said towards the end... the actual game is finished, they are polishing the game play and visuals before it is released. I suspect this might mean that they are going to sex the graphics up a tad - the game has been in development for a good few years AFAIK.
Yea, i read that but they didnt specify anything and as my cynical mode was on i just assumed the worst cause they seemed quite full of themselves in the interview. I hope they do sex it up a load, not that graphics does soley make a great game but if the technology is there and they want to keep up with the latest and greatest then they should aim to code for the best imo. Im just scheptical, but also excited about their use of unique lighting that they mentioned. Im still reserving comment for the final product, and hope it doesnt go the way of Doom, but with better AI.
AvP2 was one of my favorite games ever. I still play it at LANs. Previous points considered, I have a feeling Monolith is making another worthwhile shooter.
AVP2 was great - there was an element of freakiness in that title, so I don't doubt that monolith will come up with another freakshow.
