Enhancing the Abilities and Intelligence of the Mawmen

Black Mesa Archive Suggestion Box
#1

Note: Just in case your confused, Mawmen was the other word used to describe the Headcrabbed zombies.

I know that Mawmen are slow and are not supposed to be bright, but they’re not completely stupid either. In the chapter, We Got Hostiles, they were smart enough to sneak through the vents and grab one of the Barnies. In the demo, Uplink, it’s suggested that they were working with the Houndeyes to lure you towards them and to trigger a trap which boxed you in with them.

What if you enhanced the Mawmen’s abilities, such as the ability to pick up wrenches and throwing them at you, the ability to climb a ladder and a rope, and the ability to crouch and climb through vents. Also, why not give them the ability to work with other Xen creatures to improve their efforts in trying to defeat you? They would still be slow and easy to kill, but I think some basic intelligence could be beneficial to the gameplay.

#2

Please stop calling them Mawmen. That name was always stupid, even more so now that it’s obviously broken ribs in their chest & not teeth.

As for your suggestions, most of the AI abilities you suggested aren’t even going to be possible for NPCs that are supposed to be intelligent, let alone zombies. Why not suggest letting them use guns while you’re at it? It’s easier to do than climb a rope.

#3

Sounds great, too bad it’s not possible to program that I think, and if is then sure it’s not easy.

#4

They can throw crap around now and it’s enough for me. And I’m sure we’ll find some torso zombie in some vents.

#5

As has already been said, your ideas do not fit and will not be added.

I do hope that the zombies will be able to hit props and such.

#6

They did in HL2 and, as far as I know, Black Mesa’s zombies share their AI, so I hope the prop-kicking behavior is still there.

#7

He meant throwing as in picking up a small prop (a wrench) with their hand & throwing it at the player, not just smacking things like oil drums that’s in their way.

#8

Where’s your imagination?

#9

Yeah, and the name “zombie” isn’t tacky at all… :meh:

#10

Here you go: https://www.wiki.blackmesasource.com/Zombie

May be outdated, but i doubt that they will have add abilities close to those you demand.
Besides, what would be the point ? The Zombie is a standard enemy, he isn’t supposed to have a challenging way to fight him. For that you got the Vorts and AGrunts.
I sppose for the “shocking moments” in vents the headcrab will be there, as in HL.
I quite liked the idea of zombie torsos in vents, or maybe dark corners. Remember the one in Half Life 2 in chapter Follow Freeman where you get out of the sentry room ? That got me on my first playthrough.

The thing with zombies pulling npcs in vents and such are scripted events and i believe they are still included in BM (look at the videos on the zombie page in the wiki)

#11

Simply not possible for one thing: They mutated claws can’t easily pick up little objects. Besides the hl2 zombie AI already punches objects to throw them to players.

As I said, the hands…

The Headcrabs are parasites guided by instincts. They only recognize their own race as friendly. The Headcrab’s maw structure is useful to attach to the victim’s nerves and control them, not to absorve their intelligence. They simply cooperated with some of the Xenians (only some as bullsquids still hunted them). The cause of this cooperation could be because of the Nihilanth control or that the headcrab’s maw structure is of no use against Vorts, Grunts, Controllers or other Xenian beings, yet they perfectly fit with human craneums. That made the headcrabs the perfect first invasion wave. Primitive beings that can only damage human beings.

Oh I just loved that movie.

#12

I like to think Headcrabs were just wildlife that got ported to Earth from Xen – not really apart of some invasion force. Sounds more like what the Combine did with them…

#13

The g-man is the leader of the headcrabs, who planned this whole thing. The headcrabs pretend to be used by the combine, with the headcrab-cannisters shelling earth, making people zombies. But one day, the headcrabs will grow in numbers and consume all human and combine forces.

#14

It’s not tacky. It might be a bit overdone, but it’s a perfectly apt name.

Yeah, I get it. That’s what they looked like back in HL1. The name doesn’t exactly work anymore now that it’s more obviously ribs.

While we’re at it lets start calling G-Man the Administrator again, because I’m sure that’ll never be confusing or rendered inaccurate.

#15

Thanks for the responses. I’m aware that it’s not possible to integrate my suggestions for the zombie’s AI, especially at this stage. I didn’t want them to be on par with the smarter enemies, but I did want some neat additions to their behavior. It’s a never bad thing to ask, even if what I ask is not programmable.

Mawman may be a stupid name for some, but at least it is more original than zombie, and I like the name better. From the first HL, I always got the feeling that was more going on in the headcrabbed-head of the zombie than a traditional. They’re not as smart or quick as their other Xenian counterparts, but they are eerie in their behavior just the same. (I would say that their chest has become a mouth, and not just a hollow spot with broken ribs. It’s a better way to nourish itself than stuff flesh into a headcrabbed-head that’s already sucking on something).

It’s true that Headcrabs get along mainly with their own kind, and that Bullsquids are hostile to Crabs. However, in the Uplink demo (I know it’s not canon, but I still like how Valve set the situation up), you had Houndeyes and Zombies working together to trap and rush you. We never got to see any of that in the main game, but I still found it one of most impressive parts of the demo.

Anyway, thanks for considering and discussing my suggestion. :slight_smile:

#16

While your suggestion may not make it in I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with all the improvements the team has made to the AI.
As for the name Mawmen, while it does sound cool, if I were to see one of those things lumbering towards me I’d be more likely to characterize it based on its behaviour than its open chest. And then gtfo screaming of course.
We call it a zombie because it most closely resembles, well… a zombie.
We want our language to be effective and easily understood, and that happens most when we call a shovel a spade.
:brow:
No wait, I did something wrong there…

#17

That was one hell of an introduction. I’ve never seen that movie 'til now. it is going to be a long night. Damn…

#18

Sheesh, the world would be no fun if you were in charge.

We wouldn’t have mawmen, snack-bugs, sound-dogs, newb-racks, face-suckers, xen-trees, claw-worms, or cuddle-runners.

#19

No, of course not!

#20

“Don’t forget the headhumpers Gordon!”

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.