Soldiers AI using aimbots? Or in any case, being way too difficult.

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

I know it’s been mentioned in various ways, but I have to vent this. I’m getting tired of soldiers in Black Mesa who seem to have aim bots.

I’m on Surface Tension about to enter the military base (after the cliff section) and the aim and detection abilities of soldiers is downright RIDICULOUS.

Yes, I am playing on Hard.
Yes, I made it through ALL PARTS on Hard so far. I did find soldiers to be a bit too tough. But now it’s gone beyond any sense of logic.

Picture this: I am crawling from the sewers up a ladder. Both of them are standing back to me, chatting. As soon as I see the top of the back of their head, they turn around and shoot me.
There is NO WAY they could have seen me unless they have eyes behind their head.

So I crawl back into the sewers, chose a different ladder exit and go back up at a different spot. For some magic reason, ALL of the soldiers knew EXACTLY where I would come out and were ALL facing my direction, even though I became visible again at a completely different location.

The ONLY logical reason is that they are stuck on a aim bot, targeting where ever I am, no matter if they saw how I got there or not (i.e they can aim through walls/floors).

No offense, but this is not fair. There’s no strategy to use here. I can’t sneak on them, they’ll always know where I am. And the damage they do to me seems virtually equal to the damage I can do to them. Their reaction time is almost zero. Even when I know one is coming from a corner and I wait for him with a shotgun blast, I only get to shoot first about 70% of the time, hence I always quicksave before and after.

I know Hard mode is supposed to be challenging, and I don’t mind so much the fact that 1 soldier can kill me almost as easily as I can kill them.
But what I DO mind is that I’m unable to use tactics to overcome the fact that I’m 1 person against 10 strategically positioned enemies who seem to always know in advance where I am (i.e using an aimbot).

Make it fair: either allow me to use tactics by hiding and flanking from the sides, or allow me to go Rambo style with guns blazing and with realistic chances of survival.
Most games offer both options. At least offer one of them. Please.

#2

I totally see what you’re saying.
They are really tough.
I havent reached surface tension yet, but Im getting there soon.
They aim really fast and trying to flank and sneak wont work.

They are specially hard when you think about how easy every other mob is.

#3

I was playing around with NoTarget and in some areas, including the one you describe, they react to the player. I think it’s scripted into the map, to have the grunts scatter and move to a specific new area once the player hits a certian spot.

This also happens on the dam and probably lots of other places. The result of them turning around and moving is that they detect you and start shooting. If NoTarget is enabled, they just relocate themselves as par their seemingly scripted instructions.

#4

Just viz. my thread, already reported this to the devs.

#5

I know that section too well. I tried the same tactic. I resorted to crossbow and magnum. knowing where one is and I just take the shot asap, dive down go to the other hole climb up, fire at another one and duck back in. It’s equivilent to wackamole. don’t worry about aiming, just be fast. oh, and don’t let the tank see you.

#6

that place where you are waiting an elevetor to kill the tentacles and 6 houndeyes decide to teleport. I was holding grenades.

OHGODWHY

Half-life houndeyes seem like mudcrabs now. Not only grunts are overpowered

#7

The grunts are hard but not impossible to kill. Remember Run, Think, Shoot & Live :slight_smile:

#8

Is it not possible that they heard you?

#9

I actually very much enjoy the houndeyes now. In HL1, they were almost target practice. Here, they are an actual threat. When you see them, you have to run backwards like crazy while firing. But if you do this, you can actually handle them.
Same for Bullsquids. I take them much more seriously now (as I always should have).

It’s just the Soldiers that really annoy me, because they seem to have superhuman abilities, and even if they are super special forces like Seal Team Six, they shouldn’t have any special advantages over the human player.

#10

Actually I like it. Remember you’re not fighting against a bunch of gangsters with guns, they’re the fucking Marines, they’ve got one of the best trainings of the world. They don’t just simply miss when they shoot. You must move when you fight them, use your head, shoot explosive barrels, ambush them, I don’t know, just try to not fight them directly, cause you’ll lose.

#11

I really doubt it, because they were actually chatting when I was 1 inch lower in the ladder. As soon as I move up by 1 inch higher so that I can actually see the top of their head, they turn around. I really doubt that 1 inch is the factor that makes all the difference in the noise walking up a ladder.

But that’s what I’m doing. I am trying to not fight them directly. But it’s impossible to ambush them if they can always predict where I will ambush them.

#12

I think they should add a slight delay to them “noticing” you if you’ve been hiding for a few seconds and pop up somewhere else. Like have a half a second to a second where they don’t look at you if you pop up behind them, and then they turn and shoot, and maybe the same when they first notice you, they should get ready to fire, not fire instantly.

Other then that, I find them to be quite an enjoyable challenge. This is the first game I haven’t been able to breeze through in a while.

#13

If I wanted to play a game where I die in 1 second against humans, I’d be playing Call of Duty. HL1 is supposed to be in a different category and it is, but in this mod, it certainly isn’t when it comes down to military stuff.

I mean, thats exactly why it sucks. This is Half-Life, an old school shooter, when things were good instead of feeling realistically stupid.

The fun of old school shooters is that there are technical limitations and holes you can abuse that are fun as hell. Thats the whole point. Enemies can be smart, but they need to be slower, have slow aim, or whatever.

I remember there was one marine with a shotgun around a corner. I knew it. Save. The MOMENT I step out, BANG, shot to the face. Even knowing that and trying to shoot as soon as I can, I still get hit.

They have insane reaction, insane accuracy especially up close, and in team just tear you to shred. They’re basically flawless little bots and that makes them impossible to enjoy.

I actually have the same sort of issue with the Helicopter and even the Tank. Everything is just god-like.

I always had so much fun with all of that stuff in HL1. Here, the fun factor is at absolute zero. I’ve been using buddha mode for a while and even playing like that, I just sigh at every turn I meet them.

The team did awesome on so many things, but the gameplay there is a killer. I don’t understand how they could make it so bad, or did none of the team actually ever enjoy or understand old school FPS?

#14

Maybe they ain’t human but cyborgs? :smiley:

#15

I understand the heli, but the tank? A couple of shots destroy the turrets, which allows you to gain more ground on it and use your dodging skills, since the main gun is pretty slow to turn and to fire. Just need to strategize and figure out a way to deal some damage on it while it’s got you pinned down

#16

I didn’t realize you could destroy the turret. The main cannon is fine. But I despised that section. Soldiers shooting through the grating and I can’t even see them shoot through it. It was awful. When I’m in buddha mode, and I just stand there and look around for 5 seconds before I know where I’m getting fired from… its just…

#17

I’m honestly perplexed by everyone having so much trouble with the Marines. Even with the sewer section in ST, you’re not supposed to fight from below the grates. You’re supposed to play Whack-a-Freeman with the sewer ladders, which provides substantial cover. And the Soldiers are still dumb as shit enough to not toss grenades down there.

#18

the marines are tougher then they were, and the mp5 is not the all around kill everyone weapon anymore. adapt to it people, don’t ask for nerfs… lower the difficulty if you are getting owned.

#19

Its about game style.

This transforms those sections into modern games instead of being the old school run and gun shooter, which is what I loved about HL1.

#20

I found the feeling very much alike, except for the very weak mp5 in black mesa. the rest played exaclty like my half-life playthrough i do once a year since release.

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.