Poll: Regenerating health

[LitleWaffle]

In Call of Duty, what would you have done if bullets did the same amount of damage but your health didn't refill?

Well for starters I doubt they would do the same damage considering they determined it with the assumption of health regen, but anywho...

Probably lob some grenades in there, and if smoke actually affected their aiming, I would use one of those to hopefully get to some cover. If I had a stun grenades instead, I would throw one behind them so they still get stunned, then dive to cover and hopefully kill them while abusing my stun grenades.

However, you're missing the point.

Some games are made for Health Regen and some for Health Items. I prefer the ones with Health Items. Call of Duty wasn't really made for Health Items, and I don't really care for Call of Duty. The FPS's that I prefer are ones that were made for Health Items, cause I don't care for regenerating health.

 

[KalosCast]

Oh hey, it's this thread... again.

Regnerating health leads to better flow and easier-to-predict difficulty in setpiece battles, as well as helping prevent unwinnable scenarios. If I have a health bar, I better be able to actually carry healing items on me.

Ideally a mix of the two (like in the first Halo game) is the best solution of combining care and forethought with pacing and flow.

 

[bbad89]

I love health kits, especially for MP. Main reason: TF2.

 

[Madara XIII]

SNIPPIDY DOO DAH

I'm just going to say this and walk away

MEGAMAN 2 LIFE SYSTEM!!!!

*Drops the Mic Dramatically and walks off like a badass*

 

[Saviordd1]

It worked in halo, thats about it. Call of duty lost my respect when it started doing that. RPG's make sense when they do it after a battle (thinking Dragon age here) but otherwise its bullocks

 

[Irridium]

Regenerating health sucks. I just hate getting shot 2 times, then having to hide behind a rock while my health regenerates.

I also hate starting at a point with a sliver of health.

The solution? Segmented health. As seen in Resistance Fall of Man, Far Cry 2, and Chronicles of Riddick games. Your health is divided up into bars, and each bar regenerates but ONLY if that bar has some health in it.

For example, if you lost, say, two and a half bars, the one with the half would regenerate to full, while the other two wouldn't.

This would make players think before they recklessly charge into battle. But the player will always have a set amount of health. Which would allow you to plan accordingly(maybe have the game look at the players health, and spawn encounters with different amounts of enemies depending on his/her health).

EDIT: Or, alternatively, you could do what Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 did. If you spawn at a checkpoint with low health and/or ammo, and are getting killed a lot(say after 5 times of dieing over and over), it pops up a message that says the following:

War isn't fair, but a videogame should be. Would you like to respawn with full health and ammo?

A) Yes
B) No

That would also be sweet.

 

[Dimeinurear]

It's an excuse for developers to make a game with terrible pacing. Only rarely is it executed properly.

 

[warprincenataku]

I think it keeps up the pacing of some games, but not all. Instead of limping around trying to find a health pack it's nice to be able to sit back, relax a few seconds and be ready to get back in the game.

 

[LoFr3Eq]

It makes sense is Starcraft because it is well explained how it works: Terran's don't regen unless they employ the abilities of a medic of medivac. Protoss' health doesn't regenerate but the shields they have do regen out of combat. Zerg's Regenerate over time and regenerate faster on creep, this is apparently because they have a super fast metabolism and have the ability to convert dead cells into living ones, Zerg can never die of old age as a result.

Edit: also it kinda works in the Jedi Knight series because of the force healing power.

 

[pope_of_larry]

I like how halo 1 and halo reach did it recharging shields with a heath bar.

 

[Ashcrexl]

i actually cant stand persistent health bars anymore. i was replaying GTAIV and i was getting really annoyed that i had to play carefully to avoid getting shot while shooting from cover. i hate playing carefully.

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

Magically regenerating health removes one more facet of strategy separating "interesting and unique interactive challenges, that are also fun as balls" from "PRESS BUTTONS NAO!!!!!!"

 

[Cid Silverwing]

It breaks immersion completely, but I would forgive it IF THE HEALTH METERS WERE ACTUALLY THERE!

Pulsing the screen up like you literally have bloodshot eyes is NOT a good indicator of your remaining health!

 

[lacktheknack]

Far Cry 2 almost had a good system.

You regenerated a small amount, but the rest needed to be fixed manually. If your health got TOO low, you had to set your dislocated foot, pry out a bullet, fix a broken finger, etc.

Where did it fail? One water bottle = full health.

 

[Loonyyy]

Health in games can never be realistic. Realistic FPS games are extremely punishing with 1 shot kill scenarios making skillful tactics rather than skillful playing the most important attribute of the player.
So the Realism arguement is invalid: health bars an regenerating health are not realistic.
Far Cry 2 as some pointed out has an interesting combination of the two that I liked, as did Half Life 2, in the latter's case, lower health levels meant taking less damage, and extreme low health was repaired.
The feel of the game is the important thing, games like Call of Duty have killstreaks, which are designed to be common, which are most easily attained if every fight is mostly "fair": both players have the same amount of health.
Games like Counter-Strike are about a combination of teamwork and extreme skill in terms of aiming. These are designed to be challenging encounters where a perfectly balanced battle involves no player killing more than one opponent. In a professional game of CS, making a Team Down is an incredible feat.
The different systems simply complement different games, no need for any hate.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I like it as much as health bars. Both have their pros and cons: health bars mean you usually tank more damage at once, but have to find a way to replenish lost health; regenerating health usually means less overall health, but you usually are always at full health.

 

[Gill Kaiser]

It works with Mass Effect 2, but I would want to burn down Bethesda's offices if they put it in Skyrim, for example.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I don't mind it in certain games like Resistance: Fall of Man, because it's actually explained. You're given a reason behind the health regen and it's not even full health regen anyway.

 

[Irriduccibilli]

What's the alternative? Stuff like potions and health packs aren't exactly realistic either. It depends on the game what works best.

Personally, I think a system where you have multiple health bars works the best. You can regenerate all of the health in one bar over time, but when a bar is completely depleted, you need some sort of health item to get it back.

I believe Far Cry 2 did this, and it actually worked out fairly well