I can’t believe I haven’t asked this question before.
They way we play must affect the types of maps and mods we prefer, to what degreee I don’t know, but I am sure it does.
I also wonder whether we change our playing style as we get better and older.
What do you think?
The Poll
Voted tactical. That’s me, sneaky, and why I enjoy mods like SM and Offshore in particular which provide satrisfaction to my tastes. Also, you play for longer doing what you enjoy. More game play to boot.
It depends on the mod. And when it does, it means the mapper has really succeeded. If you’re able to run and gun through a mod from start to finish or are always being careful or thinking of what to do, then the variety that makes a standard HL gameplay experience so rich must be absent.
There’s got to be room for a bit of everything, more so when speaking of longer mods.
In my opinion, what you’re doing (story, goals etc) must be clear, and how you do it (pacing, actual gameplay) has to be everything but obvious. That’s where I find the best balance.
I agree completely. Every mod should allow this variety, including puzzles, like I said in my older posts. Grey Acumen is right, you’re missing an option 🙂
it depens a bit with me, its also like Jasper and Kasberg say above. personaly I like firefights, but tactical. rooms filled with enemies are no fun to me. still, games like Painkiller and Dreamkiller I do like a whole lot, and there its running and gunning. but, in a nice admosphere. on the other hand I do like games like ‘tom Clancys – Rainbow Six series, were (specialy with the older versions is) one shot one kill. what makes that you have to think before you place one foot in front of the other. still, all in all I considder myself a tactical shooter, so I voted for tactical-carefully and planned.
leon
KILL EVERYTHING.
NEED MORE BULLETS.
But really, I use singleplayer games as my time to cut loose and play like I’m a hyperactive 11 year old.
I do explore if there’s something indicating that there’s an ammo cache around, but other than that, I just kill and proceed.
I also voted tactical. I also love exploring but I very much enjoy planning my moves and careful playing.
I learned a while back that run “n gun playing made me nervous and stressed!
I get to play longer and I get more enjoyment in tactical mode.
I’d have to say I am a mix between run and gun and tactical. Run and gun if that works –and tactical if required. (Tactical itself can require a fair amount of running and gunning. The distinction lies in having a plan.)
I always like it best, when, like Kasperg says, they let you play in different ways. Personally, I think there should always be some sort of way that works well for each segment. Not being able to play it in a effective/good way (as in, no option exists) sucks.
Your poll is missing an option set. Intellectual/Mental/McGuyver.
I’m the type of player who wants to be challenged mentally. Psychonauts and Portal are two of my favorite games, with the Half Life series ranking in close behind them (with The Trap standing out as one of my favorite mods). Mental challenges are the spice of life and keep games from getting boring.
There are only so many times and only so many different weapons that you can shoot something with before it becomes rote. Puzzles provide unique and interesting challenges, but more than that what is truly validating is being able to discover indirect puzzles, puzzles that part of the challenge is recognizing the puzzle for what it is.
I particularly love scenarios where I don’t attack directly. Where instead of using the RPG to blow up a giant enemy, I can instead use a pistol or even the crowbar and use the terrain in order to take that enemy out (giant push a car off a cliff onto unsuspecting enemy below, lead gargantua into giant electrical field, matador style dodging Ant Lion guardian to make it crash into and set off mines, switching a track as you pass it so the pursuing enemy crashes, etc). Where going in guns blazing will still wind up with you half dead and out of ammo despite the best skill, but taking advantage of your surroundings properly can result in taking no damage at all and barely use a handful of bullets.
I voted for Explorist! 🙂 I always think Valve or some modder will put something somewhere that will help me and I must find it, even though Ive seen every single model in the Model Viewer and have looked at many maps by decompiling them… Even playing through Half Life for the 7th time, I visit every single house in Highway 17 and get every ammo cache in Route Canals…
However, Ive noticed traits of walking in and killing lately? thats sad, because more often I also fail at simple puzzles… Whats happening with me? *cry
Tactical – Careful and planned.
I know this may sound insulting to a degree but when I play some mods, it’s extremely obvious the maker sometimes hasn’t made the game flow in a direction as obviously as a well experienced mapper would, meaning you may need to go in an unexpected direction to achieve something. You can usually feel this from the first 20 minutes after playing the mod.
In these cases, I end up being highly tactical looking for the next possible objective, hoping not to miss anything. I know some people like me don’t get endless time to play mods and would love to experience the whole thing…and that doesn’t include me sitting in one location for an hour pressing “e” on every surface!
In the Half-Life universe I am an explorer. I like to investigate the environments. Most of the times for hidden goodies. Nom nom! But I am also the hero, Gordon Freeman, with a mission and often in a hurry. So I run and gun, but when odds are against me I need to be more tactical to come out alive. Because I don’t die, I am Gordon Freeman. 🙂
So in Half-Life I am everything. In other games I am often more tactical than taking the risk. If I do take a risk I am usually doing so with a donkey scream or with good odds of winning.
Run and gun is option 4 me >:] .
I like taking my time, exploring everything, being very tactical, and killing everything. I wish I could pick all of those.
When PC games first came out I was slash & trash now approaching 70th birthday I take it very slow and deliberate