So, as I was playing The Xeno Project and I reach a point where I had two routes; up and down.
Since the mod was just starting and I hadn’t been conditioned to believe one way was better than the other I was “free” to choose.
Now, what I mean by “free” is that I hadn’t already gone down lots of times in the same mod and been disappointed, same for going up. At this point in the mod I had no other information as to which would be better than whatever I felt like.
There were no obvious visual clues, lights, signs etc, same for sounds, so there was no way to know which was better.
Of course, this often happens within Black Mesa style mods but normally for left and right and most times both directions lead to exactly the same spot.
Whilst it is possible up and down could lead to the same place it’s very unusual.
Individually, these choices are almost meaningless because we can simply reload a previous save and try the other, but when viewed as statistics they could be useful for level designers trying to “encourage” players to go one way before the other.
Generally, I go down first because I feel that most of the time my objective is higher and I might move onto the next level and not be able to go back.
Perhaps you just decide randomly, or at least you think you do, maybe you have been “encourage” by subtle means?
What about you where do you go first, up or down?
I go up first, because going down is easier than going up due to gravity, and I like to get the harder part out of the way first.
Up. Strategically I think its better to have the height advantage for vision and firing, and its always been a battle strategy to do that.
I am talking about going to separate places rather than having a choice within one area. More like, if you are in a stairwell, would you go upstairs or downstairs first.
Oops, I misunderstood completely. 🙁 I usually go down first because there might be ammo under the bottom of the stairwell, and also I don’t want to miss anything elsewhere.
It depends. If I see enemies below without seeing a ladder, I’ll go up. If suddenly, lets say rocks fall upon the stairs along with a headcrab rocket, oh nevermind, down I go.
i go down first
because I can take down a enemy easier when I got a “advantage for vision” like what “@dougjp” says.
if I contact with enemy up over there, he can take me down
so down is always safe for me…
I agree. Always down first
Going up means to me going to the surface, so I will always go up
If I had absolutely no clue as to which route was more important than the other, I’d probably pick randomly.
It really depends. For GoldSrc games, I would choose up and quickly snipe/pistol kill those baddies below me. Too bad I can’t silently kill them, they automatically “sense” where I am. For example, mods like HL: Trespasser, I was crouch walking towards a Black Ops, and he suddenly sees me. Kinda BS. And in Xen-Warriror, I was up on the roof of the elevator, and the Black Ops guy instantly knows where I was hiding. How random is that. I don’t like it, it’s like they have chams on.
As for other games, it really depends. In Source games, I guess it’s a different matter since the engine is much more complicated, so enemy reactions are a bit more realistic? Haven’t played HL2 games in a while…
Then there are games like Sniper Elite, where being crouched and walking verrrrry slowly will not get you detected. Other than that, Splinter Cell series is also another example, but I don’t get why the enemies can not sense you and even see your glowing green night vision goggles. O_o
Setting that aside, yes Phillip, I have been playing quite a lot of mods, 3-4 in total so far. Will be playing more when more interesting ones come out. I didn’t exactly like Xeno-Project for its lazily done textures, but I prefer more “perfect” kind of mods. Wish the author put more consideration and effort when it comes to making the environment more realistic.
Down first for me, because up is usually the way out and I don’t want to miss anything….also, left or right when given a choice ? My default setting is the left path first…
When I am path finding in FPS games I tend to go in a direction that I feel would lead me away from the goal so that I can find any hidden goodies lying in wait.
In the case that there are absolutely no clues or hints which way the true goal path is, I will select a random path. Though, this is very rare because most of the time I find there is a sense of direction to your goal (as long as there is a definite goal), even if it is very small.
It depends on the game , in horror games I choose the darker path , since the lighted one may be a trap.
I go down first as I like to work my way up without missing anything. Simple.