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Alright... I've never played any Aliens Game in the Past so this is my first, I'm a huge Fan of the Movies and Isolation, though. I've been looking for a good Horror Experience anyways, and after hearing so many Recommendations for this Game, I decided to give it a Shot.

Right now, I'm frustrated with the Experience I've had so far, so excuse my Wording...
However, I've got two Problems, or let's make that three...



1) Smallest first: I can't reload. If there's just a few Shots left in the Mag, I'd rather discard them for a fresh Magazine so I won't have to reload when the next Alien busily humps my Face. But there's no Way of doing so other than emptying the Magazine, and doing so does probably attract lurking Aliens Attention, does it? Because it seemed like it did as I tried to. Died three Times due to RATs (Reloading At the wrong Time) already...



2) More importantly... this Game's on Crack. Moving is just ridiculously fast. I know old School Shooters like Doom had Mach3-Icefloor Syndrome, I'm still playing that Game even today, but here it's just so much worse, it's ridiculous. I can't walk through these huge Tunnels without splashing my Intestines all over the next Wall even without any Alien Assistance if there was any Form of Collision Damage in this Game. Luckily, there isn't, so I only have to deal with the Problem of always having to turn around to stop facing Walls 90% of the Time and falling to my Death. And not being able to carefully peek around Corners because I go SPLAT at the opposite Wall of the Room anyways, if I tried.

Also, Aliens appearing at the other Side of the Tunnel seem to suddenly teleport [at least what it feels like] right into my Face or even behind my Back, because they're far too fast to aim for my Face - as I assume they intended to.

I know, I've seen Videos by now, and it appears it's supposed to be this Way - although mine seems to run even faster than that, still. But this doesn't make it any more fearsome to play, it just makes it plain unplayable for me. It's not scary having an Alien appeaOHTELEPORT whoops there's the Wall... it's just annoying and Immersion breaking. I can't play the whole Game with my Finger constantly holding down the Walk Key, either... not even changing the Control to Capslock allows me to toggle it. And walking feels like a really fast Sprint already.



3) Last but not least... adding everything up, this Game is already near unplayable under best Conditions. But throw complete Darkness into this Mix, and it's just over. If there's nothing more than thick Blackness all around me, there's nothing to be immersed in but this flat Blackness.

The Motion Tracker doesn't help either, as the Aliens move so fast they're most likely not even picked up by that Thing, they might as well be exclusively teleporting around for all I know... and as for Lightsources - those Flares won't help much, as the Light Redius is so incredibly small compared to the Speed everyone is moving at, blink and you've missed it. Nightvision isn't much of a Help either, as it just shifts around where you can't see - tiny Lightsources creating such a blinding Blast of Light you can't see anything near them.

And all this with a Character having a friggin' Flashlight mounted on his Shoulder, refusing to use it for whatever Reason. Surely, that would help a Tad.



So... what I'd like to know is, is there any Way, Mods, or even editing Files, that deals with any of these Problems...? I just don't have any Fun the Way it is, I don't feel any Immersion like this. Also, using TIMESCALE and LIGHT in the Console prevents me from Saving or progressing to the next Level anyways.

I really want to beable to play this, but at this Rate, staring at a black Sheet of Paper is almost as exciting to me as this... this is the first Game on GoG that's making me think about wanting my Money back as it is...
Post edited May 30, 2015 by BlackSun
This question / problem has been solved by Olde72image
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BlackSun: 1) Smallest first: I can't reload...
The MelPyth mod added a reload feature. It's not actually necessary. Reloading takes about 1 second for the pulse rifle. If you're dying to RATs, then you're not hitting the aliens before they get up to you, which means you need to work on your aim. It also sounds like you're not dodging. If you stand still and expect aliens to not be able to hit you, you're never going to survive. And no, firing your weapons doesn't attract enemies, they only come out when you've entered a certain proximity or hit them with a weapon.
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BlackSun: 2) More importantly... this Game's on Crack. Moving is just ridiculously fast...
That's the way it's supposed to be. You're not supposed to just spray and pray, you need to be accurate, and accuracy comes with practice. And I know you didn't mention this, but just FYI, the smartgun's auto-aim is completely useless, so don't bother using it for anything other than facehuggers. That frustrated me a lot when I started out. If you're going to use it, put it on manual aim. It's also possible to beat the entire game with just the pulse rifle.

Know that aliens appear at certain spawn points. If you memorize the spawn points, you can deal with the levels more easily. Don't be discouraged to use Training (Easy) mode to get used to the game's mechanics. Don't just discard the game after an hour or so of playing because it's faster than any other game you've seen before.
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BlackSun: I know, I've seen Videos by now, and it appears it's supposed to be this Way - although mine seems to run even faster than that, still.
Everyone says this. Yours is not faster, that's the speed it's supposed to be.
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BlackSun: I can't play the whole Game with my Finger constantly holding down the Walk Key, either... not even changing the Control to Capslock allows me to toggle it. And walking feels like a really fast Sprint already.
Bind Walk to your Forward and Backward key. You can bind multiple functions to the same key.
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BlackSun: 3) throw complete Darkness into this Mix, and it's just over. If there's nothing more than thick Blackness all around me, there's nothing to be immersed in but this flat Blackness.

The Motion Tracker doesn't help either, as the Aliens move so fast they're most likely not even picked up by that Thing, they might as well be exclusively teleporting around for all I know... and as for Lightsources - those Flares won't help much, as the Light Redius is so incredibly small compared to the Speed everyone is moving at, blink and you've missed it. Nightvision isn't much of a Help either, as it just shifts around where you can't see - tiny Lightsources creating such a blinding Blast of Light you can't see anything near them.
Motion tracker is pretty useless, yes. You can download the Redux Mod, which eliminates the grain entirely from the Image Intensifier. Alternatively, you can alter the Fastfile (I believe it's common.ffl) to manually remove the grain yourself. Not gonna go into that here. Flares are better than you give them credit for. Throw one in the middle of a hallway or on a broad side of a wall and it can illuminate enough.
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BlackSun: And all this with a Character having a friggin' Flashlight mounted on his Shoulder, refusing to use it for whatever Reason. Surely, that would help a Tad.
Flashlights are a crutch. Four flares are more than enough.
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BlackSun: I really want to beable to play this, but at this Rate, staring at a black Sheet of Paper is almost as exciting to me as this... this is the first Game on GoG that's making me think about wanting my Money back as it is...
Lol, watch some playthroughs of it. It helps to know where you're going on top of it. Aliens will respawn indefinitely and make your life a nightmare if you're simply stuck because you can't find where to go. I played through the campaign on all difficulties with no saves so it's far from impossible.

Also, the marine campaign is possibly the hardest. I have a guide on the marine that'll hopefully shed some light on how to play as the marine. I also recommend playing as a different species for some catharsis.
Actually, I got to a Point of Frustration where I just refused to accept the Bull of the Game, and just pushed through. I didn't fix anything, I didn't change anything, I wasn't immersed at all, nor did I flinch or stop walking for much longer than a few Seconds for Shooting. The hilariously broken AI of Aliens, unable to go through Doors and being stuck on Walls next to them, did the Rest.

This Game was an absolute Trainwreck as far as I'm concerned, it was a very, VERY poor Shooter doing everything wrong that could have been done wrong. I was more terrified playing Turok Seeds of Evil. Having played through the Marine Part, I can now say this is officially the most uninspired, boring Game I've ever played, even topping Doom 3.

Sorry if this sounds harsh or if there are Fans who think I just did it wrong. Actually, once I figured out the Pathfinding and AI, Aliens lost their Heads as soon as they showed up, I practically drowned in Ammunition, died only of fall Damage [Handrails, anyone...? No?] and even the Smartguns Tracking helped quite alot to make me aware that there was something coming at me again. Killing Aliens with only one brief Pull of the Trigger left me flying around with up to 33 Mags at one Point in the Game.

My preferred Weapons, the Pistols, turned out to be hilariously bad, useless, for being even slower than a pumpaction Shotgun would have been, and the iconic Flamethrower is the safest Way to Suicide, so I just stuck with the Pulse and Smart. And the occasional Rocket for hilarious Cyborgs. Those actually got me quite excited for a few Seconds as I merely heard it moving, expecting some kind of sick Mech or something like that, and instead... just an Alien with a few Wires.

I'm sure there was SOME Kind of Storyline I was supposed to follow, perhaps even one that might have had interesting Parts about it, if it weren't for the Aliens always being thrown at me right when the Guy talks about the newest Update, and the Messagelog being so rediculously tiny and disappearing so quickly that I stopped bothering even looking it up very soon.

It all made little to absolutely no Sense. One single Marine with just one Gun and no Backup, being sent to vastly different, unconnected Locations, with no Indication of where to go, just as an Excuse for having a braindead, triggerhappy Race.

With Levels completed in 10 to 15 Minutes, if I wasn't stuck because doors wouldn't open despite being supposed to [walking away and running into the Door again a few Times finally made the Door open...] Aliens spawning right in front of me and sitting there, curled up into a Ball, not even running into them triggering them... or two of them being Stuck on - or inside - a Vent cover, just twitching... buggy Stuff like that. I didn't care, though.

That about sums it up. I didn't care about anything in this Game. I had a Look at the first few Rooms of the Predator Campaign after finishing the Marines in like, what was it, 1:30 Hours or something like that...? And then just quit the Game to uninstall. Why didn't I do so earlier when I was clearly not enjoying it? Because I had Hopes it might change, and very little to do other than just being bored.

Let's put it this Way:
This Game is the exact Opposite of what I was expecting it to be, and its Speed didn't seem so bad in the few Minutes of Gameplay on Youtube that I didn't want to see too much of to avoid it spoiling anything before playing it myself. I'm honestly sorry, but I'm unable to comprehend the Praise this Game recieves. It has convinced me to turn away from Alien Games for good, except Isolation I won't be playing any of this Series anymore. My Disappointment is so big, I can't even find Words to express it properly. Nothing personal though, so thanks for the Answer.
Post edited June 01, 2015 by BlackSun
You're solely judging this game on AI that was made in a period where, frankly, AI just wasn't good. You do realize the game was released 16 years ago, right? Even the Civil Protection from Half-Life 2 (which came out 5 years later) just stand there unflinching while you pour bullet upon bullet into their heads. If you played this game expecting brilliant AI, of course you'll be disappointed. You could equally complain about the AI of literally any other FPS of the 90s. Rebellion's solution to this was to have them move extra fast, pounce out of nowhere, and reduce the environments' lighting. But just like any other game of its time period, enemies don't employ any real strategies. I'm not quite sure what you expected.

Besides, the game was conceived more as a multiplayer game. I take it you've never played the game's competitive multiplayer modes with other people (coop doesn't count). I'll play you as an alien against your marine any day and then we'll see if you say the same thing. Of course, nobody plays multiplayer anymore because they're too stupid to ban the cheap weapons or they give up when someone with experience kicks their ass too much, then they leave REAL quick. But just watch some competitive videos, there is a lot of skill and strategy involved, especially as a good marine.

And no, there is no storyline. Rebellion rushed at the last minute to create some semblence of a story because Half-Life's release six months earlier made the FPS market want story-driven games. But you can level the same criticism against other classic games like Wolfenstein, DOOM, Duke Nukem 3D, Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior, and Unreal Tournament just as a few examples. Does that make the games bad? No, it was a different era where the story didn't drive the game.

And what story did you want to see anyway? ALL AvP stories suck donkey balls. Did you really want to see the "You=Rookie stranded on an alien planet having to escape while the company wants to obtain alien eggs and predator technology because EVIL" cliche again? Jesus Christ, the lack of a story actually made the campaign tolerable.

Of course, GOG players mostly only play games for single-player, are really picky, and write off games easily, so I'm not totally surprised at your superficial nitpicks disguised as disparaging criticism.

To write this game off for its shitty AI and lack of story is to miss the biggest draw of the game. But whatever. You complained that the game was too hard, then suddenly that the game was too easy. You also complained about the pistols being weak, which is how pistols are treated in pretty much every FPS ever made, so I'm not sure how seriously anyone can take your criticism.