Hi All,
Well, i'm back with another gigantic post for you!
Before we get on to the goodness though, I would like to re-iterate a few things for you.
If you PM me, I will not answer. I don't mind if you do, but dont be offended if I don't reply. Please post your questions in the thread, as it benefits the community at large.
We are not discussing balance at this time - You are of course free to keep asking questions, storing them up for the time where we will discuss this. I simply want to avoid you feeling frustrated as to why you have not recieved an answer to your question.
It also looks like we are not going to be able to get through the entirity of the questions (simply from looking at the volume of them, not accounting for duplicates or balance questions) by the 16th of Feb. We will continue to answer post-release, we just wanted to apologise for not being able to get through all of them in time for release.
Now, on to the Q&A
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 11:34:03 AM
2. Crouch/Duck... Why is this "standard" feature missing... ?? Is there some compatibility
problem with other gameplay features like trophy/stealth kills or something or did you simply
consider it to be unnecessary for some reason. (I certainly have found the inability to duck
occasionally quite frustrating...) ??
Ultimately we felt the ability to crouch was primarily only useful versus other ranged (i.e. Marine) combatants, and we chose to spend the time on implementing/polishing other features
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 11:34:03 AM
3. Alien Jumps... While on the ground alien can Jump without aiming at anything but while
crawling on walls and ceilings, the Jump button simply will not respond unless your aiming at
some "target" you can reach... Which is Very Frustrating!
( Wouldn't it be better to allow aliens to jump any time like when on the ground and IF there
is nothing on reach then simply let the gravity take where it may... ?? )
You can detach from walls by using the Transition button
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 11:34:03 AM
4. "Wall" Tail... Aliens are able to zap at their enemies very quickly/instantly with their Tail
while crawling on Walls and Ceilings.. Considerably faster than when on the ground... Is this
Intended advantage or oversight ? Either way... The inconsistency is somewhat annoying
This is intended as a payoff to the alien for getting into position – you can also head shot opponents when using the tail strike from a wall/ceiling, but it requires you to aim for the head.
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 11:34:03 AM
5. "Ceiling Kills"... It would seem that all Stealth and Trophy kills are always done on the
ground, is there any possibility in some DLC to give aliens their "trademark" ceiling kill where
aliens reaches down to grab some *thing* and then pull it up to be executed... ??
We chose to focus more on rewarding the alien for using the walls and ceilings by making them the place to hide and leap out from the dark at their Prey. A ceiling trophy kill, whilst viscerally interesting was something we felt simply encourages Aliens to run around on ceilings to get their Trophy kills rather than to truly stalk their Targets.
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 11:34:03 AM
6. Dragging... What about aliens dragging victims around... ?
We liked the idea from a conceptual point of view – certainly fits with the franchise, but felt that it did not fit into our desires for the gameplay
Quote from: The Replacement on Feb 10, 2010, 11:42:03 AM
Why did you guys decide against the use of Iron sights with the pulse rifle and shotgun? Personally I feel the ability to use iron sights in FPS' is a huge catalyst for immersion into the game. I know at this stage there is no possibility of it being implemented, and don't get me wrong, judging by the demo the game is going to be simply wonderful, but I'd love to know the dev teams reasons for omitting the use of Iron sights.
We felt this to be in the same category as crouch really – nice to have, but in the majority of scenarios actually not very useful. In our tests we found that most people were firing from the hip at the onrushing aliens, and using the scoped rifle for more accurate shots. So for the same reasons as crouch (other features/polish) we decided to not have iron sights.
Quote from: The Replacement on Feb 10, 2010, 11:42:03 AM
I noticed on the menu screen for the PS3 that the xray image of the face hugger rotating is not there. But it is there in the 360 version. Have there been many graphical sacrifices Rebellion has had to make on the PS3 version?
Kind regards.
We feel that the Visual Quality of both the PS3 and X360 are very comparable to each other. We have not made any sacrifices for the sake of one or the other. The lack of a menu video playing in the background sounds like a bug, and is surprising to us as this is the first place we have seen it mentioned. The new PS3 demo is up on PSN, I'm looking at it now and it does have the Facehugger movie playing in the background, so why not download it again and see if that solved your problem!
Quote from: Xenomorphine on Feb 10, 2010, 11:52:36 AM
Welcome from the moderating team!
I'd like to ask a question about the Predator HUD: In one of the earliest adverts, we saw the Predator go through the classic 'snapshot' zooming stages. This was very authentic to the films and was a refreshing change to Rebellion and Monolith's last attempts at portraying it. There were many times, during gameplay of those earlier two titles, when I can remember trying to magnify/demagnify and, because it wasn't instant, it cost me precious seconds when an unexpected enemy came up and started hacking away at me.
But now we've got the demonstration and it seems the old implementation's returned: A slow, scrolling zoom, instead of the snapshot effect shown in the films.
Is this something which will change in the final product and was the original advert a result of experimenting with this feature?
We found that the snapshot zoom felt too jarring with prolonged use, so made it a bit softer.
Quote from: Xenomorphine on Feb 10, 2010, 11:52:36 AM
Also, it's been said that Aliens using 'acid spit' will only be faced in single-player, but not multiplayer. Considering the Alien is in need of more attacking variety, why was this decided? Or is it something which is under consideration?
We wanted the player alien in MP to feel powerful without the need to resort to introducing a ranged damage attack. It was always there as a last resort should we need it, but our intention was always to make the Alien capable in a melee fight. Balance is an ongoing discussion, and we will not be making any comments about it for the moment, but rest assured the intention is there but not at the sake of making the Alien (or any of the other species) into an unstoppable God. It's a fine line though, and highly subjective.
Quote from: AJL on Feb 10, 2010, 12:03:13 PM
Hmm... This sounds Veery Good But... Is the Block the only way out ??
Can you abort your Heavy Attack and go with your Light Attack instead ??
( Aborting your HA by bringing up your Block won't do you much good if
the enemy responded to your HA charging with ranged weapon... )
You can only interrupt a Heavy attack with a block, but there is nothing stopping you from immediately dropping the block and using a light attack. i.e. HA > block > LA. Give it a go
Quote from: Dusk on Feb 10, 2010, 12:20:33 PM
Question 2, Counters.
Will the Alien be able to knock the Predator down during a counter in the finished product? We're talking after all about a species that can dent and tear down steel doors. It seems quite strange that an Alien doesn't have the strength to throw down a Predator.
The current melee counter values for the predator in the Demo, are the same as are in the final product. Balance changes as stated previously, are not being entertained until post-release.
Quote from: MadassAlex on Feb 10, 2010, 12:23:21 PM
Can you speak a little about the decision to include so few weapons?
My best guess is that you were working under the concept of economy of design, and didn't want a case of duplicate weapons, where two weapons would fulfill the same role. For instance, there's no point to a rocket launcher when a single pulse rifle grenade neatly puts an end to both an Alien and a Predator.
Am I correct in my guess, or were there other reasons?
Our primary goal with AVP was to make each species feel more like a species, rather than 3 different teams with tweaked attributes/weapon sets. As such we felt that we needed to be able to achieve that primarily, and if we could not achieve it at a "base gameplay" level, then additional weapons or functionality were unlikely to make that any more feasible. This is perhaps best summed up with the K.I.S.S acronym
. Moving forward, we would certainly consider an increased weapon/feature set as something that would bring additional enjoyment to the game/franchise. If you look at the weapons and feature set as a whole across all 3 species, we feel there is still a considerable and varied amount present.
Quote from: MadassAlex on Feb 10, 2010, 12:23:21 PM
What's with the Alien growling in multiplayer? I know it goes off when you move at normal pace, but what about when Alien players are stationary or slowly creeping forward? What sort of sound effects give clues as to your position then, if any? I ask because said sound effects often spoil attempts at stealth, especially against Predators.
The Alien movement noises (not the "brohiss"
) are actually local to the alien player only – other players don't hear it (i.e. there are different sounds/volumes for 1st person and 3rd person noises, it's louder for you because you are closer to the camera). What you are hearing in the refinery level are actually background ambient sounds, which include Alien growls. Keeps the tension up
Quote from: MadassAlex on Feb 10, 2010, 12:23:21 PM
Finally, what health levels is each species set at? My best guess, based on the Marine's three health bars, is that Aliens have the equivalent of three or four and the Predators have the equivalent of five.
Marine – 100
Alien – 130
Predator – 150
Keep in mind that Headshots do more damage.
The length of the bars on each Species HUD, do not directly correlate with each other.
Quote from: Jobe on Feb 10, 2010, 12:26:16 PM
1. Is there any chance that a universal TAUNT button/Key can or has been added for all species for MP ?
There are currently no plans to add taunts to the Marine or Predator. Sorry!
Quote from: predator25 on Feb 10, 2010, 12:33:05 PM
1: As seen in the Survivor trailer, we se a marine with a smartgun and the rest with PR's. How will the weapon system work, will players have to get points and buy them off walls or something or just find them?
2:Will players have to use points to open new areas to extent the Xenomorph Horde?
In Survivor you will have to pick up weapons as you do in the main game – but no level has all the marine weapons in it. We didn't feel a point system, both for weapons and unlocking new areas were appropriate and as such do not have that mechanic.
Quote from: Valthasar on Feb 11, 2010, 09:37:05 PM
Will Survivor Mode be in the matchmaking search list or invite from friends list only?
You can search for Survivor matches via Matchmaking (not ranked, friendly/player match only), browsing for games, or joining a friends game in progress (while at the lobby stage). Matchmade and create/browse Survivor games played online through the MP system upload scores to the Level Leaderboards, and there is one for each Survivor map.
SP Survivor games do not upload their scores online as this is provided primarily for players with no Internet access. You can choose to play a 1 person Survivor game by yourself in the Multiplayer environment, and as a result upload a "singleplayer" score.
Finally, I have some further information with regards to the Predator Vision mode bug I talked about yesterday;
Both Nvidia and ATI/AMD drivers allow you to create profiles for games - if you would like to have AA enabled for other games, but not for AVP because of the Predator vision mode issue we suggest you create a profile for AVP that disables it automatically. There are guides available on the internet specific to both manufactureres that can help you with this.
We hope you have an enjoyable weekend playing the demo on PS3, or the other platforms. Not long to go!
Cheers,
Eric