Phydeaux on 17/7/2002 at 16:15

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I probably said this elsewhere already, but the reason I'm against dual pistols (or whatever) is because, in a game, you can't aim in 2 different directions at once. There's only 2 logical reasons (that I can see) that a person would want to carry a weapon in each hand. One would be to double their firepower/rate of fire/ammunition count, shooting in the same direction. IE: The pistol carryring zombie. Still, IMO, this is unwise, and unrealistic. With impropper aiming and recoil control, all you're doing is putting a lot of bullets in the same vague general direction. A well aimed, controlled shot or 2 can be far more effective then 10 badly aimed shots (and less a waste of ammo).

The only other logical reason I can see would be so the person can aim in 2 directions at once, which as I said above, is impossible (without some sort of auto-aim, which would be a stupid gameplay choice) in a video game. I agree that it would be cool, and add a nice stratigic advantage, but it just couldn't be done without having 2 mouses (and some way to get rid of the tunnel vision a computer monitor gives us).

Someone mentioned games that have AI that reacts with suppressive fire, and I can think of a couple. No One Lives Forever and Soldier of Fortune 2 both have enemies that will hide behind objects and shoot around walls. However, neither seem to do this when being fired upon (and hide when shots get closer); rather, it's just AI scripting telling them to get behind something. Ghost Recon's enemies do very much the same, but they seem smarter at it.

Still, none of these games have enemies that will lay down suppressing fire to make you take cover, while they themselves run for cover (although at times in GR, it does seem like one guy will shoot at you while his friends do run for cover, just not himself), nor do they react to covering fire you lay down yourself. It'll be a great day for gamers when someone figures out how to do this.

faetal on 17/7/2002 at 22:19

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Regarding SOF2, that is not stricxtly true as the AI is programmed to include the desire to stay alive. Best example is if you let loose a frenzy with the M60 and miss, they still get the hell behind cover. Another good example (though a bit reminiscent of paper, scissors, stone if you ask me) is the AI in RTCW, whereby the AI will back off if outgunned. I can only presume that this is catered for by comapring the weapon the AI is carrying compared to your selected weapon. Best example is if you equip the sniper rifle - just watch them re-evaluate their tactics.
f.