tutorial: adding monsters and NPCs (tut6.rmf)
While the structure and lighting of a level can paint a nice atmosphere, it is the monsters which can give it a distinct personality. Half-Life offers both hostile and non-hostile (NPC) monsters.
NPCs can be used to "give life" to your level. In the above picture, a scientist inspects a drafting board. After a good look, he continues about the room doing various tasks and inspecting things. One of the interesting things you can do is get monsters to interact with each other, as shown in the shot below.
"yes Johnny, they're just dancing."
The tutorial level has been expanded quite a bit now. The two basic rooms are still there, along with a larger design room and a side office.
If there is one thing you should keep in mind when placing monsters in your level, its their purpose. Looking at the example level, the purpose of the three monsters is quite clear. The scientist is working. The zombie is, well, doing what a zombie does, and the headcrab is looking to make you a zombie as well.
To go along with this purpose, you can also make it look like monsters are doing more than shuffling from point A to point B. The scientist in the tutorial map, for example, walks around the room, consults various documents and drawings, and always proceeds back to the computer to give it a good smack. This is done through the use of scripted_sequence entities. (scripted sequences are covered in the Half-Life editing guide).
You can make monsters interact with one another as well. In the example map, try leading the zombie into the work area of the scientist. Once the zombie has the scientist in sight, he will pursue and dispose of the scientist. Then, of course, his attention will turn back to you.
Use the AI!
Half-Life presents you with monsters that have a will to survive. They have significant improvements in AI, compared to previous games, that allow them to achieve that goal of survival. A common method of increasing level difficulty with previous games was to throw more and more monsters at a player. With Half-Life, you have a more interesting, albeit more difficult, option, that of using the AI effectively.
Rather than throw a pack of human grunts against a player, setup the area so that a pack of 4, for example, can attempt to out-maneuver him. Force both the monsters and the player to play a game of strategy. This can create a tense atmosphere as well as present the player with a struggle that requires thought to overcome. Unless your prefer run-shoot-run-run-shoot games, of course.
One interesting thing about the Half-Life AI is that you have allies and enemies, and your enemies will attack you and your allies as a group. This could lead to an interesting scenario where you must guide a group through a level without them getting killed.
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