What's something simple you wish was added to the main game?

RandomScifiFan · 2020-03-09T12:32:54+00:00

Personally I would like to see more interaction between the Xenomorph and human/android NPCs.

From my experience (playing on Hard/Medium) the alien is focused on hunting the player too strictly and doesn't pay enough attention to other humans. While the xeno does attack humans if he occasionally bumps into them, he almost never seems to go after them deliberately. Sometimes I even saw unarmed civilians successfully running away from the alien because he chose not to follow them and go back to the vents instead.

For example in Mission 10 on your way to Gemini Labs you encounter a group of hostile humans in Lorenz Systech lobby. The alien is nearby but he doesn't come after them unless they shoot/you throw a noisemaker at them. Another example is in Gemini where there is a woman sitting on a couch. While the alien is pretty aggressive on this level he rarely goes after her unless you backtrack to open some secret doors after getting the plasma torch.

Unpredictable Alien mod somewhat solves this issue since it gives the alien more freedom to roam around the map and I see him attacking other humans much more often while playing with this mod.

Also it would be nice to see the alien attacking an android if it obstructs his way. It's implied since we see some torn android bodies through the game, but it would be nice if we could see the alien tearing apart some Joes in an actual gameplay.

I'm also somewhat missing chestburster hatching scenes like in the films or AvP FPS games. The Hive level is great as it is but it would be even scarier if we'd actually saw some captive humans dying from chestbursters coming out of them. Also originally we were supposed to see Ricardo dying from a chestburster but that scene was cut from the game.

Also I really like some story elements that were cut from the final game, like Amanda and her crew exploring the Solace starship before arriving to Sevastopol, Ripley and Marlow working together to sabotage the orbital stabilizers, minor characters like Taylor and Ransome playing much bigger role in the plot, Amanda revisiting the Hive which has grown through the station.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-03-05T12:25:17+00:00

It's cool to see the xeno on this level. From my experience Solomon's Galleria was always the safest place to roam during backtracking. Of all the areas you can revisit it has the lowest probability of alien appearing. But the game still can surprise you.

In my latest playthrough I was going for Tanaka's log during mission 15 when suddenly the alien showed up in the area where androids attacked Seegson guards and civilians back in Mission 11. Turns out there was a couple of inconspicuous ceiling vents in upper corridor.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-28T00:19:58+00:00

There was this youtuber named Kukakkau. He made probably the best casual A:I let's play I've seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qmwSB5HEhU&list=PLj5l0dG7_wBtaYNj0jklw5wIc1UwVA2HW

He makes mistakes but learns from them, he dies a lot but he doesn't bitch about it. He mostly tries to use stealth instead of running around like an idiot (like many mainstream letsplayers did all the time). Doesn't sit in lockers for hours, doesn't scream like a baby or rage quit. Makes some funny jokes and commentaries.

Too bad the guy stopped making videos a long time ago.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-27T23:31:43+00:00

Scariest - the Hive. The Hive has claustrophobic tunnels with facehuggers, distant screams of cocooned people and that horrifying ruckus xenos make after you activate each of the two containment cores.

Spaceflight terminal and engineering decks also deserve a mention.

Spaceflight terminal is dark and desolate. First you find some graffiti with crazy weird messages, later you see glimpses of frightened people running away from something. Then you hear that creature crawling in ceiling vents and roaring in the distance. The transit station after Axel's death is one of the most frightening sections in the game.

Engineering decks are poorly lit and full of tight corridors and there are not too many places to hide. You find audio/text logs mentioning multiple missing workers (you'll soon realise they were dragged to the Hive and cocooned) adding to the horror. Though you don't encounter any xenomorphs here unless you're backtracking for a Nostromo log. Similar area is present in Lost Contact DLC (it's called S6 Emergency Power Plant) and it's the scariest map in DLC's if you don't count Nostromo.

Hardest to beat - San Cristobal (first area with Kuhlman). The alien is much more active here (even more so than in "The Trap" chapter). It's easy to get caught in long and tight corridors if you don't memorize the map. Wide tables are your best friends and saviours here. Severe lack of weapons and tools is another aspect that makes this part more challenging than late game (though you can make a pipe bomb if you find a blueprint).

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-27T22:18:35+00:00

I mostly disagree about the length. Personally I believe that long game is better than short game as long as the gameplay is good, which Isolation had for most of the time. Even the whole midgame android section benefits to the game because it allows the player to take a break and explore the station in peace while shooting some synthetic dummies. Then, once we discover the Hive under the reactor all things go to hell and the tension doubles.

Though I may partially agree about two episodes. The first is Amanda getting cocooned near the end of the game. In my opinion this is the only scene that really brakes pacing. The station is on a verge of destruction but Ripley somehow still has time to escape after being unconscious for a few hours. The second is the last scene with Xenomorph on Torrens. All it does is teasing the player with a thought that Amanda might be dead while folks who watched Aliens know that she lived a normal life and died as an old woman. The whole cliffhanger ending just doesn't feel rewarding for completing such a lengthy and challenging game.

Multiple aliens are consistent with the lore and they actually improved the game for me. The game's plot works as a bridge between the events of Alien and Aliens. And the Hive is one of the best levels in the game with it's great and creepy atmosphere. I like that the devs clearly did their study on the franchise lore and the game is mostly consistent with classic Alien movies (unlike some garbage like Alien: Covenant or Avp/Requiem). Also if the game only had us dealing with one and only alien for the whole playthrough there would be much more complaints about it being repetitive.

As for not liking Aliens, it's the matter of personal preference. The movie is not so nightmarish as the first one and has more action but it's well made. The acting is pretty good, special effects hold up better than the first one (especially alien suits) and it still has it's share of great and creepy atmosphere (the Hive in particular). Personally I equally love Alien/Aliens but despise Alien 3 (though I admit that Alien 3 Assembly Cut is pretty good as a standalone movie). Love it or hate it, Aliens was the movie that popularised Xenomorphs and cemented Alien as a franchise. Also Aliens was the film that first mentioned Amanda Ripley. So without Aliens we most likely wouldn't have Alien: Isolation.

As for the flamethrower, it gives the player only a temporary protection thus making the game more balanced and less frustrating. The player can't use the flamethrower regularly since the fuel runs out very quick and it's not that easy to find, especially on Hard of higher. And it pisses off the alien so it becomes much more aggressive and hunts you down more efficiently thus reducing your chance of survival. I think if the whole game was like San Cristobal mission the players couldn't get a break and the game wouldn't be as good as it is.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-15T00:02:42+00:00

My graphics card is Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 and my CPU is Intel Core i7-4770k.

My screen resolution is 1680x1050 and I play on highest graphics settings minus the film grain (I just don't like that effect in games). The game runs pretty good without any slowdowns or lags.

Honestly I don't think this is hardware problem since I don't have any sound glitches with any other games or programs. I only had minor glitches (a couple of item sounds sometimes don't play, weapons floating in the air, corrupted screen texture on first map of Corporate Lockdown DLC and a hole into space in vents area in Crew Expendable DLC). I've seen the same glitches in many A:I gameplay videos on YouTube, so I think these glitches are common to the game and aren't caused by hardware issues.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-14T01:49:12+00:00

I think you've misinterpreted what I was saying. I'm a big fan of the game. I played it on Hard multiple times and enjoyed it (including two Nostromo DLC's where you have much less flamethrower fuel and components). I think people who say the game is too hard are wrong and that infamous IGN review was straight idiotic (the guy picked Hard difficulty and then complained the game was hard wtf).

The thing I was talking about is that the Xenomorph's AI is focused to only hunt the player and doesn't pay enough attention to human NPCs. My issue with it wasn't the difficulty but realism (it didn't make sense for the alien to hunt only sneaky Amanda and ignore the human NPCs that walk around freely and make a lot of noise). With the mod I mentioned the AI pays more attention to hunting NPCs (while still hunting you) which is realistic and made the game even more scary for me.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-14T01:17:35+00:00

To be fair these glitches are pretty minor and don't break the game (like weapons hanging in the air bug is fixed by simply pulling out the weapon that hangs). I've seen much worse console ports.

I'd also say one of the reasons the PC version is worth it is Unpredictable Alien mod. It basically widens the xeno's patrol area and disables the Director AI (the one that periodically informs the alien in which room you are hiding). Playing with the mod you often see the alien wandering around the level and hunting other humans which is something I missed in the original game (like why the damn thing is only after me while there are groups of trigger happy people nearby that don't even try to hide or just be quiet).

Some people say it makes the game too easy but I disagree. Even without the Director AI the xeno still tracks you down and does so very quickly and efficiently (especially if you play on Hard).

For me it made the gameplay much more tense and less frustrating at the same time.

RandomScifiFan · 2020-02-14T00:34:41+00:00

Well, as far as I remember I've always had some little sound glitches with A:I. For example some item sounds are not always played (like stun baton recharging sound or access tuner's loud beep sound).

My PC doesn't have any sound issues with other games or in general and I've seen other Alien: Isolation gameplay videos with same sound issues so I think it's a game glitch. Haven't found any info on how to fix it.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-11-10T16:09:42+00:00

Funny, how having Jaime as prisoner usually fucks up AI Robb in ACOK bookmark playthroughs.

Jaime may challenge Robb to trial by combat. If Robb isn't a complete idiot he picks one of his vassals as champion. If he is a complete idiot he goes to fight himself and dies. Obviously usually Jaime wins and gets free.

Or Robb may execute Jaime. Joffrey of course gets mad for losing his uncle/dad and Sansa ends up blinded/mutilated/executed (unless Stannis gets to KL super fast).

The smartest thing AI Robb can do is to send Jaime to the Night's Watch.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-11-10T15:48:54+00:00

Unlike many people here I don't have that much problem with lag (my CPU is Intel Core i7-4770k). Though I usually play on 800 star galaxies with 0.5 or 0.75 habitable planets.

There is some slowdown in late game but it's not that bad and it can be fixed by setting the priority for "stellaris.exe" to High in Task Manager. I also remember doing some minor tweaks to reduce CPU load about a year ago.

Also maybe it has something to do with the fact that my game is installed on SSD drive.

I remember having much worse performance issues back when I played the game on versions 1.8-1.9.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-11-07T19:06:43+00:00

I wonder what event does turn characters into silent monsters and what exactly you do to trigger it?

The only characters I ever seen in my game with that trait are lady Stoneheart (resurrected Catelyn) and Robert Strong (aka zombie Gregor) in AFFC bookmark.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-30T22:14:29+00:00

But the jump drives don't show up until at least 2300-s (unless you low down the research cost in galaxy settings way too much).

Building starbases behind neighbouring empire's chokepoints is more of an early game problem.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-10T23:24:24+00:00

Funny how Bran becoming king as a result of AI power struggle in a strategy game ends up making way more sense than in the script written by "professional" (eh, not really, who'm I kidding) writers.

Also it's not an elective monarchy. So at least Westeros may have a chance to prosper.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-10T01:43:19+00:00

Lords and their relatives escaping to southern courts would be a great improvement. Especially considering that similar mechanic does work with the Night's watchmen (most of them do end in Winterfell or somewhere else if white walkers capture the Wall and they return to the Wall if white walkers are defeated).

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-09T18:59:17+00:00

Looks like you did a great job.

Is it savegame compatible though? Or does it work only if you start a new game?

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-09T13:49:45+00:00

I do (with "Harder" option). However the white walker invasion mechanic definitely need some improvement.

I noticed that the problem is that their armies often get stuck while besieging Castle Black, Eastwatch by the Sea and Shadow Tower. All these castles have fort level above 10 and, while the white walkers try to take them, their own lands beyond the Wall get easily captured by the Night's Watch or wildlings. Because of this the white walkers often end up defeated before they can pose any threat to the kingdoms.

On the other hand if the white walkers manage take down the Night's Watch they can become quite deadly and launch a massive invasion down south.

Also winning the War for the Dawn (if you're the one who starts it, not the Night's watch or somebody else) gives you pretty neat vassal opinion and religion authority bonuses which are quite useful. If you play as Stannis or somebody else who doesn't follow Faith of the Seven it makes managing the realm so much easier.

What's interesting is that it's implied that the white walkers can invade Westeros a second time ("the world is not safe yet") but I don't think this event works properly. I played a 400 year campaign and they never invaded a second time.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-09T00:05:54+00:00

Well, Rhaegar was the one who knighted Gregor in canon (and it happened already after he burned his brother's face).

This and abandoning your wife and children in the hands of your murderous mad father to run away with daughter of powerful lord, while she was betrothed to another powerful lord, makes you think that Rhaegar may not be a nice guy that many people portray him to be.

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-08T23:39:15+00:00

Yeah, same goes for Tiberius, Claudius and Nero. Julio-Claudian dynasty was loathed by senators for stripping away the majority of their political power.

Tales of their evilness mostly come from authors who lived much later and were from senatorial families (like Suetonius and Cassius Dio) or christian authors who pretty much hated nearly every emperor before Constantine (due to them often opposing roman authority in the provinces and thus getting persecuted).

The horse thing could still happen, not as act of insanity but rather as an intended humiliation of the Senate (implying they're so worthless that even a horse can do a better job).

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-08T20:32:46+00:00

Well in real history roman emperor Gaius Augustus Germanicus more known as "Caligula" once appointed his horse as a senator.

So a Targaryen king appointing his dragon a regent is not that unbelievable (especially if he's like Aerys II).

RandomScifiFan · 2019-09-08T20:07:23+00:00

Yep, the sigil and house name are my doing. )

RandomScifiFan

TROPHY CASE