Current Events > Regenerating health or health pickups?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Regeneration. I also hate ammo pickups.

Both, like Halo 1

but regen health is cooler

Finite pick ups regen is babby mode

regen + shield pickups

Self-sustain aka heal yourself through game mechanics like dealing damage or time specific stuff like a critical dodge. Or potions / health pack management.

Infinite health regen is baby mode.

ClayGuida posted...

Regeneration. I also hate ammo pickups.

You want regenerating ammo?

Health pickups. It adds to the level design and makes it so that you have to manage resources. Being sloppy in combat is a risk, unlike with regenerating health where you can be as sloppy as you want as long as you come out with at least a sliver of health.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

This is my ideal situation here, too.

Depends on the genre, but usually I'm strongly for health pickups.

When losing 90% of HP im a battle comes at 0 cost, something feels wrong.

If plentiful pickups > regen, if not probably regen. Ideally both would exist though, regen for when youre willing to be patient or finish combat, pickup for if not.

I like systems that heal you based on the enemies you kill.

Depends on other design elements and the overall feel of the game.

Actually, my favorite system rewards you with heath refills for extra daring/skillful kills instead of either. Metal Gear Rising did this and it was fantastic.

Regeneration helps the game feel more fair. With pickups, you can find yourself in a bad spot with no healing items and a boss fight in the next room.

When the game is designed with the assumption that you'll be at full health for each encounter, it's a more even experience.

It's not just about realism, because that's not going to be a thing regardless. But you have to weigh questions like:

Do you really want players backtracking the whole level to grab a health kit they took note of earlier when they didn't need it?

Do you really want them hiding behind cover for like 70+% of the firefight?

Definitely health pickups. Regenerating health encourages playing like a coward

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

Do you really want them hiding behind cover for like 70+% of the firefight?

That's what flanking and moving around cover is for.

Also, indirect weapons like Grenades, Mortar, Bow & Arrow.

Kamen_Rider_Blade posted...

That's what flanking and moving around cover is for.

Also, indirect weapons like Grenades, Mortar, Bow & Arrow.

Or you could make a door close behind them so they don't backtrack. But at that point you're trying to compensate for flaws that system naturally has.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

Or you could make a door close behind them so they don't backtrack. But at that point you're trying to compensate for flaws that system naturally has.

Or add in fully destructable environments & have a inventory system so you can carry health packs with you so you don't have to back track.

Real life application: regen. I can't rely on finding a health pickup just lying around somewhere.
In game: same

Pickups, it means you actually have to put some effort into level design. Alternatively, a reward for playing the game in the intended way like in modern Doom.

Special shout out to Estus in Souls games for being a great way of making them into consumables. You have limited healing, but you'll never have less than what you started with and you can gain more through exploration. It's not suitable for every time of game, but great when it works.

Regeneration!!!!

I prefer health pickups/potions unless it's an rpg that let's you create builds with constant regeneration that gets really strong. Like you heal faster than normal enemies can damage you.

Kamen_Rider_Blade posted...

Or add in fully destructable environments & have a inventory system so you can carry health packs with you so you don't have to back track.

This actually gives me a weird idea. What if you just don't have a maximum health? Sure, you start at 100 but when you pick up a health pack at that number, you increase to 130 instead of just leaving it on the ground.

Seems to me this would have its own drawbacks in that players might play recklessly and it would turn what could otherwise have been a series of fights for your life into a marathon, but it's an interesting thought at least.

reincarnator07 posted...

Pickups, it means you actually have to put some effort into level design. Alternatively, a reward for playing the game in the intended way like in modern Doom.

Special shout out to Estus in Souls games for being a great way of making them into consumables. You have limited healing, but you'll never have less than what you started with and you can gain more through exploration. It's not suitable for every time of game, but great when it works.

DS1's healing is still the best and it annoys me they haven't gone back to it. I prefer the way Nioh does it though, it has the best parts of DS2 onward and Bloodborne's.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

This actually gives me a weird idea. What if you just don't have a maximum health? Sure, you start at 100 but when you pick up a health pack at that number, you increase to 130 instead of just leaving it on the ground.

Seems to me this would have its own drawbacks in that players might play recklessly and it would turn what could otherwise have been a series of fights for your life into a marathon, but it's an interesting thought at least.

Depending on the frequency of the health packs, that could end up hilariously OP. I'd love to see something like that in a game though lol.

NoxObscuras posted...

Depending on the frequency of the health packs, that could end up hilariously OP. I'd love to see something like that in a game though lol.

On the other hand, it could also be fun to then have achievements for finishing X level with 300% health or so.

I have a health and shield regen mod for Doom.

Regen

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

This actually gives me a weird idea. What if you just don't have a maximum health? Sure, you start at 100 but when you pick up a health pack at that number, you increase to 130 instead of just leaving it on the ground.

Seems to me this would have its own drawbacks in that players might play recklessly and it would turn what could otherwise have been a series of fights for your life into a marathon, but it's an interesting thought at least.

I believe Doom did that in the early days.

I could be wrong, it's been a very long time since I've played that game.

It did allow you do go above the Default Starting 100 HP.

Ultrakill solved it. The only way you can regain health is to bathe in the blood of your enemies, meaning you don't avoid combat at low health.

Regeneration often has the effect of slowing pace down as you are incentivized to hide and regain HP whenever you take damage.

Health Pickups have the potential of creating tension-flaring shootouts where you have to be extremely careful with your positioning and every inch matters until you find that health pickup.

Regeneration pretty much erases that tension away. Resident Evil would not be NEARLY as scary if you regenerated your health.

Think it depends on the game. The way doom does it is good but wouldnt work for a survival horror game.