Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

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Expand view Topic review: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by twinkieman93 » Sun Dec 30, 2012 6:50 pm

While I agree the obtuse "puzzles" are stupid, the thing about them is that if you already know what you're doing going into it the puzzles don't factor much into your enjoyment of the game, positive or negative. I think that's what the guy saying that it takes time to start enjoying Hexen meant. That's not an excuse for Hexen's behavior when it comes to lack of good setpiece moments or great fights, as in my opinion the hallmark of a great game is its ability to be noob friendly but still appealing to vets who've played through it a thousand times and while it may be enough to make the vets happy, you need help if you're a little nublet.

Deathkings remedies the getting boring for vets part because it has lots more monsters to fight, but some of the puzzles are still a little obtuse. But, some of the puzzles are improved. I remember the map Brackenwood, part of the first hub, being an example of how loads of monsters that you can't safely engage makes even the dullest puzzle far more interesting. Don't wanna be too specific, but a warning to the nubs: Watch the skies. And the water. And the everything.

However, worse than the puzzles in my opinion is some of the enemies themselves. There's a few who exist for no other reason than to be a stumbling block in the flow of combat and only annoy me. Centaurs, stalkers and their ranged capable cousins are the big issues for me. For centaurs, it's how they react to even the tiniest hit by putting up their shield, which makes you have to hit something else until the stubborn bastards put their god damn shield down. Stop being a pussy you four legged freak, I wanna kill you. As for stalkers, at least you can SEE when a centaur is being annoying. You may not figure out a more accurate direction than "somewhere in the swampy stuff" as an answer to where those slimeballs are coming from before they've already hit you once or twice, and the only way to get rid of them is to get close. The ones that throw ranged stuff never stay up long enough to get hit by most of the ranged weapons in this game from a distance where you can dodge their slimeballs, and the ones that can only claw you will only pop up to do so. This is okay for the Fighter, who can reliably kill one in one or two swings of his mighty axe, but for the Cleric who's got a bit of an issue with hard-hitting weapons until green mana fueled ones come into play and the Mage who has a similar problem and is specifically designed to not be close to things, this serves only to be a source of massive frustration.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Blue Shadow » Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:27 pm

Use Descript to decompile the scripts.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by amv2k9 » Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:03 pm

Speaking of puzzles, how would one go about getting uncompiled versions of Hexen's scripts? I'd like to make some tweaks to them; stuff like changing:

Code: Select all

*hit a switch*
one sixth of the puzzle has been solved on the seven portals

*hit another switch*
one sixth of the puzzle has been solved on the seven portals
to:

Code: Select all

*hit a switch*
one sixth of the puzzle has been solved on the seven portals

*hit another switch*
one third of the puzzle has been solved on the seven portals

*hit another switch*
one half of the puzzle has been solved on the seven portals
Deathknights does this sometimes, but not all the time, strangely, and I don't think vanilla Hexen does it at all, from what I've see so far.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by DoomRater » Fri Dec 28, 2012 11:29 am

I'd be all in favor of having SMART puzzles rather than stupid puzzles.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by MartinHowe » Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:46 am

Quite. People often say HeXen is better than Heretic or Doom because those are just a case of:

Code: Select all

foreach(enemy in enemies[alive])
{
    monsterCount++;
    find(enemy);
    kill(enemy);
}

EventHandler FoundPuzzle(puzzle p)
{
    puzzleCount++;
    if (puzzleCount > (monsterCount / 512))
    {
        throw new CakeThisForALarkImGoingToGoWatchPaintDryException();
    }
    solve(p);
}
Well I like that sort of game. Games are supposed to be fun. Not chores. If I want to tax my brain, I will do stuff like this or this or this:

Image
or this:
Image

If I had the money I would pay somebody to write a HeXen mod that was basically the same game, but without the stupid puzzles.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Project Shadowcat » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:57 pm

SFJake wrote:I just have to defend that side of Hexen. If you don't like to hunt for where to go, you just get a FAQ. The fact that games exists which needs you to look around, remember places and wonder what things do is just interesting and fun.
If I need a FAQ or Guide for a game when I don't usually use them, then the game is not doing its job of being enjoyable. It's not fun getting lost in Hexen.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Enjay » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:20 am

There is a difference between wandering around an interesting environment marvelling at the new scenes and features that unfold as you explore the map looking for your goal versus spending hours wandering back and forth across the same terrain (often across several levels in a hub) with no real idea where to go only to eventually find the thing that you were looking for was hidden away in a nondescript corner of a map that seems specifically designed to be overlooked - which you did a dozen times.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by SFJake » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:11 am

I just have to defend that side of Hexen. If you don't like to hunt for where to go, you just get a FAQ. The fact that games exists which needs you to look around, remember places and wonder what things do is just interesting and fun.

I mean, I deal with arguments elsewhere about NES games and their hintless puzzles, and how great those times were because you had to put a bomb in every corner until a hole opened. Hexen was actually not harsh at all. A lot of things were fairly obvious and if you looked around for 15 seconds, you could find what you did. Thats part of what made Hexen fun and unique.

I'm actually quite flabbergasted that an old school community find Hexen's ways too harsh. I'd be pissed if the next Hexen (which will probably never exist) decided to be more like Doom.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by MartinHowe » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:44 am

ChronoSeth wrote:Well... if puzzles aren't your thing, then maybe you shouldn't be trying to play a game which makes excessive use of them. :P
The trouble is I love the atmosphere of HeXen, the monsters, eeriness, architecture, etc. It would be perfect without the stupid puzzle/switch hunts.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by neoworm » Tue Dec 25, 2012 5:10 am

HeXen switch hunting and maze-like hubs were bad and tedious. But it builded quite nice atmosphere of smart game that have its secrets and one must work HARD to discover them. Problem is that the game didnt have another way to solve things, you just had to go through the switch hunting, find all the scattered items etc. My favourite HeXen mod - Carnage Galore - somehow manages to still have its hard to get secrets but at the same time it have quite simple desing focused on battle that is fun at its own.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by DoomRater » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:57 pm

Now if that happened on a modern game I'd reach for a FAQ.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Blox » Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:55 pm

Now let me tell you another secret: Running around blindly without any idea where to go for multiple, tiring minutes that become increasingly more boring as time progresses isn't fun.

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Doctor-Dos » Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:55 pm

Hexen has never really been a favorite of mine either...

Heretic was much better I thought!

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by Demon! » Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:40 pm

Guys, let me tell you a secret about loving Hexen:

It takes some time!

This is not one of those games that you start liking in the first 5 minutes. You need to spend a few evenings on it, get to know it well, learn its dirty little secrets and shady corners. Then, you will probably love it.

Why would you think the weapons are too few - there's 12 of them total (more than Doom or Heretic). Access to them is limited for the sake of creating a more unique experience with each class. The game is designed to make you use radically different tactics, depending on which class you play. Thus, players who like up-close-and-personal melee and players who enjoy sniping from a distance are both happy :)

Re: Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

by ETTiNGRiNDER » Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:10 pm

Zombieguy wrote:Is it better than the original maps? I have it on my hard drive but haven't bothered due to the horribleness of HeXen's map layout.
IMO, yes (mostly, it has a couple stinkers but so did the original) If you hate Hexen to begin with it probably won't change your mind, though. The Deathkings maps are basically Hexen hardcore edition; they've got more/nastier monsters and are more devious/clever. You also build up your arsenal faster (you can have all four weapons by the middle of the first hub.)

I'd say if your complaint toward the original maps is more on the "boring" end then it's worth a shot, but if it's more on the "confusing" end you probably won't like it any better.

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