Cloak?

[jefequeso]

Is it just me, or is the Predator's cloak completely useless in SP. It seems like humans will spot you regardless, even if you aren't moving.

[MADDOGGE]

The cloak works but just as in real life(lol) not 100%. Think of the movies it is possible to see the cloaked predator in certain conditions. The further away you are the better. I use it for sniping mostly since it does become more visible the closer you get.

[jefequeso]

Originally Posted by MADDOGGE

The cloak works but just as in real life(lol) not 100%. Think of the movies it is possible to see the cloaked predator in certain conditions. The further away you are the better. I use it for sniping mostly since it does become more visible the closer you get.

ahh. I see.


Even so, though... it seems like it hardly works at all. Marines will see me from way down a hallway even if I'm not moving. Am I doing something wrong?

Try acting as though you weren't cloaked while fighting them; that way if the cloak does work, you'd be pleasantly surprised. But, to answer your question; I mainly use cloak to help me remain hidden while I snipe away at humans or to give me the edge when I do a quick attack (emphasize on quick) with wristblades.

[Aph3x-SkorpioN]

The AI in single player is surprisingly smart for AI opponents of such an old game(A lot smarter than the new AvP's AI, that's for sure). If you're cloaked in a well lit room, they will see you. If you'll aim at them with a ranged weapon, they will see you, or to be more specific - the red light that your targeting laser emits.
Like predxeno said, the best advice about using cloak is operating as if you are not cloaked, and that advice goes for multiplayer as well. The cloaking helps making you HARDER TO SEE. It does not make you invisible.

[Nth RooCH]

I think giving the game AI credit for this behaviour is a bit rich. I agree with the OP here, the Cloak isn't hard to use, nor is it tactically useful, it's just pointless. Humans should not see a cloaked predator if he isn't moving or if he's in a good spot. As it is, in the first spot of level 1 campaign, you can be at the top of the stairs looking down, not firing, not aiming, just standing still and they will see you and start firing. It's a lack of AI algorithms people, not a wealth. They see you because the Cloak does nothing, not because they are advanced.

[Mad Max RW]

Originally Posted by Nth RooCH

I think giving the game AI credit for this behaviour is a bit rich. I agree with the OP here, the Cloak isn't hard to use, nor is it tactically useful, it's just pointless. Humans should not see a cloaked predator if he isn't moving or if he's in a good spot. As it is, in the first spot of level 1 campaign, you can be at the top of the stairs looking down, not firing, not aiming, just standing still and they will see you and start firing. It's a lack of AI algorithms people, not a wealth. They see you because the Cloak does nothing, not because they are advanced.

I've known the cloak actually works for years, but to humor you I tested that and immediately proved you're wrong. Stand in front of a marine cloaked while using the wristblades or some other weapon that doesn't use the laser targets and he will not see you. Now de-cloak and he will immediately spot you. If you're cloaked and using the shoulder cannon or speargun, they almost always spot the pred. If you play on Nightmare difficulty they spot you much faster and are way more accurate with weapons. On Normal, and especially Easy the cloak pretty much allows you to walk around them and they don't even flinch.

For another test of the marine AI, try using the taunt button while cloaked when in sight of one or more marines. Almost every time they will run toward the spot where the taunt came from. It's really good at luring marines out of hallways and around corners without making them fire randomly. You don't even have to be physically "in sight" of a marine. If you know how the level geometry and AI pathing works, you only need to be in the same or adjacent module (or chunk of a level) that he is occupying.

The AI is, in fact, way better than people give it credit. Although it does have plenty of faults like friendly fire and running into their deaths or firing a grenade in a small room. Most of the time they'll drop a weapon the AI tells them isn't safe to use up close, but occasionally they blow up, hehe.

[Aph3x-SkorpioN]

Originally Posted by Nth RooCH

I think giving the game AI credit for this behaviour is a bit rich. I agree with the OP here, the Cloak isn't hard to use, nor is it tactically useful, it's just pointless. Humans should not see a cloaked predator if he isn't moving or if he's in a good spot. As it is, in the first spot of level 1 campaign, you can be at the top of the stairs looking down, not firing, not aiming, just standing still and they will see you and start firing. It's a lack of AI algorithms people, not a wealth. They see you because the Cloak does nothing, not because they are advanced.

I spot Cloaked non-moving Preds in multiplayer as Marine under much worse conditions than the ones you have in that room.
There are also places in single player where I can simply stand perfectly still, and the AI Marine will walk past me completely unaware to my presence.

It's all a question of where and how you use the Cloak.

Cloaking doesn't make you invisible - just harder to see. That's how it was in the Predator films as well.

As for it being useless tactically or as a tool, I completely disagree.
It can give you a slight reaction edge over a good Marine, or even against another Pred(even if he's using an autoaiming weapon, such as the Shoulder Cannon), and in a fast paced game like this one, being the first to act counts for a lot.

It's also good to hog energy from enemy Preds in deathmatch games.

[Nth RooCH]

Originally Posted by Mad Max RW

I've known the cloak actually works for years, but to humor you I tested that and immediately proved you're wrong. Stand in front of a marine cloaked while using the wristblades or some other weapon that doesn't use the laser targets and he will not see you. Now de-cloak and he will immediately spot you. If you're cloaked and using the shoulder cannon or speargun, they almost always spot the pred. If you play on Nightmare difficulty they spot you much faster and are way more accurate with weapons. On Normal, and especially Easy the cloak pretty much allows you to walk around them and they don't even flinch.

Proved me wrong did you? Well that makes me feel better. Oh wait, no, you didn't. I play on the hardest difficulty at all times in any game, and in this game it allows Marine's psychic tendencies, as Alien or Predator. When I first began playing Predator, I didn't have any other weapon than Wrist blades equipped, I wandered (cloaked) to the top of the stairs, and was immediately fired upon by a marine below. Worse still as an Alien, I can sneak into a darkened area in a room and have marines immediately fire upon my position, despite having made no sound. And yet at times I can literally run across a lit room directly in front and not be spotted.

Let's not be overly supportive here people, it's an old game, and for what it is, it's exceptionally impressive. But for AI, it is merely par for the course. I work in games development, I know how tough it is to get a proper AI working that is both intelligent, but not psychic. AvPC2K is a prime example of psychic soldiers, but all the same it's a damn fun game to play.

[Mad Max RW]

Try playing on a lower difficulty then and stop being a baby. All I'm hearing from you is "oh wah wah the game is too hard on hard mode wah wah wah!" Like I said earlier, in Director's Cut (I said Nightmare earlier, oops) they spot you way faster and are almost 100% accurate.

Have you played AvP3? The marine AI is identical and the Alien AI is actually more simplistic.

Who cares if you're in game development? Maybe I am, too. I've been playing and modding this game since it came out in 1999 and know it's inner workings as well or better than the people who actually made it.

[Nth RooCH]

Originally Posted by Mad Max RW

Try playing on a lower difficulty then and stop being a baby. All I'm hearing from you is "oh wah wah the game is too hard on hard mode wah wah wah!" Like I said earlier, in Director's Cut (I said Nightmare earlier, oops) they spot you way faster and are almost 100% accurate.

Have you played AvP3? The marine AI is identical and the Alien AI is actually more simplistic.

Who cares if you're in game development? Maybe I am, too. I've been playing and modding this game since it came out in 1999 and know it's inner workings as well or better than the people who actually made it.

Hahahah, look at the attitude. What you are evincing here is classic loyalty over logic. Who cares if I'm in games development? Well, no one has to. But if they aren't bitter and writing through sheer scorn at their supposedly maligned favourite title, they will see it provides a very strong indication of knowledge of a title and it's design workings. People who are massive fans of a game will simply pretend, or openly spread rumours about the complexity or standard of X gameplay, when the reality is much more simple. I'm not complaining about the difficulty, otherwise I would go down a level. You're a very negative, angry young man. I recommend you take your head out of your fanboy helmet, and perhaps grow up a few years. It's more than a little pathetic.

AvPC2k is a great game, and I enjoy it immensely. The AI is standard for the time, and not overly impressive. Take a deep breath, accept it, move on with your life.

[Amun]

Complaining about the game being too hard is silly. The cloak works just fine for what it is, and it's not like the predator isn't a ridiculous killing machine anyway.

[Aph3x-SkorpioN]

Nth RooCH, go back and re-read the thread. You'll find posts from a bunch of people, myself included, claiming the Cloak works.
Why do you continue arguing against it is beyond me.

You got spotted as a Pred standing in a very well lit room, and you think it's a ♥♥♥♥ up of the AI? Every HUMAN player on the planet could have spotted you in that room.

I'm very happy for you getting a job at games development and all that. See, I'm not working in games development...I just played this game since it came out in 1999. I'm not even a modder like Mad Max over there, but I know this game inside out. I know for a fact that Cloaking works when used correctly.

If I can gun down a cloaked Pred from the other side of the map as Marine in multiplayer, AI Marines should at least react somehow to your presence under similar conditions in single player.

[Mad Max RW]

Originally Posted by Nth RooCH

Hahahah, look at the attitude. What you are evincing here is classic loyalty over logic. Who cares if I'm in games development? Well, no one has to. But if they aren't bitter and writing through sheer scorn at their supposedly maligned favourite title, they will see it provides a very strong indication of knowledge of a title and it's design workings. People who are massive fans of a game will simply pretend, or openly spread rumours about the complexity or standard of X gameplay, when the reality is much more simple. I'm not complaining about the difficulty, otherwise I would go down a level. You're a very negative, angry young man. I recommend you take your head out of your fanboy helmet, and perhaps grow up a few years. It's more than a little pathetic.

AvPC2k is a great game, and I enjoy it immensely. The AI is standard for the time, and not overly impressive. Take a deep breath, accept it, move on with your life.

Stop projecting yourself and tell us how you really feel.

[Nth RooCH]

Originally Posted by Aph3x-SkorpioN

Nth RooCH, go back and re-read the thread. You'll find posts from a bunch of people, myself included, claiming the Cloak works.
Why do you continue arguing against it is beyond me.

Uhhh, Aph3x, there's 3 people saying it works, and you're one of them. I'm hardly overwhelmed. And their explanations? They are all entirely ignorant of the context I've used. They state "Oh you've been seen in a brightly lit room" and such like. No, I've been seen as an alien in a darkened corner with no possible reason to get caught. I've been seen as the Predator, at the top of a hill, the sky behind me, by a marine not even looking directly my way. If we're being 'real' about this, a predator cloak with the sky behind it would in no way be visible to humans, as the sky has very little colour variety. That's the flaw of the cloak, against something with straight lines or flat colour. But no, even in perfect circumstances, marines have psychic abilities. And why? BECAUSE IT'S AN OLD GAME.

Seriously, this is just a fanboy duo touching themselves to one of their favourite games. If you guys don't want to be honest, in favour of fanatical game worship, I won't be the one to convince you.

Originally Posted by Mad Max RW

Stop projecting yourself and tell us how you really feel.

Really? "No, you are"? That's your best?