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Let's talk about health mechanics Sup Forums.
Do you prefer health regen or medkits? Or maybe something a bit more complicated?
Can bad health system shit up a fun game?
Discuss.

Medkits
More fun to play around than hiding behind a wall waiting for the grape jelly to go away

In comp med and in pubs hp packs

No medkits, no health regen. You die, that's it.

Depends on the game

Design is not one size fits all.

This

Regen up to a certain cap. Kits needed to recover more than that.

What games other that Hitman do this?

>Can bad health system shit up a fun game?

Funny you should say that, I recently played Warhammer 40'000 Space Marine and that game had a pretty shitty health system imo. You have a regenerating shield which drops really fast, and after that you have health, which you regain by executing enemies, however you're not invincible during those executions, which means most of the times it's better to just hide and wait for your shield to regenerate.

This, although in most cases I prefer medkits.

simple portable medkits like in Bastion and Hyper Light Drifter. no fishing around in drawers and corpses for half the game.

this is also decent when done right.

Devil Daggers

Yes, old games especially are plagued by bad health systems, desu the one-touch-death system where you have to begin the game again from the start once your lives run out is fucking terrible; but it's not nearly as bad as the games where you've got a huge health pool but regaining health is almost impossible, so no fight is a challenge but you inevitably lose.

Ring Runner's system was my favourite, since it had regeneration that was fast enough to allow continuous combat as well as separate shield/hull, so the (relatively weak) hull turns a lot of would-be deaths into near deaths but since it only regenerates very slowly it's great for keeping the fights interesting.

Of course, it is possible to tamper with the ship and have a shield with a massive health pool that can only really regenerate by briefly disabling your ship, or a shield with a tiny health pool that allows you to regenerate super fast and sometimes be indestructible.

I remember Fear had a good system. Portable, usable medkits for most of the time, but if you got super low you would regen. I remember savescumming hard to make it through the parking garage, always waiting to regen back to 25.

>"I had to savescum and wait for regens"
>"This is a good system"

i liked this in blacklight, though it made the healing gadget far more effective compared to other gadgets. it made health management more prominent and makes gun fights more interesting since stray shots actually have lasting effects and makes ttk more consistemt and predictable

personally i like regen that is gated by things like cool down or some sort of consumable. healers are cancer and med kits blow, i do ike dispensers though

Each has their pros and cons.

Medkits in tf2, for example, have a huge pull on the game. The way health and ammo kits are placed can effect how easy it is to defend or push into an area. Take 2fort for example, which has some good, even if sparse, kit placement:
The med hp/ammo packs in the sewers allows players in there to hold it. Enemies can stay in the sewers longer by using them when needed, and do not need Medics/dispensers to survive there. Engineers looking to defend there also have a good source of ammo to build up their materials, making it a choice location for a nest on either side.
The med hp/ammo packs in the basement are also intelligently placed. While they can be used by the defending players, most of the time the engie nest/ sticky traps are in the intel room. Having the packs there allows attacking players to have something to refill/fall back on while rushing for the intel. This also makes it smarter for the defenders to defend the preceding room rather than the intel room, however this can be a harder task.
The small packs in the hallway leading to the basement are also packs meant for the enemy. While it's not things attackers should be using to sustain themselves/hold an area, it gives them something to keep going. Most defenders would use the close by resupply lockers to refill, leaving the small packs to the attackers that need something to survive.
The medkit mechanic also fits in with TF2's incredibly fast play style. If you're fast, you will regain health fast. A soldier that can't rocket jump will reconsider to the health pack in the corner of that field in badwater, but one that can can quickly jump over, take it, and be refilled in a matter of seconds. Faster players heal faster.

How about something more interesting? MGS3 had the correct idea aside from having to do all that healing through tedious menu system. Maybe some good minigame would be better? Possible only after you finish a fight?
Any other interesting systems like that? I also liked Deus Ex and it's limb health. You could pop terrorists' hands to make them drop guns, and if you had broken legs you would be only allowed to crawl.

Also slow regen or go home. If you can tank a dozen bullets and duck behind cover to come out 10 seconds later and tank another dozen the game is propably terrible.

Mix of something Battlefield has with Reach's style.

Everyone has 3 stages of health they can regen up to. 50%, 75% and 100%. If you go below any stage you will not regen past it. Health regen takes time to kick in but is pretty fast.
Medic class that can throw medpacks and medbags to regen people.

This makes the game faster but at the same time doesn't encourage a run and gun all the time and just take cover for 5 seconds playstyle that many games with autoregen have.

What are the pros of regen health, aside from letting casuals win by sitting still? It makes level design and medkit placement basically irrevelant. That makes for shit games.

Always medkits.

Auto regen should only happen if that ability is limited to a small portion of health ie: max heal of 20 points out of 100.

However, I also like the regen system in Paladins. In Paladins, when you stay out of combat(don't hurt anybody, have nobody hurt you) you will regen health pretty fast. What this means is that anywhere where enemies will not be able to get to you easily can be a safe place to sit and regen, though it takes a while for the regen to kick in.
The Pros of regen in Paladins over health kits is that while it makes players less dependent on healers to save them from every turn and stops forcing the game place an emphasis on mobility, it makes healers a huge buff to the team(can heal while still in battle) and still rewards players that know their limits(will benefit from regen if they know when to get out). Medkits only reward players that are able to survive DMing(If you're losing a fight, you won't have the time or health to go for a health pack) and fast enough to get to one.

Overall, the way players heal can incredibly change the way games are played. While TF2 is fast paced and mobility-centric, Paladins is based more on gamesense.

Either way, both games have healers that can heal you in battle.

>TF2 is fast paced and mobility-centric, Paladins is based more on gamesense.
I meant this for the healing, btw. I'm not saying TF2 takes no gamesense, which it very, very much does.

That's how the new Wolfenstein worked, and it was a pretty boring system.

fpbp

I like when health regeneration is an option but you have to invest in it heavily for it to be remotely worthwhile.

Gimme some interesting things about health
In HL1 you get reduced overall damage if you have any suit power at all, you can also heal from sodas and alien pools. Both of these were removed in HL2.

Just Cause 2 had that