Killzone 2 Developer - "A.I Was Toned Down Quite A Lot"

Over at the official Killzone 2 site, Guerrilla games developer motherh666 was asked about Killzone 2 A.I in which he replies that, the "A.I Was Toned Down Quite A Lot" so they could properly demonstrate the game to the press.

Guerrilla Games - Developer motherh666:

"Yes, it was toned down quite a lot. When putting games on pods it is more important for us to show as much of the game as possible, rather than making the life of the person playing it difficult. The demo was fairly tame."

[BananaSlug]

like they do in most demos

[HighDefinition]

F**k off w/ all the hate.

GG is one there way to creating a masterpiece of a FPS, @ this point I personally think it looks and moves better than Crysis, I didn`t think that would actually happen.

[sonarus]

Thank God. I was getting scared the game was looking mega easy. The multiplayer is looking crazy nice. My hype level for this game shot thru the roof after E3. Game heavily upstaged R2 for me

[The Wood]

a) never been to any gaming trade event, played there and pwned, played the same game once released and GOT pwned

b) A hater

c) a little naive

People wouldn't like it if they kept getting their fudge packed every time plus it wouldn't make much of a spectacle as people would just give up and the later parts of the maps might not be shown to the onlookers.

[TheExecutive]

A Sony rep said they were playing it on normal so...

[decapitator]

Yeah...and the developer *working* on the game says it was toned them. Who are you going to believe ?

[n4gzz]

i wish it was releasing for august!!!

[whoknew]

Edit: NVM. Looking forward to this game, should be a real great game!

[TheExecutive]

I am not saying i dont believe mother hen because I do, i am just saying what a sony rep told people.

[decapitator]

Kinda makes sense and also the guys have over 6 months left before the game launches. Am sure they will have everything resolved by then. And also, in all honesty, the multiplayer aspect of this game has me sold already.

[THC CELL]

in other words killzone was set on easy

god what will hard be like

[decapitator]

Nah, actually they revealed that it was on normal HOWEVER, it was tamed down as well. If all the pieces were in place, the press would not have been impressed with the game at all because, it might have become a little frustrating dealing with the A.I.

[THC CELL]

easy normal ok

mp alone has sold this game,

people call it cod4 Get a life man
i dont see transport in cod 4 ( would of been if ps3 exclusive)
if anyone calls this call of duty 4 you are not a gamer u are just here for the sake of no life and x box fans gears of war has nooo chance
it will sell yes cause all of u are that dumb to buy game that look the same run the same and well never look better at all just some dlc that could of been added or patches maybe do what GTA is doing with ur episodic content but to be called gears of war 2 Cough 1.5 well

i would like people to look at games like operation flash point
that makes gears look bad i mean its all done before battlefield etc
Mag done before but without the 256 players no lag

talk about little big planet That game people say its for kids
come on....

Killzone is going to kill x box games
hell even R2 has killed the x box
Little big planet
Home

What The F is x box doing Copy and paste ideas and buy out games like ff

Halo best fps for xbox gears great but nothing will ever stop them going to nintendo or sony whatever
just like bioshock did and NG square running to xbox
who says money cant talk

People will be happy that xbox are getting sony games but i am happy u are getting sony games why cause u have F all else on
x box... developers are thinking up new ideas now and i will tell u now only the pc and ps3 can use em.....

The ps3 is future proof
x box is limited
almost dead

[PoSTedUP]

hes right. they dumbed it down for the press. meaning they made them dumb on purpose so they could get through the levels with ease to show off to the press. im sure having good AI is impressive but what good is it for a beginner just wanting to see the whole demonstration? he would have a hard time with it ya know.

[thor]

thc cell, I agree except I don't think killzone multiplayer has vehicles, the ship in the video is just like the helicopter in COD4 (I think!), except you can only call it if you are a particular class. But saying that it is as different to COD4 as any other FPS is, and how many people does COD4 support online? I've only played it on PC and it's up to like 64 players :)

[Veryangryxbot]

Killzone 2 will be UNSTOPPABLE next year.

Im a believer.

H A L O killer.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch...

The promise and the victor.

[silverchode]

wow halo looks like sh!t compared to kz2

[Montrealien]

So the Fanboys want a game that comes out over a year after the launch of Halo 3 and well over 4 years into dev to kill it? Is it just me or is that a little sad?

They are both great games in their own right however for Killzone 2 to kill Halo 3 I think it would have to hop in to a time machine travel to the past and stop Halo 3 from selling 8 million games....

and thC Cell, learn to comment, your posts are nearly incomprehensible, they are just fanboy gibberish in my book.

[Khaqan]

Phew! I thought the AI was not going to deliver. This yet again proves Killzone 2 will be the biggest game of 2009.

[Spydiggity]

it doesn't PROVE anything until we actually see a demo that proves it.

If it does turn out to be tru, then it might end up being a really good game. I just wish the destructible environments weren't isolated to scripted moments or limited specified locations.
But since we've seen very few games for 2009 in full, it (again) doesn't prove that it's the best game of next year. Plus i think you're forgetting a lot of titles that we already know about that are also going to be big next year...Resident Evil 5 being one of them.

I hate to be the one who always has to use common sense but i should also mention that, graphics aside, we know very little about the multiplayer. and i haven't heard much about game length.

All these things would have to add up to make it "biggest game of 2009."

[The Lazy One]

just for mentioning that the game might (MIGHT) not be the best game next year.

Killzone 2 won't be the best game next year for this simple reason. I heard another developer say that they're game would be the best game next year, and what developers say is always 100% truthful. AMIRITE?!

[bigmouth]

good to hear, that was my only concern is that the enemys didnt look difficult to kill

[Forbidden_Darkness]

I had thought thats what they had done. Makes sense, why not let the players enjoy the graphics and other things, not just shooting.

[Halochampian]

I think it was kinda dumb to do that. Let players enjoy the graphics?!?! Graphics don't make a game good, The gameplay is. And AI is a VERY important part of that. Why numb down something so important?

Now... it is good if it is true... because the AI looked terrible in the demo.

They could have done others things to make it easier yet still have a great AI. Like making you have more health or whatever.

[dkgshiz]

They said this on g4, the head dev of killzone 2, said before your team was too good and killed everyone for you. So they toned it down a little bit so you could get some kills. Not toned down a lot.

[xtreampro]

this is from the actualle website, whats better? news coming from G4 or from the developers mouth on the actuale officiale website, and besides the enemy A.I and team A.I looked way way way toned down, its sooo blatently obvious, anyone could see its toned down

[Kruzitu]

uh your wrong, if you read this 'DEVELOPERS' forum post, he clearly said the 'ENEMY AI' was toned down for the press and public showing of the game.

[Kleptic]

yeah...it was also said this was the first time the game was playable in non God-mode...which was causing ridiculous AI twitches in the past...

[PoSTedUP]

the TEAM AI WAS TONED DOWN for the whole game cause the team AI was really smart and killing everyone for you. so they did dumb down the team AI all together. which is what dkgshiz is trying to say. and this also came out the devs mouth.

@ dkgshiz- this this article is saying the enemy AI was toned down ALSO so it was not that difficult for the PRESS to play. it was toned down JUST so the press could enjoy it with out frustration. ya know. thats all. not for the main game, just for the press and the demonstration.

everyone relax....

[eddierivera]

I happy to tell you that Killzone is pretty much finished. The original launch date for this game was in Nov, but Sony didn't wanna have too many shooters competing for holiday dollars this season. They are waiting for everyone to play Resistance 2, Socom, and all of the other shooters out this year so their will be less competition and more people will more likely buy this game cause nothing else is out. Which is stupid in my opinion because Killzone 2 would be the best shooter in the market this year. Next year, they are gonna have to compete with MAG, and that isnt a good idea to go against Zipper, with 256 player online.

[solidsnakus]

mag isnt coming out till 2010, and so is GOW3. watch GTTV and he asks jack tretton if gow3 is coming 2009 and he says "well try getting it out 09"

[Wildarmsjecht]

MAG is rumored for a spring release, which means there is more than enough time for people to enjoy KZ2 in it's February launch.

[solidsnakus]

and you actually believe them? all theyve shown is a cgi trailer.cgi trailer means its too early to show gameplay footage. therefore years more to go.anyways theyve only started working on gow3 since gow2 finished.

[SRuN4]

The VP of Product Development already said MAG was in internal beta tests. At the 1:15 mark.

http://www.gametrailers.com...

[mfwahwah]

The reason GoW3 in-game footage wasn't shown was already commented on by Jack Tretton and Steven Rohdes. They've both said that they just wanted to give us a taste of a game and to formally announce it. They want to keep is in suspense.

Same with MAG since they've toyed with the idea since they put 150 people in R1 to see how it would work. They are now beta testing internally, so those games can come out in 09. Not saying they will, but you should understand what a teaser is. It has a purpose and has been used for it before: hype and suspense.

[King_many_layers]

Motorstorm cgi and Resistance cgi, both shown this year and both titles due out this year.

explain that against your cgi theory.

[Spydiggity]

i hope it's true.

...so....can we see a demo where it's set back to normal?

@eddierivera, we haven't even seen in game footage of MAG. sounds like the 2 games will be very different, but we can't really compare so you don't know what kinda competition it will be.

EDIT: I meant a demo video of the actual AI. and how does one go about getting in on this public beta?

[Fishy Fingers]

No demo, but a public beta :)

Oh, how to gain admission is yet to be released. Hopefully completely open, just DL from the PSN.

[gameraxis]

totally agree with u... best example of such, is fallout 3... teaser right up until e3. it amazes me how individuals can't put 2 plus 2 together and figure this out on their own

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

most demos tone down the AI...except for the Resistance demo. It was freakin' hard! I mean, the game is hard enough guys. Why make the demo that way?

[GVON]

it was posted before E3.

This is what was said on the AI today at 2.48

"@mfwahwah I don't think the AI has been singled out especially, but of course we are keeping an eye on it and it is constantly improving and bugs being fixed."

http://killzone.com/kz/_ns:...

[c64days]

the question is : does the journalist that claim that don't know that or he prefer to "forget" about it?

[thor]

They SHOULD demonstrate it with hard AI, just to silence the haters, though. (Although it is probably still be being worked on, so maybe it's not good enough to show just yet)

[RememberThe357]

I say crank it up, and let those journalists get their asses kicked. When they can.

[beavis4play]

if they turned up the AI to proper levels- journalists would say the learning curve is too steep.

[mfwahwah]

There's been talk going around about the higher AI levels. Your partner's AI was so high that he could single-handedly beat the level, so they had to tone that down a lot. Also, people have reported that the AI has done some pretty clever things, such as using grenades and flanking maneuvers in advanced tactics.

[tako2000]

@mfwahwah
Now you mention it, I do recall see magazine preview prior to E3 shows state that enemy AI is quite clever to drive player out of cover by using grenade, spread bullets to destroy cover and switch around cover to flank players.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Making a beard man cry like a little girl because he got pwned right after he started in front of all other journalists would be a hell of a way to get bad publicity... Then again, making it as a surprise to atendees would be so funny! LOL

[Kruzitu]

said that they'll, or that they did tone down the friendly AI, just because the friendly AI would tear down each room you entered and clear out all the enemies before you could kill one. Thats how good the friendly AI was.

[thor]

Yes but you _always_ have to do that, because the easiest thing to do in a game is to make the AI shoot perfectly accurate shots 100% of the time, and because the info about the enemies is stored on the console, the AI can "know" where exactly each enemy is, without having to look at them. That was just them boasting - ALTHOUGH I think IGN was impressed by the friendly AI...

[jack who]

why does it seem like we've been here before?.....oh wait this would be the 3rd e3 this was used for crap AI in killzone 2

[eddierivera]

They had to tone it down cause the media would have had butt hurt through the whole thing, and then the game would've probably gotten bad reviews. Who cares anyways?,, us ps3 users know this game is gonna be AAA, and thats all that matters.

[Awesomeo3000]

this game is going to deliver the goods i guarantee it theres no way this game can disappoint

[xtreampro]

WHAT?!!!!! you don't make sense

[jack who]

this "A.I Was Toned Down Quite A Lot" "AI was turn off" "AI wasnt on"....have been said at e3 08 07 06 tgs..for lack of good AI in killzone 2....hope this helps

[Rob0g0rilla]

They die pretty easy too.

[codeazrael]

Eyeballing very expensive Sony 1080p projector. May have to go GTA4 and knock over an armored truck to cover the costs!!!

[zonetrooper5]

Well thats weird because one of the demos I watched of Killzone 2, they were playing on Normal mode and the A.I. was pretty dumb, hell wouldn't they put themselfs on god mode if you go into the debug menu?

[Kruzitu]

still not a finished product, can't really judge anything at all. One of the things I was really looking forward to blastin' some Helghast guys right infront of me, unloading a clip right at them, those soft body physics and blood everywhere, but I don't see that in these demos, hope to see it again.

[Max Power]

cut and paste the article and PM it to me? I am at work and I can't update the Flash player ,so I cann't look at the site. Thanks.

[Splenda14]

not worried about the A.I Killzone PSP was so good and the game was hard

[kalistyles]

Ive been saying this for a while to all the idiots that claim the AI wasn't apparent. They obviously do this for the people to see how the gameplay is throughout the game. I mean how are you gonna show off a game that is set on harder settings to the media. That would be just dumb. All developers do it.

[Overr8ed]

Well Tone it back up! =)... nah they have time to balance the game well.

[DJ]

It was still hard for some journalists to pull through, which is pretty funny. The AI looked great, and I do find it humorous that AI for videogames is always either "Too unrealistic" or "Too difficult". AI, at its core, is supposed to be believable and create a fun environment for the player to interact with.

Without any fun factor, AI would just be realistic, and that's it. If a small minority of your enemies make mistakes, that's representative of real life. You can see this in Uncharted, Halo 2, COD4, Motorstorm, GT5 Prologue, etc.

[juuken]

They do that in most demos.

[Aclay]

I was about to say the exact same thing because when some of those Killzone 2 videos surfaced over the past few weeks, I noticed that some of the A.I. really weren't that difficult at all, but I didn't really think much of it.

However, I want to see Killzone 2 running with the A.I. running normally or on Hard difficulty. I know that Guerrilla isn't going to make the same mistake they made with the first Killzone in regards to the A.I. To me the A.I. in the first Killzone wasn't all that bad at all, but it could have been better.

I'm glad to hear that Guerrilla has cleared up the issue regarding to the A.I. in the Killzone 2 Demos. Can't wait to get this game in Feb. 2009

[QuackPot]

I enjoyed Killzone1 very much. The AI was not bad. The graphics/physics and very restricted linear gameplay is what annoyed me the most about the game.

At least the graphics/physics have been sorted with K2. Please, oh please open up the gameplay more GG and give more choice to the player...and vehicles.

[mistertwoturbo]

Well with Killzone 1, playing that game. I truely felt they were limited by the hardware. You can almost sense as if there were tons of ideas they were trying to do, but couldn't materilize.

They did the best they can with the PS2 hardware. But the PS2 is what held it back from being a really good game.

And I guess to elaborate what I mean, is the chunky frame rates, unresponsive controls, and dumb A.I.

[smurfie4]

Thats why they hit the ai over the head a couple of times. Did you see the RE5 demo? The enemies were window-licking retarded in that one. The point is they dumb down the ai to make the demo more enjoyable. Lastly, since when is a demo a representation of the final product?

[ar]

Funny that G4TV praised KZ2 for the A.I.
Can't wait to get my hands on the full version.

[Meus Renaissance]

What I wanna know is, when the AI comes good, what are people gonna hate on if not the graphics, if not the gameplay, if not the Multiplayer and if not the A.I.?

I'm sure 1UP will be creative.

[HighDefinition]

LOL.

[QuackPot]

...that's what.

I've notice this in the gameplay videos when destroying the bridge and using the tank.

GG needs to just give the gamer complete freedom to a level with whatever weapons or vehicles are available. Imagine, like in the Metal Gears, completing a whole level just using a knife or not killing any one at all. Just imagine the SP replay value.

But not going too happen as too late for GG to do. But damn, if they had done this KZ2 would have gone down as one of the greatest shooters ever.

So the scripted linear gameplay in SP will be the next whinge.

[mistertwoturbo]

"completing a whole level just using a knife or not killing any one at all."

That'd be cool, but that's something i'd leave for metal gear.

Killzone 2 needs to be all out WAR. No mercy.

[yanikins111]

<chuckles>

[Arsenal4Ever]

even the boxart looks awesome. Hopefully.

HAZE has a very good boxart but bad overall game.

"Don't judge a game by it's cover" LOL. Ubisoft 2008

[devilhunterx]

Killzone 2 Artificial Intelligence > XB2 owners Real Intelligence :P

[Strife Lives]

What an idiot to have '666' in his name. . . .Im a religous dude.but having the 'mark of the beast' in ur name is retarded.or is it some sort of satanic statement he's making? Anyways.Killzone 2.I hope he is serious,because the A.I in the vids were. . . Bad.

[Mc Fadge]

The 'mark of the beast' isn't even 666. The number mentioned in the bible is actually 616 (mistranslated to 666). Not only that, but it's not even the number of the devil, something else. Calm down and don't be silly.

[Infernus]

EDIT: '616 not 666' already cleverly stated above me :D

[yanikins111]

lol @ religion

[funkysolo]

Halo3 has the worst A.I of any AAA title...I don't remember hearing anything about the A.I., crappy single player campaign and horrible graphics for a 1st party title. I have played halo1 and halo2 and Halo3 is the biggest dissapointments I have had this generation.

[The Lazy One]

I had more trouble with the AI in halo 3 on legendary than I did with CoD4's AI. They flanked, they worked together, strategic grenades, sacrifice maneuvers, some ridiculous vehicle skills.

But thus, I can understand why you would tear down it's AI as it has Halo in the title.

[mistertwoturbo]

Well they need to tone that mofo right back up to full crank and do a demo on that. People NEED to see what it's really capable of.

But I'm sure they're going to deliver. After seeing the multiplayer footage from gamespot, these guys are really taking criticisms, fan suggestions, and basically everything very seriously.

[yanikins111]

I hope they stay true to the concept of the game though. I kind of like how the AI looks. It doesnt jsut shoot at you, it shoots at all of its enemies. Like a real war.

I seriously hope that they dont take all this advice. They are the game devs. They get paid to do this. I dont want some idiots telling them to add more colour and then having to play through fairy-land helghast. I dont want them to pump the ai so it just shoots at you and ignores every one else on the battlefield. I personally like how KZ2 looks. And I think they did pretty good on KZ1. They were seriously limited by hardware back then.

[n00bzRtehgey]

Maybe it should be on Wii.

[Jamaicangmr]

Listen you don't need to try to comment on every PS3 article. I don't know if you lost a bet or your just tryin to get acceptance from the rest of the Xbox360 loyalists but you need to chill with that mess.

[PoSTedUP]

yea isnt that sh*t corny as hell. how pathetic...

[juuken]

Guyz...he's a n00b. What did ya expect?

[n00bzRtehgey]

all I'm saying is, the Wii is the perfect audience for a casual game.

[Fux4Bux]

Early demos are always on super easy. It's just stupid how people always try to analyze the AI and diss a game based on that from a video.

[Figboy]

that often demos and walkthroughs of games at trade events were either set on "easy to average" difficulty, or God mode was turned on.

i mean, would people rather watch the demoer getting powned every few seconds because of a hard difficulty (for those that know what i'm talking about; imagine if, when they previewed Uncharted, they demoed it on the "Crushing" difficulty. lol).

in either case, AI is very difficult to judge watching someone else play the game.

personally, i get a better feel for the AI when it's responding to MY direct inputs and actions, rather than responding to someone else playing the game.

also, as gamers, would we REALLY want the AI to be as smart and tactical as we are? for some, that may prove to make a game almost impossible to beat. not that games shouldn't push AI, mind you, but in the interactive entertainment space, you have to balance out the difficulty factor, and the fun factor.

i think Ninja Gaiden is a great example. the games are fun. often badass, but for MANY of us (me included), the difficulty of the game is almost off-putting. i play games to relax, not raise my blood pressure.

i'm sure the AI in Killzone 2 will be good, and that's what adjustable difficulty levels are for anyway.

[Infernus]

What if the AI was just as smart, tactical and adaptive as the player? That'd make the game so realistic, it'd be like fighting against real people.

I'd be up for that. I'll find out anyway when KZ2 hits and I set it to max difficulty lol

[tjd211]

that was obvious

[Infernus]

"Well Duh!"

lol, of course it was toned down for E3.

Killzone 2 has more depth to it's MP than any other shooter this gen, the ranking system is one of the best ideas I've heard of for an online game.

It's a case of 'watch this space' when it comes to Killzone 2 nowadays, after the E3 details I have this back on preorder :D

[jkhan]

Ofcourse it was. Remember everyone was bashing MGS4 for having dumb AI in the demos. Well look at the final version & tell me if it was anywhere close to being called dumb.

[JEDI WOLVERINE]

The graphics are in place and im sure the sound wont be lacking.

If the AI is anything below perfect then it will be compared to Halo and fail massively.

[JokerSGS]

I'm proud of the people behind Killzone. To not give up and leave the series alone but realize what they messed up on and tackle it again. Shows signs of true team who are gamers. And to people saying this really can't be done, remember the first GTA weren't great and really needed a re-focus and the power and technology of a new generation to help them out.