Does the Alien really just go back in the vents after hiding long enough?

[appleb0b]

I WAS stuck at the beginning of level five in the hospital when the Alien came down, but after dying a few times, and hiding for about 10 minutes, the Alien just casually went back into the vents. Did I do something wrong? Is it true that I can really just stake out a bit and it will disappear after a while?

[SmithDoc]

Originally posted by distoclex:

I WAS stuck at the beginning of level five in the hospital when the Alien came down, but after dying a few times, and hiding for about 10 minutes, the Alien just casually went back into the vents. Did I do something wrong? Is it true that I can really just stake out a bit and it will disappear after a while?

yes but it will return. be careful!

[BROOD-SkorpioN]

The Alien's behavior pattern is randomized so that the player won't be able to adapt to fixed patrol patterns and behaviors, but rather would have to improvize on reaction to what the Alien chooses to do. He will quite often just jump into a vent and come back down later from another vent in the area (or even from the same vent he just jumped into) as part of that randomized behavior pattern. The lower your difficulty level - the less randomized his behaviour will be and the further the vent he's most likely to drop from. You didn't do anything wrong and this is perfectly fine.

[-|Nur|-]

Often you should not even wait for it to disappear into the vents. At no point in Mission 5 you need to wait for the alien to leave the ground level.

[appleb0b]

Originally posted by -|Nur|-:

Often you should not even wait for it to disappear into the vents. At no point in Mission 5 you need to wait for the alien to leave the ground level.

What? That's horrifying! How do I not get killed trying to find something with the Alien on the ground?

[-|Nur|-]

For example, Mission 5 is very simple:
-When the alien drops down for the first time, hide under a bed right next to the alien and use a flare to get through the passcoded door. (Alternately you can walk to the door while the alien is doing its animation but I'd say that qualifies as an exploit.)
-Walk straight to the whiteboard room. Wait for the alien to enter the cafeteria area, then walk to the small room with the save point & pipe bomb blueprint. (You can also skip the whiteboard part entirely but that's a bit of an exploit too.)
-The next part is probably the hardest because of the long, narrow corridor leading toward the next objective, but it's just a matter of getting the timing right (and there's a room in the middle of the corridor that you can fall back to in case the alien changes directions or something). Here it's probably the smartest but not necessary to wait for the alien to go into the vents. Alternately, you can toss a noisemaker or something toward the cafeteria/whiteboard area and then go toward the next objective.
-Even if you're unaware of where the key is, moving from one patient room to another is very easy because the distances are so short. Often you can simply follow the alien.
-Once you have the key, you can use a rewire box in that same room to lure the alien toward an alarm near a keylocked door. The alien should start running toward the alarm once it hears it, which is your cue to follow him and enter a room nearer the locked door. Once the alien is gone you can operate the door safely with your key and finish the map. (You can also retrace your steps once you have the key, which is probably even easier so long as you keep walking.)

[shponglefan]

Even when the Alien is in the vents, you're not really safe.

Once, I had the Alien unexpectedly drop down right in front of me as I was crawling down a hallway. It was a very cheap death, since I had no time to get away.

Another time, I made the mistake of walking under a vent and the Alien reach down and grabbed me. I now avoid walking directly under the vents.

[TropicStardust]

No, its not like Amnesia where the badguys just give up and leave and don't come back if they can't find you. The Alien never really goes out far, if you're not picking anything up on your motion tracker its either far away or waiting in the vents listening for any noises.

[Neon Ghost]

Yep do not count on the fact that once is gone it's for good...actually most of the time the best tactic is the scariest somehow...when he leaves going some other direction, just move...do ot dare too much but move now, following him some hallway he's just passed is quite safe...since he just checked the place and unless you do not make any noise or anything to get his attention he will not turn back. Probably... :D

[DOOM SLAYER]

Originally posted by distoclex:

Originally posted by -|Nur|-:

Often you should not even wait for it to disappear into the vents. At no point in Mission 5 you need to wait for the alien to leave the ground level.

What? That's horrifying! How do I not get killed trying to find something with the Alien on the ground?

use your flare throwing into the vent and noise maker is good

[Max Headshot]

Originally posted by distoclex:

Originally posted by -|Nur|-:

Often you should not even wait for it to disappear into the vents. At no point in Mission 5 you need to wait for the alien to leave the ground level.

What? That's horrifying! How do I not get killed trying to find something with the Alien on the ground?

You can influence behavior and appearance frequency by difficulty setting. It's worth a try before giving up.

[appleb0b]

Originally posted by how to survive2:

Originally posted by distoclex:

What? That's horrifying! How do I not get killed trying to find something with the Alien on the ground?

use your flare throwing into the vent and noise maker is good

How do you throw a flare? I can only set them down...

[Max Headshot]

Originally posted by distoclex:

Originally posted by how to survive2:

use your flare throwing into the vent and noise maker is good

How do you throw a flare? I can only set them down...

Your aim button, then your shoot button ;-)