Ok, question: does the motion tracker make noise? (little spoiler!)

[Super Dario]

I'm playing the game at hard, I'm doing it really slow because not used to horror and got my hands shaking easily, but I want the full experience being a huge fan of Alien.
So... I played around 7 hours now and I'm (still?) on my way back to the Seegson's Comms Reception, trying to avoid the Joes and hearing the Alien all around me.

I managed to reach the elevator and get at the reception (where sadly you can't save yet) and died 2 times:
- the first I noticed he was right there in the area, so I took it really carefully and walked without making him notice it (?), but when I reached the door on the other side of the room to get at the transport he was waiting for me right behind it!
- second time, I decide to take it even with more patience, so I hide in the middle of the room under the desks, I stay there like for 5 mins noticing he's in the vents around me going left and right all the time, at a point he comes out of the vents from the ceiling and starts walking around the reception desks, I don't look at him, I don't really know where he is but I don't move at all, 0 noise and boom, he takes me from behind.

Now... I often use the motion tracker, beside the awesome AI (don't know if it's because I'm playing it at hard but it IS awesome), I'm starting to think that the Alien can also hear the beep of the radar. Do you know if it's like that? Sorry if the question is silly but in that case I'll be even more careful. Thanks guys!

[[вк3650] ληтι¢!т!zєη¹]

If its very close, it can hear it.
(especialy in Hard mode, it seems to have a way larger range of his senses to notice)

[Super Dario]

Ok.. Is it like that for every kind of noise? I noticed everything the girl does is so noisy, even when she opens the control panels to setup air purification, lights and so on, she opens them beating the cover so hard on the wall... :D

[[вк3650] ληтι¢!т!zєη¹]

Maybe not every possible noise.. like those interactive devices..
But i guess when knocking over physics stuff, it could draw some attention aswell.

also, it seems that the Alien learns from "distracting-tactics" u may use alot.
and at some point will remember your fav hiding spots

nowhere is save XD

[Super Dario]

Originally posted by ληтι¢!т!zєη¹ vs Alien vs WY:

Maybe not every possible noise.. like those interactive devices..
But i guess when knocking over physics stuff, it could draw some attention aswell.

also, it seems that the Alien learns from "distracting-tactics" u may use alot.
and at some point will remember your fav hiding spots

nowhere is save XD

Damn, thanks :D

[geographyman]

Many things can give away your position: sound of the tracker, flashlight on, glow from the flamethrower, and of course your movement. This game requires lots of patience because it's essentially a stealth game. That's why some, including reviewers, say the game is too long and frustrating.

[Super Dario]

Yeah I just noticed sometimes you just have to wait a loong time to give a try and walk, I had to hide in a locker for around 10 mins and finally he completely went away of my radar... Crazy!!

[the Winter Warlock]

too bad the style of game isn't mentioned much. I thought it would have been like AVP2... It's fun, and frustrating too. I still am not able to shoot anything yet.

[Dayve]

I play the game on hard difficulty too (except for one playthrough on nightmare mode, which is terrifying) and the alien can hear the tracker. You know the numbers in the bottom-left of the tracker that tell you how many feet you are from the object that is moving? I turn the tracker off when that number gets below 40. The alien moves quickly, even when he's only walking, so he can go from being 40 feet away to being 10 feet away in just one second, so when it's at 40 feet I turn it off just to be safe.

You do need to be cautious in this game, but you also need to take calculated risks. Being too cautious can get you killed. Remember that the alien can smell you, so even though it may not know your precise hiding spot it does know that you are close. The longer you stay in one location, the longer the alien will stay in that area and its search radius will get tighter.

This is where you need to take calculated risks. The moment you hear the alien go in to the vents (you can hear him go in and you can hear him when he's in the vents - it's a very different noise to when he's walking on the ground) you need to get out of your hiding place and move forward. When he's in the vents you DO NOT need to crouch-walk. Regular, standing-up walking is fine when he's in the vents. He can't hear it. But don't run.

When he comes down from the vents, if it sounds like it's very close then crouch immediately and get to the nearest hiding place. If it sounds far away, carry on walking normally and judge which direction the alien is moving in. If his footsteps are getting closer, hide. If not, keep going.

My main advice to you is this - don't spend too much time looking at the tracker. It's a very useful tool, but it's not as useful as your ears. The alien is always making noise - he's a big noisy alien. Listen to what he's doing and use your ears as a radar, not the actual radar. If you're looking at the radar then you're not concentrating on the noises of the alien or your surroundings. You're missing out on chances to move.

I've noticed that when the alien has your scent and is circling around looking for you, if you get an opportunity to move forward and do so, the alien will go back to the vents and his behaviour kind of "resets". He no longer has your scent properly and he resets. The next time he comes down his search area is wide again.

You can hide - you have to - for minutes at a time if necessary, but you must move forward at every opportunity. Take risks.

[dnc]

I've adjusted the IRON.bml file to make it even harder than Nightmare mode, and when I had the tracker on in the med lab for about 2 seconds, without thinking, you hear this banging in the vents around you and boom, it's right there and then you're dead before you can get the flamethrower on it.

It's f*cking great.
I'm not scared of the Alien killing me. It's the banging and thudding proximity sound and then it's drops out of f* nowhere, and makes me jump out of my skin.

I've got Grado Labs SR325i headphones and Xonar's Essence STX (PCI-express version) and had my friend use them here and he couldn't believe how terrifying the sound was when it's crawling around the vents and then this hissing thud as it lands 5 feet away from you.

It's the best thing in the entire game - personally...

Take away that sound foley and the quality you can get out of it, Alien Isolation significantly loses its appeal in some ways.

[Dayve]

Originally posted by dnc:

I've adjusted the IRON.bml file to make it even harder than Nightmare mode, and when I had the tracker on in the med lab for about 2 seconds, without thinking, you hear this banging in the vents around you and boom, it's right there and then you're dead before you can get the flamethrower on it.

It's f*cking great.
I'm not scared of the Alien killing me. It's the banging and thudding proximity sound and then it's drops out of f* nowhere, and makes me jump out of my skin.

I've got Grado Labs SR325i headphones and Xonar's Essence STX (PCI-express version) and had my friend use them here and he couldn't believe how terrifying the sound was when it's crawling around the vents and then this hissing thud as it lands 5 feet away from you.

It's the best thing in the entire game - personally...

Take away that sound foley and the quality you can get out of it, Alien Isolation significantly loses its appeal in some ways.

Agreed. I'm using £80 headphones with excellent sound quality and the sound makes this game. The scariest thing is when it's in the vents and you're moving around and you know it could come down from that vent you're about to walk under any second now.

[zorlag]

Audio is obviously a major part of the game. It´s one of those games where it´s literally a part of the game mechanics and not just nice music or spooky sounds in the background.