xawery
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Posts posted by xawery
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True, and 0.903 has an important improvement over the previous versions: expansions to your fief don't take as long to build and they actually work. I'd hate to spend 173 in-game days building a manor only to discover that it does nothing... Oh, and metal objects are shiny again
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I must say, I'm quite impressed. Just finished the game and it's quite different from its predecessors, and not just because it does away with a worn-out theme (WWII). The missions are actually original, captivating and immersive. The voice acting is great, the music is superb, the graphics top-notch... Fun stuff. The previous posters were right: it's like playing a movie. The same has been said about the previous CoD games, but this installment really hits the nail on the head. No replay value at all of course, but it was fun nonetheless!
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I played SWAT 4 and could only find foreign (and esp non-white) criminals. There were like 20% north korean terrorists, then arabs, latinos etc.What? I'm playing SWAT 4: Chekov Syndicate right now, and the missions so far have been about rednecks trying to blow up a government building and religious nuts assaulting a rock venue.
If anything, SWAT 4 is quite balanced in its portrayal of potential threats.
Hmm, I should stop feeding the trolls. On-topic: is the demo representative of the actual gameplay? The demo was fun until I died - when I reloaded the action followed the EXACT same sequence which kind of destroyed my suspension of disbelief.
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Whoop it's better than ever! The new world map is absolutely gorgeous.
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Ok, I realise this is rather off-topic, but Ti0n3r: if you seek a similar cinematic experience, may I suggest Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy)? The best story-driven/cinematic games I have ever encountered.
Although COD4 certainly has a very similar feel.
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Apparently, he saw himself as a defender of race purity or some such. Prior to the shooting, he had posted clips of himself on youtube, announcing the massacre. They were swiftly removed; did anyone get the chance to see them?
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Can you imagine the Star Wars game that could be made with this engine..?!
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What are you on about? D@nte is talking about an area in France not the UK.Haha, talk about a Pavlov reaction... Baff1 always starts an anti-EU rant as soon as the word "independence" falls.
Baff, when will you realise that you are already dependent? No country possesses the resources (be it labour, capital, or natural resources) to live in autarky. And that's a good thing; interdependence is the only thing that guarantees peace. If your economy is closely interconnected with your neighbour's, you will think thrice before attacking him. What you are promoting is a 19th century take on statehood. We've all seen what that leads to.
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Most certainly. Until something similar to WGL is developed for ArmA I will keep pining for the good ol' Zeus days.
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I love how the game practically forces you to cooperate in MP. No single role can succeed on its own - I can only imagine how much fun this must be when played in the context of a clan.
Plus, it looks abso-bloody-lutely fantastic in 1680x1050 and all details on high
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I'd like to elaborate on Sauron's suggestion. Sickboy, I don't know if you're familiar with WGL6, but it had a terrific system for trauma simulation. When hit, the player would experience a blackout. There was also a chance that the wound would bleed, slowly decreasing health and causing longer blackouts as the health dropped. The best part was that they also managed to simulate this with the AI: when hit, the AI would kind of slump to the ground and be unable to perform any action for a second or two. It added greatly to the atmosphere as you were unable to say whether you had killed the AI or not, especially if by dropping to the ground he disappeared behind a ledge or fence or something similar.
It's something I miss greatly in ArmA; the last six months of my OFP career were spent playing WGL6 and I had grown very accustomed to it's realistic touches. Obviously, I have no idea how to implement it, but seeing as you are the resident ArmA improver I thought I'd mention it
Regards,
X.
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Amazing. We have, what, 5-or-so screenshots and a vague press release. Still, the community seems to have some amazing divining skills and seems to know enough about the product to arrive at some far-reaching conclusions. Roman augurs would be proud.
Come on people. We don't know whether 505 or BIS are developing this expansion pack. We have no way of saying whether this will conflict with BIS' ability to improve the product or not. We have absolutely no idea what the end content will look like. We're completely in the dark as to when it will really be released. How this will influence intercontinental compatibility is anyone's guess.
Yet still, people insist on making assertions as if the thing was already on the shelves. How about we all take a step back and wait for things to develop further?
I for one welcome any attempt at adding proper campaigns to ArmA. Sure, the mercs may look cheesy but the whole setting has a Jagged Alliance vibe. That can't be bad, can it?
Let's face it people: we have no way of saying how this will turn out. Decrying or praising the project are equally fruitless endeavours right now. Let's all take a chillpill.
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Despite its loading screens and a few bugs, I find S.T.A.L.K.E.R. much more believable and realistic (scene wise). I think the plants feel much more alive and the structures themselves just look much better.The polygon count on ArmA's structures just cannot compete with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s. The characters themselves are just that much more "alive" and realistic. It's amazing to me to watch characters in the game sleeping, eating, and playing a guitar to relax.
I understand that the scope of the landscape is not comparable... but really, that's about the only thing that ArmA has... the landscape size, that's it.
Those of you that have tried ArmA, should really give S.T.A.L.K.E.R. a try.
Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just trying to give another gamer's opinion to evaluate or try out alternatives...
While I loved S.T.A.L.K.E.R to bits, I cannot agree with you. Certainly, the place was much more alive "out of the box" (yes, I loved the rookie Stalkers playing guitar and the oversized cigarettes strewn across the place
) but the lack of scale certainly limited the immersion. Nothing kill believability more than a clichéd "vertical wall" to indicate the limits of a level. S.T.A.L.K.E.R had plenty of those, alas. The railroading was just too obvious. ArmA has depth of field, an enormous island, flora, fauna, realistic day/night cycles (where nights are actually dark, unlike in S.T.A.L.K.E.R), high tide, low tide, urban areas, rural areas, mountains, beaches... It's a mini-world. That's what I love about the game.
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I know what I am about to say is blasphemy to some... but in my opinion, the graphics are a vital part of the ArmA experience. Sahrani becomes such a believable world when all graphical options are set to high. It's amazing. Strolling through the forest feels incredibly real. Standing on top of the highest mountain with view distance set to 10k... Well... that's just incomparable.
Ever since I got the game I haven't actually played any of the missions. I just went hiking. That aspect alone makes the game a winner in my book.
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Of course. The network itself was disgusted by the idea. That's the whole point.
I'm glad that in the age of state paternalism and political correctness, we are still capable of making controversial, thought-provoking television.
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Hehe, I knew it. They did a great job, and they achieved their goal. Whole battalions of international journalists were present, so the coverage was optimal. This stunt finally got people talking about a very serious, vital aspect of our society. European initiatives are underway. Now tell me, would this have been achieved by "a moving documentary"?
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Don't forget his sidekicks, Crossman and Wonder Wouter.
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Before I continue, I should say I'm a proud owner of a donor pass.
Regarding the show: there are a few things which should be taken into account. First of all, it is being produced by BNN: a public network created for the purpose of creating bleeding-edge, provocative programming. It could very well be a ploy to fuel a discussion about organ donation, and the program might not actually exist. That sounds like something BNN would do. If this is true, I must say they've done a great job - the whole of Europe is discussing the matter now. There are other clues which point in this direction. For example, the would-be donor suffers from cancer, and there is no way of telling whether the disease won't spread to her kidney. I doubt the makers haven't thought about that, so that should give us some pause.
Second, while the show may be tasteless (the producers admit it) the real-life situation is even more disturbing. In the Netherlands, only 5 million have registered, and only 60% of that amount are actually willing to donate at least one organ after their death. This is appalling. What is even more infuriating is the fact that the hypocrites who don't want to donate are all too willing to accept an organ when they need it. This is unacceptable. Such people should be placed on the very bottom of any organ waiting list.
The situation is really tragic, and requires everyone's attention. This show is a very controversial, yet effective at achieving that. For those of you who suggest a "touching documentary" or some such nonsense: do you have any idea how many of those have been made? Dozens, if not more. All the facts are known, but people just don't care. This show is a good way of waking people up from their apathy. Even if it's never aired, it has served it's purpose. All of a sudden, we have a discussion on a European level, and the European commissioner for Health is suggest a pan-Union system. Well done.
I'm glad the Netherlands haven't lost it's provocative spirit. I was afraid it had died during "Spruitjesman"'s ascent to power...
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I just bought ArmA today. I knew in advance that the game would be buggy as hell on release. OFP had that problem, and I thought it unlikely that things would be different for ArmA. I thought it would be wise to wait a bit.
When the game was released, it appeared my hunch was right on the mark. Dozens of "disappointment" threads popped up, from newcomers and OFP veterans alike. I decided to wait a little longer and upgrade my rig in the meantime. The US ArmA demo was the first thing I installed.
Unfortunately, the demo was very disappointing. The HDR lighting, the voices, the general controls... It was 'meh'. I was beginning to lose all hope.
Still, my love for OFP-style games prevailed and I finally forked over the money. When I installed it SECUROM started bitching, which didn't exactly improve my mood nor expectations. I finally got the damn thing to work and launched ArmA. And then...
...all was well again. The first thing I did in-game was take a walk through the woods. Let me tell you... I have yet to come across a game with this amount of immersion. The trees cast deep shadows on the ground, the undergrowth squelches familiarly under my boots, the butterflies flutter from flower to flower and the sun shone brightly through the trees' crowns. I was AMAZED.
I then pitted two squads against eachother some two clicks away from my position. The sounds were just fantastic. Deep booms echoing through the mountains, while I merrily enjoyed nature. Fantastic stuff.
Certainly, the game needs polishing. The guns have weird sounds, the soldiers still sound rather funky, there are quite a few graphical glitches but THE FOUNDATIONS are in place. I always felt that OFP was more about immersion and scale than anything else. There are many games out there that do a better job at simulating tactical warfare. However, the sheer size, un-scripted immersion and dynamics of ArmA remain unparalleled.
My reservations are gone. I'm loving it.
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Not too impressive, I must say. Yes, everything is nice and shiny, the physics are somewhat nice, but how this engine could support a large scare war simulator is not apparent from this demo. If there is one genre which promotes 'shoebox' maps it's the racing niche.
It's impossible to say how flexible the engine is; for all we know, the devs won't even break a sweat adapting this to a war sim. However, a racing engine strikes me as an odd choice for the basis of a war game.
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Man, that's one different Rambo. Decapitation, ripped-out throats, evisceration, desintegration... Promises to be fun.
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I have to agree with Bals on this one: S.T.A.L.K.E.R is absolutely fantastic. Yes, the translation is bad, some of the voiceovers are poor, the weapons are underpowered, have fake names etc... But the atmosphere... the setting... Absolutely fantastic.
I was three and a half when the Chernobyl disaster happened. I remember my grandfather taking me to the hospital where all citizens were given vaccins. It's one of my earliest memories, filled with fear and confusion, so the Chernobyl setting holds a special meaning for me. The game developers did a great job in creating a believable setting. The ferris wheel in Pripyat was a nice touch, as well as the lava flows or the Red Forest. If you've ever lived in an Eastern Bloc country, you'll recognise a lot of mundane things too. A certain kind of ubiquitous concrete slabs, familiar fences, enormous housing blocks... Fantastic stuff. The last game to evoke a similar feeling of recognition in me was OFP.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R is much more enjoyable if you know a thing or two about the actual disaster. If you've read "A Roadside Picnic" or seen Tarkovsky's "Stalker", well... then it's a real treat
Incidentally, I found a realism mod. I was wondering whether anyone had tried it yet and whether it was worth downloading.
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A truly neutral and professional peacekeeping force, rather than a free training course for untrained soldiers (vide Bangladeshi battalion in Rwanda).
How the hell did we end up discussing the UN?
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The UN are only as effective as its members want it to be. I suggest reading Romeo Dallaire's "Shaking hands with the Devil" about the Rwandan genocide, and the international community's inactions.
Any modern space combat flight sims around?
in OFFTOPIC
Posted
If what they claim is true, I must concur: everything else will be crap in comparison; not only in the space flightsim genre, but also the broader MMO niche.
If one reads through their list of features, one will see that they've done away with everything I hate so much about MMO(RPG)'s: the disproportionate power asymmetry between newcomers and veterans in terms of game mechanics, endless grinding, virtual dicerolling, while including such much-coveted featurs as actual first-person control of the avatar/ship and unique quests which can only be completed by a single party/single individual. I hate how all the MMO's out there contain quests which can be completed by every single player. The simple knowledge of this fact ruins the immersion for me: ah yes, this noble lord requests my assistance in assembling his toolshed, as he has done thousands of times before because he's just a string of 1's and 0's whose sole purpose is to give grinders the opportunity to gain XP and raise their "I have no life pass me the Mountain Dew kthxbai" attribute.
I have always wanted to play an online game, set in a persistent yet dynamic universe, where the players face numerous significant choices and have to rely on their own skills, rather than on abstract concepts like "levels" or "experience points".
Whether Infinity will be able to deliver on this remains to be seen, but it sure looks like something I would be willing to pay for on a monthly basis.