Need that character portrait for your D&D game? Just need to make cool characters to fool around with? Need a new avatar for something?
Hero Machine has you covered.
I knew about this project a while ago, but recently needed a portrait in a flash, thought of the site and figured I check it out again. And man has it come a LONG way.
So, for those who may not know about it, click the link, and sign away the next couple of hours of time...
For a test of what it can do, here is a test character:
== Copy the stuff below this line and paste in to the LOAD prompt. ==
2.5b5*m1*Character Name*Hair:Expansion1,ponytail,FFFA9C,F79652,100,100,23,Eyebrows:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,21,Eyes:Standard,blank2,FF0000,FFFFFF,100,100,20,Nose:Standard,thinbroke,F79D9C,FFFFFF,100,100,27,Mouth:Standard,line,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,18,Beard:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,26,Ears:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,19,Skin:Standard,fraBlank,EF6972,F79D9C,100,100,6,Mask:Standard,fraBlank,2B0036,390F7B,100,100,22,Headgear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,29,Undershirt:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,7,Overshirt:Standard,downchevron,390F7C,6C4D9B,100,100,8,Coat:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,25,RightGlove:Expansion1,nofingers,CEA66B,8A559B,100,100,17,LeftGlove:Expansion1,nofingers,CEA66B,8A559B,100,100,16,Insignia:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,9,Neckwear:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,24,Belt:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,15,Leggings:Standard,long,390F7C,6C4D9B,100,100,10,Overleggings:Standard,blox,AC8ABC,FFFF00,100,100,11,Pants:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,14,RightFoot:Expansion1,sandal,8CCFF9,6C4D9B,100,100,13,LeftFoot:Expansion1,sandal,8CCFF9,6C4D9B,100,100,12,Back:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,3,Wings:Expansion1,wholebat,FF0000,AD5D9C,100,100,4,Tail:Standard,cattail,F79D9C,EF6972,100,100,5,Aura:Standard,fraBlank,8CCFF9,9482B6,100,100,2,Companion:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,31,Background:Standard,fullscreen,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,1,RightHand:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,30,LeftHand:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,28,#
== Stop copying above this line. ==
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Friday, October 26, 2007
BioShock Review
So, as is par for the course, I sat down and beat BioShock in a few evenings.
So, what do I think of it?
Glad you asked...
One liner: Pretty good game, most of which feels cinematic, with a good dosage of oddities that make it not quite the uber-game it's been hailed as.
So, now for the devil - err, the details:
"... it was not impossible to build Rapture and the bottom of the ocean; it was impossible to build it anywhere else..."
Basic overview:
You are a man who crash lands in the middle of the ocean and is whisked down to "Rapture" - city of free will, free markets and free scientific reign. You fight initially to survive, then to undo the wrongs of those who have created the monstrosity that is now your prison. As arsenal, you can inject ADAM, genetic modifications that change how your body operates, giving you super-human abilities...
First and foremost, this is a FPS in terms of genre. It has the typical elements: point gun, shoot monster, get bigger guns to shoot harder monsters. Collect ammo.
It has some RPG-esque elements as well: Choose which upgrades to "install" at the time being. You start with two solts each in five categories of upgrades, upgradeable to five slots each. You receive quite an array of items for each category and have to choose between them.
But perhaps most significantly, this is movie quality game play. The production values are amazing. Of everything this game has to offer, it really would be a so-so game if this one part did not hold true. But the story, the game decisions, the people you meet, the logs you listen to, all of it - encapsulates you in an epic tale of a good idea driven bad by greed and mistrust.
As you play, you learn that two people who were once partners became rival factions. In the game, you start hearing announcements from prerecorded devices about how bad it is to be a "parasite" - or in other words, a derogatory name for a member of one of the two factions.
These things give the game incredible ambiance.
The genetic enhancements are really cool as well. Your "Adam" is powered by energy called "Eve" (I feel there should be an obligatory drum/hat sound off here...). Eve is kept in fat syringes and then injected in your veins to "reload" when you run out. It is a universal "ammo" for your genetic upgrades and powers all of your enhancements.
Right click and instead of holding your hand out, ready to use a super power, you swap over to the good ol' tried and true gun arsenal. Each has their own ammo - or I should say, set of three possible ammo types. Ammo is found or purchased in about the right amount of frequency, perhaps a bit over-available, but not by much.
The monsters you fight are zombified denizens of Rapture who have gone over the edge of sanity by "splicing" (injecting ADAM upgrades) too far for too long. Now, they retain small semblances of their former self (you find one weeping at the coffin of her daughter - which now has ammo inside - no child) until you attack or alarm them, at which time they go in to a fury and attack you. They shout out at you, in manners that reflect who they were (the doctors, when losing sight of you call out "Nurse, get me that man!" for instance).
In a refreshing break from the norm, this game deserves every inch of its "Mature" rating. My kids will not be playing ANY time in ANY near future. =) Not only do the mobs have no problem spewing out profanities that would make a sailor blush, but the environment is sometimes dripping with blood, or the the questions of morality thrown out of the window. You even make decisions whether to kill semi-innocent little girls for extra power upgrades. (If you choose to kill them, it is at least tasteful about it and the screen fades out while you hear the death scream.)
Finally the deco is very steam-punk. Couple with the unique environment (a city at the bottom of the ocean) that they do take advantage of, and the pixel popping goodness of the engine, it's pretty damned good for a FPS.
So, with all that goodness, why aren't you convinced it's a contender for best game?
Glad you asked, Jimmy.
The game has some problems which kill its enjoyment value. The most troublesome of these, and it's really bad, is the insignificance of death. Now, I understand that the designers didn't want death to be a major hindrance, but really, some hindrance is desirable as it gives the player satisfaction for progressing beyond something that is hard for them. It is so bad in fact, that "zerging" tough monsters (of which there are very few) is a completely viable tactic. ONLY the final battle requires you to complete it in one go.
Another problem is that aside from turrets (which you can disable very easily at any difficulty) there are only TWO mobs in the game outside of bosses. Sure, splicers have different "flavors" but many times it's just a difference in their weapon of choice. Spider Slicers, because they can crawl on walls and ceilings (really cool btw) are the most variant of them, the rest are pretty much just a "he's carrying a different weapon" variety.
The other of the TWO mobs - the "Big Daddy" is a real problem for balance. In the early game, they own you in seconds. No matter how well you net up, it isn't possible to beat them in one go for the normal player, no matter how good you usually are at games. I can imaging that some BioShock aficionados will get to where they can, but that will be the exception, not the norm. But, by late game, due to your upgrades, they become a joke. Actually, everything does. The difficulty ramps down so far that I had to invent new challenges for myself just to keep it difficult. I even decided that for a whole level, I'd only allow myself to wrench stuff to death. (Your melee weapon)
Some levels *drag*. Neptune's bounty is one and it's early on. I almost shelved the game at that point. Couple with the painless death and I had a real hard time staying focused to keep going.
Yes, I'm glad that I did, but the problems were not outweighed by the cinematic quality.
All in all, I'd say the game is good. "Fairly good" perhaps. "Awesome" it is not.
Refreshing, definitely.
Solid Gold, definitely not.
Hopefully, if they make a sequel, they will enhance the good things, rethink the bad, and give us a contender that might even be able to rival "Deus Ex" for FPS heavy weight of all time.
So, what do I think of it?
Glad you asked...
One liner: Pretty good game, most of which feels cinematic, with a good dosage of oddities that make it not quite the uber-game it's been hailed as.
So, now for the devil - err, the details:
"... it was not impossible to build Rapture and the bottom of the ocean; it was impossible to build it anywhere else..."
Basic overview:
You are a man who crash lands in the middle of the ocean and is whisked down to "Rapture" - city of free will, free markets and free scientific reign. You fight initially to survive, then to undo the wrongs of those who have created the monstrosity that is now your prison. As arsenal, you can inject ADAM, genetic modifications that change how your body operates, giving you super-human abilities...
First and foremost, this is a FPS in terms of genre. It has the typical elements: point gun, shoot monster, get bigger guns to shoot harder monsters. Collect ammo.
It has some RPG-esque elements as well: Choose which upgrades to "install" at the time being. You start with two solts each in five categories of upgrades, upgradeable to five slots each. You receive quite an array of items for each category and have to choose between them.
But perhaps most significantly, this is movie quality game play. The production values are amazing. Of everything this game has to offer, it really would be a so-so game if this one part did not hold true. But the story, the game decisions, the people you meet, the logs you listen to, all of it - encapsulates you in an epic tale of a good idea driven bad by greed and mistrust.
As you play, you learn that two people who were once partners became rival factions. In the game, you start hearing announcements from prerecorded devices about how bad it is to be a "parasite" - or in other words, a derogatory name for a member of one of the two factions.
These things give the game incredible ambiance.
The genetic enhancements are really cool as well. Your "Adam" is powered by energy called "Eve" (I feel there should be an obligatory drum/hat sound off here...). Eve is kept in fat syringes and then injected in your veins to "reload" when you run out. It is a universal "ammo" for your genetic upgrades and powers all of your enhancements.
Right click and instead of holding your hand out, ready to use a super power, you swap over to the good ol' tried and true gun arsenal. Each has their own ammo - or I should say, set of three possible ammo types. Ammo is found or purchased in about the right amount of frequency, perhaps a bit over-available, but not by much.
The monsters you fight are zombified denizens of Rapture who have gone over the edge of sanity by "splicing" (injecting ADAM upgrades) too far for too long. Now, they retain small semblances of their former self (you find one weeping at the coffin of her daughter - which now has ammo inside - no child) until you attack or alarm them, at which time they go in to a fury and attack you. They shout out at you, in manners that reflect who they were (the doctors, when losing sight of you call out "Nurse, get me that man!" for instance).
In a refreshing break from the norm, this game deserves every inch of its "Mature" rating. My kids will not be playing ANY time in ANY near future. =) Not only do the mobs have no problem spewing out profanities that would make a sailor blush, but the environment is sometimes dripping with blood, or the the questions of morality thrown out of the window. You even make decisions whether to kill semi-innocent little girls for extra power upgrades. (If you choose to kill them, it is at least tasteful about it and the screen fades out while you hear the death scream.)
Finally the deco is very steam-punk. Couple with the unique environment (a city at the bottom of the ocean) that they do take advantage of, and the pixel popping goodness of the engine, it's pretty damned good for a FPS.
So, with all that goodness, why aren't you convinced it's a contender for best game?
Glad you asked, Jimmy.
The game has some problems which kill its enjoyment value. The most troublesome of these, and it's really bad, is the insignificance of death. Now, I understand that the designers didn't want death to be a major hindrance, but really, some hindrance is desirable as it gives the player satisfaction for progressing beyond something that is hard for them. It is so bad in fact, that "zerging" tough monsters (of which there are very few) is a completely viable tactic. ONLY the final battle requires you to complete it in one go.
Another problem is that aside from turrets (which you can disable very easily at any difficulty) there are only TWO mobs in the game outside of bosses. Sure, splicers have different "flavors" but many times it's just a difference in their weapon of choice. Spider Slicers, because they can crawl on walls and ceilings (really cool btw) are the most variant of them, the rest are pretty much just a "he's carrying a different weapon" variety.
The other of the TWO mobs - the "Big Daddy" is a real problem for balance. In the early game, they own you in seconds. No matter how well you net up, it isn't possible to beat them in one go for the normal player, no matter how good you usually are at games. I can imaging that some BioShock aficionados will get to where they can, but that will be the exception, not the norm. But, by late game, due to your upgrades, they become a joke. Actually, everything does. The difficulty ramps down so far that I had to invent new challenges for myself just to keep it difficult. I even decided that for a whole level, I'd only allow myself to wrench stuff to death. (Your melee weapon)
Some levels *drag*. Neptune's bounty is one and it's early on. I almost shelved the game at that point. Couple with the painless death and I had a real hard time staying focused to keep going.
Yes, I'm glad that I did, but the problems were not outweighed by the cinematic quality.
All in all, I'd say the game is good. "Fairly good" perhaps. "Awesome" it is not.
Refreshing, definitely.
Solid Gold, definitely not.
Hopefully, if they make a sequel, they will enhance the good things, rethink the bad, and give us a contender that might even be able to rival "Deus Ex" for FPS heavy weight of all time.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
They finally got to Mii
About the Wii itself:
I like the concept, but some of it needs improvement. You see, I got one last Friday and have already beaten Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
My biggest problem is that the controller movement is relative movement. I would really like to play a game like Metroid and point at the screen to aim. Or if I can't do that, point my controller around like her gun arm and have that mimic in-game. But if you make such a large motion, the Wii has a hernia and you go out of scope for the sensor and then lots of crying .. or I mean dying. Or something.
As it is, you more or less "tilt" the controller and that does the in game aiming etc. This is not a problem with Metroid, it's a problem with the Wii.
In Zelda, the box says "Swing your controller and Link swings his sword!" Now, that sounds like all kinds of cool, no?
Until you get in the game and realize "swing" means "rattle" and that if you actually DO swing your controller arm, you go off-screen (which the game buzzes you for) and it doesn't register a swing at all.
I hope that some second gen input devices will at least widen the field of view and/or solve these issues.
Now, that said, the Wii does have some nice features. The input method in other ways is quite unique. I really liked the switch puzzles in Metroid, where you rotate your Wii-mote (the controller pad) and the switches in game rotate with it. That sort of thing.
WiiConnect24 is an online service where you can download games. The NES and SNES titles cost 5 to 8 dollars each. That's really handy. =)
The Mii concept needs some polish. They look ridiculous and I don't see any self-respecting game really using them seriously. Metroid has a "bonus" mode that lets you put your Mii on Samus's spaceship's dash as a bobble-head. Looks like they feel it's silly too. =)
About Zelda:
Disappointed. The controller issue I described is part of it. I really want to swing my sword arm and have my swing mirrored in game. Angle, speed, all of it. That would be cool.
But even outside the controller issues, what is with making the series a kiddie game? I feel like I have to lower myself to Zelda's level as a gamer. I want a mature Zelda. You know, those of us who actually remember spending countless hours inside castles, breaking blocks, dodging enemies, to save the princess? Not throwing chickens, shooting slingshots at spiders and tumbling through grass.
WindWaker was a step in the right direction. Too bad they reverted to N64-Zelda style.
Ugh.
About Metroid:
Awesome. Totally awesome.
Even awesomer than that. (Spelling Nazis - I know that the word I just typed isn't in the dictionary. You'll live.)
Whew, where do I begin....
This game really stream lines pointless running around. Almost none. Objectives are clear and marked. Pick ups are (eventually) marked on the maps for you.
Each room feels like it flows properly and has purpose.
The maps are beautiful.
But the best is the epic feeling of the fights. You really feel like you are running around, dodging, weaving, and in short, out-gunning your opposition.
Hyper mode is fun.as.hell. It's a whole lot of whup-ass in a neat little package.
Only one boss feels like cheeze. The rest feel more refined.
The music is appropriate and underscores the areas you go through nicely.
The scripted enemy sequences don't really feel so scripted and the feeling that gives is of some large force actually out to stop you. Like it should.
My only disappointment would have to be that I felt the metroids themselves should have been more populous and more deadly (thus scary opponents). But I'll live. Maybe next time.
This game was so much fun, I am restarting it tonight. Few games grab me like that.
I like the concept, but some of it needs improvement. You see, I got one last Friday and have already beaten Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
My biggest problem is that the controller movement is relative movement. I would really like to play a game like Metroid and point at the screen to aim. Or if I can't do that, point my controller around like her gun arm and have that mimic in-game. But if you make such a large motion, the Wii has a hernia and you go out of scope for the sensor and then lots of crying .. or I mean dying. Or something.
As it is, you more or less "tilt" the controller and that does the in game aiming etc. This is not a problem with Metroid, it's a problem with the Wii.
In Zelda, the box says "Swing your controller and Link swings his sword!" Now, that sounds like all kinds of cool, no?
Until you get in the game and realize "swing" means "rattle" and that if you actually DO swing your controller arm, you go off-screen (which the game buzzes you for) and it doesn't register a swing at all.
I hope that some second gen input devices will at least widen the field of view and/or solve these issues.
Now, that said, the Wii does have some nice features. The input method in other ways is quite unique. I really liked the switch puzzles in Metroid, where you rotate your Wii-mote (the controller pad) and the switches in game rotate with it. That sort of thing.
WiiConnect24 is an online service where you can download games. The NES and SNES titles cost 5 to 8 dollars each. That's really handy. =)
The Mii concept needs some polish. They look ridiculous and I don't see any self-respecting game really using them seriously. Metroid has a "bonus" mode that lets you put your Mii on Samus's spaceship's dash as a bobble-head. Looks like they feel it's silly too. =)
About Zelda:
Disappointed. The controller issue I described is part of it. I really want to swing my sword arm and have my swing mirrored in game. Angle, speed, all of it. That would be cool.
But even outside the controller issues, what is with making the series a kiddie game? I feel like I have to lower myself to Zelda's level as a gamer. I want a mature Zelda. You know, those of us who actually remember spending countless hours inside castles, breaking blocks, dodging enemies, to save the princess? Not throwing chickens, shooting slingshots at spiders and tumbling through grass.
WindWaker was a step in the right direction. Too bad they reverted to N64-Zelda style.
Ugh.
About Metroid:
Awesome. Totally awesome.
Even awesomer than that. (Spelling Nazis - I know that the word I just typed isn't in the dictionary. You'll live.)
Whew, where do I begin....
This game really stream lines pointless running around. Almost none. Objectives are clear and marked. Pick ups are (eventually) marked on the maps for you.
Each room feels like it flows properly and has purpose.
The maps are beautiful.
But the best is the epic feeling of the fights. You really feel like you are running around, dodging, weaving, and in short, out-gunning your opposition.
Hyper mode is fun.as.hell. It's a whole lot of whup-ass in a neat little package.
Only one boss feels like cheeze. The rest feel more refined.
The music is appropriate and underscores the areas you go through nicely.
The scripted enemy sequences don't really feel so scripted and the feeling that gives is of some large force actually out to stop you. Like it should.
My only disappointment would have to be that I felt the metroids themselves should have been more populous and more deadly (thus scary opponents). But I'll live. Maybe next time.
This game was so much fun, I am restarting it tonight. Few games grab me like that.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Fear the FEAR!
OK, so I make bad puns - at least I'm not a-feared of doing so! (doh!)
Well, I finished the base FEAR game. I haven't done the expansion but for a bit I'm not gonna either.
And with no further delay, here are my thoughts!
So where to begin...
I am about to make an important distinction here - this game's engine is pretty. But they drag it down by having a 90% lackluster environment.
The details:
First of all, they have depth of field, both in cinematics and when you are using a scope. In fact one scope has to "adjust" in and out as you move from o far to a near target or vise versa. And it looks nice.
Even better, the engine has real-time volumetric lighting effects!! For those who don't understand what a volumetric light is, it is when you actually see light streaming in from somewhere, usually due to dust. And just for further illustration, here is a screenshot:
You can see the light streaming in and they use this effect in plenty of places appropriately. It looks good with a side order of "not slowing things down too much" which is a must.
Speaking of lights, they are dynamic too. Sometimes the building you are in might tremble and the lights go swinging around and they cast their glow on the walls and floors. It's pretty awesome. Not only that, but your weapons get lit appropriately too:
Then, just when I thought I had seen it all, I come across water! And the light reflection off water... O.M.G. It would be hard to top it. It's animated and the animation told me immediately before I could ever see the actual water "there's water over there". A still picture can't really do it justice, but even the still look pretty, so feast your eyes!
For all the light's yummy goodness, it has some serious flaws too. There are two main issues with it. First, there is texture popping, both in physical textures and in lighting itself. First, physical textures:
In the first image, you can see some weird red texture just jutting out. It's not supposed to be there at all. That is a down-ramp in to a parking garage. In the second, if you look near the center, you see two white stripes for the edge of the ledge below but where they cross, the textures compete with each other for z-buffer, causing them to "animate" improperly and "pop" and just generally look bad. While this doesn't happen on large textures (thankfully) it does happen enough to be distracting in some areas. And once you start noticing it, it gets worse.
Now, two more images:
You will notice they are essentially the same image but I just move slightly left and right. And you will notice that there is light streaming on to the floor in one and not in the other.
Which brings me to my next point because I think it's the cause of when you see even these oddities.
Lights get off-screen-culled out of the picture. Off-screen-culling (sometimes "occluded" instead of "culled") is a mathematical process by which the game figures out that since you can't see something (because it's off screen) the game doesn't waste time drawing it (off-screen of course). But the problem with including light is that basically if you are looking in their direction, you see their glow and their shadows, but if you turn around, POOF they are gone, along with their lighting and their shadows. And for the record, I was running the game on "maximum" for the lighting effects which is listed as (draw all lights, all the time).
Bad game engine, bad! No doughnut.
Finally, to come full circle - most of the environment in this game is lack-luster. Each stage has a spot where the lighting is cool (wait till you see lighting through frosted glass!!) but they could have added more diversity and really gone to play with it!
But given everything I'd say game engine is uber.
Speaking of diversity, this is perhaps one of the game's two largest flaws. Most of the game takes place in three buildings. And when it doesn't, you are actually in a run down back-alley. I was so sick of one of the buildings that I actually almost stopped playing. I was SO glad when I got to leave. Come on Sierra, mix it up a little! You spend about 50% of the game (possibly more) in the same office building.
And it's an office building. Been there, done that, got a paycheck to prove it. Don't need that much office in my games.
OK so letting that go, the AI is the second greatest reason I kept going. (Story line, believe it or not was the first.) The AI is complex and impressive. Here is how impressive: I was being shot at, so I was ducked behind a pillar. A second mob (Internet lingo for a hostile) was on the other side of crates from me and "lost me" (my respect for the game includes the fact that mobs are NOT omniscient) and then called over the comm to the other "I lost him!". At which point the other replies back "He's behind those crates!" and the response of "Roger!" and a subsequent running around the crates to find me.
Wow. I don't want to look at the code that can pull off that level of sophistication in an FPS. Just wow.
Mobs will use team tactics, including flushing you out with grenades, attempting to flank you, using suppressing fire to let team mates move from cover to cover, running around to shoot you in the back. It feels like you are playing against an intelligent being.
And the icing on the cake - the game IS NOT CHEAP ABOUT MOBS! Even in the end of the game, where most designers lose focus on core values, the mobs are not cheap, the most obvious of which would be spawning mobs behind you as you cross a threshold or flip a switch. I am pretty sure it happens not even once the whole game (excluding nightmares, which I think is only fair to do).
Even the times that a mob crashes through a wall (rarely), they do it in front of you and they give you warning signs.
Well done and bravo!
While I am on this topic, I do have to point out the other major flaw though. You will fight the same foe (generic soldiers) for 80% of the game.
Variety is the spice of life. I could really use some. Which is ultimately why I'm not dying to play the expansion. I am not ready for more of the same.
Let's see, what else...
Bullet holes are displacement maps. I am of mixed opinion on this. In the middle of a featureless wall, they look great. But if any overlap, they have a tendency to texture pop, if there is a texture background or they are near an edge, you can see that they move around as you move around (they aren't fixed in location) and if one ends up at an edge of a wall, you can clearly see they are a displacement map, not a physical removal of geometry and it stands out. Yes it would be hard to actually remove geometry, but if they at least knocked out edges of walls, perhaps not even the middles, it would help. It got so bad I just stopped looking, intentionally.
Another bad thing is inventory management, mainly with weapons. You can only carry three for starters. After playing, I can honestly say it should be at least four because of the value of the big guns, the need for a long range weapon, the need for a short range weapon and the fact they switch up what ammo is prevalent level by level. But worse, when you drop a weapon (because you have emptied it - more on why in a moment) - if that was the weapon in the middle of the list, YOU CAN NO LONGER SCROLL TO SWAP BETWEEN WEAPONS! - Luckily, dropping the third weapon too and then picking it back up puts it in slot 2 and fixes this, but eww.
When you find a new weapon - if you already have one equipped, you get half the ammo of if you didn't have it equipped. So for the weapons I like, I found myself unrealistically dropping my weapon each time I saw another so that I could grab it with 100% ammo (not 50%) and then picking up the one I dropped (which dropped weapons remember their ammo count when you drop them).
That's bad design.
Also, I wish that all guns started at a full clip, but as you killed your foes, any shots they fired were depleted from the weapon, that would make the immersion factor even more and the reward for quickly neutralizing foes even more rewarding. (Get more ammo.)
Regarding one of the characters in the game, the game pulls one of my classic "no no"s of plot design. Some day I'll make a list so I can link to it, but suffice to say that you get ripped off on a wholesome level with one of the antagonists.
Back to what's good. Slow motion not only looks super cool, it has well-placed story line value, it works really well with the sound and makes sniping more sensible.
Oh yeah, they have slow motion you can trigger pretty much whenever, it just has to recharge after. The slow motion I used throughout the game. And unlike another game I've played in the past, I don't find it to be annoying and cheap. In some places you just plain have to use it, especially if you are running on hard difficulty.
Did I mention it looks nice?
When you take damage, if it nearly kills you, but leaves you alive, your difficulty rating determines a minimum life level and you will slowly regen back to that level. This is a god send and even more fairness in my opinion. It makes receiving a clipping blow at near death an immediate risk without being a level-killer. I wish more FPS's did this.
The story line takes itself seriously. This is the number one reason I kept playing. It grips you right off, leaves questions that it answers in nibblets throughout, and plays up the "creepy" factor well. In fact, had it not been so gripping, I would have stopped due to the creepy factor cause I'm a wimp when it comes to creepy. I've avoided Silent Hill for that reason. But the way the story is told, in flashbacks, nightmare sequences, comm buzzes, phone messages - it gives the game a suspense/thriller aspect that when coupled with first person is GREAT!
The ending is also pretty cool. I'd say about 10% WTF, 10% rolling eyes sarcastically, and 80% awesome.
The story line has a few plot holes though. I'd rather not go in to it, because I don't like giving stuff away whenever I can avoid it, but there be plot holes, yo. Not major gaping ones, but there are.
Don't let that stop you though - the game really delivers. The story becomes more and more compelling as you play and that's a good thing. =)
There is no shortage of blood or language in this game. The intense amount of blood is appropriate for the environment. Here is one of the more tame versions in fact:
It gets much more gruesome than that. Much more. And it enhances the story and the environment.
This is a Mature 17+ game by the way. And they utilize it. (THANK YOU!)
I even like the fact that when you snipe an enemy team member, the other people in the squad run for cover and sometimes yell out "shit!" or "fuck!" or even as they throw grenades, the occasional "die mother fucker!"
Thanks for not being ashamed to treat me like an adult. I really appreciate it.
So what does all this add up to?
I highly recommend a play through.
And the following was completely unnecessary, but I'll forgive them.
(Note, as I reach the end of the article I just realized all the images I uploaded were BMPs. If you are on dial up I apologize for the excessive file sizes when you click in to images and will make sure not to repeat this blunder)
Well, I finished the base FEAR game. I haven't done the expansion but for a bit I'm not gonna either.
And with no further delay, here are my thoughts!
So where to begin...
I am about to make an important distinction here - this game's engine is pretty. But they drag it down by having a 90% lackluster environment.
The details:
First of all, they have depth of field, both in cinematics and when you are using a scope. In fact one scope has to "adjust" in and out as you move from o far to a near target or vise versa. And it looks nice.
Even better, the engine has real-time volumetric lighting effects!! For those who don't understand what a volumetric light is, it is when you actually see light streaming in from somewhere, usually due to dust. And just for further illustration, here is a screenshot:
You can see the light streaming in and they use this effect in plenty of places appropriately. It looks good with a side order of "not slowing things down too much" which is a must.
Speaking of lights, they are dynamic too. Sometimes the building you are in might tremble and the lights go swinging around and they cast their glow on the walls and floors. It's pretty awesome. Not only that, but your weapons get lit appropriately too:
Then, just when I thought I had seen it all, I come across water! And the light reflection off water... O.M.G. It would be hard to top it. It's animated and the animation told me immediately before I could ever see the actual water "there's water over there". A still picture can't really do it justice, but even the still look pretty, so feast your eyes!
For all the light's yummy goodness, it has some serious flaws too. There are two main issues with it. First, there is texture popping, both in physical textures and in lighting itself. First, physical textures:
In the first image, you can see some weird red texture just jutting out. It's not supposed to be there at all. That is a down-ramp in to a parking garage. In the second, if you look near the center, you see two white stripes for the edge of the ledge below but where they cross, the textures compete with each other for z-buffer, causing them to "animate" improperly and "pop" and just generally look bad. While this doesn't happen on large textures (thankfully) it does happen enough to be distracting in some areas. And once you start noticing it, it gets worse.
Now, two more images:
You will notice they are essentially the same image but I just move slightly left and right. And you will notice that there is light streaming on to the floor in one and not in the other.
Which brings me to my next point because I think it's the cause of when you see even these oddities.
Lights get off-screen-culled out of the picture. Off-screen-culling (sometimes "occluded" instead of "culled") is a mathematical process by which the game figures out that since you can't see something (because it's off screen) the game doesn't waste time drawing it (off-screen of course). But the problem with including light is that basically if you are looking in their direction, you see their glow and their shadows, but if you turn around, POOF they are gone, along with their lighting and their shadows. And for the record, I was running the game on "maximum" for the lighting effects which is listed as (draw all lights, all the time).
Bad game engine, bad! No doughnut.
Finally, to come full circle - most of the environment in this game is lack-luster. Each stage has a spot where the lighting is cool (wait till you see lighting through frosted glass!!) but they could have added more diversity and really gone to play with it!
But given everything I'd say game engine is uber.
Speaking of diversity, this is perhaps one of the game's two largest flaws. Most of the game takes place in three buildings. And when it doesn't, you are actually in a run down back-alley. I was so sick of one of the buildings that I actually almost stopped playing. I was SO glad when I got to leave. Come on Sierra, mix it up a little! You spend about 50% of the game (possibly more) in the same office building.
And it's an office building. Been there, done that, got a paycheck to prove it. Don't need that much office in my games.
OK so letting that go, the AI is the second greatest reason I kept going. (Story line, believe it or not was the first.) The AI is complex and impressive. Here is how impressive: I was being shot at, so I was ducked behind a pillar. A second mob (Internet lingo for a hostile) was on the other side of crates from me and "lost me" (my respect for the game includes the fact that mobs are NOT omniscient) and then called over the comm to the other "I lost him!". At which point the other replies back "He's behind those crates!" and the response of "Roger!" and a subsequent running around the crates to find me.
Wow. I don't want to look at the code that can pull off that level of sophistication in an FPS. Just wow.
Mobs will use team tactics, including flushing you out with grenades, attempting to flank you, using suppressing fire to let team mates move from cover to cover, running around to shoot you in the back. It feels like you are playing against an intelligent being.
And the icing on the cake - the game IS NOT CHEAP ABOUT MOBS! Even in the end of the game, where most designers lose focus on core values, the mobs are not cheap, the most obvious of which would be spawning mobs behind you as you cross a threshold or flip a switch. I am pretty sure it happens not even once the whole game (excluding nightmares, which I think is only fair to do).
Even the times that a mob crashes through a wall (rarely), they do it in front of you and they give you warning signs.
Well done and bravo!
While I am on this topic, I do have to point out the other major flaw though. You will fight the same foe (generic soldiers) for 80% of the game.
Variety is the spice of life. I could really use some. Which is ultimately why I'm not dying to play the expansion. I am not ready for more of the same.
Let's see, what else...
Bullet holes are displacement maps. I am of mixed opinion on this. In the middle of a featureless wall, they look great. But if any overlap, they have a tendency to texture pop, if there is a texture background or they are near an edge, you can see that they move around as you move around (they aren't fixed in location) and if one ends up at an edge of a wall, you can clearly see they are a displacement map, not a physical removal of geometry and it stands out. Yes it would be hard to actually remove geometry, but if they at least knocked out edges of walls, perhaps not even the middles, it would help. It got so bad I just stopped looking, intentionally.
Another bad thing is inventory management, mainly with weapons. You can only carry three for starters. After playing, I can honestly say it should be at least four because of the value of the big guns, the need for a long range weapon, the need for a short range weapon and the fact they switch up what ammo is prevalent level by level. But worse, when you drop a weapon (because you have emptied it - more on why in a moment) - if that was the weapon in the middle of the list, YOU CAN NO LONGER SCROLL TO SWAP BETWEEN WEAPONS! - Luckily, dropping the third weapon too and then picking it back up puts it in slot 2 and fixes this, but eww.
When you find a new weapon - if you already have one equipped, you get half the ammo of if you didn't have it equipped. So for the weapons I like, I found myself unrealistically dropping my weapon each time I saw another so that I could grab it with 100% ammo (not 50%) and then picking up the one I dropped (which dropped weapons remember their ammo count when you drop them).
That's bad design.
Also, I wish that all guns started at a full clip, but as you killed your foes, any shots they fired were depleted from the weapon, that would make the immersion factor even more and the reward for quickly neutralizing foes even more rewarding. (Get more ammo.)
Regarding one of the characters in the game, the game pulls one of my classic "no no"s of plot design. Some day I'll make a list so I can link to it, but suffice to say that you get ripped off on a wholesome level with one of the antagonists.
Back to what's good. Slow motion not only looks super cool, it has well-placed story line value, it works really well with the sound and makes sniping more sensible.
Oh yeah, they have slow motion you can trigger pretty much whenever, it just has to recharge after. The slow motion I used throughout the game. And unlike another game I've played in the past, I don't find it to be annoying and cheap. In some places you just plain have to use it, especially if you are running on hard difficulty.
Did I mention it looks nice?
When you take damage, if it nearly kills you, but leaves you alive, your difficulty rating determines a minimum life level and you will slowly regen back to that level. This is a god send and even more fairness in my opinion. It makes receiving a clipping blow at near death an immediate risk without being a level-killer. I wish more FPS's did this.
The story line takes itself seriously. This is the number one reason I kept playing. It grips you right off, leaves questions that it answers in nibblets throughout, and plays up the "creepy" factor well. In fact, had it not been so gripping, I would have stopped due to the creepy factor cause I'm a wimp when it comes to creepy. I've avoided Silent Hill for that reason. But the way the story is told, in flashbacks, nightmare sequences, comm buzzes, phone messages - it gives the game a suspense/thriller aspect that when coupled with first person is GREAT!
The ending is also pretty cool. I'd say about 10% WTF, 10% rolling eyes sarcastically, and 80% awesome.
The story line has a few plot holes though. I'd rather not go in to it, because I don't like giving stuff away whenever I can avoid it, but there be plot holes, yo. Not major gaping ones, but there are.
Don't let that stop you though - the game really delivers. The story becomes more and more compelling as you play and that's a good thing. =)
There is no shortage of blood or language in this game. The intense amount of blood is appropriate for the environment. Here is one of the more tame versions in fact:
It gets much more gruesome than that. Much more. And it enhances the story and the environment.
This is a Mature 17+ game by the way. And they utilize it. (THANK YOU!)
I even like the fact that when you snipe an enemy team member, the other people in the squad run for cover and sometimes yell out "shit!" or "fuck!" or even as they throw grenades, the occasional "die mother fucker!"
Thanks for not being ashamed to treat me like an adult. I really appreciate it.
So what does all this add up to?
I highly recommend a play through.
And the following was completely unnecessary, but I'll forgive them.
(Note, as I reach the end of the article I just realized all the images I uploaded were BMPs. If you are on dial up I apologize for the excessive file sizes when you click in to images and will make sure not to repeat this blunder)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
StarCraft: I Love The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning
Aside from the fact that some of the quotes are obvious ripoffs of pop culture references (even if they DO work for the characters) StarCraft has to be one of the most immersive and enjoyable games ever.
As far as RTS's go, it's probably my #1 favorite.
So that's why, when I saw the StarCraft Battle Chest on the shelf for ten dollars I bought two!!
My reasoning of course: I want to be able to play it multiplayer if any of my gaming friends come over.
And then, one of my friends came over!
==WE HAD A BLAST!==
As far as RTS's go, this game has one of the best storylines ever and even as far as the whole game genre as a whole goes, it's still damned good! And it's fun and generally unobtrusive.
What's more, the three playable races, as you play each, you start feeling like you are a part of that race hell-be-damned to the other races. Down with them all! (But leave Jim Raynor alone!)
The game is pretty good at balancing too. I don't feel underhanded playing any of the races, they just all take a different play style to manage effectively. (Meaning if you aren't familiar, you'll get your ass handed to you.)
It's a pretty old game by gaming standards these days, and some of the major upgrades in RTS's and how they handle are certainly missed. Sometimes, the pathing is extremely dumb, and some stuff should be more intuitive. Also, I really like being able to assign one of me worker units to patrol and "auto repair".
There are times, the computer opponent feels like it is cheating because of how fast it responds to things. Attack something with a cloaked unit, it immediately uses an ability directly at their location to expose that unit.
You get an army mobilized - the computer attacks it, and your base, and your forward position - ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!
But then, the computer is genuinely stupid at times too. If I take out a missile turret, it will usually never rebuild it - leaving me with a perfect opening now to just go in and begin decimation.
Things like that.
But hey, what the computer might lack in good sportsmanship, the game makes up for in game play. It's fun.
And I'm glad I tried it again. I am having a ball.
En Taro Adun, reader!
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