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Post by Kuat on Apr 21, 2009 9:47:41 GMT -8
Probably, as far as the bots are concerned, they need some better node placement.
I dunno what separates the old AI from newer ones, but nowadays with any sort of AI you need to actually flag areas instead of having the AI recognize them on their own.
For example, in C&C generals, you need to specify the "front" "back" and "sides" of the player base for the AI to even do anything, including build.
Basically, since this is a user project, they're probably testing as they go, and if they continue with the bots, I'd expect some initial exponential growth, because they would look at how the players act then tweak the bots accordingly.
Anyway, nice review.
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Post by Muramasa on May 27, 2009 1:48:28 GMT -8
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars -
Recently, I played Team Fortress 2 and I remember why I never really play the game by myself anymore. People online are kinda annoying. It really shouldn't bother me. They're nameless, faceless entities and I'm just playing a game anyways. At the same time, there is this niggling thought that claws at the back of my head, telling me "You paid for this, you know". And when we think about certain games that really can be played online only, it's almost funny that one does pay cash to play with annoying people.
And it is one of the reason why I stopped playing Battlefield 2. Sure, there was a bot option, but the overall feel of the game didn't seem right without live opponents. And there were plenty of annoying people in servers. It was kind of a lose-lose situation.
Kuat and I have played Enemy Territory in the form of Enemy Territory: Wolfenstein. It was a pretty solid game, but the lack of bots and, I believe active servers kept us from really getting into the game. Then, on one strangely fateful 2008 Christmas, Circuit City happened to be closing down. Low and behold, we managed to find two copies of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW) for about 5 bucks. It was a steal.
Our first few attempts at playing it were fairly unsuccessful. This was due to the fact that hosting a server took up a lot of system resources, so whoever was unfortunate enough to actually host the server would be playing the game in a quasi-stasis. On the flipside, the other player would have a fucking blast. The situation changed, however, with Vivi's most recent birthday. Having received ETQW for his birthday, (as well as having a competent laptop connected to his network) this provided a wonderful opportunity to try our hand at the game again.
And the result is Battlefield 2, set in the future, without the annoying people.
ETQW is a first-person shooter that is set in the middle of a war between humans and aliens. The game share a lot of components that make it comparable to Battlefield 2. It is a class based shooter. It has very large, and expansive maps. There is an assortment of vehicles you can drive. There is a promotion system. And you generally are dropped into an area by parachute. And it's focus is large, full-scale combat situations.
At the same time, it has a few distinct features that make it stand out. It has a interesting mission based system, that is, it offers different objectives to the player based on their class. The promotion system offers upgrades that enhances the player. Also, the individual objective system offers incentives to work toward the grander goal by rewarding players with XP for doing actions that they should be doing, without forcing players to do so.
I realize that I'm kinda rambling though, so I'll cut to the chase.
Kuat, Vivi, and I played one full campaign. This was consistent of about three
battles (maps, basically), and each battle has about five objectives. While we didn't actually win a single battle, I can't really call the night a failure, because I had fun. There were 10 bots in the server set to easy. So, they weren't really challenging one-on-one, but their greater numbers forced us to think about our strategies. Communication was excellent, given that Skype usually works with little problems, and everyone was actively talking and informing, which makes any session with buddies more lively. Also, everyone kinda fell into niches and roles that complimented each other quite well. Kuat acted as the general assault unit, vehicle destroyer, and driver. Vivi kept his distance and worked as recon as well as marksmen. And I worked as repairman, ammo supplier, artillery caller, and backup assaulter depending on the situation. It was kinda cool when we could get heads together.
Of course, not everything was smooth sailing. Our attempts to pile into a single vehicle weren't as impressive. This usually resulted in all of us dieing really quickly at the same time. Also, we never really had enough time to complete objectives, so by the time we had a clear strategy and method of operation, the battle was pretty much over.
In strange sense, it almost did play at as a puzzle or a strategy game. The bots were set to easy, there was just more of them. Most of the issue was figuring out how to approach a situation and then execute it properly. I thought that we came up with some good strategies, but never had the time to either implement them, or see them work.
Regardless, having a third person really helped the experience. As fun as it was with just Kuat and I, certain roles were required for certain objectives, and that kinda made it frustrating. Not only that, but it kinda is just the seeing a bunch of people working together that makes it inherently cool, and three is a good number of people. I look forward to the next session.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on May 27, 2009 3:35:47 GMT -8
Coincidently I've recently downloaded Battlefield 2142, which I believe is the true heir of Battlefield 2 set in the future. Unfortunately, as the point you made, a lot is lost offline (which is the only option with a serial-less torrent copy). It feels a lot less immersive. Also it looks like Quake Wars is more direct and engaging while in 2142 even the luxury of having grenades is locked. And since XP points are tracked online, I think I'll be stuck with their minimal four class kits.
I wish I could join in the Quake Wars fun but, alas, my MacBook is not Pro enough and suffers yet again by its integrated graphics card.
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Post by Captain Galaxy on May 27, 2009 12:12:23 GMT -8
Coincidently I've recently downloaded Battlefield 2142, which I believe is the true heir of Battlefield 2 set in the future. Unfortunately, as the point you made, a lot is lost offline (which is the only option with a serial-less torrent copy). It feels a lot less immersive. Also it looks like Quake Wars is more direct and engaging while in 2142 even the luxury of having grenades is locked. And since XP points are tracked online, I think I'll be stuck with their minimal four class kits. I wish I could join in the Quake Wars fun but, alas, my MacBook is not Pro enough and suffers yet again by its integrated graphics card. I do believe the requirements are very low though. |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on May 27, 2009 13:10:20 GMT -8
Supported Video cards:
NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 7600, 8600
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500
ATI Radeon X1600, X1900, HD 2400, HD 2600
My Video card:
Intel GMA X3100
Yeah, not low enough.
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Post by Inaaca on May 27, 2009 18:05:03 GMT -8
Yes, good times were had. Next time I'll allow more time for each mission to hopefully give us a chance at completing more objectives. It would be nice to have another person or two though, if only to help fill the other class roles.
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Post by Kuat on May 28, 2009 2:28:16 GMT -8
Supported Video cards: NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 7600, 8600 NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 ATI Radeon X1600, X1900, HD 2400, HD 2600 My Video card: Intel GMA X3100 Yeah, not low enough. You can technically run it. But you need vista (because the x3100 drivers for vista work better than xp, apparently), otherwise on XP there are some stability issues. |
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Post by Muramasa on May 28, 2009 14:39:58 GMT -8
Yeah, it would be a real surprise if you were able to run Battlefield 2142 and not this game.
Do they really have grenades locked in that game? That seems kinda nice and silly at the same time. If you've ever played in infantry only maps in Battlefield 2, every player was basically a grenadier regardless of their kits.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on May 28, 2009 22:37:38 GMT -8
Hmm, well I tried running Battlefield 2 and failed. I guess it is more demanding? Anyway, the idea of installing Vista on my windows partition is... well... discomforting, but if I can find a cheap copy of Quake Wars then why not.
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Post by Muramasa on May 28, 2009 23:49:23 GMT -8
It's being sold at Microcenter for pretty cheap. If you have apprehensions though, I do understand. Especially for something that only may work.
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Post by Kuat on May 30, 2009 7:49:06 GMT -8
What you could do is get Windows 7 for free (basically vista), and pickup Quake Wars later. So in the end you'd only be behind $5.
Also, in every post I try and stifle saying how much I hate Macintosh in general. Why do people buy their overpriced shit with a far inferior software library for their OS? Sure you can NOW get a windows/linux partition, but seriously, why?
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on May 30, 2009 11:15:08 GMT -8
Yeah, bought the Quake Wars yesterday. Now expanding the partition/installing Vista. Well, first, I didn't buy my macbook. It was given to me as a graduation present from my extended family. I think if I was buying a computer myself, I would probably pick up a PC laptop and put ubuntu on it but this macbook came with a pretty nice school discount. Second, because you're a twat and we like making you angry.  |
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Post by Inaaca on May 30, 2009 13:18:52 GMT -8
Kuat, everything you say just has this constant "OMNOMNOM..." sound lingering in the background now. It's a strange effect.
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Post by Captain Galaxy on May 30, 2009 13:36:50 GMT -8
Kuat, everything you say just has this constant "OMNOMNOM..." sound lingering in the background now. It's a strange effect. Seriously. |
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Post by Kuat on May 30, 2009 14:18:35 GMT -8
Kuat, everything you say just has this constant "OMNOMNOM..." sound lingering in the background now. It's a strange effect. OM NOM NOM* Yeah, bought the Quake Wars yesterday. Now expanding the partition/installing Vista. KICKASS. Let us know how it goes. Noted. Quoted for truth. *Translator's note: Just as planned |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on May 31, 2009 15:31:35 GMT -8
So that was really fun. I think we should try it again sometime. Unfortunately not too soon, though, because I'll be driving across America with my brother.
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Post by Captain Galaxy on May 31, 2009 15:33:17 GMT -8
Heh, I can run the demo. At ancient resolutions and with every detail on low.
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Post by Muramasa on May 31, 2009 23:37:54 GMT -8
So that was really fun. I think we should try it again sometime. Unfortunately not too soon, though, because I'll be driving across America with my brother. Wow, road trip? That sounds pretty neat. Bring back lots of pictures. Heh, I can run the demo. At ancient resolutions and with every detail on low. Heh, hey, at least you can run it. Besides, it's a war, not a beauty pageant. |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Jun 1, 2009 1:53:03 GMT -8
^ ha ha
Actually I do have a lot more time that I thought before the trip. A week or more. We should form a Clan and pwn noobs on teh internets (mura now thinks I would make a terrible professor).
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Post by Kuat on Jun 1, 2009 7:43:39 GMT -8
^ ha ha Actually I do have a lot more time that I thought before the trip. A week or more. We should form a Clan and pwn noobs on teh internets (mura now thinks I would make a terrible professor). We should get to kicking ass and chewing bubblegum, then. |
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