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TSCavalier

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    Cumming, GA, USA

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  1. Ow... My head hurts... Make it stop.
  2. Different strokes for different folks. UC is unique in that part of playing the game is learning how to play the game. The depth comes from the complexity. A skilled player is one that knows how to play it (knows all the controls, displays, etc.) My guess is that most people prefer the "easy to learn" followed by the gradual revealing of depth (see chess). Of course, there's another class of game, which is "easy to learn, get better with practice". Racing games, fighting games, platformers. It's not that they are "deep", but they are often times hard to "master" because you have to have skilled reflexes (or muscle memory) and such to be good at them. I think most console games fall in this category. The mass market has a short attention span, and the wider you cast the net, the less collective I.Q. also. So, as games have gathered a broader appeal, they've had to "dumb down" to more immediate and viceral payback. That's not to say console gamers are dumb, it's just that console games are a casual entertainment outlet, not a "life" like PC games can become. Easy to learn, easy to play. Next game, please. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. By and large, most people don't have the time or inclination to learn a complex game like UC, or even the more complicated RPGs. Hopefully, there will always be an opportunity for "niche" games to be made, because there will always be a (small) market. But, the industry is all about the money, and the games that cast the widest net will bring in the most money and thus will be funded more heavily, etc. The death of the PC game is greed and sloth. People want to make and play easier games rather than harder games.
  3. Yes, pushing the "button" means putting in the code and hitting Enter. The countdown didn't have any repercussions other than freaking out Locke, making klaxons blare, and putting the viewers on edge to see what might happen (a tease). The symbols are important though, they basically said "will cause to die" or somesuch in Egyptian hieroglyphs, which would indicate a doomsday device. Another interesting tidbit is that the prisoner guy said his name was Henry Gale. Henry Gale is Dorothy's uncle's name from the Wizard of Oz. And, how did he say it got to the island? A hot air balloon. But in Oz, it was all a dream sequence. The characters were in a dream, but the "people" were pulled from real life. i.e. Dorothy's Oz companions were all farmhands... real people... in real life. So, the speculation continues as to whether or not the island is all a dream sequence... Oz, so to speak... or in any case an otherworldy place that can be entered (and exited), but isn't really part of our world. Facinating show.
  4. I think there will always be a market for games with a lot of complexity. The trick is finding a means to publish and market them. The trick is to make a game deep but at the same time easily accessible. Look at chess. It's a simple game to learn, but has nearly boundless depth. Look at Magic: The Gathering, it is easy to learn to play, but once again, has many layers of compexity and strategy. I think consoles are fine platforms for deep, complex games. A game doesn't need an alphabet soup of buttons that must be pushed, it needs deep strategy and a large, varied, enjoyable number of things that a player can "do" ... and it helps to be easy to play, but hard to master. Even a racing game, and certainly sports games, can have deep strategy with minimal things to have to push. But, I agree with you, it's often fun to have a keyboard in front of you.
  5. They still don't know what the code is for except that Locke thinks it will keep something Bad from happening and Jack thinks it's a social experiment. You haven't missed anything.
  6. In my opinion, the reason PC games are falling by the wayside is because consoles can finally match PC performance/graphics without spending $2000 on a PC gaming rig. And, innovation is all but gone in gaming in general. I don't think PC games are inherently more "deep" than console games. Regardless of complexity, a game has to be fun to play. And "fun to play" is subjective. What I do think is universal is that people like variety. Racing games. FPS games. RPG games. Platformers. The market is flooded with look-alike titles with very little gameplay innovation. I think people want new experiences not just new appearances.
  7. I am probably the kind of gamer that publishers hate, then. In general, it's because I don't have much disposable income (or time), I use GameRankings to help me pick the next game I'm going to play. I don't know that I own a game that has an overall score less than 80%. So, my taste in games could be considered quite "mainstream". And, I generally don't give a game with less than 80% a second look. The only exception is Universal Combat (which has a 54.1% overall). UC pulled me in because I downloaded the demo and found I couldn't pull myself away from it. Also, I found UC for $19.99 at the time, which is my magic price-point. In general, my gaming purchases go something like this: - Check GameRankings - Scan down from highest to lowest rank in whatever genre I'm in the mood for. - The first one that's < ~$30 on Amazon and > ~75% is my next game. Cheesy, perhaps. Detrimental to the industry, perhaps. But it hasn't burned me yet.
  8. Was this even a review? It sounds like he installed the demo and played two of the IA missions (a commander and a marine mission) for 5 minutes each. The fact that he mentions more than once that you can't control your assets directly is clear evidence of this. Heck, when I first downloaded the UC demo way back, I figured out more about the game than this guy after 30 minutes of play (first of which was to learn how to hop into a fighter). I distinctly remember "spacewalking" after a quick glance at the printable quick-reference sheet, and then learning how to walk "myself" off of the bridge and into a fighter soon after that. And to think... I wasn't even trying to become informed enough to publish an "official" review on a gaming site!
  9. It sounds like the previewers aren't incredibly impressed. I fear that Oblivion will fall into the realm of games that look jaw-dropping in a screenshot, but somehow fail in terms of gameplay. I hope not.
  10. quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: Whats wrong with these people or are we the BC/UC players, the last remaining signs of gamer intelligence left in the known [gaming] universe? Seriously.I think the review gave you the ultimate compliment: quote:To sum it up in one handy catch phrase: Universal Combat: A World Apart: A gamer's game.
  11. The most frustrating part of FP mode is situational awareness. The movement isn't that bad, a little stiff, but not bad. The hard part is keeping tabs on your enemy. I find I must operate with the DIE on all the time, but that shrinks/clutters your view quite a bit. Perhaps if the radar was simply always on and just down in the bottom like the vehicle modes. The interface bar at the bottom takes up a lot of real estate and would need to change. Is such a large picture of the weapon needed? It's right there in your hands to see, no? Do we need to see that you have a backpack? The FP mode has a UI unlike the rest of the game. Perhaps if the indicators were smaller and positioned on the left like in space and vehicle modes. The tall grass 6' grass in many places blinds you, but doesn't seem to hinder the enemy. It would be nice if you could hear/see misses... thuds in the grass, tracers, clinks and sparks when vehicles and buildings were hit, etc. I've been trying to think why Tribes and Unreal Tournament make this so easy. One, is that you can hear your enemy really well. You hear the grunt when they jump, the jetpacks when they fly, the bullet hits when they miss. Also, there's the "flash" onscreen showing from what direction you got hit. All of these things aren't a problem when in space or flight, because everything is a laser shot (tracer) or missile and you can see where everyone is on the radar.
  12. quote:Originally posted by Cc: quote:I've noticed that sometimes when switching to Perscan when there are intruders or prisoners on board that I get a CTD with an unhandled exception error.I have experienced the same problem.But it is very intermittent. I've played for a few hours the last couple of days. It does seem to be somewhat related to viewing Perscan as intruders become prisoners and either you have resized/stretched the intruder/prisoner list, or are in the middle of doing so, or have the mouse on or around the area or something. I made a save game just as intruders came on board, then hung around on Perscan while the intruders were killed/captured. And reloaded and retried a few times. Because you never know if intruders will be killed or taken prisoner, and exactly what UI manipulations cause the crash, it's hard to reproduce, but it did crash on occasion. So, I've given up on figuring it out. Now I simply save the game right when intruders come on board, and if it crashes I haven't lost much. Also, I avoid manipulating the lists in Perscan (by dragging the lists larger/smaller). Hopefully this advice will help anyone that experiences this on their own machines (or help them avoid the problem). Since I have taken this more careful approach, the game hasn't crashed once...
  13. I installed 2.00.15 over the top of 2.00.14 (2.00, then 2.00.14) and get the same as the above posts. You seem to be spacewalking right above Galcom HQ for about 1-2 seconds, and you drop right to the Killed screen.
  14. quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: btw, the patch will invalidate some saved games. It was late when I wrapped up the patch yesterday, so I didn't have time to add this to the patch version of the VCF; though its in the online version. Alas, this has invalidated all of my current Roam saved games. Apparently something snuck in early and stuck around through all of my subsequent saves (I keep a cycle of saved games in the slots). I haven't played it with the current save game set long. Only about a day of game time. Start over!
  15. I downloaded the demo from FileShack last night and played it for a while. Since the demo is the first three levels of the retail game, I figured this board was fair game for first impressions. The nifty-est thing to me so far is the seamless computer-screen interaction. You just walk up to them and start using it. Also, that the computer/TV monitors are high-rez active displays is very cool. The information/propaganda kiosks makes the first level very immerse. The sound environment is masterful. It seems that if you can see it (or perhaps not see it) it is making a noise, properly positioned and everything. At the same time, it makes sure that certain things (such as conversations) are loud enough that you can hear them clearly. Everything sounds like it should, and some things sound... unnatural... possessed... (like they should). The visuals are dark... dark... dark... And VERY dense. This game has more detailed interiors than any other in a 1st person shooter I've played (DeusEx:IW is somewhat close). HOWEVER, it is TOO detailed for my taste. There is so much going on visually that it's distracting. And, since most of that detail is partially or periodically concealed by darkness or shadow, it is a bit frustrating. The ambient lighting of the facility is well complete darkness. What lights there are play across every little detail of the very dense and complex geometry in the scene. To this add that every surface is a bump-mapped texture; and the entire environment becomes a study in 3D overload. I primarily play 1st person shooters, and this game started to make my eyes hurt. Im used to visual cues that tell me what objects are parts of the map and which ones arent. No such luck here. The map geometry is just as dense as the object geometry in fact it all blends together and is simply overwhelming. I haven't completed the demo, but my initial impression is "I didn't know my computer could do that!" Doom3 is a visual and audio masterpiece. It has an incredible amount of visual and audio detail; more than any other game Ive ever played. I can't decide whether or not it is FUN yet, though. Is claustrophobia married with a deep sense of dread and paranoia, all while hearing the tortured screams of demon possessed victims fun? To each his own, I suppose.
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