NYR_32 Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Just got home from the showing in Manhattan.... I'm quickly going to say that RSE did an awesome, and I mean truely awesome job with the Xbox version. The visuals, the sounds, everything was beyond what I thought. It was also really awesome to be able to chat with Christian Allen today, he and the rest of the Xbox team made a game beyond worthy of being called a sequel to GR. Ok off to type up a bit of a report that I'll post soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasyCo Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Awesome, I'm glad you enjoyed the game as well. I cant wait for your report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 It's great to hear a hardcore GR fan to say that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 You might have to wait a while for his report, he's on teamspeak now and the guy won't shut up about how great GR2 looked. "oh and then this works like this....oh I'll tell you about that next...., oh this was cool, remind me to tell...., oh here's another neat thing..." LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasyCo Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 (edited) He should have just held a press conference on teamspeak then. Edited November 7, 2004 by EasyCo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ranger Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 He's quite exuberant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeko Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Cool news! Knowing NYR from MP games, tells me that this is gonna be what we all expected. Cant wait to see report m8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYR_32 Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 Arrrggghh stupid me! I typed the thing in the add reply window...and you guessed it...had an error and lost it all... Back to work lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannik Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 NYR, use notepad or Word. Less chance of crash. Plus, using Word, spellchecking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walnut Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 (edited) [nevermind] Edited November 7, 2004 by walnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 NYR, use notepad or Word. Less chance of crash. Plus, using Word, spellchecking. ← Yeh for big posts that usually what I do, although for spell checking posts I use iespell plugin for IE, it rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYR_32 Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 Bear with me...on 2 typed pages with a lot more left lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYR_32 Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 Ok lets try this again. First off Christian Allen = Cool guy. Had a blast chatting with him during the course of the day, really gave me some interesting info about the games features. I’d really like to thank him for that and like I told him, hopefully what I post now will ease a lot of people’s fears. I’ll start with a major point, the folks at RSE understand that each platform is different. That’s why they are making an XBOX game for the XBOX and a PC game for the PC. The PC crowd here needs to know that they will get a game designed for their platform, not a direct port. If RSE wanted to they could port it, but do they want to? No. After playing the game today and chatting with people I personally would be happy with the XBOX version I kid you not, it was that good. For anyone who thinks of RSE as sellouts because XBOX took the lead, you can add me to that list too I suppose, they made the right choice. I really can’t wait to see what RSE has in store for us PC gamers, I think we are in a for a real treat that is well worth the wait. Ok first up graphics. The screenshots and movies released so far do not do this game any justice. I brought my camera today thinking I’d snap photos of stuff on screen. After waiting a bit and watching, I knew it was a waste of time. To get a feel for this game you have to see it and play it yourself. The character models are far superior to GR1’s, and IMO far superior then anything else out there right now. And remember I was looking at them on a large TV running 640x480 resolution, what would they look like at 1024x768 rendered with say my 9800 Pro? Something tells me even better. One neat touch is that as the SP campaign progresses you will start to notice the characters uniforms become worn and dirty. So in the first mission they are all new, and clean and eventually you may notice they are not as pristine anymore (a nice touch that most will probably overlook). It’s amazing the engine could render such wonderful visuals on the XBOX, I was down right amazed. The new particle and explosions effects are very nicely done a nice step-up from what we are used to in GR1. Up next, SP missions. I was the first person to arrive and met Christian Allen and Casey Keefe (BulletTooth). After a few introductions I got a chance to play the first campaign mission, “Airbase” (the same mission shown at E3). Now what ever you saw in that E3 demo footage forget it, the game does not play like it is portrayed in that movie. Remember the “laser like” tracers? They were only set to every round for that demo, the final build has tracers every 3rd round for assault weapons, every 2nd round for LMG’s (SAW, 240 etc), every round for emplaced weapons, and no tracers for Marksmen weapons Since I had never played an Xbox game before, nor held one of its controllers I was at a huge disadvantage in mission, but I eventually caught on. Like in the E3 demo I proceeded to encounter tangos manning fixed weapons, I fired some rounds, missed every single tango, but my AI teammates did an excellent job of providing support. On my first run through I was “forced” to use the medic feature when my team was strafed by an enemy helo, the interaction with vehicles should really be a lot of fun and add some new challenges for the players. After treating my wounded teammate and ordering Derrick Parker to eliminate the helo, I moved one. Eventually, well actually like a minute later I was shot, the beginning of what I think will be my grudge against the superb, new AI that RSE has developed. Remember that OXM article posted a few days ago? From what I saw today the reviewer didn’t find a spawn point, he got flanked just like I did on a number of occasions today. Bad AI? I think not, he just didn’t realized he was the victim of some sneaky tangos. Back to the mission, on my second go I faired better, my AI teammates backed me up and got a bit further, but next thing I know I hear someone (an AI teammate) yell “grenade!”, followed by a loud boom. I turn toward and realize I’m playing “Lone Wolf” with out the M29 lol. The tangos had thrown a frag and taken out all of my back up. D’oh! So I carried on alone trying to complete as much as I could, but again I ended up dead. I finally beat Airbase on my third go around, not bad for an XBOX nOOb. Airbase and the following mission Pagoda are what you should think of as “live fire” training. They are fairly linear and have more scripted events then later missions. Unlike GR1 where you are thrown right into “Iron Dragon” (Caves map) these missions provide players the time to get a handle on the orders system etc. As you progress further in the campaign you encounter missions that are far more open and true to the classic GR mold. For example later in the day Christian set me up on the third mission “Ambush”. This is a night mission, which feature the British Specialist accompanying the Ghosts. This time around Night missions aren’t nearly as easy, the more realistic NV no longer makes it so the tangos glow in the dark. I had a lot of trouble even seeing them as they patrolled in the forested area. I took my time and patrolled towards the objective area (a convoy stalled on a road), next thing I know I hear and explosion and one member of my team is dead and another wounded. My initial reaction was “was that a mine!?”…bad part…it was something far more deadly, and very mobile. My team was engaged by one of the tanks in the convoy, not by a mounted MG, by the main cannon. I didn’t realize that until I observed it turn the turret towards me and fire easily dealing with me like it had my AI teammates. I think Christian got a real kick out of seeing a “seasoned” GR player get his butt handed to him. Shoulda seen the look on his face lol. I only played three missions, two of which I didn’t complete because of the AI, and my lack a familiarity with the controls and the XBOX in general (I’m blaming the hardware hehe...for now ) However when Christian demoed the first mission a bit he faired much better, him being able to utilize the orders system effectively makes completing your objectives a bit easier, Even though the team numbers have been reduced, the new order system and improved AI makes up for it. At first I thought reducing the number of teams and total platoon size was a bad idea, I don’t believe that anymore. Mission briefings(in SP, I didn’t play any missions in MP) are no longer just written text, they include a full cinematic movie with the Ghost who were on that mission being interviewed. Basically it’s a documentary film, so the objective behind the mission is outlined by the Ghosts(it was kinda of hard to hear what they were saying so with the 7 other TV’s going). This documentary is hosted by the lone returning Ghost from GR1, who is that you may ask? Not gonna say..sorry Next on the list the AI. They are greatly improved for both your teammates and the enemy. They will now use cover very effectively and also peek around corners just like the player will. I got a kick out of seeing Nick Salvatore peek around a corner to engage a tango hidden behind his own bit of cover. Something tells me firefights are going to be a little more interesting this time around. Unlike GR1, the AI will now actively seek cover points and figure out ways to attack you, analyze choke points etc. On a number of occasions I was down right embarrassed by these guys, most notably when trying lonewolf mode I lost track of a single tango. I kinda wondered where he ran off too but continued to engage a few others in front of me, the missing tango down right snuck up next to me and that’s all she wrote. I can only imagine what waits in later missions. Your AI teammates now will use frags a lot more often then the 1 in a million chance in GR1. What next what next… Maps I suppose. I got to see a number of them, including Bunkers, Ghost Village, Peninsula (a small map, full of lots of fog and rain), Warzone, Lost Convoy, Mountain Falls and Ancient Ruins. Each one offers something different, Ancient Ruins for example is a nicely wooded map that should make for some fun games. But of the group I think Bunkers will become the most played of them all, defiantly a cool one. The dedicated MP maps feature a bit more foliage, trees etc then the SP maps due to the fact that the MP maps won’t have to handle large amounts of AI, this allowed the map makers to push the hardware a bit more. But trust me, the SP maps are not sparsely wooded, they feature a lot more then GR1. Included in a few of the maps is a dynamic skybox, with moving clouds (I’m unsure if the sun moves because I didn’t observe it). Looking forward to seeing the rest of the maps later on! Ok a few things on weapons. The only suppressed weapon in the Xbox launch version are the M9SD and Colt.45 SD, everything else is loud. The weapons are fairly balanced, the only true super gun that I could see was the M29. Doesn’t is suck to go on servers only people are only using SA80’s and OICW’s (without GL’s)? This time around the weapons are far more balanced, each with their own strengths, no “super duper” weapon of choice now. The M29 was a blast to use, the airburst grenades were fairly simple, point at a target, lock in the range by hitting a button, fire grenade. Simple. Effective. Deadly. And a blast to use! In Lone Wolf you can also call in Air strikes in a similar fashion, you target and object hold down a button, and the air support rolls in. You have to make sure you use this ability wisely as after the aircraft drop their payload they are unavailable for a duration of time. Related to weapons is reloading, switching kit etc. All of these actions and the times it takes to complete them are based on the animations. When RSE did the motion capture with the SF guys, the speed at which they did the actions is what you see in game. For example, when switching to AT the animation takes a lot longer then switching to frags or a pistol, because of this the time to switch is alt longer. I saw on a few occasions’ people getting shot because they were stuck trying to switch to the MAAWS. Heck since I started talking animation here’s a few more tidbits, the combat roll in FP view doesn’t actually make the screen “roll”, in testing it was found to make people dizzy so it was replaced with a meter similar to switching weapons. Also a new crawl animation was added, the fast crawl allows a player to move forward faster but the will not cradle their weapon as it is done for real. While fast crawling and combat rolling you cannot fire your weapon. A few misc. things I’m just remembering: No medic in MP, it was found during testing that most people didn’t stop to heal their teammates, you may be disappointed but do you want to be the guy stuck on the ground rolling around in “pain” while the other folks on the server leave you there? I wouldn’t. Also air strikes are no in MP, they were found to be buggy, and just imagine 10 air strikes at once, can you say server crash? Here’s the big one. With the upgrade of the engine it has been assumed there is an IGOR2 that has been developed along with it. That is very much the case! The GR2 projects codename was/is “Stonewall” and that helped to coin the editor’s name “StoneEd”. “StoneEd”, based upon IGOR, is still a very powerful scripting tool, with some user-friendly additions. For example, trying to make an AI use a mounted weapon in IGOR takes about 4-5 plan steps, with StoneEd it only takes one. Simple things like that probably make it a lot less “boring”, and much easier to use then IGOR. A very important note! Even though we now know the program exists, we do not know when or if it will be released to the community. Do not assume it will ship with the game, basically don’t assume anything, and especially don’t starting getting angry/upset at RSE, we as a community will have to wait it out and see what happens. All and all I’m totally sold that Red Storm is still the best at what they do. They care for the community, and respect how die-hard and passionate many of us are. Once people who have doubts play this game I’m pretty sure they will be singing a different tune. My hats off to the team at RSE for continuing to produce quality work for us gamers to enjoy. And again thanks to Christian Allen for taking the time to chat with me today, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleyt Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Lots of info there. Thanks NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR6 Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Outstanding report NYR! Glad you had a great time at the demo! The PC crowd here needs to know that they will get a game designed for their platform, not a direct port. If RSE wanted to they could port it, but do they want to? No. After playing the game today and chatting with people I personally would be happy with the XBOX version I kid you not, it was that good. Very cool to hear that the PC version will be unique - I think the main fear originally was that the PC version was going to be a port coming out the same time as the Xbox version. Now with a few extra months that RSE has to spend on it, GR2 can only get even better! BTW, I think it's kinda cool how there's a bit of a WolfServers connection here - Anubis brought us the first fan report about GR2, and now NYR is giving us probably what is one of the last major fan-written previews of the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRT Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 (edited) I hope with the StoneEd you can script AI to shoot fullauto and shoot there whole clip. I hated trying to make missions and having the enemy AI shoot 5 rounds and then sit there and get shot 30 times then try and shoot 4 more shots. Great info NYR Edited November 7, 2004 by RR_GRT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roselan Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 After the initial fear on gr2, it looks more and more promising! I'm the first to critize and be pessimistic (just check my posts on the subjects) but here I feel RSE approach should be taught in programming schools! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effin_GITS Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Great report dude. my fears are all but pretty much alayed these days and i'm looking forward to the pc release. If it looks that frikkin good on old man x box then hows it gonna look on the PC? I was dying (litterally) for a combat roll in GR1 so glad to see that is in. Glad too that there is no air strikes in MP. The only niggles that remain is that i dont see why we have to be forced to have tracers at all. Devs put them in games to create a more frenetic visual but in fact from a game play point of view all they do is give away your position. Why cant the individual or at least server host decide if they want them or not. Lasty smoke nades, maybe they lag a server, i don't know, but they ad a very important tactical element especially when playrs are pinned down and need to get the flock out. Is there any good reason why they can't be in GR2? All in all though i'm more psyched about GR2 for PC than HL2 and Stalker combined (dont get me started on HALO which i hate). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeUcEsWiLd Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Thanks for the report NYR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARDelta Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Nice report NYR32. Thanks for putting in all the time to do it - especially doing it twice! Looks I'll get the Xbox version and the PC version. I can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathByBoom Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Thanks for the review NYR. Nice to hear that the game is not going to be a big disappointment like I have feared. Also thanks for posting link to this at wolf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasyCo Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Good review! I am happy to hear the single player is up to par with the rest of the game. I only wish, I had more time to try the single player as well. Oh well, the 16th isn't far off!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calius Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 The definitive review we PC peeps have been waiting for!! This is all very exciting now, cant wait for PC version & info once xbox is released. Good review, good for the fact that you are a seasoned GR1 player, and use that reference well in the report to give examples between the 2 games (gives it far more credibililty than some crappy online mag reviews). And you met "the man" - Im loving them sandals! Stirling work sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalker Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 thanks NYR! very interesting read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadly_sniper22 Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 WOW That was awesome NY! I"m totally confident now is GR2. Thanks for the report! DS22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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