[GRAW Add On Pack & Update 1.16]

Overall the patch is great. I like the new control options (sticky keys, etc.), and in-game movement seems snappier/more responsive.

It's great to see new co-op maps, but as far as I can tell none of the co-op issues that people complained about have been addressed. Things like respawn options, automatic transferring of commander duties if the current commander dies (thereby avoiding a forced end game), no saving, etc. So, for me, co-op is still very much broken. The maps that my friends and I have played are getting pretty boring because if ANYTHING happens (death, glitch, etc.) we have to start all over again. Not great from a playability perspective.

The anti-aliasing isn't very useful as far as I'm concerned. It just makes everything blurry and slows things down a bit (for me, anyway).

But Grin has made considerable changes/additions on the DM side and to the game in general, so even if things still need to be tweaked it's nice to see they're not just resting on their laurels.

[CO-OP Wish list/Fix list]

I second (or third or fourth) most everything people are saying, but I would like to add...

1. There's probably not much they can do about this without major rewrites, but a more intelligent AI would be nice. On "Ready for bear", toward the end when the two friendly tanks are going head to head with the enemy tanks, my friend (who was commander) was trying to get our tanks to attack theirs. The short of it is that the tanks weren't smart enough to ROTATE into firing position to take out the enemy tanks. They got shot in the rear both times.

2. Bugs with the tactical map. If you're zoomed in on the Scar-L scope and enter map mode, when you come out of it the mouse speed is ridiculously high until you come out of scope view. At least on my system. I also experienced a bug in which I was killed by a tank while I was in map view. When I took over one of the other AI players, the overhead map was overlaying the normal FPS view. I couldn't do anything to get rid of it.

3. Tweaks to the controls. There are odd/annoying points in which the controls don't feel refined enough. For example, the moments when you're zoomed in and you look at, say, a railing that's too close by mistake, your gun drops and you're defenseless. Also, being able to move faster than crawl speed when reloading would be a bonus.

4. Refueling/Resupply drops. Hurt players should be able to at least repair HALF of their damage at a resupply drop. Particularly on longer, more challenging missions.

Otherwise, all other changes that people have mentioned would be great -- no commander-dies-ends-game, adding respawns, map grids, etc. That all NEEDS to be in there.

P

[Enhanced Physic FX MOD]

Watched the vid. Very cool effect, although I agree that it needs tweaking. The bodies don't feel weighty enough, at least in the second volley of shots. But I love where this mod is going. Great work on the Blood Mod, btw.

Oh, and is there any performance hit with the enhanced physics? I realize it's beta right now, but what have you seen so far?

[[Can someone beef up the] ragdoll [effect]]

I agree. It *does* kind of kill the realism when you shoot a bunch of tangos and half of them look like they're kneeling, or doing the limbo, or praying, or any of the other wierd positions they can end up in.

I'd just like the tangos death ragdoll not to end up "bottoms up" so often...

[Blood Mod v1.0]

Anyone have any screenies of what the effect looks like?

[MP Wishlist]

I'll respond/expand on a few of these, because I like where HighGround is headed. Of particular importance is the coop respawn issue...

1. Get rid of the chat window, it clutters the screen. Chat should be like in [GR], no windows.

2. Make the peak an optional toggle just like the scope toggle is optional.

4. Fix the gamespy create account bugs, you have to hit enter after typing or it won't recognize that you entered any text.

5. Add forested/rural maps and team LMS.

8. Allow for multiple respawns in COOP

1. CHAT: Totally agree. Chat window has to go, particularly for those of us who can't play on anything larger than 800x600.

2. TOGGLES: Agree. And actually, optional toggles on movements like crouch would be nice too for those of us who would prefer it.

4. GAMESPY ACCOUNT BUGS: This should be something that they'll fix without us asking. It's definitely an oversight. It also happens in the server set-up window. Annoying to say the least.

5. MAP TYPES: I agree. We need more variety, although I can see why they didn't include them in the first round. It's meant to be an overall campaign. They're probably banking on releasing add-on packs, ala Island Thunder, etc. But more variety would be great.

8. COOP RESPAWNS: This is CRUCIAL, and deserves much more discussion/attention. The current set up is simply NOT fun and doesn't promote smooth campaign play (from map to map). The probability that you'll have to play through the same scenarios over and over again until you get it right is just WAY too high. It results in way way too much monotony and predictability. And the fact that the game ENDS if your leader is killed is ridiculous -- not realistic at all!! In battle, if a team leader dies, would the mission just end? I seriously doubt it. The other soldiers would continue on, with the next-ranking individual acting as squad leader. Here's how I think it SHOULD be set up:

First if the team leader dies, one of the other human players immediately takes his place. I don't see a reason why this couldn't happen.

Second, I think each coop map should have a set number of "reinforcement drop points". If one of the human players is killed, there would be opportunity for a respawn only if the other players reached the next drop point, at which the respawning player would parachute in. Maybe there are only one or two of these per map, depending upon size.

Third, at death, killed players should be able to choose either a) take over an AI player of their choice so they can get right back in the game, or b) wait until the next drop point and come in as a new player with the kit of their choice (they could go to the weapon selection screen while they're waiting for the other players to reach the drop point). In the case of "option a", where the player takes over one of the AIs, a new AI player would come in at the drop point.

I think those fixes would help coop immensely!

Other than that I'm loving this game...