Jorrit Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 The translated version of my experiences with the producer tour in The Netherlands: To prepare the world press for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Bo Andersson, co-founder and CEO of GRIN, the development studio of this game, made a producer tour to all corners of the world to show a beta version of the game. GRAW.nl was there when Bo was in The Game Syndicate in Rotterdam and asked him questions about specific features which will appear in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for the PC. No well-known facts or questions about the number of levels or polygons, but detailed information about the game, and specifically the multiplayer part. While playing the game it would crash every now and then. Bo wasn’t surprised and told us that it should crash, otherwise it would have been the final version. Bo used to be in the military, and his contribution to the game is found in the military aspects and the artificial intelligence for team-mates and enemies. Differences and similarities If you’ve played one of the console versions of Ghost Recon, you’ll on the one hand recognize locations and material, but on the other hand you’ll see differences. The PC version was developed separately from the console versions, but is based on the same image and video material from Mexico City and of course on the same city map. The resulting game is much larger than the console version, resulting in longer missions. We’ve received emails from worried people with questions regarding the stability of the game. Stability has a high priority at GRIN, because missions can last for several hours and you don’t want to crash just before a checkpoint. Using the official internet forums GRIN will try to stay in contact with the community, especially regarding problems with the game. Support This brings us to the patches. Every program contains bugs, even GRAW, something which Bo doesn’t deny. Patches will be released which will contain bugfixes as well as additional content. Another point of frustration with the community is cheating. GRIN chose to develop their own anti-cheat solution, instead of using third-party tools like Punkbuster. The anti-cheat functionality will be updated with patches as well. Multiplayer Now the most important aspect of the game for hard-core gamers: multiplayer. You can play with and against each other over local area network and internet, because cooperative play is also included. Together with your friends and optional AI players you can take on the singleplayer missions, with the difference that the enemies are much more difficult and there is no save option during missions. When a human player dies, he cannot respawn, but it is possible to take over an artificial teammate, when there are any alive. When the last human player dies and there are no more artificial teammates left, the mission is failed. You can start a server from within the game, where you’ll find the option to host a dedicated or listen server. If a separate dedicated server will be available during launch is unsure, it might be developed and released later. GRAW will be using Gamespy for its internal server browser, and you don’t have to memorize IP addresses, because a favourite server save option is provided. The server will be managed using the internal game menu, and there is at this moment no intention to create a remote console option. When you run a dedicated server you’ll need a computer comparable with a computer you need to run the game, with the exception that a server doesn’t need a high end videocard, and needs more memory and bandwidth, depending on the number of players. Something which was previously not possible is possible now: joining a running game. No more waiting until the game is finished, you can join whenever you want, something which is quite normal for less tactical FPS games. For people who want to stick with the old behaviour there will be an option to switch this. Features which might get added in a patch, but which are not included in 1.0 are demo recording and ingame content download, so you’ll be able to join any server, even if you don’t have that map. There will be no ingame voice communication, a decision which I support. There are enough good external tools available, something which GRIN has correctly taken into consideration. The last item we discussed was the availability of modding tools. There will be a mapeditor available, and other aspects of the game will be changeable using the XML based configuration files. Bo wanted to stress that GRIN will keep listening to the community after the release and that features might get added or changed based on the response. Source: http://www.graw.nl/community/features/1794/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deosl Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) GRIN chose to develop their own anti-cheat solution, instead of using third-party tools like Punkbuster. The anti-cheat functionality will be updated with patches as well. Features which might get added in a patch, but which are not included in 1.0 are demo recording and ingame content download, Music to my ears. Thanks for the translation & great job slapping some MP info from Bo ^^ Edited April 8, 2006 by Deosl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuryTM Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 @Deosl Yeah those two things caught my attention aswell! Does he mean replays with the demo recording feature?? If so hats off to GRIN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassius Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 @Deosl Yeah those two things caught my attention aswell! Does he mean replays with the demo recording feature?? If so hats off to GRIN! ← Dont see anything else they could have meant, good news! the anticipation is killing me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silent_op Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) Bo and all GRINs, I'm really looking forward to GR:AW, this is going to be one long month. You guys never seem to stop amazing me. I never expected this: Bo wanted to stress that GRIN will keep listening to the community after the release and that features might get added or changed based on the response. Thank you so much GRIN. silent_op Edited April 8, 2006 by silent_op Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REC0N Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Thank you for your effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ig. Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 hmm finally some multiplayer information... strange how it hasnt been officially announced - guess they are too busy... sounds good if its true anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCSeMPeRFi Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 GREAT NEWS to know we will not need a high end video card to run GRAW servers. That is an issue that has been bothering the Clan leaders and modders from the beginning. Can GRIN please confirm this? I will sleep better hearing it from the source. Once again, Hats off to GRIN, huzzah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Demorecording = replays And they won't be in the 1.0 game, but they will be added in a patch. Hopefully they are able to pull it off in a quick MP patch or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calius Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 joining a running game. No more waiting until the game is finished, you can join whenever you want When a human player dies, he cannot respawn, but it is possible to take over an artificial teammate GRIN chose to develop their own anti-cheat solution, instead of using third-party tools like Punkbuster. The anti-cheat functionality will be updated with patches as well. and you don’t have to memorize IP addresses, because a favourite server save option is provided. and other aspects of the game will be changeable using the XML based configuration files. Bo wanted to stress that GRIN will keep listening to the community after the release and that features might get added or changed based on the response. Combined with no Starforce ... this is becoming rather dreamy indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 In the dutch version they say there is a mapeditor that comes with the game. In the translation above ^ it says that "there will be a mapeditor available". They use the word 'meegeleverd', directly translated it means "with" and "delivered / attached" - So 'with' the game. Orginal source: "Tot slot is er voor de modders onder ons de verzekering dat je je eigen maps kunt ontwerpen doormiddel van de meegeleverde mapeditor" Is: "At last, there is for the modders under us the insurance/assurance that you can design your own maps with the help of the attached mapeditor." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost9 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) There will be no ingame voice communication, a decision which I support. There are enough good external tools available, something which GRIN has correctly taken into consideration. ← psh. I totally disagree with this statement. I think having in game voip would've been a huge advantage and think the exclusion of it is a down-side. For this type of game especially, voip is great for organizing and strategizing with a team that you wouldn't normally have contact with. it's fine if you are always going to play with the same people on your ts or vent, but it now takes away the option to coordinate with complete strangers who aren't going to jump on some random ts server, or possibly don't have the programs. or more than that there is no server to use. I feel that this is a con in the game development, not a pro. There will be a mapeditor available, and other aspects of the game will be changeable using the XML based configuration files. ← not sure how i feel about this. lends itself to hacks. I also can't stand it when people "tweak" to get an advantage. I personally feel a game should be played as it has been created with everyone on an equal playing field. I hate the people who mess with the game code to get an edge. Edited April 8, 2006 by Ghost9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorrit Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 In the dutch version they say there is a mapeditor that comes with the game. In the translation above ^ it says that "there will be a mapeditor available". They use the word 'meegeleverd', directly translated it means "with" and "delivered / attached" - So 'with' the game. Orginal source: "Tot slot is er voor de modders onder ons de verzekering dat je je eigen maps kunt ontwerpen doormiddel van de meegeleverde mapeditor" Is: "At last, there is for the modders under us the insurance/assurance that you can design your own maps with the help of the attached mapeditor." ← Yes, I translated it in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorrit Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 Combined with no Starforce ... this is becoming rather dreamy indeed. ← Where did you get the information that there is no Star-Force? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calius Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Where did you get the information that there is no Star-Force? http://www.ghostrecon.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=32630 Right here in these loverly forums mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 On the subject of comms, I agree that the third party solutions are hard to beat, Teamspeak functionality would be near impossible to better with an in game solution. However having said that, Ghost9 makes a good point too, there is a very real advantage to having comms included in the game - and that is the convienience of having any joining player immediately on comms without the hastle of finding and using whatever third party comms the server host is using. Anyone who has played GRAW on the 360 will immediately know what that is like, and it rocks. As soon as you join a server and join a team, you have comms with that team, no faffing about finding where the comms channel is. When you die, your comms are cut from the playing members automatically, and when you rejoin the game lobby after the game, everybodys comms is automatically back on, and both teams can comminucate with each other. Try doing that on Teamspeak automatically. As usual I sit on the fence with this one , I love Teamspeak for all the options it affords, and the clarity of the comms, but the convienience of something like the Xbox GRAW system is very special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calius Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Teamspeak & 3rd party I feel is good. Maybe having it within the game just opens up a far more larger can of tech worms. Could in-game comms effect lag / MP ping rates also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorrit Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) On the subject of comms, I agree that the third party solutions are hard to beat, Teamspeak functionality would be near impossible to better with an in game solution. However having said that, Ghost9 makes a good point too, there is a very real advantage to having comms included in the game - and that is the convienience of having any joining player immediately on comms without the hastle of finding and using whatever third party comms the server host is using. Anyone who has played GRAW on the 360 will immediately know what that is like, and it rocks. As soon as you join a server and join a team, you have comms with that team, no faffing about finding where the comms channel is. When you die, your comms are cut from the playing members automatically, and when you rejoin the game lobby after the game, everybodys comms is automatically back on, and both teams can comminucate with each other. Try doing that on Teamspeak automatically. ← It's indeed a valid point, but from my experiences with BF2, which has built-in voicecomm, it's rarely used. Of course, BF2 attracts a different kind of public, but I've played it a lot for some time, and it's wasn't even used once for tactical purposes. Edited April 8, 2006 by Jorrit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost9 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) It's indeed a valid point, but from my experiences with BF2, which has built-in voicecomm, it's rarely used. Of course, BF2 atracts a different kind of public, but I've played it a lot for some time, and it's wasn't even used once for tactical purposes. ← I play bf2 as well and I filter it so I only go to server with the option. I do have to confirm that it is not used that often by people. However, when it was used I had great games with people and we worked as a team. It's a great ability to have and I would see a game like GR:AW getting a great amount of use out of it. Edited April 8, 2006 by Ghost9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poita Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Things indeed are looking dreamy. The sigle word 'Gamespy' fills me with dread though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deosl Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Better gamespy then UBI.com services. When the UBI.com master server is down, no one can log in or join servers. Talk about a flawed system, think most Raven Shield players would agree In the end not being restricted to 1 certain service is good. But the gamespy browser is also used in FEAR, works ok there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-=Æ’ab=- Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 thx GRIN . . . and if we can have an Hamburger Hill mod with no respaws in the Multi ; that would be the game for my 5 next years . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCSeMPeRFi Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 There will be no ingame voice communication, a decision which I support. There are enough good external tools available, something which GRIN has correctly taken into consideration. ← psh. I totally disagree with this statement. I think having in game voip would've been a huge advantage and think the exclusion of it is a down-side. For this type of game especially, voip is great for organizing and strategizing with a team that you wouldn't normally have contact with. it's fine if you are always going to play with the same people on your ts or vent, but it now takes away the option to coordinate with complete strangers who aren't going to jump on some random ts server, or possibly don't have the programs. or more than that there is no server to use. I feel that this is a con in the game development, not a pro. There will be a mapeditor available, and other aspects of the game will be changeable using the XML based configuration files. ← not sure how i feel about this. lends itself to hacks. I also can't stand it when people "tweak" to get an advantage. I personally feel a game should be played as it has been created with everyone on an equal playing field. I hate the people who mess with the game code to get an edge. ← pt.1)Even if they did implement voip it would not have the codec clarity of Teamspeak or ventrillo. And most pro clans have their own comms server anyways and would use it over the games. It would just create confusion and Grin took all this into consideration I'm sure. pt.2)There is nothing wrong with "tweaking" your game to get the max performance from your system. The advantage comes from having better hardware. And if you spend that kind of money on your PC it should perform better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whistle Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 everything sounds awesome... around 30 days till release? achh, im gunan go insane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nookie Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 S! All I am new here btw. You can start a server from within the game, where you’ll find the option to host a dedicated or listen server. If a separate dedicated server will be available during launch is unsure, it might be developed and released later. So does it mean that we need to buy two copys of GRAW to host a server, until a dedicated server get's released ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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