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T O P I C
The Unbearable Lightness of Dying. A Lot.
May 28th 2002, 10:45 CEST by Bailey

Here's the matters which raise umbrage with me surrounding SoF2. I'll number them real easy-like so you guys can tick off the reasons I'm a jaded fuck in an organized, numerical fashion rather than the usual projectile vomitus about my hating all life, creation, and substance on the planet.

1) In the Columbian levels, the enemy shows a particular proclivity for being able to peg you in the head from 200 yards while you're crawling through waist-high shrubbery on your belly. You, on the other hand, need some magic pixies circling the head of your enemies while sprinkling glowing fairy dust to find a Columbian standing five feet away. Note that the Columbian is also waving a red flag.

2) Enemies which spawn in areas you've already been just to punish you for exploring. You know the drill. You clear an area, you check all the doors, nooks, crannies, then open the vault to get some weapons before heading to the next area, and turn around to find the Wu-Tang Clan and their respective firepower aimed at that particularly embarrassing mole on your left testicle that looks like J. Edgar Hoover in a string bikini.

3) The impressive ability that everyone in the world has (except for you) to strafe back and forth wildly while shooting their desired target in the face, repeatedly. Over and over. At 30kmph. With blindfolds on. From 100 yards off. With a micro-uzi.

4) Stealth missions. The grand joke being the "stealth" part lasts, on average, 15-45 seconds into the mission, which quickly devolves into a running firefight with 60 or so guys.

5) Privacy curtains, a wonderful invention of the early medical system, are thin, pliable, and easily shot through. That's great. The problem is that terrorists have apparently been blessed by the aformentioned sparkle pixies, because they can see you through said solid, opaque, indestructible curtains. You, adversely, cannot see them. Or destroy them. Or bypass them. The quickload key defaults to F8, in case you're wondering. You'll be needing that.

6) The random map generator. Never has something been so over-hyped since Daikatana, New Coke, or the cure for cancer. And it was barely hyped, but even being included in the game is a grotesque error. Simple example: In tonight's game, the defenders spawned 50 feet from the offence. After a quick laugh over the poor design, the map was re-seeded, which left the defenders locked in a valley to the SE, while the offence had an easy, care-free jog to the briefcase. Oh yes. Loving the RMG. Did I also mention every single RMG level is a vast, empty area dotted with tree houses and roman columns? Sniper paradise, you say? No thanks, I'm full.

7) All the levels being designed for an average team population of five. So in case you ever planned on that cozy little LAN party with you and your three friends, prepare for a rocking good time of running around looking for someone, anyone, to shoot.

8) The marines, who while supposedly on my side, shot me in the head if I ran away from them, or when they casuallywandered in front of my steadily-firing gun. They also had the charming tendency to tell me to go into a house and clear it out on my own. Woe be unto me should I open the front door to find a rebel behind it, as the marines would open fire into my spine in an attempt to take out said rebel. The real charmer was the marine who threw a grenade in after me as I scrambled for cover. Thank you, Raven AI team!

Share your opinions, experiences, fanboi spewings, etc.
C O M M E N T S
Home » Topic: The Unbearable Lightness of Dying. A Lot.

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#104 by Squeaky
2002-05-29 08:37:46
no you're not

We've also revolutionized the boob technology
#105 by Squeaky
2002-05-29 08:38:41
ahh!! that was was meant for post #100 damn next page...

We've also revolutionized the boob technology
#106 by Ashiran
2002-05-29 08:56:37
SoF2 has true AI? Really complete adaptive AI?
For real?

Ashiran laughs and laughs. And then cries a lot.

"I've got a spoiler for you. YOU WILL DIE ALONE!" - Triumph
#107 by Bailey
2002-05-29 08:59:30
I hope I can strike a strategic alliance with this True AI now, before it wipes me out with all the other puny hoo-mans.

Dear Raven: I have some questions about your code - suggestions really, in the form of direct orders.
#108 by Jamiekin
2002-05-29 09:00:39
I'm serious.. stop killing the AI... or else I'm gonna have to report to the Federation, and Data is gonna kick yer asses..

I'm from Australia, and I have a crocodile down my pants.
#109 by chris
2002-05-29 09:21:29
cwb@shaithis.com http://www.cerebraldebris.com
Nathan... why must you taunt me with your booth babe pictures? why?

-chris
#110 by Ashiran
2002-05-29 09:47:27
They aren't THAT good looking.

"I've got a spoiler for you. YOU WILL DIE ALONE!" - Triumph
#111 by chris
2002-05-29 09:56:01
cwb@shaithis.com http://www.cerebraldebris.com
Ashiran -

No, they're not. Nor would it matter if they were, or if they were hideous gorgon hags.

-chris
#112 by Nathan McKenzie
2002-05-29 10:31:11
The important point, as far as I'm concerned, is that they're from Everquest.  Before its launch.  Before I purchased Verant's ...fine... product and developed, um, rather strong opinions about them as a company, their vague evolutionary connection to humanity as a whole, etc.

And not just from Everquest, either, but Firiona Vie!  And she's company sponsored - she's not just some random goth-fan from a fan faire dressed up as her Dark Elf enchantress Drizzette, she's the real thing!

That, chris, is why.

Besides, they weren't really booth babes proper - they were more of a babe random encounter, possibly a rare spawn, if you will (and I wouldn't, if I were you), yielding NODROP polaroids.

The end.

Nathan
#113 by deadlock
2002-05-29 11:21:22
http://www.deadlocked.org/
It's good to know that reading comprehension and applied logic are as important as punctuation in today's schools.

Jafd! Warren! Stop bickering or I'll be forced to change your opinions manually!
#114 by Max
2002-05-29 11:37:00
http://massivebraincase.org/
MattG's kitten link has, I believed, burned the corneas from my head, and incidentally given the Farkers a new goldmine of cliche material.

However, this does mean I can get new metallic ninja corneas installed.

I'm pretty sure, from exhaustive text analysis (well, just from reading it), that Counterspike's vaunted expert post was by Counterspike.  The lack of paragraphs, spelling, punctuation, or good sense really give it away.

Mouthpunch Arcade
#115 by Sgt Hulka
2002-05-29 11:40:38
Ozzy make me crazy

DOOMED! - Videogames Turn Deadly.
#116 by InsideWhat'sLeft Behind
2002-05-29 12:44:17
Nova Z
Realism is not a substitute for good gameplay.  Never has been, never will be.


Amen to that!
Realism...sucks. Realism does not equal suspension of disbelief. The latter is what one would want to employ.
Exaggeration is also nice.

Not many fun games made nowadays, sadly :\

"It goes without saying that technical proficiency should be the first acquistion of a student who would be a fine pianist." - Sergei Rachmaninov
#117 by "one"
2002-05-29 12:53:20
the games arent getting worse your just getting used to them
#118 by Darkseid-D
2002-05-29 14:38:18
rogerboal@hotmail.com
Then, the spelling fairy killed herself, weeping quietly as she shuffled off this mortal coil.


Ds

Never argue with an idiot, theyll drag you down onto their level, then beat you with experience.
#119 by MCorleone
2002-05-29 14:51:46
MattG's kitten link made my allergies flare up on the first pic.  Ouch.  Another box of Kleenex, please.  I don't think any more comments need to be said about "Counterspike".  Really.  Quoting an anon post from Blues as "authoritative?"  GG KTHX LOL GTG BBIAB

Build a man a fire and you'll keep him warm for the rest of the night.  Light a man on fire and you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life.
#120 by bishop
2002-05-29 15:14:11
http://www.darkintel.org/00FF00/
You forgot the pzl.

May the end of the world be warm and smoldering.
At least for some of you.
#121 by LPMiller
2002-05-29 15:33:32
lpmiller@gotapex.com http://www.gotapex.com
I take back what I said about good points.

I believe I can fly......urk.
#122 by "Anonymous"
2002-05-29 16:30:17
Wouldn't have found this site if it wasn't for the shack.  But it's a refreshing topic, since I was involved in a quake 2 mod that failed.  It failed largely because of the impossible task of creating "fun AI".  As a programmer you can basically take whatever you think you've learned about algorithms and throw them out the window.  They won't help you because the consumer does not want AI, they want fun.  What they want I think is a bit unrealistic, they want little neural networks inside their machines I think that learn and develop.  Yeah right, maybe in a 2D game but good luck getting that to fit in memory when you have huge graphic demands.  Blech, ecommerce programs don't have these same unrealistic demands so I'll stick with that.  But for what it's worth (not much!) heres my 2 cents. :>

I agree with almost everything posted by germz:


    As far as the enemy AI in the single player, it has its good points and bad points. The AI just spawning out of thin air when you hit some trigger is definitely the most annoying thing about the game. I hoping it had to do with some limitation of the q3 engine or memory resources, and not implemented in the game just to fuck with you. MOH:AA did the same shit too, so I wonder if they were not just trying to get around some limitation inherent to the engine or something.

    Most of the time though the AI was fun to play against. Yes, they are very good shots though, and there is a lot of dying in this game - even for experienced players.


Respawning seems like a design problem, not a problem with the intelligence of the enemies.  Thats what I see alot in this game, poor design decisions.  It's the largest thing hurting the game.


    And this is no doubt the main reason this game is getting knocked a lot - imho. Experienced players seem to feel they can just load up the game and just have their way with the AI like they do with every-other FPS game. Instead they get their ass handed to them over and over again - on the medium difficulty at that. Their first reaction seems to invariably be “THIS AI IS CRAP.” In reality, the AI’s only real fault is that they are good shots. I’m betting that if Raven had gone just a little softer on the AI, and fed the egos of the players a little more, reviews of the AI would be drastically different.

   If you think they are 'unrealisticly hard' you really ought to question the reality of one man taking on dozens and dozens of armed combatants and expecting to come out alive at all. The very fact that it is possible to beat the game at all should mean that it is 'unrealisticly easy.'


This is completely true.  The average gamer seems to think that he should have smart AI AND be able to go through and never die.  Well it doesn't work that way kids.  If you have smart AI you're going to get your ass kicked.  SoF2 does a good job at making it possible for you to defeat thousands of men and for that alone it is unrealistically easy.

I would go so far to say that the boys at Raven have done a bang up job on the AI.  They've made it as fun as they can with still having realistic combat. Have any of the critics on this site played more than one level of the game, I doubt it.  The full reviews coming from various sites seem to be postive and most forums are positive also, so people who actually play the game are enjoying it.  Since I am not done with it, I'm not going to post a full review but instead I'll share a war story to illustrate my point.

I got to the colombia missions and suddenly they hook me up with this squad of marines.  We are assigned to clear out a rebel encampment.  So instead of playing the role of the sniper, I decide to sneak out ahead a bit and scout around.  The squad gets involved in a fight a little ways back while I'm confronted with one baddie hiding under a bush.  I shoot at him and don't kill him because I hit his gun.  Instead of cowering right there which would have been easy he runs off at full tilt and gets far away from me.  I figured I didn't have to worry about him anymore so I backtrack to where my squad has a bunch of rebels held up inside a shack.  We're in a pin down situation, I've got a sniper on me and any time I poke my head out I'm liable(sp?) to get it shot off.  This is creating a real feeling of war here as we're pinned down.  Finally another marine decides he's had enough of this and says "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?", he takes out a grenade and lobs it into the shack.  One rebel comes running out to get the hell out of there so I take him down.  I figure the rest will die soon from the explosion so I'm on the move now to get a better view of the gore.  Just as I get my better view I can see him picking up the grenade!  Sure enough, he picks it up and throws it back.  His one remaining buddy mumbling something in spanish as he levels his sights on me.  Unfortunately for him the timer goes off mid air and exlodes in the doorway giving me enough chance to blast them both.  After the battle one of the marines shouts "THAT SHOWED THEM" or something, nice.  So we move on to the next area and I see that dude from way before who I shot his gun off.  He's cowering behind a buddy he found and back in the corner.  Instead of taking out him I have more pressing concerns.  His buddy sees me and I catch a glimpse of him rolling a grenade.  Suddenly there's smoke from the nade so I take cover quick. My squad sounds like they are in a fight as I hear lots of shouting so I'm kinda on my own with this guy.  I'm behind a tree and start popping out then back to get shots on him.  I pop my head out and he's gone, then BANG!  A shot comes from behind a stump, the bastard advanced on me!  No fair!  ;)  Anyway I finally cap him and move on to help my squad, turning my back.  Then I remember about that guy from before and figure I should put him out of his misery and get a chance to see some more gore.  Just as I turn around I see him picking up the gun of his fallen buddy! He picks it up with enough time to get one shot at me before I cap him.

Anyway this is a long story but goes to show that the AI has it's moments, it has alot of them.  Heck I'll go so far as to agree with counterspike (nice name heh) that I HAVE seen cool stuff in the RMG.  I've seen flanking in there like I described above and I've even seen them jump on top of logs.  The best thing about all of this is that every time you play a level it changes slightly, slightly different gun fights and slightly different behaviors.  So we know it's not scripted.

But before I close I wanted to use the story to show why it's good AI.
1.  Realistic when it needs to be.  The gun getting shot off is good, that really would happen and a guy really would get the hell out of there if he had no other weapon.  The timer of the grenade going off is good.  The use of a smoke grenade for a defensive manuever(sp?) is good.  The voice communication of the friendly marines also seems realistic.
2.  Fun when it needs to be.  It's not realistic for one person to take on an army. It's cool I could take like 10 shots but when I got a bead on a guy for the most part he was toast and my reward was to see some gore.  
3.  Unpredictable when it needs to be.  The AI is different everytime which means you will see patterns arising in their behavior but you do get the occasional surprise.  Like the first time you see a smoke grenade or (for me just now) the first time you see someone throw a grenade back!  It's unpredictable enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.


In closing, I think I agree with the minority (on this board) and reviewers that this is a fun game and the AI is what makes it fun.  I agree with germz too that it's a hard game and it's very easy for an FPS gamer to not appreciate the subtelties, you really have to try at this game.  But hey thats war right! ;)  
Also I think some people aren't using the game features enough.  Different from Sof1, the sound meter here actually matters.  For example, I tried restarting the whole game with always run on.  Even on that first level the guys hear you right away and say something in russian then come running.   If you play this game carefully it can be fun.  Only thing is Raven: I think you made it a little too hard.  
<shrug>Better that than too easy.

Also: YES the cinematics are crap.  I always skip them.
#123 by hardesty
2002-05-29 16:32:32
hardestyJ@hotmail.com
Speaking of bugs, this board has one. I'm logged on but it's showing me as anonymous #122.
#124 by Warren Marshall
2002-05-29 16:35:26
http://www.wantonhubris.com/
Because it knows you're lying.

WoT?
#125 by Hugin
2002-05-29 17:19:16
lmccain@nber.org
FInally finished Dungeon Siege last night.  The ending was okay I guess, but I hate that for the last level, I was maxed out on money and couldn't use a lot of the best gear.  Much like Merik's staff, the very last level of the game, with the Maximum Godlike Treasure room, they really need to have put in a object generating script that made sure the cool stuff was actually useable by your party.
#126 by "CounterSpike"
2002-05-29 17:23:02
unka@tds.net
haha. That's funny.  Because, Nathan, IF you were the guy responsible for the original AI in SOF1, I recall EVERYONE bitching about it.  All the reviews about the AI were horrible.  I didn't even bother buying that game.  It's funny hearing YOU defend these punks.  Are we a little bitter?
#127 by _Fury_
2002-05-29 17:25:21
ajhill@wi.rr.com
SOF2 is the new Black and White.

At least there's decent multiplay..

Research has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory rats.
#128 by mgns
2002-05-29 17:27:33
Smart AI doesn't equal good AI.

professional philosophical level design monkey.
#129 by Matt Perkins
2002-05-29 17:31:45
wizardque@yahoo.com http://whatwouldmattdo.com/
Hugin:
what level did you play it on?  I played normal(medium, I think) and when I got those weapons, they weren't as good as what I was already using.  I could use them, but they were useless.

I too hated that for that entire last level you had HUGE amounts of money, large focus of the rest of the game (collecting money), and you couldn't sell/buy.  VERY ANNOYING.

I thought the end was all right, a bit too easy perhaps, and definitly anti-climatic, imo.

my monkey name is Bobo.
#130 by Hugin
2002-05-29 17:58:20
lmccain@nber.org
I played on Normal.  The thing to keep in mind is, my entire party were archers, and I had a large party (seven people and a packmule).  So all the stats of my party were somewhat depressed due to it's size, and we were low on strength due to being archers.  Which is fine.  It's a choice I made early in the game, and I didn't have a problem, in general, with not being strong enough for the heaviest armor and whatnot.  But from an "intelligent and fun game design" point of view:

You meet the King.  The King for goodness sake.  He tells you you guys rock.  He gives you the key to the Supar Secret Chamber of Cool Shit, and tells you to load up and kick Seck ass with it.

You go to the SSCoCS, you get a nifty cutscene of, you know, the cosmic thingamabob kicking into action.  The glowing chests of cooless open.....

And at this point, were I the designer/programmer, I have a squib of code set up that checks your players stats and thier current gear, and gives you better stuff you can use.  

Emotionally, psychologcally fun-factor-ally, there's no way in hell I'm going to let the players open that chest and get worse equipment than they already have, or equipment they can't use at all.  No way.  It's an adventure fantasy, and you're atthe climactic ending.  I'm not going to make a game that says "Oh, sorry, turns out you don't have the stats to weild Excalubur." Pfft.

Seven characters, five or six super chests, and all I got out of it was one slightly cooler bow and a pair of gloves.  The rest was inferior or unuseable. Feh.
#131 by Ashiran
2002-05-29 18:08:55
Okay, what is it with you people always linking shooters to any AI discussion? It's always about shooters, shooters and games where you shoot people. There are other genres you know that would benifit much more from better AI then shooters. The AI in shooters as it is is pretty much good/fun enough. Still some improvement needed but we're getting there.

What about RTS games? Or a game like Civilization? A space combat game? Sports games?

Isn't there anyone out there who can overcome the "AI => Bots => Shooters" train of thought?

Shooters are about the worst genre for using a smart AI cause they benifit the least from them.

"I've got a spoiler for you. YOU WILL DIE ALONE!" - Triumph
#132 by "flamethrower"
2002-05-29 18:20:10
haha. That's funny.  Because, Nathan, IF you were the guy responsible for the original AI in SOF1, I recall EVERYONE bitching about it.  All the reviews about the AI were horrible.  I didn't even bother buying that game.  It's funny hearing YOU defend these punks.  Are we a little bitter?



The reviews of the SOF AI I didn't recall being bitched about or terrible.

I had no problems with it. It wasn't smart, but it was fun.

I think the horror would be the clipping issue. Firing a shot and have it hit invisible objects is about as annoying as having a bulldog bite your dick. Unless - you know - it's a PREDATOR licence or something (*).



(*becuase the Predator can go invisible, not becuase it likes bulldogs biting it's dick - it might or might not, it wasn't in either movie so Canine/Predator Penile Attack isn't part of Predator Canon. Just to clear that up.)
#133 by Phayyde
2002-05-29 18:36:51
Raven learned that fantasy FPSs' based on their own Romero/in-house mythology do not compete well with sci-fi FPSs' based on proven successful IP.  The market has now rewarded Raven for their adaptability.  

Barring Portal of Praevus, I have always enjoyed the goofy strangeness and charm of Romero/Raven fantasy.  I still want to believe that this current id-mod contractor phase (SOF, SOF2, STVEFHT, STVEFHT2, DF3JK2JO, Q4) is a shill for their mastar plan: HeXeN 3.

I want to see a risk-taking Raven again.

Beat to fit, paint to match.
#134 by Darkseid-D
2002-05-29 18:39:47
rogerboal@hotmail.com
Im sure those cool moments did happen to you in  SOf2.

on that mission, heres some of the samples of the `great` ai/engine.


Approaching the bridge, I hear `airstrike inbound` and the marines and hostiles are blazing away at each other across the bridge full tilt boogie and not hitting each other AT ALL, this goes on for 5 minutes, each trooper runs through an estimate thousand rounds (why cant I carry that much). They throw grenades, the grenades dont clear the middle of the bridge, smart (not), I decide to snipe some of th ehostiles down, but cant hit any of them because of the clipping issues around what theyre hiding behind, probably the reason they cant hit the marines and vice versa.  So I decide to clear em out, up close and personal, yomp forward, down the incline, doggy paddle across and yomp up the other side. Great you think, nope I still have to go around the `cover` entirely to have an unobstructed view of the enemy, who have seen me and are shooting like crazy at me, despite being under fire from the marines and me having made a sensible `use cover` type approach. Maybe I made too much noise then, gosh those AK74s and m4a1s must be silenced for footsteps to give me away. I shoot the two guys down eventually, the m4a1 managing to miss the 10 ring from 10 feet in single shot mode all the while the enemy are hosing me down full auto.  I throw a grenade up into the sentry post, it kills the guard, but the gun remains floating in mid air shooting at me, yay.

move on to the next map/objective where you clear the village, then building to building cqb and rescue a soldier. Woohooo, we assault from the gate, a firefight kicks off, the squad gets pinned down, I have no sniper ammo left and  basically nobody is hitting anyone, with the exception of the enemy being able to hit me no matter what cover I use. I decide fsck it and go on the attack, deciding to flank and get the drop on several troops who still turn to fire on me as soon as I clear the side of the hut even tho they had their back to me, damn noisy boots these.  I move round the camp eliminating hostiles and allow the soldiers to move up, but no, they decided Id run off and the `commander` shot me. Wtf? reload, replay dont stray as far from them, dont get killed, clear the hut, ok open door, blasted down from the guys standing waiting on me and the marines opening up from behind me. reload. Open door from side and pitch grenade in, grenade hits clipping on top of door and bounces out, killing marines. reload. marines call me a bitch and open fire. reload. open  door via a lean, jump backwards over railing, launch grenade from m4a1, wound marine marginally, he opens up, kills his commander and other marine then me. reload. commander shoots me for whatever reason. reload. Get annoyed, open door hitcrouch and open fire, kill, think theres one left open fire kill, move in building going `bet theres one there, kill` 99% of the time they were all aimed and ready for me no matter if I took an oblique approach, was stealthily silent and eliminated their friends with my silenced socom, they were ready for me. Mmmmkay. Clear the huts, go to rescue prisoner, braindead marine fires at the `boobytrap` for god knows what reason, reload, defuse the trap, free the prisoner, move to next level.

Great slosh down river a bit, ahhh unexpected ambush from behind, why cant I snipe that gunner from the patrol boat damnit? Get grenaded in the back by the marines, yay, reload.  Move on, come to rope bridge thing, see hostile lounging between two trees ak74 slung over shoulder, get the sniper rifle ready, cackle with much glee, spot his two friends on the bank to the left, pop pop, one dead, one guys arm is off yet he goes through the `pick up the fallen gun` motion and appears to be firing at me, belay that, he is firing at me with an invisible gun, shoot guy in face, this time he takes the hint. Track right ah the smoking guy is now firing at me, aim for head, hit `clipping`, mmmkay, aim a bit to the right, clipping from OTHER tree. Get narked, run up, unholster m4a1 and lob grenade, clipping protects him again, get really pissed and run to flank, trigger ambush, get killed, reload. Try to shoot guy between trees first, cry, move round, kill everything in sight, get grenadedin the back by an enthusiastic marine, reload. Repeat, success, move on to ruins area, ye gods will you stop running lemming like into the ruins? reload, where the fuck did that patrol boat thats sitting on my head come from, and why are all the marines shooting at it ... oh, they cant get past it, reload, its still there, reload earlier save, repeat bridge bit, get to ruins, save, get through ruins, where did those guys spawn from? Move down ravine, yayy Im being shot at by skippy the wonder sniper, I can see his muzzle flash, but theres NOTHING THERE when I crank the zoom up, move forward, killing spawning enemy along the way, skippy the wonder sniper continues to shoot at me (badly), arrive where the muzzle flash came from, skippy the wondersniper turns out to be `mr rockformation` the sniper, the barrel of the rifle protruding from solid rock, we move on, yayy, to the helis and extract, except the marines wont move past skippy, theyre busily expending everything they have into it.

quit game in disgust.


what a wonderful wonderful game, the earlier leak I had was worse tho.


Ds

Never argue with an idiot, theyll drag you down onto their level, then beat you with experience.
#135 by Post-It
2002-05-29 18:39:49
keithlee@speakeasy.net
So I think the phenomenon that is playing on public servers instead of butter (I'm sorry I went...I had a lapse in judgement) can accurately summed up here. (Flash)

"It's a bird!  It's a plane!  Oh shit, It knows we're home!"
-Chris Johnson
#136 by Darkseid-D
2002-05-29 18:43:10
rogerboal@hotmail.com
Grandma rules

:)


now THATS attitude.


Ds

Never argue with an idiot, theyll drag you down onto their level, then beat you with experience.
#137 by Hugin
2002-05-29 18:43:58
lmccain@nber.org
I think that television and movies create an expectation of how hard/easy/exciting/cool/bloody/smart/dumb the experience of running around and shooting and being shot at by enemies ought to be. And the gap between those expectations and a typical FPS create relatively high levels of player discontent.

I'd argue that the average geek has much less "real world" experience with media depictions of directing large scale warfare. The idiosyncrasies of RTS or turn-based strategy AI are therefore somewhat less glaring. I'd also argue that in general, AI "errors" in an RTS/turn-based strategy game tend to make games easier, avoiding the large issue of "bad AI" that FPS players complain make games harder/impossible (seeing through walls, unreasonable accuracy, etc)

Finally, I'd argue that much less of what happens in an RTS or turn based strategy is directly controlled by a player. The "gameplay" is much more the computer calculating many things behind the scenes, at the third person direction of the player. In some ways, many moments of a strategy game are the computer essentially playing itself.  Which moves AI inequities a layer away from the player.
#138 by Leslie Nassar
2002-05-29 18:53:12
http://departmentofinternets.com
Deranged Woman with Oxygen Cannister and Lighter Destroys Plane
Airport security charged with incompetence for failing to search "old people".


How's that for a headline?  They should have jailed her ass.

i like monkeys.  are you a monkey?
#139 by Nathan McKenzie
2002-05-29 19:02:48
Um, just for the record, before anyone (else) misconstrues, I am not of the opinion that there is a trace of genious to be found at Valve or id, either, nor at Epic (sorry Warren!).  The entire gaming industry, in fact, is completely devoid of genious, a state that is apparently mirrored by my dictionary.  This is because, of course, genious is not a word in the sense that, for example, words in English are words.

Thank you.

Nathan
#140 by Duality
2002-05-29 19:04:54
Dualipuff@yahoo.com http://stratoscape.ath.cx/
Nathan's not the new genious?

#141 by "Balderama"
2002-05-29 19:15:32
support@real.com www.planetcrap.com
Those who complain about SOF2 should play Delta Force: Land Warrior.
#142 by "Balderama"
2002-05-29 19:22:08
support@real.com www.planetcrap.com
#136

LOL

Sounds like a female version of Cliff Yablonski.
#143 by chris
2002-05-29 19:24:09
cwb@shaithis.com http://www.cerebraldebris.com
141 - Balderama:

just because game A is better than crappy game B, doesn't make game A good. =)

-chris
#144 by hardesty
2002-05-29 19:25:01
hardestyJ@hotmail.com
#128:   Yes, I totally agree and that was one of the points of my uber long post.  SoF2 does a good job at walking the line between "smart" and "good".  As it stands, I find SoF2 fun, challenging, and rewarding.  I believe that there are some faults, many faults in fact.  But these faults are not in the AI, they are faults in poor design.  For example #134 complains about invisible brushes and not enough amo, also certain sections where he scripted events are messed up.  These aren't questions of the intelligent (or unintelligent) decisions of enemy AI.  I can't be alone in this opinion because every single review so far (no NOT previews, the full official reviews: gamespy, actionvault, worthplaying) have said the same opinions.  

#137:   werd.

# 139 :  Oh come off it!  Poking fun at mispelling is always the easy way out.  Who cares if you don't take the time to bother putting your post through a spellchecker.  I thought you guys claimed to be "above" the level of posters on the shack, picking on them for something as trivial as spelling proves you are one in the same.
#145 by "Balderama"
2002-05-29 19:35:02
support@real.com www.planetcrap.com
#143

You saying DFLW is not a good game? Why not? It has great multiplayer and the single player is good too. It's very popular. You shuold check out the amount of servers running on Nova Logic sometime.
#146 by Bailey
2002-05-29 19:52:27
#112 Nathan

You'd be better served by assuading chris' boothbabe lamentations by mentioning those girls are technically cosplayers. They want to be dressed like that in public, scantily clad in goofy costumes and surrounded by geeks.

#127 Fury

Yes, the AI in SoF2 MP is much more impressive.

Dear Raven: I have some questions about your code - suggestions really, in the form of direct orders.
#147 by chris
2002-05-29 19:54:20
cwb@shaithis.com http://www.cerebraldebris.com
Ah, I misunderstood your analogy. I assumed it was a "shut up about SOF2 cuz at least it's not THIS bad" argument.

The "here's a better game" argument is much more useful.

-chris
#148 by "Anonymous"
2002-05-29 19:57:20
Bah. I don't mind if they pick on me for a typo.  haha.  It just shows that they are getting desperate by responding to syntax instead of semantics to try to discredit me.  Everything I said was completely valid.  It is pretty funny when someone spells the word "genius" wrong though, so I'll give you that.

Oh and SOF1 had good AI?  yeah whatever.
http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/august01/sof/index2.shtm
http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=6294
http://www.newsearching.com/pc_game/Soldier_of_Fortune_Gold_Edition.html
http://www.gamesurge.com/pc/reviews/sof.shtml
http://www.oldmanmurray.com/longreviews/softravel.shtml

To be fair to Nathan, SOF1 was a long time ago, and hell if I could do any better.
#149 by "CounterSpike"
2002-05-29 19:59:27
unka@tds.net
Oh and Bailey... There is no AI in MP.  God I hope you're being sarcastic.  haha
#150 by crash
2002-05-29 20:06:02
hardesty:

Poking fun at mispelling is always the easy way out.

as this is not the shack, i'll make that particular dynamic clear: if they're mocking your spelling, it is because that is the only facet of your post that is worth discussing. the rest is simply ignored. it is not because they do not have a point to make, or cannot debate with your mad skillz. it is because the spelling is the only thing in that particular post worthwhile enough to even comment on.

for future reference.

Whoops, sorry, was my common sense showing again? -HoseWater
#151 by Duality
2002-05-29 20:14:01
Dualipuff@yahoo.com http://stratoscape.ath.cx/
Oh and Bailey... There is no AI in MP.  God I hope you're being sarcastic.  haha

Not too bright, are yah, son?

#152 by Charles
2002-05-29 20:17:51
www.bluh.org
Why even try crash?

Bailey:  Beep beep, motherfucker.
#153 by "CounterSpike"
2002-05-29 20:23:33
unka@tds.net
My only mistake was sucking Bailey's dick like the rest of you.  You guys are so blinded by your little clique that you can't think for yourselves.
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