What are you playing now

[Oner]

I must have been playing a different game. In mine they weren't trying to cause world war 3, they were trying to boost there sales in a way that was accidentally going to create ww3. :/

I remember Leland spouting "The only thing more lucrative than a war, is a cold war". Or something.

 

He's trying to foster a Cold War because everyone buys his weapons, but Mike figures out (Don't ask me how) that the cold war is going to go hot

 

I found it weirder that Leland and co don't figure it out. I guess Parker not being able to understand people is supposed to be the justification?

 

[Nightshape]

I think that it would have been possible to make AP for a previous generation console, that's how much it seems to be utilising the underlaying hardware.

 

Not wanting to open a really big can of worms, but the same could be said about pretty much every game I've played this year. Really, take out the graphic engine and you've got a game that was perfectly possible to produce for older generation consoles, considering that the design hasn't really changed that much (today everything has regenerating health, but that's about the only thing that has changed..).

 

What you been playing?

[WorstUsernameEver]

I think that it would have been possible to make AP for a previous generation console, that's how much it seems to be utilising the underlaying hardware.

 

Not wanting to open a really big can of worms, but the same could be said about pretty much every game I've played this year. Really, take out the graphic engine and you've got a game that was perfectly possible to produce for older generation consoles, considering that the design hasn't really changed that much (today everything has regenerating health, but that's about the only thing that has changed..).

 

What you been playing?

 

Dragon Age

Mass Effect

Fallout 3

 

A lot of other titles are indies/european lesser budget titles, so they aren't relevant.

I've also fiddled a bit with Gears of War 2, which was honestly, a less-than-thrilling title IMHO, but that's just a matter of tastes.

[Nepenthe]

I must have been playing a different game. In mine they weren't trying to cause world war 3, they were trying to boost there sales in a way that was accidentally going to create ww3. :/

I remember Leland spouting "The only thing more lucrative than a war, is a cold war". Or something.

 

He's trying to foster a Cold War because everyone buys his weapons, but Mike figures out (Don't ask me how) that the cold war is going to go hot

 

 

^^ That's what I was trying to say.

[Gorgon]

I got halflife two episode two for six euros on steam, never played it, installing now.

[Nightshape]

I think that it would have been possible to make AP for a previous generation console, that's how much it seems to be utilising the underlaying hardware.

 

Not wanting to open a really big can of worms, but the same could be said about pretty much every game I've played this year. Really, take out the graphic engine and you've got a game that was perfectly possible to produce for older generation consoles, considering that the design hasn't really changed that much (today everything has regenerating health, but that's about the only thing that has changed..).

 

What you been playing?

 

Dragon Age

Mass Effect

Fallout 3

 

A lot of other titles are indies/european lesser budget titles, so they aren't relevant.

I've also fiddled a bit with Gears of War 2, which was honestly, a less-than-thrilling title IMHO, but that's just a matter of tastes.

 

I'd say they're getting the best they can out of the consoles on the market...

 

Fallout 3 with the Environments, open world streaming is a tough thing to do on a console. (Terrible animation though, YUK... Bit like AP in that respect).

 

Mass Effect is visually pushing things fairly far, its very polished and stable.

 

Dragon Age runs badly on consoles far as I know. Especially on the PS3.

 

The challenge with all those games is in regards to memory constraints, and on PS3 the blasted GPU, and threading ala using the spu's. I mean sure you can always sqeeze more and more out of a system, but all those games are doing a hell of alot more than AP is.

 

That said none of those games really have good AI .

 

I don't mind the fact that AP is ugly, as much as it's ugly because of apparent ignorance on the dev teams part, particularly in regards to art. HUD clashing with the environment, that's seriously bad and not the kind of thing I expect from a professional outfit. Also, the texture's don't play nice with compression... They look like still camera shots which have been transfered around as jpg's then some terrible grading applied, by the time they're out the other end of the DXT compression they're so borked they're just ruined, and that's before you start to look at the fact that they're extremely low res in places.

 

I can't imagine AP ever suffered from being vertex bound in terms of the geometry, it's extremely simple stuff... What can I say? It really is some of the most consistantly bad art I've seen in a game of this generation.

 

It's almost like whoever sat down and hammered out the specifications for the art team didn't really understand the systems they were working with.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'd say they're getting the best they can out of the consoles on the market...

 

Fallout 3 with the Environments, open world streaming is a tough thing to do on a console. (Terrible animation though, YUK... Bit like AP in that respect).

 

Mass Effect is visually pushing things fairly far, its very polished and stable.

 

Dragon Age runs badly on consoles far as I know. Especially on the PS3.

 

The challenge with all those games is in regards to memory constraints, and on PS3 the blasted GPU, and threading ala using the spu's. I mean sure you can always sqeeze more and more out of a system, but all those games are doing a hell of alot more than AP is.

 

That said none of those games really have good AI .

 

I don't mind the fact that AP is ugly, as much as it's ugly because of apparent ignorance on the dev teams part, particularly in regards to art. HUD clashing with the environment, that's seriously bad and not the kind of thing I expect from a professional outfit. Also, the texture's don't play nice with compression... They look like still camera shots which have been transfered around as jpg's then some terrible grading applied, by the time they're out the other end of the DXT compression they're so borked they're just ruined, and that's before you start to look at the fact that they're extremely low res in places.

 

I can't imagine AP ever suffered from being vertex bound in terms of the geometry, it's extremely simple stuff... What can I say? It really is some of the most consistantly bad art I've seen in a game of this generation.

 

It's almost like whoever sat down and hammered out the specifications for the art team didn't really understand the systems they were working with.

 

You seem to be going the extra mile to prove my point.

Yeah, it's clear that graphically those games are far ahead of anything that could have been done with the previous generation console.

But apart from that, there's nothing that really makes me go 'wow, we couldn't have something like that with the PS2!'.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Regarding AP, Halbech has to be a bunch of complete idiots. Do they supply the terrorists with some no-name russian missiles to shot down planes with? No, they give them some special prototype thingie that only they produce. Its like signing the bullets with your name and adress before murdering someone.

[Oner]

Prototype missiles don't get "stolen"?

Better yet, was Colt ever sued because someone took their guns to go on a killing spree in their school?

[Morgoth]

Regarding AP, Halbech has to be a bunch of complete idiots. Do they supply the terrorists with some no-name russian missiles to shot down planes with? No, they give them some special prototype thingie that only they produce. Its like signing the bullets with your name and adress before murdering someone.

Still pissed because you couldn't defeat your first boss?

[Kaftan Barlast]

Cutting-edge military tech is more heavily guarded than the president. It does not get stolen. Parts of plans etc. might be leaked through espionage or pure accident but a complete weapon system? Not bloody likely. Its such a blatantly ham-fisted plot hook, Halbech more or less painted a target in their forehead and screamed "Wohoo, we're evil! Come get us!!"

 

 

It's one thing to have a bad or barely-existant plot if your game doesnt revolve around a story, but for a game like Alpha Protocol where a big part is to unravel the mystery/conpiracy its just stupid.

[Nightshape]

I'd say they're getting the best they can out of the consoles on the market...

 

Fallout 3 with the Environments, open world streaming is a tough thing to do on a console. (Terrible animation though, YUK... Bit like AP in that respect).

 

Mass Effect is visually pushing things fairly far, its very polished and stable.

 

Dragon Age runs badly on consoles far as I know. Especially on the PS3.

 

The challenge with all those games is in regards to memory constraints, and on PS3 the blasted GPU, and threading ala using the spu's. I mean sure you can always sqeeze more and more out of a system, but all those games are doing a hell of alot more than AP is.

 

That said none of those games really have good AI .

 

I don't mind the fact that AP is ugly, as much as it's ugly because of apparent ignorance on the dev teams part, particularly in regards to art. HUD clashing with the environment, that's seriously bad and not the kind of thing I expect from a professional outfit. Also, the texture's don't play nice with compression... They look like still camera shots which have been transfered around as jpg's then some terrible grading applied, by the time they're out the other end of the DXT compression they're so borked they're just ruined, and that's before you start to look at the fact that they're extremely low res in places.

 

I can't imagine AP ever suffered from being vertex bound in terms of the geometry, it's extremely simple stuff... What can I say? It really is some of the most consistantly bad art I've seen in a game of this generation.

 

It's almost like whoever sat down and hammered out the specifications for the art team didn't really understand the systems they were working with.

 

You seem to be going the extra mile to prove my point.

Yeah, it's clear that graphically those games are far ahead of anything that could have been done with the previous generation console.

But apart from that, there's nothing that really makes me go 'wow, we couldn't have something like that with the PS2!'.

 

The fidelity wouldn't have been the same on PS2, in terms of physics and AI.

 

I will admit that there haven't been as many wow moments in games with this generation. Most of the advancements have been in graphics and physics, and naturally the PC is way ahead in that dept.

 

Memory limitations on the old machines really made for a different experience in regards to physics, alot of it was prebaked. That's cool though because its all smoke and mirrors.

 

You'd be amazed how little memory AI gets, never mind the cut of a single thread of CPU time.

[WorstUsernameEver]

The fidelity wouldn't have been the same on PS2, in terms of physics and AI.

 

Didn't honestly notice this great improvements with AI, though I mostly play RPGs and action-adventures, with the occasional extremely unpolished but atmospheric soviet shooter in between.

[Irrelevant]

Aww, I was hoping someone would point out how wrong I was and show me a bunch of games I've never heard of.-

 

-By story did you mean story or how the game reacted to your actions?

What kind of things are still out of reach at the current moment?(I agree with your statement on A.I. I really miss playing a game in which every battle(even when reloaded from the same savefile) was different)

Edited June 7, 2010 by Irrelevant

[entrerix]

the jump from the super nes to the n64 was probably the biggest jump in console technology/wow moments that will have been seen for a long long time.

 

i don't think we'll see a zelda leap like link to the past to ocarina of time until we have virtual reality knocking on our door...

[Irrelevant]

Metal Gear Solid 4(Both the graphics and a bit of the gameplay) made feel that way. Hmm, I don't see the point of going any further than where we are now in how one plays or percieves a game; Since apparently we are not there yet, I want to get to the point in which technology is irrelevant and stay there.(Although this will probably never happen due to this cycle that we are in)

Edited June 7, 2010 by Irrelevant

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Finally bought Alpha Protocol. Dialogue and characters are amazing in every way, and once you put some points into Pistols and Stealth, the combat even manages to become fun. Chain Shot is so overpowered. The story however... Mike seemed to get on the conspiracy bandwagon a little too fast, and the whole "new World War" plot doesn't really make sense. It's good, but I'm not here for a plot twist.

 

I must have been playing a different game. In mine they weren't trying to cause world war 3, they were trying to boost there sales in a way that was accidentally going to create ww3. :/

That's what I meant.

 

I need to find a way to replace the awful grenade explosion model. I don't mind most of the graphics in the game, but weak explosions just irritate me.

[Nightshape]

Finally bought Alpha Protocol. Dialogue and characters are amazing in every way, and once you put some points into Pistols and Stealth, the combat even manages to become fun. Chain Shot is so overpowered. The story however... Mike seemed to get on the conspiracy bandwagon a little too fast, and the whole "new World War" plot doesn't really make sense. It's good, but I'm not here for a plot twist.

 

I must have been playing a different game. In mine they weren't trying to cause world war 3, they were trying to boost there sales in a way that was accidentally going to create ww3. :/

That's what I meant.

 

I need to find a way to replace the awful grenade explosion model. I don't mind most of the graphics in the game, but weak explosions just irritate me.

 

It's not a model.

[Purkake]

Is it really worse than the sneaking animation, because that is pretty bad.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Finally bought Alpha Protocol. Dialogue and characters are amazing in every way, and once you put some points into Pistols and Stealth, the combat even manages to become fun. Chain Shot is so overpowered. The story however... Mike seemed to get on the conspiracy bandwagon a little too fast, and the whole "new World War" plot doesn't really make sense. It's good, but I'm not here for a plot twist.

 

I must have been playing a different game. In mine they weren't trying to cause world war 3, they were trying to boost there sales in a way that was accidentally going to create ww3. :/

That's what I meant.

 

I need to find a way to replace the awful grenade explosion model. I don't mind most of the graphics in the game, but weak explosions just irritate me.

 

It's not a model.

Actually it probably is

[Calax]

fire looks worse than the explosion.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

fire looks worse than the explosion.

At least it's animated.

 

 

...Sometimes.

 

PS: I think there's PhysX integrated somewhere in this game? I can't tell, there's nothing bouncing around at all apart from grenades, and even then they're not much fancier than the ones in Deus Ex.

[Tigranes]

There is PhysX. I'm not sure where it's used. Maybe when Mike dies.

 

Playing AP for the fourth time now, plot seems fine to me. Obviously Halbech aren't the most devious villains out there, but they make up for it with excellent contacts, networks, agents and so forth. On the ground level they stymie Mike's efforts quite effectively.

[LadyCrimson]

Since I haven't been into many new games, I've been playing a little bit of everything when it comes to old games. Funny enough, I installed DungeonSiege1 in early May & played some of it because a friend had bought it recently & her comments made me nostalgic....bought Outcast from GOG, played a bit of that (graphics aren't nearly as cool as I remember...ah, time & tech, lol).

 

DungeonKeeper1 still, of course. Majesty1 (until I lost my CD...)...going to get Prince of Persia Sands of Time from GOG now. I've never played it...dunno how far I'll get but it does look fun.

 

Sigh. I have such a short game attention span.

[Walsingham]

Cutting-edge military tech is more heavily guarded than the president. It does not get stolen.

 

You should read the book 'BRIXMIS'.