Posts by Thrik

Maybe it's something you pine for more when you play a lot. At the moment I'm able to predict and extinguish almost any enemy because I know pretty much exactly what he's going to do.

For example if it's a Pyro I can always let him get close enough to hit his feet with a rocket, which'll launch him into the air so I can finish him with a mid-air or ground rocket. But if that Pyro could be carrying a shotgun that fires flaming rounds, suddenly my counting on him being fairly useless at medium/long range goes down the pan. It'd force me to rethink the same old approach I've routinely annihilated Pyros with for over six months.

It'd really mix up the strategy in a good way I think. TF2 is good and balanced, but it does get stale if you play it a lot. After a while you end up seeing and doing exactly the same things every time you play a certain map because there's not much else each class can do while remaining effective.

For those who're fuckin' crazy enough to get the special edition, it seems to be £10 cheaper than anywhere else if you pre-order from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grand-Theft-Aut ... 892&sr=8-1

Also, as the dude above says, make sure you reserve your name and shit on here later today:

http://www.rockstargames.com/socialclub/

Well, they have said they're going to do it for every class. Valve may be slow but they do tend to actually do what they say they will.

I think the problem with that approach is overwhelming new players though. One of the best things about TF2 is that despite there being so many classes and weapons, pretty much anyone can get going quickly as it's so intuitive. If you suddenly offer these newbies two versions of what initially seems like the same weapon (medigun, bonesaw, etc) it's going to get more confusing very quickly.

I think the approach of giving more weapons as you grow more experienced is great. New players won't be overwhelmed, and will be encouraged to spend a lot of time with the basic weapons thus learning all the tricks and intricacies of each one. This also ensures the old weapons won't be dropped just because new ones are available — there'll always be newer players using them.

It's also worth bearing in mind that as Taylor said, these aren't upgrades. They're alternatives, which exchange one advantage for another. It will reward people who devote a lot of time to one class with a new way of playing as that class, but not necessarily a better way. Just a way that may or may not fit more in line with their personal playing style.

I disagree with the notion of it overcomplicating the game to be honest.

Initially it's still going to be the same intuitive experience because new players won't have access to the new weapons. Sure, they might die due to the unlockables that some other guy is using, but when you're new every weapon looks crazy and mysterious anyway. They'll slowly be introduced to the weapons as they master each class — and from looking at the achievement requirements, you'll be doing a lot of playing as a class before you get the upgrades!

The key thing this will address is TF2's potential for going stale. While I'm still playing loads of TF2 every week, I am starting to feel like I've truly mastered every class. I can now top the scoreboard with effectively every class excluding the Medic, Scout, and Heavy, but I'm getting continuously better with those too.

New weapons slowly being introduced will do much to keep things interesting for me, as it'll give me a whole lot of new things to master. It'll also make each enemy encounter less predictable because I won't be 99% sure of what they'll attack me with, bringing back some of the unexpected variety that TFC had (OMG GRENADE IN THE FACE).

TF2 is a great game, but it does need help to keep feeling fresh. Player counts have been steadily dropping at a relatively fast rate for a while now (mostly just killing off the smaller/independent servers), which I suspect is largely due to people simply getting bored with the default content. The beauty of weapon upgrades is they can breathe new life into every map, making them a more general improvement than simply adding a new map.

Pretty awesome to have one of the daddies of Team Fortress themselves approving of your map.

An excellent decision MJ.

Why does the video keep disappearing off sites? Bethesda's lawyers are serious cocks if they're chasing even the videos around.

Pampers to the rescue.

Pity the HD version is broken. It loses a lot of the beauty when compressed up the ass.

We've already seen the BRAVIA advert amazingly redone in CryEngine 2:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/30965.html

... now it's time for Oblivion:

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v6589296bq4hZK7z

Pretty cool. I assume they just imported it so the model fidelity could probably be improved, but it's nice regardless. I wonder if developer take-up of the engine will be more significant than it was for CryEngine 1 seeing as it's clearly very flexible, or will the high performance costs make them opt for something more mid-range like Unreal Engine?

The BRAVIA one is still much more impressive of course.

L!OL!!!!!!

I think a lot of the appeal is the original cat art though. It suits the "this is so hard it's taking the piss" mood nicely.

As for the end of the first level,

Quote

you jump over the flagpole

.

The answer is so obvious you'll laugh.

Second link on this page :

http://www.geocities.jp/z_gundam_tanosii/home/Main.html

Yes. There are four, climaxing with an exciting boss.

I have just died after using up over 290 lives. Towards the end I was actually laughing out loud, although whether that was due to the death ingenuity or sheer insanity I'm not sure.

Fucking HELL. I'm at -160 lives after finishing level two. And my hand hurts from hitting my desk a few times.

My favourite games magazine Edge posted about a weird Japanese game, based on Super Mario Bros but has an almost endless assortment of ingenious ways of making you die.

Having just spent 30 fucking lives getting through the first level, I'd be inclined to agree that the sheer number of ways you can die is inspiring. After a while I was just laughing at how ridiculous they were, as it's almost a complete mockery of the conventions you expect from a platform game — and especially Mario!

Well worth giving a go:

http://www.geocities.jp/z_gundam_tanosi ... action.zip

It doesn't require installation, but you do need to download it. ThrikCheck™ gives it the A-OK!

If you can finish the first level in less than 30 lives you're a better gamer than me.

[Blocked Image: http://serve.ryanjohnwilliams.com/images/syobon_action.jpg]

Oh.

I was confused because the release date was confirmed by Take-Two ages ago.

What the hell does that say?

lol:

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-F ... ewsNum=882

The future is a scary place. You can slowly see all those movies and shit becoming reality.