Posts by Izuno

That made my day.

Welcome to the Mapcore "I ez marred club!"

Some of you I'm sure saw this...but it's just all kinds of awesome. Wasn't sure where to put this so just stuck it in Off Topic.

Ok maybe I'm forgetting whether it was on the disk or a download or whatever. It was free so anyway....

I guess the bigger question is once you get past the launch and the pre-order bonuses etc...what about later DLC for open world games? I asked this like 2 years ago but I'm more interested in the open world games and not the shooter games like CoD / BF etc.

My bias is that I simply want more story campaign content and it better be good not crap. I thought the Borderlands DLC for the most part was excellent and worth the money. Seems like $10 is the new normal for such DLC in general.

Quote from dux

Nice lord of the rings music

Yes. I guess it fits the trailer...or at least it fits what what I assume they were going for.

...but they didn't have anything original?

......but then again, for LotR movie fans, it does say "here is familiar music...got your attention!"

Quote from Bunglo

I wasn't aware that catwoman was a dlc until recently, I thought it was apart of the game from the start. Could you not play catwoman if you didn't have the dlc?

I bought Arkham City new and as I look a the package right now there are two slips of paper that say "Game Add-on Download"...one for Catwoman DLC and one for Robin DLC. I had to input the code for Catwoman and if I recall it did download from PSN.

The Catwoman DLC was available for download day 1 (i.e. Oct 18, 2011 in the US) and the Robin DLC, which I have yet to download even after beating the game, was not available until around Nov 22, 2011.

Personally, my reaction to the free Catwoman DLC was ".....ok it's free sounds fine..." though I realize it was meant as an incentive for people to buy the game new and not rent or buy used.

What about day 1 DLC that's free with new purchase? For example, the Catwoman bundle pack for Arkham City was free with new copies but $10 if you bought used or rented. (also that wasn't on disk...just it was available day 1).

So big MP shooter games (Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc.) have paid DLC map packs or bundles under CoD Elite style packages...great. Those are straight up shooters and those kinds of DLC business models are pretty straight forward.

But for open world action/RPG type games, which broadly includes games in the range of Red Dead Redemption, GTA IV, Batman Arkham City, Borderlands, Fallout New Vegas, Saints Row 3 and so forth (yes, that is quite a range) DLC is not quite as simple. Some games have decent though somewhat niche multiplayer, some are pure singleplayer, and thus resulting DLC releases for said games can really vary from new weapons/vehicles for like $2 or significantly sized SP+MP content bundles for $10 (such as RDR: Undead Nightmare).

1) Regardless, for these more open world games, what kind of DLC do you like?

2) Day 1 DLC: do you care? Do you hate if it's not free with purchase? What if not? What if on disk?

Why am I asking? I was in another meeting (joy) where I watched VP #1 and VP #2 get in a heated argument over all this. So as always, curious where mapcorians stand on this as I'm trying to cut through the fanboy vs. fanboy screaming matches you read elsewhere online. [Blocked Image: https://migrationtest.mapcore.org/public/style_emoticons/default/mapcore_smilies/emot_shakehead.gif]

As long as it has day 1 DLC I'm in...and a required subscription fee to play online...and kinect only on Xbox, move only on PS3, iPad controls only on PC...and the singleplayer damn well better require an online connection and credit card age verification...and EA better force me to sign up for EA.com membership and mess up the connection to required Origin account even if I get it on console...and PC version better not have dedicated servers...and please don't release mod tools...and please nerf everything...and put every vehicle on rails in the SP...and it must have QTEs throughout...and don't forget the bullet time...don't forget to add pink (girls like pink right?)...oh bring back in game ads everywhere, cause I want to learn about the newest scents of Axe Body spray...oh i love long loading times...

Can't wait!

[edit] couldn't help it...sunday's stomach flu took a while to burn off. nothing like the taste of bile and total dehydration to bring out the cynic in me. Really...i liked bf3 so i hope bf4 doesn't go downhill.

my kid barfed at 9 am today, exactly 1 hour before her birthday party, thereby cancelling said birthday party...leading to a long day of family stomach flu chain booting and migraine headaches. To celebrate, I generated the following incredibly lame Boromir meme to fit the thread. Enjoy.

[Blocked Image: http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/250x250/23518198.jpg]

Now time to go back to cuddling the toilet as I retch up some more bile. gg

That is just all kinds of awesome.

Quote from FrieChamp

From Shacknews:

http://www.shacknews.com/article/74744/ ... lack-ops-2

There you go, then.

Quote from Puddy

I heard that he is only making the main theme. Perhaps someone knows more about this?

No idea.

One thing to note on game soundtracks, though I know many devs here already are aware of this, is that often a big name composer is prohibitively expensive to do a full soundtrack (people like Trent Reznor, Michael Giacchino, Hans Zimmer, etc.). So they may be paid a big fee (but still within overall game budget) to do a main theme or a single track for a game. Then a publisher/developer negotiates to have rights to modify, extrapolate from, etc. additional music from that 1 track for use specifically in the game. So if you have a really talented music composer but isn't big name who also has the ability to do such extrapolation and what not, they just take what the celebrity composer does and kablamo...you have a soundtrack that hopefully fits in your budget while being "good" and then you can say things like

[Blocked Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-m63nfZ-8Q/T_22i8OOacI/AAAAAAAAAQc/8Fjac7_ayjo/s320/trent.jpg]

However, even if he costs in the millions to do a full game soundtrack and other related audio engineering for the game, I don't imagine Activision not being able to afford him. But money is money so who knows.

Quote from Puddy

Listen to the narrator and think vortigaunt.I heard it instantly. Couldn't take the trailer seriously.

omg...that changes everything!

Yesterday Activision released a new trailer for Black Ops 2, revealing the villain. Have a watch:

1) The narrator general guy you see in the beginning...I can't recall who that actor is but I recognize him so my first thought is "there is something familiar about this that I can't quite put my finger on." So I guess I'm a little intrigued by that as an opener.

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2) Villain is portrayed as the leader of the 99%...so that's topical and mainstream media/consumers have a general awareness of that. Also does not sell me on the game but again it's something familiar.

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3) From the co-writer of The Dark Knight Rises? Well...yeah I think many many "core" and "mainstream" and "casual" gamers have a good awareness of that movie and I think many of them can't wait to see it. Ok...so now they are trying to hit up on that in the week the actual movie comes out. That's a smart move from a marketing perspective even if vocal core online trolls will flame Activision for it. They are already flaming Activision for everything even when a good % of them will buy the next Call of Duty anyway. So, go for it Activision...tie your game to The Dark Knight Rises somehow. You've got the cash and the balls, no one is going to stop you. And if David S. Goyer actually improved the game's writing, it's hard to argue against that.

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4) Music for the game by Trent Reznor? Well...he's possibly my favorite musical mind in history and pretty much everything he's done I like. In the trailer there is some piano music that very much reminds me of his musical work in NIN as well as other movie/game soundtracks he's composed for. I can't argue with this either as I have huge respect for him and I suppose it may contribute to the tone of the game. So that could be another good thing that could make the game better.

[Blocked Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-m63nfZ-8Q/T_22i8OOacI/AAAAAAAAAQc/8Fjac7_ayjo/s320/trent.jpg]

5) Notice the press quotes are from USA Today and Forbes. These are major mainstream and business print/online outlets, not pure gamer press or big gaming sites like Gamespot or IGN.

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6) And then at the end they've got the call to action with the pre-order offer...do it now and get Nuketown map free.

[Blocked Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4vbNDQX4-Rs/T_23p0hOBOI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/HW8z8gSEgrI/s320/preorder.jpg]

So, what does this all mean? It means Activision is going for the big numbers again (obviously) and they recognize they have to keep pushing craftier, Batmany-tie-in-anyway-anyhowy-even-if-people-will-call-it-cheapier, Trent Reznorier, mainstreamier, pre-orderier -- you get the idea. But notice this trailer is not incredibly controversial like the Hitman Trailer from E3. Whether you like Call of Duty anymore or not, the trailer has a tight narrative, shows only in-game footage, has nothing really cringe-worthy in the voiceover (not all trailers can claim that) and has an actual tone of desperation and treachery.

Finally, it's still got the BWWWAAAAAHHH only as if someone imagined how Trent Reznor might make it sound.

HOWEVER...this by itself doesn't sell me on the game. What will sell me on the game is if come this fall I really feel like another ride on the CoD train. MW3 disappointed me and yes, I liked Black Ops better than MW3. At least you know what you are getting and if you really hate CoD then you know you probably aren't missing anything by skipping out. So as of now I am cautiously optimistic it might be somewhat enjoyable but we'll see if that gets me over the (nothing against Treyarch, btw...Activision tells them they gotta make another CoD so they do it.)

Quote from Skjalg

dont drink sugar drinks, it will just tire you

+1

Meanwhile, after having a kid the wife and I rarely get out to see movies but this one even she's saying she's willing to get a babysitter for.

Yeah Minos I agree with much of what you are saying.

Still I have to admit I felt compelled to finish it. Overall I appreciated the Rockstar touch. I beat the game tonight so I'm still digesting it. It had a lot of cinematic flair, and I mean that in a good way.

The end credits music that was used earlier in Act III was excellent and beyond the music itself, it added a lot to the tone because it matched the vibe pretty well. That said, the execution of the tone really depends on whether you accept Max as a cinematic character and that's hard to do in a game compared to a movie. Personally, I got over my early gripes about him and eventually grew to like him as a character.

Funny, earlier this year I had zero interest in this game. Now I would certainly recommend to any Max Payne fan or shooter fan looking for something edgy and not purely another military shooter. It's not the most innovative in gameplay, but this was a game I enjoyed more for the way it solidly presented its tone. Bravo, Rockstar. Bravo.

Was too lazy to check links earlier in the thread so I apologize if this is a repost:

BWWWWAAAAHHHHHH!

I am also a lefty. Been playing PC games since back in the 1950's (or 90s?) Anyway, I use the NUMPAD all the time for shooters, RPGs, MMOs, etc. and love it. My typical bind:

NP5 = forward

NP2 = back

NP4 = strafe left

NP6 = strafe right

NP delete = reload

NP enter = use/enter/action

NP 0 (on a mac KB) = run/sprint toggle usually

NP 7 = jump

NP 1 = crouch

The arrow keys between the main KB and the numpad are also useful but I admit I only got good with them after some practice and of course their use depends on the game. In Half-Life and its mods I would use NP 9 for swim up and NP 3 for swim down. The NP + and - keys can be useful for weapon or inventory cycling or other quick binds game dependent.

Off to the Leftorium to buy a left handed can opener...

Quote from onji

Noticed this respawning too, it just seems to be scripted in some areas of certain maps if you turtle without pushing forward.

Combat is pretty good, but not great. I'm not big on the whole idea of mapping vault & melee to the same key. Executions are fun the first few times, but kind of leave you open to get shot at. The environmental traps are pretty fun, and watching sand fill a room looks nice. The story does the job so far, and I'm hoping it pulls off the adaptation from Heart of Darkness well.

And there's a few goofs as well. SCAR-H has 30 rounds, and appears to have as as little stopping power as the M4.

Overall it's a lot of pretty goods, but nothing really remarkable. But I did love the colour grading in the opening scene against the sand dunes, very nice.

SCAR-H / M4 stuff I didn't notice since i'm not up to speed on guns in games...but yeah those are details that show it lacks polish in places. I have the disc sitting here but I won't have time to fire it up until later this week.

Quick question for those who played this and Max Payne 3...MP3 imo has some of that "Rockstar" touch. Could you say the same for Spec Ops? Demo doesn't fully make that clear other than somebody obviously worked hard on the story/dialog for Spec Ops, even if you think said story/dialog aint that great.