Posts by Sentura

  • Gear Portal map pack V2

    just tried it out, and honestly, i'm not impressed. while the visuals are good (although not canon), the puzzles set the bar way too high in difficulty. i had a hard time figuring out what to do in some puzzles, and later on how to speed it up so you could make it within the required timespan. Add to that the numerous places you could get physically stuck, where i had to use noclip to be able to move. for the low gravity parts, you are offered no step by step tutorial on how it works other than simply watching how cubes float on a plane through a window. i also had a bug when trying out said low gravity chambers and i accidentally slipped a cube over some of that toxic waste. while i just watched the cube drift away, i realized there was no way i could get another cube from the hatch unless the first one was destroyed.

    for the sake of my mental health i decided to put off trying any more than the first two levels for good. i could give you a ton of examples where the linear progression jumps up and down to the point where you'll be stuck in awe because the rooms were too complex. or that the autosaves are too far inbetween. or that there is no sense of direction/goal in the levels i tried.

    if your target audience were japanese nerds a la asshole mario (

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    ), then you've hit the nail on the head. otherwise, find some testers and reshape this; too buggy, too complex, too difficult. i can't recommend anyone trying this out unless you have a wish for a temporary mental decapitation with a sideorder of frustration.

  • STALKER: Clear Sky

    Quote from Buddy

    Well Stalker is game you really need to understand and "feel". Other wise it might be the worst game you ever played.

    yeah i dont know about anyone else, but having been or lived in similar places to those shown in stalker makes the game much more vivid. while i couldnt recognize the concrete buildings and scenes, i could very well recognize the terrain, building style and atmosphere.

  • Crap artist can't get job, whines about it

    i agree. maybe there's alot of bashing here (i credit that to the elitism of these fora), but it is exactly what peris said. the problem is these days that even though some people like games, the artistic side of games, or anything else for that matter, is not always easy to have talent for. it seems he has followed his course, but not having done anything besides that; no free time spent on modeling, no motivation or anything else. this is why i do not give him more credit; a course and a degree in such direction gives only so much.

    there's a saying about whenever a great artist creates a piece of work, he puts a piece of his soul in it; and while having a soul might be a debatable question, you can clearly see when there's something special about such pieces of work. a good example of this would be some of the many entries in the WIP level design or modeling fora.

  • CS_Metroplex

    Quote from m8nkey

    Something else I'm concerned about is the difference between the look of the interior and exterior areas. I like where both are heading individually but not sure they're working well together.

    yeah that might be something worth looking into. perhaps neon lights like you see on casinos in vegas and a slight colorization of the building(s). thinking of it, that might be why it looks so fake. perhaps this can help:

    [Blocked Image: http://www.visitingdc.com/images/new-york-skyline-picture.jpg]

    i'd say continue working on it, and if the end result doesnt fit, cut the outside or make a smaller outside area in a more fitting theme. sounds harsh, but at least you'll have a more coherent map that will have better immersion.

  • CS_Metroplex

    the outside atmosphere looks fake :\ maybe you should try with a different sky and perhaps add some dustmotes or something. also, buildings behind buildings can give a better feel.

    EDIT: i just noticed everything wasnt done. above tips still apply though!

  • They Wonder Why People Don't Make PC Games Any More

    Quote from Thrik

    As I see it, if you don't have a console you're really missing out on a lot of what gaming has to offer. I know some people don't mind playing a game months or over a year after it originally came out, and they don't mind coping with a keyboard/mouse in games like GTA even though a pad is infinitely better, but I do.

    i disagree with the pad being better for control in gta. in fact, i hate using joypads in most games. for me, they should only be used in platformers like god of war or similar. the aim with analogue sticks is next to useless, and there are less buttons that, although may be placed more ergonomically, are harder to get used to (pressing down on an analogue stick is a good example, as are double r/l buttons on top of pads).

    this was perhaps the greatest reason why i withheld buying consoles until about a year and a half ago. if i could, i would hook up a wireless keyboard and mouse and play every console game that way. joypads are overrated.

  • Games you regret buying?

    Quote from Nysuatro

    i dont understand this one.. care to elaborate?

    Well, graphics were nice. But the shooting didn't felt good, in fact it really irritated me. Maybe also because I had much hopes on this game and it really disappointed me.

    you're not being clear on why it disappointed you? i mean, the game's immersion level are high. sure there were bugs here and there, but the story and the gameplay mechanics made it a worthwhile (and fun) experience in my opinion.

  • wall-painted animation

    Quote from Punky

    Now THATS nice, the person/people that made this video must have no live at all!! (or too much free time)

    or it could be his way of making money, or making his degree, or something similar. comments like that are silly.

  • HD Televisions

    Quote from Thrik

    Another thing I forgot to mention is that when looking at contrast ratios, try to find out if it's native or dynamic.A dynamic contrast ratio basically lowers the actual light behind the panel to achieve darker blacks, which has the side-effect of also darkening everything else. They try to balance it so you don't notice, but with stuff like game HUDs it's usually quite obvious (or they can screw it up as the TV's algorithm will always see that big, light HUD and stop it from going darker).

    A native contrast ratio is how well it can display contrast between black and white without any special tricks, which is definitely ideal. Dynamic contrast ratios aren't to be avoided, but it's good to aim for as high a native ratio as possible. A TV with a dynamic contrast ratio will also have a native contrast ratio, of course.

    In general, most LCDs have dynamic contrast ratios and plasmas have native ones. This is because LCDs are inherently not so good at producing true blacks without severely compromising detail or whites, while plasmas can do it quite comfortably nowadays — even rivalling/beating CRTs.

    usually this is said when viewing the tv specs, and will be very visible from the images. on phillips tv's they have ambi lights on the back. you can get lcds with "native" contrast up to 8000:1, which is fine considering that plasma tv's are 10000:1. the downside of buying plasma is that plasma cells are short lived and you could find yourself buying a new tv within a few years again.