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Frozen Synapse - Turn-based Top-down Tactical Combat
Entriech
? ? ? ? ?Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
? ? ? ? ?Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
EDIT: There is already one of these over here: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=117473
I read an excellent write-up about this today, and while it's seen a little bit of mention here on the forums, I figured it deserved it's own proper thread. Especially as pre-orders have been opened up today, which secures instant beta access.
Official site is here. Planned release is late 2010. Beta access is available right now.
So, let's start off with a movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXbsSLeINhg&feature=player_embedded
Frozen Synapse looks about what happens when old Rainbow Six's planning mode has a baby with Introversion's retro-future graphical stylings. In short, you control a team of armed people in a turn-based fashion, with varying goals depending on mode of play, all of them revolving around eliminating someone else's team.
On a given turn, you meticulously construct a plan for each person. Where to walk, where to aim, whether to duck, who to engage or ignore, when to shoot. You can test your turn as many times as you like, and even enter moves for the enemies you can see, if you think you'll know what they'll do. Then when satisfied, you dispatch your decisions to the central server. When it has received both sides of the turn from both people you are notified, and can watch the action play out as your plans and theirs execute simultaneously. Then you pick up the pieces and keep going. The asynchronous nature of the turn structure means you can have several games on at once, keeping up with them as quickly as you (and your opponent) care to.
Feature list (stolen from the official site):
So they've got a couple options on for this.
£16.99 - UK €18.99 - Europe $25.99 - USA / Other
This nets you instant beta access for you AND a friend. It also nets a full copy of the game for both of you on release.
£22.99 - UK €25.99 - Europe $34.99 - USA / Other
This nets you instant beta access/full version copy for you and a friend as above. You also get a free copy of their last game, Determinance, which appears to be some sword-fighty deal. You get a free download of their sound artist's debut album, as well as access to Frozen Synapse's soundtrack as it is developed. You get your real life picture, if you want, included in the single player campaign of the full game. You get your name in the credits as a supporter. You'll also get early beta access to any expansion content developed.
And for either package, you get warm fuzzies for helping to support a small, indie development team.
--
I've had the opportunity to play through their tutorial and skirmish a bit with the A.I. It's been fun so far, but there definitely seems to be a bit of a learning curve to master. One thing I have really enjoyed is that there's no random chance in any of the actions. In a standoff between two guys, it's all factors such as who has cover, who is moving/still, who is aiming where, etc that determine who kills who. I'm looking forward to getting home from the office so I can properly try some online games against real people.
And for a good write-up from someone who does this for a proper living, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen weighs in.
Anyone else excited by this? I really think the asynchronous turns aspect will really help keep the multiplayer community thriving even as a niche indie title.
I read an excellent write-up about this today, and while it's seen a little bit of mention here on the forums, I figured it deserved it's own proper thread. Especially as pre-orders have been opened up today, which secures instant beta access.
Official site is here. Planned release is late 2010. Beta access is available right now.
So, let's start off with a movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXbsSLeINhg&feature=player_embedded
Frozen Synapse looks about what happens when old Rainbow Six's planning mode has a baby with Introversion's retro-future graphical stylings. In short, you control a team of armed people in a turn-based fashion, with varying goals depending on mode of play, all of them revolving around eliminating someone else's team.
On a given turn, you meticulously construct a plan for each person. Where to walk, where to aim, whether to duck, who to engage or ignore, when to shoot. You can test your turn as many times as you like, and even enter moves for the enemies you can see, if you think you'll know what they'll do. Then when satisfied, you dispatch your decisions to the central server. When it has received both sides of the turn from both people you are notified, and can watch the action play out as your plans and theirs execute simultaneously. Then you pick up the pieces and keep going. The asynchronous nature of the turn structure means you can have several games on at once, keeping up with them as quickly as you (and your opponent) care to.
Feature list (stolen from the official site):
- Simultaneous-turn-based competitive match-oriented tactical joy!
- Multiplayer: four game modes, including Hostage Rescue and the fiendish bidding-based Secure mode...
- Single Player: Campaign Mode (coming soon), Skirmish mode and Puzzle mode
- Your units sport machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and grenade launchers for the ultimate tactical assault
- Hand-crafted maps, random map generator AND a map editor!
- Community features: share, rate and comment on games; Daily and Global ranking system; simple, instant matchmaking
- Destructible terrain: blow a huge hole in a wall with a rocket, then send in your close-range units...
- Simple YouTube export: just enter your account details and the game will automatically encode and upload any match you choose...
- No limited installs or similar nonsense: just create an account once you've downloaded and you're good to go
So they've got a couple options on for this.
£16.99 - UK €18.99 - Europe $25.99 - USA / Other
This nets you instant beta access for you AND a friend. It also nets a full copy of the game for both of you on release.
£22.99 - UK €25.99 - Europe $34.99 - USA / Other
This nets you instant beta access/full version copy for you and a friend as above. You also get a free copy of their last game, Determinance, which appears to be some sword-fighty deal. You get a free download of their sound artist's debut album, as well as access to Frozen Synapse's soundtrack as it is developed. You get your real life picture, if you want, included in the single player campaign of the full game. You get your name in the credits as a supporter. You'll also get early beta access to any expansion content developed.
And for either package, you get warm fuzzies for helping to support a small, indie development team.
--
I've had the opportunity to play through their tutorial and skirmish a bit with the A.I. It's been fun so far, but there definitely seems to be a bit of a learning curve to master. One thing I have really enjoyed is that there's no random chance in any of the actions. In a standoff between two guys, it's all factors such as who has cover, who is moving/still, who is aiming where, etc that determine who kills who. I'm looking forward to getting home from the office so I can properly try some online games against real people.
And for a good write-up from someone who does this for a proper living, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen weighs in.
Anyone else excited by this? I really think the asynchronous turns aspect will really help keep the multiplayer community thriving even as a niche indie title.
Entriech on
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