Pretty simple. You can set preferences for maps/gametypes you don't want to play, which it'll just assume stays the same each time unless you go back and change it. Otherwise, you just hit the "find public match" button, and it'll find people. If teams are uneven, it tosses a bot into the match until someone else joins.
Oh, so it has an actual working matchmaking system, not just a server list?
That's pretty awesome.
Honestly, I don't know if there even is a server list.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited May 2007
Anyways, I'll talk a little about the powers/ tech mechanic in Shadowrun. Basically, there are four races, each with a different number of "essence pips", (ranging from around 8 to 16 I think) and some different powers. Magic spells generally cost a certain amount of essence, and spells with persistent effects (barriers, healing trees, resurrection) "locks down" a certain number of pips for as long as the effect persists. Tech powers (things like increased reflexes or firing "smartlink") lock down a certain amount of essence when active as well, though they're generally persistent and don't cost essence to "cast".
The resurrection mechanic is interesting. If you have the rez spell, you can resurrect a fallen teammate assuming his body hasn't been destroyed. The caveat is that it locks down I think four mana pips, and if the resurrecting player dies, the resurrected player starts to rapidly lose health as well and will die soon.
The powers of the races are something like:
Humans: high starting money; no strong drawbacks
Trolls: if they take damage, essence is burned to increase their armor. They're also slowish
Elves: if wounded and they have essence, they'll heal in sort of a Halo II/ GoW manner. They're a little faster and more fragile as well
Dwarves: very high mana pool that recovers very slowly. However, if they get near other players or persistent spells (barriers, trees), they drain mana from the source, refilling their essence rapidly.
Weapons are mostly fairly standard - pistol, smg, semi-auto rifle, shotgun, sword, rocket launcher, sniper, grenades.
There are a lot of powers that can interact in interesting ways. Gliders are a lot of fun, as is teleport.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited June 2007
So yeah after playing online tonight, Shadowrun is pretty great. Some of you guys get it so we can play.
Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited June 2007
To answer the question about matchmaking: For matching people on public matches, it uses a hidden "true skill" level to match teams up, and also prioritizes keeping groups of people who joined together on the same team. It seems to do a pretty decent job. If there aren't enough people to make even teams, it populates bots and looks to fill the spot in with a person. It does a pretty good job.
There's also an option for hosting private matches, where presumably you can set up whatever kinds of matchups you want.
So apparently there are no reviews out because FASA/Microsoft didn't send out review copies to any game websites/publications. The reviewers have to buy their copies.
There are literally hundreds of settings. Well, dozens. Maybe hundreds. It's hard to tell because there are multiple levels to the menu tree for customization. Many of them just have "Description goes here" for the description, so I wasn't even sure what they did.
Some of the coolest options are in scoring. You can completely control how scoring is done, like penalizing a team -5 for a team kill, or granting 0 points for kills made by the VIP, or granting double points for headshots and assassinations. I think this would be interesting to create a flag/slayer hybrid game where capturing is worth 10 pts, but a kill still earns 1 point. Or create a "totem" style game where holding the ball makes you super-powerful, but you still only score by kills, not by time.
There are aesthetic tweaks, like controlling what the guy with the flag looks like, whether or not he glows, what color he glows, whether or not there is a big arrow over his head, etc.
There are of course all the standard tweaks on shields, damage, etc., but in much more detail than before. You can totally tank or gimp characters or make them variously stategic by, for example, altering the level of camo, speed, damage, and shields for any character carrying the bomb or whatever. They include a couple variations on this for flag games - one where the flag carrier is invisible and super fast but can take very little damage and dish out very little damage, and another where the flag carrier becomes very slow and gets a big marker over his head, but has extra shields and damage resistance and kills instantly with flag swats. Definitely changes the whole concept of ctf.
You can also customize the range of the radar, which is a nice alternative to just "on or off."
Note: I was only looking at the "quick" options, too, which allow you to tweak an existing game type, and I'm only listing a few of those here. Who the hell knows what all is involved in creating an original game type - that isn't available yet that I know of. In Halo 2 there was probably 25 - 50% less customization in quick options than in the came creator.
Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited June 2007
I've only played DOA4, Kameo and Gun from that list. All three are decent titles and worth 20 bucks. Jeff pays PGR3 a lot, and I've heard good things about Top Spin, though I generally loathe sports titles. There were some complaints about Perfect Dark Zero when it launched but I suspect it's still worth 20 bucks.
I didn't mean to imply today, I just sorta wanted to bump this and find a time. I did sorta block out like ~6-8 PST to play games tonight, though, if people want to come online around then.
I didn't mean to imply today, I just sorta wanted to bump this and find a time. I did sorta block out like ~6-8 PST to play games tonight, though, if people want to come online around then.
In D&D 360 terms, that might be a bit last minute. I'm game for playin' and all, dunno about ze others. Picking a time this weekend might work too. Maybe we can get Jeffe on, he's the only mod I haven't chainsawed yet.
I didn't mean to imply today, I just sorta wanted to bump this and find a time. I did sorta block out like ~6-8 PST to play games tonight, though, if people want to come online around then.
In D&D 360 terms, that might be a bit last minute. I'm game for playin' and all, dunno about ze others. Picking a time this weekend might work too. Maybe we can get Jeffe on, he's the only mod I haven't chainsawed yet.
Yeah -- I never did get games with Haphazard, either, who is available on weekends, and is Saburbia online again? He was without connection when we first were doing this.
I didn't mean to imply today, I just sorta wanted to bump this and find a time. I did sorta block out like ~6-8 PST to play games tonight, though, if people want to come online around then.
In D&D 360 terms, that might be a bit last minute. I'm game for playin' and all, dunno about ze others. Picking a time this weekend might work too. Maybe we can get Jeffe on, he's the only mod I haven't chainsawed yet.
Yeah -- I never did get games with Haphazard, either, who is available on weekends, and is Saburbia online again? He was without connection when we first were doing this.
Hrm, how about Sunday or Saturday afternoon of this week? Anyone else?
I've always hated the term "necroposting" by the way.
Sounds like a especially perverted sex act.
But uh, let's say Saturday afternoon, with Sunday afternoon running backup? Any objections? The game will of course, be GoW. Let's say we fire it up around 5:00 EST, until I get tired of violating your corpses with my chainsaw?
I've always hated the term "necroposting" by the way.
Sounds like a especially perverted sex act.
But uh, let's say Saturday afternoon, with Sunday afternoon running backup? Any objections? The game will of course, be GoW. Let's say we fire it up around 5:00 EST, until I get tired of violating your corpses with my chainsaw?
I've always hated the term "necroposting" by the way.
Sounds like a especially perverted sex act.
But uh, let's say Saturday afternoon, with Sunday afternoon running backup? Any objections? The game will of course, be GoW. Let's say we fire it up around 5:00 EST, until I get tired of violating your corpses with my chainsaw?
That time works great for me.
Sweet. It'd be awesome if we can get a lot of players from the last outing we had.
You hear that Glael? Elk? I'm calling you out. Also, Jeffe must relinquish his manhood if he cannot show up. I'm sorry, but those are the rules.
3lwap0 on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited June 2007
Sounds good to me.
My TV is broken again - well, more like the dude who "fixed" it last time didn't really fix it. A different dude is coming to look at it tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be good to go for Sat.
My TV is broken again - well, more like the dude who "fixed" it last time didn't really fix it. A different dude is coming to look at it tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be good to go for Sat.
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this is just a euphemism for "Frankie has hinted that this weekend might be time for our once a month sexual encounter, and as such I need to keep my schedule open lest it be our special time."
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this is just a euphemism for "Frankie has hinted that this weekend might be time for our once a month sexual encounter, and as such I need to keep my schedule open lest it be our special time."
Man once a month?! Shit I couldn't keep up a pace like that what are you nuts?
Posts
Pretty simple. You can set preferences for maps/gametypes you don't want to play, which it'll just assume stays the same each time unless you go back and change it. Otherwise, you just hit the "find public match" button, and it'll find people. If teams are uneven, it tosses a bot into the match until someone else joins.
I haven't tried the party system yet.
That's pretty awesome.
Honestly, I don't know if there even is a server list.
The resurrection mechanic is interesting. If you have the rez spell, you can resurrect a fallen teammate assuming his body hasn't been destroyed. The caveat is that it locks down I think four mana pips, and if the resurrecting player dies, the resurrected player starts to rapidly lose health as well and will die soon.
The powers of the races are something like:
Humans: high starting money; no strong drawbacks
Trolls: if they take damage, essence is burned to increase their armor. They're also slowish
Elves: if wounded and they have essence, they'll heal in sort of a Halo II/ GoW manner. They're a little faster and more fragile as well
Dwarves: very high mana pool that recovers very slowly. However, if they get near other players or persistent spells (barriers, trees), they drain mana from the source, refilling their essence rapidly.
Weapons are mostly fairly standard - pistol, smg, semi-auto rifle, shotgun, sword, rocket launcher, sniper, grenades.
There are a lot of powers that can interact in interesting ways. Gliders are a lot of fun, as is teleport.
There's also an option for hosting private matches, where presumably you can set up whatever kinds of matchups you want.
I'm actually thinking they want this game to die.
Maybe this weekend.
My inner PnP fanboy will be mad at me, but I guess I have to buy it then.
There are literally hundreds of settings. Well, dozens. Maybe hundreds. It's hard to tell because there are multiple levels to the menu tree for customization. Many of them just have "Description goes here" for the description, so I wasn't even sure what they did.
Some of the coolest options are in scoring. You can completely control how scoring is done, like penalizing a team -5 for a team kill, or granting 0 points for kills made by the VIP, or granting double points for headshots and assassinations. I think this would be interesting to create a flag/slayer hybrid game where capturing is worth 10 pts, but a kill still earns 1 point. Or create a "totem" style game where holding the ball makes you super-powerful, but you still only score by kills, not by time.
There are aesthetic tweaks, like controlling what the guy with the flag looks like, whether or not he glows, what color he glows, whether or not there is a big arrow over his head, etc.
There are of course all the standard tweaks on shields, damage, etc., but in much more detail than before. You can totally tank or gimp characters or make them variously stategic by, for example, altering the level of camo, speed, damage, and shields for any character carrying the bomb or whatever. They include a couple variations on this for flag games - one where the flag carrier is invisible and super fast but can take very little damage and dish out very little damage, and another where the flag carrier becomes very slow and gets a big marker over his head, but has extra shields and damage resistance and kills instantly with flag swats. Definitely changes the whole concept of ctf.
You can also customize the range of the radar, which is a nice alternative to just "on or off."
Note: I was only looking at the "quick" options, too, which allow you to tweak an existing game type, and I'm only listing a few of those here. Who the hell knows what all is involved in creating an original game type - that isn't available yet that I know of. In Halo 2 there was probably 25 - 50% less customization in quick options than in the came creator.
Played the first Top Spin with a friend a bit and liked it, but I don't think I'd enjoy it alone.
Also I got Forza 2 and will take and any all challengers.
Well, I think it was implied that today won't be it. We do better scheduling in advance anywho.
(Go Cavs!)
In D&D 360 terms, that might be a bit last minute. I'm game for playin' and all, dunno about ze others. Picking a time this weekend might work too. Maybe we can get Jeffe on, he's the only mod I haven't chainsawed yet.
Hrm, how about Sunday or Saturday afternoon of this week? Anyone else?
Sounds like a especially perverted sex act.
But uh, let's say Saturday afternoon, with Sunday afternoon running backup? Any objections? The game will of course, be GoW. Let's say we fire it up around 5:00 EST, until I get tired of violating your corpses with my chainsaw?
Sweet. It'd be awesome if we can get a lot of players from the last outing we had.
You hear that Glael? Elk? I'm calling you out. Also, Jeffe must relinquish his manhood if he cannot show up. I'm sorry, but those are the rules.
My TV is broken again - well, more like the dude who "fixed" it last time didn't really fix it. A different dude is coming to look at it tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be good to go for Sat.
TV seems to be fixed by the way. So I'm in.
I'm trembling in my boots. Except I don't wear boots and I'm not trembling. :P
But yeah, I suck.