Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
didn't see that. I was thinking easier though (I'm judging by the picture the UI idea isn't so bad) maybe difficulty settings. like Easy is 25% speed, 25% input in dense areas. medium 50/50, hard 75/75. Impossible could always be an option for realtime. Custom for those who want their own options.
Simply feed the emulator a game, feed it the movie and it overlays it on screen. visual/audio confirmation for reasonably accurate hits (cmon, we're only human), misses are also noted. at the end of the run (or when you finish at your own accord) statistics are displayed, such as what you missed and hit, and overall %.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
This idea could be interestingly adapted into some sort of input version of guitar hero, or "TAS hero". obviously not played full speed though. Any thoughts?
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
I just finished Mass Effect (for PC, but no matter). This almost feels like the topic is purely flamebait but hey, I'll bite. Oh, and unlike Kyrsimys, I will be spoilerific. For this post I've decided to change my answers/responces to dark blue to make it easier to read. I don't like colours usually, but it seems to help for this post.Kyrsimys wrote:
In Mass Effect, basically when you leave tutorial-land you are given three places you need to visit to search for clues as to where the baddie is headed. After you've searched these three places, all that is left is the final lair. That's it. You know exactly who the bad guy is from the start and there are no twists or turns in the plot whatsoever.
Uhh... what? First of all, It turns out that Saren isn't actually bad at all, and that he was being twisted and controlled by Sovereign all along. There are all sorts of tiny turns in the secondary assignments also. Secondly, you are given many, MANY places to explore at your leisure. It sounds to me like you went straight into the primary mission chain and didn't bother to do anything else. If thats the case, you've missed 80% of the game.Kyrsimys wrote:
Secondly, the script is completely and utterly boring. I could not find one joke in the entire game, and most of the dialogue consists of the main characters "realizing" new things that have been obvious to the gamer right from the start of the game.
Joker's pretty funny. I would have thought the name would tip you off. Oh well. I suppose it is alot more serious than other games I've seen, but it didn't particularly bother me.Kyrsimys wrote:
In addition to the dialogue being bland, the possibilities for the player to affect it are minuscule. Often the only options are in the realm of "Okay", "Yes" and "Why not". Many times I didn't even understand the difference between some of the options. When there is an actual choice involved, the options are always to suck up, be indifferent or say something like "Shut up", i.e. there is never a gray area, the options could just as well always be "be good", "be neutral" or "be evil". When I started the game, I was expecting verbal acrobatics à la Fallout 2 so this was a great disappointment.
Most of the dialogue I've seen was either "Yes, I'm being very positive about this", "Meh, I'm okay about this" and "Whatever, piss off before I blow your head off." It's not good, neutral or evil because in the grand ol' scheme of things you're still a good person and do good things. It's how you achieve that which is key. That's the point of Paragon/Renegade, and how one doesn't detract from the other.Kyrsimys wrote:
Thanks to the stupid and meaningless dialogue all the characters remain paper-thin. There is almost no interaction between the main character and his team, and you cannot talk to your team members whenever you wish. When you're not in your base all they ever have to say is "I'm right behind you" or "You lead and I'll follow".
Sounds like you didn't talk to them much between each major mission. They do develop and things happen based on your responses. I am slightly disappointed you cannot talk to them properly during missions, but idle chatter in the middle of a battlefield never did seem right.Kyrsimys wrote:
The interaction between the protagonist and his team members is not dynamic at all, and everything important happens in ready-made cutscenes and the whole game seems to be moving on rails. A good example of this was that I hadn't said two words to person A and had been nothing but cold towards her, whereas I had been talking a lot with person B and been trying to create warm feelings between her and I, but when the game progressed to a certain point I still ended up in bed with person A, because all I had to do was select "Bunk with me tonight" once in a casual conversation, nothing I had done earlier mattered one bit.
I disagree with the ready-made cutscenes, but not the "moving on rails". Games like this really need more diverse endings. As for the romancing, Liari doesn't understand human emotion, so she gets confused. I assuming that was person A. If you are nothing but mean to one and kind to the other, there will be no confrontation from both of them. As for the nothing earlier mattering, you must have done something to switch.Kyrsimys wrote:
This is definitely not the kind of game I thought I was going to get to play. I mean, so little ever happens in Mass Effect that it could be fit into just one sidequest in a game like Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate 2 or Fallout 2. How is it possible that every review I've read about this game praises the incredible depth that it has?
Perhaps they played every aspect of the game (including it's secondary assignments)?Kyrsimys wrote:
I would agree that the universe of Mass Effect does have quite a lot of depth, and there is a lot to read about the politics and the history of the Galactic Alliance, for example, but it cannot compensate for the complete lack of a good storyline or dialogue.
Your own opinion. Personally I disagree.Kyrsimys wrote:
All that said, I still enjoyed playing the game, just nowhere near as much as I thought I would. I liked the fighting and the biotic powers and all that, and of course just looking at dem grafix gives me a boner. But all that gets shadowed by how great it could've been had they concentrated on a creating a multi-dimensional plot instead of realistic facial expressions. The fact that the characters can't even jump or climb over obstacles (or ladders or anything) also shows that the graphics have been way too high on the list of priorities for the makers of this game. Such a shame. So, what are your thoughts on Mass Effect? Is there someone here who thought the plot was actually good?
You can climb over some stuff. mostly ledges and stuff. Why would you want to jump? Are you obsessed with bunny hopping or something? Do you feel people with that much equipment SHOULD be able to jump?
You ask for my thoughts. The first thing that I hate about this game (and many others) is it leaves it's ending to a sequel. I hate that. I don't want games that leave on a cliffhanger or in the middle of a war. Thats basically a massive cockslap in my face after I've spent time with the goal to win. Telling me I've got to wait another year or two for the real ending after I've poured hours into a game is a huge destructive blow to the game in my eyes. At least, if it's going to be part of a storyline of games, make it clear at the start so I know that it probably isn't going to end with where I leave it.
Second, AI. The enemies' isn't too bad, they have some basic tactics. But it seems whenever I try and give my team tactics, they do one of three things:
1. Stand there, completely ignore me and shoot.
2. Stand there, completely ignore me and refuse to shoot.
3. Move to where I want them to go, but refuse to take cover and get shot.
And when I don't give them commands... (watch for the subtle differences here):
1. Run infront of me, completely ignore I'm still firing and shoot.
2. Run infront of me, completely ignore I'm still firing and refuse to shoot.
3. Stay behind me, use me as cover and I get shot.
Correct me if this sounds crazy but this isn't exactly what I would call appealing AI. They also shout no tactical status such as "taking cover" or "falling back", only "shields down!" or "arggggh" as they die (in a, regrettably, non-pirate context). Feedback between teammates seems like it should be a vital part of the game, yet it's almost completely undeveloped.
Ending. I expected things would turn out all hunky dory, but I like games with a big ending that wraps things up. you know, like 10 minutes at least. Maybe a tiny bit of control also allowing you to decide something (think Fable-style, though that suffered from a different kind of bad ending). Maybe choose whether the final, mind-twisted boss should live or die. Cliché but fun, and should have an effect on the final ending.
Storyline aside, I had annoying bugs. Depth of Field is bugged with SM3.0 graphics cards, so I had to turn that off. Then I had an annoying bug where my big jeep thing got stuck on a beam and wouldn't move (jump-jets didn't help). Then there was a bug where my weapons would be stuck overheated. Permenantly. Not tech being used against me, they'd just get stuck. Reloading a save would fix the problem. I'm unsure if it was designed to be like that during the final boss fight, but I ended up attacking Saren with a pistol.
I'm thinking it's safe to say the game was pretty cool though. Certainly a change from most of the crap other developers are making (cough, halo 2/3, cough).
DISCOVERY: The monkey doesn't have the module.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
HappyLee wrote:
Why not,Quietust?
Rules are rules, and they are there to be followed. If noone follows the rules (this one in particular) all sorts of crappy hack TASes could be submitted. You don't want that... do you?
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
FILIM0NAS wrote:
This is even slower than the non-TAS run from Myles.
Your point being? Myles probably did craploads of planning and practicing to get that time. peterspliid is merely doing the same, only with TASing.
You don't get good times if you don't practice.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
I've encoded an AVI. Link shortly to follow. Stay tuned!
Edit: TAS- American soundtrack
Edit2: This AVI's zone clear song cuts off. Please wait while I upload the fixed version.
Edit3: Fixed. The link above now works again
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
if you're using nero, it automatically has a 2second gap for some reason. go into the track/song's properties in nero to change this (iirc, you right click on the song and go to properies).
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
I'll answer your question with another question: do you think left/right and up/down should be allowed? if so, then by all means you should feel the same way for the analogue stick.
Regardless, left+right and up+down are allowed on the site, so I don't see why this shouldn't also be allowed.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
So I watched it. Meh.
I have no doubt that the action itself was pretty cool, and it's a very fast TAS, but the fact is I don't like Sonic CD. Why? The Zone Clear music annoys me. The running shoes music annoys me. The super peel out sound annoys me (which, unfortunately, was used extensively throughout the run and unnecessarily in the metal sonic race). The new "improved" jump sound annoys me. Lets just leave it at "this game annoys me".
So while I appreciate that this run is breaking new ground, I don't feel entertained by it. Because of this I'll have to vote meh. You of all people should understand this :)
If the question were "should this be published?" however, I would vote 100% yes.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
This can make for an interesting drinking game. Everytime someone mentions/asks if it's possible to BLJ through the upstairs key door, or if you can go through it without opening it, take a drink.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
Colours? No. Text Decoration? yes. I suppose *for now* emphasis can be added by using asterisks.
If you want to change backgrounds and stuff, do it client side in your IRC client.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
Bisqwit wrote:
-- Last Sunday, it was my name day in Finland. Apparently, the concept does not even exist in USA. Various European countries have it, but with different conventions.
Doesn't exist in the UK either (I hadn't even heard of it until you wikilinked it..)
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs