Enemy Territory: Quake wars

[halflife99]

Anyone try'd the demo?
I like this game alot more than battlefield's 2, it's like wolfenstien enemy territory but grander, really fast paced.

[Brendan N]

Got the demo today.

Huge fun and way better than Battlefield or even UT2004's Onslaught and assault modes. Vehicles handle great and the weapons and classes are pretty fun to play.
I'm really surprised at what they've been able to pull off with the Doom3 engine here. The megatexture technology is still a bit primitive here, but it's pretty efficient at what it does. This is pretty much the last thing I expected the Doom3 engine would be able to pull off: large outdoors with loads of characters and entities.

[chobomaster]

Anybody playing the retail game?

I just started today. So far it plays well, good balance, vehicles are fun to control. But in all honesty I'm pretty disappointed. ET is my favorite multiplayer game of all time. QW took a turn for the generic. It plays just like BF2142 or Warhawk. It's got little of the period immersiveness of the original and I prefer the close quarters action over getting shot at a mile away.

Plus all the servers are so empty.. I'm stuck with bots if I want a full game

[Dile_]

chobomaster... Give it some time : D I played the game a bit recently, and its just like all other Multiplayer games.. it takes a while til' people get the game , and go online.. Except for world of warcraft.. lol

[chobomaster]

yeah Dile I was thinking that was it, but I feel there's two other reasons for that besides being new: Team fortress 2 and Halo 3.

[halflife99]

The skins are different and it has vehicle's, but it is essentially enemy territory underneath the hood, the maps are not as big as they seem, i like it, it was made before bf 2142 btw, EA slapped that game together, quake wars was in developments for 4 years.

[Moai]

I miss fiends and shamblers.

[Brendan N]

I miss fiends and shamblers.

haha! good times, way back when. You know that Quake 2 was supposed to be an entirely different IP, but they couldn't get a name for the game that wasn't already taken, so they ended up going with Quake because they had that.

[Moai]

haha! good times, way back when. You know that Quake 2 was supposed to be an entirely different IP, but they couldn't get a name for the game that wasn't already taken, so they ended up going with Quake because they had that.

I know. But it still hurts me to see these new games called Quake and know that my toothy old friends aren't coming back.

[chobomaster]

I think a lot of people have this problem, but the in-game viewer shows almost every net game as empty. I'm using ET Server Viewer and it's working great now.

The game's growing on me though, it feels like you need more strategy & awareness and less reflexes this time.

as for q1 i have that entire startup demo in e1m3 ingrained in my head and those damn zombies going UGGGGNNN splat splat

[Prometheus|ANJ]

Heh... Quake Wars. I had a project named that ages ago. Been grinding way on it since Q1. I made a Quake C mod once where the monsters were grouped into factions and attacked each other. Latest (silly and liberal) iteration of project: WIP

The Stroggos just doesn't do it for me. The www.autodestruct.com guy did some nice concepts for Q4 tho.

I've only seen videos, but this game looks a bit... bf42 bandwagon or whatever. Maybe I should be thankful they haven't gone back to Q1...

[Spacemanchuck]

My only question is, why buy this, when there is TF2 to be played? I hope you bought that as well.

Actually my problem with it is alot like what you guys are saying about missing your old toothy friends. And it's that it says Quake in the title, and I really don't see anything about it that makes me think it's in the Quake universe... To me it's another U.S military on one side, fighting, genaric Alien race on the other. I'm really tired of playing on the side of some USA army clone, it even bugged me to an extint in Halo. I suppose it's what developers think will sell. But I would personally rather play as that cool old quake guy, against some toothy beasts, and in that same dark universe. Imagine where they could have gone with that IP. It looks far too similar to many things out on the market right now. And that is why it won't do well...

[Max Challie]

It looks far too similar to many things out on the market right now. And that is why it won't do well...

I think Quake doesn't do well because of the simple gameplay, that is now considered simplistic. Anyone I talk to about Quake who isn't a fan, thinks it's 'gay'. They don't explain what they don't like about it, they just homophobically judge Quake for being homosexual. I don't know what they think is so homosexual about it, but I think it comes from the lack of multiple fire modes. Apparently, a single fire mode on a weapon means man-sex. Huh.

I've come to believe that to have a successful FPS these days, you need to have an advanced firing system. Look at all the currently successful first-person shooters out there - Halo, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, etc. They all have weapons with fire modes that make for very flexible gameplay. The Shock Rifle in UT can be used as a rocket launcher by shooting the secondary blast with a primary shot. The Link Gun gets more powerful with however many links you have. HL2's rocket launcher can be used to laser guide rockets.

I think people just get bored of one fire mode, and call it 'gay'.

[Duq]

You know there are plenty of online games with a one button weapon that are quite popular... Counterstrike and the battlefield series. And Team fortress2 is quite limited in alternate fire modes for weapons as well.

I doubt it is the gameplay, the Quake IP just cant keep up with the rest. Just look at how many popular online shooters have been released between Q3 and now. We simply dont need quake wars anymore since it was outdated the day it got released. The only thing alot of people want from a new quake game, is a dark starbase with alot of monsters.

[halflife99]

I think Quake doesn't do well because of the simple gameplay, that is now considered simplistic. Anyone I talk to about Quake who isn't a fan, thinks it's 'gay'. They don't explain what they don't like about it, they just homophobically judge Quake for being homosexual. I don't know what they think is so homosexual about it, but I think it comes from the lack of multiple fire modes. Apparently, a single fire mode on a weapon means man-sex. Huh.

I've come to believe that to have a successful FPS these days, you need to have an advanced firing system.

And that's there prerogatived, not everyone liked ut's game play. some of us rather preferred quake 3's simple emphasis on speed and accuracy.

One thing i noticed about unreal tournament, halo and so fourth, lots of children, immature children and more casual players, quake players for the majority of the time at least, give you a challenge, these guys know how to play and how to play well, when people label it as "gay" or get upset and stop playing, from what iv seen, it's because they simply don't know what they are doing, or are outclassed.

For me Quake 3 still hasn't been toped, regardless of halo, battlefield or team fortress 2's array of featured.

[Brendan N]

For me Quake 3 still hasn't been toped, regardless of halo, battlefield or team fortress 2's array of featured.

I agree with you here. Everyone I've met who kicks ass at quake can kick ass at UT as well, but not vice versa.

Quake 3 and Quake 1 remain my favourite deathmatches. Compared to their multiplayers, Quake Wars is mediocre.

It's easy (and perfectly valid) to criticize games for using the generic US army protagonists, but as Carmack said it's not your 20 million dollars on the line. I would have liked to see a sort of resistance army fighting for the humans here, but then it would not have linked all that well with the technologically advanced military of Quake 2 and Quake 4. Still.

And I don't find the Strogg to be all that generic. Usually the aliens are sophisticated and intelligent and naked and their hallways are clean. A far cry from the rust and blood and sewn-together humanoids.

[chobomaster]

I think one reason they might feel generic is that they look just like humans. atleast in QW. Sometimes in the game I can't tell them apart from human players, let alone distinguish between classes. When QW was announced I was kinda hoping they'd be really different from the humans, with totally different playing styles like a fast melee fighter for instance, not just carbon copies.

Quake's def. a great series though. After Q1, Quake 2 was honestly my favorite quake. The q2dm maps were genius, really beautifully designed. In single player, I thought the strogg enemies were original and really varied.

Q3 had great gameplay but most of the maps were terrible symmetrical things that weren't much fun. The best map was q3dm7, and that was made by Willets on a bet that he couldn't make a fun map in under an hour.

Rocket Arena, though, is the pinnacle of the series in terms of gameplay.

[halflife99]

Q3 had great gameplay but most of the maps were terrible symmetrical things that weren't much fun. The best map was q3dm7, and that was made by Willets on a bet that he couldn't make a fun map in under an hour.

The maps are some of the best ever made imo.
q3dm7 was good for death match, for a 1v1 tournament, Q3dm17 was brilliance.

[Max Challie]

You know there are plenty of online games with a one button weapon that are quite popular... Counterstrike and the battlefield series. And Team fortress2 is quite limited in alternate fire modes for weapons as well.

Point taken.

I doubt it is the gameplay, the Quake IP just cant keep up with the rest. Just look at how many popular online shooters have been released between Q3 and now. We simply dont need quake wars anymore since it was outdated the day it got released. The only thing alot of people want from a new quake game, is a dark starbase with alot of monsters.

Yeah, it's like Q3 just spawned them. So many people only came into gaming in recent years, and don't realize how original Quake is (I guess, loose statement).

With Quake 4, most of the attention from players seemed to be on the single player. For this reason, I agree with your 'Dark Starbase with a lot of monsters 'thing.

And that's there prerogatived, not everyone liked ut's game play. some of us rather preferred quake 3's simple emphasis on speed and accuracy.

*Raises hand*

One thing i noticed about unreal tournament, halo and so fourth, lots of children, immature children and more casual players, quake players for the majority of the time at least, give you a challenge, these guys know how to play and how to play well, when people label it as "gay" or get upset and stop playing, from what iv seen, it's because they simply don't know what they are doing, or are outclassed.

*Smiles* Thank you, sir, for making me feel much better about this.

For me Quake 3 still hasn't been toped, regardless of halo, battlefield or team fortress 2's array of featured.

Yeah. I've always loved the honour that comes from this simplicity. The only weapon that could really be regarded as cheesy, or 'cheap', is the BFG, in my opinion. And although the RL is kinda easy to use, it still takes skill.

The more honesty there is, the more honour, and the more dishonesty, the more dishonour, etc. I guess lots of people these days like to score easy kills.

I agree with you here. Everyone I've met who kicks ass at quake can kick ass at UT as well, but not vice versa.

And I don't find the Strogg to be all that generic. Usually the aliens are sophisticated and intelligent and naked and their hallways are clean. A far cry from the rust and blood and sewn-together humanoids.

Same here really, they didn't seem too generic to me. I quite like the heavy industrial and cold, heartless style of the Strogg. They don't give a shit about looking cool, they don't want to be admired, as long as they can kick ass.

I think one reason they might feel generic is that they look just like humans. atleast in QW. Sometimes in the game I can't tell them apart from human players, let alone distinguish between classes. When QW was announced I was kinda hoping they'd be really different from the humans, with totally different playing styles like a fast melee fighter for instance, not just carbon copies.

I'll keep that in mind for this project I'm working on, thanks.

Quake's def. a great series though. After Q1, Quake 2 was honestly my favorite quake. The q2dm maps were genius, really beautifully designed. In single player, I thought the strogg enemies were original and really varied.

I loved Q2's single player, even though I didn't get to play it until 2005. I was really cautious throughout the whole thing, and when trapped in a room with a lot of Strogg, especially parasites, I'd shake like hell. It was also MUCH longer than I expected. Man, Bitterman is the man. He's got inhuman skillz. Quake 2 was awesome!

Q3 had great gameplay but most of the maps were terrible symmetrical things that weren't much fun. The best map was q3dm7, and that was made by Willets on a bet that he couldn't make a fun map in under an hour.

A lot of them were symmetrical, but I have a collection of favourites, with Q3DM at the top. I really got into Q3DM7 this year too.

q3dm7 was good for death match, for a 1v1 tournament, Q3dm17 was brilliance.

I agree with all of that. DM17 really is gold for tournaments.


On the subject of PC gaming, what's your opinion of flashy hardware vs. minimalist hardware? Say, do you prefer a 9 button mouse or whatever, or do you use a 3 button one while applying the philosophy of 'If you can manage to achieve the skill of a master, on crap hardware, then you truly are Godlike.'?

[chobomaster]

I have a wheel mouse optical. I want to upgrade to a big gaming mouse so it'll stop my wrist from dragging, but i'm poor. other than that i get good hardware to enjoy the graphics. if you're playing with crap hardware getting 20fps then that just isn't fun.

i mean i think i know what you're saying, it's like making a masterpiece out of mspaint, but to me that doesn't really make you a better artist, you just have more patience.

[Max Challie]

Yeah, it really depends on the situation. I wouldn't spend loads of money on really flashy hardware when I can use it for future upgrades, but I would go for a new mouse if it really appealed to me (Logitech G5, I did buy it, and love it).

What I notice is people using media like watercolour to paint HIGHLY detailed paintings - using a medium against its purpose to try and impress people. If you're going to paint something to look exactly as it does in real life, you might as well just take a photograph, which will get the job done with ease. I don't understand why people do this, it doesn't seem logical to me. I'd much rather use a medium for what it was built for, rather than the opposite.

I think of this as an example of an exception to the 'Doing great things on crap will make you Godlike' philosophy.

[John.D]

It's a good game. I'm not keen on the whole 'run and gun' style of gameplay, i'm more of a 'tactical' fan, but the objectives make it a blast to play.

Worth picking up I say.