2007-06-20 20:18:53 Enemy Territory Beta (PC)

2007-06-20 20:27:58

I just subscribed for a month. Downloading now.

---
[Halo 3] - [Mass Effect] - [GTA IV] - [Assassin's Creed]

2007-06-20 20:29:17

I hope it's playable on my piece of shit rig.. it's getting high time for upgrades. 20 minutes left to my DL, transfer speeds are bouncing all over the place. Anywhere from 200k/s to 1meg.. just gooo!

2007-06-20 20:30:49

My rig is still a POS. And I spent almost $3k on it. Them 8800 GTX are two 360s in disguise I tells ya!

---
[Halo 3] - [Mass Effect] - [GTA IV] - [Assassin's Creed]

2007-06-20 20:31:07 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-06-20 20:29:17)

---
The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

2007-06-20 20:34:26 In reply to Acert93 (2007-06-20 20:31:07)

2007-06-20 21:21:52 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-06-20 20:34:26)

Hose it down Grift ;)

---
I'm Spartacus!

2007-06-20 21:36:09

Hmmmm I wonder if I have enough cash in my account to get a month sub :|

2007-06-20 21:37:25

Played it once, didnt really enjoy it that much. Animations are stiff, weapons are abit meh and the graphics generally feel abit old. Going to play it some more tomorrow though. I do like the part with different stuff to do on the map, not just go there and stay for awhile and then run along. Go there, plant the bomb and make it tick, then make sure it blows and then go there and build this. Strogg are abit overpowered though, but that's just an opinion from 30min of playing.

2007-06-21 00:00:53

Totally opposite impressions. I'm impressed with how well it scales (runs great) and I think the gameplay is pretty awesome. Made me feel like a total noob though. Never played ET.. still figuring certain things out. Lots to learn here.

The objective gameplay is pretty great.. I love how there are multiple objectives happening at once in the same match. I don't know if the Strogg are really overpowered, but they are pretty badass. The Hyperblaster is amazing.. but then again so is the GPMG.

Overall I'm really damn impressed. I went from not sure about how I'd like this game to thinking it's possibly the best FPS scheduled for this year. Lots of bugs to work out.. but hey it's a beta.

I'm a bit concerned with the depth of the depth of the RPG elements. That's never been big with me and it seems like there's quite a lot to progress though until you're at full stats with any kit.. still very impressed. Buying this day one.

And it runs surprisingly well on my fiery hot 6800GT Acert. Now to decide what kit to advance in first.

2007-06-21 01:11:47

Well, played it a second time and yeah, i like the fact that it runs great but they need to work on the animations imho, they are way to stiff or jerky, but i think someone complained about it on the forums also. I am not really that impressed, but the objective gameplay is great, that is the part i really love about the game and i hope it will come to more online fps games.

Havent figured out the rankingstuff yet but i am going to have a better look at it tomorrow. Oh and they need to make it easier to see which direction the cannon on the tank is facing or on the walkerthing cause i was going the wrong way all the time, maybe i'm just to much of a noob still.

2007-06-21 04:43:22

The more I play the more it grows on me.. and I liked it after the first game :)

Other mp games have done the objective thing pretty well.. but I love how dynamic it all is here. Lots of options, lots of gameplay.. deep game. I'm a little concerned with the balance myself -- but more with the persistent ranking system than the asymmetrical teams.

I like how the gameplay encourages you to play as multiple kits too. Kits in BF are well balanced and for the most part they're all pretty useful or necessary, but the fact that you have objectives in this game that must be completed by specific kits is pretty interesting.

Honestly.. my only real complaint so far is that tanks turn a little too fast and hit their top speed too quickly. I also wish Engi's repaired vehicles from inside the driver seat, a la BF2.. but you can't win them all. Best team game I've played in a while. I'll be there day one.

2007-06-21 07:28:26

I guess this games going to fall flat on its face come console time? Shame.. it's solid so far. I'm still a little turned off by the massive progression system, but I'll wait and see how leagues and ladders handle that ordeal. The game is pretty functional without ranking up -- but the fact that ranks do things like, increase your sprint speed or decrease your rocket lock-on time is a bit concerning when it comes to balancing skill and rewarding raw time.

Still mighty good so far though. One thing is for sure, this is not a Battlefield game.

2007-06-21 09:44:05 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-06-21 00:00:53)

2007-06-21 11:15:31

Damn it really sucks for newbies. On screen prompts just aren't enough. They should have offered a small tutorial scenario.

2007-06-21 12:30:17

When did I say I was okay with it? I just like everything else enough to warrant the purchase anyway. A lot of games I would otherwise love might take this direction because it's a fairly popular trend. I'm not going to write off BF completely yet either.. just 2142.

In some ways, it bothers me less in ETQW than in 2142 -- but on the other hand, it effects things like, lock on time and movement in ETQW, which is potentially worse. Progression did scare me away from 2142. Played the beta for about 40 hours and the demo a bit afterwards and "quickly" decided that the new direction that BF was taking isn't for me.

Oh, and Vehicles aren't that great right now in ETQW which is a big problem. I hope they tweak the tank controls. The damn thing feels like it's floating. It reaches top speed in no time at all, and turns REALLY quickly. Feels strange. It's mostly an issue with the human tank. The other vehicles could probably use tweaking too, but they're more acceptable.

It does sorta hurt to admit that 2142 has superior vehicles, but that seems to be the case from what I've seen so far. The Walkers are definitely better.

Just a few negative observations on a game I am otherwise loving. It's got a little bit of that Quake flavor. Several weapons reduce combat down to that sort of afair, and I think it works, because this isn't a Battlefield clone. There are elements of BF here for sure.. but it still feels more like Quake than it does Battlefield. I'm sure it's strongest heritage is in the Enemy Territory roots.

I played like five hours today.. done for now. Will dive back in later.

EDIT: Okay I wrote that several hours ago (^^), before going back into ETQW to mess with my settings and try to see what kind of performance I could get out of it (none).. and since then.. some things have changed. I never hit the post button, but I figured I'd leave it the way it is and correct myself.

I jumped to conclusions on the progressive leveling system. It seems like your upgrades only last so long as you remain in a campaign, rebalancing itself with every new campaign (I'm not sure how this setting works -- perhaps it's a certain number of rounds or perhaps the server admin gets to decide the duration).

This is a MUCH smarter/better/relaxing way to handle this sort of thing.. Frontlines is doing something simular. And not only is it more fair, but if managed well it won't get old since you'll never be finished leveling up. Looks like Splash Damage and Kaos both know I'm right. :P

2007-06-21 13:20:47 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-06-21 12:30:17)

2007-06-21 13:36:23

Funny I had exactly the opposite reaction when I realized that :P

I'm not sure I'm following your question though.. how long will what take? It will last so long as you're willing to put time into one map and one game mode.. but don't let that scare you off just yet. The BF demos were one game mode and one map and people played them forever :)

I don't know how long they plan on leaving it up and active, but the beta has systems in place so that it can be updated, so hopefully we see some patches along the way. Hopefully they give us more of a warning than they did when they pulled the plug on the 2142 beta.

So yea.. one gameplay mode and one map, but there's so much content within the game type already that it should keep you entertained (assuming you like it) for a while. And if you're new to the ET franchise (which I pretty much am.. have only briefly played Wolf:ET) it will probably take a while to figure everything out.

I hope Carmack was 100% behind the Enemy Territory: Doom Wars concept he recently mentioned in an interview. He said they weren't planning anything yet but it was on his mind. The concept is fantastic. It only hit me half way through the installation process for ETQW that I was about to play a brand new Quake game. Hasn't been a long time coming (like Q4 was) but it's still a treat.

Hey does anyone know if all of the ETQW maps take place on Earth? I wonder if we'll have some off world settings as well. It would nice nice if there were some variety among the maps.

Ugh I can't wait for this game. New team shooter, with this much promise, and it runs well on my aging rig? So sold.. I won't be so lucky when COD4 comes around.

2007-06-21 14:57:01

i meant for how long the beta was going to be open, so i guess no definite answer. Its open until they realise they need to. ok, sounds fair. HOpe when i get home from work there will be more keys. Oh, and glad to hear that it works well on your rig. I also have a 3200+, and used to have 6800 but i bought a 7900gtx just a couple of months before giving it all up for the 360, so i thing i'll be fine.

2007-06-21 15:09:35 In reply to mt_sabao (2007-06-21 14:57:01)

2007-06-22 11:38:04

ugh, just tried yesterday night and have to say, i'm very surprised negatively :/
i mean, the game mechanic appears to be cool, what with the missions, objectives, co-op between classes and players, but the gameplay, oh my god, its just broken! Everything feels like a 20's movie, fastforwarding, as if physics is all wrong. And the vehicles, just wrong. Moving too fast, floating, no real feel to them, ridiculous movements
I mean, this feels promissing in terms of gamemechanics, but this is no beta, but a very very early alpha! This should serve to improve game balancing etc, not the game itself i think!
Last time i checked a beta (BF2142), my feeling was oh my god this is going to rock!, everything was in place, the guns, movement, vehicles etc except of course for some glitches and bugs, some sounds missing here and there etc. But here, this feels like it is still being done! I'm glad they still don't have a release date for this, as it is i would give it a year more, can't understand the purpose of a beta at this point...
Might give a it a second try tonight though, just to double check

2007-06-22 11:55:26

I hated the 2142 beta. I hate 2142 infantry combat.

The game definitely needs a lot of work, but I think it has promise. I agree that the vehicles need work -- specifically the tank -- I can deal with just about all of the others. I do think the mech should be able to sprint a la 2142's Walkers. I will admit that game has better vehicles at this point in time. Shame -- since BF2's vehicles blow away those found in 2142. I hope they at least consider more complicated hit boxes for the vehicles in ETQW.

Still.. this isn't battlefield and it isn't trying to be.

Beta's are not just about improving balance and gameplay though, most betas are filled with such bugs, and the purpose of testing a beta is to find and discover bugs. Ya know -- bug reports? Hell, DICE's retail games are filled with bugs too :)

I like the games on foot movement system though. Don't see the problem with it at all really. Combat is good fun. They do totally need to do some more balance work though.. that Hyperblaster is ridiculous!

It is a beta though, and there are at least a couple of months left before the game ships. The purpose of a beta isn't to give people a preview of your game, it's to find and identify bugs.

The biggest things that need to change:

Game comes locked at 30fps, as most of the games engine is based around that number. They need to tweak that a big, and make animations smoother so that people bitch less about the graphics.

Tanks need to be tweaked. Every vehicle needs a little adjusting, but the Tank is by far the worst here. There's just something very wrong about its pickup and turning speed. Strogg balance still needs a little work in general. Specifically the hyperblaster. My god is that thing ridiculous. And is there anyway to counter the damn flying drones? They are also very brutal.

Seems to me that this game is more Quake + ET than another BF clone.. which is a good thing. It might just be enough to hold me over 'til Frontlines drops in January. That game is trying to be battlefield -- so lets hope it succeeds. I'm already thinking about joining an ETQW team.. but I do hope they work out some of the issues. I think they will.. this is a beta.

I'm still havin fun, going back to play some more.. Field-Ops is the shit.

2007-06-23 12:50:33

PS. Public keys are supposed to be available today. I'm a bit concerned that FP still says "Subscribers Only Beta!" on their front page.. hope that changes soon.

EDIT: And it has changed.. woot.

2007-06-23 20:33:03

Keys are up.. they may be out by now.. who knows.

There will also be more tomorrow: http://www.fileplanet.com/

2007-06-23 21:57:40

I'm in the waitingline right now..

---
http://www.cyberwarriors.nl
http://home.xmsnet.nl/bigbear/fiat124.jpg