Finally got to check out the anti-air rocket thingie the other day, so here comes another installment of 2142 Best Weapons.
The big tank-gun thing
Better than the default, but nothing totally amazing. It's main utility is in not having to guide your shot, so you can pop up, fire, and get back in cover fast. It does a bit more damage than the default rocket, for instance if you shoot a tank in the ass it will blow up immediately, instead of giving the crew a few seconds to bail out and rob you of your kill.
Overall, a solid upgrade. Worth taking.
The Anti-Air rocket launcher thing
Complete and utter shite. I would have been so pissed if I wasted an unlock on this turdfest.
Up side: it's fire and forget, and seems to be fairly accurate. You get tone, shoot your rocket, and that's it.
Down side: it does almost no damage. You'd be better off spitting at your foe. I put two rockets into a hovering aircraft and took off maybe 25% of it's health. And of course you only get two rockets per clip, and it takes 100 years to reload. So to actually destroy anything you'd need to find something that was already badly injured, or come across a mentally retarded pilot who'd wait around for the ten minutes it would take to blow up his plane with your rubber-band shooter.
CRAP! stay away!~
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
2142 Gripes
Ok, I've played enough hours to start making a list of complaints about the platform and the gameplay.
Titan mode
The big selling point in differentiating 2142 from its predecessors is almost unplayably laggy when the action shifts from battling over the missile silos to attacking or defending the titans themselves. And it's much, much worse if a commander moves the titan around after the shields are down and combat is raging.
Word is the 1.5 patch will fix titans in place once their shields go down, which is all well and good...but how hard is it to figure this stuff out before release? You think it would be clear after one round of playtesting, and the fix doesn't seem that hard to impliment.
Oh, and then there are the various ways to grossly inflate your point totals in titan mode, also fairly obvious and seemingly easy to fix.
Minimize to Desktop
Very annoying randomly occuring bug where the game minimizes itself during mapchanges and you have to ctrl-alt-delete, quit out and restart to get back in the mix.
There is also a variation of this that afflicts me, where the game just flat-out DISAPPEARS after you click the 'join' button. This usually happens once a session, sometimes more. Annoying in the extreme.
Crappy hit detection
Only occurs when trying to shoot someone who's hopping around like a bunny rabbit, which is a popular form of defense once players figure out it largely immunizes you from bullets. Although I'd prefer my futuristic combat minus the side order of aerobics, it's not game breaking because turn about is fair play. They hop, you hop, it evens out. Stupid looking, yah, lame, yah....but not game breaking.
Rudimentary collision detection
Snowy pointed this out to me, and now I see it everywhere.
Not a problem with vehicles, but individuals basically just run through each other. This gets really annoying on those maps where a bunch of guys are trying to get their knife badge and running around in close quarters, it's like fighting ghosts.
Vehicles are obviously a big focus here, but it would have been nice if they spent more than 20 minutes on collision detection for the infantry.
Sticky Textures
Probably once a night I'll get "stuck" on something and killed, either a box, or the edge of a building, or some rubble. I've had this problem in some other games, but never to this extent. Annoying.
Still, overall it's fantastically enjoyable. Buggy as a beehive, but great fun in spite of it all. Here's hoping the 1.5 patch adresses more problems than just the titan lag.
Titan mode
The big selling point in differentiating 2142 from its predecessors is almost unplayably laggy when the action shifts from battling over the missile silos to attacking or defending the titans themselves. And it's much, much worse if a commander moves the titan around after the shields are down and combat is raging.
Word is the 1.5 patch will fix titans in place once their shields go down, which is all well and good...but how hard is it to figure this stuff out before release? You think it would be clear after one round of playtesting, and the fix doesn't seem that hard to impliment.
Oh, and then there are the various ways to grossly inflate your point totals in titan mode, also fairly obvious and seemingly easy to fix.
Minimize to Desktop
Very annoying randomly occuring bug where the game minimizes itself during mapchanges and you have to ctrl-alt-delete, quit out and restart to get back in the mix.
There is also a variation of this that afflicts me, where the game just flat-out DISAPPEARS after you click the 'join' button. This usually happens once a session, sometimes more. Annoying in the extreme.
Crappy hit detection
Only occurs when trying to shoot someone who's hopping around like a bunny rabbit, which is a popular form of defense once players figure out it largely immunizes you from bullets. Although I'd prefer my futuristic combat minus the side order of aerobics, it's not game breaking because turn about is fair play. They hop, you hop, it evens out. Stupid looking, yah, lame, yah....but not game breaking.
Rudimentary collision detection
Snowy pointed this out to me, and now I see it everywhere.
Not a problem with vehicles, but individuals basically just run through each other. This gets really annoying on those maps where a bunch of guys are trying to get their knife badge and running around in close quarters, it's like fighting ghosts.
Vehicles are obviously a big focus here, but it would have been nice if they spent more than 20 minutes on collision detection for the infantry.
Sticky Textures
Probably once a night I'll get "stuck" on something and killed, either a box, or the edge of a building, or some rubble. I've had this problem in some other games, but never to this extent. Annoying.
Still, overall it's fantastically enjoyable. Buggy as a beehive, but great fun in spite of it all. Here's hoping the 1.5 patch adresses more problems than just the titan lag.
2142 Review Review: Armchair General
clicky clicky
Not much more than a puff pieces that skims the surface of the game and decides that it's pretty fun, even if it is a lot like Battlefield 2.
ZZzzzzzzzz.
Two paws down.
Not much more than a puff pieces that skims the surface of the game and decides that it's pretty fun, even if it is a lot like Battlefield 2.
ZZzzzzzzzz.
Two paws down.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
2142: on the topic of unlocks
One thing I love about the Internet (among many, many, many, many others) is the access granted to the thoughts of foreign gamers who's English skills lag a bit behind their enthusiasm for sharing insights.
For example, this exceptionally entertaining post on the unlocks for the support class.
I urge everyone to read it in its gorgeous entirity, but here are my favorite bits for the ADD crowd:
on the EMP grenade
on the Ganz HMG
Really excellent stuff.
For example, this exceptionally entertaining post on the unlocks for the support class.
I urge everyone to read it in its gorgeous entirity, but here are my favorite bits for the ADD crowd:
on the EMP grenade
Go up to an emey and yell in his face: "I HAVE NO FEAR FOR I AM FEAR INCARNATE!!!" then run back, in a second your enemy is dead, ok rewind!!!!!!!!
on the Ganz HMG
ARGGG the GANZ!!!! why i dont like this: TOO CRAZY TO FIRE WITH though great dammage i say the accuacy is well... pitifull, well i might be bugged but i heard its suposed to be stable, arggg skrew it NEXT UNLOCK!!!
Really excellent stuff.
2142 Best Weapons: Support
I'm too lazy to copy and paste the disclaimers and warnings, so just scroll down to the Best Weapons: Assault post below for your daily dose of iron and vitamins.
Ganz Heavy Machine Gun
I know the name of this one because it sucks so hard it stuck in my mind. What a piece of crap! I does a bit more damage and has slightly better armor penetration than the default LMG, but compensates for these advantages with a much slower rate of fire and crosshairs that take FOREVER to dial in after you stop moving.
The fun I've had with this doorstop of a weapon is chewing up jeeps.
It makes fairly short work of them, delivering a nice surprise to those a-holes who spend their time zipping around looking for infantry to run over.
Other than that, it's about as useful as a cocktail shaker at an AA meeting.
Rating: Avoid At All Costs
The Shotgun
It shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with my CounterStrike career that I dig the shotty. It's pretty much the same as other examples of the genre- devastating at close range, slow rate of fire, and if you miss your first shot you'll probably get gunned down. But it's a viscerally satisfying weapon, and it shines in the close quarters of city maps.
I like it, but perhaps more than other weapons YMMV. It's an acquired taste, one that I have an unquenchable thirst for.
rating: PUMP-A-LICSIOUS!
Ganz Heavy Machine Gun
I know the name of this one because it sucks so hard it stuck in my mind. What a piece of crap! I does a bit more damage and has slightly better armor penetration than the default LMG, but compensates for these advantages with a much slower rate of fire and crosshairs that take FOREVER to dial in after you stop moving.
The fun I've had with this doorstop of a weapon is chewing up jeeps.
It makes fairly short work of them, delivering a nice surprise to those a-holes who spend their time zipping around looking for infantry to run over.
Other than that, it's about as useful as a cocktail shaker at an AA meeting.
Rating: Avoid At All Costs
The Shotgun
It shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with my CounterStrike career that I dig the shotty. It's pretty much the same as other examples of the genre- devastating at close range, slow rate of fire, and if you miss your first shot you'll probably get gunned down. But it's a viscerally satisfying weapon, and it shines in the close quarters of city maps.
I like it, but perhaps more than other weapons YMMV. It's an acquired taste, one that I have an unquenchable thirst for.
rating: PUMP-A-LICSIOUS!
Monday, November 13, 2006
2142 Best Weapons: Assault
I've had experience with most of the unlockable weapons now and figured it was past time to shoot my mouth off.
First, a suggestion:
Unlocks are precious.
If you roll with a decent squad you should be getting plenty of temporary battlefield unlocks- when you get close to your dream weapon, give it a test drive. Weapons are a matter of taste and the ones I think are fantastic might not suit your temperament or play style.
And a disclaimer:
I don't know the names of any of the guns except the SCAR 11, so pardon my clunky descriptions.
Unlockable Assault Weapons
the light machine gun at the end of the 'medic' tree...the Voss?
I don't like it. It takes forever to kill anything and the accuracy is nothing to write home about. The large capacity clip is nice- if you were looking to suppress the foe in a squad environment so your teammates could wipe them out it might serve. But I felt slightly cheated after burning an unlock on it. IMHO the default AR is superior in every way except ammo capacity.
the heavy assault rifle
Oh yeah baby, now you're talkin' my language!
You'll probably want to use it on single shot most of the time for reasons of accuracy and ammo conservation, because both the recoil and the rate of fire are crazy. But it puts big holes in things and it has fantastic single shot accuracy. And if you get up close and personal where you can let it rip full auto, you can MOW.
Two paws up, with a stern warning about fire control, because it burns through clips like an alcoholic frat boy burns through cans of crappy lite beer.
First, a suggestion:
Unlocks are precious.
If you roll with a decent squad you should be getting plenty of temporary battlefield unlocks- when you get close to your dream weapon, give it a test drive. Weapons are a matter of taste and the ones I think are fantastic might not suit your temperament or play style.
And a disclaimer:
I don't know the names of any of the guns except the SCAR 11, so pardon my clunky descriptions.
Unlockable Assault Weapons
the light machine gun at the end of the 'medic' tree...the Voss?
I don't like it. It takes forever to kill anything and the accuracy is nothing to write home about. The large capacity clip is nice- if you were looking to suppress the foe in a squad environment so your teammates could wipe them out it might serve. But I felt slightly cheated after burning an unlock on it. IMHO the default AR is superior in every way except ammo capacity.
the heavy assault rifle
Oh yeah baby, now you're talkin' my language!
You'll probably want to use it on single shot most of the time for reasons of accuracy and ammo conservation, because both the recoil and the rate of fire are crazy. But it puts big holes in things and it has fantastic single shot accuracy. And if you get up close and personal where you can let it rip full auto, you can MOW.
Two paws up, with a stern warning about fire control, because it burns through clips like an alcoholic frat boy burns through cans of crappy lite beer.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
How To Disable the 2142 Intro Movies
courtesy of Ivan, via one of his shadowy online resources:
It's ridiculous that the game doesn't let you esc past them like every other computer game I've ever played, but this little trick works like a charm.
Disabling the Intro Movies
The introductory movies to BF2142 add to the startup time for the game, as well as the memory usage. To disable them permanently, you can't use the +restart command line command, as this no longer works. I also don't recommend deleting the movie files - this may cause problems with verification of client information on certain servers and/or with Punkbuster. So the simplest method to skip the startup movies is to go to your \Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142\mods\bf2142\Movies directory and rename all the .bik files to something else (e.g. rename EA.bik to EA._bik). This will prevent these movie files from loading at startup and take you straight to the main login screen. Alternatively, you can create a new folder in the same directory (with any name you wish) and move all the movies there to achieve the same effect.
Note that renaming or moving the Titan tutorial movie titan_tutorial.bik will cause problems if you try to view the Titan Tutorial by clicking the 'Titan Tips' option under Multiplay, so I don't recommend renaming this file - you can leave it as is, as it does not add to the startup time in the full version of the game.
It's ridiculous that the game doesn't let you esc past them like every other computer game I've ever played, but this little trick works like a charm.
2142 Squad Unlock Review
courtesy of our very own Von Demon via the Tips, Tricks & Tactics thread on the Tard Forums:
-[ORD]Von Demon
I've been using the Squad Leader upgrades for awhile so here are my thoughts on the equipment effectiveness.
1. Deployable Spawn: Need a minimum of one additional squad member to deploy. Great for back capping as it allows instant redeployment close to the objective but make sure to keep it out of any potential arty retaliation on your flag cap attempt. Also a must have for Titan assaults or flag/silo defense when you’re squad is outnumbered and prone to quick deaths. This may be common sense to some but I must admit it surprised me at least twice. Make sure to keep away from ANY over hanging structures like cat walks or protruding roofs as they will block the ability to drop.
2. Targeting Drone: Need a minimum of two additional squad members to deploy. This is my favorite toy. It does a great job of tagging nearly all hostiles with a red diamond for your squad, if not all teammates in the local area to see. I haven’t figured out why all enemies aren’t tagged but it’s not 100%. The best results I’ve had is when I activate it and them jump into a walker. Talk about racking up kills. The other team must be completely surprised as I pop around a corner firing and strafing their entire squad as if I know exactly where they’re hiding Wink This advantage is only magnified when I have a support gunner. The targeting drone is also highly effective a close urban maps. Note: Don’t bother trying to hide with this floating over your head Wink
3. SMG Drone: Need a minimum of three additional squad members to deploy. While I love the idea of the added firepower, the effective range and damage dealt is far lower than I expected; similar to the deployable sentry gun. In fact, the best success I’ve had with this item is after I’m dead as it often grants me a post mortem on my assailant. Another characteristic it shares with the sentry gun is it’s desire to shoot at enemy through walls inside the Titan. It doesn’t actually kill the bad guys, it just TKs unfortunate members of my team who inadvertently step in it’s kill zone. Where this drone really shines is with flag/silo defense, especially when combined with the sentry gun and my support machine gun. If someone makes the mistake of getting too close to my staked out position, they're dead before they see me.
-[ORD]Von Demon
Thursday, November 09, 2006
shitty server alert: clan [NC]
I've played there a few times with no problem, then today I got kicked by a stat-padding prick named [NC]Skunk because I got tired of orbital strikes, went recon and blew up the radar dish.
Skunk was commanding, and camping at their base in a tank, so I was promptly blown up.
Even though commanders cowering at the base in armor that would be more use at the front is lame, fair play for getting me.
The problem was that he then KICKED me right after I respawned.
In my short 2142 career I've run across some ghey rules, but this is the first time I've been kicked for doing something that was explicitly approved in the server message, where they had some fluff text about Recon being allowed to "blow up assets" as long as they didn't shoot anyone who didn't fire on them first.
Poking around online, I found some other examples of their childish behavior.
Another server to add to my growing ignore list.
Skunk was commanding, and camping at their base in a tank, so I was promptly blown up.
Even though commanders cowering at the base in armor that would be more use at the front is lame, fair play for getting me.
The problem was that he then KICKED me right after I respawned.
In my short 2142 career I've run across some ghey rules, but this is the first time I've been kicked for doing something that was explicitly approved in the server message, where they had some fluff text about Recon being allowed to "blow up assets" as long as they didn't shoot anyone who didn't fire on them first.
Poking around online, I found some other examples of their childish behavior.
Another server to add to my growing ignore list.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
New Old Video Card
Glocks' Upgrade Altar, Artist's Conception
Kudos to Snowfarmer for not only offering up his old video card to the Upgrade Altar, but shipping it out with such alacrity it arrived today, just in time for my weekend.
Sure, a 9800 Pro 256 may not be cutting edge, but it's a substantial and welcome upgrade to my current card.
Plus, it's AGP, which perfectly suits the slightly archaic motherboard demands of my aging system.
Thanks again Snowy- I'll be looking for you tonight.
Assuming, that is I can figure out how to open up my got-dam 1st generation Dell Clamshell case.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
2142 Grenades
battlefield 2142 grenade, artist's conception
Does anyone else get the feeling if a butterfly flaps its wings in China, the grenade you've just thrown will spontaneously veer off course like a boomerang, or hit the ground and bounce 20 feet, like a Superball?
I can't be the only one wrassling with these damn things...
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Review of a Review
2142 review from bit-tech.
random comments:
The screenshots make me wonder what game they're playing. =(
Vehicles, vehicles, vehicles...blah. The walker and the hover tank are neat, the rest are OK I guess.
No comments on the similarities to BF2, since I didn't play enough of it to generate an opinion. I'll just say I like 2142 and have been playing it constantly, and I played BF2 maybe three hours over the several months I had it installed. My response to the reviewers query "is it better than BF2" is a hearty YES.
I disagree.
Titan mode is both too complicated AND too ambitious for this old Tard.
But I agree 100% with his following comment:
True. The only reason I play titan is that you can accrue a HEAPING ASSPILE of career points with very little effort. Between Titan Defense and Titan Assault points you can rack up a massive score even if you're playing lone wolf.
I agree, and this is one of my complaints with many modern FPS games. They provide SO MUCH of everything that the experience lacks granularity. I've played a ton of this game over the last week, and I can't really remember any individual engagements. Contrast with the more limited in scope Counterstrike, where scarcely an evening went by without some kind of memorable encounter or event.
It's telling that disasters stand out in greater relief than accomplishment- my Walker screwup, or accidentally shooting a helicopter full of teammates.
I'm skipping the graphics page, it would just depress me.
I don't really understand anything on the sound page either...not surprising, since the last sound card I bought was an OEM Soundblaster Live! card back when 5.1 support was state of the art. All this chatter about X-Fi is Greek to me.
This bit I disagree with:
Yes, they're annoying.
But they give you a competitive edge.
Leaving both languages enabled can give you valuable audio information about who's nearby.
Conclusion:
He likes it, but admits it was a lot like BF2 and complains about EA's ridiculous server problems.
I also like it, didn't play BF2 that much so the similarities aren't bothersome, and also decry EA's shoddy server performance.
Overall, pretty good review, if a bit shoddy on the prose style.
random comments:
The screenshots make me wonder what game they're playing. =(
Vehicles, vehicles, vehicles...blah. The walker and the hover tank are neat, the rest are OK I guess.
No comments on the similarities to BF2, since I didn't play enough of it to generate an opinion. I'll just say I like 2142 and have been playing it constantly, and I played BF2 maybe three hours over the several months I had it installed. My response to the reviewers query "is it better than BF2" is a hearty YES.
Titan mode is a triumph for me. It takes a well known formula and spruces it up without being too complicated or too ambitious.
I disagree.
Titan mode is both too complicated AND too ambitious for this old Tard.
But I agree 100% with his following comment:
you slog it out with the other team and in the end one or the other side will watch a titan ship blow up. It doesn't really matter if it's yours because ultimately you're playing for points. You're playing for points because you're an addict. An addict like me.
True. The only reason I play titan is that you can accrue a HEAPING ASSPILE of career points with very little effort. Between Titan Defense and Titan Assault points you can rack up a massive score even if you're playing lone wolf.
What moments were memorable? None in particular, the only impression you have is of the overwhelming battlefield experience.
I agree, and this is one of my complaints with many modern FPS games. They provide SO MUCH of everything that the experience lacks granularity. I've played a ton of this game over the last week, and I can't really remember any individual engagements. Contrast with the more limited in scope Counterstrike, where scarcely an evening went by without some kind of memorable encounter or event.
It's telling that disasters stand out in greater relief than accomplishment- my Walker screwup, or accidentally shooting a helicopter full of teammates.
I'm skipping the graphics page, it would just depress me.
I don't really understand anything on the sound page either...not surprising, since the last sound card I bought was an OEM Soundblaster Live! card back when 5.1 support was state of the art. All this chatter about X-Fi is Greek to me.
This bit I disagree with:
Also turn off the foreign voices by selecting yes on English VO, those voices are incredibly annoying.
Yes, they're annoying.
But they give you a competitive edge.
Leaving both languages enabled can give you valuable audio information about who's nearby.
Conclusion:
He likes it, but admits it was a lot like BF2 and complains about EA's ridiculous server problems.
I also like it, didn't play BF2 that much so the similarities aren't bothersome, and also decry EA's shoddy server performance.
Overall, pretty good review, if a bit shoddy on the prose style.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
NWN2 diary/trailer
I haven't checked it out since I don't have sound at work, but apparently it shows gameplay with voice-over from one of the devs.
Of course, said voice over in a previous trailer nearly made Ivan & Gordo lose their respective lunches (something about how faithful the game was to 3rd generation D&D rules...I think it overloaded their geek capacitors), so you may want to approach with caution.
As a bonus, I think I've found Gordo's dream game....thank me later, dude. =D
Of course, said voice over in a previous trailer nearly made Ivan & Gordo lose their respective lunches (something about how faithful the game was to 3rd generation D&D rules...I think it overloaded their geek capacitors), so you may want to approach with caution.
As a bonus, I think I've found Gordo's dream game....thank me later, dude. =D
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