Dizzam.
I should have some free time starting in a couple weeks.
Hope I can finish Half Life 2 by then. I'm in the "Follow Freeman!" levels.
Supreme Commander - Pre-release discussion
I'll throw some initial thoughts up after I get some solid playtime.
I'm up for multi right away though.
Also, the next C&C xomes out on 3/27. And Gordo, have you seen the new space empire game from the people who made Homeworld: Cataclysm? It looks just like Homeworld.
Looks like it's going to be an RTS year.
I'm up for multi right away though.
Also, the next C&C xomes out on 3/27. And Gordo, have you seen the new space empire game from the people who made Homeworld: Cataclysm? It looks just like Homeworld.
Looks like it's going to be an RTS year.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
I have that page from PC Gamer ripped out and sitting on my desk, and you know what that means.Leisher wrote:Also, the next C&C xomes out on 3/27. And Gordo, have you seen the new space empire game from the people who made Homeworld: Cataclysm? It looks just like Homeworld.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I have that page from PC Gamer ripped out and sitting on my desk, and you know what that means.
You've masturbated while looking at it?
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
$46.99 on Amazon.com......
http://www.amazon.com/THQ-493....eogames
But in most states you don't pay sales tax, and this item has free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/THQ-493....eogames
But in most states you don't pay sales tax, and this item has free shipping.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Well, after about 5 hours of training and playing. . . I'm commanding only mediocerly. First impression: I'm gonna need a bigger boat. Even with all settings/effects turned to low/off, the games slows to a choppy crawl when there's lots of action. That sucks. Every time I'd launch an assult, things got bad. I've got an AMD 3500+ and 1GB RAM 7800 GT. I probably have to upgrade to a higher end core 2 duo. It recommends a 3.0 Ghz+ CPU.
Things to get use to:
The range of all the units is far greater than it was in TA. So, you are always zoomed out. Zoom in to see the units fighting and exploding, and you lose perspective of the battle. So most of the fighting is done at an 'icon' level. Zoom out and everything is just a colored icon. Most of the time, that's fine. But in the old TA, I'd target specific units first to get them out of the way. Hard to do when zoomed way out and things are moving. It helps to have a second screen, one zoomed out for perspective, one zoomed in for detail. But it's easy to lose your place. The larger, second screen needs to have a window showing what you are looking at on the zoomed in screen. Similar to the tactical overlay.
Severly cut down the number of available units. There isn't NEARLY the variety of TA. Will limit the stratigic mix you could achieve in TA.
Ground defences, with their longer range, are damn near impossible to penetrate. Especially if there are teeth (which can be destroyed now). Anti air defences suck and are highly inacurate. Those two things = over powered air. You can defend against air attacks better with other aircraft. But point being, ground troops won't play as big a roll. The kills will come from the air.
Cool things: They implimented many of the third part utilities people made for TA. Such as, click and drag for building walls of teeth, rows of power generators, etc. Transports are much more inteligent and actually useful now.
Those are my initial impressions so far. I've only been playing the campaign mode, so I haven't even built many of the units in the game. So, my impression will most likely change as I've mainly been playing with tech I units. But really, I'll need a new computer before I can really play this game. And that does suck.
Things to get use to:
The range of all the units is far greater than it was in TA. So, you are always zoomed out. Zoom in to see the units fighting and exploding, and you lose perspective of the battle. So most of the fighting is done at an 'icon' level. Zoom out and everything is just a colored icon. Most of the time, that's fine. But in the old TA, I'd target specific units first to get them out of the way. Hard to do when zoomed way out and things are moving. It helps to have a second screen, one zoomed out for perspective, one zoomed in for detail. But it's easy to lose your place. The larger, second screen needs to have a window showing what you are looking at on the zoomed in screen. Similar to the tactical overlay.
Severly cut down the number of available units. There isn't NEARLY the variety of TA. Will limit the stratigic mix you could achieve in TA.
Ground defences, with their longer range, are damn near impossible to penetrate. Especially if there are teeth (which can be destroyed now). Anti air defences suck and are highly inacurate. Those two things = over powered air. You can defend against air attacks better with other aircraft. But point being, ground troops won't play as big a roll. The kills will come from the air.
Cool things: They implimented many of the third part utilities people made for TA. Such as, click and drag for building walls of teeth, rows of power generators, etc. Transports are much more inteligent and actually useful now.
Those are my initial impressions so far. I've only been playing the campaign mode, so I haven't even built many of the units in the game. So, my impression will most likely change as I've mainly been playing with tech I units. But really, I'll need a new computer before I can really play this game. And that does suck.
The range of all the units is far greater than it was in TA. So, you are always zoomed out. Zoom in to see the units fighting and exploding, and you lose perspective of the battle. So most of the fighting is done at an 'icon' level. Zoom out and everything is just a colored icon. Most of the time, that's fine. But in the old TA, I'd target specific units first to get them out of the way. Hard to do when zoomed way out and things are moving. It helps to have a second screen, one zoomed out for perspective, one zoomed in for detail. But it's easy to lose your place. The larger, second screen needs to have a window showing what you are looking at on the zoomed in screen. Similar to the tactical overlay.
I love the way they handled the view. You can scroll all the way into a unit to see it's exact details, all the way back out into space where you see the whole battlefield. I also like how you move your mouse when in "satellite" view and that's where you'll zoom in. Very good stuff. Very intuitive.
Severly cut down the number of available units. There isn't NEARLY the variety of TA. Will limit the stratigic mix you could achieve in TA.
I started in the solo game and was thinking the same thing, but then I noticed that the number of units available were increasing based on what level I was on. Even in the training mode I noticed that while you could build certain tech levels, it didn't allow you to build everything.
Ground defences, with their longer range, are damn near impossible to penetrate. Especially if there are teeth (which can be destroyed now). Anti air defences suck and are highly inacurate. Those two things = over powered air. You can defend against air attacks better with other aircraft. But point being, ground troops won't play as big a roll. The kills will come from the air
I noticed the same thing. Air units were VERY hard to bring down. Not that they have a million hit points, but they seem to be able to avoid missles, lasers, etc. The ground defenses are brutal, 5-6 stationary artillery pieces almost knocked out my commander in seconds.
Mixed unit assault groups are a must.
The single experimental unit I've seen in action so far was pretty cool.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
It was that way in the original TA, too. You gained new playable units after "advancing" in your tech tree, or whatever. Hell, some units in TA were NEVER unlocked in campaign mode.Leisher wrote:I started in the solo game and was thinking the same thing, but then I noticed that the number of units available were increasing based on what level I was on. Even in the training mode I noticed that while you could build certain tech levels, it didn't allow you to build everything.Severly cut down the number of available units. There isn't NEARLY the variety of TA. Will limit the stratigic mix you could achieve in TA.
It was the same in the C&C games, as I recall.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
It was that way in the original TA, too. You gained new playable units after "advancing" in your tech tree, or whatever. Hell, some units in TA were NEVER unlocked in campaign mode.
It was the same in the C&C games, as I recall.
I remember now. I seriously cannot believe how long it's been since I've played an RTS. Last year was all about RPGs and FPSs.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
So they advertised this game as the flagship of the "Games for Windows" brand.
One of the requirements to get that brand is to have a 64 bit version of the game.
This game, when launching under Windows XP, checks to make sure you have Service Pack 2 installed.
Windows XP64 does not have a Service Pack 2, therefore I need to either downgrade my system to XP32, or purchase Vista in order to play this game, apparently.
Sigh.
EDIT - Yeah, says on the box under "Minimum Requirements" that it wants "Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, Vista." Never mind that XP64 had all of the SP2 stuff put in SP1.
I guess I'll just shelve the game until they issue a patch, or I upgrade to a new PC that can run Vista.
Edited By GORDON on 1172541918
One of the requirements to get that brand is to have a 64 bit version of the game.
This game, when launching under Windows XP, checks to make sure you have Service Pack 2 installed.
Windows XP64 does not have a Service Pack 2, therefore I need to either downgrade my system to XP32, or purchase Vista in order to play this game, apparently.
Sigh.
EDIT - Yeah, says on the box under "Minimum Requirements" that it wants "Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, Vista." Never mind that XP64 had all of the SP2 stuff put in SP1.
I guess I'll just shelve the game until they issue a patch, or I upgrade to a new PC that can run Vista.
Edited By GORDON on 1172541918
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Why did you ever go to XP64? It's the Sega32X of PCs.
Check their FAQs or forums, you can't be the only person on the planet to suffer this issue.
Games for Windows (if you have the version we want you to have...)
Check their FAQs or forums, you can't be the only person on the planet to suffer this issue.
Games for Windows (if you have the version we want you to have...)
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
1. 64 bit OS is the future, for a while. I imagine we'll be on 128bit CPU's and OS's within 20 years, or so. I have a 64 bit CPU, why would I want a 32bit OS? I process 64-bit CPU commands (because I am running 64 bit windows, and 64 bit software, when I can) almost twice as fast as you. Ha ha (nelson).
2. Don't ask me how, but I got the game running. I was screwing with .ini files, and I tweaked the right thing, I guess.
3. Yes, other peeps in the support forums say they couldn't even get the game to launch under XP64, due to the SP2 issue. There were no developer comments in those threads.
++++++++++++++++
Ok......... on to my initial impressions after the first campaign mission:
1. Graphics: With every graphical setting set for the lowest setting, dual-monitor was choppy as hell. 1 frame every 5 seconds. Obviously unplayable. But, when I set the game to only use one monitor (I actually had to disable the 2nd monitor in windows, though, as to scroll the map you have to mouse to the edge of the screen... dual monitor just took the mouse to the next screen with no scroll), I was able to crank the graphics up to max with only very slight lag when there were big battles happening. So, here I am, 1 monitor, maxed graphics.
AMD Athalon 64 3700
2.21ghz, 2 gb RAM
7800 GT video card w/256mb RAM.
2. I like how this is very much a TA sequel.
2a. Most of the hotkeys are the same.
2b. The c-units have the black and yellow "construction" stripes, but they need to be more obvious. Hard to see at a glance.
2c. Maybe it is my single monitor setup, but I'm going to have to get used to the zooming and scrolling. I almost wish the game were LESS epic and it didn't require you to have 2 monitors and a PC with power that hasn't been invented yet. A regular old graphical update to TA would have been great.
2d. I don't like how power and metal indicators are on opposite sides of the screen. Can't see them both at a glance.
2. Don't ask me how, but I got the game running. I was screwing with .ini files, and I tweaked the right thing, I guess.
3. Yes, other peeps in the support forums say they couldn't even get the game to launch under XP64, due to the SP2 issue. There were no developer comments in those threads.
++++++++++++++++
Ok......... on to my initial impressions after the first campaign mission:
1. Graphics: With every graphical setting set for the lowest setting, dual-monitor was choppy as hell. 1 frame every 5 seconds. Obviously unplayable. But, when I set the game to only use one monitor (I actually had to disable the 2nd monitor in windows, though, as to scroll the map you have to mouse to the edge of the screen... dual monitor just took the mouse to the next screen with no scroll), I was able to crank the graphics up to max with only very slight lag when there were big battles happening. So, here I am, 1 monitor, maxed graphics.
AMD Athalon 64 3700
2.21ghz, 2 gb RAM
7800 GT video card w/256mb RAM.
2. I like how this is very much a TA sequel.
2a. Most of the hotkeys are the same.
2b. The c-units have the black and yellow "construction" stripes, but they need to be more obvious. Hard to see at a glance.
2c. Maybe it is my single monitor setup, but I'm going to have to get used to the zooming and scrolling. I almost wish the game were LESS epic and it didn't require you to have 2 monitors and a PC with power that hasn't been invented yet. A regular old graphical update to TA would have been great.
2d. I don't like how power and metal indicators are on opposite sides of the screen. Can't see them both at a glance.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I don't know if anyone's noticed, but when you run dual monitors, it actually runs a second instance of the game. So, dual core, or dual CPU will probably help a dual monitor setup alot.
There are alot of people who claim to run dual monitors with 50+ FPS through the whole game one hardware that's not much more powerful than mine. They don't go into details as to how they do it.
But I agree. There's too much game here right now and there's no affordable hardware to run it on. Much like TA, we'll have to wait a few years for technology to catch up to really enjoy multi playing this game, I think.
It really does bother me that in their 'Make the game perform better' FAQ, they say things like:
1. Turn the second monitor off. (In fact, that's one way to improve dual monitor performance?)
2. Play with no sound.
3. Turn your settings down. Disable shadows, AA, etc.
4. Zoom into an empty space of ground where there are no units or anything else happening.
Ummmm.
Edited By Cakedaddy on 1172588463
There are alot of people who claim to run dual monitors with 50+ FPS through the whole game one hardware that's not much more powerful than mine. They don't go into details as to how they do it.
But I agree. There's too much game here right now and there's no affordable hardware to run it on. Much like TA, we'll have to wait a few years for technology to catch up to really enjoy multi playing this game, I think.
It really does bother me that in their 'Make the game perform better' FAQ, they say things like:
1. Turn the second monitor off. (In fact, that's one way to improve dual monitor performance?)
2. Play with no sound.
3. Turn your settings down. Disable shadows, AA, etc.
4. Zoom into an empty space of ground where there are no units or anything else happening.
Ummmm.
Edited By Cakedaddy on 1172588463
I hadn't made that conenction yet, but it makes perfect sense according to what I was seeing last night.Cakedaddy wrote:I don't know if anyone's noticed, but when you run dual monitors, it actually runs a second instance of the game.
So are quad core CPU's out, yet?
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
You know..... damn..... if they are running 2 instances of the game, anyway.... they should invent a new LAN style of gaming that lets you play a single game on TWO networked PC's, and therefore distribute the load on 2 computers.
I should patent that idea for a single player game.
I should patent that idea for a single player game.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."