Archived from groups: alt.games.starsiege.tribes (More info?)
Okay, I've played each map in the multiplayer demo about twice now on
a server with about a 10v10 group. Enough to see, in my opinion, how
the game's team-dynamic plays out.
This game is lightyears behind Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 in terms
of: Team Dynamics, Weapons Balance, Strategic Depth, Vehicular
Sensibility. You can see how the efforts to make the game "more
accessible" has really dumbed it down and hurt it, again, in my
opinion.
Allow me to break down that assessment. Many of the problems I found
with the game cross into the realm of other problems.
Team Dynamic
At no time during this demo did I feel like I was on a team. The few
times I tried to coordinate with someone, it was like I didn't exist
to the other person. Even on some of the most disorganized pickup
games on pubs in S:T and T2 you can usually find someone to click
with. Maybe it's just due to it being a demo and you have rank noobs
testing the game out.
Weapons Balance
Aside from the chaingun being utter shite, the other weapons feel dull
and without punch. The spinfuser feels about the same as it had in
previous games. The buckler was pretty cool to see in action. The
rocket pod is another weapon that looks cool, but delivers far, far
less damage than one would expect against an unshielded target.
I hate how the heavy isn't really that advantageous over other armors.
Really, the armor set you're wearing seems to be of minimal
consequence. Maybe a few more hit points tacked on is all. In the
previous Tribes games there was a definite advantage in terms of ammo
count and number of heavy weapons carried. The heavy armor was a
mobile weapons platform.
Strategic Depth
The repair pack. What can I say about it? It's a boon and a bane all
wrapped up in a hip-worn, green-glowing bundle of wrongness.
At first I thought, hey man! This is cool! I can fix 10 things all at
once. Then after a few maps, I realized that this idea is yet another
subtle nail in the coffin of teamwork and game balance.
For the important repairs like inventory stations and generators, the
pack seems woefully slow to repair, and then has a frustrating habit
of running out of steam and you stand around waiting for the thing to
fully recharge before being able to repair further. A smashed
inventory or gen requires more than one dose of a fully charged pack
to fully repair. And if there's an advantage to two or more guys
spewing streams of green rectangles around, I wasn't able to see it.
Whereas in S:T and T2 the more guys you have focused on a repair the
faster it goes x the number of lads ghostbusting the broken item.
Part of the strategic balance of previous Tribes iterations was the
power and purpose of the backpacks, as well as their relationship to
the weapons and armor. Those lines are totally blurred in T:V. A
sniper doesn't *need* an energy pack. It's merely helpful if he has
one. And since, say, a repair pack isn't tied into your armors energy
reserves, you could be sniping on a roof and repairing a sensor at the
same time.
The fact that you can see all of your armor and weapons items largely
and graphically displayed on one screen in the inventory station is
testament to the "accessability" they've factored into the game.
Vehicular Sensibility
They say you can use the FAV dune buggy thing as a new spawn point.
But I found that once the vehicle is left un attended it disappears!
And not like a Shrike that fades away after you, the spawner, dies. It
disappears if left alone for too long. How the hell can it be used as
a spawn-point if it doesn't stay where you parked it. I guess you're
supposed to sit in the thing for the duration of the game. Imagine if
the Jerrico MPB faded away if unattended for 45 seconds.
In S:T one strategy was to grab enemy vehicles left on a swoop-n-run
grab attempt and fly them out of bounds, hidden in some valley. Since
you can only have a determinate amount spawned at any given time, this
would seriously cramp the enemy's mobility and air fire power. The
valley behind the base in Scarabrae would sometimes look like a
parking lot by the end of the map!
Anyway, I'll still buy the thing. It's not a bad game. It's just
bronze instead of gold. And the single player demo was actually fun
and enjoyable. And, after all, this was the first "Tribes" game with
emphasis on the single player experience.
--
--==< S m e g h e a d >==--
Okay, I've played each map in the multiplayer demo about twice now on
a server with about a 10v10 group. Enough to see, in my opinion, how
the game's team-dynamic plays out.
This game is lightyears behind Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 in terms
of: Team Dynamics, Weapons Balance, Strategic Depth, Vehicular
Sensibility. You can see how the efforts to make the game "more
accessible" has really dumbed it down and hurt it, again, in my
opinion.
Allow me to break down that assessment. Many of the problems I found
with the game cross into the realm of other problems.
Team Dynamic
At no time during this demo did I feel like I was on a team. The few
times I tried to coordinate with someone, it was like I didn't exist
to the other person. Even on some of the most disorganized pickup
games on pubs in S:T and T2 you can usually find someone to click
with. Maybe it's just due to it being a demo and you have rank noobs
testing the game out.
Weapons Balance
Aside from the chaingun being utter shite, the other weapons feel dull
and without punch. The spinfuser feels about the same as it had in
previous games. The buckler was pretty cool to see in action. The
rocket pod is another weapon that looks cool, but delivers far, far
less damage than one would expect against an unshielded target.
I hate how the heavy isn't really that advantageous over other armors.
Really, the armor set you're wearing seems to be of minimal
consequence. Maybe a few more hit points tacked on is all. In the
previous Tribes games there was a definite advantage in terms of ammo
count and number of heavy weapons carried. The heavy armor was a
mobile weapons platform.
Strategic Depth
The repair pack. What can I say about it? It's a boon and a bane all
wrapped up in a hip-worn, green-glowing bundle of wrongness.
At first I thought, hey man! This is cool! I can fix 10 things all at
once. Then after a few maps, I realized that this idea is yet another
subtle nail in the coffin of teamwork and game balance.
For the important repairs like inventory stations and generators, the
pack seems woefully slow to repair, and then has a frustrating habit
of running out of steam and you stand around waiting for the thing to
fully recharge before being able to repair further. A smashed
inventory or gen requires more than one dose of a fully charged pack
to fully repair. And if there's an advantage to two or more guys
spewing streams of green rectangles around, I wasn't able to see it.
Whereas in S:T and T2 the more guys you have focused on a repair the
faster it goes x the number of lads ghostbusting the broken item.
Part of the strategic balance of previous Tribes iterations was the
power and purpose of the backpacks, as well as their relationship to
the weapons and armor. Those lines are totally blurred in T:V. A
sniper doesn't *need* an energy pack. It's merely helpful if he has
one. And since, say, a repair pack isn't tied into your armors energy
reserves, you could be sniping on a roof and repairing a sensor at the
same time.
The fact that you can see all of your armor and weapons items largely
and graphically displayed on one screen in the inventory station is
testament to the "accessability" they've factored into the game.
Vehicular Sensibility
They say you can use the FAV dune buggy thing as a new spawn point.
But I found that once the vehicle is left un attended it disappears!
And not like a Shrike that fades away after you, the spawner, dies. It
disappears if left alone for too long. How the hell can it be used as
a spawn-point if it doesn't stay where you parked it. I guess you're
supposed to sit in the thing for the duration of the game. Imagine if
the Jerrico MPB faded away if unattended for 45 seconds.
In S:T one strategy was to grab enemy vehicles left on a swoop-n-run
grab attempt and fly them out of bounds, hidden in some valley. Since
you can only have a determinate amount spawned at any given time, this
would seriously cramp the enemy's mobility and air fire power. The
valley behind the base in Scarabrae would sometimes look like a
parking lot by the end of the map!
Anyway, I'll still buy the thing. It's not a bad game. It's just
bronze instead of gold. And the single player demo was actually fun
and enjoyable. And, after all, this was the first "Tribes" game with
emphasis on the single player experience.
--
--==< S m e g h e a d >==--
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