Net Night

2008-08-12 - QuakeCon Summary

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00 PST

As previously mentioned, August's first weekend hosted two major PC game conventions, BlizzCon and QuakeCon. While the Net Night community hasn't played much of id Software's Quake, we've played games using a variety of id's game engines: Call of Duty, Hexen II, Jedi Knight II, Team Fortress, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Counter-Strike, Medal of Honor, and (most notably) Half-Life. id Software practically defined the FPS genre with Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and the fully 3D Quake. When id speaks, smart gamers pay attention...

Ostensibly, QuakeCon began as a mega LAN party, but repeated appearances by id Software have given the event an importance unmatched by most other fan-based gaming conventions. This year, id Software (and friends) brought along Rage, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Left 4 Dead, and World in Conflict.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is set for release in early September, and numerous previews have been quite positive. If the name "Enemy Territory" sounds familiar to you, it's probably because we played an earlier version called Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. ET:QW is a team-based game, a la the Battlefield series, except set in a near future where aliens are invading our world. In the game, one team plays the aliens while the other team plays the defending humans. In many ways, the game sounds a lot like the popular Assault mode from Unreal Tournament, and that's a good thing in my eyes. My main concern is that the current Net Night community may not have enough active players for some satisfying team-vs-team action. At QuakeCon, demoed by thousands of skilled players, ET:QW was a hit. Hopefully we'll give it a whirl when the game arrives in a few months.

id Software showed off its newest game engine with Rage (no official website yet). Unlike id's previous umpteen games, Rage is not an FPS. While Doom 3 was designed to show off the latest in lighting technology, emphasizing lots of different light sources, reflections, and shadows, Rage is designed to show off the latest in texturing technology. Texturing may not sound as sexy as lighting, but every visible surface in every 3D game includes a texture. It could be as simple as a single color, or look like a wall of bricks, or rusted aluminum siding, or a piece of wood. Textures make the surfaces identifiable and unique. Outdoor areas have typically been a weakness of textures, because large outdoor areas typically cheat by reusing a few textures multiple times. This saves memory space at the expense of an unrealistic vista of repeating squares. Imagine a large field that's just been layered with squares of sod, and if you stand in the right areas you can see the lines that separate each grass square. The new "megatexture" technology behind Rage allows multiple surfaces to be covered by one massive texture. The general texture size in most current 3D games is either 512x512 pixels or 1024x1024 pixels. A stretch of road would be made of one texture displayed several times in a row. While it may look like a road, the road is generally devoid of unique features like skid marks, odd lane lines, or natural discoloration (ie water damage/residue). The megatexture technology could use a single 128000x128000 pixel texture to overlay the entire game world. Both the game artists, and the game engine, will be able to alter portions of this single über-texture to show damage or other physical effects without that change appearing anywhere else. Remember when we used to tag the walls in Half-Life? Those tags (and bullet holes) would eventually disappear because they were temporary tattoos that were displayed in addition to the basic texture. If the tag were to actually change the underlying textures in Half-Life, then a single tag (or bullet hole) would suddenly appear on hundreds of surfaces within the level. While repeating textures may make sense in some instances (eg ceiling tiles), the game engine has to work much harder to display damage across those surfaces. The game engine behind Rage was also designed to address one of the weaknesses in the Doom 3 game engine: outdoor areas. While Doom 3 was primarily a corridor shooter, Rage will feature a mix of driving, outdoor, and indoor elements. As with every other id Software game, Rage's stated release date is "when it's done."

Neither Left 4 Dead nor World in Conflict are using game engines from id Software, but the respective developers are hoping their titles will appeal to the FPS gamer. Left 4 Dead is almost a throwback to the co-op multiplayer that id Software introduced with Doom (before players discovered it was more fun to shoot one another instead of the monsters). A team of four are tasked with escaping a zombie-infested city, facing overwhelming numbers with limited ammunition. In addition to the mindless hordes, four opposing players can play as special zombies and attempt to kill the escapees. Those who played it at QuakeCon came away impressed. Left 4 Dead was recently delayed until early 2008.

World in Conflict is an upcoming RTS, an odd-sounding presence at a convention dedicated to FPS games. The developers of World in Conflict have opted to skip base building and resource gathering, instead focusing on combat tactics between small groups of units. Players have the choice of specializing in infantry, armor, air, or support (ie artillery). Each option has its strengths and weakness, so teams will need to utilize a mix of specializations in order to succeed. World in Conflict is designed to appeal to the action gamer, a sizable overlap with the FPS crowd. The game sounds interesting, but I'm taking a wait & see stance. World in Conflict is slated to ship this September.

2008-07-09 - Birthday - PSP

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00 PST

Happy birthday to my PSP!

2008-06-30 - The Wonder of E3

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00 PST

E3 2008 is nearly upon us! As most of you will recall, E3 2007 featured a drastic downsizing of the industry trade show. Gone were the elaborate booths, fancy lights, live bands, and extraneous "booth babes". Instead, attendees were greeted with a renewed focus on the games themselves. Those involved with the business of games (retailers, serious journalists, sales departments) were pleased by the transformation.

But there were quite a few who were unhappy with the changes. In addition to the all-are-equal restraints on booth size and decorations, the organization responsible for the show dramatically increased the exhibitor fees. (For the sake of this discussion, let's ignore E3 2007's change of venue and the resultant travel issues.) Gone was much of the "dressing" that made E3 a mecca for gamers. Gone was the "cool" factor that helped sell magazines and drove traffic to various gaming news websites. Gone was the feeling that E3 mattered.

In years past, many companies would reveal new games and hardware at E3. That changed considerably last year as some major game companies held their own private press events in the weeks leading up to E3, and revealed their new products during these significantly more informal events. By the time E3 rolled around, the gaming press already had their exclusive previews of the titles that would have previously been unearthed during E3. As a result, the majority of reports from E3 2007 felt like rehashes of articles from a few weeks back, while new reports typically focused on lesser-known titles and obscure genres. The hype, frenzy, and magic of E3 had been diluted from 3 days of overwhelming information overload to a month-long trickle of news.

Many predicted that the changes, which were announced just days after the close of E3 2006, would be the death of E3. I have been hoping otherwise, but over the past few months I've been watching the nails slowly get tapped into the coffin. A number of game companies have opted to skip E3 2008, instead choosing to show their wares at their own private events and/or strut their stuff at newer conventions like PAX. Here's the growing list of companies that will not be at E3 2008:

Activision/Vivendi/Blizzard

StarCraft II
Diablo III
Call of Duty: World at War (neé Call of Duty 5)
Guitar Hero World Tour

NCsoft

Guild Wars 2

Foundation 9

Silent Hill: Homecoming (nee Silent Hill 5)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

In related news, other companies have decided to quit the ESA, the trade organization that runs E3. These companies have quit the ESA but will still participate in E3 2008 (but future participation is highly doubtful):

LucasArts

id Software (might not participate in E3 2008)

DOOM 4
RAGE

2008-06-04 - Birthday - Karnblack

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00 PST

Happy Birthday to KarnBlack!

2008-05-21 - Birthday - Ace7

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00 PST

Happy birthday to Ace7!

2008-05-13 - Birthday - Quickdraw

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00 PST

Happy birthday to Quickdraw!

2008-05-12 - Software Updates

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00 PST

Some major software updates hit recently, including two Service Packs from Microsoft.

I heartily recommend installing either Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1, depending on which version of Windows you are using. The Service Packs include a number of patches and tweaks that are designed to improve Windows. The easiest way to install them is to let Windows Update do all the heavy lifting, although you can also download the Service Packs manually and install them yourself (XP SP3, Vista SP1 32-bit, Vista SP1 64-bit). A word of warning: I've read reports that some AMD machines are having difficulty installing XP SP3. More info as it arrives...

I suspect some of you have already tripped across the other update I'm about to mention: Grisoft's AVG Free antivirus software. Grisoft's support for AVG 7.5 is ending soon and they highly recommend upgrading to AVG 8.0. The software can be a bit difficult to find on their normal website, so here's a link to their "free" section and a direct link to the AVG Free 8.0 download page.

2008-05-11 - Happy Mother's Day

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00 PST

Happy Mother's Day to you mothers out there!

(and I'm not addressing any mo-fo's)

2008-05-10 - Game Update - May

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00 PST

Sorry for the delay - I've been letting work get in the way of fun!

Available Now:
Assassin's Creed
Jack Keane
Lumines
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Turok

Current Last Title
05/21/08 (03/31/06) - Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
05/28/08 (05/27/08) - Mass Effect
06/02/08 (06/02/08) - Devil May Cry 4
06/17/08 ( ) - Spore Creature Creator
06/24/08 (06/03/08) - Alone in the Dark
06/24/08 (06/24/08) - FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage
06/30/08 ( ) - Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 - On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
08/05/08 (08/05/08) - Space Siege
09/07/08 (09/07/08) - Spore
09/30/08 ( ) - The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
10/07/08 (10/07/08) - Fallout 3
10/07/08 (09/02/08) - Far Cry 2
10/14/08 (10/14/08) - Left 4 Dead
11/11/08 (11/11/08) - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
12/03/08 (12/03/08) - StarCraft II
12/31/08 (12/31/08) - Dead or Alive Online
12/31/08 (12/31/08) - Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Of the five new titles released for PC this past month, four of them were previously available on a videogame console of some type. While both Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 are considered "AAA" titles, I think the true standout is Lumines. Many of us are already familiar with the game, having played it at E3 on PSP a couple years ago. Apparently Lumines has been available for PC for a while through WildGames, either as a pay-per-play game (reminiscent of the video arcades of yore) or for free with in-game advertising. While I think the pay-per-play model sucks and I'm typically tolerant of in-game advertising, the additional software that's required to play the WildGames version of Lumines is generally considered to be spyware. Thankfully, Lumines is now available via Steam, completely spyware-free. I purchased it as soon as I saw it was available. And, yes, I also bought the Lumines Advance Pack.

Mass Effect and Spore were both the focus of significant controversy this past week when EA, the publisher of both games, announced that they would be using a new version of SecuROM copy protection that would regularly "phone home" and disable the game if it could not connect to EA's activation servers. Anyone without an Internet connection would be unable to install the game, and the game would stop working if it didn't connect to the Internet every 10 days. Enough people yelled "That's bullshit!" that EA quickly relented and dropped the 10-day reactivation portion of the copy protection.

And speaking of Spore, the developers recently announced that the creature creator component of the game will be released a few months before the full game. Interested gamers will be able to play with the tool and use their creations when the full game is released. The Spore Creature Creator will be available in two different versions: a free download that contains about 25% of the design elements, and a $10 version that includes the entire creature creator package. No word if that $10 can be later applied as a discount to the full game.

The Penny Arcade game has gone gold and is slated for release by the end of June. It appears that the primary outlet for the game will be a new online store created by the game developers and the Penny Arcade folks. Interesting in a "why reinvent the wheel?" kind of way.

What? A new Lord of the Rings game? It's true! Gameplay is still a mystery, although a brief description makes it sound like a combination of RTS and action-RPG. If pressed to present my interpretation, I'd describe this mixture as kind of like Titan Quest except you can also control armies.

Little else has changed since last month, which is situation normal as E3 approaches.

2008-04-30 - Birthday - SithLord

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00 PST

Happy Birthday to SithLord!