Quake Wars

[Trippy]

Here's a random question:  If I have a flat screen monitor (which are typically locked at 60Hertz) having 150FPS is going to do me jack squat is it?  I mean, the most I could possibly see is 60FPS right?

The simple answer is you are correct, the most frames per second you will be able to see is 60 FPS on a standard LCD (things are changing now).

However, typically when you see FPS benchmarks that only report one number that number is the "average" FPS over the entire run. That means that there are stretches where the FPS is lower and higher. Check out some of the benchmarks on HardOCP for examples. They are one of the few places that show low, high, and average and graphs of how the FPS changes during the benchmark. So for maximum smoothness in gameplay what you want is not a setup that averages, say, 60 FPS but something quite a bit higher so that the lowest FPS is around 60 FPS.

[Trippy]

Here's a random question:  If I have a flat screen monitor (which are typically locked at 60Hertz) having 150FPS is going to do me jack squat is it?  I mean, the most I could possibly see is 60FPS right?

On any given screen, the maximum FPS that will do anything for you is equal to the refresh rate of your monitor. I think that's 60 for LCDs. CRTs can go up at least to 75, if you set them to that.

Good CRTs can go quite a bit higher than 75 Hz, though you may be limited in the resolutions you can run at the higher refresh rates. E.g. I'm running right now at 1024 x 768 at 120 Hz on my Sony monitor.

[Megrim]

Well, q3 the physics were calculated on your machine  based on what your maxfps was set to. So maybe this one is the same and they wanted most people to be playing on the same "baseline" level?

As an addendum to this, games based off either the Quake or HL/HL2 engines tend to get the best rego if your game fps is synched with your monitor refresh rate. If you run your monitor at 100hz, try fiddling with the game variables until you get a steady 100 fps.

Also, there is no way in hell my computer can run this game.

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[Miasma]

I didn't think I'd be able to run it either but somehow it works.  I only have a 6800 and I think an AMD 3200 or something but I don't have any problems running the game itself.  I say "itself" because the menu system before you get into the game looks like it is having a seizure, random artifacting making letters all over the place garbled.  I've found the two gigs of RAM I have let me play games much more smoothly than people who have better computers but only one gig.  The game actually kicked me the first time I tried to run it saying I was missing something vital, I updated my drivers it was ok.

If I stick with it I'll buy a new computer to run it properly though, it's about time anyways.

[MrHat]

I'm finding the game locks up when I try to join servers now :(

[sinij]

Why the fuck they had to fag it up with adds? Can you at least localhost add servers?

Reduce costs my ass, box will still cost as much as one next to it, if not more.

[Sky]

The word is ad.

[ahoythematey]

That is the most awesome grammar snake image I've ever seen.  Sky wins++.

[Sky]

I like it, but it lacks fangs.

[Miasma]

They opened up some servers to allow 32 people on them, up from 24.  As soon as you hit thirty the lag becomes crippling for everyone, not good.  There is no way the game will be able to do a 64 person map like in battlefield.

I was hoping for "Battlefield 2 but better" and I don't think I'm going to get it.  There isn't much team work, in BF2 you could join a squad and you would all stick together and complete your objective but in QW there really isn't a point to making a squad since there is only one critical mission at a time and everyone automatically heads for it.  The game plays much more like an Arena FPS than I'd like too, I try to play constructor/engineer and just build turrets and plant mines to avoid most of the bunny-hopping-circle-strafing duels.

It's still pretty fun though.

[KyanMehwulfe]

Is it indeed the players causing it? I experienced some bad lag last time but I thought it was just that the MyInternetServices servers are garbage (which is sentiment I've heard echoed a handful of times before the cap increase.)

[Miasma]

Well the game runs fine right up until around thirty people are on, there's a direct correlation there.  I tend to lump the people who blame myInternetServices in with the same people who blame SOE for Vanguard's failure, hopeless fanbois who believe their favourite developer can do no wrong so it must be someone else's fault.

[Wolf]

Fire Teams (Squads) are actually pretty useful if you use them right. But that can't happen with random people on a public server. For example a technician could see the whole squads' health and location at any time, it makes the game a lot more easier for a healing class. I have yet to try the bigger servers, but there's no reason not to believe you about lag. For one on my system the FPS drop would probably ruin it for me. But you have to keep in mind that the beta map is pretty small, more than 24 people on it is madness. It's crowded as it is. 4 more strogg defending would mean the GDF will never build the shield disruptor thingie (especially when they fix the shitty Vampire Strike abuse).

Thank god it's not battlefield 2. I've been saying that for a week now. I don't know who came up with the "Battlefield 2 Killer" tagline, but I sure am happy that's not what the game is. I've been a "bunny-hopping-circle-strafing" tard for as long as I've been playing games (FPS's in particular). And it's not like we get many games (fuck Unreal, it sucks and it always will). I've been having so much fun with this beta I've hardly done anything else for my entertainment time lately. I'm up to Lance Corporal and I haven't been bored yet. Angry at stupid random people on public servers - yeah, bored - not :)

[Sky]

I'm anti-bunnytarding, but not because I think it's particularly bad. It's bad in what should be a slightly more tactical style game like Battlefield used to be. I really welcome something more action oriented like QW sounds, or the UT series. I think everyone should have a game that suits their style and hopefully cut down on cross-pollination annoyance (I won't camp in your game if you don't bunnytard in mine, eh?).

[Strazos]

I'm a bad bunnyhopper, so I don't jump enough in games like UT, but I tend to jump too much in stuff like CS. 

Also, I wish I had the system to give this game a shot.

[Sky]

I'd try it, but it's fileplanet being fileplanet.

[Miasma]

All of the servers are pretty much ghost towns now.  They patched in punkbuster a while ago and it seems to have screwed quite a few things up, plus everyone is bored of the same small map, and I'm sure a bunch of people just don't like the game.  Most of the servers say 8/24 people are on them but those are just the bots they added.  It took me a while to figure out what the hell was going on, then I spawn sniper just to give it a try and I realize they are all pathing in the same directions, the bot names are typical leet speak nonsense so I assumed they were real at first.

I even asked a server consisting solely of myself and seven bots "Why do all the servers only have eight people on them?", now I know why they ignored me...

Edit: There are already a wide array of hacks available.

[Wolf]

Man i've been off for a couple of days trying something out. I was looking forward to coming back and trying out the new patch.

[Sky]

everyone is bored of the same small map

Tons of people played the shit out of the Wake Island demo for BF1942. One of the best demo/maps ever released anywhere ever imo. Kinda sucked the newer BF2 version removed a lot of the naval element, it was so visceral. Whether you were trying to hump it as infantry across the island under naval barrage or trying to lay in torpedoes with the slow plane while staying under flak and within the circle of protection of your fighter escort.

Of course, I remember the clanplay mostly, on public servers planes were pretty much a non-issues since either an enemy sniper was setup by the airfield or some jacktard on your team would grenade the plane rather than have you fly it. Seriously, I hunted the shit out of snipers. I remember one pub game where half the team was camping the airstrip and the other half was sniping the enemy airstrip. Me and one or two other guys were actually playing the game, capping flags. Retarded.

[Sky]

Edit: There are already a wide array of hacks available.

Heh. That the other reason most online games suck. I especially like how ineffective and shitty the guy was, even with the aimbot, when he was camping on the hill. Aimbotted an entire round and was 4th from the bottom in rankings. Retard.

[Strazos]

He probably spent time messing with settings. Also, looked like most action was indoors.

Any, it's amazing how many shots people make with an aimbot. Shots that are not even that hard normally.

[Miasma]

Beta two is now out with a new map and the improvements SplashDamage has made so far, people are playing again to see the new, much larger zone.

Edit: The release date is now official, October 2nd for NA and September 28th for Europe.

They have made a great many changes and the game plays much better now, I'm going to buy it even though I'm not a huge FPS guy, it's a lot of fun.  I forget when you are asked for the beta key, but since you can now create a local server it might be possible to download the beta2 client and play it against bots or others on the network if you don't have one.

[Miasma]

The demo is now freely available.

[Samwise]

Downloading it now.  The official torrent iswas very speedy.

[Falwell]

I like it quite a bit. Ran without problems under Vista, looks spectacular cranked up to max settings.

Cons The HUD is a nightmare of information, all at once. Once you understand what all the shit on the screen means, it's actually nice. The learning curve for this one is much higher than your Battlefield / CS scene.

The big one for me is no persistent ranks. Battlefield 2 and 2142 spoiled me in this department, and after having it in such a mainstream game, you definitely notice when it isn't there. They do track ranks / unlockables for the entire time you're in the same game session, but you start back at noobertson as soon as you change servers or quit for the day.

MUCH faster firefight pace than most. Not quite at the UT super twitch level, but in the ballpark. Definitely quicker than the Battlefield / CS series.

Overall pretty damn solid. The lack of persistent ranks and unlockables will take some of the staying power out of it for many, but if you can get over that you've got yourself a pretty damn fine capture shooter.

Granted this is all from demo play, but unless the retail maps tank hard, it'll be a good buy.

EDIT: Also one more touch I really liked. How many times have you been in a game of battlefield and your guy dies out JUST as the medic is hitting you with the shock pads? Well, they help this quite a bit. When you die, you hit space bar to enter the respawn pool, but you can hit the c key at any time to cancel it and give that medic the time to get ya on your feet. Good design there.

[Miasma]

The ranks are persistant (private, sergeant, etc) but the unlocks only come during the server's campaign.  I like the unlock approach, everyone starts on a level playing field, it also means there are fewer point whores.  Medals and stats are also persistant.

The way you gain rank is quite different from other FPS games I have played.  If you really care about rank you have to play all the classes because your rank isn't based just on experience points but how you earned it.  This means you can't just grab the heavy vehicle and crank out the xp to "level".

[Mrbloodworth]

Well, q3 the physics were calculated on your machine  based on what your maxfps was set to. So maybe this one is the same and they wanted most people to be playing on the same "baseline" level?

If theat were true, why then can you change it, and why are the devlopers saying you should? Stuff like this confuses me.

"Lets lock the frame rate, and then tell users how to unlock it."

bunny-hopping-circle-strafing duels.

Really? 

[LK]

Mmm mm mmmmm.  I like Warhawk's Bonus Points system (performance during a match allows for badges to be earned that increase accrued experience) but I do love me some Quake Wars, so I think this'll be my next multiplayer game of choice.  Plus, I have great expectations that it'll work properly.

[Morfiend]

I've been a "bunny-hopping-circle-strafing" tard for as long as I've been playing games.

(fuck Unreal, it sucks and it always will).

Does not compute.

[Samwise]

Hrnm.  Only played a couple rounds so far, but so far it seems like the game largely consists of everyone on both sides going sniper and then spawncamping each other to great effect.

[Miasma]

It depends on the objective, people often change their class based on what needs to be done.  The very first objective in the Valley map needs snipers to attack the GDF engineers trying to build the bridge.  Strogg snipers also have a flying bomb they can pilot to the objective to kill the engineers.  In response the GDF needs snipers to kill the Strogg snipers.  Since the combat is so close at the first objective snipers are useful because if they get into the fight they can steal the uniforms from dead soldiers allowing them to infiltrate the enemy at which point they can only knife people (if they use a gun their disguise is blown).  Snipers are also needed by the GDF to hack the shield generator at a later stage so you will see more of them there.

It is harder to snipe because of the more realistic sway in the sight, plus enemy snipers project a red laser line to what they are aiming at (friendly lines are green), if they are aiming at you I think you can also here it as a high pitched buzzing (I don't quite remember if that is true).  What I'm trying to say is just because you bring up the menu and see that a third of the people are in as snipers doesn't mean that they are all up on a hill wasting time trying to find targets, they are quite likely either coming up behind you with a knife in their hands or sprinting to hack an objective.  They also deploy radar which is very important.

[Chenghiz]

I am pretty surprised at how hard the game is. Maybe I just suck, but I was dying a lot. To AI. On easy.

[Morfiend]

I havent played with bots yet, but playing online, I seem to do pretty well with the Sniper class, or when using a vehicle. But when it comes to ground combat, I am getting wasted so fast. I run around a corner at the same time as a baddy, and I empty like 6 to 7 rounds in to them, and they turn and kill me in two bullets. Its very frustrating.

Other than that, I love the game.

[Miasma]

I'm pretty bad at head on fighting too, I usually play an engineer and let my turrets and mines speak for me :).  If they are still changeable these help by getting rid of bouncing up and down when moving:

First use ctrl+alt+~ for prompt.

seta pm_bobroll "0"
seta pm_bobpitch "0"
seta pm_bobup "0"
seta pm_runroll "0"
seta pm_runpitch "0"
seta pm_runbob "0"
seta pm_walkbob "0"
seta pm_crouchbob "0"

Also while head shots do more damage in almost any FPS the difference between body and head damage seems to be more extreme in Quake Wars, it is probably worth spraying bullets at the head instead of the body even if many more miss because all you need is one or two hits.  It also takes longer to kill Strogg because while you're shooting them they are pressing Stroylent up and converting ammo to health.

If all else fails you can work out your frustration by spawning oppressor/field ops and obliterating areas with artillery .

[Morfiend]

It also takes longer to kill Strogg because while you're shooting them they are pressing Stroylent up and converting ammo to health.

Wait. What?

I can turn ammo to health? Damn. They really need a tutorial in this game. There are so many little things I am constantly finding out.