The stun by machine gun problem is not that bad. It only works if the opponent is very close and immobile. If he's far, all your bullets won't hit, so he can escape, and if he's moving, same thing, you won't hit 100%.
I've played like 10h yesterday and it happened around 4 or 5 times. The stun grenade is better as it immobilize an area and then you can pin people down.
If someone sneak up on you and kill you like this you can't really blame the stun. If it were another game, he'd have headshot you. Here you have a slight chance.
Another problem I experienced on the other hand, is that when you respawn, your shield lasts really too long. You have the time to locate someone and kill him. He can only run away...
The machine gun and gattling guns are the only two that fire rapidly enough to interrupt some other actions (like grenade throwing). You are always able to roll for example (L3 + A). I've always looked at that as part of the balance of the weapons.
Anyway, keep the feedback coming. We'll pass all of this on to the team on Monday.
Christian Svensson Corporate Officer/Senior Vice-President Now Playing: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U & 3DS), Neverwinter(PC), Sim City (PC), League of Legends (PC)
Any typos you see are probably my iPad's fault (probably).
I'm addicted... I've no doubt the grappling is going to be copied in some form by other games in the future. It just adds so much to the experience. The other map is supposedly all about grappling and more vertical gameplay... can't wait to see it. Two of the matches I played today were 1 vs 1 due to the drop out problem after you start a match, and despite this, it was a blast. It wasn't hard to find one another and there was plenty of action. Most mp games like this aren't any fun 1 vs 1
A bug: when you are standing idle on the stairs inside the buildings, you slowly slide down them...like ice skating, there is no animation.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Multiplayer Demo Feedback: By: OrleanKnight
First Impressions:
[LIST] [*]For a game that is set to release in January 2007, the demo itself is looking surprisingly solid. It is way ahead of most games on launch, which is impressive to me. But I would like to see more work done to the game, it's clear that it is far from complete. Yet since it shaping up nicely, all that needs to be looked up are mainly balance, animation, and certain collision mechanisms. [/LIST]
Online Lobby
[LIST] [*]I'm sure this has been announced quite regularly, but there is certainly a number of problems with connections in the game lobby. Of course it is known that once a game is over a new game must be made, effectively kicking everyone out -- but I won't linger on that. What concerns me is that when I attempt to join games I am only able to stay within them for 10 seconds before I am auto-booted back out to the Main Menu.
That alone is a great pain, because I have to wait nearly 40 seconds to a full minute to wait for all the games to relist again, only to join another game and get instantly booted. The only way I have been able to play is to host games, only then was I able to support and play games. Since the lobby is shy of a lot of people when I play, games are often around 6 to 10 people.
[*]Another concern is the lack of Ping Indication and Number of Players per game, but I'm sure this too will be addressed in the future.
[/LIST] Starting a Game
[LIST] [*]Normally games have started out fine, few people dropped during load and it seemed only those that did -- did it by choice. Yet there was one instance I hosted a game with 10 people and it made it a 6 versus 4 game. I noticed the X & B button icons for Red & Blue, can you really pick your team to create an imbalance, or was this just a rare bug? [/LIST]
Game Play Map: Pirate Fortress Game Type: Team Elimination
[LIST] [*]One of the best features of Lost Planet is the differences which occur on the same map. Though the map is the same in basic design, many small pieces of destructible terrain, Data Points, and Spawn Zones tend to change randomly. Making even the same map more unique and interesting, giving it long lasting appealing. -- I see no downside to this feature.
[*]Melee Combat: Probably one of my biggest concerns with the game is Melee Combat. The character puts a lot of weight into the strike, so if you miss you are horribly vulnerable. It will even take a few seconds to recoil before you can even start to dodge & roll once more. (On of my favorite Monster Hunter features by the way) If you're going to get close enough to strike, perhaps slightly increase the character's ability to automatically aim towards the enemy when performing a melee strike.
I do not mean a full auto-hit at short range, just something subtle as to improve the ease and reliability of such an attack. Maybe even a knock-down or "push" to make the enemy fall back on their rumps.
[*]Destructible Terrain: Very good feature and smooth implementation. It is not exactly easy to tell what is destructible and what isn't, and that helps to increase the beauty of the gameplay.
[*]Radar: This is another feature that concerns me. Both friendlies and enemies appear as red blips on radar, this makes it hard to tell if an ally is just around the corner or an enemy wielding a super-shot gun. It would certainly make it easier to give each team a unique color for radar. -- Furthermore, change the color of each Date Point to the team's color which has claimed it.
[*]VS: I certainly love the vehicles in this game. The ability to not only find but to also steal weapons from mechs and enemies makes it all the more interesting. In large matches players can actually use team work and effort to customize a machine. The weapons too are very powerful, and I feel that many of them are not that threatening because you can dodge and roll away from them.
The only one of concern is the Gatling Gun, for it has the ability to not just cancel and action but openly stun you! Considering how much it can pump out before a reload, this makes this weapon the deadliest of them all. I would suggest reducing the stun-time since it pretty much has the power to kill you almost instantly if you stand still too long.
[*]Grappling Hook: Another interesting feature. I believe this item needs to react better when around the edge of cliffs. A few times I openly jumped off the side of a cliff because I believed my hook would save me, and often it does, but sometimes it doesn't. Perhaps I jump too far?
The Raise and Lower feature is certainly interesting, and I like this open for attempting some stealthiness. The only problem is that you still appear on radar, and that sort of defeats the purpose of hiding no doesn't it? ^^
One of my primary issues with the hook is that when I have a clear shot at a structure, I can often get snagged by just barely even touching something in my way. Say a barbed wire fence which would clearly not have effected the movement, does and knocks me aside.
Another one is hooking onto a building with a second floor. I can hook to the top floor's roof, and hope to grapple straight to it. But I just barely get stopped by the first floor and it cancels the grapple. Couldn't you add a jump animation? -- Instead of getting snagged, you simply jump off what was snagging you and you continue until you reach the end of your grapple. This would give the player far more control over when to stop the line.
[*]What is the Objective?: This is the common concern that actually How to Win and How Close We Are to Winning seems to be the primary confusion among people playing the demo. There isn't exactly a break down on what is going on, and the meters themselves which tells you the status of your team isn't all too clear. Perhaps apply a warning label and a glowing indication that tells you your team is in a critical level and about to lose?
When the game begins and says GO! -- Add a small note and/or voice which tells you what to do. It should stay on screen for about 10 seconds and not be distracting, and then vanish. Only to emerge again when you open the Options Screen.
[*]Saving Settings?: I find a small annoyance to have to change my settings each time I turn the demo on for the first time. But I get used to it, and know that I only have to do it once, only needing to reset if I leave the game completely and reset my XBox 360.
[*]Friend From Foe?: I personally don't mind the present settings of the game, allowing players to see who their friends are via names while enemies have no names unless shot at -- isn't bad to me. It's quite good, but many people seem to get confused and often go blowing away all their friends and allies.
[*]Stop That Idiot!: One of the biggest issues with the demo is the complete lack of penalty for team killing. I've see one too many games where someone hops into a mech and then turns the guns on their own allies. Perhaps drain a player's T-Energy even faster if they kill a friendly? Double, maybe even triple the loss rate -- only increasing for each friendly player killed. Then when they reach a team-kill limit they are booted from the game. -- I would like that very much.
[*]Mech Zoom?: Is there a way to zoom in on a mech? If there is it's not easy to find, and I would really love to have one when I'm trying to take out someone a far distance. I at least want to see if I'm actually doing fairly well with a big cannon, I don't want to waste all 16 rounds of ammo hitting snow.
[*]Regain Health?: I always get annoyed when I am not able to regain any health back. I regain T-Energy for capping a Data Point, why not health too? It would give me more reason to keep capping them. Perhaps for anyone who is low on health, allow them to get a minor health reward for visiting a Data Point? Not a complete regen of health, but something to make them a little more happier with their present state and condition.
[*]Grenade Switch: I'd really like to carry more than one type of Grenade, for their are occasion where I say, "****, I really need a disk grenade.." and "****, I really need a shock-nade.." -- I can carry more than one type of gun, why not carry more than one type of nade? [/list]
Final Note
[LIST] [*]So far the game is coming along fine, and this Beta/Demo is looking real good. I look forward to see larger maps and bigger mecha mayhem too. I would very much like to even a map where everyone can not only get a mech, but have a choice of what weapons go ON that mech too! You have the power, why not make this a mech game as much as it is a shoot-um-up?
[*]Give me one or two 100% mecha maps and I'll be plumb-dumb-happy. [/LIST]
how about a way to select which team you want to be on in the lobby? me and a few friends who play together are able to get into the same game, but it's random as to which team we're on.
not a big deal, but it'd be nice to choose to all the on the same team
If possible, I'd like to be able to switch weapons while moving (as we can reload while running or in mid-air) in the final version.
Oh and display the country flag of the player in the pre-game menu would be nice. (I don't know if it's esthetic enough though). When I wait for players, I spend my time opening each player's profile to see where they are from.
RE : change the color of each Date Point to the team's color which has claimed it. It's already like that. In team matches, a post claimed beams with the color of the team In free for all, yours beam orange and a post claimed by anyone else is purple.
RE : Perhaps apply a warning label and a glowing indication that tells you your team is in a critical level and about to lose? It's indeed graphically unclear, the orange/light blue/dark blue lines are misleading. To check our status, I look at the number on top of the bars. When one reaches 0, the team loses. You have a message saying "blue team energy is running low", but it's really displayed too late, like one kill = lose. It'd be better to be warned sooner.
RE : Perhaps drain a player's T-Energy even faster if they kill a friendly? Double, maybe even triple the loss rate -- only increasing for each friendly player killed. Then again, in MP, the T-Energy is only useful if you use the plasma gun or laser weapons using energy. If the team killer is on machine gun/shotgun, his T-Energy level is of no concern... As a penalty, lowering his life would be better. I guess in the final product we'll be able to turn friendly fire off. So it'll be ok.
On another note, I just noticed something. I was sniping with the plasma gun, someone was hidden behind the square wooden parts in the big center area of the fortress, I could see his shape in form of transparency (like the stealth thing from predator), so I knew from where he'd pop up. Is it intentional?
Someone sticked a disc grenade on me, I rolled, it weren't there anymore after my roll... Did it happen to someone else?
RE : Perhaps drain a player's T-Energy even faster if they kill a friendly? Double, maybe even triple the loss rate -- only increasing for each friendly player killed. Then again, in MP, the T-Energy is only useful if you use the plasma gun or laser weapons using energy. If the team killer is on machine gun/shotgun, his T-Energy level is of no concern... As a penalty, lowering his life would be better. I guess in the final product we'll be able to turn friendly fire off. So it'll be ok.
-- I was speaking about someone using a VS mech or super VS mech gun. Both require large amounts of T-Energy.
Finally played some big matches today, 14 + players and it was just insane. A good time to play for folks in the U.S. is during the morning if you can as it seems more populated, lots of Japanese players online. The amount of explosions, effects, motion blur, smoke, rockets, grenades, chaos, etc, going on with 14 players (several in mechs) was just crazy. 32 players would've been too much. Btw, people wonder why Devil May Cry 4 is 60 fps and Lost Planet 30, well there's your answer. There's just so much more going on, it's a completely different game.
I love climbing the huge fortress wall in the beginning where the plasma rifle sits at the top. Are there levels filled with grappling things like this? Where the level is you just grappling from platform to platform like a **** monkey and then if you get shot or make a mistake, fall down hundreds of feet? I got knocked off the top a few times, it's great. Once the grapple automatically attached and I was hanging from the side :eek: The graphics are much improved. I played the SP demo again today and the snow in the MP demo is all bump-mapped and awesome looking
