S.T.A.L.K.E.R is shaping up to be the FPS equivalent of Morrowind in terms of the implementation of non-linearity. I wonder how they'll be able to put off the whole "reputation" aspect of gameplay (Morrowind was passable in that respect.) Too bad we have to wait until the end of the year for it.

Concerning the low-poly characters models in Devastation, I read in one preview that the reason behind this was so that they could show more of them at once. In my experience with Unreal 2 a large drop in FPS is always indicative of the prescence of visible character models, so that decision can only be a good thing.

Hump:
"anybody else getting fed up of all the first person shooters?
NEVER!

I am tired of ones with a stilted storyline and a-b-c linear play. After playing Halo my expectations for what a FPS can be have been raised pretty high."

Hi 'Hump, been a while. Never is right. It has to be a good game to get my attention if it's not FP pov. It would be nice to have some room to roam though, I suspect the amount of work that has to go into a level these days and the limited AI combines to contstrict the game and make for the linear nature of most fps coming out now. Increasing processing power and memory should help with the AI end (along with new ideas on the programming side), but the tools used to make levels need to improve before it takes a squad of level designers to make one detailed level. Of course, the more complex they get, whether in AI, gameplay or graphics, the more dev time we are talking about too.

*edit* Clarification.

This comment was edited on Feb 23, 20:58.

I just can't bring myself to play a FPS with that damn controller...

I actually played through Halo with a friend of mine (was his X-Box and he bought the game, so I didn't have to spend a dime). The game itself would have been pretty decent, but the only advantages it had over Unreal2 are the vehicles and co-op play. Console controllers are just horribly unsuited to FPS games. Maybe if you've never played a PC FPS using keyboard and mouse you could tolerate it, but once you've experienced the kind of precision you get on a PC, console controllers just feel unbelievably hamfisted by comparison. Their precision sucks.

Thanks for the reminder. S.T.A.L.K.E.R looks really nice as well.

Yeah, well.. Unreal II got good reviews too.

You guys should keep an eye on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Possibly the most non linear FPS ever made.

I still haven't played Halo... I just can't bring myself to play a FPS with that damn controller... It's like driving a Porsche for several years and then trading it in for a Ford Pinto.
I know what you are saying about the linear gameplay though... I am getting burned out on that as well.

anybody else getting fed up of all the first person shooters?

NEVER!

I am tired of ones with a stilted storyline and a-b-c linear play. After playing Halo my expectations for what a FPS can be have been raised pretty high.

yea the particle system is top notch. look for screenies with fire and water affects and you will see what i mean

Yeah the physics does add to the immersion... Have you seen the blood splatter screenies?

Scroll down some...
http://www.elited.net/interviews/2003/devastation.shtml

I am also happy to hear that the devs are keeping the player models low-poly for performance reasons. Nothing bothers me more than a shitty frame rate...

fyi its a rat.

an the physics is what will keep my interested. i love it in ut2k3 only in this game it will be better cause its applied to everything.

Yeah, I just checked out the 3 videos they have on http://www.devastationgame.com/downloads.htm and they look pretty good. Characters aren't the best, but don't look bad either. That mouse is cool.

ya they have a few small videos on their sight and from what i saw there the movement was top notch. i heard one of the devlopers mention that the models are intentionaly a bit low poly to aviod performace issues with slower machines; personaly, depsite the fact that i have a fast rig, i realy respect that choice. ahh, and the demo should be here within the month...

oh i dunno i thought the models looked alright in the movies...they didnt look blocky to me at all...maybe a little bland but they arent trying to revolutionize models here.

dont forget scarab, great name btw dont forget that this is an easily modded game according to the manufacturers so vehicles wouldnt be tough considering its on the ut2k3 engine

Cool band.

doh, yeah, 2003 of course... damn, every new year the same... guess I'm getting old...

it was on the (in)famous german show GIGA...

and my comment was on both; the models were shockingly blocky and moved like a sheep on drugs (== everything else but smooth) plus their "mouth animation" when they spoke was just awful (like chewing bubblegum) and the AI of the enemys was pretty bad too... AI of the teammates seemed ok...
on the plus-side were the environments, as they were pretty detailed (like on the screenshots) and the weapon models...

You mean 2003.

What station/program did you see that on?

As for your comment about the characters.. Are you talking about the actual models or thier AI? You weren't too specific in your previous post.

it was exactly yesterday (friday 02/21/2002)
...and they had the press preview (the game, no video) and even a "advance packaging" from the german publisher...

but of course I make always final judgements on final versions played by myself...

When did you see Devastation on tv? Chances are you saw an old build probably from E3. There hasn't been a new gameplay video in several months. I'd wait until the demo before making specific complaints about the game.