Toxikk - A proper FPS on Unreal Engine?

[Gragt]

 

[sbb]

I quite liked the Nexuiz remake =// This game seems nice. I read the article and I don't see a whole lot that sets it apart, but probably just being good would be enough

 

[Angthoron]

I hope they don't forget to set up a campaign with good AI bots. Or just have good AI bots on the level of UT99 to play with. Sometimes I don't want to play my arena shooters with people, odd as it may sound.

 

[Dr Tomo]

I quite liked the Nexuiz remake =// This game seems nice. I read the article and I don't see a whole lot that sets it apart, but probably just being good would be enough

Too bad that that most people are going to pass on this title just like Nexuiz. Would not be surprised if this studio goes belly up like most that wants to create a arena based fps as the current trend is follow BF/cod/gow lead.

I hope they don't forget to set up a campaign with good AI bots. Or just have good AI bots on the level of UT99 to play with. Sometimes I don't want to play my arena shooters with people, odd as it may sound.

Perfectly understandable as it eventually reaches a point that only players that stick with the arena based fps games are skilled players so noobs that pick it up on a sale ends up quitting and bad mouthing the game.

 

[Drax]

 

[Dr Tomo]

So it looks like the studio back tracked when community was up in arms over the extra charge that people would have to pay ($5) on top of their Steam pre-order.

August 11, 2014 Posted by Sharkster in Project Blog
LAN-Play and Dedicated Servers
UPDATE (August 18, 2014): This news post is (in part) obsolote. Access to the clan admin tools and the ability to host matches are now available for everyone with every purchase of the game at no additional cost for pre-order customers. See updated news item here.

--------------------------------------
ORIGINAL NEWS ITEM:

Originally, we intended to limit match hosting for players who have purchased Clan Admin Privileges (CAPs) for TOXIKK to our own servers. However, as we saw that this plan was poorly received by the community (e.g. here and here), we started to discuss alternatives to liberalize the system and came up with a new plan which goes as follows:

If you have purchased CAPs, you will be able to set up a private dedicated server on your own machine. This server may literally be online forever. Besides the dedicated server option, you will also be able to host a match through a simple listener server on your machine via the game’s GUI, which will be online for the time you play (i.e. have the game running). A listener server will not only allow you to quickly host online matches, but also to host LAN-play matches. Happy LAN-partying everybody!

All privately hosted servers (no matter if dedicated or simple listener server) will be accessible to all players through separate tabs in the "available matches" list, besides the official Reakktor servers (but you will also be able to hide your server from being listed and/or password-protect it).

To keep things simple and fail-safe for players, CAP admins and Reakktor, this option will entirely replace the original plan to host private matches through our servers.

This is a fresh-born plan which was only tested for technical feasibility so far (i.e. we’ll not be able to answer detail questions at this point). However, this decision was set and will be realized in the game. To cover a few possible questions, we put up this little FAQ:

Q: Will I need to have CAPs (Clan Admin Privileges) to host a match?

A: Yes.

Q: Will I need to have CAPs to play on a privately hosted match (online or LAN)?

A: No.

Q: So, we have to pay to host matches?

A: Not exactly. Clan Admin Privileges come with all the tools you need to start and administrate your own clan (invite and administrate members, clan ranking, clan message system, setting up a clan home-server etc.). Being able to host your own matches is an obvious extension of this package.

Q: Are CAPs a one-time payment or a subscription?

A: Clan Administrator Privileges will be made available for a price lower than what you would pay for an average visit at your favorite fast food restaurant. You only pay ONCE and you'll keep them forever.

Q: Many other games allow every player to host games. Why don't you?

A: Knowing that you need to get a big player base for an MO game to make it attractive for as many people as possible, the price for Toxikk ($15 per pre-order, incl. Early Access) was set as low as possible. The majority of players is not interested in running an own clan or hosting own servers. We believe that it would be unfair to raise the base price of the game to let everybody pay for extra options that only a minority asks for, so we prefer to offer packages at different prize levels that fit your requirements.

Q: Right now, I will need to purchase the GODLIKE package on your pre-order page to get CAPs. It appears to be too expensive!

A: The GODLIKE package is NOT meant to sell CAPs. It comes with a lof of other stuff (like your name in the credits of the game, a boxed DVD edition, 4 game keys etc.). The package is meant as a founders' package for everyone who wants to support the development of TOXIKK at a maximum level. Granting the maximum amount of features in return, is just our way to say "Thank You!". But CAPs may be purchased separately at a later point (for a lower price). So, if you do not want to support the development at this level, but still want CAPs, you should wait until they are sold separately.

Q: Will privately hosted matches be ranked?

A: No. The CAP-Admin has full control over his server (e.g. he can kick players at his own discretion). We could either limit the control a CAP-Admin has over his server or have them ranked. Both wouldn't be feasible for obvious reasons. We decided to not limit the control a CAP-Admin has. He can set whatever mutators, maps, time and goal limits etc. he wants to apply to his matches.

If you want to discuss this announcement, you can do so here: http://forum.toxikk.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=287
*source

August 18, 2014 Posted by Sharkster in Project Blog
Match Hosting for Everyone
Sticking to our "NO BULLSHIT" policy, Clan Admin Privileges (CAP) are no longer planned as a purchasable extra feature.

Instead, the CAP feature package (being able to host dedicated server(s), host online and LAN-games, and access to the game's Clan Admin Tools) will be available to everyone, with EVERY copy of Toxikk purchased!

The whole CAP package comes at no additional cost for pre-order customers (i.e. the price will stay at $15 per every individually purchased Steam key). Also, all other pre-order packages will remain at their established price.

Once the game is made available via Steam, we will raise the price per purchased copy (i.e. per Steam Key) to something around $20, but for every customer who pre-orders before that date through our store, the original price of $15 per key remains.

Clan Admin FAQ
Q: I've purchased a L5 (GODLIKE) founders' package. Will only my primary key come with the Clan Admin Privileges or will it extend to the other 3 keys as well?

A: As opposed to how it was handled before, all 4 keys will come with full access to the Clan Admin Tools, the ability to host games (LAN and Online) and the option to run dedicated server(s) now.

Q: I've purchased or plan to purchase a L2 (HEADSHOT) founders' package. Will the key come with Clan Admin Privileges?

A: As said above: EVERY copy of Toxikk purchased will come with access to the Clan Admin tools and the ability to host games. No exceptions (and at no extra costs for pre-order customers).

Q: How many dedicated servers can I run simultaneously?

A: This was not yet decided, but it will be more than one. We'll announce the limit once it's set.

If you want to discuss this announcement, you can do so here: http://forum.toxikk.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=365
*source

 

[Sunsetspawn]

Looks like Halo 1.

You must be mad! It looks nothing like Halo 1. Where in Halo was there ever a Hong Kong level? That's right, nowhere.

Hong Kong level

totally different

 

[Lyric Suite]

Looks promising. Don't like the art style, but i can get past that if the game is good.

 

[Astral Rag]

I've been playing this for the last couple of days and I must say that this is a well-made enjoyable arena FPS.

The visuals are good but I still think the graphics are too busy for a so called back to basics arena shooter, fortunately the worst offenders (blur, chromatic abomination,...) can be disabled and I'm sure there must be an .ini tweak that disables the bloom and or HDR that makes some of the day time maps such a pain to play atm. Other than that it can look quite nice for an UT3 engine game. I especially like the cyberpunk-themed Hong Kong map and I wish there were more maps like this. The game runs ok on my i7 920, 16GB, 960 4GB but I think optimization could be a little better.

It's definitely a skill-based FPS, movement and mouse aim are very precise but the player speed is slow for someone who is used to the classic id games. This is not necessarily a bad thing though and it will probably feel very fast for someone who is used to modern popamoles. I have only played DM games so I can't say anything about the other modes or the vehicles.



Weapons are your standard fare but I don't mind that one bit. They all serve their purpose and they look and sound ok. Weapons have two firing modes.

Spoiler

Raven:

primary: single shot
secondary: burst

Violator:

Primary: Machine Gun
Secondary: Grenade Launcher

Bullcraft:

Primary: Shotgun
Secondary: Super Shotgun

Cerberus:

Primary: Rocket Launcher
Secondary: Vehicle Lock?

Stingray:

Primary: Plasma Rifle
Secondary: Railgun

Falcon:

It's a Sniper Rifle.

Hellraiser:

It's UT's Redeemer. I like how the blast of this weapon knocks players of their feet when they're just outside the insta-kill zone.

The game comes with a few mutators, one of them being Instagib. Unfortunately there are visible timers like in Quake Live but only for the weapon pickups. By default players also have access to a timed Invisibility Power Up, this drains energy and needs to recharge after a few seconds. There is some gore but it's not as pronounced as it is in UT or Q3. Players drop a small health kit when they get fragged. Some maps feature jet packs.

Sound design is rather good but the music isn't as memorable as it could be.

Downsides for me are the lack of deathmatch maps, there are currently only 6 official DM maps and a handful of workshop maps of varying quality, and the very low player count, I was the only person online on quite a few occasions. I really hope the player count picks up later today when the game goes live... The bots are lifted straight from UT so they are very competent on the higher settings. I've read that there will be a an extend demo and that demo players will be able to play online but only on the official maps.

Players who own the full game can host listen and dedicated servers out of the box. There is an XP system in place but it's only used for Rank and to unlock cosmetic stuff like skins so I don't mind. There are no microtransactions or any of that nonsense.

 

[Gerrard]

Spoiler

Hellraiser:

It's UT's Redeemer

This map layout looks exactly like Deck16.

 

[Astral Rag]

That's right and it's one of the officials maps too (inb4 lawsuit...) One of the other official maps is a re-imagining of Dead Simple.

Fans have already made some other conversions of classics maps, so far I've enjoyed these two:

The Longest Yard

FusionKKore (inspired by DM-Fractal and DM-Gael)

 

[ortucis]

I would've preferred a SP FPS game similar to old FPS games instead.

Can't be arsed with Arena bullshit, not young anymore.

AND this is why most of these games now don't make enough money. People who used to play them are now old and have different tastes while the new generation thinks COD and BF are the "arena" shooters. I wonder how much the new Quake Champions bullshit will make. Probably as slow as overwatch.

 

[Ivan]

I feel old enough to agree.

 

[Astral Rag]

I don't know how old you gentlemen are but I'm over 30 and I can still hold my own against most of the whippersnappers I encounter online

Btw, the demo is now available here.

 

[Lyric Suite]

That's because most young people today can't play for shit.

I'm in my 30s too and i can definitely feel the decline. Not necessarily in my reflexes but in my ability to keep track of shit and maintain constant awareness of everything that's going on. It is like my brain that is running slower rather than my body.

 

[Ivan]

let's fag like it's 1999

 

[JarlFrank]

I still like deathmatch games (and find ffa deathmatch a lot more fun than the team deathmatches 90% of players prefer these days), but I'm always disappointed when a game doesn't come with a SP campaign.

I mean come on, can't any of these people at least try to replicate level design of Doom, Quake, Unreal etc?

 

[Lyric Suite]

To be fair both Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 set that precedent so you can't really criticize anyone who wants to make a traditional arena shooter following in the steps of... traditional arena shooters.

I really have to get off my ass and give this game a whirl but i'm not sure i like all those jumping tricks. Seems like something that could potentially make level design largely irrelevant.

 

[Lyric Suite]

So apparently 1.0 just went live, and the game now has a demo:

http://toxikk.com/newspost/upcoming-free-edition/

Time to fag like it's 1999 i guess.

 

[ortucis]

I still like deathmatch games (and find ffa deathmatch a lot more fun than the team deathmatches 90% of players prefer these days), but I'm always disappointed when a game doesn't come with a SP campaign.

I mean come on, can't any of these people at least try to replicate level design of Doom, Quake, Unreal etc?

Not to mention, if your game has bots, you can easily make a SP version of the game (and with Unreal engine it's easy) using same MP maps, which is what most games have done since forever. Not only will you be able to sell your game to MP lovers but also those who want SP campaign with simple shoot-em-up like the "old days".

I have 100 hours iN BF3 and like 6 hrs in RS: Siege, both of them still failed to surpass & replace a game I have been playing online since 2005. SWAT 4.

So apparently 1.0 just went live, and the game now has a demo:

http://toxikk.com/newspost/upcoming-free-edition/

Time to fag like it's 1999 i guess.

Not so fast, gentlemen. The F2P "demo" apparently has some missing features established in 1999.
- No server browser.
- No joining or hosting custom servers.


Yeah, time to frag like it's Battlefield 3.


Also, why the fuck would I download a whole game "demo"? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep install size small if you are gimping most of the downloaded content? I have 130 Kbps download speed. So fuck that.


PS: My whining aside. Going to try it out if the size is small.

PPS: 3.9 GB download. Will take 6 hrs to download according to Steam. Well, started downloading so now to wait..

 

[Sam Ecorners]

too slow.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I still like deathmatch games (and find ffa deathmatch a lot more fun than the team deathmatches 90% of players prefer these days), but I'm always disappointed when a game doesn't come with a SP campaign.

I mean come on, can't any of these people at least try to replicate level design of Doom, Quake, Unreal etc?

Not to mention, if your game has bots, you can easily make a SP version of the game (and with Unreal engine it's easy) using same MP maps, which is what most games have done since forever. Not only will you be able to sell your game to MP lovers but also those who want SP campaign with simple shoot-em-up like the "old days".

I have 100 hours iN BF3 and like 6 hrs in RS: Siege, both of them still failed to surpass & replace a game I have been playing online since 2005. SWAT 4.

So apparently 1.0 just went live, and the game now has a demo:

http://toxikk.com/newspost/upcoming-free-edition/

Time to fag like it's 1999 i guess.

Not so fast, gentlemen. The F2P "demo" apparently has some missing features established in 1999.
- No server browser.
- No joining or hosting custom servers.


Yeah, time to frag like it's Battlefield 3.


Also, why the fuck would I download a whole game "demo"? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep install size small if you are gimping most of the downloaded content? I have 130 Kbps download speed. So fuck that.


PS: My whining aside. Going to try it out if the size is small.

PPS: 3.9 GB download. Will take 6 hrs to download according to Steam. Well, started downloading so now to wait..

Well, this is how it's usually done. I'm assuming though you need most of the assets to even run the game, even if you have a limited selection of maps and disabled features in the demo.

And i just wish they called this a demo. They are giving the impression this game is free to play which it isn't.

 

[ortucis]

Not really.

In UDK (which I assume it is using, Unreal 3) and even in Unreal 4, you can put map related assets in different "packs", allowing you to bundle those only. If they are bundling whole game assets, then they are probably using shareware like method of shipping whole game. But I doubt it that it's a shareware. So they probably are using assets from few big pack files, which means even if a map uses one model from a pack, they are forced to bundle whole pack with the package.

As for F2P bit. From their news page, I got the impression that they are doing this to gain press. So calling it F2P will bring in people who only play MP games when they go F2P (like me, I don't pay for MMO's at all). The problem is, a lot of people will be pissed off by the fact that it is a demo, not a F2P and will downrate the game.

Anyway, I ended up pausing the download before but it should be done for me in an hour. I will try it out.

 

[ortucis]

OK, just played it for an hour.. against bots (to familiarize myself with map layout + combat).

I was going to play for few minutes but I ended up playing for an hour against average bots, kicking their ass (average derp). I am guessing that online I will be destroyed by young people with faster reflexes. But I will try out other maps and few more hours with experienced bots before going online with this.

The game allows you to customize your character, none of which is available to demo in the.. demo. It doesn't even allow you to change name on your stupid armor (which says Freebie) Nice.

But really, does the full game only has these default customization unlocks? They are like 4 models with slightly different textures. There are good amount of maps to play with free version only and I am pretty sure they are more than what you get from BF3 on purchase. Level design is nice, but it looks too similar to Unreal Tournament 3. Looks, gameplay, weapons.. it's all default UDK package. Feels like a re-skinned Unreal Tournament 3 with nothing new going for it (not sure if it's a bad thing unless you want more of that? I never played UT3, I played UT 2004 and ones before that).

Anyway, after playing against bots. They could've easily made SP campaign out of it. Hell, Unreal 2 was nothing but SP game with bots jumping and dodging like crazy. But it still had fun story to go with it. So I'd buy a SP version of this with proper story and all. But I can load up UT2004 if I want same combat in a better game (and better looking too, personally).


EDIT: Oh and the game runs in 32-bit. 64 bit built doesn't exist. Unless they intentionally released the demo for 32-bit only..

 

[:Flash:]

Well, this is how it's usually done. I'm assuming though you need most of the assets to even run the game, even if you have a limited selection of maps and disabled features in the demo.

And i just wish they called this a demo. They are giving the impression this game is free to play which it isn't.

They wanted to call it demo but Steam requires demos to not be able to be played against full version owners in Multiplayer.