Alpha Protocol sucks massive Multi-Headed Dick

[racofer]

Oblivion, on the other hand, is linear as hell

only the quests are. the areas ain't.

 

[Jaesun]

And the horrible fucking shitty writing, terribly done quests, join all the guilds... FUCK!

WAT HAS HAS HAPPENED TO MY CODEX!!

 

[roll-a-die]

Oblivion, on the other hand, is linear as hell

only the quests are. the areas ain't.

Eh? Walk through oblivion tower hallways up three sets of staircases until you hit the sigilum sanctum at which point you run like hell to the top up another 2 sets of ramps and grab the sigil stone. That is the experience of traveling through a gate tower ANY gate tower. Their dungeon design is INCREDIBLY LINEAR, racofer, what isn't, is the ways you can travel to get there. Which is just a derivative feature of being an open world game.

 

[racofer]

Oblivion, on the other hand, is linear as hell

only the quests are. the areas ain't.

Eh? Walk through oblivion tower hallways up three sets of staircases until you hit the sigilum sanctum at which point you run like hell to the top up another 2 sets of ramps and grab the sigil stone. That is the experience of traveling through a gate tower ANY gate tower. Their dungeon design is INCREDIBLY LINEAR, racofer, what isn't, is the ways you can travel to get there. Which is just a derivative feature of being an open world game.

See that lava on the horizon? In AP-like games they're scenery, in Oblivion you can dive into it.

 

[Mangoose]

I'm tempted to play but I'm also on my first shroom trip so I dunno. Maybe tomorrow

 

[roll-a-die]

Oblivion, on the other hand, is linear as hell

only the quests are. the areas ain't.

Eh? Walk through oblivion tower hallways up three sets of staircases until you hit the sigilum sanctum at which point you run like hell to the top up another 2 sets of ramps and grab the sigil stone. That is the experience of traveling through a gate tower ANY gate tower. Their dungeon design is INCREDIBLY LINEAR, racofer, what isn't, is the ways you can travel to get there. Which is just a derivative feature of being an open world game.

See that lava on the horizon? In AP-like games they're scenery, in Oblivion you can dive into it.

I think I shall make reference to this fail when Armageddon comes, it'll go something like. "At least I wasn't as retarded as racofer."

Just because you can go there and be killed doesn't mean it's in ANY WAY less linear. They are still restricting you to a straight pathway through a given dungeon.

 

[racofer]

Just because you can go there and be killed doesn't mean it's in ANY WAY less linear. They are still restricting you to a straight pathway through a given dungeon.

But you can opt not to and still keep playing.

 

[roll-a-die]

Just because you can go there and be killed doesn't mean it's in ANY WAY less linear. They are still restricting you to a straight pathway through a given dungeon.

But you can opt not to and still keep playing.

Quite, but it still doesn't make progression paths through dungeons/level design any less linear.

 

[racofer]

Quite, but it still doesn't make progression paths through dungeons/level design any less linear.

And so does any game then.

 

[roll-a-die]

Quite, but it still doesn't make progression paths through dungeons/level design any less linear.

And so does any game then.

Seriously, what is this? Are you high as a kite, man? That could not have come off as anymore random.

How about comparing it to something with good level design, such as deus ex or thief? It will most likely fail, but that's alright, not every game is Deus Ex or Thief. There is a middle ground between crap and quality. In level design for non-linear levels it's something like, in my opinion

Oblivion-------------Daggerfall/metroidvanias------------Deus Ex/Thief

For linear levels it's something like. Once more in my opinion.

Oblivion------------Morrowind/metroidvanias------------God Of War.

 

[racofer]

How about comparing it to something with good level design, such as deus ex or thief? It will most likely fail, but that's alright, not every game is Deus Ex or Thief. There is a middle ground between crap and quality. In level design for non-linear levels it's something like, in my opinion

Oblivion-------------Daggerfall/metroidvanias------------Deus Ex/Thief

For linear levels it's something like. Once more in my opinion.

Oblivion------------Morrowind/metroidvanias------------God Of War.

You're still limited to the routes available (as in the ones created by the developer) to you in Deus Ex or Thief. Just because you can approach it differently doesn't make it any less linear since you're still required to go from a starting point to an ending point.

 

[Black Cat]

I can't believe someone's still defending this piece of crap after that gameplay video was posted. What are you going to say now? It is a good game because the stealth mechanics fail, the action mechanics fail, the puzzles and minigames fail, the so much theorized before open levels are not there, the setting is kind of stupid, it's really ugly, and the dialogue system fails but, hey, based on your choices you may get a diferent story progression and maybe some diferent maps on which every single gameplay mechanic can go and fail in new and original ways?

And, like, LOL at calling enemies getting stuck on scenery and similar bugs problems of little importance in a stealth game, a genre that depends almost completely on a combination of AI quality and patrol route design.

 

[roll-a-die]

How about comparing it to something with good level design, such as deus ex or thief? It will most likely fail, but that's alright, not every game is Deus Ex or Thief. There is a middle ground between crap and quality. In level design for non-linear levels it's something like, in my opinion

Oblivion-------------Daggerfall/metroidvanias------------Deus Ex/Thief

For linear levels it's something like. Once more in my opinion.

Oblivion------------Morrowind/metroidvanias------------God Of War.

You're still limited to the routes available (as in the ones created by the developer) to you in Deus Ex or Thief. Just because you can approach it differently doesn't make it any less linear since you're still required to go from a starting point to an ending point.

YES THERE IS you fucking retard, you are attempting to mimic me I realize this, but you are completely misconstruing my words in an attempt at mockery. It has much fail about it.

The difference is, even though there are set start and end points, you can go about the levels in completely different methods. To use liberty island as an example, there are 2 paths of entry into the statue itself, the stealthy crate method, and the lets just blow the bot and door method. Once you are in the tower there are 3 ways to free gunther, the airvent method, the hacking method, and the brute force method. You can also choose simply not to go to the base of the statue.

 

[racofer]

YES THERE IS you fucking retard

What is this, name calling? Am I posting at gamespot or something now where kids get angry and start calling other people names since their butt is hurting? Can any moderator please BAN this guy already? He is harassing me and I fear I might have psychological issues later on in my life if this is allowed to continue.

The difference is, even though there are set start and end points, you can go about the levels in completely different methods. To use liberty island as an example, there are 2 paths of entry into the statue itself, the stealthy crate method, and the lets just blow the bot and door method. Once you are in the tower there are 3 ways to free gunther, the airvent method, the hacking method, and the brute force method. You can also choose simply not to go to the base of the statue.

Having different methods to approach the same objective is hardly considered non-linearity. So depending on what skill you have higher, you will use that to solve your quest, yet you still start a some point and get to the end point because you have to, otherwise the game progress halts.

 

[Jaesun]

Having different methods to approach the same objective is hardly considered non-linearity. So depending on what skill you have higher, you will use that to solve your quest, yet you still start a some point and get to the end point because you have to, otherwise the game progress halts.

So basically what you are saying is, unlike all the NEXT GEN RPG's of date, AP gives you the OPTION of approaching a mission in different ways.... but since that is non-linear it sucks?

How many various options were you allowed in each Oblivion quest?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Roll a die, you're confusing non-linearity with different approaches to a same objective.

 

[racofer]

So basically what you are saying is, unlike all the NEXT GEN RPG's of date, AP gives you the OPTION of approaching a mission in different ways.... but since that is non-linear it sucks?

Nope, I think that is great. I like games that do that. What I don't like though is when people use that as an argument to calling the missions non-linear.

How many various options were you allowed in each Oblivion quest?

Some side quests actually had the option of completing them differently, but still that doesn't mean they weren't linear since you had a starting and ending point.

 

[roll-a-die]

YES THERE IS you fucking retard

What is this, name calling? Am I posting at gamespot or something now where kids get angry and start calling other people names since their butt is hurting? Can any moderator please BAN this guy already? He is harassing me and I fear I might have psychological issues later on in my life if this is allowed to continue.

The difference is, even though there are set start and end points, you can go about the levels in completely different methods. To use liberty island as an example, there are 2 paths of entry into the statue itself, the stealthy crate method, and the lets just blow the bot and door method. Once you are in the tower there are 3 ways to free gunther, the airvent method, the hacking method, and the brute force method. You can also choose simply not to go to the base of the statue.

Having different methods to approach the same objective is hardly considered non-linearity. So depending on what skill you have higher, you will use that to solve your quest, yet you still start a some point and get to the end point because you have to, otherwise the game progress halts.

Eh, except that sneaking skill in both thief and deus ex are both play dependent, and can be accomplished well into the end game by someone with no augs. Also that brute force method all it requires is throwing and object into a beam. We aren't talking about nonlinear games, and if we were I would attest that game progress stops in oblivion if you don't do certain things, like go to start and stop point for missions. We are talking about nonlinear LEVEL design, which is a much different subject, but, back to games being linear.


That's the thing ALL (COMPUTER) GAMES are linear, racofer, it's inherent in how they are programmed, in every game you will always have a set objective, whether you set it yourself or it's inherent to the gameplay/design. For instance your objective in Sims and SimCity, so called "sandbox games,", keep the Sims that reside there alive. It's not explicitly stated but it's inherent to how you play the game. It's impossible to make a completely non-linear game simply because that would require an AI of VERY much higher than human creativity. And AI's don't do creativity.

 

[Mortmal]

Can any frenchie on the Codex tell me about Canard PC ?

well the magazine is not out yet , but on the forum i think omar boulon gave it 9/10. So its pretty much a must buy.

 

[circ]

Ok, quick impressions of PC version now.

Graphics look good. I didn't adjust much but it looks texture wize good in my book. Don't know what the guy was talking about with AA. There's no control for it, but it looks fine. Maybe up your shitty resolution?

But still, controls are total shit I have to say. It's a total console conversion like ME 2, where in mini games especially the mouse acted like an xbawks controller (slow as hell). I upped mouse sensitivity, but it still feels sluggish. Shooting is tough as hell, takedown's not as easy as it seemed, electronics mini games, circuit board anyway - frustrating. Nothing wrong with challenge, but a lot of it is because of the bad controller handling.

Camera is kinda crap, occasionally it will just wig the hell out and view you from some crazy angle. Obsidian still can't code something as basic as smoke and fire particles, as there's a MASSIVE performance drop when those two show up. Try aiming with your already wonky controls then homie. And it's badly optimized. By comparison, I can do ME 2 with max eyecandy, with pretty much unnoticable FPS performance drop when something fancy shows.

 

[Wulfstand]

Surprisingly, it does get better the more you progress in. (for me atleast)
Sure, the AI is retarded (once or twice one guard walked by another dead guard, without doing a thing), the mini-games ('specially that 'find those sentences in the mass of changing letters and numbers') are pretty annoying, and, at least until you level up your shooting skills with the weapons you like, the shooting is pretty bad, but the characters are pretty nicely shaped, the plot is at least average for a espionage-flick, and the overall feeling is pretty good.

Spoiler

Also, after going rogue, I had Tina at my side, does this happen to everyone? I know this happened because I had a good impression on her, but I was wondering if that other guy would team up with you (not the nigger, the Decaprio lookalike) instead of Tina, if you managed to "befriend" him.

 

[Grunker]

Uiversitetsstuderende?

Jep.

fornuftigt. skal 'college' oversættes som uni eller gym?

Uni

drinking beer and smokihg cigarettes.

Same as me, except for the beer.

 

[circ]

Ok uninstalled. I did some .ini editing to improve mouse performance, but it didn't do much. Controls are just so fucked up in the PC version that it's unplayable. Add to that weird flickering FPS. I'd rather play a non Obsidian game.

 

[Grunker]

it's unplayable.

Really now? You can't play it at all? All PC-reviews are fake then, eh?

 

[1eyedking]

Christ, all of the goddamn games' maps are linear as fuck. And I mean fucking "straight line" with some "follow next compass marker" condiment on it.

It's a goddamn crime to do something like this on a sneaking game. FFS.

Really now? You can't play it at all? All PC-reviews are fake then, eh?

It's no exaggeration. Mouse controls are fucked up beyond reasonable patience. It's a bad port for the Xbox 360's right analog stick (WASD supplanting the left one).

Hopefully they'll patch it up.