Month: August 2015

Call Of Duty, CoD, Playstation, PS4, Video Games

Black ops 3 Beta feedback [work in process]

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Still working on my feedback but here some stuff which I feel should be changed

Feedback: Flinch

Problem: Flinch is making combat random

Solution: Remove flinch from the game or LMGs can only cause flinch

Reason:  Shoot first win, flinch counters this gameplay mechanic adding a random element into the game which is frustrating.  Flinch can completely change a fight due to blind luck.  Given how fast the time to kill is you don’t have time to counter the flinch created.

Feedback: Player Models against the background

Problem: Player models blend into the environment too well.  Died many times from people who have blended into corners or parts of the level.  This happens at close range and longer ranges.  Players can also hide within shadow or darker areas due to this.

Solution: Change the color palette used on the models so they stand out or increase the brightness or contrast

Feedback: Medals clutter

Problem: All the medals gained are displayed in order this you should only see the last one you got with rest compressed in the background.

Solution: Only see the last one with rest compressed in the background.

Feedback: Shotgun hipfire spread

Problem: Too big for the number of pellets being fired

Solution: Increase the number of pellets fired or decrease the spread

Feedback: Shotgun range

Problem: Shotguns are uncompetitive with this current range

Solution: Increase the overall range of the shotgun but keep the damage range the same.

Feedback: Combine map

Problem: Easy to spawn camp and see into the spawn points at C?

Headglitch spots

Solution:  Block off the line of sight into the spawn on the right hand side and left hand remove the desk or higher it.

Make the headglitch boxe

Feedback: Matchmaking

Problem:

Solution:

Call Of Duty, CoD, Feedback, Playstation, PS4, Video Games

Some quick thoughts on Black ops 3 beta

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Another year another Call Of Duty game this time we get a demo of sorts.

Just to make it clear in the process of downloading so here some quick thoughts on the beta going into it.

Time to kill

We always had a insane fast time to kill so no point in bitching about it any feelings of slowness is down to networking conditions.

Latency

All games suffer from latency issues and networks.  Time to kill mixed with minor delays help to make the latency feel worse.

Shotguns

Always suck never getting good shotguns again

Setting

Does not matter I just want to see what new gameplay mechanics are into the game and how big of a impact they have.

Weapon balance

Expect one or two god weapons with the rest being worse versions and one or two terrible weapons period.

Have fun

May create a review but not sure what people would want from said review end of the day call of duty game…

Battlefront, Playstation, PS4, Video Games

Star wars: battlefront thoughts

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Casual problem:

Star wars is a casual product so likely the game is going to be friendly to casual gamers.  Add into the mix that only a multiplayer title and you start to wonder how active the player base is going to stay.

Support issue:

DICE has a rocky history when it comes to releasing games and even supporting them. Past couple battlefield games have had nothing short of terrible support in some cases.

Content problem:

Battlefront only has a online mode which brings up a content problem.  Lack of single player means the focus is just on multiplayer.  In order to keep the game fresh we need a ton of multiplayer maps along with gamemodes.

Gamemodes

Every gamemode cuts up the player base so what we need is various modes which are different enough between each other but not to many.  Another problem is gamemode must be designed for the map.

Lore restriction

Any content has quite a heavy lore restriction placed on it meaning only so much material to be sourced from.

Planetside 2, Playstation, PS4, Video Games

More Planetside 2 thoughts

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Time for some more planetside 2 thoughts did post some quick thoughts which you can find here.

Planetside 2 is a MMOFPS or in simple terms massive online world in which every area is a battle for control.  As a result each player is nothing more than a simple prawn in a much bigger battle.  Title is free to play which thousands of players can do battle on a single map. 200+ players attacking a single point or defending happens almost daily. Sony studios now defunct Zipper Interactive tried to do the same concept with MAG but was unable to take off. Planet side 2 however has been able to keep going not without issues. Design of the game is one with a core focus on teamwork. Each player can pick a specialist class with a defined role. Engineers build along with repair, light assaults take on other infantry. What you pick as a class forces you into a role you can customize. Engineers can go into heavy repair spec. Unlike so many modern games which let you do anything your class defines your job.

Teamwork

Core element of planetside 2 is based on teamwork with the gameplay mechanics reflecting that.  Capturing areas requires more than one person in order to be successful.  Armour units need repairs along with ammo.  Health lacks any sort of regeneration need a medic class in order to heal you.  Long list of gameplay mechanics which are designed to promote teamwork.

Art design

Each class is easy to tell the difference and fraction so you know what sort of weapon you’re going against.  Very helpful to a player important visual clue which helps keeps the game competitive. Recent modern shooters have dropped this little clue in order to lower the skill.  Something which I noticed very quickly found it also rather helpful.

Fractions

Total of 3 with each one having their own weapons.  Certain fractions focus on power others focus on rate of fire weapons and accurate weapons. Only issue with the fraction system can make battles unbalanced with certain ones having a higher population compared to others but they do get a bonus.

Business model

Like most free to play games rather hard to earn credits very slow…

However the business model does not mean that you pay to win with the starter guns being rather good along with anything else.  Of course a fully upgraded tank makes short work of a non upgraded one.

The ugly

At times the game can crash for no good reason some framerate issues which appear during big battles.

Spawn system is against new players should be able to pick whatever base you want to spawn from or make it more friendly.

Overall

I like planetside 2 but marketing wise the PS4 version has been pretty limited when it comes to marketing.

Also the spawn system is pretty bad makes you want to cry.

Playstation, PS4, Video Games

Rocket league

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Rocket league is a game was thinking I would dislike. However it is rather fun if basic hard to master type of game. Mechanical the game is simple just a physics based football game with cars. This part of the charm easy to pick up simple concept. However the lack of depth can be a issue unsure the game had legs beyond a couple of months. Cross play is a thing between PC and ps4. Not going to lie rocket league is simple but that all needs doing everything great. Adds nothing to the genre apart from being car based with rockets.

Easy pick title that causal.

Journal, Labour, Politics

Labour Leadership candidates quick thoughts

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Labour Leadership candidates

Here some quick thoughts on leadership candidates so far.

Liz and Jeremy have made clear their platforms with Andy and Yvette being vague.

Liz Kendall

Part of the Blairite clan but appears the Blairites have disowned her.  Get the feeling she would be able to bring back Tory swing voters and couple other voters groups.  Problem is unlike Tony Blair lacks the same level of charisma and support.  Core focus of her campaign devolution and unions.

She could be a nightmare to fight against however would need support from Blairites clan in order to win.

Jeremy Corbyn

Supporters include anti austerity voters and young voters. Which is amazing given his current age that he has been able to gain support from younger members.  Problem he would face would be convincing parts of New Labour to support his platform.  Many think that anti austerity is a death wish with U turn should happen nearer the time.  Not sure he would be able to swing over Tory voters from 2015 and other groups like SNP block.  However he does appear that he wants to make Labour a movement against with grass roots being most important part.

Core focus of the campaign greenroots and anti austerity.

Andy Burnham

Supporters from the Blairite fraction of the party with his focus being on austerity lite.  Trying to win over swing Tories and core Labour voters with a mix of policy that borrowed from Ed millband.  I don’t think he would lead the party to victory but just more of the same result over Ed Millband.

Maybe he could win but I don’t think he would be able to win based on the method Ed Millband tried.

Core focus is on the NHS and sounding tough on austerity.

Yvette Cooper

Silence so far but a strong women against austerity but won’t shout about it.

Supporters from a range of areas but lacks a clear platform bit like Andy.

 

Call Of Duty, CoD, Playstation, PS4, Video Games

Black ops 3 beta or no beta?

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Call of duty black ops 3 beta starts August 19th until 24th.

Beta is currently only 5 days long which is not very long at all.  Worse still you need to pre order the game in order to play the beta.  Not sure what to think about this bit of news I was hoping the beta would last two weeks.

This leaves me quite a big problem do I pre order the game just to play the beta.  Normally I don’t pre order games habit which is not good. When it comes to my call of duty play time so far the last game I did play would be ghosts so I had quite a break from the series.

Tempted to pre order the beta but right now my time is limited so would only get 3 days in which I could play it.