Did bz1 have something bz2 did not?

[Nielk1]

BZ1 also had finite resources that ensured that although able to build everything, you would be unable to spam a load of Walkers, Bombers, and Day Wreckers.

[Nielk1]

True, but at least BZ2 can have hovering scavs.

It has been explained that the scavs are heavier because of this transmission technology and that is why they are on treads.

Yes, BZ1's way does seem better for a more FPS game.


It seems BZ2 inherited a bit more than expected from the Dark Reign 2 engine.

[bigbadbogie]

I too prefer bz1's scrap system.

It was that which got me hooked in the first place.

[Avatar]

Chalk the changes up to:

1.  They wanted BZ2 to be Team Strat Oriented where BZ1 was decidedly (in the day) DM focused, which meant adding a tech tree, upgrades, weapon choices, that sort of thing.
2.  They needed to make the Team aspect more 'DM player' friendly knowing that much of the "that sort of thing" of Strat was a turn off to a dedicated DM player.
3.  They wanted to speed up scrap collection while removing stress on the engine (pools are more engine friendly than a hundreds of small pieces on the ground)  Part of this was feeling that an open ended scrap system was better than a fixed amount (sortof) as in BZ1.
4.  They wanted to provide areas to fight over in place of protecting scrap convoys.
5.  They wanted a more modern, streamlined look ot the objects (tho the orange is still mystifying).

Lots and lots of thinking went into changing the game, maybe more so than the thinking about what made BZ1 so appealing.

***

TA is very much like BZ in the hearts of the faithful... and may never die. 

-Av-

[† Trinity †]

BZ1 was a man's game; it was rough and gritty. BZ2 looked and felt like it was designed for kids.

The vast majority BZ1 MP games were playable even on dial-up. BZ2's MP issues were of a frequency and type that completely precluded any measure of immersion in the game.

Driving in BZ1 was like water skiing whereas BZ2 was like being on a helium filled boat tube.

[Nielk1]

BZ2 stock is like Star Trek, BZ1 stock is like the new BSG. In Star Trek, everything moves around inside of an energy field, acting like boats. In the new BSG, the ships fly as they might in real space, with loose fast fluid movements.

I like the way the new BSG does it, but I also know that at least BZ2 is capable of BZ1 like physics, and the new unlocking of the constants also does wonders.

[Avatar]

Ah, I like that BSG analogy.  There's a term for that difference in physics, also... 

"Euclidean vs Non-Euclidean physics" or some such thing.  Gotta keep it real.

Don't forget that BZ1 was VERY close to it's Interstate '76 roots.  The Tanks handled a lot like my old '79 Dodge pickup, rocking and rolling and bumping along. 

One thing I've found interesting in doing BZC...  even on exactly the same map (as close as I can make, at least) in exactly the same ship (ditto) doing exactly the same things the BZ2 version doesn't feel exactly the same UNLESS I drop graphics to 800x600 16 bit colors.  When I do that it's like something that was missing comes back a bit.  Sure, it's not 100%, but it makes me wonder how much of the look/feel was due to the fact that everything was quite a bit more low-res, running so many fewer polygons through so many fewer game steps.

It's like watching an old 8mm film vs a new DVD.  The content might be the same but the presentation adds/removes things on its own that made the original 'special'.

-Av-

[bigbadbogie]

I am sure that I will prefer BZC over BZ1 when the time comes.

[AHadley]

Who wouldn't?

[Avatar]

You get a choice in BZC to go with the original, low-res limited-color graphics or to smooth things out.  Might even be possible to adjust framerates back down to the 30 or so I used to get in BZ1... 

A lot of games now are being made with max settings that no current computer can handle, so that next-year's technology won't make the game obsolete...     To bad BZ1 wasn't made that way.

[AHadley]

I haven't played BZ for long enough not to know what settings I got... or I didn't pay enough attention in the first place.

anyway, DX, will you be playing BZC?

[Avatar]

I have 1600x1200 in Bz.

Now...  sure.  But when it originally came out a killer gaming rig was a P3 with dual Voodoo 2 cards.

Remember that far back?  lol...  we've sure come a long way.

-Av-

[SkyNET]

Sweet ambiguous messiah, that's old. I miss my ancient comp.

[AHadley]

I don't, it was terrible!

[cheesepuffly]

Meh, i always upgrade once every 3 years (every year one of the 3 members of mai family get a new one, and we cycle). If it were not for the graphical glitches, i could run bz2 on max.



Hey, just wondering, you know if bz2 could run at all on one of those really small computers (you know those ones with REALLY small HDDs, or more or less flash memory and no CD drive)