So, why do you guys continue to play it after all these years?
What makes the game so good?
Story (as an extension of BZ1, hence, still waits for BZC), Modability
Quote from: CivBase on November 28, 2008, 09:22:00 PM
So, why do you guys continue to play it after all these years?
What makes the game so good?
What makes the game so good? Well, the outstanding graphics for it's time (I mean, it was made in 1999), the incredible cross between Real Time Strategy and First-Person Shooter, the modablility, and just the overall awesomeness.
It was the first game that I ever sat down and finished.
Best gameplay of any game ever created.
Quote from: CivBase on November 28, 2008, 09:22:00 PM
So, why do you guys continue to play it after all these years?
What makes the game so good?
So, what game are you thinking of making that you want all of these opinions? :)
Or, are you a psychiatric teacher, doctor, or student and therefore interested in what makes us tick? (or tock, some of us tock more than tick...) :evil:
Not that either would slow us down from spilling our guts, as BZ is the thing we like to post about the most or we wouldn't be hanging around here.
Now, to answer the question:
I can sit down at HALO and still slightly enjoy running rampant all over the AI even in 'insane' mode. Yes, they occasionally kill me and yes, I do things like run through an entire level using only the pistol, or only in 'stealth' mode (sneak attacks, hit them from behind), to make it challenging... but even then I'm still a God to the AI and they stand no chance. I get a slight thrill from this, but not much.
And, I've only played HALO for a few years.
I can sit down at BZ and play a mission for the hundreth time (literally, not kidding here) after ten years of playing, modding, and writing about the game and still feel a sense of awe at driving around in a biometal tank fighting Russkies on the moon, discovering Relics from an ancient, long dead race on Venus, and encountering the semi-sentient always-deadly Furies on Titan.
That sense of awe never goes away (hope to GOD it doesn't while I'm still vertical) and is the magic I keep talking about.
And it's got nothing to do with graphics, or gameplay (well, maybe a little at the cool intereface that's never been matched IMHO), but rather with the sum of the whole being more than the parts.
Love it...
-Av-
Quote from: AvatarSo, what game are you thinking of making that you want all of these opinions? :)
I have a ton of online friends who think the game is crap and wont even look at it. I'm trying to show them otherwise.
Quote from: AvatarOr, are you a psychiatric teacher, doctor, or student and therefore interested in what makes us tick? (or tock, some of us tock more than tick...) :evil:
Maybe..... (http://msp42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/puzzlessue/Emoticons/Speak%20and%20Sign/Laugh.gif)
Quote from: AvatarI can sit down at HALO and still slightly enjoy running rampant all over the AI even in 'insane' mode. Yes, they occasionally kill me and yes, I do things like run through an entire level using only the pistol, or only in 'stealth' mode (sneak attacks, hit them from behind), to make it challenging... but even then I'm still a God to the AI and they stand no chance. I get a slight thrill from this, but not much.
And, I've only played HALO for a few years.
I can sit down at BZ and play a mission for the hundreth time (literally, not kidding here) after ten years of playing, modding, and writing about the game and still feel a sense of awe at driving around in a biometal tank fighting Russkies on the moon, discovering Relics from an ancient, long dead race on Venus, and encountering the semi-sentient always-deadly Furies on Titan.
That sense of awe never goes away (hope to GOD it doesn't while I'm still vertical) and is the magic I keep talking about.
And it's got nothing to do with graphics, or gameplay (well, maybe a little at the cool intereface that's never been matched IMHO), but rather with the sum of the whole being more than the parts.
Well put.
Now I feel as though I need to finish the campaign on BZ2 and do the sov campaign on BZ1... :lol:
yes you do :)
modability, friendly (ish) community, public beta patches. without them i probably wouldnt have stayed too long.
gameplay, storyline, compatibility, general awesomeness
Every time I play the single player I love the graphics, the control of the units, the futuristic battles. There is no other game that immerses the player in battle like this one. I have so many games you'd get ridiculously bored if I listed them, I know video games. I'm a first person shooter fanatic, my brother bought me Call of Duty one year and he said he'd never buy me another game because I beat it in 48hrs. Battlezone 1 and II both have more than just first person shooter gameplay, it gives you elements of RTS gameplay and action gameplay all put together like no other game ever has.
I finally got a decent internet connection after about four years of having played the bz2 missions many, many times. When I did I quickly learned of G66, the attraction there is that no game is ever the same. The computer might attact with 6 maulers and 6 sentries, or maybe 6 warriors and 6 dragoon, or maybe Gorgons and sentries, or 5 Fury tanks at the same time as 2 Furies drop out of the sky and hit you hard directly on the Recycler, and many more, like appearing behind your base even though it doesn't appear to have a trail back there. I love the freakin' hell out of it and can't get enough, and am very lucky that my wife loves to play right along with me.
That'd be Windy, then?
I love G66, too. I just got back from a Chill II match, ended up in a stalemate.
Yes, Windy is my wife, that's her online nickname of course.
I still play BZII (and BZI) for the storyline (or at least the story's fantastical setting), the gameplay hybridity (fps+rts) and that sense of 'epic-ness' its large playing field offers. Due to RL, I don't play many games and the last game that gave me that 'sense of awe' and immersion (graphically, in addition to story) was Halflife 1. And the fact that I can sit on my ass for an hour or so to play BZII is a nice perk.
Before the invention of the computer and computer games, there were just games, New ones were invented all the time, few survived, You know the ones that did, chess, draughts, monopoly etc etc. Just making the box and pieces look really good was not enough, it was not even important...The GAME was what mattered.
BZ is a game and has a GAME. This cannot be said for allot of what fills the shelves of PC game stores, just nice boxes and pieces...generally all you need to be a winner is to be younger or faster than your opponent.
I am not young, my hands are damaged by rsi, but I can still kick teenage butt in BZ! :-D
its the first game iv ever seen, herd of, played
When the wife watches her soaps and "survivor" I like to sneak up and kick into bz or bzII. You can become immensed in the game, focussing on the missions, the game doesn't give you time to worry about bills, price of gas or who you should vote for...it's almost like meditation. A great get away for me. Just got high speed myself, and if I ever figure out how to play online I figure it should be quite the experience. My 7 year old has been sitting on my lap for years, and usually takes over the controls, he loves the game too!
Long live BattleZone!!
I like BZ2 because of the freedom. You can easily mod it, you have more than one patch to play, and a wide variety of... people... to interact with.
Quote from: BaD on December 19, 2008, 03:01:55 AMJust got high speed myself, and if I ever figure out how to play online I figure it should be quite the experience.
QUITE an experience...
going onto multiplayer is excellent, i recently discovered the wonders of it myself...
For strat, its intensity. I enjoy how my emotion changes depending on the scenario. I can see my fear as I encounter an elite pilot coming at me in a laser scout and I think 'evade!'. I can marshal my resources and watch dispassionately as events unfold around me. My aim is to 'win' through superior mental fortitude. One common thing I tell my fellow teammates is 'remain focused', 'dont let him dance you around'. I can at one moment be cautious and afraid as I encounter an enemy on the field, then seeing a moment of weakness in his maneuvering and I can break out into a rage where I throw my entire mental will at him in hopes of overcoming his skill with the force of my rage. I get a sense of achievement from stepping back and analyzing the situation, whos hitting what, what their intentions are. The reflection of the outcome of a match is dependent entirely upon my attitude at a given moment. For me BZ2 is about strategy and your attitude. If i'm upset it comes through in how i'm doing. One moment I can be on top of the world with insight into everything thats going on in the battlefield, taking out enemy ships left and right and being unstoppable -- and in another I can be upset and blaming others and constantly losing my ship. BZ2 is like any other game i've played because your attitude is the most important factor and once you reach a certain point of veterancy, you become a set piece and your morale is the most important thing. One player can inspire his entire team to succeed, or one player can ruin it all. Theres so many pieces on the board and they all matter -- the real strategy comes in gaining mastery over your own disposition in a given moment -- then taking the disposition of all the other pieces and using it to your advantage.
Even today i think BZ2s graphics are still quite good. On my Geforce 8600 GTS, if i build a lot of units it lags.
That and most people are nice and do not PK you (unless provoked, very little needed though). No one has ever yelled at me for my commanding skills in Strat (other people have gotten yelled at however), i give them what they want as long as i have nothing else i need thats more important.
BZ2 is the only game of its kind, combining RTS and FPS into one satisfying game. Too bad there was no 3.
Quote from: Zero Angel on December 20, 2008, 01:38:25 PM
For strat, its intensity. I enjoy how my emotion changes depending on the scenario. I can see my fear as I encounter an elite pilot coming at me in a laser scout and I think 'evade!'. I can marshal my resources and watch dispassionately as events unfold around me. My aim is to 'win' through superior mental fortitude. One common thing I tell my fellow teammates is 'remain focused', 'dont let him dance you around'. I can at one moment be cautious and afraid as I encounter an enemy on the field, then seeing a moment of weakness in his maneuvering and I can break out into a rage where I throw my entire mental will at him in hopes of overcoming his skill with the force of my rage. I get a sense of achievement from stepping back and analyzing the situation, whos hitting what, what their intentions are. The reflection of the outcome of a match is dependent entirely upon my attitude at a given moment. For me BZ2 is about strategy and your attitude. If i'm upset it comes through in how i'm doing. One moment I can be on top of the world with insight into everything thats going on in the battlefield, taking out enemy ships left and right and being unstoppable -- and in another I can be upset and blaming others and constantly losing my ship. BZ2 is like any other game i've played because your attitude is the most important factor and once you reach a certain point of veterancy, you become a set piece and your morale is the most important thing. One player can inspire his entire team to succeed, or one player can ruin it all. Theres so many pieces on the board and they all matter -- the real strategy comes in gaining mastery over your own disposition in a given moment -- then taking the disposition of all the other pieces and using it to your advantage.
Nicely said. However, where you stated strategy you should have said tactics. Tactics is the part during battle where you are looking for immediate situations. Strategy is an overall view and thought about something, such as going to go take one pool instead of another because of such and such reasons.
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Well there is both tactics and strategy involved. Ghosting headlong into an enemy group and then getting them to chase you out is a tactic used to waste the enemy's time and to relieve some of the pressure they're putting on the base or pools. But receiving scavengers, having them start moving to a location on the field, and then deliberately starting a dogfight there seems more strategic in nature. So is choosing between focusing on pools/scavs, base, or thugs. Depending on the changing conditions of the battlefield.