I have a regular LAN party with a bunch of friends who have been gaming together for over 22 years. We are 48 - 58 years of age.
We are old and slow and just enjoy the games with minimal challenge.
We have Pentium 4 machines and have been playing 1.2 with the G66 MAPs for 3 or 4 years. We can turn down the difficulty levels to the right levels for us. But as we have been upgrading our equipment our machines have been crashing more while playing under this set up. I have tried older drivers and am still having problems.
I have been trying out the new techalpha patch the past few days to see if I can gain some stability and keep the gameplay the same. It's pretty, but even with all the Extra Options set in my favor, the same Maps I can beat under 1.2 are impossible for me now.
I realize that nearly all the gamers here want a serious challenge. But is there some way to lower the difficulty without giving myself a huge fleet of ships to manage? I assume the AI was upgraded with 1.3. My old circle strafe move isn't working any more....
Thanks you for any suggestions. This is one of the best LAN games of all time. I would like to keep playing it with my old buddies...
Good timing. I'm on the tail end of making Natty Bumppo's G66 2.0 ready for 1.3 and I've recently added a feature that adjusts the health of the AI units according to difficulty level, so hang tight for a bit and you'll have your wish.
turn ai scrapcheat off :-)
Thanks for the news Red Devil. I am looking forward to it. The G66 set is just terrific. And there are a few maps we are still working on (Forest Lawn), so having them work under 1.3 would be great. Our 5 hour game on the Fortress Map was one of our best parties of all time.
VoodooChile. I thought I had done that.. Set player scrap to 3 and AI scrap to 0. Wasn't enough to get me over the hump.
kmiller1610 if youd like i can get one of my friends to join you in an mpi one day if you need help. Hes one of the best players and a decent buddy. Just message me if you want his messenger email.
You guys join me when you can. My wife and I only play mpi's 99% of the time and G66 is also my favorite. There is a version that works great for patch 1.3pb3, we play it a lot. Check it out at:
http://www.bzcomplex.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battlezone_2_1.3pb3_Install_Guide
Thanks! I played one default MAP and it worked fine, but when I loaded one of the G66 Maps, I got the code down the left side of the screen. Doesn't really matter. I'm hoping the new version of G66 will work with the tech alpha version of 1.3. I can wait and fiddle. Our next LAN party is probably a ways off anyway.
you just press ctrl-~ to make that go away. That's the only weird thing about that one. It totally rocks.
Ahhh, I tried shift tindle. Seems to me that was the command in Quake... Thanks...
Okay, I have played two MPI games under 1.3pb3, both a standard MAP and a G66 MAP and it's obvious that the difficulty adjustments work under 1.3pb3 and do not work under techalpha. The easiest settings under 1.3pb3 ARE easy, even by old guy standards. But the techalpha games are, for me, consistently hard.
Should I report this to the techalpha area or this already known?
Nope, the version I'm working on works fine in TA5.
BTW, it looks like you guys are the real vets. :-)
Off topic for one post... 1610 doesnt mean 16th of october does it? that would be strange for me :P...
Oh and welcome to the forums!
Quote from: TheJamsh on June 12, 2009, 02:06:13 PM
Off topic for one post... 1610 doesnt mean 16th of october does it? that would be strange for me :P...
Oh and welcome to the forums!
It's a long and boring story. When I was applying for my very first email address, the ISP wouldn't take kmiller1 or 2 or 3 or 4, so I got mad and just picked a 4 number extension. 16 was always my favorite number (Frank Gifford's number) and I just added the 10 for texture.....
Quote from: Red Devil on June 12, 2009, 11:56:30 AM
Nope, the version I'm working on works fine in TA5.
BTW, it looks like you guys are the real vets. :-)
Yeah, but our learning circuits are severely degraded!
Finally beat an MPI game solo in Techalpha.. Love all the new stuff.
Youve just reminded me of that extension pack i was making. really need to get that finished now college is almost over...
Hopefully thatll give you some stuff to sink you're teeth into :). Its nice to know theres more people playing BZ2 than might be on the forums. The community always feels so small over here...
In ta5 forget about building regular GTs, at least when facing the ISDF. The walkers use assaultclass weapons and they as well as Atanks now actually make use of their extended range (imo thats the biggest change in 'difficulty').
Get a few(4-5) Atanks of your own in front of your base asap, as long as you or a grunt is around they should be able to keep anything out of your base except for the bomber, and a single AA-Rtank will take care of that. After that slowely start moving your line of Atanks forward, pushing back the AI. Do make sure you keep at least 2 pools, if possible 3.
Also the scrapcheat for the humans wont have much of an impact:
AI scrapcheat: ~1.3/1.5/2/6 scrap per second (so 0-scrapcheat still gives ~1.3scrap to the AI)
Humans: ~0/3.5/5/7.5 scrap per 30 seconds (wont have a huge impact on how easy/hard the game will be)
Also for the AI you still have to add the scrapcheats the AIPs add, which vary from 0 to 2 scrap a second.
(Funny thing to note, max AI scrapcheat with easy AIPs may be harder than no scrapcheat for the AI and Insane AIPs (~6+0scrap vs ~1.3+2scrap).)
Thanks for the insights. Had a buddy over for a 2 player techalpha yesterday and played dropzone. We were holding our own. Felt like I was back playing Midi-Maze (Atari ST- 1986) in that to deal with those mini-bomb twizzler thingies that chase you down and blow up- you have to fly backwards and launch Mdm mortor rounds and blow them up as the things get close...
I let him build, which was instructional because as you say, standard towers are fairly useless.
When I played dropzone alone, I concluded that you need a very fast home base build up with Rocket Towers ASAP.
Question, do any of the techalpha Maps have that Landwalker unit? It's a walking turret, expensive, but cool looking, perhaps ineffective without healers trailing, but neat.
No to the walkers (Landmasters).
If you can build the GT's around the corner, then the AT's will be in range when they come around the corner. You have to bait them to attack you instead of the pool, though.
RT's can climb the mesas or you can build towers on the mesas.
Was just thinking that laser turrets might help with the mini-bomb twizzler thingies, but haven't tested it.
Dropzone really is a great map, like a revolution in MPI. We will all suffer if G66 AI and GH assets mix.
kmiller, are you and your kind The Ancients of old we have heard of in the lore?
Quote from: Nielk1 on June 14, 2009, 07:36:59 PM
We will all suffer if G66 AI and GH assets mix.
Shut it, you, we don't want RD to get any ideas! 0_o
Quote from: Red Devil on June 15, 2009, 03:33:06 AM
kmiller, are you and your kind The Ancients of old we have heard of in the lore?
I have had an obsession with social computer gaming for 27 years. I have been less into competitive gaming and always searching for the perfect co-operative game that a casual user can drop by and play.
So my history kind of goes like this:
1982 (?):
M.U.L.E ( 4 player economics game on the Atari 400/800 - 4 joysticks 1 TV)
1986:
Midi-Maze ( up to 16 Atari ST computers networked via the Midi-port); First day after Thanksgiving LAN party that we have maintained for 22 years.
1989:
Air Warrior online via Genie with 4 machines on 4 phone lines in the basement of my friend's house. This same core group of friends organized the first Air Warrior conference in Washington D.C where we had 30 people in a room
1993:
Doom Co-op against the computer. This game and its variants occupied my inner circle for 5 years
1998 - present: So many great co-op games:
Battlezone 2, Delta Force, Age of Empires, Duke Nukem. Battlezone 2 is the most unique because it combines so many different features...
he already has AHadley... he already has :P
Quote from: Nielk1 on June 14, 2009, 07:36:59 PM
Dropzone really is a great map, like a revolution in MPI.
I agree, i think the same about tunnels the deathmatch.
I love dropzone. my favourite map of GH's so far. I really hope he does some more.
I dont think they even take him that long, maybe 2-3 days? Once you've mastered OvermindDL1's winter utility its a piece of cake. Just a few touch ups and blending after that and its all good. Pathpoints obviously...
Actually, adding the GH variant to G66 was Commando's idea.
I never did finish the Scion portion of that variant for G66. I'll have to do that soon.
Please excuse the retro technical question.
After several testing sessions with the youngest member of our band of geezers, we have concluded that we need to stick with 1.2, the one we have been playing for years.
Ever since it came out the G66 MAPs have been our mainstay, but as XP patches have progressed, stability has gotten steadily worse.
Suggestions for the version of G66 we should be using?
http://www.bzcomplex.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battlezone_2_1.2_Install_Guide
What are the issues with 1.3ta5? Physics I take it?
The issue is 5 to 7 guys who get together 3 times a year, who don't play a lot of games between parties, who want to sit down and play something familiar (and fairly easy). The problem is the learning curve with 1.3 and 1.3 tech alpha.
Anyway, this is OUR problem, not the community's problem. Personally, I love techalpha and I'm the oldest guy in the group, but it will go over like a lead balloon in one of our LAN parties.
You guys still working on this are absolute heroes in my eyes. I am not complaining, just trying to figure out the best way to make 1.2 stable under XP. I've decided to use the E version of the G66 mod. Played a solo game all the way through easily today. Now, I'll test with multiple machines.
I'm following the install procedure I found here:
http://www.bzcomplex.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battlezone_2_1.2_Install_Guide
If anyone wants to correct this guide, I'd welcome suggestions.
It is quite steep.
Remember, G66 2.0 (when released) has the adjustable difficulty levels that you can use to make things easier, so you guys may want to keep your options open.
Quote from: Red Devil on June 22, 2009, 11:20:14 PM
Remember, G66 2.0 (when released) has the adjustable difficulty levels that you can use to make things easier, so you guys may want to keep your options open.
Options are always open. And I will keep playing em all. It's like Sins of a Solar Empire. I played and tested it for weeks (I am the main equipment manager for the group - 5 Cpus) and enjoyed every minute. It got a sort of "well-that-was-OK" then it was back to Delta Force and Conquerors and all the other "standards"
I plan on playing techalpha on the side anyway.....
I want to thank the community for all the help. Yesterday, the old guys had their first LAN party since I started investigating what was wrong with my Bz2 set-up and we had a great time with minimal difficulties, no lags, no crashes, difficulty was just right. Main reasons for the improvement:
1) Pausejoin option
2) Re-installing from scratch using only one patch file
3) Downgrading all video drivers to older ones
4) Pre-testing the G66 maps, so I could estimate difficulty