[Kyanos]

MetHy, on 02 February 2016 - 06:08 AM, said:

Everyone need to stop give so much importance to pro reviews. Chances are the people who've given very low scores have hardly played the game, their vision of this genre would be "who cares about top-down shooter games, that is so outdated, it's the kind of things you pay 2bucks for on a Steam sale, play for half an hour and never pick up again".

Giving such a low score is a way for them to give themselves self-importance, a way to try and justify their silly job that is so serious to them. That and also a way to tell you that next time, you gotta include payment-fees for them in your marketing budget. They can't give low scores to the mass of publishers paying them, so they have to find something else to give low scores to, just to pretend they are being serious.

Yeah, I despise the world of pro reviewers, that's no big news. Bribes aren't new either.

But let's not forget that Bombshell is going for a retro style, gameplay-oriented top down shooter. Nowadays this is a very niche genre. You can't seriously expect to touch the more mainstream audience with it, whose gaming world is all about cinematic stuff. Big sites reflect that vision of gaming, so in that sense, the review is pretty accurate, mobile phone/tablet gamers, and even the Call Of Duty audience, wouldn't care about a retro style top down shooter.

You need to sort out the reviews, give more attention to those done by the audience you were aiming for. Again, you can't seriously expect to aim at everyone with this type of game in this new world of free "pay to win" social games and cinematic adventures on next gen consoles. ROTT was mixing retro and modern, so is Bombshell, you must know that you're going for a specific, smaller, audience, which big review sites don't reflect. If you didn't realize that though, then you're still living in the 90's.

> retro style, gameplay-oriented top down shooter.

> very niche genre.

> recommended processor: Intel Core i7

Who are they aiming this one at? Very, very niche indeed.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

I think Gamergate would have picked up more steam if it stuck strictly to the ill repute of pro reviewers rather than the sex aspect of it.

[Mblackwell]

Drek, on 02 February 2016 - 06:35 AM, said:

> retro style, gameplay-oriented top down shooter.

> very niche genre.

> recommended processor: Intel Core i7

Who are they aiming this one at? Very, very niche indeed.

The game actually has fairly low requirements though. The "required" i5 is slower than many i3 processors. The recommended requirements let you run all of the bells and whistles, and worst case you can run the DX9 render path which looks roughly the same and gets better performance on some hardware configurations. The requirements are higher than you might expect for a top down shooter however because it uses high detail assets throughout as much as possible - the general fidelity is what you might expect out of an FPS/TPS.

Maybe you think that was a bad idea but the graphics are one piece that seems to be univerally praised at least.

[Kyanos]

Inspector Lagomorf, on 02 February 2016 - 07:46 AM, said:

I think Gamergate would have picked up more steam if it stuck strictly to the ill repute of pro reviewers rather than the sex aspect of it.

Ethics in gaming journalism. As if we still see ethics in any journalism.

Mblackwell, on 02 February 2016 - 09:52 AM, said:

Maybe you think that was a bad idea but the graphics are one piece that seems to be universally praised at least.

Yes, I personally prefer game play over graphics. The i5 min is bit of a high cut-off point for who can and who can't play this one. I'm in the can't play it category with a C2D, I'm used to not making the cut for modern games and don't miss them, yet I probably would have bought this one.

Oh well, I'm syched for the prequel. Does anyone got beta access? Want to tell us what's going on there?

[Sixty Four]

Had fun so far. Video is me playing within the first 1-2 hours though, forgive me trying to adjust to the style



I got the deluxe edition but I don't know anything about the prequel anybody know when that starts?

[Steve 64]

Really Nice Sixty Four

[Sledgehammer]

Drek, on 02 February 2016 - 06:35 AM, said:

> retro style, gameplay-oriented top down shooter.

> very niche genre.

> recommended processor: Intel Core i7

Who are they aiming this one at? Very, very niche indeed.

You forgot to mention another important thing, they tried to promote it as an ARPG (people wouldn't call it ARPG/Diablo clone otherwise, they don't call Crimsonland so, for example, or even Alien Shooter). Maybe I'm wrong and Interceptor really didn't call it ARPG/Diablo clone as they saying, but then they weren't very clear about their game. Though another important thing isn't processor but VRAM requirement, I mean 2GB for a top-down shooter and with nVidia Gameworks for a niche game? Interceptor need some competence for sure.

I can definitely say that they didn't even try to aim the game at top-down shooter fans (when I first heard of this game I didn't know what they're making until I came to this forum). As I mentioned in my previous post, I think guys didn't even play top-down shooters and have no idea what kind of genre they're messing with nor did they knew what audience they wanted. Perhaps that's the reason why it's not so great which is very disappointing because I wanted some good top-down shooter with RPG elements which isn't Crimsonland/Alien Shooter.

As for "professional reviewers", I still can't understand why would someone listen to them. Not to mention that they sometimes love to review games without playing. Don't understand why they're not dead already because they're useless if not even harmful. However, I'm not sure that Interceptor is their scapegoat, they already do hate those who don't pay for their reviews. Look at Nintendo, SEGA or some others publishers, for example, a lot of games are getting negative reviews, the size doesn't even matter. And I don't think they hate Bombshell because of the genre, I mean Hotline Miami had positive reviews.

[oasiz]

Drek, on 02 February 2016 - 10:46 AM, said:

The i5 min is bit of a high cut-off point for who can and who can't play this one. I'm in the can't play it category with a C2D, I'm used to not making the cut for modern games and don't miss them, yet I probably would have bought this one.

Not really, looking at intel.com, the first gen i5 was released on 2009, that makes the CPU over 5 years old by now, actually the same age as windows 7 pretty much.
I doubt that this fully excludes later core2quads, usually just means that it hasn't been tested and might not have the most optimal performance.
From what I remember, earlier nehalem cpus weren't really that big of a jump from core2 compared to sandy.
Core2duo is old, E6600 was awesome when it was released almost ~10 years ago but looking back, the dual core line didn't "really" improve significantly since aside from some clock boosts and added cache/power optimizations.

Only core2 machine I have left is just a laptop or two so I can't test the performance unfortunately.


Beta access seems to be still "2016", haven't seen anything more specific yet :/

[Mblackwell]

Looking up CPU specs an old Q6600 or Q9550 should give the same performance as their min spec. Generally the minimum spec from a smaller studio is just based on what they had available for testing.

[Hank]

didn't see it posted

First patch is out and some comments from Frederic
https://boards.3drea...e-from-fred/147

[Person of Color]

Mblackwell, on 02 February 2016 - 11:31 PM, said:

Looking up CPU specs an old Q6600 or Q9550 should give the same performance as their min spec. Generally the minimum spec from a smaller studio is just based on what they had available for testing.

No one should be running those things at stock speeds anyway. They came massively underclocked from the factory - even an OEM rig should be overclocked with SetFSB if your clock generator is supported.

[Person of Color]

LGR has a review up. It's not pretty....

[LkMax]

You are late to the party.
https://forums.duke4...post&pid=238294

[Person of Color]

At least we know she's not waifu material now.

[Daedolon]

Drek, on 02 February 2016 - 06:35 AM, said:

> recommended processor: Intel Core i7

Runs perfectly fine on my AMD Phenom II X2 555.

[Kyanos]

Daedolon, on 04 February 2016 - 12:37 PM, said:

Runs perfectly fine on my AMD Phenom II X2 555.

Thanks for that, my E8400 should compare to it quite well. I guess I could give this a go, the bad reviews made me want it, I hate most shit career reviewers like.

[Daedolon]

I think the biggest bottleneck for me is my mobo's northbridge (for caching etc) and my RAM.

[Person of Color]

ITT: Poor people

[Lunick]

Something hasn't been clicking with me and I think I've figured it out.

Most people have been saying that some of the most negative reviews were because the reviewers were given unfinished builds or not the release build. I saw on Twitter that Bombshell went gold on the 20th on January and was ready for release. LGR received his code for the game on the 23rd of January.

What went wrong...?

[Micky C]

It's still possible the game went gold with them planning to spend the extra week before release fixing bugs. Going gold doesn't quite mean what it used to remember. I mean, did Bombshell even get a retail release?

[----]

I haven't played the game yet, so I can only voice my opinion about the screen, trailers, etc ...

For me Bombshell has a weak design. I personally don't find anything memorable or special about the character. She looks generic and so does the logo.

And as she is a replacement for Duke in that game I would have chosen some ironic story that evil aliens have captured that "blonde dude" who could have saved the world (without infringing any copyrights) and so she shows what sexy girl power is about and save that blonde dude and maby other men and our planet.

And from what I have read there was very little or no self irony in the writing (like DNF had worse writing than the DLC campaign).

Then I haven't read anything unique about the gameplay. WIth other games you read alot about it if they have a special mechanic that is unique to the game. Give her a Freezeray (just an example) and use it not only to freeze enemies but objects that the enemies use for cover, or you freeze doors with secrets behind it, so they can be destroyed by being kicked/shot. You could also use the SHrinkray for that. Shrink the emenies' cover, shrink larger objects so that you can use them to jump onto them for secrets or alternative paths, etc ...

[MetHy]

Can we talk about what truely matters for a second, that is to say the Bombshell prequel ?

Those 2 screenshots went rather unnoticed, haven't seen anyone talk about it.
http://i2.wp.com/duk...uildengine1.jpg
http://i1.wp.com/duk...uildengine2.jpg

I'm sure I've been starting to sound like a frustrated and bitter party pooper lately, although trust me that is far from my intention; and I'm also sure it's going to be hard talking about this game knowing some people on this board are working on this (I don't know who, but that's besides the point).

I also know that those are just beta screenshots, they don't really mean anything. When you look at some old Blood or Shadow Warrior beta it looks horrible compared to the final product.

But still - I can't help but voice my dislike of those two screenshots. I feel like nothing really clicks in them, the textures don't really fit together, then some of them (like the brown brick wall on the 2nd shot) look undertailed compared to the rest, in a way that look stylized in a "indie retro look game" kind of way; while some other things, like the gun, stick out as ultra-realisticly-detailed, something that looks in between Redneck Rampage and Counter Strike.

Also the architecture looks very "straight" and "squary", in an un-natural way, which is more of an issue with the natural environment of the first screenshot.
The black and brown rock textures feel blurry (or maybe just too stretched? or just too low res..I can't put my finger on it) and don't make me feel as if there is any relief at all.

However - the couple of misaligned textures, and the way wall shading looks, make me think these are work in progress areas, so again it may not be representative of the game. (Though DND3D too got release with many misaligned textures...)
But still, I was super excited about this game, but those screenshots put me down, and make me feel like the game doesn't really know what is its art direction. Like it wants to be a Build game, but doesn't quite know which exactly, and mixes stuff that are on the level of Powerslave-detailing, with things that are on the level of Redneck Rampage, and with some textures that feel like they belong to an indie "I want to have a 8-bit look" game.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong?

Finally is it possible to know what's the status on the game, I thought it was supposed to be a free promotional game release for Bombshell, but that is obviously not the case if it comes out at the end of the year. Does this mean it won't be free?

[Sledgehammer]

I don't feel like there is something people can talk about, maybe promised beta release with the main game is only exception. People will start talking more if Interceptor release more than that. Beta will be a good start.

Anyway, I believe it's WIP so I wouldn't worry about those 2 screens yet. Though I can agree that I don't really like those 2 screens.

However, I worry about good level design more because I don't want it to be another disappointment which is original game and I have no idea if they have good level designers for the prequel (ROTT level design wasn't that great either). Hopefully they'll invite at least some people who did level design for Duke 3D or other talented level designers. Maybe good writers too if they want to make meaningful plot. It would be nice if they tried to use maximum potential of the engine as well.

For now there is a very huge potential and they can make it best FPS of this year. However, Interceptor's competence is very questionable, so I'm not really sure if they can deliver.

[Sixty Four]

I beat this game yesterday and once again things point in the direction as I see them with reviewers. Popular reviewers suck they play for 10 minutes and magically they know the entire game after that. It is obvious to me they did not play passed the first episode. Its not just Bombshell either so don't think I am just mouthing off for this purpose. There idiots and there paid to be that. It seems to be another process of brainwashing. I will write my own review soon since I beat it.

Slips a couple grand under the table...

Call of Duty 10/10 best game ever you will have a blast it is so fun and epic wow Doge.

I can agree with Methy on the build version it needs a sense of direction with its art/textures judging by the photos. In my opinion it looks like Blood, Shadow warrior, and Redneck combined with these gritty textures. I would think Bombshell would have more of an abstract look to it like episode 2 of the actual game

[Mblackwell]

I'm not sure why it would since it's a prequel. In Bombshell it's the first time she's seen any of those locations.

[zykov eddy]

Only care for the prequel. It's kinda sad that the build game will be released as a bonus material. A bunch of great DN3D modders are working on it and I don't want this little title to be ignored. I'm sure it would be a moderate hit if released as standalone indie game.

[Mblackwell]

According to posts on the Steam forums... It is.

[TerminX]

MetHy, on 05 February 2016 - 06:35 AM, said:

Can we talk about what truely matters for a second, that is to say the Bombshell prequel ?

Those 2 screenshots went rather unnoticed, haven't seen anyone talk about it.
http://i2.wp.com/duk...uildengine1.jpg
http://i1.wp.com/duk...uildengine2.jpg

I'm sure I've been starting to sound like a frustrated and bitter party pooper lately, although trust me that is far from my intention; and I'm also sure it's going to be hard talking about this game knowing some people on this board are working on this (I don't know who, but that's besides the point).

I also know that those are just beta screenshots, they don't really mean anything. When you look at some old Blood or Shadow Warrior beta it looks horrible compared to the final product.

But still - I can't help but voice my dislike of those two screenshots. I feel like nothing really clicks in them, the textures don't really fit together, then some of them (like the brown brick wall on the 2nd shot) look undertailed compared to the rest, in a way that look stylized in a "indie retro look game" kind of way; while some other things, like the gun, stick out as ultra-realisticly-detailed, something that looks in between Redneck Rampage and Counter Strike.

Also the architecture looks very "straight" and "squary", in an un-natural way, which is more of an issue with the natural environment of the first screenshot.
The black and brown rock textures feel blurry (or maybe just too stretched? or just too low res..I can't put my finger on it) and don't make me feel as if there is any relief at all.

However - the couple of misaligned textures, and the way wall shading looks, make me think these are work in progress areas, so again it may not be representative of the game. (Though DND3D too got release with many misaligned textures...)
But still, I was super excited about this game, but those screenshots put me down, and make me feel like the game doesn't really know what is its art direction. Like it wants to be a Build game, but doesn't quite know which exactly, and mixes stuff that are on the level of Powerslave-detailing, with things that are on the level of Redneck Rampage, and with some textures that feel like they belong to an indie "I want to have a 8-bit look" game.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong?

Finally is it possible to know what's the status on the game, I thought it was supposed to be a free promotional game release for Bombshell, but that is obviously not the case if it comes out at the end of the year. Does this mean it won't be free?

Those screens were just random WIP screenshots taken from a "how does this look?" type of post on a private Facebook group. Releasing them wasn't actually approved by anyone on the team... Fred just thought they looked cool and decided to post them. We've asked him not to do it again.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

TerminX, on 05 February 2016 - 11:25 AM, said:

Fred just thought they looked cool and decided to post them. We've asked him not to do it again.

Bad Fred. No biscuit.

[MusicallyInspired]

Now you're even I guess? (referring to when you guys were releasing beta screenshots)