Burnout Paradise Mega Thread

[DaFox]

http://nzone.com/object/nzone_burnoutparadise_downloads.html

Try it out, Its amazing.

[The_cranky_hermit]

2 hours, 15 minutes remaining

Dammit, I was planning on going to sleep in about 45 minutes. Well, if I'm lucky, maybe the download will time out around then.
*absolutely hates leaving things unfinished, even if it's along the lines of 98% unfinished*

[DaFox]

Okay so wow, I played online today and this game got 5x better, just screwing around with my friends online was amazing. Then we started doing the coop challenges and holy crap, that was so awesome.

[Dem Pyros]

Used to have this for my Xbox 360 before I sold it...the only game I really miss playing :(

Not really liking the PC controls all that much though... :/

[TBZ]

Used to have this for my Xbox 360 before I sold it...the only game I really miss playing :(

Not really liking the PC controls all that much though... :/

Can't you use a controller with the game? That shouldn't be so different from the console versions, should it?

[Lukasz]

thanks for the heads-up! I would have missed it.

[scavvenjahh]

Try it out, Its amazing.

Amazing 3 GB download for 30 min of "offline time" allowed. :shock:
Amazing unskippable cut scenes everywhere. :x I understand console kids are the target audience for video games nowadays, and they like lights and props all over their HDTVs but dammit - do they really enjoy being interrupted in their game all the time ??
Amazingly ad-ridden scenery, including giant billboards for 3-way-SLI mainboards; amazing irony for SLI users as the game runs far better in single-card mode atm. :roll:
Amazing menus. Basic in-game customization of options takes an amazing amount of time and patience. :evil:
Amazing SSAO. Your framerate cut by 3 with a single effect. Probably a nice dev toy, but it only feels like the most stupidly useless implementation in a racing game ever.

Other than that, yeah, it's a fun open-ended arcade racer with a nice damage model. I still have no idea if I'll need an online account to play the full boxed game in singleplayer, that's my biggest gripe about the demo. :?

Surround Gaming support is second to none though, and this alone makes BP a remarkable game. :rockout
DaFox don't get me wrong, I was just quoting you for a funny angle to start my post with, that all ;)

[DaFox]

[quote]Try it out, Its amazing.

Amazing 3 GB download for 30 min of "offline time" allowed. :shock:
Amazing unskippable cut scenes everywhere. :x I understand console kids are the target audience for video games nowadays, and they like lights and props all over their HDTVs but dammit - do they really enjoy being interrupted in their game all the time ??
Amazingly ad-ridden scenery, including giant billboards for 3-way-SLI mainboards; amazing irony for SLI users as the game runs far better in single-card mode atm. :roll:
Amazing menus. Basic in-game customization of options takes an amazing amount of time and patience. :evil:
Amazing SSAO. Your framerate cut by 3 with a single effect. Probably a nice dev toy, but it only feels like the most stupidly useless implementation in a racing game ever.

Other than that, yeah, it's a fun open-ended arcade racer with a nice damage model. I still have no idea if I'll need an online account to play the full boxed game in singleplayer, that's my biggest gripe about the demo. :?

Surround Gaming support is second to none though, and this alone makes BP a remarkable game. :rockout
DaFox don't get me wrong, I was just quoting you for a funny angle to start my post with, that all ;)

Yeah, 3GB is because its the full game right there, I was 'in' after 20 minutes though so it should be enough.

I assume that your talking about the take downs, wrecks, taken down scenes?

I don't mind the ad's at all, though really yes with the insane amount of them this game really should be atleast $10 cheaper.

Yeah The menus need some work, Theres also an in game menu by pressing 2 on the numpad (by default) which lets you restart the race among other things. Once you get used to it though, its really no big deal. But yes I agree it still could be much better.

That's the nature of SSAO. I believe they probably had tried adding it and by the time they realized the hurt there really was no reason to remove it.

No you do not need an online EA account to play it, I did like 3 races before creating my account. But Imo having the account is much better, then it saves all your stuff to compare with your friends ect

And yes I understand this game is not perfect, but its still damn good.


TBZ: Yeah this game, plays best with a controller imo. And no this game is exactly like the console versions with great performance on the PC (sans SSAO)

[scavvenjahh]

No you do not need an online EA account to play it, I did like 3 races before creating my account.

What about installation ? I don't suppose there's no online activation/DRM thingy ?

[DaFox]

[quote]No you do not need an online EA account to play it, I did like 3 races before creating my account.

What about installation ? I don't suppose there's no online activation/DRM thingy ?


SecuROM :/

[scavvenjahh]

Securom = online activation + phone call to EA after 3 installs, right ?

Ok, I've reached the end of my allowed demo time. Here's how it works :

-in the demo you can enter a couple races of your choice, unlock three car models (no bikes), then it's over. Buy the game for more. Fine.
-same thing for the billboards you smash or super jumps you clear, they're not counted in your savegame, you must buy the game for your progression to be saved. Sounds ok to me.
-you can then roam around freely, explore the city and your "psycho riceboy" side... until you reach the 30-minute time limit.
-when your demo time's over, you can always run the game and drive across Paradise City, but only for a couple minutes. Then you're given the choice to quit or buy the game. And since you always start at the same point (junkyard), party's over - unless you enjoy driving around the same block over and over again. :? No more fun : uninstall or buy. How nice.

Although the free-roaming, pick-your-race architecture of the game is great, a time-limited demo feels a bit like a gun pointed toward your face. EA and I don't seem to put the same meaning in the words "try before you buy". On the other hand you can upgrade the demo to the full game at any time (with an internet connection and a credit card of course), which means the demo is the full game, in a WYSIWYG way so to speak. Too bad the game's not cheaper in its download-n-play form than the boxed version, but that's nothing new.

As for the game itself -- I found it almost more fun to make a mistake and crash in slomo than to go anywhere or win races :D The "crash test" part is much better than any FlatOut or Crashday, the damage model is so detailed it feels a bit like a real arcadey version of Grid actually ! I'd love to see how a bike gets trashed...

[DaFox]

Securom = online activation + phone call to EA after 3 installs, right ?

I'd love to see how a bike gets trashed...

Or just use a fake key+crack which works just fine, No more online activation.

But yes thats what it is. They have included the key extraction tool with it which is nice, but still blarg.

Don't get your hopes up :( the bikes don't really get wrecked much at all.

[skeeder]

I played Burnout II it was a blast. This should be sweet...just its more fun in a lan...tehe.

[Dem Pyros]

Can't you use a controller with the game? That shouldn't be so different from the console versions, should it?

True, but a decent set of keyboard controls would still be welcome...

I shut it off after a few minutes. The cut-scenes and the showing-off of the dynamic crash sequences drove me insane.

[Frag Maniac]

I just got this game and have been playing it for the last couple of hours. Well, actually less then that because it's freaking weird as far as the hard to figure menu goes. They actually don't even show you in the menu how to get to the options screen. You have to hit Esc, then F2 twice. I have to admit though, I'm amazed this game only takes up 3.2GB of space (without the EA downloader).

Since it's patched to the "Ultimate Box" version, it has the Party Pack (shows in menu) and supposedly the Restart option they added, but that's yet another one of those figure it out if you can things. If anyone knows how to employ the restart feature on the PC version, please explain.

Graphics are pretty decent and it's very well optimized, esp considering it's a fairly expansive map with lots of drivable areas and destroyable objects. The gameplay is pretty addictive, but of course very arcade in nature. It can be hard at times to navigate during high speed races unless you bring up the map so as not to miss turns.

I thought the stunt events would be the hardest, esp after watching video reviews indicating that it can be harder than expected to pull off certain stunts (flat spins, barrel rolls). Oddly enough the stunt events have been the easiest. Even if I waste time driving around not able to find ramps at first, I still wind up with around 3 times the required points to beat the event even with fairly mediocre stunts.

I'm sure the appeal will increase once I learn the map well and the knack of the harder stunts. I can't help but think their having made this one force the player to navigate more was to keep it fresh for those whom already played Burnout before. It would no doubt feel more repetitive and less rewarding if you could enter events via the menu, but some are more into the raw carnage then driving around getting to know the nuances of the city I suppose, so they catered to all those complaining about no restart and offered it in a patch.

(EDITED)
Just found out on the EA Burnout Paradise forum you have to hit Numberpad 6 during or right after an event to bring up the Restart option onscreen, then Numberpad 2 to scroll down when necessary. Why they choose to over complicate the menu I don't know.

[infernus]

Kinda weird about the time-limited demo thing, as the 360 version didn't have that. You could drive for as long as you want and I don't believe it ended even when you did the two 'missions' included.

[StingingVelvet]

I shut it off after a few minutes. The cut-scenes and the showing-off of the dynamic crash sequences drove me insane.

There's only cutscenes at the start really, and you can turn off the slo-mo crashes in the menu.

I think the game is awesome, and extremely well optimized... I can even run SSA. Great stuff.

[scavvenjahh]

There are so many ways to crash while exploring the streets that I found the slomo cams pretty entertaining, but it's good to know you can disable them.

More than cut scenes per se (the intro is pure PITA) it's the annoyingly slow pace of over-complicated things that got on my nerves, especially vehicle selection at the junkyard. Such a waste of time before you can finally hit 'confirm' and go back to the streets !!! On the contrary, the instant "drive-thru" repairs are a very nice touch. Game designers : Jekyll & Hyde ? :?
The control scheme is weird, but after a couple minutes I didn't feel the need to rebind it all. (Partly because I wished to avoid anything menu-related at all costs, of course.)

Anyway I still had fun with that game, and I think I'll buy it. Definitely not for 50€ though.

Edit: I can confirm that once the 30-minute demo time is over, you're forced to quit/buy after 3 minutes of play :shock:

[Frag Maniac]

One thing that was hard for me to get used to is the cars steer opposite of how they do in most arcade racers. You have to brake to steer tight enough, and I don't mean handbrake. I find the handbrake has too much spin effect and the cars under steer without a touch of regular brake here and there.

In a lot of arcade racers they make the cars steer more sluggishly when braking, rather than the other way around. I have the steering sensitivity set at max, just to be able to swerve away from traffic well enough. It's definitely a fun game though. I ended tonight's session with a couple showtime runs with the Carson Inferno van.

[mengzor]

Kinda reminds me of outrun style steering.