MP game advice pls

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 08 Feb 2009, 19:50

OFP MP has become generally shitty in the last couple of months - noone accepts the rules of fair-play that were commonly accepted in the beginning. In fact 98% of all players are either noobs, campers/point-whorers, cheaters or a combination thereof. Don't get me wrong, theres nothing wrong with defending an object, but most campers don't defend a position but just camp @ the other teams spawns and rape the spawners. Basically everyone except a few old-schoolers try to get as many points as possible without taking any risk, so they can wank of to the scoreboard after a game.

Summary: lots of cheating, bug-using and other very cheap playing styles in OFP now -> sucks.
So I'm looking for a new game. I tried ArmA but its pretty much the same except the movements suck and cause additional frustration. I've played DH:BHD but I didn't like it very much either. I looked at youtube videos of Operation7, Insurgency Mod & COD4 - while these games look rather decent, I still get the feeling that all of them are even more 'camper' games, but maybe I get a wrong impression from the videos

What I'm looking for
* good community -> fair play
* team play (tactical gameplay possible/necessary)
* fast paced, action packed
* realism *based* gameplay (ballistics, damage models, etc.)
* good sound
* good graphics

Things I'm trying to avoid
* camping/point whoring
* cheating/hacking
* kiddies (I used to like OFP community for its maturity, but now everything has changed)

I would really much appreciate any advice and suggestions, so please recommend me some games that I could like.
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snowdog · Post by **snowdog** » 08 Feb 2009, 20:19

What I'm looking for
* good community -> fair play
* team play (tactical gameplay possible/necessary)
* fast paced, action packed
* realism *based* gameplay (ballistics, damage models, etc.)
* good sound
* good graphics

Things I'm trying to avoid
* camping/point whoring
* cheating/hacking
* kiddies (I used to like OFP community for its maturity, but now everything has changed)

Imo you can't be a pc gamer if you haven't even tried cod4, however, although it's a great game, it has some issues:

* Community is massive, good clans are out there, and poor clans too...
* This depends, sometimes lonewolf plays fine, and in other game modes at a higher game level you need to play as a team.
* Yes
* Can shoot through walls and in hardcore mode it's realistic yes, quick deaths, have to aim with ironsights/whatever as no hud crossair, etc.
* Yes, if you have 5.1 you will be amazed, all of the cod games have had better sound than the competitors imo.
* yes, decent graphics, good performance

BUT:
* usually not an issue thanks to the UAV, campers can be annoying but it's much less bad than in many many games.
* An issue unfortunately, punkbuster still fails sometimes.
* A major issue, you need to find good servers as the random servers are filled with people calling you a cheater, noob, wallhacker, whatever when you play too good or too bad. People moan about the game mechanics like martyrdom ( perk to drop a grenade when dieing).

Personally I stick to the 20 people max servers, any more and it's a spamfest, imo the 6vs6 ish servers are best, most servers are 30-50 players though :(.

Hope this explains a bit about cod4.

Mergatroid · Post by **Mergatroid** » 08 Feb 2009, 20:25

I can't believe I'm actually going to suggest this, but I just got back into Planetside and joined an absolutely phenomenal outfit. Normal play time is rife with idiots, but prime time, when most of the outfit is on, is amazing. "Raid" night even more so. I don't even really like the game, I just keep playing because the people I'm playing with are great. One warning, though: It's $15 a month and many people do not see the game as worth it. I'm even leary of paying it, but the outfit I joined makes it worth it. There is some cheating, but its very rare and the developers are overhauling both net code and the game client to make it more secure in the relatively near future (3-5 months).

Google Planetside for info on the game and go to gotr.net for info on my outfit if you are interested.

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 08 Feb 2009, 21:12

thx very much for your replies. One of the last 'true' OFP players told me that COD4 was a game where people mostly lie in houses hidden under tables and waiting for some victim... :( - he said he couldn't stand playing for more than 15min because of camping and point-whoring and since he is generally more tolerant to campers than I am, I'm not quite sure if i want to try that.

i don't want to pay on a regular basis as i dislike the idea of buying a game over and over again.

I'm still hoping that someone can name me a game that i haven heard of yet :)

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 08 Feb 2009, 21:42

I don't play MP much anymore, but CoD4 seems to still get the most accolades from hardcore mp fanatics. You have to be careful what videos you watch because the gameplay can vary depending on the server, as in any mp game.

The last mp play I engaged in was FEAR. The action can be brutal and there's lots of melee going on so not much camping unless someone holes up at the end of a hallway with a rocket launcher, and there's generally ways to deal with that as there's more than one way to get there.

They changed FEAR a lot with Project Origin though, not sure I like the game much anymore. It's less tactical, horribly optimized, and they removed lean and slide kicks. Last real war type mp game I played was CoD: UO. I liked the sprint, weapons, and vehicles, some didn't.

Lukasz · Post by **Lukasz** » 09 Feb 2009, 00:18

I recommend cod 4 and 5. There are loads of servers out there and you can always find a good one (just a matter of joining a game and checking what ppl are saying and whether whining is tolerated). Some servers even ban bunny hopping to keep a semblance of "realism." I play COD5 on a French server (BGNS) which has mature and polite people, and even though I barely speak French, somehow I always feel welcome there.
Cod 4 and 5 have good server browsers with many filters so it's fairly easy to find gametypes of your choice. Hardcore search and destroy makes me hands sweat with excitement ;).
Both games already have decent user-created maps and mods that aim to change the original feel of the game.

Far Cry 2 has great graphics but at the moment it's very arcadey and it has a lousy server browser. Still, somehow I keep returning to it to roam in beautifully rendered jungle. They have announced a patch which will add a hardcore mode so hopefully I will be able to recommend it with clear conscience soon ;)

Rainbow6 Vegas2 can be fun as well: decent graphics, loads of weapons and attachments, rather realistic (e.g. weapon damage and no jump option), and has a cool take cover functionality. I find it the most difficult/challenging to play, but there aren't as many servers as for COD games.

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 09 Feb 2009, 00:27

They changed FEAR a lot with Project Origin though, not sure I like the game much anymore. It's less tactical, horribly optimized, and they removed lean and slide kicks. Last real war type mp game I played was CoD: UO. I liked the sprint, weapons, and vehicles, some didn't.

FEAR 2 is nowhere near poorly optimized.

Anyway, I hate to be an echo, but CoD4 is still where it's at. There are campers, as there are in every game, but the awesomeness of the game makes up for it, and I would say they are less prevelent than you describe.

The most mature community is probablt Team Fortress 2's, in my experience.

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 09 Feb 2009, 00:37

The most mature community is probablt Team Fortress 2's, in my experience.

Vouch, You just have to find a good server, I guess that goes with any game though.

Dem Pyros · Post by **Dem Pyros** » 09 Feb 2009, 01:50

[quote]The most mature community is probablt Team Fortress 2's, in my experience.

Vouch, You just have to find a good server, I guess that goes with any game though.Love the game.

You asked if we could come up with a suggestion that you hadn't heard about, and I think that's unlikely if you've done any research into this. For a multiplayer game to be successful from a multiplayer aspect, there (usually) needs to be a moderately large fanbase.

I would suggest TF2 because you don't have as many problems such as camping, spawn-killing, glitching, and weapon-whoring as some other games do (although they admittedly do exist to some extent).

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 09 Feb 2009, 04:16

FEAR 2 is nowhere near poorly optimized.

I know a game that lacks proper optimization when I see one, and I have spec that reveals it much better than yours would. I can play FEAR and EP at higher settings getting better performance, and they use the same engine.

They simply packed too much content into FEAR 2 for JupiterEX to handle well. I've read comments from lots of people saying there are noticeable pauses, even on high end rigs.

Dem Pyros · Post by **Dem Pyros** » 09 Feb 2009, 17:20

I know a game that lacks proper optimization when I see one, and I have spec that reveals it much better than yours would. I can play FEAR and EP at higher settings getting better performance, and they use the same engine.

They simply packed too much content into FEAR 2 for JupiterEX to handle well. I've read comments from lots of people saying there are noticeable pauses, even on high end rigs.

But to be fair, it could be a lot worse.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 10 Feb 2009, 03:09

But to be fair, it could be a lot worse.

True, in PC gaming anymore you definitely have to grade on a curve. At some point however the developers have to be realistic when packing more graphical complexity into a sequel as to whether they should revamp the game's engine. It used to be that FEAR mainly only paused and stuttered in transition areas, now it does it in open areas, and can affect firefights adversely.

CryTek revamped their CryEngine2 with Warhead, and as a result, it handles that extra complexity well. In may places Warhead plays at frame rates above what Crysis does. My main nit pic about CryTek is they do idiotic things like cap the usable VRAM at 256. Some still don't even know you can get much better performance if you open up the amount of usable VRAM via the proper command.

Soduka · Post by **Soduka** » 10 Feb 2009, 03:40

[quote]But to be fair, it could be a lot worse.

My main nit pic about CryTek is they do idiotic things like....

cancel patches and support because they are butthurt from non-existent threats.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 10 Feb 2009, 03:57

...cancel patches and support because they are butthurt from non-existent threats.

LOL, would you mind explaining what you mean by that? I assume you're talking in anger of their having ended patch support, claiming they're not listening to complaints enough?

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 10 Feb 2009, 09:32

[quote]FEAR 2 is nowhere near poorly optimized.

I know a game that lacks proper optimization when I see one, and I have spec that reveals it much better than yours would. I can play FEAR and EP at higher settings getting better performance, and they use the same engine.

They simply packed too much content into FEAR 2 for JupiterEX to handle well. I've read comments from lots of people saying there are noticeable pauses, even on high end rigs.

The pauses are loading/checkpoint stops... The game might not run as well as FEAR, but it's also pushing a lot more effects (if slightly worse textures).

All I know is I can max the in-game settings and also force SSA through nHancer, which is almost unheard of in a brand new game with a single middle-ground GPU like mine.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 11 Feb 2009, 00:34

I don't see anyone saying it's optimized fine. Most are commenting on how much worse it is. I maintain, anytime you add graphic complexity to a game, esp one that had stuttering issues in the first place, you should consider revamping the engine. They put this one together rather lazily IMO.

In many ways it's watered down too. No more lean, no more Extreme difficulty mode, no more slide kicks, no more quicksaves, etc. Heck, even the checkpoints don't tell you where they're saving. You have to guess whether that last pause was a stutter or a save. LOL

jjmckay · Post by **jjmckay** » 12 Feb 2009, 15:18

Hi redgun,

By the points you list, you need to check out the Project Reality mod for Battlefield 2. No, CoD4/5, Far Cry 2 and other popular console-port games won't suit you (or me either) because there are indeed a lot of kiddies (your word) there. If you liked OFP and tried ArmA and want realistic gameplay with cooperative mature players then BF2:PR is probably what you want until ArmA2 or OFP2 come out.

The pr community is mature and very cooperative. Almost everyone has a microphone, follows orders and stays together as a squad. Of the bullet points you list, it has, except perhaps the 'fast paced'. Combining fast paced with reality based is not realistic I think.

BF2 is $10 in stores now too.

Good luck.

mengzor · Post by **mengzor** » 12 Feb 2009, 18:59

I was in an Enemy territories Quake Wars clan for a while , Im not sure how active it is now , but it had a pretty good community back in the day.
Certainly teamplay based , vehicles , objective based (defend X / hack X / repair X) Graphics are still good and the sound is fine , wouldnt say its particuarly realistic though with lazer weapons and tripmines and shit.
Should give it a try though i think , its like $10

crowing · Post by **crowing** » 13 Feb 2009, 03:31

I'd be interested to see what you come up with. I used to play the first person shooters quite a bit, and have known quite a few mature, strat based clans.

However, I do agree that having strategic, team based gameplay can be almost never combined with fast paced, so you'll have to make provisions and decide what's more important.

Used to play America's Army which is pretty realistic, is great when played with friends and teammates, and is up for a graphics overhaul soon. However, most of the outdoor maps are very slow. At least it's free.

I think COD definitely works for fast paced action, but it's almost too frantic at times. Hard to use much strategy when people are always respawning and at a different location.

I don't recommend Far Cry 2 for MP, it just doesn't do much for me. First person is kinda fun but repetitive.

Currently I'm into TF2. Steam does a good job keeping the hacking down, the community is good, and it's fun to play with all the different classes. But mostly, it's just nice to find a game that doesn't cause me to pull my own hair out from frustration :)

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 14 Feb 2009, 01:03

Thx, for all your help. As great as Project Reality looks, it doesn't run on triple-head so, i'll have to keep looking.

What I will come up with:
Nothing, I'll probably stop playing all together. Today was the new low in OFP. Not a single good game - not a f***ing single good game out of about 10. Only camping and whoring easy points. Seems like I'm the last person out there who actually wants to have fun instead of winning.
I played this thing since the demo was released I always loved it until now...nowadays people are only looking for easy kills.

So I guess i'll quit gaming altogether, since i can't find any game worth playing. Sad but true, thanks again for your attempts to help.

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