DescentBB

Back to do some more []D [] []\/[] []D [] []\[] !

I've got the latest version of the Alpha which should be publicly available in just a couple of days via Gamestop's download service. It's my understanding that with the discounted purchase of this Alpha (I guess it's 0.2 now?), you qualify for the full game and all DLC.

Full Joystick support is on the way, and confirmed for the next update in September.

I have been having some fun in the new Time Trial/Race mode, but without JS support I suck. I have established that the SpaceNavigator is not an appropriate controller for a 6DOF game, but I have found it to be utterly invaluable in Google Earth, and SketchUp.

Ship physics is updated with this release, with acceleration along the slide vectors vastly improved - or so it seems with my limited mouse skills. The ship now feels far more responsive and much more powerful. This may also be an effect of racing in an environment which feels very Descent-sized in relation to the craft size.

If you have followed this week's stream, you'll already know Cadenza are including Trichording in the final game, as part of a "Classic" play mode. I don't know how this will be included in the Single Player game, but online the server will have a "Classic" or "Standard" play mode.

Full release is still some months away, and the team have committed to releasing an updated Alpha each month during the build up to the final release. The Alpha won't be revealing any more of the Single Player game though.

It looks as though this build supports online multiplayer in both co-operative and combat modes. It definitely supports local network games.

Full key-mapping is in, and you can bind any action to any key or keys, if you want to use multiple keys for any controls.

Graphics Performance seems to have been significantly enhanced, with the frame rate much higher than the previous build. If you weren't aware, Retrovirus will have native support for AMD's Eyefinity - so I will be getting a fourth monitor and run 3 x 1680 x 1050 or 5040 x 1050! HELLO PROPER WIDE SCREEN ACTION!

The combat levels are gorgeous: the "Collider" level is utterly awesome,with amazing effects, and beautiful design, and the real-time shadows make everything stunning. They'll work to help people keep themselves oriented somewhat too, as most of the lighting is on the ceiling. The level of detail is high, and visually, it's a feast for hungry eyes.

I'm having trouble waiting. December can't come fast enough!

Mobius wrote:...Cadenza are including Trichording in the final game, as part of a "Classic" play mode.

...this build supports online multiplayer in both co-operative and combat modes. It definitely supports local network games.

Awesome! The more I hear, the more it sounds like it will appeal to my Descent-ish tastes.

Oh, I had read something about auto-levelling a while back... I assume it can be disabled?

I did read that it could be. Just too bad the game won't run on my laptop since I don't have anything else. I won't buy it until I can play it -- so don't complain about waiting till December when some of us will have to wait several more years at the soonest.

Foil wrote:Oh, I had read something about auto-levelling a while back... I assume it can be disabled?

Yep, "Roll Correction" as it is called in Retrovirus can be disabled. I have recommended 2 or 3 settings, like in Descent, which will either orientate you aggressively or in a more languid fashion. I think it's important newbies have a strong auto-level, and a weaker one which will permit them to transition to zero-levelling.

Alter-Fox wrote: Just too bad the game won't run on my laptop since I don't have anything else. I won't buy it until I can play it -- so don't complain about waiting till December when some of us will have to wait several more years at the soonest.

My understanding is that the game engine supports disabling of just about everything, and this, coupled with a low resolution *should* allow the game to run on lower spec machines than are currently supported. I know that real time shadows are a big drain on the graphics, as are the dynamic lighting effects - both of which can be dialed back in the final game. Hopefully, with everything turned off, and at 1024 mode, you will be able to play the game.

But, if you need to buy or build a new machine, then that is what it will take. Remember how badly Descent 3 suffered from low frame rates when it came out? My recollection was that if you didn't have a wildly powerful 3DFx card, or very good OpenGL support, the game ran like crap, but by dialing it back, I could actually get D3 to play on the absolutely awful ($900!) Matrox G400 dualhead card. Of course, today I see over 500+ FPS constant in D3. (Sadly though, I probably see about half the frames today as I used to, because my LCDs are only 60Hz, but I could crank 100Hz at 1280 mode, and 120 Hz at 1024 mode on my old Professional Series Viewsonic CRTs. And it scaled perfectly. *sigh*)

Mobius wrote:(Sadly though, I probably see about half the frames today as I used to, because my LCDs are only 60Hz, but I could crank 100Hz at 1280 mode, and 120 Hz at 1024 mode on my old Professional Series Viewsonic CRTs. And it scaled perfectly. *sigh*)

I know it!! CRT used to rock in Descent. I remember when I switched. It was never as good. LCD is a step up in every other way as far as I know, but gaming took a big hit with the loss of CRT.

There are a few 120 Hz LCDs lurking about on the market...

http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision- ... ments.html

Still not quite as good as a CRT (I miss mine too ), and in order to hit 120 Hz refresh only the fastest panel type will do, which means they are all TN type panels with bad viewing angles.

So the latest alpha has full keymapping huh? Neat. Might re-download it sometime and give it another spin.

I am eagerly anticipating full joystick support. If you can, make sure you get them to to program it so that it can handle multiple joysticks on the same system, and it would also be helpful if mapped controls could be remembered by the joysticks name, rather than its number. Additionally, it might be helpful if axis mappings were done by registering what axis moves, rather than immediately assuming that an axis that is off-center is the one to be mapped.

The reason I mention these is because I have two game controllers connected to my system: An XBox 360 controller with a custom driver, and a MS 3D Pro via Grendel's USB converter. The custom driver I use for my 360 pad allows me to use both analog triggers on it independently in directinput mode. A consequence of this however is that they often appear to be at the extreme end of their range when at rest, rather than centered, depending on which profile for it I have loaded. It would be nice to not have to make sure I have the right profile loaded for my 360 pad when I am going to be using my 3d Pro to play a game.

Havent dl'ed the alpha yet, but if joystick controls are coming, then I'll wait for that.
I watched the demo they have on the main website, and it reminded me of forsaken. I hope it has more to it than forsaken did.
Too bad there isnt a ship to fly, as opposed to a floating gun.
It's been a long time since there was a real game on the horizon....

Avder, this is the kind of feedback Cadenza needs. Please head over to The Retrovirus Forums and request this feature.

Krom, I can't see myself trading up to 3x 22 inch 120Hz LCDs any time soon, when I can get Eyefinity going for $80 for another Samsung 226BW, and chuck in a new video card. Maybe when a few more ships come in, I'll go 3 x 24" 1920x1080...

Don't wait for the JS support, DL the new Alpha and have a thrash. Hell, I suck bad with a mouse. Real bad!

Also, don't forget to check out the live stream tonight at 6pm Pacific Time.

You humans and your reputations. Why should I care about making you angry? The funny thing is I wasn't even replying to you. Paranoid much?

Yes, I have a reputation of supposedly trying to make people angry, which was invented by people who don't know me enough (i.e., not at all) to know what they're talking about, not that they care about anyone besides themselves anyway. I never had a problem with you, but the fact that you want to trust your friends over what I know about myself speaks volumes about your character. Not to mention that I know more about myself than they do, obviously.

Did you notice that discussion was over?
If you manage to make a counter to every point of my argument, then I will listen to you. I'm reasonable like that. And I will graciously admit I was wrong if you make a better argument. That's how I get along with Karx so well . As it is you still have some gaping holes.

As for your other statement, I respect people who don't care what anyone else thinks of them... but I respect them as fools. In my book, if you don't care whether other people see you as a troll and you act like this, then you might as well be trolling.

What makes you think I care that this "discussion" is over? Do you think I wait for people to dictate to me what I'm supposed to talk about? I care about what other people think when they actually CAN think and they think for themselves, not listen to whatever negative nonsense their friends have to say about others. You get along with "karx" because he's a known "troll," according to your language. He's someone who attacked me without me ever having done or said anything to him, which is what you're doing now. The sad part is, I wasn't even talking to you in the first place. You say I'm a fool but you're really just projecting, and the reason you say I'm a fool is hilarious at best.

And this is what I say about trying to tick people off. Or not caring if you do or not, which is basically the same.
And now I stop listening to you again.

And no, you don't understand why I'm calling your actions those of a fool. And now you never will.
Projection is Freudian nonsense BTW. Freud and Maslow said a lot of things that sound nice, but very little of it is actually correct. Hell, they didn't even use the scientific method. They said most of what they said because it sounded nice.

I don't care if you want to get mad at me. You attacked me when I wasn't even replying to you. You know nothing of the context of my replies (and still don't care). You're not the only one who knows anything. I was really hoping you would be more than just a fool who copies the thoughts of others (you have to accept such things whether they make you angry or not), but I had my doubts. I see you like to rely on rumors and slander as your primary source of information. You're just yet another hateful person in a sea of disappointing degenerates. I give up.

This "game" is just another promise (i.e., vaporware) from someone who thought descent was a good idea and claims to be at a "company" making this game.

Thread hijackers.

Sorry. I didn't mean to.

Burlyman wrote:This "game" is just another promise (i.e., vaporware) from someone who thought descent was a good idea and claims to be at a "company" making this game.

Yes, the alpha that several of us have personally played must be some sort of group delusion! It all makes sense now!

http://cadenzainteractive.com/games/retrovirus/ != vaporware

As much as I hate giving good people bad news. ;P Get with the program, Burlyman! Retrovirus and Credenza actually have some substance to them! If you don't think so pull up Steam and go play Sol Survivor.

[redacted]

Looks like this thread could use a split.

The author already gave up on it and started another one. No point.

@Burlyman, on the unlikely chance you're actually serious about what you're saying, then this is what I have to say.
Reputations happen for a reason. I didn't learn about your reputation by talking to people on this board. I learned about it by reading your posts and seeing first-hand how you treat people here -- I learned how the rest of us treat you by reading the responses to those posts -- and believe me when I say that they were charitable -- particularly Ferno for not just banning you -- though I get the feeling you've been banned from here at least twice.

I said you were being foolish -- in slightly hotter terms -- because you're griping nonstop about a 'problem' that offers its own solution. If you want us to listen to you instead of just listening to our "friends", then become a "friend".

You can't expect anyone to respect you if you don't earn that respect first. And if you're not willing to earn peoples' respect, then there's nothing anyone else can do to help you -- and more importantly, nothing you can do to help yourself. And what you deserve is far worse than what you're getting.

And I know this is probably pointless. But it sounds wise anyway . Because it is.

Mobius wrote:Avder, this is the kind of feedback Cadenza needs. Please head over to The Retrovirus Forums and request this feature.

Krom, I can't see myself trading up to 3x 22 inch 120Hz LCDs any time soon, when I can get Eyefinity going for $80 for another Samsung 226BW, and chuck in a new video card. Maybe when a few more ships come in, I'll go 3 x 24" 1920x1080...

Don't wait for the JS support, DL the new Alpha and have a thrash. Hell, I suck bad with a mouse. Real bad!

Also, don't forget to check out the live stream tonight at 6pm Pacific Time.

Arrgh, I hate registering for new forums. I'll see about it in a couple of days here.

TigerRaptorFX wrote:Looks like this thread could use a split.

Agreed. Let those two keep trying to get the "last word" somewhere else.

Top Gun wrote:

Burlyman wrote:This "game" is just another promise (i.e., vaporware) from someone who thought descent was a good idea and claims to be at a "company" making this game.

Yes, the alpha that several of us have personally played must be some sort of group delusion! It all makes sense now!

Hey, I never said there was no alpha of the game. ^_~ That's not my definition of vaporware.

Alter-Fox wrote:The author already gave up on it and started another one. No point.

@Burlyman, on the unlikely chance you're actually serious about what you're saying, then this is what I have to say.
Reputations happen for a reason. I didn't learn about your reputation by talking to people on this board. I learned about it by reading your posts and seeing first-hand how you treat people here -- I learned how the rest of us treat you by reading the responses to those posts -- and believe me when I say that they were charitable -- particularly Ferno for not just banning you -- though I get the feeling you've been banned from here at least twice.

I said you were being foolish -- in slightly hotter terms -- because you're griping nonstop about a 'problem' that offers its own solution. If you want us to listen to you instead of just listening to our "friends", then become a "friend".

You can't expect anyone to respect you if you don't earn that respect first. And if you're not willing to earn peoples' respect, then there's nothing anyone else can do to help you -- and more importantly, nothing you can do to help yourself. And what you deserve is far worse than what you're getting.

And I know this is probably pointless. But it sounds wise anyway . Because it is.

Trying to talk to other people about these things is not necessarily pointless. It doesn't matter whether or not you read my posts. You lack the context, something which never appeared on these boards. More important, you didn't read my mind, nor did you ask me what happened and what my observations were.

I've never been banned from here. Yes, reputations happen for a reason, but my disillusionment exists for a reason, too. Nobody seems to think of asking people why something happens; most state they don't care.

The fact of your less-than-civil actions still remains, and no matter what their context was, they were still not civil. And that is my final point.
I think our viewpoints are so different on this that we have to stop. The only quantifiable fact here is the number of friends each of us has on this board, and you admitted yourself that most other people on this board have more than you.

Disillusioned or not, Burlyman, we're all here because we want to be, not because we have to be. Regardless of your reasons for feeling how you may, it isn't good to take it out on people. People can be totally wrong and you can still treat them with a certain degree of respect, and even give them some slack for potential misunderstandings--it happens. I don't have anything against you, but take a break if you don't like what people are doing. Whatever you do, for your sake, it should be productive.

Also you really need to not defend your vaporware statement, you don't have a leg to stand on there.

EDIT: shoot, I might be wrong...

Wikipedia wrote:Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially cancelled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted, never officially cancelled, but never intended to happen. The term also generally applies to a product that is announced months or years before its release, and for which public development details are lacking. The word has been applied to a growing range of products including consumer, automobiles, and some stock trading practices. At times, vendors are criticized for intentionally producing vaporware in order to keep customers from switching to competitive products that offer more features.

You might have something, technically, but you have to admit there's a ton of stuff out on this game... not like say Miner Wars (which is actually still coming along), or a few others I could mention back in the day. Plus they've already released a single+multiplayer game, and that's definately in their favor. "Vaporware" is pretty harsh, in this case, I think. Anything could happen, theoretically, but they're a real gaming company and this is the title they're at work on.

Hell, I'd certainly consider Miner Wars to be far more...vaporey(?), since the story on it has already changed a few times since the initial announcement.

Miner Wars has multiplayer now and it's moved into alpha.
It is taking a lot longer than any projections KSH had but it's definitely coming faster now.

Retrovirus is still more exciting. And it looks like they actually have a very good chance make their original deadline, which as far as I see it is a rarity in this industry.

See, I know what I'm talking about. ^_~ I never said they're not a real gaming company.

I have plenty of friends, but they don't play dissent; most never heard of it nor would they be interested. The actions of others are also less than civil, to say the least, yet nothing has been said about that. So, don't be surprised if I don't sugar-coat anything. I've lost all respect for them. If you want to believe that the elitists are right and I'm a "troll," go ahead. Whatever makes you feel better.

If you want to show that you're better than someone who isn't being civil, then act better than them -- i.e. civilly, politely, etc etc. And sometimes that is hard. And sometimes it doesn't work, and you're forced to fall back to either avoiding them or, maybe, you do have to fight to be treated like a fellow person. But if you've tried it, and they haven't, then you've shown them -- and everyone else witnessing it -- that you're better.

It's your choice whether you want to prove to us that you're different from the way you see us treating you. But when no one else can see a difference between your behaviour and the behaviour of those who may have legitimately wronged you -- and you don't care -- you forfeit your right to get upset at us about choices we make based on that behaviour.
This can't be a happy situation for you. And like it or not, you're the only one with the power to change it. And it should be pretty obvious that whatever you're doing now isn't changing it, whether or not you think it should.

At least I know never to tease you again.
Maybe I did accuse you wrongly in the first post. But your post and the ones you made after that were, intentionally or not, very... negative in tone about everyone else who'd responded to that original question.

This thread has run its course