[watsisname]

Get 3D

THANK YOU, I've been trying all day to remember the name of that level!  That was so insane to play on.

The fact that the game "evolved" into this extremely twitch-based don't-blink-or-you're-dead affair... yeah, I can see why the die-hards like it.

Well that's the thing, right?  The game itself didn't change at all.  What changed was the mindset of those highly competitive players, and thus the levels that were popular within their group changed as well.  But for most other players, that change was completely irrelevant, or even obnoxious if it was forced upon them.

I think the D:U guys said it best when they talked about how different people take away different things from the Descent experience.  Some people love openness, others like confinement.  Some think Descent is all about competitive play, others prefer the single player.  Or cooperative.  But it's all the same game.   I think the big reason Descent never faded from memory was that, unlike most other games in the 6DOF genre, it really got the mechanics right and had lasting replay value for all kinds of play styles.  So to cater to just one of them in a reboot would be a huge mistake and further divide the community.  I think it makes sense for them to focus on the competitive multiplayer right now to help balance the ships and weapons, but the rest cannot just be an afterthought.  If the SP / Co-Op is weak, a lot of people are going to be extremely upset.  It would also be bad if the core multiplayer team-vs-team system ends up aligning too closely with what those hardcore competitive players want.  New and casual players would hate it.

[jr2]

I agree that game design primarily catered to multiplayer veterans will not result in an active or long-lasting game, and would just drive away new players. However, large open spaces are not really conducive to multiplayer. This was a problem with the outdoor areas in some D3 maps, where any weapons except the Vauss and MD were useless, and stalemates were common until someone eventually ran away and went indoors. However, you can definitely have smaller and more cramped levels that are still spread out in the third dimension, which maps like Minerva or Veins are certainly not. In D3, Core was a better example. I recall another good one called Get 3D for D2 that we used to play here on HLP.

Well, they could have destructible windows into those areas (with MD / Vause guns / ammo nearby) to enable folks inside to snipe anyone outside, which would make it hazardous.

Basically make it so that you could still go outside, just not hang out there (sort of like Blood Gulch in Halo, you're not really safe in between the bases even if no one is nearby, snipers will get you).

[Hunter]

Finally 33 hours people - if you haven't backed already, please consider it - we need it 

Check out the new trailer @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8EOVfY26k

[riomaki]

I agree that game design primarily catered to multiplayer veterans will not result in an active or long-lasting game, and would just drive away new players. (...) However, you can definitely have smaller and more cramped levels that are still spread out in the third dimension, which maps like Minerva or Veins are certainly not. In D3, Core was a better example. I recall another good one called Get 3D for D2 that we used to play here on HLP.

Yeah, I agree, and that's a point I was going to make, if I were familiar with the last 10 years of Descent multiplayer.  I can understand why some levels don't have giant open spaces, but not why popular levels rarely exploit the Z-axis.  When I left, I don't think any did.  You could make Minerva for Doom or Quake and nothing would be lost.  I think there's something really weird about that, in a game that's supposedly big on 6DOF.  Core was an example of a level that was uniquely Descent.

I remember, from my days on DBB, how there were always a lot of "house rules" in play to satisfy whatever the pros wanted.  But, a good multiplayer game caters to all skillsets, not just the top.  In Unreal Tournament's heyday, I used to reside somewhere in the middle.  I'd get killed a lot by the top players... but every now and then, I'd get revenge.  And that's what stopped it from being totally frustrating.  I feel when that happened in Descent, the pros would be "Oh man, we better ban that weapon!"  And then they did.  Anything that would allow a newbie to kill a pro once in a blue moon was like that.  Until it was nothing but pros plonking everyone with their Mass Drivers from halfway across the level because casuals never understood how to dodge the stupid thing.

But anyhow, that's neither here nor there.  It's going to be one close Kickstarter, that's for sure.  I still can't say I'm that convinced, although talking it through, I begin to understand their design a lot more.

[watsisname]

Finally 33 hours people - if you haven't backed already, please consider it - we need it 

Check out the new trailer @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8EOVfY26k

Leaps and bounds better than their old one.  Holy ****.

[Ulala]

Increased my pledge after that new trailer. Not sure why it said "Prepare for war" instead of "Prepare for descent" at the end though...

[Dark Hunter]

Okay, that trailer managed to convince me. Backed.

I'm still not expecting this to be as great as the old Descent, but at least now it's actually looking like a worthy addition to the canon.

[riomaki]

I have no doubt that if they used that trailer as their original one, they'd already be past their goal!

Definitely one of the closest Kickstarters I've seen coming toward the end.  I kind of thought they'd be closer this morning.  That said, I've backed for $30.  Now, I hope they don't disappoint! 

[watsisname]

The best cookie.

[Ulala]

They only need ~$8000 more and have a few hours to do it. I think this may reach funding after all.


[edit] Just hit $600K! Cool!

[z64555]

Annnd, it's backed.

[Mongoose]

wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!111!!1!1

[Cyborg17]

Ah!  Now if only I had a computer to run it!....  *sighs*

[McMad]

That new trailer convinced me to back too. I'm glad they made it

[Mongoose]

Yeah I'd need one at least 7 years younger than this thing to run it, but who cares, I'll figure that out later!

[Scourge of Ages]

I'll be honest, last week when they were stagnating at about 300k, I didn't think they'd pull it off.

I'm very pleasantly surprised

[ScottFreeCapital]

The FreeSpace Tactics Kickstarter serving as an indicator for interest in the game is nonsense. If anything, Interplay should look at this, maybe combined with Star Citizen, and realize the potential. 

[TechnoD11]

This game was my childhood.
Backed $170 during the last 30 hours.
I don't think there has ever been any other retail game that I have wanted more.

[Sushi]

I'll be honest, last week when they were stagnating at about 300k, I didn't think they'd pull it off.

I'm very pleasantly surprised

No way anyone would let it fail that close to the mark. At that point, you borrow from yourself to put it over the line.

[watsisname]

Tired of flat boxy anarchy levels?  Try this lovely little thing:



It doesn't look so complicated on the map, but holy crap does it get disorienting inside... just watching the replay of my fight in it makes me dizzy.
Thanks NaphthaTurisas for totally breaking my brain, and to a guy on DCL for introducing me to it.