By Alec Meer on November 6th, 2008 at 11:03 pm.
So, most of the season’s biggest games have landed on our hard drives by now, which means two things will follow in their wake:
1) A torrent of finely-detailed complaints about this, that and the other feature. With maybe the occasional compliment thrown in for good measure.
2) Patches!
There tends to be this weird two-sided coin for PC versions of big games – on the hand they often don’t receive quite as much spit’n'polish as the console versions, which is at least partly because there’s no Microsoft or Sony certification hoops to jump through. On the other, that lack of certification means fixing up minor holes can happen a lot more quickly. Case in point – in the last couple of days, two very recent biggies have already seen their first patches: Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2.
Let’s start with the former, because the details are dulldulldull:
Fixed occasional crashes when exiting the game or using Alt F4 to exit.
Fixed crashes when using Alt-Tab while binks or credits were playing.
The game now restarts properly after title updates finish installing.
Which is important stuff even if it’s not fun to talk about, and hopefully suggests Bethesda should be pretty on the ball about sorting out further bugs. Have you lot any particular requests? Oh – you can grab the 6.59Mb patch from here .
FC2′s sounds a bit more significant, sorting out a whole bunch of stuff in both single and multiplayer, as well as adding 5.1 sound support and a benchmark mode. There’s also a list of other issues currently being nosed at here. Full patch notes below, and again, what bugs/failings d’you reckon especially needs a fix sharpish?
Multiplayer
- Server’s IP address now displays in lobby, beside the match’s name (for direct IP join to work)
- Dedicated Server can now be launched in command line.
- Improved match start conditions. Ranked games can now also start if the player max is attained and everybody but the host is ready.
- Fixed a bug causing random crashes when joining a game.
- Ranked matches in progress will no longer display in the match list.
- Fixed players with same name by using identifiers instead of names.
- Fixed crash when creating a LAN game without a network cable.
- The diamond pool is now always validated after class upgrades, reset or rank up to avoid getting more diamonds than you are supposed to for your rank.
- When creating a dedicated server with PunkBuster enabled, then close it to create another but this time with PunkBuster disabled, PunkBuster will still be considered ON, on this new server.
- Fixed a problem where a player could get stuck (and couldn’t get killed) after pressing the interaction key while wounded and getting rescued by a teammate at the same time.
- Fixed players getting disconnected if they have too many user maps and try to enter the map rotation menu in a Player or Ranked match.
- Vehicles will now always respawn even if they are never used.
- Fixed users not being able to see a match if the host switched match mode after a rank.
- Fixed a glitch that could make a player invisible to another.
- Fixed incorrect check for negative values when adjusting diamond count.
- Fixed a problem where a player would render through objects if healing a wounded playing while being wounded at the same time.
- Fixed reload not being interrupted on the host when a client picks a weapon while reloading.
- Fixed Field Manuals not unlocking after game mode change.Singleplayer
- Fixed health not changing with the difficulty level.
- Keyboard controls remapping in single mode now carry into multiplayer mode.
-A buddy will no longer get stuck when healing him while player is receiving damage.
- Stats of favourite weapon are now properly reset between loaded save games.
- The mortar will no longer move the player through wall.
- Mission objectives markers are now show properly after loading a save game.General
- Fixed glider key remapping.
- Game will now minimize in order to show the website when clicking on ubi.com.
- Dolby 5.1 is now supported for most sound cards.
- Fixed a random crash that could happen when pressing ESC to cancel a Benchmark run.
- Added CPU Intensive benchmark test run.
- Fixed Jackal Tapes and Partner Tapes pages.Map editor
- Fixed crash in editor when deleting many objects in very rapid succession.
- Fixed crash in editor during parsing of the map headers.
06/11/2008 at 23:13 Chis says:
Will RPS have a Fallout 3 “shakedown” at some point? We’ve had a post about Far Cry 2, and many already about Left 4 Dead. A post-mortem is due for Stalker Clear Sky, also.
Fallout 3 really isn’t much more than Oblivion in a different setting, with guns. Maybe that IS worth 9/10 to some, but ugh… the writing and map design both seem so uninspired after ploughing through Stalker.
06/11/2008 at 23:27 Pags says:
“- The mortar will no longer move the player through wall.”
Quite possibly one of my favourite fixes since the legendary Boiling Point’s multiple patches.
06/11/2008 at 23:31 Chis says:
Uninspired, not “inferior”.
Anti-troll should attempt to expand their vocabulary before replying.
Anyway on-topic: I’m playing FO3 on a fairly fresh install of XP, very little background tasks outside of AV and audio control panel. It’s crashed on me a few times, VATS sometimes screws up: it becomes slow, none of the clickable targets appear and it’s impossible – most of the time – to get out of it, without exiting to the main menu.
But, hats off to Beth for no DRM, that alone deserves a sale. Their brand of dungeon-crawling, somewhat soulless though it is, is still quite compelling. Hardly feels different to Oblivion though.
06/11/2008 at 23:33 Chis says:
That was NOT directed to you, Pags, but a poster who’s post has since been removed. Apologies for the confusion.
Boiling Point… now there’s a game I’ve hardly touched, but found totally fascinating when it had my attention. More fun than Far Cry 2, if you ask me.
06/11/2008 at 23:33 Biff says:
Fallout 3 needs a fix so you don’t accidentally skip large chunks of the main quest while doing some perfectly innocent exploring.
06/11/2008 at 23:34 Vivian says:
Does the FO3 patch bugger yr saves? Cos if it does I’m not touching it with yours.
PS dunno how it compares to the others cos I havent played them, but I’m a huge looking glass fan, I’m not completely uneducated. and this game is fucking awesome.
06/11/2008 at 23:38 Doctor Doc says:
They did nothing about Far Cry 2… just a lot of mumbo jumbo that no one asked for.
What the about almost instantly respawning enemies? What about the low FOV on widescreen? Bioshock took forever to fix the exact same problem too (FOV that is), but that is not an excuse to ignore such a simple problem that is so easy to fix.
06/11/2008 at 23:41 Kadayi says:
@Vivian
No your saves are unaffected by the patch.
06/11/2008 at 23:41 Pags says:
Not to worry Chris, had a feeling it wasn’t directed at me though the lack of another post did confuse me a tad.
On the topic of comical fixes, does anyone remember the website which essentially just listed all the ludicrous things the patches fixed? I remember almost busting a lung from laughter reading it.
06/11/2008 at 23:42 Pags says:
The patches for Boiling Point*
06/11/2008 at 23:46 Larington says:
I’m really enjoying Fallout 3 and so are quite a few other folks on the course I’m on. Something thats note-worthy is the way that some people have referred to “Oblivion with guns” as being a bad thing, whilst away from the internet I’ve heard it used as a complement. Yes, thats right, a complement.
Some memory loading/clearance patching on FO3 might be a good idea though, I’m getting limited stutter in the game after having saved/loaded a bit during play (Usually after arriving in a large out-door area) though this is easily fixed by just restarting the game, which doesn’t take long at all.
The animations can sometimes seem a bit odd if I’m paying attention, but often times I’m too busy doing things to notice.
Visiting one of the other vaults has freaked me the heck out (Think musicians and you’ll know which one I mean) and as such I’m looking forward to seeing if the other vaults pull off the same effect.
06/11/2008 at 23:58 reiver says:
“Fallout 3 needs a fix so you don’t accidentally skip large chunks of the main quest while doing some perfectly innocent exploring.”
Thats an end-user malfunction and not in Bethesda’s power to fix. It’s a massive step forward for them to have a consistent approach to the world. Rather than hiding things behind special key doors or arbitrarily spawning them when you trigger the set piece. OB’s world was all the weaker for feeling like it revolved solely around you and Fallout’s world is the stronger for that sense of existence beyond your stimulus.
You don’t miss out on anything btw all the fed-ex quests are still there just for different rewards. the game adapts suprisingly well to most deviances (try killing 3 dog!).
07/11/2008 at 00:16 TheLordHimself says:
I was getting a little bored of Fallout 3 until I got that hypo gun thing of the slavers. Its just so much fun that thing.
07/11/2008 at 00:20 plague says:
Is the FC2 multiplayer actually worth it? Is anyone playing? I haven’t bothered firing it up.
07/11/2008 at 00:48 Meat Circus says:
Oh my, yes. Fallout 3 is quite the buggy little bitch.
The more I play, the more frequent bouts of stuttering, CTDs, and complete lockups become.
PATCH GET!
07/11/2008 at 00:51 shon says:
Quick Fallout3 note. My girlfriend loves Fallout 1 and 2, and can’t play a FPS to save her life. So far she is having a blast with the game and is really happy with the VATS system. I had to help her with picking locks but so far she is enjoying it.
07/11/2008 at 00:51 Tei says:
I love how Fallout feel like a world and not like a game. Even stuff like computers are not overused to describe the world, are here, because are supposed to be here.
And I have very litte to no crashes.
07/11/2008 at 00:53 rabbitsoup says:
I like fallout 3 less than oblivion purely because the mele combat worked better than the shooting. Although I think this only because I’m used to playing proper FPS but i find the combat lacks a sense or danger or urgency. anyone else find this.
Also why is it brown OR grey, only 2 colours and they wont mix them. I really cant wait for the mods though having installed FCOM on oblivion made it last an extra year :) but why should it be modders making it fun?
07/11/2008 at 00:53 Chris Evans says:
No love for the Gal Civ 2 mega patching?
Tut tut ;)
07/11/2008 at 01:15 Matt says:
I was having mega problems with FO3 to begin with. CTDs, random freezes, etc. All seemed related to a tiny ‘rip’ kinda sound I heard whilst playing in headphones. I heard something called ‘ffdshow’ should be disabled to fix it, but I didn’t have that installed so I didn’t think that could be it. But as a last resort I installed ffdshow and asked it to stop using fallout3.exe in one of the settings menus, and since then it hasn’t crashed once. Tis worth a try if anyone is still having problems.
I’m now free to listen to Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters’ “Civilisation” whilst watching the sunrise over the ruined DC skyline. Post-apocalyptia ftw!
07/11/2008 at 01:16 manintheshack says:
Is anyone else having the Audigy bug in FC2? Possibly the worst bug I’ve ever encountered. Every time I reach for syrettes in a medkit my sound card causes the comp to bluescreen and crash. It’s not mentioned in the patch notes which is a pain in the arse because switching to crappy onboard sound is tedious and bad quality. I really can’t go back to that game until that’s fixed and it’s quite a common issue according to the Ubi forums. Tsk.
07/11/2008 at 02:09 unique_identifier says:
manintheshack:
yeah, my mate has the same bug. of all the places it could bluescreen, hey?
I’m amused that there’s no mention of hovering zebras or mercs falling out of the sky to their death in the patch notes, but honestly I feel the game is all the more interesting for it.
07/11/2008 at 02:40 wcaypahwat says:
Fallout is a terrible game. If only because its been causing me to go to bed at 5am every night/morning.
I’ve only had it crash a few times, but I kindof expected it, since Oblivion was hardly the most stable game on my system.
I’m off now, to see if I can’t eliminate those fould Brotherhood scum from the wastes
07/11/2008 at 02:40 Pags says:
You lucky, lucky person.
07/11/2008 at 03:08 Y3k-Bug says:
To those with issues where VATS slows down the game to a crawl:
Yet another bug. Turn off AA completely to fix the issue until a patch is released to fix it.
07/11/2008 at 03:34 Digit says:
I would also be interested in hearing a sort of ‘second glance’ at Fallout 3 as I’m wary post-Oblivion which in my humble opinion was broken and unplayable. I would love to get Fallout 3, I’m just not over my fear of being Bethesda’ed.
07/11/2008 at 03:38 PleasingFungus says:
Yeah, ditto Y3K-Bug’s comment on VATS. I did exactly that when I was noticing a problem, and the VATS slowdown very nearly vanished.
The only bug that bothers me right now is the goddamn Big Town invisi-robots, but that’s fairly minor, so… whatever.
Lovely game overall. Like Oblivion with guns – that is, excellent.
07/11/2008 at 05:04 spd from Russia says:
FO3 is not “Oblivion with guns”
its “Stalker with VATS”
07/11/2008 at 05:30 Ben Abraham says:
@Y3K-Bug
I get that one all the time! But I don’t wanna turn off AA =(
07/11/2008 at 06:08 malkav11 says:
Fallout 3 has DRM. It just has the old-fashioned disc-check kind – SecuROM or Starforce, depending on region. It’s a lot better than limited installs or server activation, but it’s not no DRM.
Neither Far Cry 2 nor Fallout 3 has exhibited any behavior in the last couple weeks of play that I could identify as buggy, for me. I guess my system loves me.
07/11/2008 at 06:24 Mr. President says:
Does the patch fix inability to reassign some of the controls? Being forced to run Autohotkey every time I run FO3 is the only thing that bothers me really.
07/11/2008 at 06:58 Jeremy says:
“Fallout 3 has DRM. It just has the old-fashioned disc-check kind – SecuROM or Starforce, depending on region. It’s a lot better than limited installs or server activation, but it’s not no DRM.”
Really? I bought FO3 and FC2 at the same time, immediately installed FO3, then took out the cd and installed FC2. I’ve never been asked to insert the CD for FO3. If it makes any difference, I bought the english version at an import shop in Japan.
Incidentally, FO3 gets WAY more of my time, and will occupy my whole life once I get the new 37″ installed this weekend :D
07/11/2008 at 07:21 unclelou says:
I am enjoying Fallout 3 a lot – much more than I thought I would.
Yes, the writing and voice-acting is mostly a bit uninspired, but otherwise it is very, very good. It’s a game that really rewards exploration, and many of the quests are surprisingly well done. VATS is great (though it could have done with a few more options like aimed shots and running) and absolutely necessary to surive, not just a token gesture.
While they don’t really hit the tone of the Fallout 1/2 universe all that often, you can tell they do love the universe, and the attenion to detail in the game is staggering.
I am one of those who did like Oblivion, but nevertheless wasn’t too happy with Bethesda doing Fallout 3, and while I still would have preferred an iometric, turn-based FO3 with better writing, it’s much better than I expected.
07/11/2008 at 07:23 unclelou says:
Forgot something: it’s running like a charm for me. I haven’t had a single crash or other significant bug in 30 hours.
07/11/2008 at 07:44 Stromko says:
I was squarely pissed off by how the ‘good’ path for the ritzy hotel quest (you’ll know the one) went, which is a good sign for how much Fallout 3 managed to rope me into its world after 3 days of solid play. That I took a karma hit for wasting a guy who just slaughtered some 30-odd NPCs (including 3 named, dialogued, and all-around ‘good’ characters) after I’d convinced said victims to let the interlopers live with them was just.. senseless. Especially as I had no dialogue or other route whereby my character, or any other character involved, would actually take issue with the wholesale and needless slaughter of innocents.
That everything I’d done and experienced before then made some semblance of sense, or at least didn’t get past my suspension of disbelief, has convinced me that Fallout 3 has a very engaging, consistent narrative overall. Enough that I’d give even that nasty turn of events a shadow of a doubt, thinking, “Hey, the worst possible result came from my best efforts, I guess that’s supposed to be.. kind of a ‘moral’ story.”
I don’t think Fallout 3 is ‘Oblivion with Guns’, it’s more like, ‘Oblivion with far superior worldcrafting and storytelling’.
07/11/2008 at 07:45 Tei says:
My only problem with Fallout 3 is that is supersort. I have pay like $60 for this game and already complete. A RPG game is supposed to stay for years, not days.
Now I have restored a old savegame, and I am exploring *everything*. Withouth the feel of urgency, is not that fun, but there are nice stuff, like the Antagonist v|||STOP…. I don’t want to spoil the game to other people :-)
07/11/2008 at 07:47 Tei says:
There are real green trees in DC? I would love to get to that area. too much grey and grey and brown.
07/11/2008 at 07:50 MCDeuce says:
My one big problem with FO3 was, oddly enough, customizing the hairstyle and facial features. My character’s head would always appear below the bottom of the viewer in the customization thingy — I could see the tips of a mohawk and a bit of sunburned skin, but that was it.
Just installed the patch, and this also appears to be fixed. After a quick nip over to the plastic surgeon my female character no longer has a mustache and 5 o’clock shadow. This pleases me.
07/11/2008 at 07:51 unclelou says:
“My only problem with Fallout 3 is that is supersort. I have pay like $60 for this game and already complete. A RPG game is supposed to stay for years, not days.”
Fallout 3 has a massive amount of content. The trick is to do the exploring *before* you finish the main quest. ;-)
07/11/2008 at 08:18 neofit says:
Have they fixed the horrible mouse sensitivity and acceleration problems in FC2? ( Yeah yeah yeah some people don’t mind playing with the controls they way they were at release, good for them but I don’t care ;) ).
07/11/2008 at 08:24 Mr. President says:
It depends on your region. My version demanded that I install “a driver” before I play the game. I chose to nodvd it instead.
07/11/2008 at 08:29 Subject 706 says:
FO3 was better than I thought it would be. More a spin-off than a sequel, but much better than Oblivion, which I started to hate after a few hours. Game runs stable for me, though I had to fix the ffdshow bug.
Regarding FC2 though…no amount of patching will ever make that a good game.
07/11/2008 at 08:32 unclelou says:
FO3 doesn’t need the disc if you click the fallout3.exe rather than the launcher. I don’t know if that’s the same for all versions, mind.
@neofit:
Mouse acceleration in FC2? It doesn’t do that for me. I hate mouse acceleration in FPS games with a burning passion, I would have noticed. But maybe it’s Logitech’s setpoint that interferes with that on my PC.
07/11/2008 at 08:44 SwiftRanger says:
“FO3 doesn’t need the disc if you click the fallout3.exe rather than the launcher. I don’t know if that’s the same for all versions, mind.”
Works like a charm here, thx.
If there is one bug I’d like to see removed in F3 then it is the one where you only see your first savegames if you aren’t connected to Live (I think those were made when I hadn’t connected to Live yet). Seriously, I have to connect to GfW Live every time to see my last savegames pop up (and the first savegames are gone then too). I almost had a heart attack when I first saw those first saves only…
07/11/2008 at 08:49 Gurrah says:
Fallouts biggest flaw is the level cap. Seriously, how can you make an open world game and include a cap as low as 20?! I was level 20 before reaching Rivet city, which is at the beginning of the main storyline. I am one of the old, die-hard Fallout fans, and I think Bethesda has done a good job at converting Fallout into something ‘next-gen’ – but the level cap is just stupid and annoying. It doesn’t feel like you accomplish anything after the XP stops pouring in. Sure, you are exploring, but your character does not progress in any way, which is a sad thing.
07/11/2008 at 08:59 Mike says:
“Is anyone else having the Audigy bug in FC2? Possibly the worst bug I’ve ever encountered. Every time I reach for syrettes in a medkit my sound card causes the comp to bluescreen and crash. It’s not mentioned in the patch notes which is a pain in the arse because switching to crappy onboard sound is tedious and bad quality. I really can’t go back to that game until that’s fixed and it’s quite a common issue according to the Ubi forums. Tsk.”
And once again a point for not buying anything from Creative. Crappy drivers make me cringe …
07/11/2008 at 09:05 Turin Turambar says:
Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns.
And a less generic setting. And better npcs, with better dialogue. And better quests with varied solutions. And a better stat system. And a more hidden and well thought level scaling. And a good action/rpg combat system. And a better developed story. And a more accesible beginning.
So yeah, it’s not really “Oblivion with guns” and that’s it.
There are two flaws in the game: it’s fucking buggy (way more crashes in my machine than Stalker) and the level cap is way too low in comparison with the size of the world.
07/11/2008 at 09:06 Bananaphone says:
Will there be a patch to make Far Cry 2 not shit?
07/11/2008 at 09:19 Larington says:
Yeah, about the “oblivion with guns” comment, I think its important to note that this is the sort of thing thats said (As it was in the context I used it earlier) by someone who is holding the box or looking at screenshots but hasn’t quite played it yet. Obviously, you start to play it and it becomes evident that its so much more than that.
And I do so love the attention to detail in this, right down to things like the cats-eyes in the roads.
07/11/2008 at 09:29 Heliocentric says:
@banana that would be the most awesomest patch note ever.
34. Changed the default value of game_shit() from 1 to 0. This makes the game fail to be not good, creating an improved experience for players with vchar angryinternetman set to 1.
07/11/2008 at 09:31 Garrett says:
Far Cry 2 is like that by design, so it’s unlikely to ever change, and unless they release a full editor it’s unlikely that players will be able to fix it without a ridiculous amount of reverse-engineering.
And Fallout 3 is capped at 20? That’s amazing. I’m already level 6 (er, 7, maybe?) and the only part of the main story I’ve done is the bit in Megaton, although that’s partly because I have several points in the Fast Learner perk. With the way I play I’ll be maxed out before I even get to the real plot (assuming “follow dad, kthx” isn’t the real plot).
Now if only Bethesda could release a patch for the crashes that happen during the game…
07/11/2008 at 09:34 reiver says:
I think the level cap feels too low because of the way the game is balanced. If you do a lot of the MQ before exploring you level very quickly. If you just explore and do SQs you level very slowly. Personally, i’m over 50 hours into the game and have barely touched the MQ. As a result i’m still only on level 18 but thanks to bobbleheads and skill books i’ve all my major stats maxed plus another couple bumped to the 70s. None under 25! So for me the game’s system feels perfect and the cap far from restrictive.
I think Beth must’ve made the choice to do it like this to tone down scaling. It means that if you decide to pursue the MQ to the exclusion of the rest of the world you’ll still be at the right power for the task and they can make the world less artificially responsive to your level. It’s a different way of tackling the problem and I have to say i prefer it as it allows the quick fix gamers to play but is less punishing towards the long play guys in accomodating them.
07/11/2008 at 09:37 DigitalSignalX says:
Wait, our HP was supposed to increase in Far Cry? ROFL.
Ok, back to Fall Out: GAME OF THE YEAR. Yes, I loved Goo too, but I’m having a difficult time remembering when I was so utterly engrossed in the vast minutia of a game. It will make you scared, thrilled, and wanting a tetanus shot all at the same time.
This patch is B.S. though, just a reach-around for Microsoft to keep their sticker on the box. There are some user crafted patches out already for some quest bugs, but a really decent engine patch is a *must* for a second run-through.
07/11/2008 at 09:40 SuperNashwan says:
So, no fix for the extremely twitchy monocular, the watch controls not remapping, the hard drive bloating quick save, the completely broken audio levels/panning etc etc. And those are only the technical issues that need addressing, I could write a few thousand words on everything that’s wrong (and right) with the game mechanics. They can start by patching out malaria entirely.
As for Fallout 3, you better hope Bethesda are on the ball, a quick glance at the thousands of bugs fixed in the unofficial community patch for Oblivion was enough for me to hold off buying F3 until I hear more about the quality. At launch I had to use the official mod tools to fix at least eight Oblivion quests in one playthrough of that, but no mod tools this time…
07/11/2008 at 09:58 Funky Badger says:
The landscape in FO3 is utterly wonderful, creeping from cover to cover, scoping things with the sniper rifle, moving on, exploring, capping slavers. All that god stuff. Best atmosphere in-game ever (better than S.t.a.l.k.e.r.). And there’s apparently some plot and dungeons NPCs and RPG stuff tacked on as well.
07/11/2008 at 10:02 reiver says:
The lack of proper darkness does take away some atmosphere. Beth’s vision of night is like a winter’s day in Aberdeen.
07/11/2008 at 10:03 Bananaphone says:
Re: Far Cry 2
It’s not really shit, but I was massively disappointed. The freedom of the game is an illusion, its gunfights aren’t exciting, the AI is poor, the speech terrible (why does it sound like it’s being played at 1.5x speed?) and some of the design decisions are questionable at best and utterly moronic at worst. Such a shame.
But Fallout 3 is awesome! Definitely my personal GOTY. And re: level cap, DO NOT take the fast levelling perk. You will hit level 20 unless you just go straight into the MQ and skip all side missions. Don’t make the levelling any faster that it needs to be.
07/11/2008 at 10:06 Dominic White says:
Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 (and to a lesser extent, Spore) are among a new generation – Games that get glowing reviews, and are widely praised everywhere but the internet.
But oh boy, the moment you get online, they’re suddenly the worst things ever made.
I, for one, am glad the developers seem to be abandoning the Angry Nerd demographic. More trouble than they’re worth.
07/11/2008 at 10:19 mpk says:
Far Cry needs a lean function.
07/11/2008 at 10:23 reiver says:
Where is this Fallout 3 hate? Even the codex isn’t entirely united in hating it and there’s a lot of praise for it 9as a game rather than a fallout game) at NMA.
07/11/2008 at 10:27 Kieron Gillen says:
Yeah – my impression is that FO3 is actually getting an impressively favourable user response.
KG
07/11/2008 at 10:34 Dominic White says:
Generally favourable, perhaps, but there’s still a large ‘Oblivion was the WORST GAME EVER MADE and this is it all over again!’ crowd. I have a feeling a lot of them are keeping their heads down, as they’re definitely the minority this time though.
There’s still forums where you can be practically lynched for saying you preferred Oblivion to Morrowind. Oblivion may have been the more popular, but once the angry people start shouting, it doesn’t seem that way.
See Far Cry 2, with the DRM-rage crew saying that their protests have been a great success… and the game flying straight to #1 in the charts. There’s always this lovely divide between reality and the internet echo chamber.
07/11/2008 at 10:45 Bananaphone says:
Haven’t noticed much FO3 hate, unusually for a big game it’s getting almost universal praise. The few negative comments I’ve seen have been shot down quickly, and the complaints are odd (“It’s too difficult!” Stop playing it like an FPS then).
07/11/2008 at 10:47 unclelou says:
That’s an oversimplification. I bought Far Cry 2, hence have contributed to the sales statistics. Yet I do think it’s a terribly mediocre game. Does that make me an angry internet nerd?
What’s more, it’s not that surprising that people who play games a lot, and like to talk about games on the internet, might have higher standards than the casual gamer (in lack of a better word, and I don’t mean that condescending at all) who just picks up FC2 after he’s seen a TV ad. That’s not exactly something specific to gaming.
My impression is that it somehow annoys you that people don’t like FC2 and Spore, so you make a sweeping blow.
What happens when you don’t like a game, if I may ask? Do you stay silent?
07/11/2008 at 10:48 matte_k says:
My only frustration with FO3 is the fact that it occasionally and randomly crashes- i’ve had a couple of play sessions with no crash, then some with consistent crashing every few minutes or so. I keep reading about the ffdshow thing, might try that.
However, it was running ok for the last couple of days, and then I installed the patch (had no choice really, if I’d said no it would sign me out of shitbox Games for Windows Live, thus disabling access to my saves) and I had 10 CTDs in 25 minutes. Surely a patch is supposed to make the game better, not worse? ;)
So yeah, really enjoying both of these titles except for that. And the confusion as to why Bethesda signed FO3 to Windows live, when they’re using Steam to sell it digitally. What use is Live for this game? Only for the achievements, apparently. So why not do it in game, like Mass Effect? a minor bitch, to be honest, but i would rather not have Windows Live on my system as it is a sizable crock of shit…
Perseverance is winning through though-the more times I try to get past the crashes, the more the game gives in and runs ok :D
07/11/2008 at 11:01 Dominic White says:
unclelou: If I don’t like a game, I either don’t buy it, or if I HAVE bought it, I sell it on (ebay, Playtrade, Amazon etc) and don’t waste further time or effort on it. I may make a comment or two at a later date about how it didn’t appeal to me, but I’d much rather spend time playing that stuff I DO like than complaining about the stuff I don’t.
I mean, maybe I’m just weird, but I’d rather talk about things I like.
07/11/2008 at 11:13 unclelou says:
To be frank, yes, I think that is a bit weird. Or at least it is a bit weird to expect this in a dicussion forum. Not much reason to even visit one if all you want people to do is nod in agreement about things they like.
Besides, I am often finding well argued posts an invaluable resource when deciding which games I buy, positive ones as well as negative ones.
As far as Fallout 3 is concerned, I am getting a mostly very positive vibe form various forums. I think the game is great, but I also think it must be allowed to discuss the things that could have been better.
07/11/2008 at 11:22 Fazer says:
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_3_bugs – list of bugs found in Fallout 3. Looks like even Xbox 360 and PS3 suffer from crashes and showstoppers.
07/11/2008 at 11:38 Arnulf says:
“Certifications” for console titles is not all it seems to be. One glaring example is Castle Crashers for Xbox live. The most important feature, multiplayer, was (still is?) horribly unstable.
07/11/2008 at 11:38 gulag says:
Am I missing something, or is there no other way to change weapons in Fallout 3 than to go back and forth to the Pipboy?
07/11/2008 at 11:39 Angel Dust says:
I’m quite enjoying Fallout 3, especially after installing a few choice mods (orginal FO music FTW!), but it’s no classic. The combat is pretty clunky, it’s a bit easy (I’m playing on hard and have a ridculous amount of ammo, stimpacks etc) and the writing and voice work, while certainly a step up from the usual Bethesda drivel, is cringingly bad and desperate to please at times. That all said it’s great to wander around the wasteland in FP and, as much as it shames me to say it, I am enjoying the ridiculous gore! My girlfriend is also a big Fallout fan but so far the FPS nature of it has scared her off!
I don’t know if I’m alone on this but does wandering around these decimated city scapes at night remind any others of a somewhat forgotten classic that came Bethesda studios many year ago?
07/11/2008 at 11:44 Chis says:
@spd From Russia
FO3 is NOT Stalker with VATS. Why? It’s Oblivion with guns in many ways, and one of the “worst” is that whereas Stalker has A-Life – which genuinely makes the zone feel less static than the average open world, Clear Sky’s swamps have been a different experience every time I’ve played them – FO3 has AI that never seem to go anywhere significant. The FO3 world is orientated around you, not ITSELF.
07/11/2008 at 11:44 Katsumoto says:
“especially after installing a few choice mods (orginal FO music FTW!”
I was just thinking that’s what it really needed! I don’t really like the soundtrack in FO3 at all, but overall i’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would (being an evil angry fallout 1/2 loving bastard). It certainly makes up for the disappointment of Far Cry 2 to a large extent.
07/11/2008 at 11:46 reiver says:
“Am I missing something, or is there no other way to change weapons in Fallout 3 than to go back and forth to the Pipboy?”
When you’re in the weapons screen of the pipboy you can hold down a number (on your keyboard) and a menu thing’ll pop up on the right so you can hotkey that weapon. It’s balatantly set up for a controller but it’s one of the few times the game screams CONSOLE PORT at you so i’ll forgive it.
07/11/2008 at 11:47 Dominic White says:
gulag: You are missing something. In fact, here’s a shortlist of things easily missed:
Your Pipboy has a flashlight function. Hold Tab to turn it on.
You can holster your weapons by holding Reload – you run faster when they’re holstered.
You can assign 8 hotkeys. In any of your inventory screens, hold 1-8 and click the item you want to assign. This can include weapons, drugs, food – anything usable.
F1-F3 are hotkeys to the three primary Pipboy panels.
Anything else anyone can think of?
07/11/2008 at 11:51 James G says:
I think the online feedback I’ve seen for Fallout 3 has been remarkably reasoned, especially given the contraversey it was gathering before release. Feedback is generally positive, but tempered by a few reasoned and valid criticisms which people seem more disappointed in than angry about.
I was initially a bit wary about FO3, having not particularly enjoyed Oblivion. However the discussion in the RPS chat rooms actually got me looking forward to the game more, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. The game obviously has some of Oblivion’s genes in it, and occasionally I feel brief tinges of the things I didn’t like about that game, but ultimately they don’t last. I’m playing on normal difficulty, and find that the game is balanced almost perfectly for me. On several occasions I have found myself outgunned, and survived by the skin of my teeth, left crouched in some dark corner, out of ammo and low on food waiting until that super mutant heads back to his post. I’ll then come across a party of raiders and gun half of them down before they even open fire.
Unfortunately I do suffer for freezes and CTDs, but they aren’t regular enough to make the game entirely unplayable, and seem to be reduced by closing down background tasks.
07/11/2008 at 11:54 manintheshack says:
@ Dominic White: That’ll teach me not to read manuals. I didn’t know any of that…. That’s one less frustration with the combat system then!
07/11/2008 at 12:01 RC-1290'Dreadnought' says:
Wasn’t 5.1 sound supported? That is strange… I’ve been playing with surround sound(sometimes confusing cars that drove behind me in the physical world with those in the game world) as far as I know…
07/11/2008 at 12:04 Turin Turambar says:
James G, i am playing it in hard, and for me it’s easy, or at least more than Fallout 1/2 in normal. :/
Fallout 3 is not Stalker with VATS, because Stalker was an excellent shooter and Fallout 3 isn’t.
07/11/2008 at 12:24 JohnP says:
I found the quickest solution to VATS slowdown after the new patch is a simple Alt-Tab to desktop and back again. Seems to fix the problem and probably shows that it’s something which can be solved permanently with another patch from Bethesda.
07/11/2008 at 12:29 phuzz says:
I’m quite enjoying FC2, but yeah, I have had to downgrade my expectations a bit. Perhaps setting the respawn rate for guard posts to, say 12 in game hours. Then you could go through, clear out a route to a mission and have a safe route back, but still some more challenge next time you head that way. The randomly spawning dudes in boats and cars just gives you something to shoot at though :)
The only bug I’ve had (I’m using the FOV hack from here) has been the game flicking to window2ed mode every so often, which was a problem until I remembered all I had to do was press Alt-Enter….(facepalm)
As for the good, it’s very pretty, and shooting people is fun. Sometimes that’s all you need from a game.
07/11/2008 at 12:36 Gap Gen says:
Maybe you should be able to bribe guard posts with cold ones, as shown in the intro?
Actually, the thing where everyone you drive past gets out and shoots at you can be quite useful if you’re on foot looking for a car. Saves you having to stick up drivers, GTA-style.
07/11/2008 at 13:02 unclelou says:
“Anything else anyone can think of?”
The little triangles on the compass (not the quest markers, but the small ones): the empty ones point to locations nearby you haven’t discoverd yet, the filled ones to locations you have visited before.
07/11/2008 at 13:39 Dreamhacker says:
I sure hope Bethsoft is working on another patch…
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_3_bugs
07/11/2008 at 13:53 sdff says:
good to hear about the fallout patch, far crys on the other hand, but then again i havent played it for a week way too reptitive as everyone knows and overated
07/11/2008 at 14:22 James G says:
Just wondering if anyone else is already using fome of the FO3 mods? I installed one interface patch (I forget which) before I even played the game, which generaly acted to increase the number of lines of text on display at any one time. (By increasing the size of the text areas, rather than reducing the size of the text)
07/11/2008 at 16:05 Zuffox says:
Fallout 3 is a bit of a mess QA-wise, which the growing FAQ with fixes at Something Awful can attest to.
Add to that the recurring complaints, cries for crash relief and what not.
I’m sure Alec agrees that the game lacks some polish.
07/11/2008 at 16:12 Running in front of your bullets in VATS says:
Sort of really late, but on the topic of the Tenpenny Tower ‘good karma’ result, I quite liked how it turned out, however much I hated the zombies for doing that. It reminded me of the often unexpected, and punishing consequences that existed in the original two.
On the level cap: Why would anyone need to be any higher than level 20? By that point, you’re practically invincible (unless, of course, you run into Deathclaws).
Also: I’ve crashed something like once, after fast traveling, and fell through the floor once, but outside of that the game has been fine for me.
07/11/2008 at 16:35 DigitalSignalX says:
@matte_k, when you install FO3, you can opt to ignore installing windows Live. However, if you unfortunately already had it for a previous title, it will latch on.
FO3 tricks not mentioned: Operating the Radio or the Light will significantly decrease your sneak success. Blood packs can be converted into 20 HP boosts via “Blood Ties” quest.
Companions can be set to essential in console so that they do not die in a messy fire-fight, simply remain unconscious.
You can have 2 companions depending on your Karma and their preferences. Die hard explorers should stop leveling your main skills at 95 ish, you will get books to fill in the rest while aids and apparel can compensate in the mean time.
07/11/2008 at 17:21 Cypher3au says:
One change I didn’t like was in the tagging of skills; in the original two games, tagging a skill meant that you got a two percent improvement to that skill whenever you spent a point on it.
In Fallout 3, tagging a skill is basically just a one-off 15% boost.
07/11/2008 at 17:23 matte_k says:
@DigitalSignalX: Yeah, unfortunately it latched on to a previous install of Viva Pinata and set it up from that. I did have a game running before that, got as far as exiting the vault then it crashed, and when it restarted it made me set up the GfWL link, which then wiped my previous saves. :( Ta for the tip though, didn’t realise it was optional!
07/11/2008 at 17:30 undead dolphin hacker says:
After watching my brother play some Fallout 3 and noticing the encounters seemed awfully easy considering the Fallout heritage, I bumped my savegame up to Hard and haven’t looked back — while all it does is hand enemy HP a coefficient, Raiders don’t die in two-three 10mm Pistol shots either, and critical strikes become way more important.
07/11/2008 at 18:44 Carra says:
I’ve been having a blast with Fallout 3 so far.
And it sure isn’t a “short game”. Heck, I’ve played about 25 hours now and I’m still not even near Rivet City. Just so much to do that I just don’t get closer! And I finished Mass Effect in that time.
There’s always something to do. The VATS system is great fun. Lots of conversations to be had. A great radio system (never knew I’d actaully like those old oldies…). And it looks great.
My major frustration would be the Metro system. Heck, they give you a mini, unreadable metro map. Give us a big one!
07/11/2008 at 19:14 OJ287 says:
Im waiting a couple of months for any new release til they get the main patches out.
07/11/2008 at 19:59 Garrett says:
According to Bethesda staff, this patch was released early and with few actual fixes due to a request by Microsoft; I guess the CTD on exit messed up Live or something. Further patches are inevitable.
07/11/2008 at 20:52 Tei says:
It seems I am the poor bastard that have finished the game in record time :-(
Maybe is because I like small firearms, and the game as plenty of that. But I am biased to love my small firearms :-)
07/11/2008 at 20:54 Tei says:
Oh.. and why o why the reload key is the key to holster the weapon? It don’t make sense to me.
07/11/2008 at 21:19 graham says:
I’ve just patched Fallout3 and lost my saved game, is this just me?
Its a real bugger, havent got too far (entered the train station looking for Ian West) as I am trying t make lvl 70 before WotLK but it is still a real pain in the arse
07/11/2008 at 22:13 graham says:
No,wait. It was just me. It seems running off the desktop short cut led to a game with no saves but running from steam was aok. phew.
07/11/2008 at 23:11 Optimaximal says:
Joypad button consolidation… Tap to reload, hold to holster.
08/11/2008 at 00:20 Larington says:
My main implementational issue with Far Cry 2 is the respawn/reset time of mobs.
My overall higher level issue with Far Cry 2 is that I’m constantly reminded I’m playing a game and not a character in a form of believable virtual world, partly by the aforementioned respawn times, but mostly the fact that generally all I can do to interact with most characters is shoot them combined with the very much mission based nature of the game. Still, I liked the way it ended.
Fallout 3, I haven’t come to a conclusive judgement yet, buts its generally positive.
08/11/2008 at 03:12 Eschatos says:
My only Far Cry 2 problem is that Multiplayer doesn’t work at all. Whenever I try to join a server it just tells me I can’t connect. Pretty damn annoying.
08/11/2008 at 12:55 x25killa says:
That’s a very small patch for Fallout 3 considering you have to wait 20 minutes to update then finding out the program does not respond.
08/11/2008 at 15:32 Ixtab says:
I love Fallout 3 but am constantly cursing myself for having put points in fast-learning before I realised it was capped at 20, now that’s several valuable other perks I could have got wasted.
09/11/2008 at 09:30 Sh33333p says:
Ironsights needed. Here’s why: it’s how guns are meant to be aimed. It breaks immersion to see a character mysteriously zoom in and use a hovering indicator to aim. I understand this is not COD4 etc, and this is their first “shooter” (ok shooter-rpg hybrid), but please at least give us the option. Contrary to popular fears, ironsights do not increase or decrease accuracy on their own. It just looks different. Also, now that I have 100 Small Guns skill, I would like my sniper rifle’s range to be more, sniper-rifle-ish. It also should be much more accurate at range now. I am a die-hard Fallout fan and I still play 1 & 2, but I really prefer that the animation was not a mystical floating thing and was instead a more immersive aiming experience. At least as an option. And another thing- what’s up with the general lack of console commands compared to Oblivion?
I have waited 11 years to play this universe in 3d and personally I always looked forward to playing it in realtime as a shooter esp with the energy weapons. BTW I’m 25 now. Anyways this game is almost perfect but the community needs mod tools ASAP if Bethesda isn’t interested in iron-sights. Also, the animations of their games have always seemed stiff to me, like every character is secretly played by John McCain. My friends, please lets mod this in one way or another. And I’d like some kind of answer from Bethesda about the stiffness of their animation system(s).
BTW I think all games that are classified FPS definitely have no excuse for not using iron sights, such as HL2 & Ep’s. HEV Suit or not, Gordon needs to use either iron sights, a scope, or a laser to aim. Not Vault-Tec Magical Crosshair-Thingy.
So there. Also, may I be the first to say that I look forward to my country regaining its esteem over the coming years now that our president will be both literate and (apparently) moral. I must remain skeptical on that last point as politicians tend to dissapoint in this regard.
Most Respectfully Yours,
Jackson A. Rochester Mathison Bartholemeu Jameson III, of Los Angeles
09/11/2008 at 14:36 Todd Howard's Angry Nipples says:
I played Far Cry 2 through over the course of a few days, skipping most of the repetitive side-quests (except the weapon dealer missions), and found it to be certainly very pretty. But I did bore of it quickly.
Guard-post respawn times seemed ridiculously fast, and having to stop the car, get out, and attack any other vehicle on the road got a bit tedious.
Fallout 3, on the other hand, has had me engrossed since the day of its release.
Most of the complaints about it seem to be from a relatively small handful of people experiencing crashes due to various specific hardware configurations, but my own experience with it has been more or less entirely crash-free, stable, responsive, and without any stability issues whatsoever.
I do find the occasional bug (like the disappearing robots in Big Town). I also wish we could drop more music into the GNR playlist, or make our own custom radio station blended with the appropriate scripted DJ commentary that follows your exploits in the Capital Wasteland. The 15 or so songs they licensed loop so often they quickly start to feel like 4 or 5.
For the most part, I have found it to be the most enjoyable game released in a very long time, and if Bethsoft can be persuaded to release even the most rudimentary Construction Set, a galaxy of tweaks to satisfy everyone’s desires will certainly be forthcoming.
In summary, I found FC2 to be pretty but repetitive, and FO3 to be surprisingly jam-packed with content and replayability.
Wastelanders ftw!
Brotherhood of Steel Paladin: “You should talk to Paladin (so-and-so). He can talk a dog off a meat truck.”