Rezzed, The PC and Indie Games Show. Brighton, 6th-7th July 2012

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

All Aspect Warfare Beta Keys Giveaway

By Kieron Gillen on April 24th, 2009 at 10:30 am.

Woosh!

Update – enough names have come forward now. Don’t send any more. Keys will be sent out to those who made it early next week. Thanks, sweethearts!

Following on from our All Aspect Warfare interview, Derek Smart offered a mass of keys for the ongoing All Aspect Warfare Beta for RPS readers. Now, after the subscribers got first dibs, we take it to you, the general RPS-readership. Just drop me a line and say you’d like one. First come, first served, until we run out. Don’t alter the subject line of the mail, or you’ll disqualify yourself by annoying me. Oh – and expect the keys to be mailed to you on Sunday/Monday as I’m currently off in Poland and set this to automatically post while I’m away. For a taste, here’s a couple of older videos of the game in action, focused in on the flight segment of this multi-approach game.

Oh – and, please, be polite in the comments thread. It’s nice.

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49 Comments »

  1. 24/04/2009 at 10:45 Nenad says:

    So many betas, so little time… I will email you for the key anyway

  2. 24/04/2009 at 10:53 Jhoosier says:

    Well, request emailed. Let’s hope I got the subject line right since I use webmail and I had to copy it by hand.

  3. 24/04/2009 at 10:58 Markoff Chaney says:

    Whew! Glad I caught this before work! Now I can see with mine own eyes Dr. Smart’s newest work. I never would have even signed up before, but I’m grateful for his presence here as of late. Maybe I can give back some… Thanks!

  4. 24/04/2009 at 11:18 Nick says:

    Ok, I really need to get my subscriber email changed to one I actually remember to check.

  5. 24/04/2009 at 11:24 Heliocentric says:

    Oliver: Please Sir may I have some more?

    Cook: More boy?

    Cook: Okay, but its a limited beta and is no representitive of the final quality of the product, here, sign this NDA.

    Oliver: Thank You.

  6. 24/04/2009 at 12:11 Schmung says:

    Well, hopefully I get a key as it should be interesting to take a looksee at it after the lively debate that the previous thread caused.

  7. 24/04/2009 at 13:17 Larington says:

    Mmmm, Ahhhh, gonna have to pass on this, deadline month is near, can’t risk trying Betas.

  8. 24/04/2009 at 13:24 steve says:

    Wow! when will we know if the keys have gone?

    I wonder if it’s possible to only play beta games for a complete year?

    i wonder a lot…

    : )

  9. 24/04/2009 at 14:49 Taskmage says:

    This look interesting.

  10. 24/04/2009 at 15:30 radomaj says:

    What is Kieron doing in Poland? Call of Juarez?

  11. 24/04/2009 at 15:50 Ian says:

    radomaj: I hope so!

  12. 24/04/2009 at 15:58 dsmart says:

    The BETA runs from April 17th to May 17th. It is currently open only to our own forum community as well as Fileplanet subscribers.

    On May 17th, the DRM will deactivate the product.

    The game launches on June 9th.

    When you get your key from RPS, it will contain links to the download as well as a PDF file with instructions, password to our closed BETA forum etc.

    I am looking forward to your comments (good, bad or ugly) and feedback based on the [heated] discussions we had back in that interview thread.

    @ Heliocentric

    There is nothing limited about it. It contains both single and multiplayer games – all modes. The only things not included are the final game scripts. Obviously.

    There is no NDA.

  13. 24/04/2009 at 16:10 RPS says:

    Do discuss business controversies in the forum if you like chaps, but this thread is for talking about games. Deletotron will cheerfully munch upon similar deviations here.

  14. 24/04/2009 at 16:24 MrBejeebus says:

    didnt realise you could subscribe, decided to right now :D

  15. 24/04/2009 at 16:49 Adam says:

    So are the keys all gone now, and have been sent out, or have they all gone but not been sent out yet?

  16. 24/04/2009 at 17:15 dsmart says:

    @ Adam

    I gave out 50 keys. If they run out, I’m sure they’ll let me know and I can probably give out 50 more.

  17. 24/04/2009 at 20:15 Erik Sebellin-Ross says:

    I wish you the best of luck on this game when you launch, Derek! :)

  18. 24/04/2009 at 20:56 Serondal says:

    Being a member of 3000AD forum I got a key. Downloaded the game and installed it. Like Supcom says it is all there full game. Sadly my computer was no match for this awesome piece of coding genius ^_^ I did get to see the game at about 1 frame per second and from what I saw it was mind blowingly better than say the FPS mode in the last release. I’m reaching that moment I’ve always feared, the moment my PC Simply can’t keep up any more and I fade away into old foggy land because I can’t afford a new one . Ah well!

  19. 24/04/2009 at 21:26 Erik Sebellin-Ross says:

    Serondal, just build yourself a budget that ASSUMES you’re going to buy a new gaming machine every two years. No sense deluding yourself otherwise :)

  20. 24/04/2009 at 21:38 Serondal says:

    I’ve had the computer I’m using now for 8 years man. Still there is no room in the budget for a new gaming system of any kind at least for the next 3 or 4 years. Maybe once home/car is payed off I can indulge myself with some kind of crazy alienware 4000 dollar computer system and jump back into the scene where ever computer gaming is then ;) if any where. Until then I’m stuck with all the games that currently exist and any budget titles they make that still work on older computers.

  21. 25/04/2009 at 00:41 jackflash says:

    @Serondal – I built myself a very high end gaming machine (including case, PSU and 22 inch samsung LCD) for $900 in October. Don’t waste your money on prebuilt stuff from companies like Alienware.

  22. 25/04/2009 at 04:34 Chiablo says:

    The last Derek Smart game I played was Battlecruiser 3000AD. I believe it came free on a demo disc from a pc gaming magazine.

    I don’t remember much of it, I do remember printing out the huge manual and trying to learn how to play. I probably spent a week of frustration and finally gave up before even seeing any combat. Hopefully things have progressed, I have even less patience now than I used to.

  23. 25/04/2009 at 05:12 Weylund says:

    @Chiablo: I had a similar BC3K experience. Based on more recent games I’d say the experience will be roughly night and dawn: not quite night and day but a whole hell of a lot brighter.

    More keys, RPS and Derek, please.

  24. 25/04/2009 at 12:03 Xhumar says:

    Derek, if you ever read this comment, I hope you take this positively: I think something that’s very lacking in your games is music. I always believe ambient music to be an important aspect of games, something that’s sorely lacking in many of them these days. Look at Freespace – it’s a winning title not only because of the storyline, but also because of the captivating music that gets you going. Battle music and lull-period music should be distinct, yet subtle enough to not irritate the gamer. I suggest that you should look more into it in your future games, and perhaps this will enhance the experience for many of us :)

  25. 25/04/2009 at 12:14 Heliocentric says:

    I’m often a beta user, often i find bugs, report them and they end up patched out 6 months after release, unless its ubisoft, then they stay in. Although, i’ve never tried a 3k ad beta, hope i got a key, but that beta window falls in line with my exams :(

  26. 25/04/2009 at 13:15 MrBejeebus says:

    same heliocentric :(

  27. 25/04/2009 at 13:36 dsmart says:

    @xhumer

    Not sure what you’re going on about there, all my games have had good music. In fact, for the last game, GALCOM Echo Squad SE, the fx were done by Somatone and I hired Daniel over at Soundrama (award winning composer) to do a bunch of tracks. Both companies are also doing the fx and music for AAW and Angle Of Attack*

    So, you might want to actually play the games first since thats the only way to be sure.

    * uhm, yeah, I mentioned this in my latest dev blog. We already have a build up and running. Seeing the travesty (at least to us who like traditional aerial combat) that was H.A.W.X, I decided to create a pure aerial combat game based on AAW. We’re going to be releasing that in May @ $19.99. So, go grab your joysticks.

    If you get into the AAW Beta and fly around, then you know pretty much what to expect.

    @ Heliocentric

    We patch bugs around the clock. As they come in, if we can reproduce, we patch and release a fix. Same with my retail game patches.

    As I type this, I am about to release 1.16.21 BETA to the testers. See changelog.

  28. 25/04/2009 at 20:56 MrBejeebus says:

    nice to see some dev input haha

  29. 25/04/2009 at 21:55 Torgen says:

    Doom. I saw this article only after all the keys had been distributed. I guess that’s God’s way of saying I should be doing more freelance work, rather than playing.

  30. 25/04/2009 at 23:34 dsmart says:

    @ Torgen

    You can pick one up at Fileplanet if you are a registered user. The subscribers had it for a week first. Then yesterday any registered FP user can have a key. Better hurry before they run out.

  31. 26/04/2009 at 04:01 J. Edgar Hoover says:

    Have any of you actually played this game? I played the pre-release beta, and the mouse is inverted without the option to alter it. It is first person, but the graphics are also pretty terrible. Imagine Grand Theft Auto IV without any buildings, foilage or vehicles and then place it in the desert. Now you have this game.

  32. 26/04/2009 at 07:19 psyk says:

    When was the last time you played because version 1.16.09 has a invert mouse option and course the graphics arent going to be the best, what were you expecting?

  33. 26/04/2009 at 12:10 dsmart says:

    @ Edgar Hoover

    without any buildings, foilage or vehicles and then place it in the desert.

    [snip]

    We don’t have foliage because I opted not to implement it. We have a SpeedTree license and that was the plan. But it got cut (in favor of extended testing instead) because it adds nothing to the game. If you want foliage, go play ArmA or something. I guess the part about the “near barren planet” in the game’s synopsis kinda threw you?

    There are multi-million dollar games like H.A.W.X doing blocks for buildings, God-awful terrain at anything below 15K feet. And nary a shrub in sight. But no, rip on a self-funded indie title you obviously haven’t played.

    he mouse is inverted without the option to alter it.

    This has been in there since day one. Almost two years ago. The only oversight was that it was inverted by default – you could still change it – and was in the graphics section, not the controllers section, of the game OPTIONS. In 1.16.09, we inverted it and moved it into the controllers section.

  34. 26/04/2009 at 12:41 dsmart says:

    The kind of stuff thats being posted in the closed BETA forum

    #1

    Well here we go, I’ve been in the beta for several days now, and I’ve given it a fair share of time each day. Though I’ve followed development at 3000AD since the Battlecruiser: Millennium days, All Aspect Warfare has been the first game that I’ve actually been able to sit down and spend time with due to University and other such things.

    Here’s how I feel at the moment, and please forgive me if I don’t have all the time I need to write a well structured analysis, things are pretty busy.

    To be honest, I’ve had to take to this game like one would take to going out into the ocean off of a San Francisco beach for the first time. Meaning that the game felt overwhelming, so initially I had to acclimate myself to it in 10 minute sessions so as not to drown myself in options. tongue.gif So between experimentation sessions, I sat down and read the manual and the other documentation, printed out a copy of the controls, and dusted off my old Saitek joystick.

    I think I’d like to convey my experience so far in 2 parts:

    1. First Instant Action Mission: After spending alot of my earlier game time exploring the controls and walking around base woefully unaware of the missiles pounding dirt all around me, I decided that it was time for me to get in some sort of craft and see how good I could do flying around. I think I had spent maybe 1:30 in the air flying around and checking out the sights when I decided to head on over to what I assume was the nuclear power plant and see what use I would be over there. I flew around several giant buildings, and in one deft maneuver I managed to find myself face down on the ground, both dazed and confused. As I started my trek back to the closest building, which happened to be the nuke plant, I began to take note of the many missiles that happened to be pummeling it at the time. After just surviving what had seemed to be a painful crash, I guess I had been feeling a bit invincible as I began to use my jetpack to see if I could spot the threat. So I flew as high as the jetpack would take me, observing several more impacts on the base that I thought I was about to call my home. Only then did it click that power plant + missile != calm environment. As the thought passed through my head, I watched as my view became enveloped in orange and everything went to hell. From what felt like several hundred feet in the air I watched as my declared home turned into nothing more than a black smear on the face of the planet. Too stunned to react, I joined my comrades and became a crater.

    2. Night Mission-Steal an Aircraft and Escape: When I chose this mission I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I wasn’t about to let anything worry me. So I started the mission, and looked for the first aircraft I could find. Hopping into one of the smaller aircraft, I took off and started flying away at full speed. Almost instantly I was being chased down by several aircraft that were perfectly capable of dispatching me, so I turned on my missile jammer, nightvision, and my altitude hold system. As I flew over a mountain range I heard a loud crack. Checking all of my instruments to see what damage had been done, I found that everything was still perfectly fine. Again I heard the loud crack only this time it was followed by raindrops; I immediately felt a sense of relief. This lasted for mere moments as the aircraft pursuing me caught up. To make matters worse I just came into range of an enemy base. So here I was, pressing all of my buttons, turning all of my nobs, my screens are crazy from the jammer, utterly fighting to stay in the air as every single alarm imaginable went off; Rain falling from the sky, thousands of bullets spraying from the ground, and missile after missile flying right past the cockpit, I was barely holding on. Alas, this story doesn’t end well for me either. While still frantically fighting, I accidentally turned off my Altitude Hold system, and went sailing into a hill.

    Ultimately both were an incredible amount of fun. The game is huge, and is greatly benefited as a result. The graphics for an environment of that size are also nice to look at, as whoever designed the aircraft art, and especially the cockpits has an incredible eye for detail.

    Beyond the game however, I’ve been extraordinarily impressed with the developers passion in working on the frontline with regards to testing and community. Over at RockPaperShotgun I was both surprised and happy to see Derek Smart right there discussing his work with the commenters. I think that speaks volumes to the dedication that the developers have put into this unique product.

    I’ve had a great time so far, and even though I’ve yet to complete a mission in full, I have high hopes for the future tongue.gif

    Thank you,
    Chris

    P.S. The description for KnightBlade sounds like something I’ve been dreaming about since I was much younger. I really hope it turns out well.

    P.P.S. It does in fact run on Windows 7, quite well actually.

    – Zeltek

    #2

    Air Combat is tough! biggrin.gif My nose-guns seem to only dent other fighters’ armor (1% per hit to A on average) and my enemies actually know how to use their aircraft’s AATA systems (which is exciting!). Finding the right window of opportunity to spoof an incoming missile, line up my target, lead him, lock on my weapons systems, fire, and immediately throw myself into EDM and a low-burn diving roll to shake another incoming missile, is a tough, but rewarding, balance that makes the game challenging and tactical.

    I enjoy the presentation of the main screen and most of the user interfaces. The internal cockpit view makes me hope there will be TrackIR support in the future, post-release.

    – Firgof Umbra

  35. 26/04/2009 at 16:05 alseT says:

    Nevermind, it works now

  36. 26/04/2009 at 16:09 dsmart says:

    Sorry, we’ve been getting spammed, so we turned on admin approval. Just register as normal from the main page. Once it has been approved, you can enter the BETA forum (below Area 51) using the password provided in the PDF file you were sent.

    btw, latest patch is 1.16.21 you can update using the Check For Updates shortcut. 1.16.24 will be out later today.

  37. 26/04/2009 at 16:16 alseT says:

    That shortcut still shows the 1.66.16 patch, but at least i can get on the forums now.

  38. 26/04/2009 at 16:19 dsmart says:

    OK, you are from the FilePlanet BETA then? Because thats the only build that takes you to their site since they are releasing patches on their end so I don’t have to deal with the bandwidth.

    Below is a direct link to that patch. It will disappear when the next patch is up. Just download and run it.

  39. 26/04/2009 at 16:22 alseT says:

    Yeah I am, thank you for responding so quickly. I’ll provide as much feedback on the game as I can.

  40. 26/04/2009 at 16:54 Jimbo says:

    Why are the textures so low-quality? It really detracts from what would otherwise be a moderately fun experience.

  41. 27/04/2009 at 10:15 ryan j says:

    If it’s any good, the texture quality probably won’t count for much in the long-run.

  42. 27/04/2009 at 15:18 dsmart says:

    Well, I don’t think the texture quality is low. Different assets have different texture and polygon budgets. For a game of this size and scope, you can’t go hogwild on texture sizes and polygons.

    Plus, you’re looking a lossy footage/shots taken at low resolutions. Unless you are seeing the game in real-time and with everything turned up, you won’t have any appreciation for the visuals.

    Here are some shots I took yesterday durign a test session and which are not yet linked on the product page.

  43. 27/04/2009 at 17:41 Serondal says:

    When you consider (mr No Troll) that this world predates most modern Sci-fi TV shows and has a deep and rich history and background you must realize that this is anything but generic. These guys have had the same armor in one form or another for years (even if it was on a tiny 2d picture of their bust in your onship computer) At any rate the game is anything but generic.

    After trying to play the beta and having it chew my computer I went and reinstalled ArmA instead and tried to pretend I was on a barren planet lol.

  44. 27/04/2009 at 18:45 dsmart says:

    After trying to play the beta and having it chew my computer I went and reinstalled ArmA instead and tried to pretend I was on a barren planet lol.

    lmao!! good one that.

  46. 27/04/2009 at 19:19 Serondal says:

    The point of a beta is not to find reasons to criticize a game, its to find bugs with a game that can be fixed. “I don’t like the music” Is not a bug, it is a matter of taste. If you don’t like this game he doesn’t really care, he’s going to focus on the people that do like it make sure they get what they’re paying for which is a working game.

  47. 27/04/2009 at 20:04 Dano says:

    leaked footage from Derek K. Smart PhD’s new game, all aspect warfare!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT787NGpPL8

  48. 27/04/2009 at 22:48 dsmart says:

    I owned and PLAYED that game, so don’t knock it you bastard! See it there on the top shelf somewhere off to the right between Homeworld and Uprising?

  49. 27/04/2009 at 22:52 psyk says:

    That pic reminds me of my dads mates computer room ahhh good times.

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