By Jim Rossignol on April 27th, 2010 at 7:04 pm.
The next content patch for zero-G pew-pew game Shattered Horizon should arrive next week (May 5th). It’s called “Firepower” because it focuses on expanding the range of weapons available to the killer astronauts. The armaments in question should gradually appear on this page.
Trailer below. It’s a bit space-porny, and dudes get shot.
The more of this I see, the more disappointed I am that this is a MP only game for the huge of hardware. This is a world I’d really like to explore more..
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The hardware requirements really aren’t that steep. Their “minimum specs” are the minimum specs to run the game with the bells and whistles (ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing) turned off and at 30fps.
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I have bought SH, but haven’t played it yet due to the DX10 requirement.
At some point I’ll get around to installing Win7 and playing it. Maybe this new content will inspire me…
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It’s actually a pretty good game. I’d recommend it if you’ve ever got $20 to spend (or the equivalent in Euros), or grab it if it goes on sale.
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I am utterly shocked at the mildly suggestive nature of that trailer., I fear my childhood innocence is lost forever.
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I was wondering exactly the same thing… It is the “container” “opening” with the “spaceman” “flying” “into” “it”, isn’t it?
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@westyfield
The “Mild Suggestive Themes” thingy actually refers to the game, not to the trailer.
According to this there is a strip club in the background of one of the levels.
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A strip club? And I missed that?
*buys Shattered Horizon*
*feels no shame*
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SPACE STRIPPERS, YOU SAY? They should totally make a game about that.
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Wait, I forget, how do guns work in space?
I hope this coincides with a free weekend or something, I want to try it out on the new pc…
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No problem there: Gas ignites, expands, propels tiny piece of metal through tube.
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I was going to say “the guns use lasers probably” but then I watched the trailer and noticed that the space-guns were using bullets. So I dunno, I never really thought about that.
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@stahlwerk
What gas? How does it ignite? I was under the impression that space was a vacuum?
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IIRC there’s enough oxygen contained in a bullet casing for the charge to ignite, so the answer would be “the same way they work here, but with more recoil” (which is partly compensated for by your suit… as long as it has power).
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Is that just bullets in Shattered Horizon or regular bullets? This could be useful one day…
Presumably the casing is air tight then, able to stand up to the pressure differences in space(I assume regular bullets aren’t but frankly have no idea)?
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@Dum de dum dum dum
As far as I know, gunpowder combustion works without the need for external oxygen or other atmospheric gases. But IANAChemist, nor firearm nerd. I did however skim over the wikipedia entry for gunpowder.
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http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2282/would-a-gun-work-in-space
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Thanks. I remember reading it somewhere a while ago, but couldn’t find the link. Even Google Mentalplex didn’t help.
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Every bullet has an equal and opposite guy flying backwards
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They should totally make this the Moonraker game, with blue lasers and the audience going “wtf? THIS is bond?”
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I am the best.
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IIRC the Soviets fired a gun in space once. Wasn’t at anyone though.
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Sweet, I’ll have to get back into this game. Stopped playing it when BFBC2 came out and now I’m stuck on Monster Hunter Tri. Should be a nice change of pace to get back into this fun game :)
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Bit odd this isn’t it ?
I thought the one gun with multi modes was a conscious design decision?
Or have they decided a more traditional multi weapon approach is better now ?
Not unwelcome – just odd.
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@Durkan: Much as I admire and enjoy their original vision, their greatest criticism is that they have one gun, and many players dropped the game after a single round because of it. It’s sad because it’s really an amazing game and the full 3D movement opens up an incredible number of tactical options, including disorientating your foe.
I myself stopped playing because the few who still played were so much better than me. If there’s a free weekend to coincide with this, it’ll be great fun.
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One of the things I liked about it was the ‘only one gun’ thing. It made it different, and frankly anything that turns off the usual sort of FPS players is a boon in my book.
As you say, I’ll play the free weekend because it’s fun killing space rookies while they flail around in zero-g, but I expect that more weapons will actually lower my interest in the game.
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Excellent. SH is very pretty and quite fun, but I’ve not been playing it much mostly because the single gun is a bit boring (even though it works as a sniper, assault rifle and three types of grenades rolled in one). This should mix it up a bit.
I really hope there’s a shotgun so I can zoom around shouting “SPAAAAAAAAAAACE SHOTGUUUUUUUUUUNS,” though.
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Just watched the trailer, and oh, my. A whole eight weapons? Definitely at least one shotgun? Now I’m excited. :D
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Dear journalists,
Stop saying “free DLC”. It’s a patch.
Thanks.
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True, this is an update not a DLC.
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This is content that is downloadable… How is this not Downloadable content…
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Patches fix bugs and occasionally add in a new element. This is offering a slew of new content that wasn’t available or advertised to customers when the game was launched. Aside from the semantics argument, this DLC is considerably more substantial than most ‘patches’.
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DLC is optional it is simple as that, free or not some people might have it some might not – It is content you can (or can not) download.
A patch/update on the other hand (especially for a steam/multiplayer game) is NOT optional – it may include new content – and even drastically change the game (Valve games, and games like DoW2 are prime examples of this), it may even be downloaded via the internet – but “downloadable” implies a choice.
It’s a simple differentiation I think, downloadable content is optional; an extra to the basic game, patches/updates are not. The price has no effect on this.
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Dee-El-See is this faggoty buzzword invented for consoles because the average console player doesn’t understand the concept of patches or content updates as *standard*. They think an internet connection and therefore anything that comes down it to their console to be a plus, not *standard*. To maintain this impression the publishers came up with ‘downloadable content’ to spell it out that it is content that is downloaded.
There is an important semantic and psychological difference there: ‘patch’ implies repair and repair implies something was broken(hence Rockstar calling patches ‘title updates’ these days) and ‘update’ implies that a service is being provided. Service itself implies a standard; a level of expectation that must be kept to justify payment. These have a strong sub-text to them: it is the publisher/developer that is assuming responsibility and coming to the players with the improvements, the players just wait for them like you would a man coming to fix the boiler. In contrast: ‘downloadable content’ is what you must go and get, they are the ones waiting for you now and you’re taking responsibility for something they should have been doing anyway.
They are somewhere in the mid 1990s at the moment and slowly dragging us back to those years. I don’t understand how anyone that played games online on dial-up and early constant connections would find online console gaming and it’s naff services at all acceptable in THIS century.
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Not really sure what buzzwords in general (or even that particular buzzword) has to do with bundles of wood.
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They do another free weekend and half price weekend i may just vote Futuremark or Lib Dem
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Vote Futuremark. Don’t throw away your vote sir!
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More weapons or electoral reform? hmmmmm…..
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“Mildly suggestive Themes”?
Come on Futuremark, you can do better than that!
ps, nice shuttle :)
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Like the shuttle docking with the space station scene in a Venture Bros episode?
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Now that I have a good pc, may give this a go go.
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I haven’t played this since the day i bought it in the Steam sale – I really should fire it back up
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OOooo, first new maps, now new guns?
I keep meaning to try this again. I have it installed…
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Now we’ve got the idea that bullets work in a vacuum, can someone explain how we hear the guns go “bang! bang!” and the grenades go “boom!”?
Several points docked on the artistic licence I fear.
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Your suit “simulates” the sound. You can turn off all your suits power in a silent running mode and then you only hear your breathing and the muffled thud of your own gun. It’s actually very atmospheric and I once spent an entire game just floating around in silence ignoring the big firefight going on around me and pretending to be an astronaut.
/is 5 years old.
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Sound simulation. If you turn your suit off to go into a sort of stealth mode, you hear nothing.
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Which begs the question why they (the suit makers) opted for generic slugfest DAKKADAKKA instead of timeless sci-fi PEW PEW… sound designers, when will you ever learn?
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That actually looks pretty sweet. Is there a demo?
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Do the guns use caseless rounds? I didn’t see any spent shells whooshing off into the distance. Can’t remember if the propellants need external oxygen, but surely not.
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You got the oxygen right, but you completely failed Newton’s second law of motion.
You’re not going to get anywhere by firing a gun in space.
(From Atomic Rocket. Warning: reading the site may prevent you from enjoying any sci-fi ever again)
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I’d like to give this a try but fear my PC would go into atomic meltdown. :(
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The community is all dried up in Australia. I’m lucky to find a server with 3 people on it.
Sucks. One of my favorite games :(
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Really looking forward to this. Got the game at the last free weekend and it’s great fun. The small community is quite nice as well :)
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There was a type of gun called the Gyrojet that reduced recoil by firing tiny rockets instead of bullets (yes you’re right, that IS as awesome as it sounds). Pretty sure they were considered for use in space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet
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The style of the trailer reminded me a great deal of the tech demo for Nexus 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC4y2T0-skM
(And it’s a real pity that never saw the light of day. At least, not yet..)
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Is there an RPS group or something for this? I prefer RPS people killing me while I’m spinning backwards upside-down through space.
There are so few servers that I can ever find with people in but I’d really like to give it a good go.
And if any of the previous pedants tell me there is no upside-down in space I’m going to pull their hair.
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They did, look up Mass Effect.
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I hope more people play after, it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played
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