Modern Warfare 2 Dedicated Server Hulabaloo

 

An innocent looking interview, a genuine looking answer and the internet exploded. PC gamers have done it again. Causing a major storm over the internet over the choice of a video game developer. But do they have a legitimate concern? Or is it all just hot air?

 

In a webcast, Robert Bowling revealed plans for IWnet that will be the gateway for Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer. The bad news, dedicated servers were being dropped. No support for dedicated servers. PC gamers were up in arms with this revelation and have started an online petition to demand Infinity Ward to reconsider this.

 

Much has happened since with other developers taking potshots at Infinity Wards, clans, and major PC gaming sites criticising this move from Infinity Ward.  Inifnity Ward has since given their own explanation for why dedicated server were being dropped which you can read here.

 

Frankly I think the reasons given are pretty lame. It doesn’t offer a good reason why they had to drop dedicated servers. Considering the fact that dedicated server are such a huge part of shooters and the multiplayer community, this is a big omission.  There are a few that point to the StarCraft 2 dropping LAN issue which is different. LAN is not the same with dedicated servers. Almost most modern FPS have communities thriving on dedicated servers.

 

LAN was a feature that is not used often these days and Steam has proven that having online authentication to have LAN parties can still work(the popularities of Counter Strike hasn’t dwindled with the introduction of Steam). PC gamers can forgive Blizzard with that. I personally do not want my PC games to end up feeling like a console games(especially wit the online community).

 

Lets give PC gamers more credit for all the cool things mods and dedicated servers have allowed. Infinity Ward, you need to think twice about this. Either serve the PC platform with its strength(stop trying to turn it into a console), or don’t make PC games anymore. We have other developers that do a great job serving PC gamers.

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Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC Comes Crashing 29th September

 

It’s been a while we’ve heard any news about the new DLC for Left 4 Dead and Valve has announced that Crash Course will be out September 29 2009. The new DLC will feature two new maps(for both campaign and versus) with all new finale events.

 

From shacknews:

 

Following through on its promise to deliver a batch of Left 4 Dead downloadable content by September's end, developer Valve today dated the "Crash Course" add-on for a September 29 release.

The download--free on PC, 560 MS Points ($7) on Xbox 360--brings new maps to the zombie shooter for use in Campaign and Versus. New Survival maps are included as well.

"The primary goal of Crash Course is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns," explained the company.

Though Left 4 Dead 2 is due out November 17, the company has pledged to "keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," with more content apparently coming after Crash Course.

Empire: Total War Update 1.4 Released

 

Despite the announcement of Napoleon Total War, Creative Assembly has insisted that they will continue to support Empire: Total War. They have announced earlier that Empire will get a new DLC campaign and now they have release update 1.4. Perhaps their biggest update ever for Empire, 1.4 fixes a ton of bugs and does some drastic balance changes(especially in naval battles). The diplomatic AI has been given a good boost with this patch. Release notes below:

 

Updates to Empire: Total War have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:
New Content

• Two (2) new historical battles: Battle of Rossbach and Battle of Fontenoy. Both available in single player and multi player
• Missile cavalry can now fire and reload whilst on the move

Balance Changes

• Overhaul of naval balancing
• Dragoons are available from higher building levels and now have fire by rank
• Light Dragoons have gained longer range guns to allow them to skirmish better
• Reworked cavalry costs to better reflect their value on the battlefield
• Increase in cost to Windbusche Jaegers and Ferguson Rifles
• Some improvements to projectile balancing
• Balance improvements made to Road to Independence Episode 3

Fixes

• Fix for auto unlimbering causing the attack order to terminate prematurely resulting in an inability to stop the unit from firing
• Fix for troops on fort walls not using fort gun range when judging when to fire on enemy troops
• Fix for fort guns using wrong targeting formula
• Fixes to fort pathfinding and use of ropes
• Multiplayer soft lock fixes
• Fix crash in quotes table
• Improved AI diplomacy
• Cumulative updates to improve AI invasion behaviour
• Added tooltips for alliance button in diplomacy
• Bug fixes and improvements to AI counter offers
• Improvements to AI diplomatic valuation of military access and alliances
• Fix for wind sounds not working in naval battles
• Fixed ship wakes not always working
• Fixed disembarking subsets of armies and agents from navies
• Fixed potential crash disembarking agents from navies
• Fixed armies not being booted out of regions when losing military access gained by joining an ally in war
• Improved AI diplomacy valuation of technologies
• Fix for bug where general's unit for an upper class rebellion was coming from the region owning faction rather than the faction rebelling
• Fixed reinforcements from unreachable positions
• Fixed bug preventing disembarking
• Balance of power fix for attack of opportunity
• Fixed bug that was causing issues with embarking an army containing multiple characters
• Minor tweak to stop some ship sails endlessly play furling sound
• Fixed path blocked bug
• Diplomacy counter-offer improvements
• Fix for fast forward not working as intended on some PCs. Will always speed up if camera is still, if camera moves fast forward will be as fast as possible on each PC

Empire: Total War – Warpath DLC Campaign Announced

 

SEGA and Creative Assembly announced that they will be releasing a new downloadable campaign called the Warpath Campaign. The campaign will be focused on American Native factions as they come into contact with European factions.  The campaign will have a new detailed map of America and new American faction with a unique tech tree and units for all of them. The campaign will be available October 2009.

 

New detailed North American Campaign Map expands the Empire: Total War experience, with 5 brand new American Indian factions, new units and technologies. Experience battles in the new Warpath Campaign and lead one of the 5 new factions in an epic war to defend your lands and drive out the invaders. Or take these units and their unique strengths into multiplayer battles. Pre-purchase now and get access to the Warpath Campaign the moment it releases on Steam.

 

Disciples III GamesCom 09 Walkthrough

 

I’ve always had a certain fondness for the dark gothic turn based strategy series of Disciples. It was gorgeously crafted in 2D art and simplistic in its combat system and unit upgrade system. The games were very challenging too. Ever since the announcement that Disciples III will be in 3D, I was sceptical.  Here’s a rather rare footage of a walkthrough from GamesCom.  Footage below:

 

Video Games | Disciples III | GC 09: Walkthrough

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Call Of Pripyat Long Trailer

 

The third game in the series, Call Of Pripyat is scheduled to be out by the end of this year. GSC Gameworld has released a new 5 minute long trailer. Trailer below:

 

Diablo III ‘The Monk’ Gameplay Footage

 

Blizzcon 09 is underway and Blizzard has revealed another class that will be in Diablo III, The Monk. What is certain is that Diablo III won’t be out at 2010(or this year of course). Videos below:

 

More Diablo III News & Previews

 

 

More Diablo III Info

Supreme Commander 2 GamesCom 2009 Gameplay Footage

 

More RTS goodness, this time from Gas Powered Games. Supreme Commander 2 look to keep the gargantuan scale of the first game while perfecting and rectifying many of the flaws of the first. IGN has posted a trailer and two gameplay footage(captured by camera). Videos below:

 

More Supreme Commander 2 News & Previews

 

Supreme Commander 2 at IGN.com

 

Supreme Commander 2 at IGN.com

R.U.S.E GamesCom 2009 Gameplay Footage

 

Gametrailers has a bunch of videos of Ubisoft’s sleek looking RTS, R.U.S.E. The videos were taken from camera so expect some blurriness. Everything points to a more simplified RTS game. I think it would be good on the console since the consoles are starved for a good strategy game(aside from Civilization Revolution of course). On the PC, I’m not so sure since there are plenty of other strategy games. Videos below:

 

Video Games | R.U.S.E | GC 09: Developer Walkthrough Pt. 1 (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

 

Video Games | R.U.S.E | GC 09: Developer Walkthrough Pt. 2 (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

 

Video Games | R.U.S.E | GC 09: Developer Walkthrough Pt. 3 (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

 

Video Games | R.U.S.E | GC 09: Developer Walkthrough Pt. 4 (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Napoleon: Total War Announced!

 

At Gamescom 09, SEGA revealed the new Total War title called Napoleon: Total War. IGN UK has a first write up preview of the new features of the new game. Based on the preview, Napoleon: Total War seems to borrow some the episodic nature of the Road to independence campaign in Empire. Napoleons campaign will be divided to three different episodes(all will be available in the game) that set the setting behind Napoleons historic manoeuvres. Creative Assembly are aiming for a February 2010 release. Still no clear indication whether this will be an expansion or a stand alone title.

 

Napoleon: Total War opens up a new narrative layer to the genre-defining franchise. From the early Italian campaign to the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon covers two decades of relentless battles, a backdrop of a world in flames against which the story of an extraordinary military career unfolds.

 

Whether you play as the legendary General or against, the outcome of war can never be guaranteed. The course of history relies on your ability to lead your troops through the most intense battles as never seen before in a Total War game.

 

The genre-defining franchise brings Napoleon to life:

Napoleon: Total War defines a new standard within the genre with exciting characters and a cinematic narrative, mind-blowing battle sequences and an unrivalled mix of turn-based and real-time strategy.

 

Three new episodic campaigns:
Take command and lead your armies on land and sea over three campaigns: Italy, Egypt and Mastery of Europe. The seamless mix of objective-based missions and sandbox experience makes this the most complete Total War experience to date.

Cutting-edge multiplayer:
Napoleon features fully integrated multiplayer modes and a complete set of online functionalities: Steam achievements, gameplay bonuses, uniform editor and voice communications.

 

All new Napoleonic battles and units:
Advanced weaponry enables new tactical options and even more exciting real-time battles on an epic scale, while the highly detailed environments and improved battlefield buildings guarantee a realistic recreation of famous historical battles.

Napoleon: Total War Info Leaked! Next Total War Title

 

It seems like some French total war fans received a little surprise in their mail. An article in the French magazine PC Jeux revealed new information about a title called Napoleon: Total War. Creative Assembly has released a press statement to stay tuned for an announcement this week at GamesCom. It is unclear still whether it will be an expansion pack or a standalone title. Image below:

 

 

CA representative statement:

Hi guys,
For those of you reading about Napoleon: Total War, an official announcement will be made this week. Please stay tuned for further details at www.totalwar.com.
Thanks,
Mark O'Connell
(aka SenseiTW)