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Topic: Timesplitters 2

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lazybum
rank 24
Posted:
Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:16 am
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Yesterday playing offline split screen with my brother we started off with a weapon during the games. It made me remember how when playing online with XLink we always started unarmed and had to run to find a weapon. I checked the LAN mode and there is no option in it to start with a gun like there is in the offline bot multiplayer. This is a very big flaw to me since it changes the experience significantly. Way too often in Xlink matches you spawn without a gun right next to an armed opponent who guns you down in the back as you flee to procure a weapon. It really makes me sad because I enjoy the multiplayer aspect of this game almost more than TSFP Sad .

P.S. I also checked the ILINK mode and it does not have the option for players to spawn with a gun as well.

Was LAN in PS2 games really that hard to craft when this game was release? Or were Free Radical just lazy and forgot to make sure that option worked in LAN or Ilink? I guess I should be happy TS2 can be played online at all, but it is so disappointing that you cannot have the same experience online that you have offline.
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Anemptybox
rank 3
Posted:
Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:48 pm
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Huh, never noticed that. I have no clue why it's like that, but it seems pretty stupid. :<
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lazybum
rank 24
Posted:
Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:14 pm
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Yea, it is very dissapointing. If that feature was intact, I think I would have to say that I like TS2 online more than TS3 online.
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lazybum
rank 24
Posted:
Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:23 pm
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After playing some more LAN Tunneling online of this game, I realized that for a lot of the maps it would make things a lot more fun if custom weapon sets were made for them. For example, on the scrapyard level 2 or 3 of the weapons are pretty useless on the default weapon set (laser pistols, plasma autorifle, electro tool). So, when you are playing this game online and are spawning without a weapon, it makes things even more annoying when the only weapon you can find half the time is a very underpowered or completely useless one. I think the situation could be improved if we take some time and create custom weapon sets for the levels so that every weapon is about as powerful as the others, so when playing online where you respawn unarmed you wont keep getting killed because all you can find is weak weapons.

Like, the default weapon sets assume you are spawning with a weapon. So when they include laser pistols it is because you will start off with them and will try to seek out the stronger weapons. But when playing online and you are forced to spawn weaponless, having weak weapons like that on the map make it very infurating when you spawn near players that have already picked up strong weapons. Like you spawn unarmed and are getting shot at and damaged while running to the closest weapon, only to find out you risked your life to go over to it and the weapon was a laser pistol...

I experimented a bit with this and with the scrapyard level in mind I made a custom weapon set that has a rocket launcher, lasergun, double shotguns, homing launcher, and soviet. I played this a few arounds against only 2 bots to simulate the LAN tunneling player count and it seemed to work a lot better than the default weapon set.
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lordnikon
rank 59
Posted:
Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:16 am
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lazybum wrote:
...create custom weapon sets for the levels so that every weapon is about as powerful as the others...

This ruins the gameplay experience. Maybe the weapon layouts need to be re-mapped or improved, but having a tiered weapon set is essential. You need to play more Quake sometime to understand this. The concept of there being a powerful weapon on the map that is more dominant than other weapons means securing that weapon is part of the map strategy.

In every classic FPS, you start out with a weaker weapon. In quake you get the machine gun, and in UT you get the pistol. However, each of these weapons... while weaker, can be used effectively in the hands of a skilled player.

Maybe this isn't the case in TimeSplitters, and it is a flaw you are uncovering. Maybe the splash damage area of the ammo in TimeSplitters along with the damage balancing is making supposedly weaker weapons "too" weak.

Regardless, you have to have a tiered, gradually stepped progression of weapons in any given match.

You could possibly configure it to start off with a shotgun as the starting weapon. It is 1 or 2 shots, at low intervals, with enough spread to deal some decent damage.
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TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:08 am
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The real issue here is that you start with absolutely nothing in TimeSplitters 2. The only options you have when you spawn are: Run to the nearest weapon or run to whoever is shooting you and hope you can punch them enough times to kill them. At least in nearly every other FPS ever made, you have something to fight back with while you run towards another weapon.

I also agree that the weak weapons in TS2 are almost too "weak". Stuff like the Sci-Fi Pistol or the Plasma Rifle (except for the grenades) are basically useless. They deal so little damage in comparison to explosive weapons or the lasergun. In UT or Quake, you have a decent chance of killing someone with the pistol or machine gun if you are capable. In TS2, I feel like I'd have an easier time killing someone by throwing rocks at them.
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lazybum
rank 24
Posted:
Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:43 am
quote : #7
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lordnikon wrote:
lazybum wrote:
...create custom weapon sets for the levels so that every weapon is about as powerful as the others...

This ruins the gameplay experience. Maybe the weapon layouts need to be re-mapped or improved, but having a tiered weapon set is essential. You need to play more Quake sometime to understand this. The concept of there being a powerful weapon on the map that is more dominant than other weapons means securing that weapon is part of the map strategy.

In every classic FPS, you start out with a weaker weapon. In quake you get the machine gun, and in UT you get the pistol. However, each of these weapons... while weaker, can be used effectively in the hands of a skilled player.

Maybe this isn't the case in TimeSplitters, and it is a flaw you are uncovering. Maybe the splash damage area of the ammo in TimeSplitters along with the damage balancing is making supposedly weaker weapons "too" weak.

Regardless, you have to have a tiered, gradually stepped progression of weapons in any given match.

You could possibly configure it to start off with a shotgun as the starting weapon. It is 1 or 2 shots, at low intervals, with enough spread to deal some decent damage.


See, normally I would agree with you. In timesplitters FP we use weapon sets where you start off with weak weapons and try to secure stronger ones. The Problem with TImesplitters 2 in LAN mode is that you cannot start with a weapon. You spawn every time unarmed. The option to spawn with a weapon is inexplicably missing from the LAN mode in TImesplitters 2. It is in the offline arcade mode. I have no idea why Free Radical left off the ability to spawn with a weapon because spawning unarmed completely changed how the game plays and not in a positive way.

This is why I think custom weapon sets are needed for some of the levels now for TImesplitters 2 on LAN tunneling. Because the weapon sets were built for when you start off with a gun. Like, if you start off with a weak weapon it is no problem that other players have strong weapons because you at least have something. But with the ability to spawn with a weapon taken out of the LAN mode of TImesplitteres 2 you end up spawning unarmed right near the guy who killed you multiple times. IF you are using a default weapon set too, half the weapons are severely underpowered ones, so most of the time you get killed seconds after you pick it up and try to use it since you are forced to flee for a weapon since you are unarmed, all the time you just get shot in the back by the player you spawned near.

Not every level has this problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y66OmTrSbwU

The Hangar level did not result in lots of frustration from spawning unarmed because the level is big but is closed off and has lots of different sections so you have some cover around you when you spawn.This gives you the ability to seek out a weapon without getting slaughtered most of the time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NddUwzYl3K0 (2:55 in the video shows a good example of what I mean)

In the scrapyard level the level is completely open. Here is a video of us playing deathmatch on scrapyard a few months ago so you can see what I mean. When you spawn the other players find out where you are in like 2 seconds. So, they just gun you down while you are trying to run to get a weapon. By the time you pick up a weapon you have like half of your health and if you ended up with one of the useless weapons like the sci fi pistols you are done for. This process happens multiple times in row sometimes.

When playing this level offline and in split screen. The level's default weapon set works fine because you at least spawn with a weapon. Not spawning with a weapon completely alters how this game plays online, so making custom weapon sets for some levels might be able to alleviate some of the frustration caused by the lack of this essential part of the game.
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