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Heavy Gear 2
...continued

Heavy Gear 2 is designed to appeal to hard-core gamers, as evidenced by the Gear modification lab and multiplayer host options. The lab enables pilots to get in-depth with their Gear designs; players can literally spend hours there, testing weapons loadouts and touching up their threat values for maximum capability. The designers are giving pilots the ability to fully customize all available vehicles, and the construction system remains highly loyal to the paper-based game. It uses a threat value as an indicator of the vehicle's battle value and allows players to adjust values up and down to maximize the effectiveness of their fighter. Customization includes the type of chassis, maximum movement speeds, fire control ratings that give the Gear advantages such as leading reticles or target identification, maneuverability ratings to adjust the handling of the Gear, sensor ratings for things such as radars and infrared, complete weapons customization, and the adjustment of perks and flaws. Perks enable gamers to customize advantages such as heavy front armor or backup life support to fit their play style, and flaws balances the perks and reduces the threat value with things like weak rear armor or an exposed movement system.

Then there are the powerful host options in multiplayer. For league play and serious team games, they offer incredible flexibility. Hosts can regulate things like weapons restrictions, victory conditions for duels, deciding whether gamers can only use stock Gears or permit modified Gears and more. In addition, captains can be assigned in team games. The captain can divide the team's total threat value among members so players are not restricted to using the traditional "total team threat divided by the number of players." Instead, the captain can say, "Joe, take a light Gear using 400 points, and Ted, take an artillery strider using 2500." The possibilities are endless.

Another aspect of the game that should appeal to hard-core gamers, especially those with high-end machines, are the stunning graphics. When I ask Georgeson why the team developed a hardware-only graphics engine when there are still a lot of players without acceleration, he trumpets, "The reason is that supporting software absolutely cripples your game. If you have to support a software version, then you must assume the CPU is occupied doing all the texture handling. This means you cannot use it for other critical things, such as physics, AI or geometry transformations for forests and cities. So, unlike other giant robot games, we decided on the hardware only path and it shows in the gameplay." At E3 last summer, I caught glimpses of both MechWarrior 3, which uses a software render, and Heavy Gear 2, and the differences go deeper than aesthetics. While the hardware engine is obviously more visually attractive, it also enables the designers to fashion more tactically complex environments.

The demo does have its shortcomings and Georgeson promises the team is addressing them. For starters, the control set will be fully configurable; in the demo, Gear pilots are forced to use the default configuration. In addition, the HUD and targeting features are getting a massive overhaul. There are many more weapons available, all multiplayer games will be functional and the entire construction mechanism will be available online for people wishing to customize the game. The single-player experience will also be more varied: players will encounter vehicles that are not Gears; tactical options will be more in-depth for squadmate commands; the special effects are getting a huge facelift; and the additional weapons should add more jolt to the already intense combat. "Just wait until you see the indirect weapons, such as the mortars and grenade launchers," Georgeson enthuses. "They rock."

There are also changes being made to the squadmate controls for the full release. For example, players will have better control of combat situations through a Combat Preferences button on the tactical map. They will be able to control engagement options, including targeting, tactics and management methods such as assault, seek and cover, hold ground and retreat. There will be four squadmates available that can be divided into two individually controlled teams. Squadmates will move along user-defined paths in addition to going to checkpoints, offer aural feedback regarding developing situations and feature more intelligent weapons usage. In addition, gamers will have complete control over squad, firearm and sensor settings for customized recon and health.

Still, if the demo just hints at what the final product will be like, Heavy Gear 2 will stomp the competition with its super-charged gameplay and cutting-edge graphics. Georgeson declares the design team has a number one game on their hands, and just needs time to apply the final shine. "Once the planned-for feature set is in place, we will spend all remaining time doing game balancing, tweaking and polish, polish, polish. The best games are the ones that have the most time between when they are "done" and when they are released. That polishing time is critical.

 

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