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...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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