Another TTK Topic (Or is it?)

Just Kidding! I'm extremely tired of seeing the dead horse that is TTKs/OHKs get Rasputin'd on this forum, and I'd just like to ask one question.

Whats your favorite things about Sandstorm so far? I see so much negative feedback, lets list some good shit so the devs can feel better about themselves.

I have to say, I wasn't expecting to love character customization so much. That and the double-tap r to drop mad during reload has taken the cake for my favorite things so far. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't giggle like a schoolgirl the first time I drove a vehicle and the first time I saw an A-10 strike.

last edited by Marxman LMC

Honestly? I was super hyped at first... but after playing this game for quite some time i dislike it more and more. At the moment I'm at a point where I'm close to losing faith for this game being a competitive shooter.

  • balancing is all over the place
  • maps are too large and random
  • movement... ugh. clunky sums it up.
  • shooting mechanics are... pretty much point and click...
  • matchmaking is utter trash, whoever designed this system... should re-consider his position and do something else, but surely not design matchmaking systems. maybe it was super low priority...i can just hope so

Yeah, i think they have a ton of work to do, before this game can be taken seriously. December is still "far" away and they seem to work "fast" ...but working fast doesn't include working good.

Sorry this post isn't what you are looking for 😛 ... but after my initial hype has settled i gotta be realistic.

@benz That perfectly sums up my opinion. The game just feels... weird. Maybe I've played too many source games, maybe I just can't get used to UE. Whatever it is, the game feels wonky. Far from the crisp movement and aiming of Ins2. I can't really pin down what is weird about it for me.

Edit to add: waiting to play release version for an hour or two to see if it's significantly different. If it's close to what it is now, I'll be refunding and picking up something I'll enjoy.

last edited by tedeski

I think the sounds are glorious, not 3D sounds those are crap but just the sounds of the world is amazing. And trucks are fun to fk around with I wish they respawned.

@marxman-lmc Not really much positive feedback to give, if I'm being perfectly honest...

The more I play it, the more the problems start to creep in. Pretty much all the NWI hallmarks are here:
-Rubbish AI that has to cheat to be a challenge
-Terrible spawn mechanics that encourage and reward spawn killing
-Rampant trolling and team killing we have no real way of dealing with (At least with community servers admins could take care of troublemakers)
-Laughable weapon balancing (A 9mm pistol can kill through heavy armor in two shots... the Uzi cannot. Even though they fire the same damn bullet)
-Constant catering to a loud minority that ruins the experience for the majority
-Building and subsequently abandoning new systems without any iteration (See competitive matchmaking for Insurgency Source)

I had hoped after two successful games and four years in business, NWI would improve their craft. Unfortunately, it seems they haven't, and if past behavior is anything to go by, none of these problems will be solved in a satisfactory manner. They'll just be chalked up to "typical NWI" and ignored.

Sorry if this wasn't the post you were looking for, but I'm finding it harder and harder to stay positive as the weeks go by.
(No, it's not our obligation to make the devs "feel good". Don't get into a creative industry if you can't deal with harsh, honest criticism of your work.)

last edited by Quadsword

@Benz

yeah, I agree with much of what you're saying. Except I think the maps are a lot of fun and the shooting mechanics have a lot going for them. What PC game isn't point and click?

They definitely have a ton of work to do, but seeing the numbers of fixes and patches plus the delay of release makes me have a lot of confidence in the dev team to make a good game. What do you mean by competitive shooter? I see that term tossed around a lot. I assume it means having all mechanics completely non-reliant on chance in any way, which I've never personally agreed with for reasons I've stated in other threads. Check out this video on handgun lethality, it covers incapacitation/lethality in the context of stopping an attacker, and the numbers show that bullets are never consistent. I know, I know, people hate the realism argument, but I think it works well to make people think about movement first and weapons later.

I'm not trying to ride the devs' collective dicks, but I am very appreciative that this game has been given a third go-round, and I really dislike circle-jerking over negativity.

@Quadsword

I agree that all of what you mentioned needs lots of work. The weapon balancing I think is less of an issue than the core mechanics like the spawns, trolling, and AI for co-op. I think NWI did a good thing generally with INS2, and I might be looking at this whole thing with big fucking rosy glasses because of how happy I am the game has made it this far. The unreal Insurgency was talked about since the mod days, no one thought it would ever really happen. I have a lot of faith in them to unfuck their game at least somewhat before release. UE is not an easy transition, and I'm glad to see they're keeping a lot of the feel intact. The fact that the game even somewhat feels like INS is a miracle tbh.

And I know its not our obligation to make the devs feel good, and I'm not saying that their work shouldn't be harshly criticized. I just think the forums need a little faith and less shit-slinging. People shouldn't be blindingly accepting of a product, but in this particular context I think the developers deserve a little support. We're not talking about a multi-million dollar company, were talking about some people that are monetizing their passion. I just think we all need to lighten up a bit. I feel like the gaming community is like piranhas when it comes to negativity.

yes I as well enjoy the clothing stuff, running around in the colors of my country's flag =).

I think the objective boundaries are generally very good. By looking at the map you usually know what area the objective is (like, the entire house). It is not perfect, but way better than previous games. I think these areas that makes sense are important for me to get immersed. If the objective area makes no sense, why am I fighting for it?

I love that basically all areas of the maps are accessible. That makes the game about securing the objectives and the area around, not about securing choke points.

I do like the load out system. More in this game than ins2014, mostly due to no AP/HP bullet stuff. This is more consistent and straight forward. It doesn't have to be too complicated.

@benz said in Another TTK Topic (Or is it?):

I'm close to losing faith for this game being a competitive shooter

I agree with you from a competitive shooter standpoint. I highly doubt this will gain any actual competitive scene. With that said, I don't think that would make the game unsuccessful.

For me the joy of Sandstorm is coop and versus sometimes (though its mainly like waiting up for people tbh). If the devs try to focus on making the game competitive and sacrifice coop in the process, it'll ruin the game more than the other way around.

Now for the positive stuff... I actually really like the gunplay. People complain about the recoil for balance reasons, but having shot a lot of the guns in game myself, they actually feel pretty on point. Out of any other fps I've played it just seems the most accurate, though it might just be me.

The maps look really nice and I like the details the devs put in. The source maps seemed so bare.

Mechanics-wise I think its an improvement over ins2. It's not polished at all, but I like that everything isn't an instagib anymore. I wish they worked on making the armor better and viable, and rebalanced how calibers behave.

@thehappybub NWI might be making armor more viable. They said in upcoming patch they're changing a lot. Damage, armor, movement mechanics and character behaviors.

I'm calling it "The Miracle Patch" until it finally drops, and then... we'll see lmao.

last edited by MarksmanMax

@thehappybub I won't doubt until it actually drops. Then I'll run some damage model tests. I'll be optimistic til them.

@marksmanmax mmm lots of tweaks.. that sounds good!

I hope they have some good ones for the movement mechanics.

@marksmanmax I will wait with cautious optimism.