The Gamer's Quarter

[dhex]

i'd be into this if it weren't multiplayer. seems closer to that wargamer nerd meets game nerd = an attempt to simulate a time and place both lost and horrible.

seeking conflict through our toys. huh.
_________________

[seryogin]

Oh, fuck.

I'm becoming more and more irritated by the increase of Ostfront themed games, because I will never ever play them.

This looks pretty well researched. From the pictures I can see that the settings look similiar to what the Russian countryside actually looks like and can also see that one of the soldiers in the first picture is a Russian naval infantryman, wearing their specific uniform. It's the type of detail that's often lost on most of the purveyors of these types of games. I winced at the beginning of Call of Duty when I saw the infantrymen wearing 1943-style uniforms in 1942, which is a detail that's much too important and complex to discuss in this forum post. I'll just say that the Russian uniform style change was a very important detail, which was precipitated precisely by the victory at Stalingrad...but I digress.
_________________

[dhex]

digress away!

i might buy this.
_________________

[seryogin]

Well, the uniform style before 1943 had been very original and wholly unlike the style that came before it. The Bolshevik Revolution had abolished the hated Czarist shoulder boards, for centuries the symbol of the Russian officer class and a mark of prestiege among those who wore them.

Ranks in the Red Army were demonstrated through the various symbols (triangles and squares, higher ranks ranks had stars) on the red collar tabs of the soldiers' tunics. The uniform was very simple and even the higher ranks didn't really have anything ornate about them. They all wore the simple Stalin style tunic only with red piping and collar tabs.

The Victory at Stalingrad saw a great change in the Soviet uniform style. Some speculate that it was that victory that had made Stalin confident that the Soviet Union would become a great imperial power, which is why, again this is just speculation, Stalin returned the gold braid and shoulder boards to the army ( notice that the picture that I posted in my lj has me wearing a blazer with gold braid, an unthinkable thing before 43). The uniforms began to resemble the ones that had been left behind after the fall of czarism. If Lenin could see the gold shoulder boards on the parade tunics in 1945 he'd probably go mad, he hated every single aspect of imperial Russia so returning them to the army would've been too much for him to stomach. But then again Lenin never really liked Russians anyway.
_________________

[ryan]

The story of Red Orchestra is pretty cool. It was a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004 that won a mod contest. One of the main prizes was a license to the Unreal Engine, so they formed a game company and used the license to create this. I never bought UT2004 so I never tried it, plus I was a Day of Defeat man (and a good one at that) back then. But! I might give this a go.
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Dracko]

Is there a free version available under Source, though? I find this exceedingly interesting, but I'd like to know if there's a way to test the goods without having to be a copy of UT2k4.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[seryogin]

I just watched the trailer and GODDAMN does this look impressive.

You gotta get this dhex if only for the reason of letting me come over and play it.

Though, still, I'm but skeptical about the idea of it being online. I mean, didn't somebody already try this with WWII Online and fail.
_________________

[Shapermc]

Dhex: "What the hell is this: Video Card: 64 MB DX9 Compliant" I don't know if I can run this. I would be interested in a demo to see if I could. Also, what would this look like without pixel shading?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[dhex]

dx9 means it's gotta be able to support pixel shader 2.0 or higher.

64 = 64mb of ram on the video card.
_________________

[Shapermc]

[Dracko]

For those who aren't aware, starting today, the full game will be available for a free 5 day trial.

If you're interested, get preloading.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[squidlarkin]

I actually tried the UT2k4 mod. They certainly succeeded in making it gritty and realistic. And in a real war, there aren't any helpful little icons floating above your teammates' heads...

So yeah, I eventually felt bad enough about all the friendly troops I'd accidentally killed, and quit playing.

[Dracko]

Is this game worth getting in light of the Insurgency mod for Half-Life², made by the same team? Is it even played much?
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Shapermc]

[Dracko]

Does it really get that bad? I recall enjoying what I played of Insurgency. The HUD in Red Orchestra sort of annoyed me, but the gameplay was brilliant. I'm just wondering if it's truly worth getting when there's a slightly more elegant - in the art design, I mean - and free game available.

P.S. Where is Sergei's avatar from?
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Shapermc]

I only played one map, and perhaps it just needs a tutorial of some sort. The options are fairly straight forward, but they feel a bit off when playing. The roles make no sense. There's no way of identifying friend from foe. I was getting killed constantly by people I couldn't see. I was watching people do jumps that shouldn't be possible. Oh, and if an explosion went off that I couldn't even hear or see I still got the drunk effect. It was irritating and I figured I'd either never play again or wait until they clean the game up and balance it better.

[purplechair]

A friend of mine had some idea for a Russian front MMO where you started out as either a guy with a rifle or a guy with some bullets.

I don't think many people would play it. But it's nice that they'd have the choice, eh.