Testing release: 0.2.0-testing1

[fr1tz]

Source: http://files.wasted.ch/software/terminal-overload/terminal-overload-0.2.0-testing1-source.tar.gz
Linux: http://files.wasted.ch/software/terminal-overload/terminal-overload-0.2.0-testing1-linux32.tar.gz
Windows: http://files.wasted.ch/software/terminal-overload/terminal-overload-0.2.0-testing1-win32.zip

What's new? -> https://github.com/fr1tz/terminal-overload/blob/169a4a3e22b55e831998b4bd951668ecec9655ce/My%20Projects/main/game/NEWS

I'd like to do a play session of this as soon as possible to see if it's ready for an official 0.2.0 release.

[Julius]

Downloading now, was really hoping for a in-game menu though (or was that left out in the change-log?).

[fr1tz]

I haven't decided yet how to implement an in-game menu, so I moved it into the TODO list for the 0.3.0 release.

[Wuzzy]

OK, here’s my first review of this release:

Bug: It is not possible to change the resolution while in fullscreen.
Bug: The FOV resets after respawn.
And I think the FOV can be set to really absurd values. I wonder if it is even fair to allow players to set their FOV to such large values.

About the maps:
I found the ETH3 paths a bit confusing on the first run. Of course I totally ran the wrong way and fell into a stupd pit instead of following the regular path. But I became used to it very quickly.

Neutral zones in ETH4: Those aren’t obvious. The color is just slightly different from neutral zones. At my first run, I walked on such a zone and I thought it was a bug because I didn’t catch the zone although I touched it. The color for neutral zones should be clearly distinguishable.
And why not sticking to a standard color scheme for all maps?

On the first impression I think those new maps are really nice. It has to be shown how well they work out in actual gameplay, however.

Regarding the menu:
I think the controls should all moved away from the Game tab and instead moved to their own new tab “Coltrols”. Makes more sense to me.

Edit:
Another bug: After starting TOL in window mode, the mouse pointer does not hover anything; it starts only to react at all after the first click. After that first click, it’s still not enough: The focus is displaced. I put my mouse pointer on “Options”, yes “Play” is hovered, etc. So it seems TOL somehow assumes a slightly displaced mouse position. I suspect this is probably because XFCE automatically resizes and/or moves the window. As soon as I manually move or rezise the window, the hovering works normally.
I use the XFCE desktop (http://www.xfce.org).

[Julius]

concerning the last part: happens in KDE too and has been discussed. According to fr1tz it's some sort of SDL strangeness in Linux that is not yet fixed (the upstream Linux port is very much a work in progress).

[Julius]

Ok finally got around testing it a bit. And I really *don't* like the new maps... both feel way to cramped and in the second one there are too many places where you can get stuck or fall in an deep pit etc. and all you can do is reset to etherform (extremely frustrating when you don't know the button for it and can't look it up either without exiting the game). The third one is better in that regard, but rather boring.
I also don't think those boxes in the second one fit well to the overall art-style which you seemed to go for previously.

I guess one of the requirement for maps should be that they allow free flowing and fast movement.

Btw: that the "jump" is so inefficient vertically is also quite a show-stopper when you are forced to use it a lot due to non-smooth map design.

Ahh well... other wise (as far as I could test it without an server online with players) it seems to be nice progress, so it's not all bad

[fr1tz]

I disagree with the idea that every map should allow free flowing and fast movement. That way you just end up with a bunch of maps like ETH1 that play the same all the way through the map. I'm looking forward to playing ETH3 with more players exactly because there are a couple of cramped spaces and it takes some practice to move quickly across the map.

I'm not too fond of the boxes either, I just needed walls in some places and wanted something that looked like makeshift blockades, will probably change that for the 0.3.0 release

Btw, you can already bring up the options in-game by pressing ctrl+o (should be part of the "Misc Controls" section in the game options). But since most players don't seem to bother checking/customizing the controls I'm adding a very basic in-game menu to 0.2.0-testing2 that has an "Options" button.

[Julius]

I disagree with the idea that every map should allow free flowing and fast movement. That way you just end up with a bunch of maps like ETH1 that play the same all the way through the map. I'm looking forward to playing ETH3 with more players exactly because there are a couple of cramped spaces and it takes some practice to move quickly across the map.

Can't make it to todays test match (my company is having a barbecue), but I am skeptical regarding the crammed spaces. So much of TOL (movement, weapons handling etc.) seems to be geared towards open area fighting (a bit like Tribes) that these maps will hardly be fun. You might be right that having a bunch of ETH1 like maps would be boring given the current game-play, but I would rather suggest to try evolving the core gameplay than trying to make things more interesting through non-suitable maps. The strict linearity of zone capture for example is something that could be given more thought, and other gameplay elements like defensive structures, speed-lanes etc. would make things definitely more interesting.

In addition one also has to acknowledge that the Torque3D engine & editor is much better suited for open-space terrain levels, and I think the new maps are really held back by that too.

[mray]

Hi there, chiming in, too.
Since free space enhances all aspects I love about TOL, my suspicion is that the new closed-style maps are a big step towards boring 98% of all other multiplayer FPS with way too little fighting interaction and too much hectic.
But I'll gladly try my best to make it to the test-game so form a better informed opinion