The honest thoughts of an RO:Ost vet

[Private Who?]

I agree with a lot of that. I'm not quite sure the maps are TOTALLY imbalanced that way, but it could be close.

ROHoS might be a great game one day. To say that it absolutely will be is, at this point, a bit of a stretch. And that's from someone who likes it, just not as much as I thought I would.

It feels like there are SO MANY ideas (both good & bad IMO) trying to get crammed into the game that it has a hard time of doing a great job of anything.

The main thing killing this game for me right now are the lack of any maps of real size and heft combined with the over-emphasis on SMG's. That's turning the game into a bit of a twitch shooter. Combine that with the SMG's being (at least seemingly) more accurate and far easier to control...and all of the sudden we have a situation where bolt rifles (the backbone of RO) are at a serious disadvantage.

Most of us liked Lyes Krovy or Danzig once in a while, but then you could count on Leningrad or Tula Outskirts to come around. Or even something bigger. As of now we don't really have that.

 

[Alois Hertz]

I have to agree with Fleck, this game has been so sub-par compared with RO:Ost. Not really with the performance issues per se, but the fact that the original RO was tailored to a standard which made it stand out from all the other FPS; Which is why I played it for years and years on end. However, I think RO2 lacks all of that, after playing it a full week, it has really shown through how much has been lost. We all loved RO1 for its lack of things other mainstream games constantly harp on (ranking systems, unlocks, game modes. etc.) and just being able to play with standardized and common equipment and basically portray your average foot soldier in WW2. That concept sadly seems to have been thrown completely out the window for RO2. I do understand TWI is trying to expand its playerbase, but giving the middle finger to the original fans who stood by and loved the first game and its mods seems to be whats happened here. To me, the game seems very unfinished and tailored to a completely different crowd than the first one attracted. And i'm obviously not the only one unhappy with RO2.



Best Regards.


-Alois Hertz

 

[teapot156]

Yep. Things like the zoom with every weapon. No matter how many threads try to "justify" its realism it still has no bearing on real life. When you look at something and hold your hand up you cant zoom in on the background and reduce the sensitivity of your hand or really focus for that matter. The human eye is really unimpressive, especially when its used in connection with an outstretched arm distanced from ones center of gravity.

Every map besides Grain Elevator and Spartanovka has no dispersal between cap points and each sides respective spawns. This makes for a real meat-grinder of a situation. It would be perfectly fine if there wasn't the lock down element which rolls over the map constantly so, heaven forbid, I don't get into playing a round for too long.

The sprinting speed is extremely fast and seems to be without inertia so players are incredibly hard to hit if they zig-zag.

Another RO vet I talked to said he thought playing RO2 was a lot like work because of the mindless stress and quick action. The same state comes from playing twitch games like, sorry to say, Call of Duty.

Recently I've been going back to play DH, and even though it is a pretty polished mod with years behind it, it is just plain fun on a fundamental way.

 

[stayBlind]

Yep. Things like the zoom with every weapon. No matter how many threads try to "justify" its realism it still has no bearing on real life. When you look at something and hold your hand up you cant zoom in on the background and reduce the sensitivity of your hand or really focus for that matter. The human eye is really unimpressive, especially when its used in connection with an outstretched arm distanced from ones center of gravity.

Every map besides Grain Elevator and Spartanovka has no dispersal between cap points and each sides respective spawns. This makes for a real meat-grinder of a situation. It would be perfectly fine if there wasn't the lock down element which rolls over the map constantly so, heaven forbid, I don't get into playing a round for too long.

The sprinting speed is extremely fast and seems to be without inertia so players are incredibly hard to hit if they zig-zag.

Another RO vet I talked to said he thought playing RO2 was a lot like work because of the mindless stress and quick action. The same state comes from playing twitch games like, sorry to say, Call of Duty.

Recently I've been going back to play DH, and even though it is a pretty polished mod with years behind it, it is just plain fun on a fundamental way.

On the topic of inertia... it would be nice to see a player have to 'accelerate' at the start of a sprint and 'decelerate' at the end of one. As it is now, there is no reason not to sprint all of the time. I was hoping that TWI would work on features like these instead of spending time on features like 'KillCam' and 'Last Stand'.

 

[Unorthadox]

Yep. Things like the zoom with every weapon. No matter how many threads try to "justify" its realism it still has no bearing on real life. When you look at something and hold your hand up you cant zoom in on the background and reduce the sensitivity of your hand or really focus for that matter. The human eye is really unimpressive, especially when its used in connection with an outstretched arm distanced from ones center of gravity.

It's about resolution, not focus.

 

[Volucris]

also the squad system and team play on this game flat out blow. it's basically just a COD sprint around man shoot

No ****. I try sticking with anyone in my squad and people just lone wolf everything.

Things that must be removed COMPLETELY:
*Recon planes
*Instantly called in artillery (**** needs to be planned and then it happens so you can't just spur of the moment rape an area)
*suppression system
*my character blurting **** out
*unlocks

Things that need to be made working:
*squad system
*VOIP
*fire button working more than 50% of the time
*Ppsh recoil adjusted to its correct....not retardedly high recoil amount. (they do not kick much in reality. go buy one for $400 online in semi auto and try it)
*no suicide when i choose a class
*plum bolt on svt40 is wrong
*front sight post on all guns is split into this bucktooth thing you cant use
*should be able to cancel a reload animation
*should be able to transition to pistol while running
*deployed MGs are not supposed to suck that much (anyone with any bit of training with an MG will make the shots all stay on target with proper bipod use)
*bandages are too fast and are silly



The problem is this game can't make up its mind as to what it wants to be. I like it to a degree but I'm already bored of the maps and complete lack of teamwork. I usually am in the top 4 on any server.


I got this game for $23.99. So far I've gotten my money's worth in the rare occasion the server plays right. Still, within a few months it should be a great game. For now it doesn't hold my attention more than ARMA II.

 

[teapot156]

It's about resolution, not focus.

I understand that, but its a pretty crappy solution to use zoom to compensate for that, wouldn't you think? I mean, all things considering on how each game turns out that uses this method, it just doesn't seem to work and it makes for crappy gunplay.

On the topic of inertia... it would be nice to see a player have to 'accelerate' at the start of a sprint and 'decelerate' at the end of one. As it is now, there is no reason not to sprint all of the time. I was hoping that TWI would work on features like these instead of spending time on features like 'KillCam' and 'Last Stand'.

Yeah I think RO eventually got that change or maybe DH. Don't remember... As for the other things, I don't know what to say. Maybe time will tell?

 

[Unorthadox]

I understand that, but its a pretty crappy solution to use zoom to compensate for that, wouldn't you think? I mean, all things considering on how each game turns out that uses this method, it just doesn't seem to work and it makes for crappy gunplay.

That's where the issue is, there just really isn't any other way to do it yet.

 

[teapot156]

That's where the issue is, there just really isn't any other way to do it yet.

Then why do anything?

My heart wouldn't be broken if I missed a target I was aiming at with a bolt action. It just happens, and it puts more lead in the air which makes for more intense combat.

 

[slyder73]

Okay so, having logged over 1,000 hours on RO:Ostfront and about 25 on RO:HOS (lol) I decided to compile my thoughts here.

Unfortunately most of my feelings toward the game are negative, so I'll start with what is good. I really do enjoy the graphics. The game is pretty, the maps are pretty (though they feel ... still ... and could use some more ambiance), and the character / weapon models are really well done when you ignore the post-war markings on several of the guns.

Okay, now that that's out of the way. The gameplay is really really disappointing. Between the six assault slots, four squad leader slots, three elite rifleman slots, two engineers, two anti-tank soldiers, four machine-gunners, and one commander there are 22 automatic and semi-automatic weapons on each team. I'm sorry, but that is stupid (I left out the marksman's G41 because the ZF41 is DEPRESSINGLY useless). Sasquatch has hinted that this was done intentionally by the developers, to which I ask why! Why try fixing something that wasn't broken? RO1 played great with barely any effective automatics available.

When you couple the automatic weapons with the fact that the maps are unbelievably unbalanced the game pretty much comes across as broken. I stopped playing Axis because it was just too easy, but Allies is frustratingly hard. Sure sometimes you win on Grain Elevator and Spartanovka, but how often can the Allies seriously win on maps like Commissar's House and Apartments? I don't remember that problem on Danzig.

Finally the unlock system... This might work for modern warfare games when every grunt can customize the hell out of his M4 with rail covers, an ACOG or red dot, front hand grips, etc... but it does NOT work for a WW2 game when soldiers were issued extremely standardized equipment. Unlocking a "Winter Trigger Guard" when it doesn't do **** to change the gun is stupid. Sorry, but it is. Also I find it REALLY funny that TWI made the magazine standard on the PPSH rather than the drum to "balance" it, yet it's still badly inferior to the MP-40 (which is pretty much a laser beam).

Not only is the unlock system bafflingly useless (and in many cases annoying.. why can't I take my bayonet off? OR THAT DAMN DOUBLE MP-40 MAG?!), it's also broken to hell. A guy on our TS tonight was so excited because he was at level 14 on his MG-34 totally legit--it was the only weapon that hadn't glitched out on him. We get into the next map and it had jumped to level 40 and he had the double-drum. Seriously..?

The idea of your model and weapons appearing more and more well-worn is an awesome idea btw.

Also as an afterthought... didn't you all say it would take months to become a hero? Everyone I know already has the option of being one. :|

Sorry to be so blunt, but unless something radical changes, I won't play this game once Diablo 3 or SWTOR come out

PS: Don't play the "Tripwire is a small company" card, because, though it's small, it's still a COMPANY. Releasing such a broken product is a bad, bad way to run a business for a company of any size. How many mom and pop shops do you know that release crappier stuff than Wal-Mart? I expect this from a mod team, not an actual game developer.

I've been pondering such a thread myself. I am an old RO vet from the week after release of RO1. I have been playing this game steady as well as all the various mods of it for the past 5 years and more now. I know the community and the "spirit" of RO1.

I have to agree with everything said here. I feel the same way. I feel that although I love the look and realistic appearance of everything in the game, I'm quite disappointed in the lowballing of the game; the giving up of the historical accuracy that made the RO community love the game and Tripwire.

I have enjoyed playing this game so far, love it in fact. But unlike RO1, at this point I can't see myself devoting the same time or loyalty to this game, when somehow, magically and contrary to ALL historical research, history and previous version of RO; suddenly this game is like a PS3 style console game where almost all players can have advanced "unlocked" weapons or prototypes that were NOT at Stalingrad.

 

[rukqoa]

I don't blame them. If you look at Oct/Nov and what competition TWI is going up against, you'll know that it's commercial suicide to push the release date back another couple months.

I hate this "release and then patch on the go" attitude, but I'll let Tripwire go because I KNOW they will at least take the time to fix the game, unlike a lot of other devs who will just fire-n-forget.

 

[Kosigan]

I don't blame them. If you look at Oct/Nov and what competition TWI is going up against, you'll know that it's commercial suicide to push the release date back another couple months.

I hate this "release and then patch on the go" attitude, but I'll let Tripwire go because I KNOW they will at least take the time to fix the game, unlike a lot of other devs who will just fire-n-forget.

LONG TERM, I totally agree.

It just sucks that we're at the beginning of that long term process of fixing the game. Yet I still have faith... why not? Being a nihilist sucks.

 

[slyder73]

Yep. Things like the zoom with every weapon. No matter how many threads try to "justify" its realism it still has no bearing on real life. When you look at something and hold your hand up you cant zoom in on the background and reduce the sensitivity of your hand or really focus for that matter. The human eye is really unimpressive, especially when its used in connection with an outstretched arm distanced from ones center of gravity.
.

The thing I will comment on that is realistic ironically is the zoom.

So few understand WHY this is realistic.

Have you ever looked at an atlas with a map of the world? On that map you will likely see Europe and the Atlantic at the center. As you approach the edges of the map, you will notice that Greenland and Antarctica etc are VERY much "stretched" to fit on a two dimensional square surface. This is the standard Mercator Projection.

Essentially, in a video game, this is the same thing that happens with our vision. In real life, you see forward and into a sphere that varies to your peripheral vision to at most just under 170 degrees. Everything is in correct scale.

Now, in a video game, that same representation, just like a spherical globe being cut and stretched to fit on a rectangle or square surface, the same thing happens on your screen.

The outside edges of the screen are magnified MUCH more than you would see them in real life. The center of your vision is tiny Britain on the Atlas map.

The Zoom feature simply compensates for this effect. You zoom your focal point to compensate for the distant and edges of your computer screen being far more magnified than your eyes would see them in real life.

 

[RojaNNation]

 

[20.PzGr.Fleck]

A few weeks ago we had the author of Island of Fire (a very very well researched book about Stalingrad) and An Infantryman in Stalingrad on our Teamspeak. He denied that there would have ever been any Mkb.42s at Stalingrad and insisted that there were MG 42s.

So every time they insist the Mkb 42 is accurate a little piece of me dies

 

[Leopardi]

Only thing thats putting RO2 on the shelf for me is the famous UE3 mouse lag introduced in last patch.

 

[teapot156]

The thing I will comment on that is realistic ironically is the zoom.

So few understand WHY this is realistic.

Have you ever looked at an atlas with a map of the world? On that map you will likely see Europe and the Atlantic at the center. As you approach the edges of the map, you will notice that Greenland and Antarctica etc are VERY much "stretched" to fit on a two dimensional square surface. This is the standard Mercator Projection.

Essentially, in a video game, this is the same thing that happens with our vision. In real life, you see forward and into a sphere that varies to your peripheral vision to at most just under 170 degrees. Everything is in correct scale.

Now, in a video game, that same representation, just like a spherical globe being cut and stretched to fit on a rectangle or square surface, the same thing happens on your screen.

The outside edges of the screen are magnified MUCH more than you would see them in real life. The center of your vision is tiny Britain on the Atlas map.

The Zoom feature simply compensates for this effect. You zoom your focal point to compensate for the distant and edges of your computer screen being far more magnified than your eyes would see them in real life.

I still don't really understand, and I've looked at a lot of threads. I see what you mean about the distortion that's causes when things move into peripheral view but how it exactly translates to zoom I don't know. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on it.

What I do know for certain is it makes hitting a target far too easy in awkward circumstances, in game.

It makes for unrealistic firefights, which coincidentally aren't that fun or intense.

 

[RojaNNation]

Only thing thats putting RO2 on the shelf for me is the famous UE3 mouse lag introduced in last patch.

Yeah I got that too. It's so annoying, lol.

 

[20.PzGr.Fleck]

And just because something is new, doesn't mean it's better

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

The things that annoy me atm are

1.) The inability to detach bayonets: Pretty non-immersive that you can't take off your bayonet.

2.) Inability to choose wether or not you want that next unlock on your weapon or not: Come on, this should be easy?

3.) MP40/II & Mkb42 as commonplace weapons: Should be two pr. map at max

4.) Excessive recoil of some weapons, namely Mkb42, MG34 & DP28: BUT the reduction of recoil through experience lvls do help a lot, so it could become a non-issue

5.) Bayonets on sniper rifles: This is just plain ridiculous, it didn't happen and it wouldn't happen under any circumstances, figure out some other unlock, like for ex. a higher magnification scope.

6.) Double drum mag for the MG34: Just give it a 100 or 75 round belt, and animate the left hand holding the belt whilst deployed simple as that.