QF2 Released

[bigbadbogie]

QF2 v1.0 has been released.

Download here: http://www.moddb.com/mods/qf2-essence-to-a-thief

[Red Spot]

Dont want to nag, you've put a lot of work in this but I actually had to search the linked page in order to find out what QF stands for. After all that time you invested in this I really urge you to take a little more time advertising it at the very least by using its full name.

[bigbadbogie]

It's been advertised under that name for years. QF1 was too. That is how people already know it.

[Red Devil]

Quick Fix?

[Ded10c]

Added as a news item on the wiki. Will start playing it once I've completed my Doom I/II playthroughs.

[DarkCobra262]

will start playing immediately, don't have anything better to do ^.^

[bigbadbogie]

Added as a news item on the wiki. Will start playing it once I've completed my Doom I/II playthroughs.

Sure, considering that you're in it!

[Ded10c]

I've just finished the second mission. The length of the audio sequences bugs me a little - a lot of the exposition they deliver could possibly have been better provided by a text briefing, which would also be quicker to read - and the cutscene sequences fall a little into uncanny valley as far as I'm concerned, but the gameplay is exactly the kind of thing I've come to expect from your work; good and solid. The way you've used your lighting and textures, despite the simple geometry letting some objects down (things like interior objects could have benefited from more complex meshes), works quite nicely - the moment of the fleet arriving was particularly impressive in that regard.

The mixing of the audio also has a few minor issues. All of the voice-overs are fine in their own regard, but it's easy to tell that James' (my own) were recorded separately from Elroy and Casey's (I presume they were recorded together?). Most of the time in BZ modding that's not a problem since the voices are all coming over radios anyway, but when you have characters in the same room without hermetically sealed helmets it breaks things a little.

Only minor gripes so far and I really like what you've done. We'll see what happens when the narrative kicks off

[bigbadbogie]

The reason for the very long voiceover sequences was that I wanted the world of QF2 to feel more 'alive' than other mods. Fleshstorm 1 had no voiceovers. Not that it's a problem, but it does make the game world feel a bit empty.

Your VOs were recorded on a different microphone. It's that simple. It wasn't possible to make them sound like mine. I tried adjusting all kinds of settings but it didn't make much difference.

[Ded10c]

The reason for the very long voiceover sequences was that I wanted the world of QF2 to feel more 'alive' than other mods. Fleshstorm 1 had no voiceovers. Not that it's a problem, but it does make the game world feel a bit empty.

Your VOs were recorded on a different microphone. It's that simple. It wasn't possible to make them sound like mine. I tried adjusting all kinds of settings but it didn't make much difference.

All true, but that amount of audio simply doesn't work in a game environment. It would suit very well for an audio play, for example, but a video game with long periods of absolutely no gameplay or interaction besides sitting and listening can turn its players off. It didn't for me because I'm paying attention to the story, but most gamers don't do that. On that note, even with the voice overs it still feels empty; try adding some ambience and more sound effects in future and see what that does for it. It should help immensely (and help blur the gap between different audio files - I realise the problem was down to the use of different microphones and little could be done, but that's one of the inherent problems with the style you chose).

[DarkCobra262]

The reason for the very long voiceover sequences was that I wanted the world of QF2 to feel more 'alive' than other mods. Fleshstorm 1 had no voiceovers. Not that it's a problem, but it does make the game world feel a bit empty.

Your VOs were recorded on a different microphone. It's that simple. It wasn't possible to make them sound like mine. I tried adjusting all kinds of settings but it didn't make much difference.

All true, but that amount of audio simply doesn't work in a game environment. It would suit very well for an audio play, for example, but a video game with long periods of absolutely no gameplay or interaction besides sitting and listening can turn its players off. It didn't for me because I'm paying attention to the story, but most gamers don't do that. On that note, even with the voice overs it still feels empty; try adding some ambience and more sound effects in future and see what that does for it. It should help immensely (and help blur the gap between different audio files - I realise the problem was down to the use of different microphones and little could be done, but that's one of the inherent problems with the style you chose).

I agree, and for the times I did play, at some points I was like "just stfu so I can shoot stuff" but again I haven't finished playing the SP yet.

[bigbadbogie]

Remember, I basically made this mod for myself. I'm a story buff.

Originally, all of the voiceovers were meant to either be in-game or part of cinematic scenes. If they were in-game, the player would sit there listening to them in the game with distracting background noise. I didn't have the time or patience to make them all into cinematic scenes. It was big enough doing the two that I did. They're rather time-consuming.

It's not your average game. It's an audio-book interspersed with good graphics and lots of aliens to slaughter.

That's just the style I chose from the start. It's not necessarily a style that I'd choose again, but I did this time.

Another reason that I made most of the voiceover sequences as mission introductions is that you can skip them - if you're only in it to shoot. Personally, I don't much care for the shooting if there is no purpose to it. The story gives you the purpose, and the longish audio-matics give you the story.

[Ded10c]

I agree with you entirely, I'm just pointing out that if this were a game it either wouldn't make release or wouldn't sell well enough afterwards to make profit.

[bigbadbogie]

Because players don't want to listen - they either want to watch or to blow the crap out of something.

[Ded10c]

Precisely. If so few people are going to sit and listen to twenty minutes of dry dialogue (that's what it is with the lack of sound effects and ambience, which is the reason those are used so heavily in audio plays and the like), why waste the effort of making it when you could use text to do exactly the same thing instead?