BZ Redux impressions

[bigbadbogie]

*Spoiler alert*

So - I've played through the NSDF campaign and started the CCA one.

I must say that I love the new 3D models. They're fantastic and make a positive difference to the feel of the game.

That said, there were a few things I found odd.

There were a few things that hadn't been touched from the original - particularly the reticles. It's weird to look at the pixelated reticles while checking out the high detail of the new models.

The terrain was still blurry as hell. It looked like they'd 'upgraded' from 128x128 to 256x256.

Those headlights on all of the units were kind of pointless. None of the maps are dark enough for them to make much of a difference or be particularly visible. The only time that they looked half decent was on Europa maps when they shone on the ice.

The CCA recycler kept sending me flying away from it whenever I came too close.

The relic 3D model still doesn't have an underside and you can still see right through it when it is being tugged.

The CCA's bright red HUD is distracting as hell.

Oh... and Furies falling out of the sky is terrifying.

[Ded10c]

The terrain itself is a 4x upres, but the new atlas system uses (up to) 64 256x256 textures baked into 2048x2048 diffuse, normal, emissive, and specular textures with an additional 2048x2048 detail texture drawn over the top.

[DuoRanger]

welp, i didn't bought yet because my credit card decided to flip me the bird

but seeing how the workshop is pretty active atm, it would be nice if someone could do the Alpha/Intro hud

[bigbadbogie]

Honestly, I was hoping that it would be more of a 're-imagining' of Battlezone than just a set of graphical enhancements.

I was hoping that there would be new missions, new characters and essentially an entirely new Battlezone game.

Playing through it, it just felt like the same old-same old with a graphics mod.

[DuoRanger]

Wait until Hadley ports the IA Battlegrounds missions for Redux

Also the new world edit + lua codes are great!

for now its just the BZ that we all love!

[TwinShadow]

Redux, to me, is just nearly along the same lines as a remaster, taking what's old and bringing them up to more modern standards.

I've played it, its ok for what its worth. The only thing to me that stands out a little are the terrain as it just seems to me that its still low-res, but I wasn't paying too terribly attention to that detail. Otherwise, its the same old Battlezone from 1998, but made to work on modern systems with new models and textures for the most part. So for once, I was able to play it properly for the first time since I never actually did complete its campaign.

[Ded10c]

They did say from the beginning that they intended to keep gameplay as true to the original as possible - remaster, not remake.

[bigbadbogie]

Oh well. It's still pretty nice.

I'd actually really like to see BZ2 remade in a similar fashion.

I'd hope that they'd deviate a little more next time and make the environments a lot more detailed.

I want to see Mire maps that resemble something out of Crysis.

Rebellion are the guys who made Sniper Elite, so I know they're capable of it.

[Ded10c]

Rebellion are the publishers. The development team - Mike, Ken, Carey and the others - are working for a separate company.

[bigbadbogie]

I'll admit, it is pretty cool that those three are still working together on Battlezone.

[Red Spot]

Trowing my 2 cents in..
After having been somewhat disappointed with HW-remastered I personally am going to wait purchasing redux untill it comes at a more satisfactory price.
Not saying redux is too expensive, but it is for me personally since I already own BZ and find the graphical upgrade not worth the money redux costs now.

[General BlackDragon]

It's currently on sale?

[Red Spot]

It is, but I bought the original for fl5,- (about €2,-) and now with discount redux is still 6x more expensive. I dont pay that money (any more) for a graphical upgrade.

[DuoRanger]

i think they amped a bit the difficulty on Titan's last mission, man its damn near impossible to do something during the 1st minutes

[bigbadbogie]

The new furies are seriously hard to kill.

In that mission, you're better off just rushing the enemy base as quickly as possible.