Hellgate: London Demo Coming Tomorrow

I liked what I played but as someone else said, keep in mind I'm judging from the demo, Titan Quest seems like the better Diablo II clone. I'll wait for them to fix the bugs and hear other people's impressions before making a decision though.
 
Synthesizer Patel said:
any further impressions? trying to figure out if I should even bother downloading or not...maybe I should just stick to Mythos!
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I can't be more vague with this description-but I find it "oddly compelling". I don't think that some of the complaints about the skill trees can really be levied until people get higher-level characters and the combat doesn't seem nearly as floaty to me as it does for some other people.

I'm sure I'll tire of it after a week or so, but if you told me now if it was a thumbs up or down I'd couldn't say thumbs down and have it be an honest answer.
 
For a reference point, I don't recall really liking the Diablo demo all that much either.

But my computer doesn't even make the minimum requirements so I won't be trying this one for a long time. :'(
 
I have really enjoyed it playing with friends. I like that it scales in difficulty with the more players you have and better loot drops in parties. Also, you can get phat lewts in 5 mans and do not have to rely on 20-40 people to get good stuff. You can not judge the difficulty of the game based on the first 15 levels. That is like judging WoW after playing to level 10, which is not hard at all either.

You should definitely try it if you liked Diablo. There is a lot of room for improvement but I think Flagship will deliver. It is Free, so why not give it a try?
 
Fragamemnon said:
I can't be more vague with this description-but I find it "oddly compelling". I don't think that some of the complaints about the skill trees can really be levied until people get higher-level characters and the combat doesn't seem nearly as floaty to me as it does for some other people.

I'm sure I'll tire of it after a week or so, but if you told me now if it was a thumbs up or down I'd couldn't say thumbs down and have it be an honest answer.
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I've been towards the end of act II with 2 different classes, and combat never really goes anywhere. I wasn't being summoning-ish classes (because everyone else was), so maybe they are a bit different in that regard. I do know the classes are hilariously unbalanced, so it wouldn't be shocking. I just never paid attention to which ones were unbalanced in the attractive "I am gonna bitch when you fix this" way.
 
I had been out of Mythos for probably a bit more than a month. There was that last pretty big update, when they handed out invites like candy, and I played for a bit after that because I finally managed to lure some of my buds in. I didn't really get to sink my teeth in because I believe it was shortly after that that the big releases started rolling in. But that last major bump was more of a refinement thing, anyway, so it wasn't like there was much new, aside from the novelty of getting to play with my asshole friends.

This new Mythos patch feels almost like a new game; the best comparison is that it feels like a solid expansion pack with effects on the original game has been added. Right from the very first dungeon, the game looks cleaner, there's more monster variety (yes, right from that first dungeon, there is more variety), and the game plays significantly faster, and it feels more solid all around, I am guessing because they added those new predictive algorithms that eliminate lag between animations and damage numbers. The faster leveling is super welcome, not only because I have been through the early game like a half dozen times, but because the game used to start to feel slow around level 15 or so (at which point you were usually running out of content anyway). I haven't gone high in levels yet, but I definitely broke 12 significantly faster than I did before. Also worth mentioning that the game is much more fun to solo now. Previously, it was definitely more of a group with your friends for fun thing. The game was good, but it wasn't quite "there" yet to be really entertaining without bopping with your buds.

Mythos is a game that's going to be killer when it comes out. Every milestone has been a significant improvement, and this is the third time that there's been a new release so improved that it makes the game feel like, well, almost a different game. The Flagship team developing this is the real talent. Just when yout hink it feels really god damned good for a free game, it comes back with a new release that surprises you once again. Comparatively, Hellgate hasn't changed much since the alpha opened beyond internal. As a matter of fact, as of two weeks ago, some bugs from that first alpha were still present in the game.

Basically, get someone to get you into Mythos. It may not have a keen post-apoc setting or a WoW-a-like behind the back camera or first person view, but its got it where it counts. And each class has 3 skill trees. 1 fucking skill tree per class in Hellgate. What the fuck were they thinking?
 
This mythos game you people speak of. Is it this?

Click

Looks odd. What's so awesome about it?
 
If this game is as disappointing as it seems I'm going to go postal. I really, really want to LOVE this game but that demo felt like a kick in the balls. I won't even comment on the beta some douche bag I know may or may not be in.

FUCK! God damnit I hope Flagship pulls some mystery code out of their ass and fixes this mess.

And BTW, while Mythos* is a great Diablo 2 replacer, at this point it's not on par with TQ. How fucking hard is it to make a god damn successor to Diablo 2?! Grrrrrr...

EDIT: Changed Fate to Mythos. I won't argue that Mythos brings a lot of new stuff to the genre, even more so than HG which is why I'm so disappointed. But, last I played it, it still felt far from finished. I have no doubt than in as little as 3 months from now it could be THE SHIT. But at the moment it just doesn't cut it, and I was hyped for a new ARPG come Halloween.
 
It's also a Diablo 2 clone. Nice 3d graphics that aren't too demanding of hardware (though I'm not sure if there are up to date recommended specs available). Guild Wars-esque system with instanced wilderness and dungeon areas and MMOish towns (like Hellgate, but less glitchy). It got the fundamentals down pretty early. The basic gameplay is flat out point and click, like Diablo 2. Right now there are 3 classes, each with 3 skill trees. The leveling system is still being tinkered with, but the design seems to be veering towards giving significant boosts at leveling, rather than the incremental ones that the genre seems to favor at large. The game's also got good loot, a more profound compliment than you'd think. Playing Diablo clones for years, you come to appreciate the fine art of balancing loot tables. To get back into visuals, each piece of equipment you get customizes your appearance. The whole two characters never look the same thing. It's also got a nice, consistent cartoony art style that I am sure some people probably hate.

More unique aspects, aside from multiplayer that is more tightly integrated than in most of these things, include the nifty map segment of the quest system. Basically, monsters, usually bosses, will drop maps, which mark new areas on your big ol world map, opening up new areas. In some cases, quests will be associated with these new areas. Sometimes they are not, and you can grind the new area for loot. On rare occasions, at least in the last update, sometimes you'd get a quest for an area you didn't have yet, and you'd have to find the map to it (you could also buy maps from a map vendor). After a bit of playing, your big zone map would be covered with little dungeon markers where you knew there was a cave or a castle or whatever. There are also wilderness areas between areas. World design usually isn't a strong suit of these games, and well, this isn't Ivalice or anything, but it's doing something different for this genre and it works out pretty well.

I have to go to bed, but I think that covers most of the important stuff. It's also important to note that (I believe) this game is going to be free. I have a feeling that it's going to end up very polished when it ships, and the team behind it is very committed to providing regular updates and new shit. In years and years of doing beta shit, I believe that this is by far the friendliest, most willing to take suggestions, and humble team I've had the pleasure to interact with. Boner academy, man. The game doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it rolls it really, really damned well.

EDIT: TQ + Expansion is fanfuckingtastic. TQ alone is kinda meh. TQ + Expansion is probably my favorite released Diablo Clone, and I like most elements of the game even better than Diablo 2. The elements I don't like? Well, there's really only one: No randomized content. Oh, and the multiplayer sucks. Kinda important, but that game is more for soloing anyway.

I kinda wish TQ + Expansion did better. What is that team working on now? I'd hate to think there'll be no sequel, even if it is their own fault for releasing an iffy initial product with demanding requirements.
 
I kinda wish TQ + Expansion did better. What is that team working on now? I'd hate to think there'll be no sequel, even if it is their own fault for releasing an iffy initial product with demanding requirements.
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Right now they are working with Relic on the next Dawn of War expansion, and they might have an unannouced action RPG or RTS in the works for PC and consoles, from what I've read in interviews.

Titan Quest+expansion is the gold standard in core hack and slash action RPG design, IMO. I don't think randomized levels in the 3D era buys you nearly as much as it does with 2D games, and the only thing that Diablo 2 has over TQ is enough funding and support to maintain a real online service where ladders and alternate game modes like PvP are meaningful.
 
"And BTW, while Fate is a great Diablo 2 replacer, at this point it's not on par with TQ. How fucking hard is it to make a god damn successor to Diablo 2?! Grrrrrr..."


Mythos and Fate, while sharing similar aesthetics and base game design (and both designed by T Bizzle) , are massively different. Multiplayer for one. Skill trees and classes for two. World travel, etc. etc.
 
White Man said:
Playing Diablo clones for years, you come to appreciate the fine art of balancing loot tables.
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Definitely. Not that I suppose the creators of Diablo worked that way, but many of the pretenders could've plainly done a whole lot better if they had built their games around some well thought-out bonuses, spreadsheets, "item budgets," and the like from the beginning. Crusty, amateur, ASCII stuff like Angband still crushes all but Diablo itself in this most important regard.
 
Oh fuck yeah, the update that just went live fixed the devastating crash bug I would get post login. Dicked around and got to lvl 5, the game is definitely much improved.

*edit* I'm talking about Mythos here, fuck a Hellgate.
 
Fragamemnon said:
Titan Quest+expansion is the gold standard in core hack and slash action RPG design, IMO. I don't think randomized levels in the 3D era buys you nearly as much as it does with 2D games, and the only thing that Diablo 2 has over TQ is enough funding and support to maintain a real online service where ladders and alternate game modes like PvP are meaningful.
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It really is a tragedy that the Titan Quest developer (Iron Lore) did not have the funding to set up closed servers (like battle.net for Diablo). If it had, nobody would be asking for Diablo III anymore.
 
I've been trying to get the game to work since downloading the beta last night. I have a NV 8800 GTS and the game seems to lock up the graphic driver every 10 seconds making the game unplayable. I have the most current drivers for my video card too. I'll see if rolling back to an older driver will work.

Anyone else having driver issues with this beta?
 
Hellgate's EULA said:
3. Consent to Use of Data. You agree that EA, its affiliates, and each Related Party may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer, including without limitation your Internet Protocol address, operating system, application software and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online play. EA and/or the Related Parties may also use this information in the aggregate and, in a form which does not personally identify you, to improve our products and services and we may share that aggregate data with our third party service providers.
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Sweet.
 
Played the demo for an hour last night and I'm feeling pretty disappointed. Not a single element of the game grabbed me. Not the art, not the game systems, not the combat (which does feel floaty).
I am canceling my preorder.
 
Haunted One said:
Sweet.
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That is incredible.

They make money from the ads.
They make money from you buying the game.
They make money from you buying the right to play the game more
They make money from putting adware on your computer.

Then.

They make money by selling data about you to people.

You would want Hellgate: London to be pretty fucking spectacular to dive willingly into a corporate criminal cesspool like this. I hope every executive involved gets turbo cancer.
 
White Man said:
The elements [of TQ] I don't like? Well, there's really only one: No randomized content.
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It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure non-boss unique monsters were randomised, which (at least to me) is more important than the level layout; I'd dig a Diablo clone that took a cue from Symphony of the Night or Vagrant Story in providing an incredibly compelling enclosed environment, then rattling all the loot, monster and quest dice it possibly could inside that.

Which, to tie it back to topic, is what I originally hoped Hellgate would do with London, not just use it as a tileset.
 
slidewinder said:
Crusty, amateur, ASCII stuff like Angband still crushes all but Diablo itself in this most important regard.
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So true. In many ways Nethack/Adom > modern dungeon hacks, STILL. And Angband variants are embarassingly huge.

But to echo what's been said here.

Tollgate: London beat up my dog

In-game advertising, full retail price, a monthly fee for features of a dubious nature, unimpressive environments, single skill trees, whack 15x demonic rat quests, and so on

I'll play the beta a bit more over the weekend to give it a chance, but the in-game advertising alone is enough to pretty much nail that coffin. It'll have to turn out to be the most fun I've ever played to cross that personal hurdle for me.

Meanwhile, Mythos is simple and fun, colorful and straightforward. Same sort of gimpy quests, but I kind of figured Hellgate was going to aim a bit higher than that. Oh, and finding maps of areas to explore in 'hard mode' in Mythos is just cool

And yeah, Titan Quest + Expansion is great stuff. If you haven't played it, you can get both on Steam for $30
 
Vixtrex said:
Meanwhile, Mythos is simple and fun, colorful and straightforward.
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The other thing I loved about Mythos (before they decided to stop allowing me to play it :( ) was how frenzied the fights could become if you accidentally/intentionally aggroed a whole big room's worth of monsters. The less-mentioned feature that no Diablo clone has gotten right to date is its tidal shifts of advantage - when you're utterly overrun but somehow manage to claw your way back from 1/4 health and zero mana - and it's almost, almost there in Mythos.
 
Saw this in the update:


Achievements

These are long-term goals for players. The player starts with a few new goals in an Achievement Log. These can be as simple as slaying a certain amount of specific demons to something as difficult as completing quests without the benefit of armor! Players uncover new goals as they start to meet the requirements of that achievement. For example, after 50 zombies have been slain, an “Achievement Unlocked” message displays on the screen. Checking the Achievement Log shows how many zombies must be eradicated to complete the achievement. Rewards for completing achievements can be anything from reputation to tags on the player to special particle effects to items to special skills to – well, anything is possible!

Coming to 360 soon?
 
WhatRuOn said:
This is them gathering your system specs...tons of games do this...what's the big deal.
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My understand from it is that it's a big deal because it goes even farther than a game like WoW:

1. It actually has the right to sell your info (applications, specs) to third-parties
2. They're allowed to use that info to fuel in-game advertisements (e.g. ads on walls)

Which is not what "tons of games", or even any reputable game that comes to mind, do.

If I'm missing a detail, do share; I don't follow Hellgate but I'm a fan of Roper's so I'd prefer to be optimistic about his first independant game. I'm genuinely curious here; not on some sort of crusade -- thus the request for thoughts on the matter.
 
They got it wrong. Diablo was so fun because your character was so overpowered that plowing through enemies was enjoyable. I don't want a 3rd person quicker version of Oblivion. Lame.
 
Barakov said:
I liked what I played but as someone else said, keep in mind I'm judging from the demo, Titan Quest seems like the better Diablo II clone. I'll wait for them to fix the bugs and hear other people's impressions before making a decision though.
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I do agree with him and others that its just another D2 clone, with guns.

Here is my personal breakdown of the game....

Pros:
Nice guns, pretty nice armor....
MMO-component (Not sure how well it plays with other people around)

Cons:
Last Gen Quest NPCs. (Its been awhile since i had to press continue for npc speeches that are one liner each). And at least make the "greeting speeches" better.

Recycling Tilesets: Everywhere looks the same. I went to 2 outdoor areas, and they just differently arranged, thats all...

Mouse lags: I am not sure whether its my system or the game, the mouse kind of skips around.

Hunter Aiming: Hmm, dont see much difference with the aiming system, doesnt matter where u hit them anyway.

It feels like....Renewal, a very very old mmo which came out when UO was finally kicking in...

Alternative: Tabula Rasa ? I have not tried it yet, not sure how it is.
 
Razorwind said:
I do agree with him and others that its just another D2 clone, with guns.

Here is my personal breakdown of the game....

Pros:
Nice guns, pretty nice armor....
MMO-component (Not sure how well it plays with other people around)

Cons:
Last Gen Quest NPCs. (Its been awhile since i had to press continue for npc speeches that are one liner each). And at least make the "greeting speeches" better.

Recycling Tilesets: Everywhere looks the same. I went to 2 outdoor areas, and they just differently arranged, thats all...

Mouse lags: I am not sure whether its my system or the game, the mouse kind of skips around.

Hunter Aiming: Hmm, dont see much difference with the aiming system, doesnt matter where u hit them anyway.

It feels like....Renewal, a very very old mmo which came out when UO was finally kicking in...

Alternative: Tabula Rasa ? I have not tried it yet, not sure how it is.
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This game is a masterpiece compared to Tabula Rasa.

Posting what I did in the other thread.


Played quite a bit of it the past day (got to level 14), here's my take based on the beta.

-Game is full of bugs. HUGE memory leak. JEsus christ it's huge. It ate all my ram and used up the page file, eventually causing the game to crash to a halt. It's done this many times so I know it wasn't a fluke, even asked others in game and they said they experienced it. Other bugs include having your teammates disappear. THis can range from them being completely invisible including their name, just seeing their name, or just seeing their name and weapon float around. WHen it does this you can't see your friend's health, so makes it hard to know when they're in trouble. Also you can get stuck in objects pretty easily, and no unstuck command, I also fell through the world once. Maybe this is all fixed in the retail (it better be) because if it isn't, it's a severe flaw.

-The environments are horribly dull, and repetitive. I swear I went through the same damn hall way a million times, way more repetitive than D2. Several times I had to make sure I went through the right damn portal because it looked the exact same as the previous level.

-Played as the tank class, skills so far are fairly meh. Nothing too horrible, but nothing too exciting. I did get a weapon that gave me access to a lvl 25 skill so I was hyped. What's the skill do? You jump vertically in the air and slash..... lamest thing I've ever seen.

-Game was pretty easy overall. I never came across an enemy that truly tested me, even when I was with other people. Though after playing a bit more it gets a bit more difficult, especially if you get some more people int he party.

-Everyone looks the same. I can't tell the damn classes apart. A damn gunner looks the same as a evoker or summoner. Only class I can tell apart are the blademaster because they dual wield, or the tank because the shield.


The only thing the game does right is the item system. It's pretty neat. You're able take apart any item and use the parts to improve your armor/weapons. There's also socket type things to improve your weapon, or you can pay to have items put a random common/rare/legendary property on it. Also there's a machine that will level up your items if you have enough experience and parts.

What I thought made the item system different is you need certain stat points to equip items. Sounds pretty normal, except once an item uses those stat points they're subtracted. So say you have 10 str, and use a sword that requires 10 str to wield. You find a helmet that needs 2 str, you'd be unable to equip it because the 10 str is already used up. Makes you have to choose your stat points and eqiupment more carefully.



I think this game has promise, but to me it's being released to early. I really like the item system (A sword that shoots bees dammit!!!), but it's not enough to sway me to buy it when it comes out. Maybe after awhile when they get it cleaned up, but at launch... naw.
 
As the Hellgate demo didn't impress me whatsoever I'm getting more than curious for this Mythos game. Also noticed that current testers now can invite someone they know.. whould any of you guys be so kind?

Thanks a bunch :D
 
Well, I begrudgingly just canceled my pre order... and that was supposed to tide me over until Mythic's new venture.

Anyone have an extra Mythos invite per chance? I would love to try it out.
 
Solo said:
The Witcher may be just what the doctor ordered.
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This does look promising, and from what I have seen I really do like the style. However, Witcher seems somewhat Oblivion-esque to me, whereas I still have yet to finish Oblivion. I need something to feed my little MMO demon. ^^

Surely someone has a Mythos invite!
 
wasn't terribly impressed with the Hellgate demo. Everywhere looks the same, attack animations are awkward and slow, the speech is annoying. also, there's too much fucking text in every little box and its all disorganized. the menus are a complete mess.

On the bright side, I picked up Titan Quest and the expansion for $15 total yesterday and fucking love it. Many thanks to those who posted about the game in this thread :D
 
Hammer said:
This does look promising, and from what I have seen I really do like the style. However, Witcher seems somewhat Oblivion-esque to me, whereas I still have yet to finish Oblivion. I need something to feed my little MMO demon. ^^

Surely someone has a Mythos invite!
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PM me your email, I'll set you up with a Mythos invite.

Hellgate London is $39.99 the day it comes out at Circuit City. I might bite at that price, as I believe that the game will probably improve greatly over time, and I know I'll play it to death for at least a week when it comes out before getting too bored.

Also, the Witcher is decidedly not like Oblivion:

Witcher Cheif Design Duder said:
"I find Oblivion boring – it’s an MMO without multiplayer," says The Witcher's Michal Madej, chief designer on the game in an exclusive interview with PCGZine, the free PC games magazine. "We’re similar in terms of graphics, we also use cutting edge visuals, and we’re also trying to reach casual gamers. But Oblivion is more about freedom and a huge world to explore, whereas we have a great story to explore. In Oblivion you can finish the story in a couple of hours or miss the story altogether. Our game is about the plot, so it’s more like a book or film. I think Oblivion will appeal to people who don’t have much else to do. I don’t have the time to sacrifice for it."
Click to expand...
 
Fragamemnon said:
Also, the Witcher is decidedly not like Oblivion:
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Ok, the Witcher is quickly climbing on my hype scale. I always prefer a focus on storyline, and the time issues the cheif designer addressed were the very same reasons I have yet to finish Oblivion. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this one now. Hopefully their official site will be fully functional soon as well.
 
*OT* does anybody else have a mythos invite? I've been looking to try it for a while.

getting back to hellgate, I downloaded the hellgate demo and I did have a bit of fun with it. It did seem kind of lifeless though and I don't know if it's because it's a demo or if the full game is like that. I'll bite once it goes under $30 or if EA changes the agreements.
 
Fragamemnon said:
I can't be more vague with this description-but I find it "oddly compelling". I don't think that some of the complaints about the skill trees can really be levied until people get higher-level characters and the combat doesn't seem nearly as floaty to me as it does for some other people.
Click to expand...


Wow, it doesn't? If ever there was a horrible floaty piece of crap, this was it.
 
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