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[Teknoman]

i just got kicked from a game for not repairing the bot. i would've done it had they reminded me nicely but the entire team started calling me a faggot the second the realized i was the only engineer on the team. one major con with pc gaming is how seriously some servers/people take the game. oh well, i was laughing at their expense.

edit: i forgot to mention, i thought i was a medic the entire time.

Wow thats pretty harsh. Well just forget about em...but still, always check the wheel to make sure nothing needs to get done. The only thing that sucks is when you really like to play a certain class, then find out everyone on your team has the same mindset (engineer).

Then again, I guess thats why its good to split class points.

 

[vilmer_]

Something that has always fascinated me is just how do empty servers fill up? I mean at some point, some lone person has to decide to join an empty server, then someone else has to decide to join a server with just one person on it, then someone has to decide to join a server with two people on it, and so on. Who are these people?

I've hosted servers for a long time, the magic number is 3 to start And then they will come.

 

[Teknoman]

Something that has always fascinated me is just how do empty servers fill up? I mean at some point, some lone person has to decide to join an empty server, then someone else has to decide to join a server with just one person on it, then someone has to decide to join a server with two people on it, and so on. Who are these people?

Thats what happened to me on the GAF server.

 

[teepo]

my game just patched

 

[Danne-Danger]

General:
• Fixed sound dropping out when playing networked games
• Improved graphical performance, especially when using Ambient Occlusion
• Fixed voice packs being reset to default when you delete another character
• Removed ability to use certain cheat protected commands in challenges
• Fixed memory leak/crash when alt-tabbed out

User Interface:
• Full servers are no longer filtered out of the browser
• Added support for entering a range of numbers (i.e. 10-12) in server filters
• Reduced font size in the server browser
• Exiting Head customization returns to the correct menu
• Fixed being unable to bind KP_Enter in the UI
• Increased font size of in-game text chat
• ‘Enter’ now closes text chat prompt if empty
• Fixed challenge in menu flashing even after completion

Dedicated Servers:
• Improved dedicated server CPU performance
• Fixed NPC not spawning for escort objectives online on servers using unsupported cvars

Woop! I wonder how that Refuel map plays.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I will be on this later tonight!

 

[Zimbardo]

just tried the new patch.

single player is still locked @ 30fps.

SLI still not working as it should.

text still has graphic curruption.

my single card performance still seems about the same (gtx 460 ...everything maxed @ 1080p equals perfect 60fps vsync enabled with ambient occlusion disabled. not perfect with it enabled, but pretty close)

haven't played it enough to find out if it'll still crash at times. hopefully that's been fixed at least. apparently the sound dropping out is fixed ...hopefully its true.

 

[Sanic]

Server's updating now, should be back up within the hour. I'm gonna set an event for 9:00 EDT tonight. I'm not sure if i'll be able to make it on, but hopefully we can get some games going.

 

[zlatko]

Have all the patches thus far just been PC only? Splash Damage give up on the console version or what's the deal ?

 

[Anton Sugar]

• Improved graphical performance, especially when using Ambient Occlusion

So...45 fps drop instead of 50? Shit still sucks.

 

[TheFuryMGS3]

Have all the patches thus far just been PC only? Splash Damage give up on the console version or what's the deal ?

Seems that way, I know myself and a group of five are giving up on this game if a serious lag patch isn't here by friday.

 

[mxgt]

Still get openGL crashes after 20-30 mins no matter what drivers or resolution I use even after the patch.

I'm pretty much done with this game. Such bullshit.

 

[BurningNad]

This game was such a letdown. They seem to have spent more time on the character customization than optimization and gameplay. Oh well.

 

[Shanlei91]

So after reading all of the posts on how one should get the PC version over Console and that the console version is good minus the horrific lag I still bit the bullet and bought a used PS3 copy for dirt cheap.

After playing all weekend I only had one lag-filled game. Otherwise, I hate this game. Biggest let-down ever. The Brink ads that fill the subway during my commute now serve as a reminder of how disappointed I am.

Is it just me or is the AI in single player incredibly broken? My teammates run around like their heads chopped off, away from the objective, while the other AI team camps the objective. Also have not seen a "campaign" composed of bot matches since the last Unreal.

The game just feels uninspiring online. I feel like it didn't add anything new to the formula. It feels like just Enemy Territory with a Team Fortress 2 paint job. All the comparisons to Shadowrun had me going in expecting just that. But I think it was all of the abilities in Shadowrun (teleportation, etc.) that made the game so exciting. Brink offers the standard affair that can be found in almost every shooter since Team Fortress 2 - turrets, reviving, buffs, etc.

Probably also doesn't help that the announcement of Starhawk has me looking at a game that offers Space Combat, giant robots and light-RTS elements - then looking at Brink and thinking "why can't you do that?"

 

[carbonbased]

Probably also doesn't help that the announcement of Starhawk has me looking at a game that offers Space Combat, giant robots and light-RTS elements - then looking at Brink and thinking "why can't you do that?"

the fuck?

regarding the AI, it was bugged on release and has been patched on pc. it will most likely be fixed when the console patches pass cert. the console manufacturers don't just let devs release patches wily nily. there is and always has been a cert process that causes console patches to take longer than their pc counterpart. it's my guess that Splash Damage is cramming as many fixes as they can into a single big patch due to this. sucks for anyone that is waiting for their version to be updated but it is what it is.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Have all the patches thus far just been PC only? Splash Damage give up on the console version or what's the deal ?

Patches on consoles needs to go through Sony/MS for testing, Steam has no such certification process so we get patches faster. There should be something in the pipeline.

 

[bluedeviltron]

Still chugging for me while Witcher 2 runs like butter.

Sad, guys. Sad.

 

[Sanic]

I wonder how much of it is driver stuff related to OpenGL usage. I have no idea if this is the case or not, but I can't even remember the last time i've played a modern OpenGL game.

 

[Grayman]

I wonder how much of it is driver stuff related to OpenGL usage. I have no idea if this is the case or not, but I can't even remember the last time i've played a modern OpenGL game.

I think Wolfenstein or ETQW would be the last big one.

Forum hearsay would have it that ATI has never made good OpenGL drivers even when it was more relevant. It could be a Brink specific thing with the virtual texturing engine though.

 

[Grayman]

was on the gaf server, don't think it was gaffers though. Aquarium seems to have the no sound problem now.

 

[carbonbased]

i got a nice boost in performance from the patch. never once saw north of 40 fps before but now i am seeing it go as high as 60 when things are quiet.

fun games on your server by the way pandora! i was the imperialism dude rocking a soldier kit. some of those matches were really close, down-to-the-wire affairs. just the way i like it.

 

[HELLA_MONEYZ]

I have given up on this game. they should have never allowed you to buff yourself or make objectives class based.

 

[Chanser]

The new patch has made my game a bit smoother, still a long way to go though.

 

[teepo]

I have given up on this game. they should have never allowed you to buff yourself or make objectives class based.

what?

 

[Goon Boon]

I have given up on this game. they should have never allowed you to buff yourself or make objectives class based.

Yeah, if in a fire fight theres a good chance the enemy can just heal himself up to full hp around a corner, odds are you'll get long unfun fights.

 

[Grayman]

I have given up on this game. they should have never allowed you to buff yourself or make objectives class based.

so what were the objectives supposed to be? It is a game in the lineage of Enemy Territory.

 

[Phife Dawg]

what?

I think he's referring to stupid teammates who run around buffing themselves but not doing anything for the objective. Happened to me too. I was hacking the objective and after I got shot dead a nearby medic killed my attackers and then went off to hunt some more frags.

 

[pappakenoo]

I have given up on this game. they should have never allowed you to buff yourself or make objectives class based.

I actually somewhat agree with this. So far there seem to be a shitload of medics out there since they have so much "energy" and can heal/revive themselves. To further complicate things the medic is rarely used for objectives and since ppl don't want to change out of their main spec doing objectives where the soldier, or even worse, the operative is needed is often a pain.

I don't belive i have played a single match yet where both teams were evenly matched and with a good mix of classes. Either one of the teams is simply running over the other team or both teams are equally disorganized resulting in the defending team winning easily.

The game is stilly young though and there will eventually form servers with people who want to play the game as it is supposed to be played. But how many will stick around?

 

[Shoogoo]

The game is stilly young though and there will eventually form servers with people who want to play the game as it is supposed to be played. But how many will stick around?

Depends wether SD patches all that shit. And they gotta do it with big ass bandages.

 

[Ubersnug]

I'm about ready to go on a murderous rampage thanks to the Challenge mode in this game.

'Be More Objective' 2 star Challenge. 20+ plays and I can't get beyond the fucking hack box.

I have already walked my way through the 2 star challenges to the 'Tower Defence' and 'Escort' mission and even have my third star for the 'Parkour' challenge.

But the 'Be More Objective' Challenge seems to be either broken, untested properly or something else entirely.

Remember, this is only the 2 star challenge.

As soon as the round starts I sprint to the bomb location. Any slower and you get shot as you are planting the bomb. This part isn't the problem.

Then, change to the engineer and try and make my way to the broken generator. I can usually power my way through and repair it over time (Thanks to the fact the enemy can't 'un-do' any of the work you have completed to that point).

It's the fucking hacking that is doing my head in.

The big issue is the AI of the friendly bots. In all my experience with this challenge, they do not push forward enough. They do in dribs and drabs, but not as a cohesive squad. Also, they don't appear to do any were near the same level of weapon damage that the enemy AI seems to be capable of. Very seldom do I see a friendly bot take out an enemy bot in 1 vs 1, yet vice versa my team are getting wiped out. I only need to reveal a small percentage of my body and my health drops to almost zero (no exaggeration here), the enemy seemingly more interested in me rather than the rest of my squad. It also 'seems' as if the enemy's weapons have a higher rate of fire and suffer from very minimal recoil as I can go from 100% health to incapacitated in less than a second, whereas I can unload an entire clip into an enemy AI and their health gradually goes down - none of the instant deaths I seem to be experiencing.

I usually try to clear out the area as best as possible, helping my guys move up so they can cover me. But the other problem is that the enemies respawn time seems to be non-existent and by the time I turn my back and plant the hack box I'm getting shot in the back. By the time our teams medic decides to revive me, the team is already over run and any ground I gained for us has been lost thanks to the incapable friendly AI.

Then there is an issue where if I do anage to get the hack box on (very fucking seldom), as soon as I walk away from it, my character puts his bloody PDA away? meaning I have to go back and hold the hack button to bring my PDA back up! Does this happen to anyone else? And, by this point the bastard enemy AI has re-spawned and shot me in the fucking back. For the record, I am walking away, I am not trying to run, jump or anything that requires a button press (and it isn't an issue localised to the challenge as it happens to me during MP games too).

Even more frustrating, the few times where I have managed to get the hack box on and I'm hacking away, my team doesn't protect the box. The enemy engineer runs up and starts spraying it with his magical can of deodorant. Leaving me with very little choice but to try and engage the engineer myself to try and salvage what progress I had made, but by this point my team is dead and I'm insta-killed the moment I reveal myself (see above).

Currently, I am level 18 and I have read that the challenge scales with the level of your character. So, I created a new lvl 1 character to see if it made any difference, and there is none that I can see - other than the enemy no longer builds turrets. I am still insta-killed, grouped with incapable friendly AI etc...

I have watched a couple of youtube videos of guys showing how to complete the 2 and 3 star 'Be more objective' challenges. In one video, a guy managed to quickly dispatch the enemy AI who were protecting the hack area and his team moved up and actually put up a formidable defence. It's like I am playing a completely different build of the game to these guys on youtube as my game never plays out like that...

I had expected this level of difficulty from the 3 star version of this challenge, not the 2 star version. Especially when the other challenges '2 star editions' are relatively simple in comparison. You do have to wonder if this particular challenge was properly tested. The worst fact is, it is no longer fun anymore. Where is the fun in playing a game of attrition against what I have described? You are basically hoping for that 'moment' when the enemy AI makes a slight mistake and allows you to fluke your way to a win.

Is anyone else having similar problems against this challenge?

(playing this on the 360 btw)

tl:dr 'Be More objective challenge is fucking frustrating and friendly AI is fucking useless.

 

[Shoogoo]

Is anyone else having similar problems against this challenge?

I had problems. Then somebody here told me to start fresh with a new character and it was piss easy.

Once you get past a certain level, it gets too hard. It's stupid and SD probably didn't playtest it at all. Might be patched? It better be.

 

[remz]

Yea, be more objective is ridiculous. Like Shoogoo beat me to saying, the challenges scale up with character level in terms of difficulty, so it's easiest to just start a new character.

 

[Ubersnug]

I had problems. Then somebody here told me to start fresh with a new character and it was piss easy.

Once you get past a certain level, it gets too hard. It's stupid and SD probably didn't playtest it at all. Might be patched? It better be.

Just like you I started a new character, but I am still plagued with the same problems. Its almost as if the enemy AI has stayed at the same 'scaled' difficulty level despite the character reset...

 

[Shoogoo]

Just like you I started a new character, but I am still plagued with the same problems. Its almost as if the enemy AI has stayed at the same 'scaled' difficulty level despite the character reset...

Mh that's not right. What level is your character? 1?

 

[Azure Phoenix]

Is anyone else having similar problems against this challenge?

Yup, I was nodding my head along with everything you had written, that challenge highlighted just how broken the AI is in this game. The only way I managed to complete it in the end was by rushing in to plant the box, run back behind the little building and keep strafing around the back while crouched so the enemy was focused on me but couldn't get a clear line of fire. Then when the Engineer showed up I would pop my head around the corner and use the Euston AR's grenade launcher to drop him in one shot.

Multiple hours wasted on that awful challenge.

 

[Ubersnug]

Mh that's not right. What level is your character? 1?

Well, the new character is level 1 now since I had to play through the 1st star version of the 'Be More Objective' challenge. And it just feels as if the difficulty is worse since I no longer have the health buffs and what not that my lvl 18 character has, considering that I am still plagued by all the problems I described in my post above.

It's as if the difficulty hasn't scaled back at all.

 

[Ubersnug]

Yup, I was nodding my head along with everything you had written, that challenge highlighted just how broken the AI is in this game. The only way I managed to complete it in the end was by rushing in to plant the box, run back behind the little building and keep strafing around the back while crouched so the enemy was focused on me but couldn't get a clear line of fire. Then when the Engineer showed up I would pop my head around the corner and use the Euston AR's grenade launcher to drop him in one shot.

Multiple hours wasted on that awful challenge.

Did you find that your character would drop his PDA the moment you walked away from the hack box? Is this a bug or something?

Also, i am assuming that after you fired off your under-slung grenade, you would need to run up to the hack box again to pull out your PDA?

 

[NIN90]

I don't know what's the problem. I just beat Be More Objective 3 again on my first try. And that was on level 15.
There seems to be something fundamentally wrong in how you tackle each objective.

 

[Ubersnug]

I don't know what's the problem. I just beat Be More Objective 3 again on my first try. And that was on level 15.
There seems to be something fundamentally wrong in how you tackle each objective.

I am certainly open to that suggestion, but I can't think what I am doing wrong:

Objective 1:

Run straight to the bomb location. Plant bomb and immediately retreat to the side of the bomb location to protect agaisnt the enemy engineer who runs up to it. Usually no problem.

Objective 2:
After changing to the engineer, and assuming my incapable AI has managed to clear the immediate area, I run up the stairs which is just beneath the Generator. Assuming I get a good run, I can usually get the generator to about 3 quarters health, if not more. Usually, I can do this with not too many problems (although, its all off my own back as my AI team are usually no help).

Objective 3: (The big issue)
Get to the station to change my class. I can either approach from the left or the right of this small room. Approach from right, using the corner and intervening boxes as cover, I can usually drop a few of the enemy myself. By this point some of my team has moved up, but are staying parallel to me rather than pushing on. Eventually, enough of the enemy have been wiped to encourage me to push up. So, I move onto the hack location, plant my box and 1 of 3 things usually happen:

1 - The second I walk away my character puts his PDA away - forcing me to go back. By this point enemy has respawned, my team cant cover me, enemy focuses entirely on me - insta death. Cue rage moment.

2 - I get shot in the back, as the one remaining enemy who was engaging two other guys, ignores my team and shoots me for massive damage - insta death. Cue rage moment.

3 - I do manage to get the hack box in place and my guy doesn't drop his PDA. I either run around into the small room or round the corner. I get to about 50% hack and the enemy engineer manages to get up to the hack box and starts spraying his body spray on it. My team IGNORES him (being the one thing that can prevent our objective). So, I have to then jump out of cover, usually by this point the enemy has a few more guys respawned and they go instantly for me - insta death. Cue rage moment.

And this is me playing it as my lvl 18 and my lvl 1 character. Same issues.

*sigh*

 

[Grayman]

it may not help you but you do hack faster if you stay right by the box.

 

[NIN90]

Are you using the paths on the second and third level at all? Objective 2 was kind of a challenge for me too until I tried that.

Objective 3 is hacking the box on the third level right? For some reason there's only one lone guy up there when I arrive. I just smoke him and then it's kinda depended on luck if reenforcements arrive in time or not.

 

[Ubersnug]

Are you using the paths on the second and third level at all? Objective 2 was kind of a challenge for me too until I tried that.

Objective 3 is hacking the box on the third level right? For some reason there's only one lone guy up there when I arrive. I just smoke him and then it's kinda depended on luck if reenforcements arrive in time or not.

Objective 3, hacking, during the 2 star version, is on the bottom floor and on the opposite side of the control station you use to change your class. It's also directly in teh enemies line of sight when they exit their spawn location.

it may not help you but you do hack faster if you stay right by the box.

Yeah, I know that. Although, I did assume that the 'transfer' rate would only be affected if the signal strength was weak. Hiding behind the corner, or in the control station room still shows full strength for your PDA's signal.

Appreciate the help though.

 

[DeanoCalver]

Have all the patches thus far just been PC only? Splash Damage give up on the console version or what's the deal ?

They are coming, its hard from my end (as a dev) to know where they are in the pipeline through to you actually getting them.

We have been working constantly on fixes, so i'm not entirely sure what is covered in the patch or when you will get them either.

 

[Ubersnug]

They are coming, its hard from my end (as a dev) to know where they are in the pipeline through to you actually getting them.

We have been working constantly on fixes, so i'm not entirely sure what is covered in the patch or when you will get them either.

Deano,

Quick question. Was the difficulty spikes on the challenges intended (esecially the 'be more objective' challenge), Or is it something that will be remedied in a patch? I know its hardly as important as getting the lag sorted and what not, but was curious to know If Splash Damage where happy with the challenges in their current state?

 

[Drkirby]

A bit off topic, but there seems to be some scammer posing as a Steam Admin in the Gaf Brink Group on Steam. The guy is called Admin, has a steam icon as his avatar. Just tried to invite me to a chat.

 

[Tenck]

Here's some interesting info for you guys in the steam group.

A guy named Admin joined the Neogaf group and tried to scam me. I might not be the first one, but don't follow any links that directs you to download steamguard. He's known to try and scam since February. Don't know why Valve still lets him connect to Steam.

 

[zlatko]

They are coming, its hard from my end (as a dev) to know where they are in the pipeline through to you actually getting them.

We have been working constantly on fixes, so i'm not entirely sure what is covered in the patch or when you will get them either.

Sounds good. I hope Msoft approves it all soon. My friends are looking at me like I royally screwed them in telling them to buy this... and while I can still enjoy the game on PC without any real issues I'd rather be playing it with friends on console. The times the game is running great we have a blast, but it's too far and few between. We're all players who bought Gears of War 2 back at its release, and this game is bringing back too many awful memories from how broken that game was online at launch.

If anything I'll be avidly playing on PC over the summer.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Just got my buddy to play this on PC and he's enjoying it. I played for a while last night, had a lot of fun, but like all class/team-based games, it's frustrating as hell when no one on your team is doing shit.

Really? I'm the ONLY one who is going to repair this fucking crane? No joke, the repair % only ever moved when I was repairing it myself, all the others were just hopping the fuck around. There was even one level where we had to protect the bot, and my entire fucking team just runs to a different part of the map as the bot put puts to the objective.

 

[KiKaL]

The game is finally playable for me! The PC patch made a huge difference.

 

[Jinaar]

PC patch available, word out on a 360 patch? Basically DAMAGED BEYOND SPLASH has a few days before I pull the trigger and trade this game in for L.A. Noire. Sad times indeed.