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[Ermac]

Is there anyway to get into the area on the mid-left side of the camp? With the tall tower.

 

[ZeroX03]

Anyone watched early GZ gameplay since the game came out?

2012 build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8toDeWvGS2U

It looks... better. I don't want to cry "downgrade" but this is definitely FOX Engine running at its full potential.

That was running on a PC with high specs.

 

[Kamina]

Anyone watched early GZ gameplay since the game came out?

2012 build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8toDeWvGS2U

It looks... better. I don't want to cry "downgrade" but this is definitely FOX Engine running at its full potential.

I see it might look a bit more 'polished', but the PS4 version is definitely very very close to this.

 

[Rambone]

Finally got around to playing this game, thanks to having it loaned to me by a buddy. I liked the game but I felt that this portion was not worth 29.99 considering the amount of content in it. It felt more like the content I'd expect to see in a DLC for 14.99.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

Anyone watched early GZ gameplay since the game came out?

2012 build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8toDeWvGS2U

It looks... better. I don't want to cry "downgrade" but this is definitely FOX Engine running at its full potential.

Oh my god. You're right. Now, textures don't look quite as high resolution, and the helicopter does not have the weird blocky parts that were kind of infamous in that reveal...

But the grass is better, the number of dynamic lights is better, the shadows are better (for example there is a great shadow being cast on the supply building, whereas I'm not even sure buildings have self shadowing), the "color" is better, and the contrast between dark and light is better.

Many shadows in the PS4 version actually fade in at a very small distance. Like I'll be running to a car, and notice it's shadow pop up just before I get in.

The faraway tents look simpler in their dynamic normal map flapping, but have such a better orange glow, the light's being cast on them has such a "real" glow. And the lights in the distance have atmospheric scattering, something that was a big deal when they did the GDC talk on FOX engine but that I can't notice in the final game...

Hmm. Didn't want to believe, I mean, the game still looks great, but I'd prefer what was shown before. For one thing, it just has a more natural "night" look, not the unnatural kind of "Hollywood night" blue color you know? I'm sure for things like the number of lights around the base, and the changing of the very beginning area (no ability to climb up anything, the gate has not tarps) they changed it for gameplay reasons. But I am disappointed that they couldn't have brought this level of graphics on the next gen versions of the game. The biggest difference is that the buildings had self shadowing once, and that's really sad that they could have probably implemented that with next gen power pretty easily.

 

[JayEH]

Took me about 12 hours but I just got the last trophy! Damn shame there's no platinum.

I only have 95% game completion though so I'm going to go back and S rank all the missions on hard.

Looks like I can focus on getting that infamous platinum now.

 

[RedAssedApe]

He deleted it, but if anyone thinks he's secretly going to be in The Phantom Pain... he's way too salty.

He's been saying shit like this for a while. Whether he's actually pissed or not, Konami wouldn't be letting him say it if he was actually working with them.

Yea at first I was hopeful he'd play solid in TPP but the saltier he gets the less and likely that seems to be true.

Actually it should be the opposite. The more and more he ribs the more and more you should be convinced he's in on the long con.

 

[Zen]

After spending a good amount of time with this game, I'm curious to know how other MGO fans think TPP will play with the new mechanics.

The auto-aim is more precise and accurate as ever, coupled with health regeneration, these two things could absolutely ruin it.

Weapon switching, being able to switch weapons so easily instead of reloading in the middle of a firefight with R2 was a huge bonus. Hopefully it will make a return for online since I doubt binoculars and codec calls will be useful.

Sprint, could be a good thing, or a bad thing.

Hard to say but I have a feeling it might end up being just an average online TPS.

I do not know. I feel like as long as the game retains the skill sub system, and has the same scale of items, it will be hard for it to be just another TPS. The only thing that has ever come close to the complexity and satisfaction of MGS4 MGO is The Last of Us, and all of its items, mechanics, and perks are simplistic in comparison.

Even though TPP is looking to be darker and less light hearted, hopefully things like magazines are still in, and the team realizes that they can take a lighter tone to the MP than the main game.

The only thing that makes me pause is the health regeneration, but that might not be enough to ruin it. Not that health regen is terrible for the main game, but having static health adds a lot to MP.

 

[co1onel]

Even though TPP is looking to be darker and less light hearted, hopefully things like magazines are still in, and the team realizes that they can take a lighter tone to the MP than the main game..

I don't see why not. Ground Zeroes had Kojima show up and make jokes off his own trailers, and also had Raiden show up from the future to kill weird aliens. I don't see where people get the idea that Ground Zeroes has no humor. At least outside of the main mission, but the main story has usually been serious in every game.

 

[Ermac]

What's the ??? Objective In the Ground Zeroes mission?

 

[Zen]

It is definitely tackling the darkest subject matter to date in the series. While it will have a few jokes here and there, everything we have seen seems to suggest the most visceral and dark MGS ever. I mean we have a fairly solid implication that Big Boss murders African child soldiers in a cage, to say nothing of even showing child soldiers or introducing the concepts of race, and rape to the series.

 

[ponpo]

Apologies if this has been answered, but what makes a weapon available for you at the start of a mission after picking it up? I noticed that submachine gun and the launcher are available to me, even though I didn't complete any missions with them, but the shotgun, sniper, et al. aren't.

What's the ??? Objective In the Ground Zeroes mission?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=105913115&postcount=2379

For the Ground Zeroes mission, it's 'escaped prisoners recovered'

For Eliminate the renegade threat, it's 'both targets recovered'

For Classified Intel Acquisition, it's 'classified intel recovered'

For Destroy Anti-Air Emplacements, it's 'mother base agents recovered'

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

to say nothing of even showing child soldiers or introducing the concepts of race, and rape to the series.

It wasn't any kind of focus, but rape was implied in previous Metal Gear titles. MGS1 and MGS3 specifically.

As for comparing Ground Zeroes' final released state to it's original reveal, I've spent the last 2 hours working up a really good breakdown of the differences, please enjoy and discuss:

Alright, just played a bit as I compared the released game to the video provided at PAX 2012. Here is a rundown of my thoughts.

Alright, off the bat, the physics on the grass at the very beginning of the intro cutscene are better in the finished product. As are the physic's of Skullface's clothes. There also seems to be a new "tilt shift" depth of field going on in the final game's first shot.

Secondly, character textures and shadows have an obvious improvement from the original reveal. Chico doesn't even look like he's in any kind of dark environment in the original reveal.

When Skullface and his men enter their truck, the contrast between dark and light appeals to me a lot more in the original reveal compared to the final game. It actually seems dark, except for the trucks light. Mr. "marine guy close-up" in the truck looks better on the final product though.

Moving to the helipad, the next gen (NG) version has more rocks and detail with polygons, where instead the original reveal (OR) has a very bright orange light showing through some smoke. Perhaps helicopter signals? NG has brief shadow pop in on an offscreen object coming from the left. Point blank range, and makes it kind of immersion breaking.

NG wins out when we look at the side of the base building, OR does not have flapping tarps or construction beams.

Skipping much farther ahead, Big Boss sneaking on the wet ground seems much better in OR. The rain has little "pitter-patter" details in the OR that are just non-existent in the NG. It's weird how good it looks, so good, that the only way that NG could have ended up without it was that they forgot, which makes no sense. There is also a rock reflection in OR, no such reflection exists in NG.

Side note, but did they really use facial capture from the English dub in the Japanese version too? Because Akio Otsuka's "Mata jya na?" is very different from Kiefer Sutherland's "Kept you waiting, huh?". It would be pretty weird, considering the whole tech behind it, the OR's Big Boss face looks good, but may be animated traditionally, before they decided to have facial capture in the first place, or maybe just before they had figured the method out. Although, I find this unlikely, now that I think about Chico in the cage, Kojima has said that Chico's face in GZ was comprised of many different models, and they had to get it just right and make it match the voice actor's performance. His face and expressions are just too similar to NG for facial capture to have not been implemented at this point, so what gives?

Anyways, the OR's vista has a lot more lights than NG. However, the warehouses in the distance look a lot worse this way in my opinion, and even though I like many of the lights that were lost in NG, the view looks better in NG overall here. First glimpse though of the ammo storage building's much greater shadow distance.

The iDroid physical device looks close on OR, but NG is better.

The lightning makes a bigger impact in OR, but the starting surroundings have higher poly count and more grass in NG. Better textures once again too. However, the rock Boss hides behind has better rain flow specular lighting in OR versus NG which has nothing. This is just speculation, but the actual "prison area" not the "old prison area" but the one on the west side of the base that you can't enter, seems to have been a place you could go originally, guess it didn't work out.

I notice that there are less places to hide, less lines of sight blockers. Which also means that the game is not rendering as many objects in OR, so score for NG here. Score in the gameplay department too, because without enough places to hide I'm sure the game would be very frustrating.The road is sharper in NG, but less unique in its construction, less pronounced in its cracks. The road may be sharper, but it is missing something in NG, reflections. The NG road will refract headlights, but not even a tiny bit of reflection is present on the watery asphalt. OR is more overtly wet too, though I'm not sure one way or the other whether OR or NG is more realistic in that regard. Although I prefer OR road in this sense.

The trend usually is that NG had better textures, and OR has more lights and farther/more frequent shadows. I have to point out that during gameplay I have noticed multiple times that the gun flashlight passes through obstacles. It will light a balcony floor, and the ground below it, without casting any kind of shadow. What does and doesn't cast a shadow is important to note to determine the difference between the builds, and while I have confirmed with the searchlight that the ammo building does indeed cast one in NG, it stops being visible within 20 steps. 20 steps! Any further, and you have no idea which direction the light is coming from, because the shadow is just gone.


So, all in all, let's break down the score.

OR:
+Contrast between dark/light seems greater to me.
+/- Trip to helipad has an orange helicopter signal flare that provides some nice muddy refraction eye candy, but in NG there are more rocks and little details instead. Could be considered better or worse.
+Way better close-up rain drops. Big Boss sneaking in the mud is given a very realistic "rain on ground" effect, unique from the one used in gameplay for both OR and NG. Really big plus for OR for me.
+Reflections on wet ground, including the scene just mentioned (cutscene) and on the wet road later (gameplay). NG has reflections in neither cutscene nor gameplay.
+More striking lightning than NG. When lightning flashes, it is more pronounced, but maybe they reduced the effect in order to not have to explain why enemies wouldn't noticed Boss after a random lightning strike. Could be problematic.
+Wet rain can be seem drifting down a rock Boss stands next to, no such effect is present on NG, just rain drops.
+More dynamic lights at a time. Although this is in a bit of an overload meaning thatareas that are better off keeping dark are highlighted, the warehouses look especially bad in comparison to NG. Still, more lights means it's more technically impressive, and the guard booth's lighting in particular seems better and very moody.
+/-Less "sharp" road textures, but more pronounced cracks and wetness. I suspect this road texture was simplified to be more standard, as in the NG it looks rather "painted on"
as if quickly put in a level editor. It may have been unique, and then made less so in NG to repeat less obviously. The wetness is good, and once again reflections shine through.
+++Actual draw distance for cast shadows! The ammo storage building is nicely highlighted with a great shadow cast from a light nearby, and it really shows off OR. NG can reproduce such a shadows, but only within 20 steps, before the shadow fades from view. The draw distance for shadows is much bigger on OR.

NG:
+/-Physics for grass (in cutscene), and clothes are better. However, maybe I should just note this above, and this may not be considered "physics" exactly, but the rain splash effects are better in OR, with OR having NG's rain drops, plus smaller more detailed rain drops, as well as rain drifting down a rock.
+Better textures all around for the most part, as well as more rock "decorations" spruced about the ground.
+Better facial shadowing, Chico looks much better, doesn't look like he has a lamp in the cage with him in unlike OR.
+Mr. "marine guy close-up" has better facial textures in NG.
+Better rocks and details than OR on the way to the helipad, however, an orange helicopter signal flare is missing in NG, which also has brief shadow pop in at point blank range.
+Much better base, with more details like construction beams being good set dressing, but the tarp flapping in the wind being the real stand out here.
?Perhaps fully implemented facial capture? I'm not sure whether OR had actual facial capture for BB, but I'm sure Chico did.
+The vista looks better, more detail actually, but less lights. Works in NG's favor here though.
+Better iDroid interface and device. Rain looks more like a three dimensional droplet rather than just a texture like OR.
+Higher poly count ground, Boss, and helicopter.
+More grass in the starting area, less dithered, but I prefer the taller grass OR.
+More objects being rendered (more boxes to hide behind).
+/-Kind of sharper road textures, but sacrificing unique cracks for ease of placement and repetition in editor I'm sure. Not as wet as OR though, and no reflections of any kind, pretty disappointing in that regard.

So, that took about two hours, I think it's a pretty good analysis. Tell me what you think!

 

[Tekku]

So what changes in hard mode exactly? I'm trying it out tonight.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

What do the helicopter flares do? Do they just call a heli to the nearest pick up point or do they do something else?

 

[Carbonox]

So what changes in hard mode exactly? I'm trying it out tonight.

You take more damage and die quicker. That's pretty much the only thing I've noticed. Patrols are the same, enemy count is the same, etc. At least from my experience when I beat Ground Zeroes main mission last night on Hard.

 

[Indignation]

You take more damage and die quicker. That's pretty much the only thing I've noticed. Patrols are the same, enemy count is the same, etc. At least from my experience when I beat Ground Zeroes main mission last night on Hard.

Also enemies see further and spot you quicker and you start without the assault rifle

 

[Zen]

It wasn't any kind of focus, but rape was implied in previous Metal Gear titles. MGS1 and MGS3 specifically.

That is true, I guess I should have composed my post a bit better and included -so directly- in my post.

And I suppose child soldiers, were talked about in MGS2, but still.

 

[Toxi]

Spoiler

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

 

[pupcoffee]

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

link please

 

[Zen]

Chico certainly grew into quite the woman very quickly then.

 

[KittenMaster]

Spoiler

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

(Spoilering just to be safe, because that sounds like something we like usually discuss in the spoiler thread.)

Spoiler

I actually had the same idea at first, but shot it down because I'm pretty sure most people say that Chico is in TPP and I was also pretty sleepy when I thought of it so my reasons seem crazy to me in hindsight.

 

[Toxi]

link please

Thread got deleted. Mods probably realized exactly how it would go.

In retrospect, I have no idea why people were believing it beyond "they both have green eyes". Still less silly than time-traveling Big Boss.

Edit: Aaaaaaand it's gone.

 

[Solidino]

I don't think this is a spoiler, cause it can see in the game intro so....

Why does Chico plug earphone-plug into his chest?

 

[Mr.Monitor]

Does anyone know how to stay prone after diving? I try holding X, tapping X, doing different stuff with the square button, I can't figure out how to do it consistently.

Why does Chico plug earphone-plug into his chest?

It's never overtly explained, but some speculate it to be

Spoiler

a form of self punishment for what he did/what happened to Paz.

Let go of the analogue stick during the dive. For a split second is enough.

It worked! Thanks.

 

[Solidino]

Does anyone know how to stay prone after diving? I try holding X, tapping X, doing different stuff with the square button, I can't figure out how to do it consistently.

you can't, i hope they'll fix this thing in future, like the jump animation.

 

[pupcoffee]

Does anyone know how to stay prone after diving? I try holding X, tapping X, doing different stuff with the square button, I can't figure out how to do it consistently.

Let go of the analogue stick during the dive. For a split second is enough.

 

[kubus]

I didn't even know it was possible to go into crouch after diving. lol

 

[AuthenticM]

Spoiler

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

Holy shit that would be amazing.

 

[cackhyena]

Anyone watched early GZ gameplay since the game came out?

2012 build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8toDeWvGS2U

It looks... better. I don't want to cry "downgrade" but this is definitely FOX Engine running at its full potential.

Well one thing that's majorly improved is how he holds his gun now compared to that reveal. Looks like the butt of the rifle has to be jammed in the middle of his chest there. Looks awkward. Glad they fixed it.

 

[ponpo]

In retrospect, I have no idea why people were believing it beyond "they both have green eyes". Still less silly than time-traveling Big Boss.

Spoiler

Chico's guilt for giving up info which he thinks leads to the destruction of Mother Base = him turning 'Quiet'

??????

(；ﾟд&#65439 ・・・

 

[Tekku]

Just had a flawless playthrough with no alarms or kills. All assists turned to "off". I wanted to share it but the share function only captured a couple of minutes of my gameplay. I'm so sad.

 

[kubus]

Finally! Took me 14 hours according to the play records. Those "mark all enemies" trials were really dull though. I'm very excited for The Phantom Pain now. If they can fix the little annoying things in Ground Zeroes for TPP it might just become a masterpiece.

Still haven't seen the Red Band trailer... Should I? I noticed that the Ground Zeroes trailers basically spoiled 80% of the game so I'm thinking about going on a media blackout for TPP... But I probably won't be able to resist anyway

 

[SJRB]

Spoiler

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

O my god, the "every new character MUST BE [related to] a previous character" cycle continues.

I love crazy MGS theories but these are the absolute worst.

 

[Carbonox]

What's the recommendation in terms of doing the trials?

Normal - do the mark all enemies trial on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)
Hard - do one of the two unlocked trials on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)

Would this be correct?

 

[CreeperBlocks]

Spoiler

Someone posted a theory that Quiet is Chico after a sex-change operation. I thought the evidence used was interesting even if I didn't think the theory was right, but wow, the meltdowns on /v/ were hilarious.

that's a little bit out there,craziest theory i have heard yet.

Is anyone else feeling MGSV:TPP will be the most darkest MGS, maybe if not the Darkest video game story yet? Like, I have a feeling Big Boss is going to have a "Ozymandias Moment" Kinda like what happened on Breaking Bad with Walt, but with more consequences.

 

[pupcoffee]

Finally! Took me 14 hours according to the play records. Those "mark all enemies" trials were really dull though. I'm very excited for The Phantom Pain now. If they can fix the little annoying things in Ground Zeroes for TPP it might just become a masterpiece.

Still haven't seen the Red Band trailer... Should I? I noticed that the Ground Zeroes trailers basically spoiled 80% of the game so I'm thinking about going on a media blackout for TPP... But I probably won't be able to resist anyway

The Red Band trailer spoils the entire first "open world" section of the Phantom Pain - you see what the mission is and how it ends. You also see bits of cutscenes - to put it vaguely, you see some characters interacting, in ways that tell you who's against who, at least for a time.

 

[Betty]

What's the recommendation in terms of doing the trials?

Normal - do the mark all enemies trial on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)
Hard - do one of the two unlocked trials on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)

Would this be correct?

You're right about Normal, but for Hard, you simply need to complete the mission again, thus completing the "Fastest Completion Time" trial for the rest to open.

 

[jacksepticeye]

Got to play the main mission fully today, kind of annoyed that the bulk of the game is shitty filler collectible type stuff. I was honestly waiting for more to happen and the credits rolled.

I mean I know the game was called short but seriously it took me an hour

 

[nillapuddin]

What's the recommendation in terms of doing the trials?

Normal - do the mark all enemies trial on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)
Hard - do one of the two unlocked trials on each mission = unlock the next set (don't have to do them)

Would this be correct?

*beaten

 

[Carbonox]

You're right about Normal, but for Hard, you simply need to complete the mission again, thus completing the "Fastest Completion Time" trial for the rest to open.

Thank fuck for that. Sounds easy enough, despite the tediousness of the marking trials.

 

[kubus]

The Red Band trailer spoils the entire first "open world" section of the Phantom Pain - you see what the mission is and how it ends. You also see bits of cutscenes - to put it vaguely, you see some characters interacting, in ways that tell you who's against who, at least for a time.

Argh... Damn you Kojima for making such awesome but spoilerific trailers... Thanks for the explanation, I'll see if I can hold out a bit longer .

Thank fuck for that. Sounds easy enough, despite the tediousness of the marking trials.

Good luck with the trials, the "mark all enemies" ones can be really annoying to complete. In all three of them I was one guy short at the end and spent 30+ minutes looking for the last enemy. My suggestion would be to comb out an entire area before moving to the next. After you sweeped the map, you can blow up some barrels from a high viewpoint to attract more dudes. Raising an alarm can help as well, but make sure they don't call in reinforcements which will bump up the total numbers of enemies you need to tag.

So glad I'm done with that part, only thing that felt like "filler content" to me.

14 hours 100%? I hope u haven't used any walktrough out there.
I have 52% of completion ratio and almost 20 hours of gameplay.

Yeah I dunno why I'm so fast compared to others. I've only looked up one or two cassette tape locations and after spending hours on Ground Zeroes I looked up some of the XOF patches locations but no guides after that.

I'm not sure how the ingame counter works though, is it the same as Rising? Because I feel like I played much more than 14 hours. I restarted at least a dozen times on some missions so the hours I spent in those are probably not added to my play time.

 

[Solidino]

Finally! Took me 14 hours according to the play records. Those "mark all enemies" trials were really dull though. I'm very excited for The Phantom Pain now. If they can fix the little annoying things in Ground Zeroes for TPP it might just become a masterpiece.

Still haven't seen the Red Band trailer... Should I? I noticed that the Ground Zeroes trailers basically spoiled 80% of the game so I'm thinking about going on a media blackout for TPP... But I probably won't be able to resist anyway

14 hours 100%? I hope u haven't used any walktrough out there.
I have 52% of completion ratio and almost 20 hours of gameplay.

 

[Solidino]

immagine TPP with 7-8 macroareas like Camp Omega separated from loading area, for one single mission. it'll be awesome.
Every single areas full of Kojima's stuffs and secrets...

 

[cackhyena]

Yeah, I'm at something like 9 hours and only 28% done.

 

[ponpo]

Perhaps my PS3 is just dying, but has anyone experienced game freezes? I beat the Ground Zeroes mission like 3 times, but on the 4th after collecting every XOF patch it froze after all cutscenes while trying to go back to the main menu.

Deja Vu froze as well as I was picking up the mines near the coastal landing zone. Snake Salute.gif @ my PS3.

 

[Ducktail]

*shivers*

Never play MGS2, MGS4, or Ground Zeroes drunk. You will question yourself in ways you may not have wanted to....

Hahahaha. It's hard not to when you see Raiden with such a feminine body.

 

[Griss]

Got to play the main mission fully today, kind of annoyed that the bulk of the game is shitty filler collectible type stuff. I was honestly waiting for more to happen and the credits rolled.

I mean I know the game was called short but seriously it took me an hour

That was my exact first impression too, but keep playing and you'll remove 'shitty filler' from your description - the side ops are awesome, and better than the ground zeroes mission. I've put over 10 hours into the game, and it plays unbelievably well. Keep at it, it's the kind of game that gets better the better you get.

 

[RaikuHebi]

Just did the mission where you have to escape the airstrike. Very tense and fun! TPP is going to be excellent and packed with so many things to do according to GZ's little taste.

 

[ToyMachine228]

So I know Chico and Paz were already child solidiers when they met Big Boss, but has there been any kind of discussion about Big Boss using child soldiers? Like does he feel conflicted about it or anything? Does Peace Walker deal with this at all?