darwinia takes a beating!

[Samwise415]

I just don't like how EA have handled the franchise and turned it into nothing more than a money making venture. It has become iconic of everything wrong with the games industry.

Yeah, where do people get off trying to make money? Seriously.

Still, I can't wait for Spore to come out

Ditto. If it were anyone else proposing this, I'd have no faith whatsoever, but Will Wright's never bitten off more than he could chew before.

[Darksun]

Yeah, where do people get off trying to make money? Seriously.

There's nothing wrong with trying to make money. I just don't like EA making X million extra at the expense of good games.

[Dr4goN]

Well, forget him and send him a virus e-mail. Problem solved

YEAH. SEND HIM A KEYLOGGER

[da_zeg]

That Mr.Easy says that he played it and "couldn't get into it". Ask any of the phase 1 testers. We played the same level for weeks with far worse crashing issues and bugs. I for one didn't get bored.

Anyway, nice to see people willing to back up their articles, instead of hiding behind the publications that employ them. Also that parallax takes it seriously enough to feel somewhat insulted that people are flaming his review.

But still, each to his own, I gave the demo to most of my friends and only about half liked it. (most because of performance issues- i.e. 3fps).

Anyway, personally I dont pay too much attention to reviews, my friends (and I) will read magazines, but we play the demo and decide for ourselves.

EDIT:- Missed out the 3fps thing

[Samwise415]

Yeah, where do people get off trying to make money? Seriously.

There's nothing wrong with trying to make money. I just don't like EA making X million extra at the expense of good games.

I see where you're coming from, but consider how many people need to buy those games for them to make X million extra. Clearly, a lot of people consider their games to be "good". You and I may not agree with them, but we are not the ultimate arbiters of what is and isn't a good game. EA has figured out how to make games that lots and lots of people like. That's not in itself a bad thing. Heck, if they succeed in bringing more people into PC gaming as a whole, there might end up eventually being more of an audience for small indy titles like Darwinia.

[Darksun]

Yes, they create games lots of people like. You forget that most people are idiots and will like a game because it's branded/well advertised/exact replica of another game.

[Hendar23]

You forget that most people are idiots

I'v always said, never underestimate the stupidity of your fellow man.

[ttm]

"Only two things are infinite: the Universe and Human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former" - Albert Einstein

[Cyberwarrior]

Yes, there are a few problems (ie, the millions of DeeGees on screen slowing down even the biggest of machines)

[belatedofftopicresponse]

*coff* my 3ghz was barely whining, running nicely at 15 FPS, 1024x768, full graphics with well over 1,000 souls on screen + 200-300-600 Darwinians.

EDIT: Plus explosions, squaddies, lasers and flying bits of dead roasty evil Darwinians.



Siege has to be the ultimate Darwinia StressTest for any machine

[Samwise415]

Yes, they create games lots of people like. You forget that most people are idiots and will like a game because it's branded/well advertised/exact replica of another game.

Is our money somehow better than theirs? Are we somehow more worthy of EA's attention? What's the advantage to them in making a game that a small group of superior human beings like ourselves will buy, rather than a game that the great unwashed masses (who are clearly as amoebae cringing beneath our godlike intellects) will buy?

Are you willing to pay a thousand times as much for a game that has one thousandth the potential audience? Because that's the only way that it's going to even out economically.

[Darksun]

I am better than all. All should obey me and do my bidding.

That is all.

[Tortanick]

Yes, they create games lots of people like. You forget that most people are idiots and will like a game because it's branded/well advertised/exact replica of another game.

Is our money somehow better than theirs? Are we somehow more worthy of EA's attention? What's the advantage to them in making a game that a small group of superior human beings like ourselves will buy, rather than a game that the great unwashed masses (who are clearly as amoebae cringing beneath our godlike intellects) will buy?

We controll the reviews! We controll the "voice of the gamer". Do our bidding or forever be branded a money makeing group trying to sell Art! BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[coolsi]

I think part of the problem is the Uplink/Darwinia/Introversion community itself - because Uplink was such a good game, IV have got a very loyal following. People's dedication to them has led them (in my opinion, at least) to gloss over the flaws and problems in Darwinia - almost like a great big PR machine.

If you were playing Half Life 2 and it crashed several times with large FPS drops, how would you react? I'd be a bit annoyed, seeing as I'd payed good money for a finished product. When it comes to Darwinia however, community members don't really care because it's a "great game".

Say you had never heard of IV and/or Uplink before, and you bought Darwinia off the shelf. You won't necessarily care that IV are a small indie company, you've payed for this game and it has problems. This is the position that a games reviewer has to take, that of someone who is new to the game and who wasn't a beta tester, someone who had little or no prior knowledge of the game.

Personally, I've never had any crashes or FPS drops...but that's probably because Darwinia has sat on my shelf, unused. I never really got into the beta, something about it wasn't quite right. Yeah, it was cool when I first played it - the soundscape, different units etc but all too quickly it got a bit repetitive and...boring. I didn't think twice about ordering the game (I've always tried to support IV whenever possible) and I've played up to the second level but I guess I'm one of those people who doesn't really enjoy playing the game. I don't find it entertaining. Like Parallax said in his review: I wanted to like it, I wanted to enjoy it, but in the end I couldn't.

[coolsi]

I should add (after that rather negative post) that a game called City of Heroes has taken up all of my time, that may be one reason why I haven't played Darwinia...

[The GoldFish]

Yes, the natural responce is indeed to suggest we're all fanboys, rather than perhaps we actually happen to like the game.

However CoH caters to them both (our tastes that is)

"If you were playing Half Life 2 and it crashed several times with large FPS drops, how would you react?" <- Pretty much like the rest of the people who suffered from their uncached sounds, pretty much very annoyed.