Opinions on Standoff Episode 1 (*spoiler warning*)

[nishka]

Let me just add my voice to the choir and commend the standoff team on a kick ass job. It's tough, but it really does capture the spirit (not to mention the music) of the original games. Is that a sample of the MT-32 soundtrack or was it recomposed from scratch?

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www.lonseidman.com

 

[Pedro]

Yeah my taunts sucked I think I must have been whispering when I recorded them to avoid waking people up for a deadline that never came I'll make sure they're completley redone for the next release.
That line was my favourite too, I was starting to feel like my character had some emotions in him afterall, but then it seems rather odd when he starts talking about being tempted, guess I should have read ahead

 

[poopnoodle]

hi all,

i have only gotten to see the introduction sequence and the menu screen, because my machine is running win 2000, but it looks and sounds great. the voiceovers and music were veru well done and the ships look awesome.

thanks for the great work guys, cant wait to play it.
-brad

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

I have never, ever, in my entire life, not even once, heard anyone say shed-jool.

I have. Maybe it's a Norfolk thing.. At any rate, you certainly did a better job than Salman Kroiz's voice actor lol

 

[Pedro]

Did a little research and shed-jool, it is technically the correct way to say it and until a couple of decades back it was taught in schools specifically as such (along with left-tenant), however it had to be specifically taught because the average person said sched-jule. Now British schools have given up entirley trying to teach it so not even those who payed attention in class say it as such.

 

[Deepstar]

The Voice-Actiing sounds professional.
The Comm Vids are good and are better than a simply Confed Symbol like in SO.
The Missions are good and difficult.
And the Videos after the Missions was good, too..
You can defect to the Pirates and have so three different endings
And the best thing.. the In-Game Message/Fiction System.. better than this External Program in Unknown Enemy.


Overall:

PERFECT!


I want the next Episode.. NOW!

 

[Needaham45]

Let me just add my voice to the choir and commend the standoff team on a kick ass job. It's tough, but it really does capture the spirit (not to mention the music) of the original games. Is that a sample of the MT-32 soundtrack or was it recomposed from scratch?

The music was... 'borrowed' from the original MIDIs extracted from the original game. I then cleaned them up, 'fixed' them up (as in reassigned the instruments to what they were supposed to be based on the names of the MIDI tracks and not the patches, because there was a discrepancy there... I'm guessing because of the poor quality of synthesizer technology at the time of WC2), rewrote bits so they could loop nicely, then reorchestrated them for my own personal flavoring. They were then rendered using the soundbank of my trusty Korg X5D Music Synthesizer. So, the short answer to your question is no, it is not a sample of the MT-32, but they weren't completely recomposed from stratch.

BTW - for everyone's information, 'sampling' is not the proper term. 'Sampling' is when you borrow music from something previously written in hip-hop, rap, and some rock. However, in jazz and classical (which the Standoff soundtrack is), the proper term is 'quoting'. Different styles of music have different jargon associated with them, and as an anal-retentive musician, that's a little pet peeve of mine. So, for everyone's info (because multiple people have used the wrong term), its 'quoting' in this style and not 'sampling'. Sorry - I don't like correcting people like this, but its just one of those stupid things that gets to me a bit.

 

[Wedge009]

Oh and one another nitpick on Standoff. The particle cannon effect doesn't look too good. While other weapon effects like laser and Massdriver and Neutron gun look very good the particle effect looks like two color bitmap done in Paint. Make the borders semitransparent .

A lot of things in Standoff felt very bright. I'm used to turning up the brightness settings on my monitor to play games, but the game-flow room and some of the gun sprites seemed rather bright...

And the flak gun looks like a flamethrower.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the flak gun effect. Looks nice, even if doesn't have a large firing arc. Does it actually do any damage, though? And sometimes if there's only a few enemies left, it looks like the flak gun is firing the wrong way!

wait... are you being sarcastic wedge?

Not at all.

At any rate, you certainly did a better job than Salman Kroiz's voice actor

"Since we cannot both fulfil our contracts..." The way that's worded, he makes it sound like both he and Grayson are idiots! Some might say they are?

BTW - for everyone's information, 'sampling' is not the proper term. 'Sampling' is when you borrow music from something previously written in hip-hop, rap, and some rock. However, in jazz and classical (which the Standoff soundtrack is), the proper term is 'quoting'.

When I refer to samples, I'm referring to a sample of a single instrument at a specific note or tone. I believe synthesisers render by interpolating and mixing multiple samples together to produce the final output. That's what I meant by sampling, anyway. I know the term 'sampling' can be used in the context of analogue-to-digital conversion of a signal, especially sound, ie how many times a second the state of a signal is recorded.

 

[Tempest]

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the flak gun effect. Looks nice, even if doesn't have a large firing arc. Does it actually do any damage, though? And sometimes if there's only a few enemies left, it looks like the flak gun is firing the wrong way!

Playing the base attack mission should have informed everyone that flak hurts. A Lot. And the 'wrong way' thing.. I'm not sure, but when playing through it recently I saw what I thought to be the flak perhaps shooting at ejected pilots, making them easy for the picking.

 

[Eder]

...the particle effect looks like two color bitmap done in Paint.

It has more than two colors, and wasn't done in Paint, but I can't say I really dedicated myself to it either.

Edit: Hey T, hadn't noticed the quote on your sig.

 

[Needaham45]

When I refer to samples, I'm referring to a sample of a single instrument at a specific note or tone. I believe synthesisers render by interpolating and mixing multiple samples together to produce the final output. That's what I meant by sampling, anyway. I know the term 'sampling' can be used in the context of analogue-to-digital conversion of a signal, especially sound, ie how many times a second the state of a signal is recorded.

Yes - that's fine. I know a little bit of the inner workings of a synthesizer, but honestly, I don't know ALL that much about it. I was referring to the use of the word to describe using perviously written material in a composition.

 

[Tempest]

Edit: Hey T, hadn't noticed the quote on your sig.

Q thought it was necessary to share it with me. Apparently, I agree.

 

[Nomad Terror]

flak perhaps shooting at ejected pilots

ow

 

[Lynx]

Edit: Hey T, hadn't noticed the quote on your sig.

I guess you cannot highlight the very circumstances that gave birth to that wonderful sentence, or not.

 

[Eder]

Oh, it's pretty simple... That was my first reaction to Trigger's original set of voiceovers (which were improvised by Tempest at the last minute... and which we ended up ditching for something a little less psychopathically agressive).

 

[Tempest]

Yeah.. Trigger originally sounded like a Kilrathi wearing a man-suit. What with his 'I am death' and various other acts of insanity. Due to Ed's request, I regretfully toned him down to the cool, calm professional.

 

[Sphynx]

I don't know... I'm sure that there are a few psychopath, or should I say sociopath, pilots out there. It wouldn't hurt to have one in the game. You know, I've had a bunch of friends who were a little scary that I made friends with to make sure they wouldn't end up as my enemies. So, Trigger could be that kind of guy: you're glad he's on your side, because you don't want to imagine what he would do to you if he wasn't. Still, even the voice Tempest uses now does make me a little scared of the guy. I can only imagine what it sounded like before you toned it down!

 

[Tempest]

Yeah, that voice I put on hurts my throat after a while. I pretty much do all the voices that aren't my natural one in the game.. not sure how that came about

As for Trigger, I guess that was my original inspiration for him. He's still kind of that way, cold and detached, no sense of humor, but a damn reliable wingman who'll never leave your side. But, still, won't reveal too much. I will say that you learn more about him in the main campaign.

 

[Ijuin]

I must say that I love the feel of combat in this episode. It actually feels like two to one odds is a serious threat to you, as opposed to UE's approach of having the player shoot down a dozen enemies at every Navpoint. When most fighters crumple within half a dozen shots, skilled flying becomes much more important as opposed to sheer gunpower.

As for the ships themselves:

The Stiletto felt very much like the WC2 Ferret, which makes sense since the stats for it are pretty close. It had all the speed and agility you could ask form with just barely enough shields and armor to survive if you are good at dodging, and the four heatseekers were just right for when you need to take down a turreted enemy fighter/bomber. The only serious drawback in my mind is the short range of the mass drivers (which was the same problem that the Ferret had). Otherwise, this ship very much captured the essence of what a light fighter should be.

The Gladius had an ideal set of guns and missiles for anti-fighter work, as well as having medium shields and armor while remaining decently maneuverable. While definitely inferior to the Sabre, it still felt solid and dependable. Its chief drawback was the slow afterburner speed in comparison to other Confed fighters. In all, it felt like a slower, heavier counterpart to the Rapier II, and I would rank it slightly below the latter.

The Sabre had good weapons and good armor, combined with medium speed and maneuverability. The mass drivers are a bit widely spaced, but that does keep it true to the WC2 Sabre. What are the normal ordnance loadouts for fighter missions and bomber missions? The Sabre mission in episode one had it carrying a single torpedo. Also, does the Sabre's turret fire automatically like the turrets on the Shrike and Devestator do in SO, or is it manual only?

 

[Wedge009]

The Gladius used in Standoff... is it meant to be fit into the light fighter role that the Militia use it in Gemini, or the heavy fighter role used by Special Ops aboard the Lexington? I can't remember its classification in the Tactical Database.

The Stiletto felt very much like the WC2 Ferret, which makes sense since the stats for it are pretty close.

Personally, I disagree. For me, the Ferret was a very hardy ship, but even the Epee seemed to withstand damage better than the paper-thin Stiletto. I'm sure the Privateer Stilettos had stronger shields than the ones on the Lionheart! It's a challenge to fly the Stiletto, certainly, especially without the rapid-fire mass drivers that WC2 fighters had.