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Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...


Battlezone is an Activision release from 1998 for the PC. It's a unique game in that it combines both the first person shooter genre and real time strategy. Think Starcraft if you were playing from a Marine's perspective. It was rather popular amongst the critics and sold well enough to justify a sequel which I might tackle later as I also have that. One thing worthy of mention is that this was technically a remake of an arcade game of the same name from the 1980's that featured vector graphics and tanks. To be fair, about the only thing that ties both games together is their namesake and tanks. Everything else went out the loving window.

The story is pretty engaging and is a conspiracy theorists wet dream. In the 1960's, a meteor shower over the Bering Strait peppered the area with a rare bio-metal not found on Earth. Both the Soviet Union and the United States obtained as much as they could and began producing new weapons and vehicles using it. Naturally, the small amounts that fell to Earth were not enough to satiate the appetites of the super powers and they ventured forth in search of more. This is where the real space race began and the cold war went hot. You get to play both sides in the war. I will be starting with the American National Space Defense Force(NSDF) and then moving on to the Soviet Cosmic Colonist Army(CCA).

I have a physical copy of this game but because of it's age, it doesn't even run on a newer machine and you cannot get it on GOG.com or other sites of that ilk. However, you can get a full version of the game for free from https://www.battlezone1.com. This is the version I will be running. Even with all the updates to the software, FRAPs doesn't care much for anything that isn't gameplay, meaning it won't record menus or loading screens. I will do the best I can but I might have to go ahead and crop some of the loading screens or simply screen cap them for the thread.

I am going to try and be informative with this LP but this also happens to be my first so I am certain to gently caress up along the way. Hopefully, you all find this game interesting enough to play yourselves and enjoy my first venture into the land of the let's play.

I'm Corporal Kerberos and let's play Battlezone.

NSDF Units

M60A7 Main Battle Tank "Grizzly"

This is the work horse vehicle of the NSDF forces and is the vehicle you start with(if memory serves) in all NSDF missions. It is rather well rounded and fully capable of dispatching even the more powerful Soviet counterpart relatively quickly. It does have a full loadout of weapons but I really only find myself using two of them.

M580A2 Scout "Razor"

Summing this vehicle up requires nothing more than to say it is quick and prone to exploding when I pilot it. It is by no means something weak or useless with it's dual mini-gun setup but is quickly destroyed if you haven't mastered using it's speed to out maneuver enemy vehicles. I do like it but I rarely use it.

M47A9 Light Tank "Bobcat"

My number one pick when it comes to filling out a platoon. It's low cost and decent weapon array makes it a good choice for making a decent fighting force quickly.

B74CT Bomber "Thunderbolt"

Holy poo poo is this drat thing slow and it turns like rear end. It fires dumb rockets so it is no good against targets that aren't planted to the ground. I never pilot it because I hate it and it handles like an oil tanker. You are right hosed if you get hit by it though.

Medium Rocket Tank "Shafter"

Comes with some decent rocket capabilities with lock on tracking. Overall, it is relatively squishy and explodes on contact with enemy projectiles.

M173 Turret "Badger"

Very handy for their low cost but a little underpowered as they only come equipped with one weapon slot filled and it's filled with a mini-gun. They don't need external power and are mobile which makes them good for hasty defense but a lot of them are needed to be effective. They are best used when first starting out and then recylcing them to upgrade to permenant defenses like gun towers.

AT9 Walker "Sasquatch"
Slow as poo poo and ugly as sin. The go to unit for massive firepower and lots of armor. Useful in certain situations only.

VS3E Reclamation Unit "Scavenger"

This is the scrap collector. Getting several of these in the begginning of missions makes your life a lot easier but defenses should always take priority after you get your first scavenger. They only collect something like three pieces of scrap at a time so I tend to at least make two if I have the scrap.

Cargo Utility "Tug"

I have only needed this thing once and it has no defenses of it's own. I hope you like babysitting. If you do need something towed though, this is the unit for the job.

TU11 Mobile Bio-Metal Fabricator "Recycler"

These are your life blood and losing it will result in a failed mission. They produce quite a few necessary vehicles, like scavengers, the armory, and factories. This should be protected at all costs as it is a structure that the AI will always target first if they can get to it.

TU8 Supply Launch "Armory"

If you need supplies in the field, this is the vehicle to have. It's also the only drat way I've been able to get my squadmates to get repairs or replenish their ammo. It's a pain in the rear end though because it is not instant with it's supply drop which means you are usually out of the fight until it arrives. It does have one very special use which we will see later on.

TU12 Advanced Bio-Metal Fabricator "Factory"

Hey man, I got what you need. You need some Bobcat? I got that poo poo in spades. You jonesing for the Grizzly? I just so happen to have those too. All offensive vehicles come from this thing except for the Razor. Only downside is that it needs a geyser which might make you choose between it and something like the armory.


TU15 Construction Rig "Heaval"

It makes gun towers. I mean, it makes more than just those but I really don't care because, well, gun towers.

Videos










































Kitty Burger fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Jul 25, 2014

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Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Added Space posted:

Nice voice.

Those vector graphics looked very familiar. I remember playing a game like that, where you're a tank that's trying to single-handedly wreck a base (soviet or alien, I forget) in the Artic? Man, that was years ago. This title should great nostalgic romp.

Thanks. I've always been told I had the face for radio. If all goes well the first mission should be up tomorrow and with any luck, the second video come Friday.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Thanks for the support. Episode 1 is now online.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
It really is surprising that this game didn't receive more of a following than it did. If there was a next gen sequel made only for the PC, I'd pick it up in a heartbeat.

EvilUrchin posted:

Huh, its strange how the combination of your voice and the mic you are using makes your commentary sound just like most of the in game dialogue. That's actually pretty cool, dunno if you were going for that effect. Also, jesus Battlezone, I haven't thought about this game in forever. A nice little dab of nostalgia.

Funny story about that. My headset is actually a military radio headset that I tactically acquired and repurposed while I was in the Marines. The goons I used to play DayZ with told me it made me sound like a stormtrooper.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Unreal_One posted:

Aww, you missed the Rave gun! It's the cannon off to the left of the Razor, and it is only available on that mission. I was thinking of doing an LP of this, but yours is better than mine would be. I played the hell out of this as a kid, and somehow beat both of the campaigns. This game can get tricky at times.

I never even knew about the Rave gun but then again, I'm trying to be informative in what amounts to being a blind run seeing as the last time I played this game was back in 1998. At the very least, I am hoping this LP is entertaining for everyone and they get something out of it.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Unreal_One posted:

There are a couple of little things on that mission; supposedly the Apollo lander can be destroyed and a pilot will jump out, giving you a wing man. Also, it's a physics object, so hitting it with the mortar or rockets can make it move a little. Sometimes you can get weapons control of your character and hear him plinking in the background during the opening narration. Also, shift and the f-keys can be used to get various first and third person cameras; the only ones of any real use at the moment are first person and first person no cockpit.

Until I played it on a modern computer, I thought the AT-stabbers were supposed to have a bright orange square at the point of the projectile, since my computer at the time always showed one.

You are correct about destroying the lander. In earlier playthroughs I had destroyed it because it does generate an extra pilot but just happened to avoid doing it on that go 'round. I'll have to keep the various cameras in mind on future missions. I'm actually finishing up some work on mission two at the moment so I might be a nice guy and post it this evening instead of waiting till tomorrow.

Triggsz posted:

Holy poo poo, we were just talking about Battlezone in the Renegade thread. Looking forward to this. Will you be doing the Red Odyssey missions later?

And i thought you'd be interested that some people are actually working on a spiritual successor to BZ. It's on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/807779870/bionite-origins

I will be trying to do all the official missions that were released for the game, so yep, I will do my best to make sure they get added here. Thanks for the kickstarter link too. I'm a little sad that it's already been funded though. I wouldn't have minded tossing 12 bucks at it.

Kitty Burger fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jan 31, 2013

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
:siren: New episode dropping. :siren:

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Yapping Eevee posted:

Perhaps it's just me, but maybe the sound effects could stand to be turned down a bit, and the voices up. It was almost impossible to hear the radio chatter over the Grizzly's shots. :sweatdrop:

Those turrets are quite effective, it seems. :) To Mars, I guess!

Yeah, it was a bit more apparent in this last video than last that the audio wasn't as solid. Mostly what it came down to was that I didn't want to have my voice clipping too much in Audacity but it seems that I should have just done what I did previously. I'm testing out different methods with each video to see what works best and makes my life the easiest when it comes to making them.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Ah poo poo, so many posts to reply to. Let's just say I plan on making a bonus video or two while I do the LP which will show off some of the cooler things the game did like the in-person installer and some of the first missions secrets as pointed out in the thread. I'm going to spend a bit more time on the next mission than these last two since I want to have a bit more time to do the game justice and not just slap something together for the sake of getting it done.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
:siren:Have a little bit of a bonus video.:siren:

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
:siren: Toot toot. Here comes episode 3.:siren:



I had a hell of a time with the audio for this one so please let me know if there are any issues that I can rectify.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

RZApublican posted:

It uses ammo faster, but chaining the Mini-gun to the AT-Stabber for simultaneous fire is probably the most damaging thing you can use until at least halfway through the game.

I was actually going to go over chaining together weapons into groups in the next video and show off how much fun it can be to hose the enemy with.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Soviets posted:

The only problem I've got with the audio is your voice is sometimes waaay too low compared to the shooting and exploding going on. Same thing with the in-game voices, but there's not much you can do about that, IIRC.

Yeah, part of that is my mic and part of that is recording the system audio. I'm going to spend a bit more time making sure I record all of the voiceover at once since moving my mic even just a bit has a noticeable effect on the volume. I'll also see about turning down a few things in game just because it can get especially annoying to hear that drat beeping all the time.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Just a quick heads up that I haven't stopped doing this LP or anything. Time hasn't been kind and getting the ability to sit down and record missions four and five for the NSDF has been a pain in the rear end. It also doesn't help that I've replayed mission four about 11 times. It's amazing what you forget in 15 years when it comes to playing games you love. Look for mission four and mission five to be out soon and I plan on trying to get at least one mission out a week just to keep things consistent. Hopefully I won't suffer any further delays in delivering content to you fine goons.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Well, it finally happened. I finished the next episode and here it is:



And in the future I plan on keeping up with you guys as far as your posts go. I got too used to lurking for so long on these forums that I rarely respond even in my own drat LP thread. As always, if there are any issues with the video, let me know and I will do my best to correct it next time.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

FoolyCharged posted:

I think the fact that you drove back to base for ammo over using the armory to deliver it to the defense objective said so much more about the things delay than when you brought it up in commentary

From where you saw me plant the armory and where I was located when setting up the recycler, it took about 1:15-1:30 for my second AT-Stabber to arrive. What makes it a bit worse is if you tell your supporting offensive units to get repairs or re-up on ammo, they will park their asses on the very spot they are on and wait for the supply drop. I imagine it is more useful than I am making it out to be but for that particular mission, it really wasn't as useful as I would have liked it to be.

radintorov posted:

One thing about Battlezone is that it likes to mix things up with missions where speed is essential so as not to get swarmed and missions where one has to take his time. The problem is that the only way to find out is by failing and retrying.
Still, good job with this one. Thankfully next one should be a lot easier as long as you do things in the proper order. :)

Depending on your perspective, that could be a horrible thing. I find it to be a good thing though. In my eyes, it forces you to be a bit more fluid and not get stuck into a certain sort of mindset when it comes to your play style.

Since I am a nut and keep all my old game boxes and manuals and such and it was brought up in the thread earlier, I think in the next day or so I will take a few photos and maybe some scans of the manual that came with the game. It really is a nifty looking thing and I miss the days when they did awesome stuff like making the manual for a game look like a top secret field manual.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

The music was a nice touch, good job. Also, wouldn't you just have to shoot the AT Stabber twice as long if you didn't have two of them? It makes misses hurt that much more, but doubling up seems like the best course of action in spite of ammo consumption.

Yeah, it definitely is not a bad idea to double up if you have a steady supply chain of new ammo but if you are out and about it can mean a lot of backtracking.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Shadowed Bacon posted:

I noted the Rave gun was mentioned in the first mission, but no one mentioned that you can get IN the lunar lander, which has rave guns as standard. At least that's what I recall.

Looks like I will have something to test out myself and perhaps include in bonus video two when I get around to recording it. Also, I want to add that I once again apologize about the lack of update this week as real world blues have been taking their toll.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Lunethex posted:

Please continue to do this!

You bet your rear end I will, so long as you keep up the good work on that RE6 LP of yours.

Lunethex posted:

They also start spinning around like in Shyrka's avatar, coincidentally :v:

I think I might just do a bonus video this week instead of trying to poo poo out a full mission. Who knows, I might be feeling saucy and do two to make up for what I have missed.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
In between getting my rear end creamed on the next mission, I discovered that several years and a deployment for a scanner was a bit too much. I was able to make one scan of the manual before the scanner died but I am already looking to source a new one. In the meantime, have this crap scan of the aforementioned awesome game manual for Battlezone.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

Dude, that manual looks DISTURBINGLY realistic. I find myself looking at old rear end Army documentation alarmingly frequently, and the game devs got the font and general spacing right.

Was the fraying just from years of you owning this game, or is that just a graphic effect on the manual cover itself?

Yeah, the idea of it being an actual field manual is incredibly well done. I mean it even has a drat publication number with a believable preface and everything. I wish I could say that it was actually all frayed and stapled together but it is just a graphic. Still looks a lot more awesome than 99% of other game manuals I have sitting around.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Teledahn posted:

I'm guessing those yellow dots are an artefact of your scanner deciding it didn't want to scan anymore. I'm deprived and only have Battlezone in a jewel case, with the predictably-limited case sized insert manual. Although, now that I think of it, the manual is probably on the disk itself. Maybe?

Yeah, it didn't want to scan properly and when I went to rescan it, the scanner just poo poo all over itself. I do feel bad that you have missed out on one of the cooler aspects of having a full box copy of a game. I even still have the quick reference guide for key bindings that I have been using quite a bit during this playthrough.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Loxbourne posted:

Hey Kittyburger! I don't have PMs so I thought I'd ask this in the thread itself.

Did you ever see Pandemic's storyline website for this game?

I ask this because there was a pretty awesome website they used to host depicting the background to the Battlezone games as a conspiracy rant. Supposedly penned by a hyperactive X-Files fan out to reveal the truth about his father. There's a nod to it in the Battlezone 2 manual. It's hard for me to go into detail about why it's so awesome without spoiling the main game, so I've stuck details under a tag below:

It had screenshots of factions - yes factions - that didn't make it into the final game, including a British "scout" and several Lunar Space Nazi units! The timeline for the first game explicitly included the NSDF fighting and crushing Space Nazi armies on the moon, with hints that the CCA had originally flown to Mars to finish off Nazis there as well. This explained why both sides had big bases in place. The only reference to these guys remaining in the full game is a note about the NSDF light tank being phased out after service in early lunar battles.

I've been hunting for this site in various archives for weeks, in the hope of triumphantly posting it here, but without luck. I'm hoping someone here might remember more details of the conspiracy dude who supposedly wrote it; that would make searching a lot easier.

That sounds pretty tight actually but sadly I never saw that. I would definitely love to see anything that came out of it.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

I actually plugged this LP on my own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XviVVV2vSM&t=875s

I would have told you this over PM, but you don't have it :argh:

I'm not cool enough yet to have those fancy PM things but thanks a bunch for plugging my LP. However, curse you for giving me another one to follow :argh:

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

If you do follow it, I hope you have an intense hatred for the following:
Not having motion sickness
Bland colors
Not having anime tropes in your game
Just sanity in general


Indeed, I do have a hatred for all of those things. I shall enjoy purging the lack of those things from my life. In the meantime:

:siren: :siren:

I'm going to see about updating the OP with some screencaps of the vehicles we have seen from the NSDF forces as well as their statistics this week, so you also have that to look forward to.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

How does one correct for windage on a planet with no atmostphere?

Mars has an atmosphere, just not one we can breath. :science:

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

MostlyHeroic posted:

Holy mother of... after all these years, I never realized that the shadows cast by the cliffs and structures would obstruct solar panel arrays. All my previously inexplicable construction woes suddenly make sense. Ken Miller (or perhaps Brad Pickering?) you clever bastard, that's some amazing attention to detail, especially for a game in 1998.

On another note (get used to that phrase), would you mind if I show off the ridiculously convoluted method of properly assaulting the base in Mission 5, as well as the facepalmy "oh my god why didn't I just do that in the first place" method of infiltrating the base with a vehicle? The second one might be spoil some game mechanics so I can hold off.

The shadows thing actually threw me off at first as well. Once I figured it out though, it all made sense. I am definitely interested in seeing or hearing how other people go about these missions as I am by no means an expert at this game and do expect even the newest of players to hand me my rear end on a platter in multiplayer.

Lunethex posted:

I took a Razor Scout with Grizzly cover and ordered them to attack the power supply for those Soviet towers while covering my retreat. On the way back I would tell the Recycler and all my stuff to pack up and be waiting for me at the nav point and it felt pretty dramatic! I think I sometimes built a Satellite Array and ordered a few turrets for good measure to cover the valley just in case.

That is the sort of thing I am talking about. That is a really simple way to accomplish the goals of each mission in this game but it is awesome how varied each player can get through it all. Part of my problem is that I just love rolling around with an army of vehicles in tow and like to brute force things. For time sensitive missions though, that usually doesn't do me too well.

To be fair though, as dumb as it may seem, I really liked playing through the objective in this mission as a weak body. If I did live commentary, I would have happily added in a few death scenes. In the playthrough prior to the one I used for the video, I was advancing back over the ridges and fell down the side like a dumbass as the Soviet force was coming through the canyon. The whole time I was doing my best martian rock impression, chanting "Don't see me, don't see me." The ruse worked until the last Czar tank passed. He saw me. :saddowns:

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
The terrain isn't so bad for getting around on foot. It's just the issue of being so squishy, having limited ammo, and being so much slower. As I mentioned a bit back, I did actually update the OP with a listing of the vehicles we have already encountered in the game. Most of them have screencaps to go with the slight blurbs I wrote, save for a few that I blundered and missed getting shots of. As the LP progresses, I'll be adding new vehicles and structures to the OP as well as in update posts.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Bitter_one13 posted:

The term is appropriate. There is no stealing in the military.

There is only one thief in the military. Everyone else is just trying to get their poo poo back.

Lunethex posted:

Actually, there is something I want to ask because I only ever guessed at the ejection command once and I never had that sweet manual, but what are the button presses you have to do to scuttle your vehicle? There were quite a bit of random commands in the game if I recall correctly and going over some would be pretty interesting!

Thanks to a sweet deal on a new scanner at Amazon, I bring you some very helpful information.





Ctrl-B will allow you to bail out of your vehicle and cause it to get scuttled. It's also helpful if you want to get the high ground fast.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
:siren: Mission 6 is here! :siren:



Funny enough, this was one of the smoother missions once I was able to get hold of what to do. Still didn't stop me from managing to gently caress up near the end. We get to drive a new vehicle and try out some fancy new weapons.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Shyrka posted:

You need to use more of those fancy weapons the armoury can fire out, some of them are really awesome. Some aren't, but the thread still should see them!

Don't worry about that any. I plan on doing a bit of it in the next missions as this is when we really get the opportunity to start using all these hi-tech, plastic fantastic, poodle shooter guns.

Panboy posted:

Venus, yes this is where the game really starts to open up with equipment, I love the Rocket tank but it sucks so hard its not funny much better off in a light tank, As the Hornet is just as good in a light as it is in rocket tank. and lights live longer.

You really should make better use of your armory though, I tend to tell it to fire Armour and ammo ahead of me before I get into a fight so hopefully it lands in time to make good use of it.

And that last mars mission with the bombers, Totally the hardest mission in the game. Those 3 bombers can really ruin your day if your not lucky.

There's one mission I'm really looking forward to you playing, as the 1.5 patch makes it so much harder than it should be.

With just a weapon like the tag cannon, it is so much more useful to use a light tank. Changing out the main cannon to something else can make it even more viable as a main assault vehicle. I'm going to be trying to get episodes done closer together so I forget less about the game and get into more of a groove.


SirDifferential posted:

Looking at those missiles... drat they were useless. I would assume that if the military techies were given the task of "making a tank that shoots effing rockets" they would add radar targeting or something. Long ranged support vehicles. It would make a cool multiplayer mechanic to have front soldiers tag targets for the 5km away missile tanks. They did something like this in BF1942 (I think this was the first instance?) but it was never really used by anyone because of how online gaming is.

I never had Battlezone, but I saw it played at a point in a mall somewhere. It's strange this kind of games haven't been made after Renegade. The idea is solid and offers a lot of options for multiplayer.

The missiles are pretty useless but stuff like the hornet are pretty powerful. You only get a few though and even Soviet scouts can take as many as three to go down. They definitely have their place but it's not against fast moving vehicles that are difficult to track. Slower vehicles like enemy APCs or even main battle tanks are much better candidates to show off how effective they can be.

The closest games I can really think of to something like Battlezone are, as you mentioned, really just games like Battlefield 3 and BF2142 where you have vehicle based combat as well as infantry combat. Most of them emphasize a balanced combat perspective so you aren't completely worthless outside of a tank but they also don't take place on a different planet with different gravities, atmospheres, etc. I am excited to hear that a few upstarts are going to try and take on old gameplay ideas like those seen in Battlezone and make them viable options for single player campaigns and multiplayer.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Loxbourne posted:

I actually like the atmospheric thick atmosphere and lightning on Venus. It's one of the best-done alien worlds in gaming, and it's taken advantage of by the developers when they have Stuff suddenly loom at you out of the mist.

Oh yeah, that alarm. When it sounds, all the Soviet pilots come running out of their barracks. If you wait, you can cut them down as they come. The Thumper is good for this, as you wibble them all to death.

Oh, and the rocket tank is good against foes in the endgame. It was surprisingly popular in multiplayer - the Hornet compensated well for lag-induced position jerks, and had a hefty range. If the missiles hit harder it would be more use against Russian enemies.

EDIT: The Day Wrecker works better if you "airburst" it (target it on a patch of ground near the target) rather than drop it directly on a building. It works better when the terrain forms specific pockets, as it will on an upcoming planet and in various user-made maps.

Oh I love the atmosphere, actually. It's pretty awesome to look at. Just not terribly fun to get blindsided by enemies that can out maneuver you while you drive a vehicle not intended to combat them.

I will see about doing a bonus video where I run through some of the weapons that we are now getting access to just to show them off and maybe even a Day Wrecker because at this moment, I'm regarding it more as a Day Mild Inconveniencer.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Nephilm posted:

IIRC the AI has on-foot pilots (player included) as fairly low priority, so if you have friendlies around yes, you have fair chances to grab some wheels from an ally, or try and snipe an enemy and go for that.

I can verify this. While doing some test runs for the next mission, my vehicle was destroyed and I was launched into the atmosphere. When the enemy had finished with my comrades, they turned their weapons on my defenseless self.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

gregory posted:

Oh thank goodness I found this LP while it was still active. I just found my old physical copy (and then promptly downloaded the online version) and have been playing nonstop! It's every bit as crazy hard as I remembered, though. I've been playing on EASY and getting my rear end handed to me left and right, and I'm currently in a close-to-the-end mission (NSDF Campaign) where I have yet to survive for over three minutes.

I have found many workarounds in the game where I build just a few defensive units and then go out a-sniping. You can always hop back in your tank to replenish ammo, but if you leave empty enemy tanks just sitting around (away from barracks, of course), they won't be able to build more. This works doubly well if you can take out the pilots of their scavengers at the beginning of some levels (when their base is nearby).

Do you ever use the map? I find toggling to the map helps out at times when you really don't know what to do--especially at the beginning of levels, because you can get a better idea of where geyser hotspots are for your initial base setup.

Also, a quick tip for footsoldiering--if you hold the jump button as you move, you accelerate to ridiculous speeds--I'm talking running as fast as the scouts. It's great for those time your tank gets...well...tanked and you're nowhere near a base.

I love love love this game and eagerly await the rest of the LP!

Question: Will you do the Red Oddysey expansion?

There really are a lot of ways to handle missions. Some better than others as I have found. I'm glad to hear that you decided to get your nostalgia flowing and reinstall the game. If anything comes from this LP, it's that I want people to snag the game and experience it for themselves as my gameplay and commentary don't do it justice.

It's funny you should mention the map since I really don't use it at all. I am planning on getting to the next mission hopefully before the weekend so maybe I will show it off in that video.

I will definitely attempt to get to the Red Odyssey as well, provided I can actually get back on schedule with things. This summer hasn't left me with much free time to sit down and record everything.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Whew, it's been a while. However, the gods were kind to me and I finally managed to find time to sit down and record mission 7 for the NSDF. I'm working on the editing now and should hopefully have the voice work done and whatnot for a weekend upload. At this moment, the gameplay footage for this mission is about half an hour. I will try and cut that down as watching me waiting around is not all the entertaining, especially when I don't have squat to say. This begs the question as to whether or not people have liked how I've been handling speeding up footage in the past few videos. If it comes off as annoying, let me know and I will see what I can do to change it up.


gregory posted:

Also, I'd really reocmmend using the constructor a lot more when you get to the later missions. If you build hangars and supply depots, you can tell damaged and low-ammo buddies to get repair and they'll go to those and replenish. Building a silo also lets you pack up the recycler and deploy both the factory and the armory in spots with only two geysers (which is usually what they give you).

I do believe you will rather like how this episode plays out.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Yeah, I was actually planning to do a multiplayer video relatively soon showing off the different game modes. Bitter_one13 and I had tentative plans to do so eventually. Sadly, I'm usually not available when everyone else is as the times I am available for recording is during the week and during working hours. I'm CST here so that might play to our advantage if some folks were down for some multiplayer action.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Well, it's about damned time! Have an update, sports fans.


Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

gregory posted:

Not sure if spoiler, so: Yes, there is an American walker (the Sasquatch, I believe it's called). Bigger spoiler: I think it's the next mission coming up where the plot says "Oh, you've recovered walker technology so now you need to make some."

Also, can anyone confirm: I don't think you can use sniper rifles against walker units, because the red dots never appear on them. This might be a problem with my game, though, because occasionally I can't use the sniper rifle against turrets either (but only sometimes. I can NEVER use it on walkers).

I remember when I originally played through the game back in the late 90s that you could snipe the walkers. I can also say that everything in that spoiler tag is correct. This one might take a while as I spent about four hours today doing practice runs of the mission. I was not able to succeed once. A lot of things have to come together to make the play successful so I am looking into alternate tactics to complete the mission.

FoolyCharged posted:

Wasn't the thumper a really good/fun way of dealing with walkers?

Yup! Might have to remember to use it next time I see them again.

Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...
Oh boy, where to begin. Since I'm playing the game on medium difficulty, a lot of things have to be taken into account when base building for this mission. I just completed a successful run and should be able to do a recording this weekend. I'll elaborate more in the video but due to how much damage enemy units can take and how limited you are on resources at the start, getting SP-Stabbers isn't viable or even recommended. It is because of the limited amount of ammo you get from them and how quickly you can lose your primary vehicle, not to mention the weapons cost.

There is a plus side to all of this though: You guys will get to see me do some crazy stuff and watch me pilot non-combat vehicles because the AI sucks and utilize a vehicle that I haven't played with before.

Medium difficulty really does make this game challenging and I must admit, I'm having fun with it.

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Kitty Burger
May 23, 2005
Mmm, taste like kitty...

Teledahn posted:

I could never figure out how to drive around in a scavenger hoovering up all the scrap. Is it even possible for the player to do so?

Sure is and I will explain just how to do so in the next video.

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