Favorite Dynamix made game?
by Anthony Scrima · in General Discussion · 12/10/2002 (9:20 am) · 43 replies
For me it has to be either the original starseige (couldn't get into tribes 1/2 that much.) or Willy Beamish. One of the coolest non Lucasarts adventure games ever.
#22
However.
With Tribes 1, something unprecedented happened with the introduction of skiing. Skiing's effect on gameplay in Tribes 1 was nothing short of amazing.
The game remained balanced! Skiing was absorbed far more completely, was made a part of gameplay more deeply and more pervasively than any other unintended 'feature' of a game. Rocket jumping? Can't TOUCH this. Skiing BECAME Tribes 1.
You see, the game turned from what was an already revolutionary take on an established paradigm -- into an entirely NEW paradigm. Skiing took an already different movement model -- normal running + jetpack -- and changed it into one continuous motion, where speed had to be built up and could be maintained once built up. Stop and think about that idea. What kind of analog is there in a normal FPS? There isn't one. It was and is an entirely new movement model.
And, again, it's amazing simply because of how NATURALLY it worked out, how perfectly the community adapted and how quickly and organically people's playstyles evolved.
Tribes 2 was a great game! No denying it. It was very tactical, it had lots of flexibility in the choices of turrets and vehicles, and particularly in its use of vehicles. However, the balance of the game depended on skiing being essentially a crippled and lame-duck tactic. Oh, you could use it a little, in a few places, and of course you could manage to save a little jetjuice by gliding on it a bit -- but it was essentially dead.
Honestly, had I never played Tribes 1, never experienced the unique cocktail of movement and twitch and teamplay and cowboyism, I would have been VERY excited by Tribes 2.
But the thing is, Tribes 1 had already evolved one part of the gameplay, changing the nature of the game fundamentally. It gave the game something that you honestly couldn't get ANYWHERE else. Unfortunately, not even in Tribes 2.
I can totally see why the decision was made. After all, skiing isn't very user-friendly, and it's a little difficult to explain and get people used to. It was a mistake in the first place. And it TOTALLY throws out all of the great vehicle balance that's being developed, and it makes them unnecessary in a lot of cases, and it lets one player really be pretty powerful, able to thwart an entire team if he's good enough.
I mean, it's like trying to sell ice to Eskimos.
"Want a vehicle?"
"No, thanks, I'll just ski."
Ok, so cut off his feet and ask again. -- "NOW want a vehicle?"
"Yes. Fucker."
Heh, Tribes 2 was a good product, and I'm glad lots of other people can get into it -- hey, I even did for a little while, particularly the fun that could be had by taking the flag underwater when the water was impenetrably murky. >:) But the problem is, as while the game is complete, it seems a lot like a 2-story house with just an elevator to get to the next floor. :( I want to SKI, dammit.
12/11/2002 (6:17 pm)
No no, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about Tribes 2. When it's relatively stable, the game can stand on its own as a VERY good game.However.
With Tribes 1, something unprecedented happened with the introduction of skiing. Skiing's effect on gameplay in Tribes 1 was nothing short of amazing.
The game remained balanced! Skiing was absorbed far more completely, was made a part of gameplay more deeply and more pervasively than any other unintended 'feature' of a game. Rocket jumping? Can't TOUCH this. Skiing BECAME Tribes 1.
You see, the game turned from what was an already revolutionary take on an established paradigm -- into an entirely NEW paradigm. Skiing took an already different movement model -- normal running + jetpack -- and changed it into one continuous motion, where speed had to be built up and could be maintained once built up. Stop and think about that idea. What kind of analog is there in a normal FPS? There isn't one. It was and is an entirely new movement model.
And, again, it's amazing simply because of how NATURALLY it worked out, how perfectly the community adapted and how quickly and organically people's playstyles evolved.
Tribes 2 was a great game! No denying it. It was very tactical, it had lots of flexibility in the choices of turrets and vehicles, and particularly in its use of vehicles. However, the balance of the game depended on skiing being essentially a crippled and lame-duck tactic. Oh, you could use it a little, in a few places, and of course you could manage to save a little jetjuice by gliding on it a bit -- but it was essentially dead.
Honestly, had I never played Tribes 1, never experienced the unique cocktail of movement and twitch and teamplay and cowboyism, I would have been VERY excited by Tribes 2.
But the thing is, Tribes 1 had already evolved one part of the gameplay, changing the nature of the game fundamentally. It gave the game something that you honestly couldn't get ANYWHERE else. Unfortunately, not even in Tribes 2.
I can totally see why the decision was made. After all, skiing isn't very user-friendly, and it's a little difficult to explain and get people used to. It was a mistake in the first place. And it TOTALLY throws out all of the great vehicle balance that's being developed, and it makes them unnecessary in a lot of cases, and it lets one player really be pretty powerful, able to thwart an entire team if he's good enough.
I mean, it's like trying to sell ice to Eskimos.
"Want a vehicle?"
"No, thanks, I'll just ski."
Ok, so cut off his feet and ask again. -- "NOW want a vehicle?"
"Yes. Fucker."
Heh, Tribes 2 was a good product, and I'm glad lots of other people can get into it -- hey, I even did for a little while, particularly the fun that could be had by taking the flag underwater when the water was impenetrably murky. >:) But the problem is, as while the game is complete, it seems a lot like a 2-story house with just an elevator to get to the next floor. :( I want to SKI, dammit.
#23
and i like project fire storm but i was yound when i played it on my brothers comp
12/12/2002 (6:30 pm)
EARTHSIEGE2 is my FAV fear my ogreand i like project fire storm but i was yound when i played it on my brothers comp
#24
12/13/2002 (12:39 am)
Aces of The Pacific was an all time favorite of mine. It came with a beautiful manual with great pictures and lots of info on WWII air battles. Its ashamed that Dynamix is gone they made so many great and interesting games. Tribes 2 was released a few months too soon the min requirements listed for the game were misleading. That caused them to make a bunch of quick patches that turned a great game into a bug fest. That is why alot of people decided not to buy the game. But even if the game sold very well Vivendi was already in serious trouble which is why I think Dynamix was closed up. Sorry if I went a little off topic, still pissed that Dynamix got the shaft.
#25
12/13/2002 (12:57 am)
Me too. I had to sit there in the T2 chat room with many others waiting to find out the final verdict. When the chanel subject changed to "Dynamix is gone!" I felt so sick I didn't touch the computer for a week. Dynamix brought me all my fun and joy sence 1998-99, and then seirra ( still a good company ) had to ruin it for me and ruin the T2 community! I mean, the destroyed and removed the FORUMS! MY FAVORITE PART OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY! DAMNIT! Sorry... just... no forum will ever replace what I had there...
#26
12/13/2002 (12:59 am)
BTW: (A little off the subject... again) What ever happend to "QIX"? I forget his first name... david or somethhing like that.
#27
12/13/2002 (5:50 am)
Artic Fox on the Amiga for me. It almost cost me a marriage at the time. :) This was the first 3D rendering I ever had an opportunity to see and it blew me away. I would like to see an AFII.
#28
12/13/2002 (8:32 am)
QIX is now "the man" behind PlanetSide. Which I'm not going to buy now because he's part of the development process.
#29
12/13/2002 (11:33 am)
lol, why not the game looks cool to me :) 
#30
P.S. Backstabber
12/13/2002 (4:20 pm)
Agreed, Planetside looks awsome, kinda like Tribes 2 x 100. But that backstanding little *****, stole the Tribes 2 idea, and just gave it a twist, da*m him.P.S. Backstabber
#31
But thats not what i wanted to say :) .
Tribes 2's skiing was/is absolutely great, Tribes 1 skiing was much to fast, it was ridiculous. In tribes 1 all you had to do was hit a slope and hold jump and you shoot around the map at 700 odd kph, even in a heavy, wheres the skill in that? Tribes 2 skiing has to be planned, and with a good route planned out and with some good jet fuel management you can quite literaly outrun anything and everything. :) but still thats just my opinion. Also I agree the death of the forums was really the death of T2, you cant just take a communities main source of communication away and expect it to survive well.
Tribes 3 will probably be as Penny Arcade seem to think, a cash in on the tribes franchise, and I doubt very much itll have a lot of success, undoubtedly the present T2 community, ie. the real hardcore lot that actually d/l'd the last 130mbs or so of patches (myself included btw) will buy it, but the tribes community that felt let down by tribes 2 will stay away, and all the CS/Q3/UT2k3 players will probably stay on the "safe" territory of pure twitch gaming.
Ok, that was a bit of an 0/T rant, Soz :)
12/13/2002 (4:40 pm)
Planetside does look good :) and it is now basicly tribes with no jetpacks in a mmo enviroment :) . But it may still rock, we'll have to see.But thats not what i wanted to say :) .
Tribes 2's skiing was/is absolutely great, Tribes 1 skiing was much to fast, it was ridiculous. In tribes 1 all you had to do was hit a slope and hold jump and you shoot around the map at 700 odd kph, even in a heavy, wheres the skill in that? Tribes 2 skiing has to be planned, and with a good route planned out and with some good jet fuel management you can quite literaly outrun anything and everything. :) but still thats just my opinion. Also I agree the death of the forums was really the death of T2, you cant just take a communities main source of communication away and expect it to survive well.
Tribes 3 will probably be as Penny Arcade seem to think, a cash in on the tribes franchise, and I doubt very much itll have a lot of success, undoubtedly the present T2 community, ie. the real hardcore lot that actually d/l'd the last 130mbs or so of patches (myself included btw) will buy it, but the tribes community that felt let down by tribes 2 will stay away, and all the CS/Q3/UT2k3 players will probably stay on the "safe" territory of pure twitch gaming.
Ok, that was a bit of an 0/T rant, Soz :)
#32
12/13/2002 (7:13 pm)
/me slaps the sh*t out of the last poster
#33
12/13/2002 (7:17 pm)
/me does the same.
#34
Tribes 1 was fast and exciting and got your adrenaline pumping.
Did you ever play for a tribe?
Check out some demos of T1 matches at: http://www.tribalwar.com/rdb/index.php?catid=64
They aren't as good as the older demos that were up, but they'll give you an idea of how not boring T1 was.
12/13/2002 (7:19 pm)
Tribes 2 was so slow it was boring, it was also defensive based. It's pretty bad when the turrets can actually play the game for you.Tribes 1 was fast and exciting and got your adrenaline pumping.
Did you ever play for a tribe?
Check out some demos of T1 matches at: http://www.tribalwar.com/rdb/index.php?catid=64
They aren't as good as the older demos that were up, but they'll give you an idea of how not boring T1 was.
#35
Anyway, I STILL play t1 competitively, after 3 years, that's pretty amazing. The only game that came close was Diablo 2, which i played for about 3 months, but soon realized that once you beat it, it's the same old thing all the time, and rather boring at that, except more frustrating. Maybe WC3 - that's a very good game, and they're keeping up with it pretty well. But, it just doesn't have the variety that T1 had.
12/13/2002 (8:06 pm)
Wow, other tribers! I totally agree. Best game ever: Tribes 1. Period. Tribes 2 was terrible (not to mention buggy). Hopefully Tribes 3 will correct it all. Though, Dave "Diamondback" Meddish, member of the T1 dev team said that he didn't know if there will even BE a Sierra by the time T3 comes out. Maybe they'll lisence the engine to GG and we'll get a Torque2 Engine! :)Anyway, I STILL play t1 competitively, after 3 years, that's pretty amazing. The only game that came close was Diablo 2, which i played for about 3 months, but soon realized that once you beat it, it's the same old thing all the time, and rather boring at that, except more frustrating. Maybe WC3 - that's a very good game, and they're keeping up with it pretty well. But, it just doesn't have the variety that T1 had.
#36
If you haven't seen this movie -- it's about 113 MB -- you wouldn't understand. If you're new to Tribes you should see Fools movie -- it really introduces the basic cool concept. It's around 30mb. But Best of the Best 2 -- OMG. JUST INSANE.
Quake 3, UT2k3, BF1942 -- nothing that ever happened in ALL of those games put together even starts to APPROACH the INSANE shots made in BotB2. I mean. Damn.
The reason is simple -- the circumstances almost never PRESENT themselves in other games. How often are you a half-mile or more away, with your enemy moving 200 meters per second at right angles to you while you're moving 300m/s towards them and falling towards the ground? That situation doesn't exist. So when you make a shot that was covers SO MUCH DISTANCE that it takes five seconds or more from the time you fire to the time it hits -- it is by definition a much, much better shot than anything made in any of the aforementioned games.
And the FLAG PASSES. I mean, we're talking about someone who's more than 300 meters off the ground moving too fast to follow who is sniped in midair, and ungodly shot, and his teammate who was skiing in to save him PERFECTLY changes course in midair and ZOOM -- snags the flag in midair at more than an in-game SIX HUNDRED MILES PER HOUR!
That kind of stuff doesn't happen every day, but enough of it happens in a competitive match to make it just awe-inspiring. Bear in mind that these are only the shots that have been RECORDED and put in the BotB compilation; on DC++ I've seen some people with 20, 30, 40 compilations of people's personal best shots.
Those shots show just as much twitch skill as was EVER displayed in ANY Quake or UT game. Ever. And that's just the Laser Rifle shots. Hell, better shots were made with the Laser Rifle in the BotB vid than in any game; someone disappears from sight in the fog, travelling at a SHARP angle, going top speed, and just because the player making the shot KNEW where the guy was going to be, he clicks on the one to two pixel target of that player's head. Boom. I mean, if you watch the BotB2 avi, you will realize that Tribes 1 has more depth and the capability for greater display of skill than any other FPS out there. People using the Det packs in BF1942 doesn't even begin to compare. :)
12/13/2002 (8:29 pm)
I just watched "The Best of the Best 2" -- a compilation movie of some of the most insane, incredible, jaw-dropping, impossible, mind-blowingly skillful/lucky shots EVER MADE in ANY GAME, EVER.If you haven't seen this movie -- it's about 113 MB -- you wouldn't understand. If you're new to Tribes you should see Fools movie -- it really introduces the basic cool concept. It's around 30mb. But Best of the Best 2 -- OMG. JUST INSANE.
Quake 3, UT2k3, BF1942 -- nothing that ever happened in ALL of those games put together even starts to APPROACH the INSANE shots made in BotB2. I mean. Damn.
The reason is simple -- the circumstances almost never PRESENT themselves in other games. How often are you a half-mile or more away, with your enemy moving 200 meters per second at right angles to you while you're moving 300m/s towards them and falling towards the ground? That situation doesn't exist. So when you make a shot that was covers SO MUCH DISTANCE that it takes five seconds or more from the time you fire to the time it hits -- it is by definition a much, much better shot than anything made in any of the aforementioned games.
And the FLAG PASSES. I mean, we're talking about someone who's more than 300 meters off the ground moving too fast to follow who is sniped in midair, and ungodly shot, and his teammate who was skiing in to save him PERFECTLY changes course in midair and ZOOM -- snags the flag in midair at more than an in-game SIX HUNDRED MILES PER HOUR!
That kind of stuff doesn't happen every day, but enough of it happens in a competitive match to make it just awe-inspiring. Bear in mind that these are only the shots that have been RECORDED and put in the BotB compilation; on DC++ I've seen some people with 20, 30, 40 compilations of people's personal best shots.
Those shots show just as much twitch skill as was EVER displayed in ANY Quake or UT game. Ever. And that's just the Laser Rifle shots. Hell, better shots were made with the Laser Rifle in the BotB vid than in any game; someone disappears from sight in the fog, travelling at a SHARP angle, going top speed, and just because the player making the shot KNEW where the guy was going to be, he clicks on the one to two pixel target of that player's head. Boom. I mean, if you watch the BotB2 avi, you will realize that Tribes 1 has more depth and the capability for greater display of skill than any other FPS out there. People using the Det packs in BF1942 doesn't even begin to compare. :)
#37
12/13/2002 (9:02 pm)
Heh, that thing with the sniper shots in t1 i've done a couple times but w/o zooming =] I should REALLY record demos tho :(
#38
2 tribes1 tribes 2 = 2 slow its ptritter and all but its TOO SLOW
3 es2
12/14/2002 (12:40 am)
1 Starsiege stupid sierra killed support saying that tribes was more popular funny thing sales wherent that difrent between the 2 tribes was just easyer to warez than ss 2 tribes1 tribes 2 = 2 slow its ptritter and all but its TOO SLOW
3 es2
#39
12/14/2002 (4:21 am)
Lol :) I can see absolutely everyone disagrees with me :D , Oh well. Each to their own ;)
#40
12/14/2002 (9:33 am)
I really loved Rise Of The Dragon and Heart Of China a lot. Willy Beamish was great too. But then again the original Mechwarrior is still great to this day. Overall I would have to say Red Baron was their best title. Inspired me to actually read books and go to school, hehe
fred