I first bought this great game as a DVD Retail Box and then later on purchased it through Direct2Drive [when Direct2Drive was around, then that service became GameFly (2015 Edit: and now it's D2D again)]. I also have it on Steam as a backup digital download source - it's too hard to resist those really cheap Steam Sales! Recently, I was Re-Installing M2TW, to begin conquering the world once again... However, I was surprised to see nothing but an error message (on Windows7):
The "Fatal Graphics Error" message, when starting MTW2
I personally found this error humorous, as it complained about Graphic Settings - and I couldn't even start/get into the game to change or even set them in the first place! So, I started Troubleshooting....
Apparently, a lot of people, on many forums, have been getting and asking about this error - and still are - so here is a great chance to share this Quick Tip on a simple 'fix' for it I eventually found, simply by playing with the Shortcut Properties:
Right-Clicking on the Shortcut for the game and editing the Compatibility Tab to match these settings,
is how I fixed the Fatal Graphics Error problem when I played M2TW recently. Try it out!
Click image to see Full Size
After making these changes to the Shortcut that runs the game (adding two quick checkmarks in the checkboxes shown above), after launching it should show a black screen [detecting settings?] momentarily and then load up the game properly (you may have to click on the icon in the Taskbar [Windows] to bring it up a second time) but that's it!
Hopefully that works for you all, as it did for me.
When beginning to play Gone Home, one of the first games that came to mind was "The Uninvited", a point-and-click adventure game from the 90's, where you did not have to have fast 'twitch skills' to kill oncoming enemies or opposing players, but you had to be able to learn; searching, exploring a house and collecting and organizing information, all the time exposing more and more of the storyline (that you did not know fully at the outset) and that's what this game is [including being scary!].
Gone Home is an interactive story game, based mainly on exploration, played in the first-person [you 'look out through your character's eyes' as you move around] so, while it is not a 'point-and-click' adventure game, like Myst/Riven, any of the Quest series' (King's Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest, etc), Day of the Tentacle and similar games, it definitely evokes ideas of exploring and analysis of the environment, as part of developing the story, as these types of games did.
Without giving away exactly what the storyline is, I will say the game craftily led me to believe many things that it wasn't (or did not not turn out to be). I thought, with the dark and scary, empty house (complete with rainstorm happening outside and the scary noises that go with it), it was certain to be a story lined with death or gore, but this game is not rated Mature and it is not "18+" rated either [although the main plot line is more for Teens than it is for Children, but then who is letting their child play 'explore the dark and scary house' games anyway?]. There were many elements, items and scripted moments, that lead you towards inferring things that the game is not - and while that is arguably a lower-brow tactic - it still does not take away from the overall feel of the game. Indeed, the overall enjoyment of the game itself is not affected by these little 'tricks', even if it does turn out to be somewhat self-defeating and make the ending seem somewhat anti-climactic as a result. While still fun in spite of all of this, this game is a prime example of 'the journey is more important than the destination/ending' - some may see this as a caveat and some will not.
A more obvious caveat with this game, is that it is short. Very, very short. As in, 'played-on-my-lunch-break-on-my-laptop-and-completed-it' short, if rushed through. While a review found online slated the game as "feeling like a longer demo" and while the material is simplistic and can be finished in an hour or two, I feel that this game is more like a dish at a fine restaurant: yes, you could gobble it up in minutes and leave, but what would be more enjoyable is to savour each moment, enjoy each bite and spend hours lingering and sampling, looking around and taking it all in over a longer period of time. If one's time is taken in the game, every nook-and-cranny is explored, every piece of evidence collected; much [much!] more enjoyment will be taken out of the experience than if one were just looking for how fast they can complete yet another title. I feel this game is meant to be gone through slow and enjoyed, like a good book.
Technically, the game's approach is simplistic too, with simple environments and sounds. The main sounds for the game are the storm outside, the creaking of the house (doors, drawers, etc) and the Narrator herself. There is only the one house to explore, but by the end it does not feel like it needed more (again, the simplicity of the game does not detract from the enjoyment of the game). What did impress me was the collection of textures [the materials on the shapes] that were used. The detail of the textures and clarity of them was fantastic. Wood and paper looked realistic, signs and labels could all be read easily, and the sheer variety of materials from the time period (whether photographed or created) was significant. The environment itself was meant to be a North American 1990's family house and it was represented wonderfully. If one lived in this type of setting in the 90's (and especially if you were 'coming of age'/a teenager during that time), you will be lovingly enveloped in decor, music and 'attitude' [mindset] of that decade.
While the story itself is simplistic (but meaningful) and the technical aspects are somewhat low-key, the winning element of the game is how the story is presented (the exploration). By exploring everything yourself, you are delving up the story at your own pace. As you go searching throughout the house, characters and plot lines are opened up and revealed to you. It is much like an interactive book. Given the financial and work-force constraints of the 'indie' development team (only three people at the outset, I believe), it was wise to pick a solitary character exploring an environment - and they did wonderfully with what they had on-hand. Utilizing the mindset of a teenager during that time (of calendar and of age), with creepy shadows and scripted sounds, the game engine is used well, in regards to portraying the story and setting, even if it is not exercised to it's fullest extent. Indeed, not using the game engine to inject excessive effects lends even more feeling to the reality of the environment and representation of the time period - where technology did not yet permeate every aspect of daily life.
I have to end this article by saying that some players and reviewers (especially in regards to the length of the game) have said that this is less of a 'game' as it is a 'demo' or 'art project' - but in the sense of competition or completion, they are somewhat correct - there are no other players to combat and no ending antagonist to overcome and you are seemingly placed in the middle of a story, playing out 'chapter three' in a person's life and then it is over. In that sense, it is not really a 'traditional' video game. If anyone were to ask me about the game, I am going to refer to it [as I have above] as more of an 'interactive book'. I could say that it is basically a point-and-click adventure game [like the ones stated at the beginning of this post] made after they were able to have "3D" graphics and as far as technology and storyline development, that's mostly true. But to me, overall Gone Home really is more akin to a short story. The characters aren't deeply developed and you experience only a portion of events in the life of the persons involved. Still, in the end these limitations don't go against the enjoyment of the game itself. You may or may not identify with the characters and what they are going through; but even if you do not, the presentation of the game is lovingly crafted and the overall experience of the game is enjoyable - even if that experience does not last as long we would like. But then, isn't that the same with every good experience in life?
I recently got around to trying the 'Play For Free' version of the Battlefield series and created an account through their website to try this game out.
[I remembered much later that I actually had an account that I used during the Beta phase, but I completely forgot about that - and also what the game was like back then anyway - too much Battlefield 3 cleared all of that from my brain, I suppose!]
It is free to create an Account and play forever if you so desire, but there are also many options for purchasing weapons, armor, clothing, and other items with "Real Money".
The 4 classes available to play in BFP4F, with information on each. Click to see Full Size.
After creating a free account (which is assigned to an e-mail address), I started out playing the Medic class and it seemed to get more fun as it went along. You don't start out with paddles/defibrillators, but you do start out with a healing box that you throw down (as in Battlefield Bad Company 2), a Machine Gun (MG3), pistol (M9), Tracer Darts (a'la BFBC2) and a knife - but no grenades (yet). Running around dropping healing boxes and backing up my team was great and when I unlocked the Defibs, I felt like I was playing BFBC2. After getting used to the Controls (adjusting the sensitivity, changing some of the default hotkeys, etc) in no time it felt like good'ol Battlefield.
A hotel in Battlefield 2 (bottom) and the same hotel in Battlefield Play4Free (top)
Click to see Full Size
The visuals are akin to Battlefield 2, with extra shaders and effects mixed with some BFBC2 elements. For instance, you can 'spot' the enemy and the BFBC2-type 'triangle' appears above their head for a while and they appear on the map. The environment looks more like Battlefield 2 than Battlefield Bad Company 2, with many models (shapes) looking like they were pulled straight from BF2 and just converted. This is not a bad thing particularly, I enjoyed BF2 a lot, and with some shading, fog and other graphical boosts that were done, the game doesn't look too bad - especially when you consider it's a free-to-play title and won't cost you one cent if you don't want to spend it.
Graphics comparison between Low, Medium and High 'Video Quality' settings.
Click to see Full Size
I would have liked more complexity to many things, but it makes sense that they tried to keep the polygon/videocard usage down, supporting more types of machines/older ones, so that more people could play it (and they could also potentially make more money). It does look very playable, especially if you can turn things up a bit, and the gameplay is still The Battlefield Formula, which meant soon I wasn't paying attention to the graphics at all - I was too busy capturing points, driving teammates around, an' killin' an' healin'.. If you like the Battlefield style of gameplay, especially Battlefield2, you should enjoy playing this game.
Unlabeled comparison of that apartment complex that is forever under construction.
Click to see Full Size
The starting guns for the Medic were low accuracy and low damage and you will get killed a lot in direct firefights, but with some practice with short bursts and aiming down the sights, you can still kill others, even at a distance, and slowly start to make points. The starting rifle for the Sniper packs more of a punch of course, but seems to take forever to reload and has bullets that must be made out of solid granite, because they seem so heavy and drop so much. The starting guns for the Engineer was an RPG and [what I found to be,] a decent sub-machine gun (I have always been a fan of the PP-2000 though, I remember fondly running around in Bad Company 2 with Magnum Rounds in one /evillaugh). Recoil is high on these beginning guns, but I assume it gets better later on as more becomes unlocked at higher soldier levels. Grenades don't seem to go straight all the time, in random throws, which makes for some tense-but-funny bounces.
Although the PLAY NOW buttons will get you into the thick of battle very quickly, you cannot choose what game mode to play (Rush, etc). If you want to choose what game type to play or what server to play on, there is a server browser [indicated in the picture above with green arrows] button in the upper-right corner of the Launcher.
I found at the website, after logging in that there was a 'Starter Pack' for each class, a sort of 'preview' of a couple weapons that you can buy, which included a high-damage shotgun in it for my Medic. That was a lot of fun, if you don't mind having to run-and-gun into the frays, but it only lasted one day, then the gun disappears and is no longer usable anymore. Still, it was a nice little preview and I got some fast close-quarter kills with it while it lasted (see Video).
As with most online games that can possibly make money from you, the levels come fast at the beginning to get you hooked, then slow down quite a bit (I found it started to 'feel slow' around Level 6 or 7). You can purchase eXPerience boosters and as you level you can purchase more weapons as they become 'unlocked'. You gain free tokens called Credits as you play the game, but gain them slowly (automatically over time it seems, based on Time Played) and these Credits purchase weapons that [mostly] last one day (or items that have limited numbers of uses, such as healing bandages). You can purchase tokens called Funds ("Play4Free Funds", which used to be called "Battlefunds" during the Beta) with Real Money that you can use in the Store to purchase weapons as well, including versions that last forever. If you are willing to purchase Play4Free Funds, you can also unlock weapons and items 'early' with them, that is, be able to purchase/unlock and equip items before the level you would normally have to be to unlock and use them.
Shotgun trial (not that kind) and the hotel from BF2.
Click to see Full Size
For the shotgun that I mentioned earlier, using these Play4Free Funds purchased with Real Money, it would cost about $.06 to use for a day and about $1.00 to use forever. If you didn't want to spend any money for it, it seems that you can gain enough free tokens (Credits) to buy it for a day of play in about 5 or 6 rounds if your team is winning matches (about an hour of solid playtime) and just over twice that amount if your team is constantly losing matches. There was a sub-machine gun (a UMP-45) that was in the Engineer Starter Pack as a preview, and as another example, for that gun to use for one day, you would have to play about 5-6 rounds (each round lasting about 10-15 minutes) if you won most of them, and play about twice that long if your team kept losing. You can even purchase this gun (the UMP-45) to use forever with free tokens, but you would have to play about 4 hours a day for over 3 weeks and not spend much of the earned Credits on anything else. Quite a run, but if you are having fun playing the game anyway (and for free) the fact they give the option to purchase it that way is nice.
There is a Training section [the button is indicated in the picture above with green arrows] with trees and abilities to unlock for your soldier in order to drive vehicles, etc. For example: Medics do not start out with Defibrillators and must train for the equipment to revive fallen teammates.
You gain Soldier eXPerience by killing, capturing points, healing, etc and the XP gains you Levels, which unlock future items and weapons and each level gives you a Point that you can spend in MMORPG-style 'Talent Trees', where you can improve aspects of that Soldier or unlock different abilities, such as the ability for people to Spawn off of you or sense what direction damage is coming from (it doesn't do that at first), the ability to lay Claymores (and the ability to not trip them when you run by), fly vehicles and more. Thus, the more you contribute to your team by killing, capturing and healing, the more abilities to do these things you unlock. With the free Credits you gain over time as you play, the more you play, the more weapons and items you can unlock. The whole system encourages involvement and seems to work well, as there has only been a couple of games where I saw "AFK'ers" (people who have the game running but are Away From their Keyboard or not playing/helping). There were also a couple games where people said in Chat for others to "come stat-pad with them" (I left those games); but as I said, these were only a couple of games out of the 50+ I have played so far. Overall, everyone seems to be runnin'-n'-gunnin' and helping out their team just fine.
Soldiers supporting each other in a corner battle behind buildings.
Click to see Full Size
The sound in the game has differing cracks and booms for the various weapons with echo effects (Reverb) when you are inside buildings,etc and the vehicles each have their own engine sound [although there is some 'vehicle engine sounds' in the backing/environmental track that play in the background of each map (such as the rain and birds in jungle maps) that is somewhat confusing at times if your ears catch it in the background, you think a vehicle is nearby and it isn't]. I still laugh once in a while playing because every soldier uses The Wilhelm Scream. Nice. Most of the Voice Overs in the game sound like they came from BFBC2 but are tweaked a little. [The phrase when gaining control of a point still cracks me up, as it sounds like an old Clean & Clear commercial ("clear and under control.."), just like it did in BFBC2]. With the Communication Rose (Hotkey 'Q' and you choose an option, like Need Ammo) you can hear yourself and other Soldiers, but it's rare to hear someone spamming it.
If you are having trouble hitting the numbers for the different weapons and slots, or just want to change them, you can assign other keys for them in the Game Launcher under Settings (the gears button at the top). I liked to assign the numbers for items only, so my weapons are actually Spin Mouse Wheel Up for one and Spin Mouse Wheel Down for the other.
The music, which doesn't play during regular gameplay, is a nice hard-rock/heavy-metal take on the BF theme by Corroded. A looping 2-minute track called Age Of Rage plays while you are in the Game Launcher menu that sounds a lot like the music from The Terminator movies (not a bad thing). Short phrases from their version of the theme play when you Win, Lose or Level Up and a longer version plays while Loading. The hard-rock sound fits the game well.
Always take time to enjoy the scenery in life. Here are some trees and shadows.
Click to see Full Size
Overall, Battlefield Play4Free is like most free-to-play online games that use Microtransactions: it is in fact free to download, install and play and there is also the ability to purchase items and 'boosters' to level up/unlock items faster as well - but you don't need to spend any money on it at all if you really don't want to or cannot do so (and of course have the time to play to get what you want the slower/free way). Although it feels a little clunky to play at first if you're coming from the Retail versions of the Battlefield series, once you get used to the DirectX 9 graphics and mechanics, it eventually 'feels' like a Battlefield title (A Good Thing) and once you get used to it overall - it is a lot of fun to play (The Main Thing).
I almost forgot.. the gameplay video! This clip was a test of a few things at once; Bandicam's 'External Codec' setting using x264 (H.264/AVC) available in version 1.8.2/2012-09 [new version at the time writing this post began] and higher, Bandicam's automatic Logo overlay with transparency (our logo, lower right corner), BFP4F's one-day-only 'Starter Pack' 870 Combat Shotgun, and the uploading of a clip directly from the recorded file/output to YouTube.
Enjoy!
Video Specs and Tech Talk:
Recorded game: Battlefield Play4Free, Online FPS
Recorded with: Bandicam Registered Version @1080p
Recording codec: x264 (H.264/AVC) using the 'External Codec' implementation in Bandicam
Recording settings/variables: 'VeryFast' Preset, CRF23, 'Zero-Latency' Option selected, Logo option with transparency (our logo, lower right)
The first of many recordings testing out Bandicam's usage of other codecs installed in a system (called 'External Codecs' in the program), this clip was recorded using the x264 Advanced Video Coding codec. Not an editing-friendly codec (it is slower to seek/move between sections within an editing application and can have artifacting issues), it still manages to work well with little effect on framerate, with the proper settings. The Constant Rate Factor quality setting of 23, recording at 1920x1080, gave an output bitrate of about 20000kbps, resulting in a file size that uses about 150MB per minute of recording (a half hour of recording at this resolution and bitrate [with MPEG-4/AVC] would take up about 4.5GB).
The 'VeryFast' Preset in x264 auto-selects a few things, such as 1 reference frame per GOP, no Trellis encoding, no Deblocking, no CABAC and no B-type frames in the original recording/output. I suggest the faster Presets, as the slower ones compress far too much on-the-fly and create lag in the game and in the recording - more on this will come in a future article**. The CRF set at 23 allowed some 'breathing room' for recording and compressing on the fly (it is a medium quality setting, a CRF of 18 being more of a 'standard high-quality' MPEG-4 setting), it also saved a little bit of disk space as this just-over-two-minute file was only about 300MB. While still watchable and acceptable in quality, the absence of deblocking (to hide macroblocks and other compression artifacts) and the high compression of flat/low-detail areas, making them smoothed out/blurred is visible, however. It is suggested to use a higher bitrate/rate control factor (if the system can handle it), even though more diskspace will be utilized. Youtube seems to have recompressed it as well, as even at the '1080p' Youtube setting, some quality has been lost from the original uploaded file. Still, it seems acceptable for a medium quality recording setting.
Counter-Strike is a popular series of first-person shooter games from Valve (Half Life, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress) and the fall of 2012 saw their most recent release in the series, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive [CS:GO]. This past weekend was a Steam Free Weekend and I took part in the global offensive and had a great time - that is, once I was able to install and connect with the game. It must have been a jam-packed party because this error came up more than once at first:
After installing, I maxed out the settings and dove in. I played the original Counter Strike in 2000 ("Terrorrissss WIIIIIIIIINNN") but didn't play the remake, Counter-Strike: Source in 2004; but from what I've seen of screenshots and gameplay videos from that edition, CS:GO is yet another graphical step up in visuals.
Just outside an office building in the 'Office' level/map, an example of graphics in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The core gameplay has the opposing sides, Terrorists who attempt to plant bombs, maintain hostages and take out their enemies, the Counter-Terrorists, who are trying to disarm bombs, rescue hostages (via follow-the-leader actions) and take out the Terrorists in general [are these terms flagging this blog now? haha].
The category of "Classic" gameplay is bomb planting/disarming and hostage dealings. There is also a "Demolition" game type, with bomb planting and defusal; but where you cannot pick your gear when the round starts. Instead, you are awarded the next, 'pre-chosen' weapon as you get kills with your currently-assigned one. There is also "Arms Race", where everyone starts out with the same weapon and each kill immediately awards the next weapon in a progression through [what seems like all the] weapons until finally a Golden Knife, where the first team to have someone reach this level and get the knife kill wins the match. In Arms Race, spawns are instant for each side.
The graphics are definitely a step up from Counter-Strike: Source. Models are updated and there is higher polygon usage throughout. Although still looking slightly dated compared to other recent first-person shooter games (the graphical Source Engine is about 7-8 years old, but constantly updated) CS:GO still holds its' own with dynamic shadows, anti-aliasing, motion blur, area wounding and HDR rendering. Some maps, such as 'Dust', could have used more poly love, especially on the environment (buildings, cars) but perhaps since it is a remake map, they didn't want to 'change it too much'. (It did have a nice amount of 'things on the ground', though). Office was an instant favorite and I spent most of my time there. Italy was beautiful, but suffered from over-bearing street cleaners, who apparently don't like to leave many boxes, crates, barrels and other miscellaneous (interactive or not) items on the ground [the ground seemed far too clean].
Textures were the Main Attraction in the update, in my opinion, as most were upgraded, sharp and detailed. Cement had clear pits/cracks and rug patterns were clear, clothing was textured sharply and metal had those little speckles in it. Almost all textures were crisp, except for what seemed like some 'leftovers' from past maps, such as the books in 'Office' on the shelf or some that just remained blurry at any distance despite having Anisotropic Filtering on maximum. Most however were greatly detailed, faces had stubble and pores. Wood Grain Everywhere. Polygon count for the important models (players and guns) were decent, even though the environment and objects (cars, sandbags, etc) on most maps could have used more complexity (I assume keeping the polys low were done so the game could be released on consoles and run better on older systems).
The actual gameplay itself was smooth and fast, but still felt somewhat 'mechanical'. I hate hate hate hate [insert many more here] things like head-bobbing or the entire frame pitching and rolling as I move, but without some sort of effects like these during movement I felt like I was playing Tactical Ops (think Counter Strike mod for Unreal Tournament) from 1999. [Hey, don't get me wrong I loved TacOps and feeling like I was playing that game wasn't a bad thing at all, in fact it helped me enjoy this game!] What I mean is the movements of the models and the player felt distinctly 'middle-school' (as opposed to 'old-school') as we all glided around the map and saw somewhat limited character animations. Perhaps that is a limitation of the Source Engine itself as it shows it age; but don't worry, the gameplay is still plenty action-packed and enjoyable as Valve does a great Makeover/Customization on the car that is the Source Engine. Bodies fly with rag-doll physics, crouching increases accuracy, headshots do critical damage, teammates take damage (in Competitive Mode), blood splurts and marks walls and distinct sounds for each gun cracks and echoes throughout the map. Yes, there is still much fun to be had here, especially if you are a fan of the gameplay in the Counter-Strike Series of games.
For beginners, (those new to Counter-Strike, or those new to any first-person shooting games) there are very helpful text-based and obstacle-course types of tutorials within. One explains the heads-up-display and what the different parts of your screen is telling you, as well as the game modes and how to play them. The other runs you through the basics of shooting a weapon, aspects of the environment, and gives tips for better gameplay, like increasing your accuracy or going for headshots. There is even the ability to play against Bots only (computer-controlled characters) for practice and to get used to the mechanics of the game. You can even select various difficulties of Bots to play against to work on Achievements! I know that this alone will convert many people to purchase the game, especially when compared to other shooters that don't even give you the option to play with Bots at all *coughBF3cough*.
A practice shooting range on the Weapons Course, a training tutorial within the game.
For you Achievement Hunters, there are a ton of achievements, with various categories and ranking medals to show off. Want recognition for how many people you killed? It's in there. Want an award for playing as a team, whether it's diffusing the bomb or handing out free guns like a gun-crazy socialist Canadian? [I Am Canadian lol] It's in there. Want achievements for sneaking around the entire match or wiping out the entire enemy team yourself? It's all in there. Over 150 achievements are yours for the taking - now get in there and start earning money, because only about a dozen people have earned the 'Earn Fifty Million Dollars Total Cash' yet!
[Stat source: Steam Max Players (50k), Steam Global Achievement Stats for CS:GO (.03%) at time of writing]
And now, more Screenshots!
Overall, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive looked better and 'still felt like Counter Strike' while being a lot of fun to play. If that was the goal of the developers; Mission Accomplished!
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