FullMetalJacket
06-22-2003, 07:46 PM
Max Payne 1 was revolutionary in a wide variety of ways: it set a new standard for photorealistic graphics, engaging stories, and overall brilliant gameplay.
I can't help but wonder, after seeing how the new Max model looks to have nearly double the polygon count (or maybe only half, but Remedy bump- or normal-mapped the textures onto him to make him look super high-res) on the same engine, what other tech upgrades have been made?
Lip synch or facial animations? I hope so. Their absence was excusable in the first game, considering how long ago they started working on it.
Ragdoll physics? Almost a necessity. Very few things can ruin gaming immersion more than shooting an enemy, having him fall and the upper half of his body goes through a wall. Then you'll realize, "Hey, this is only a game!"
Better AI? Not entirely necessary. I was pretty pleased with the AI of the first game, and there's always scripting when you want them to do something. Remember, Max's main enemies are usually just stupid punks and street thugs, half of whom realistically wouldn't even know how to use their guns. Really, what should be done is to have the enemies have virtually no firing accuracy, but have so many enemies shooting at Max at once that things are still challenging. The enemies should only function as a unit or set up ambushes on rare occasions.
Also, the damage model should be improved a bit. The amount of damage Max could receive was perfect, yet half his enemies had bulletproof skin. 3 headshots on an enemy with a sawn-off shotgun at point-blank range is absolute lunacy, and I've not seen any action movie where enemies took that kind of damage. Enemies should go down quickly, too -- one shotgun blast, and just a few pistol shots should do the trick. No, I don't expect Rainbow Six-style damage values, but I don't want to have to perforate and ventilate the hell out of every single enemy either, like I had to in the first game.
Just my $.02, of course. I'd still buy this game and love the hell out of it, I'm just providing strategies for Remedy to, dare I say, improve upon a perfection. If that's possible. images/icons/smile.gif
I can't help but wonder, after seeing how the new Max model looks to have nearly double the polygon count (or maybe only half, but Remedy bump- or normal-mapped the textures onto him to make him look super high-res) on the same engine, what other tech upgrades have been made?
Lip synch or facial animations? I hope so. Their absence was excusable in the first game, considering how long ago they started working on it.
Ragdoll physics? Almost a necessity. Very few things can ruin gaming immersion more than shooting an enemy, having him fall and the upper half of his body goes through a wall. Then you'll realize, "Hey, this is only a game!"
Better AI? Not entirely necessary. I was pretty pleased with the AI of the first game, and there's always scripting when you want them to do something. Remember, Max's main enemies are usually just stupid punks and street thugs, half of whom realistically wouldn't even know how to use their guns. Really, what should be done is to have the enemies have virtually no firing accuracy, but have so many enemies shooting at Max at once that things are still challenging. The enemies should only function as a unit or set up ambushes on rare occasions.
Also, the damage model should be improved a bit. The amount of damage Max could receive was perfect, yet half his enemies had bulletproof skin. 3 headshots on an enemy with a sawn-off shotgun at point-blank range is absolute lunacy, and I've not seen any action movie where enemies took that kind of damage. Enemies should go down quickly, too -- one shotgun blast, and just a few pistol shots should do the trick. No, I don't expect Rainbow Six-style damage values, but I don't want to have to perforate and ventilate the hell out of every single enemy either, like I had to in the first game.
Just my $.02, of course. I'd still buy this game and love the hell out of it, I'm just providing strategies for Remedy to, dare I say, improve upon a perfection. If that's possible. images/icons/smile.gif