Some impressions from my first match...

[Defiler]

At first, I want all developers to know that they've done a great job .

This evening I installed Tremulous without any problems. Started up Trem then....and receiving an Error: Your com_hunkMegs setting was too low. It has been fixed but you need to restart Q3 for the changes to take effect -- or some stuff like that. I therefore restarted Q3 -- but this message was still there, right after loading Trem. This time I ignored it and was able to join a server anyhow. Ingame, I was welcomed by a guy called Etox, who kindly helped me at the beginning. I was (and for sure still am ) a real n00b at those games like Trem or Natural Selection (btw: my mate says, Trem and NS are NOT the equal and Trem was NOT ripped off ).

Game went well, and after a time of not-checkin-what-the-hell-was-going-on I finally got a kind of into it. It was really cool to build bases and defend them against aliens (although I flamed half our base... ).

There are a few things that should be improved anyhow:
- buying stuff should be more intuitive (it's weird that you have to click "sell" to buy things)
- there's no display that shows you the amount of your credits while shopping (if there is and I was too dumb to see it, pls excuse )
- movement is too fast IMO (I know, movement's really difficult to balance). It really sucks to walk against walls in combat, because you move too fast.
- the small aliens are really difficult to see. Suddenly you are attacked by a mini alien from what it seems out of nowhere...but balancing is really stuff to argue, it's just my opinion.
- It's looking ridiculous when players walk at the top of a small static minigun. Buildings that can't be used shouldn't collide with players. This would make movement much more easy. I would go as far as to say, players in the same team shouldn't clash with each other. But that's -- again -- stuff to argue .

So far about the game itself. My first match was over now, I was quite keen to play another. Server loaded map "Arachnid" (or whatever it's called ) -- and while loading there was an ugly crash: dropped back to the main menu with a message similiar to this (don't remember exactly, the shock, you know ): "Error at hunk xyz". Then it was all over: mouse and keyboard were no longer working (CTRL-ALT-DEL worked). Opened taskmanager, but no mouse too. Managed to log out, after logging in again, everything was fine. Started Trem another time, tried to join server, same problem again....

This is my system: [click here]

So far, I hope this feedback is useful...keep on great work!

PS: if you need a mapper, I would like to help. My first Q3 map is going to be released in a few days.

[juice]

A huge difference between NS and Tremulous is simply how the game is played.  In Natural Selection, alot of emphasis is placed on player skill and map control.  No matter how much teamwork is going on, a team with no player skill will most likely lose.

In Tremulous however, it is much more strategic.  A team of 2 or 3 humans can overpower or scare off a tyrant even with the rifle.  Player skill isn't as required as player teams are much more valuable.  Map control is not a hugely viable option as you, practically speaking, can only build in your base.  A few things like boosters in practical rooms and repeaters+turrets at access points are about the only things that you build outside of your base.


As far as your complaint of aliens being too small or hard to see, that is intentional.  Dretche's have very little health and will die easily to a rifle, not to mention the more powerful weapons.  Dretche's require stealth and speed to be used effectively.

[DCB:ETOX]

Defiler, try +set Comhunk_megs 100 on your cmd line in console. You need to allocate more memory for this mod. Check the guide for more help, there really is alot of good info in it.

Dretch (the small alien) can be EXTREMELY fast, and walks on walls. Its not hard to see, its just moving pretty fast and hiding where you dont usually look. A hall will be clear one second, and then a half a second later theres a dretch right in front of you. A good idea is to check your back in some areas. Youll learn in time where these are, but a good example is the hall outside the human base in the level tremor.

Look in the main forum for norfs keypad config, copy past it into a cfg and exec it on startup. It helps and makes using the armory alot faster. Credits are displayed on the right side of your HUD, you should be able to see this while at the armory.

Also in regards to Defiler: Your first match was kinda of campy, Im glad u didnt quit. Usually you can leave the base more often, but in that case we didnt have enough experianced players on our team. You should remeber that all your weapons do damage to your own structures, and to be carefull when shooting around/over them. Mappers are always welcome. You should check the guide on particle systems and map flares (do a forum search). They are great entitys for trem levels.

[Defiler]

As far as your complaint of aliens being too small or hard to see, that is intentional.  Dretche's have very little health and will die easily to a rifle, not to mention the more powerful weapons.  Dretche's require stealth and speed to be used effectively.

I see. I just sometimes wondered when I was attacked from what seemed to be thin air . But you're right, Dretche's really die easily.

Credits are displayed on the right side of your HUD, you should be able to see this while at the armory.

Already had the feeling I just didn't see it. Sorry.

Mappers are always welcome. You should check the guide on particle systems and map flares (do a forum search). They are great entitys for trem levels.

I would love to create a few maps. When my Q3 map is ready, I will post a link here, so that you can get an impression of my (quite low) skill level. In fact, this map is the first one I ever created for an FPS. I was mainly mapping for RTS games like Dawn of War before...

EDIT: After a few more matches on more open maps, most of the movement issues are futile. But walking on turetts still looks weird .

More important is a balancing issue that came up during the last matches: aliens seem to be a bit overpowered at the moment. As a human, you always fight a defensive battle against an enemy that becomes stronger with every attack. Once aliens have a tyrant, the match is almost certainly lost. Humans are too defensive IMO. They have a very restricted operating radius because they always have to come back to base for ammo and regeneration. So it's very difficult to attack the alien's base bacause of the lack of health and ammo.
It's up to you to decide, if I'm right and what to do if I am.

EDIT 2: Map is now available for download here. Don't expect too much of it...it's just the alpha of my very first FPS map.

Do you use special texture packs and entitys for Tremulous maps? If yes, where to get them?

[-Saig-]

A team of 2 or 3 humans can overpower or scare off a tyrant even with the rifle.

Yea right. Depends more on if the Humans have enough room to maneuver around and dodge the Tyrant. Any number of Humans in a more enclosed area such as a small hall are lunchmeat for the Tyrant, unless one has a Plasma Rifle. That seems to be the only thing that scares them off.

[juice]

well true, forgot to mention that about enclosed spaces.


but people often forget how much even 3 rifles can whittle down health.