Heres a crazy idea...

(Shinigami) #1

Since SD said the whole point of Netvars was to make changes much easier for the game, how about making some 1-day only changes. Im talking specifically about weapon spread changes. lower the spread significantly for one day, and change it back the next day (assuming thats how netvars work). this allows us the players to first handedly feel and give feed back on weapon changes. Personally, as a console player i feel atleast this much is owed to us since we didnt get any weapon balance updates.

(Smooth) #2

Unfortunately weapon accuracy (spread/recoil/kick) isn’t included as part of the netvar system, which is the main reason why the changes didn’t make it to consoles.

The netvars include things like network data rates, map balance, body-type health, tool/item effectiveness, weapon fire-rate and weapon damage. The accuracy system has such a large number of variables that we technically couldn’t include them given the amount of space we’re allowed for network storage and the time it would take to hook them up.

Also any change we make to netvars still need to go through the SD/Bethesda QA process and then get uploaded by Microsoft/Sony, so they can’t be changed on a daily basis. The purpose of netvars is to allow us to react to obvious networking/balance issues after a patch, without a costly several-week submission with the platform holders.

(Ajax's Spear) #3

They aren’t going to do anything else. They don’t care. Look how long it took for them to get the last patch out. They’re not interested in saving this game. It’s over. Besides, I don’t think Netvars would work that way with Microsoft’s certification process.

(tokamak) #4

Yeah you’re going to get a lot of results from a one day change…

(Shinigami) #5

I could have sworn that i read somewhere that netvars didnt go through the certificatin process. that is, changes done in netvars didnt have to be certified. but i might be remembering wrong.

(tangoliber) #6

Netvars were intended to easily tweak weapon values without going through certification. However, there were some bugs with it, which kept them from using them in the first few weeks. They said they fixed the bugs in a patch, but since we never got much of a netvar-only update aside from the matchmaking playlists on consoles, maybe there were still issues. Also, netvars may have been intended for more minor tweaks, while the feedback has been asking for a major, competitive overhaul.

(iezza) #7

Sorry, seriously off topic, but does anyone see a “staff post” here?

(gooey79) #8

[QUOTE=Smooth;386457]Unfortunately weapon accuracy (spread/recoil/kick) isn’t included as part of the netvar system, which is the main reason why the changes didn’t make it to consoles.

The netvars include things like network data rates, map balance, body-type health, tool/item effectiveness, weapon fire-rate and weapon damage. The accuracy system has such a large number of variables that we technically couldn’t include them given the amount of space we’re allowed for network storage and the time it would take to hook them up.

Also any change we make to netvars still need to go through the SD/Bethesda QA process and then get uploaded by Microsoft/Sony, so they can’t be changed on a daily basis. The purpose of netvars is to allow us to react to obvious networking/balance issues after a patch, without a costly several-week submission with the platform holders.[/QUOTE]

Yes, iezza. It’s quoted above.

(iezza) #9

Wow, i just didnt se that. no joke i looked, wow. fail.

Thanks smooth!

(DarkangelUK) #10

SD staff posts need to be approved before they’re visible, the icon shows but the post doesn’t until Badman waves his magic wand.

(tokamak) #11

(NthLegion) #12

At least Smooth is honest about it. Consoles didn’t get improved accuracy because the certification process is just too difficult. Badman said “these changes wouldn’t work for consoles,” or something very close to that. Which, of course, is absolute crap. Thanks, Smooth, for being honest with your customers.

(gold163) #13

console certification process is absolute crap in the first place. Devs should get it right the first time. More playtests and betas, a larger amount of public awareness (and by that I don’t mean advertising). If you aren’t going to make a decent PC game then at least make a decent console game.

(zenstar) #14

Somehow the guys that did Monday Night Combat got around it. IIRC the game would simply grab a small text file with the latest variables when it started up, and Uber Entertainment would simply update the text file when it wanted to tweak the variables. Ofc they couldn’t get any code changes through this way, but isn’t that exatly how netvars should work? simply percentage / numerical changes.

(gold163) #15

IIRC Splash Damage has stated that a lot of the stuff Brink depends on, such as the code for weapon accuracy/recoil, isn’t controlled by netvars so they can’t change it without going through a certification process. Kind of a bad idea in hindsight, huh?

(gold163) #16

Monday Night Combat was also a more solid game that to this day has a more stable player base that wasn’t a $50/$60 retail game. The reason being that the game got enough right in the first place, and put a lot of emphasis onto the small tweaks that could be made without having to issue a large patch through a certification process. I wish Brink had done the same thing, but it’s too late now.