SD forgot their roots

[Rex]

Dear Splash Damage,

I tested Brink extensively until now to get a better impression of the game itself.
As a big ET and ETQW fan I have to say that I am more than disappointed.
You forgot all the necessary elements which made your former games so incredibly good.
Just two points are the same, on the one hand the objectives and on the other hand the classes.
But a good game needs more than this. If we take a look at all the missing things (for example: Demo function, freedom to customize options, spectator mode, … just to name a few) it is obvious that you made a console port for the PC. :rolleyes:
As a player friend said, Brink feels very often like an autopilot see the plant objective where you can’t move while you arm.
My next point is the adaption for noobs. You threw almost all things out which required real skill.
I take an example of a competitve game now. It is urgent to time your attacks at the right time in wars. So you have to look at the time and think about the necessity of respawning. So why is the respawn timer missing and why the hell is there no respawn function in Brink? I really don’t get it.
I don’t even talk about the bugs which exist at the moment these need their time to get fixed, however the game is not balanced at all. Have you ever tried to hack an objective in a 5on5?

If there was no sign on Brink which says it is from Splash Damage I would think it came from a brand new developer in the branch, but not from Splash Damage itself!

Splash Damage you forgot your roots, all the good things which made you so popular!

In my opinion you are now in the same category like Crytek. Those who let all the PC players down with their console port.
It is really sad that the last developer who stood for extraordinary gameplay, diversity of possibilities you could do while playing and a good competitive base made the worst thing happen for all the ET and ETQW fans.
We don’t expect the same games once again, but we expect a proper PC game in the spirit of the best games you ever made.

Very disappointing that the last developer changed the direction now.

[dazman76]

As much as it pains me to say it, I can’t disagree with anything you’ve said I’ve been hoping to gather Brink players over at a little gaming community I’m part of, just for casual play. We’d decided to leave any kind of recruiting/advertising until the game was a few weeks old, but we hadn’t really counted on the problems with the PC version.

I’m still hopeful that I’ll be playing Brink in 6 months time - but I’m not so convinced we’ll have gathered more players in our casual community… currently a bit of a sad panda, mostly because SD have gone completely silent, and subsequently the forums really aren’t a nice place to be.

[Brink_Lags]

How can this game be considered a console primary game when they didn’t even create a lobby and had P2P instead of servers. This game was clearly made for PC first and consoles were secondary.

[Kinjal]

BRINK is not a console port. It’s being developed for all three platforms simultaneously.

its sound so funny now

oh and…

do you know how long it would take to do all 3 at once with 1 team

I’d guess it would take about 3 years, give or take a few months

fail

and the last one - “never showing a PC version, standart answer”

Consoles lend themselves well to that, whereas we don’t have a cupboard full of spare gaming PCs ready to go places at a moment’s notice. Between having the game there on Xbox and not having it there at all, the choice was pretty easy…

the choice was - show a console version or show a console port, so yea “choice was pretty easy”

[xTriXxy]

for me, most important is first impression.
when i played for the first time quake wars, i was like “WOW OMG this is soo cool!” . Later, i played demo all the time, same map, again and again and again… without any boring element. Full game… OMG… i love ETQW.

this didn’t happen in Brink .

but im trying to convince myself, its SD game, cant be bad game…

[engiebenjy]

Doesnt a console port actually have to work good on the consoles? Both have game crippling lag and slow texture load-in (especially on xbox)

[Kinjal]

Doesnt a console port actually have to work good on the consoles? Both have game crippling lag and slow texture load-in (especially on xbox)

you right , its not a port its a… mix!

We’re sort of doing all 3 at once, Richard and myself have mostly developed for consoles, along with many of the other post-ET:QW Splashers, so there’s a very nice PC/console mix overall.

[AnthonyDa]

[quote=Kinjal;317630]its sound so funny now

oh and…

fail

and the last one - “never showing a PC version, standart answer”

the choice was - show a console version or show a console port, so yea “choice was pretty easy”[/quote]
U mad?

[Kinjal]

U mad?

nah, im just reading sum old threads, trying to find how does it ended like this.

[Bakercompany]

nah, im just reading sum old threads, trying to find how does it ended like this.

I like Kinjal =D

I don’t think it was forgetting their roots. Game devs will always remember what brought them popularity and munnies.

But check this from another thread.

Play this video (turn off the volume to ignore the commentary, was the only xbox vid I could find)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37jegXHvbU

Now play this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXOt4ujJac

I have no idea what happened either.

[sirius89]

[QUOTE=Bakercompany;317757]I like Kinjal =D

I don’t think it was forgetting their roots. Game devs will always remember what brought them popularity and munnies.

But check this from another thread.

Play this video (turn off the volume to ignore the commentary, was the only xbox vid I could find)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37jegXHvbU

Now play this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXOt4ujJac

I have no idea what happened either.[/QUOTE]

Where are all the lightning effects and all that eyecandy stuff from the second video SD?
Brink looks SO MUCH better in the trailer.

And why did you change Container City?It looks so awesome when it’s dark. :eek:

[INF3RN0]

Not many people thought they would end up saying ETQW was a better game LOL! agree with ya 100%

[Bakercompany]

I’d say we were suckered.

At a bare minimum its an unfair bait and switch. All the videos I watched looked like the second one, no wonder I was so pumped about the game! I couldn’t figure out why I was so sad and pissed off at the same time at Brink.

Its because everything I had seen was a lie. The gameplay is similar, but in no way can these be called the same games.

Thankfully i’ve convinced the store where I purchased it to return it for the full $64.94 I paid. At least i’m not losing out.

[fearlessfox]

[QUOTE=Bakercompany;317797]

Thankfully i’ve convinced the store where I purchased it to return it for the full $64.94 I paid. At least i’m not losing out.[/QUOTE]

It’s very difficult to defend Brink with evidence like this. That second video looks stunning, while the current game looks almost ps2 in places.

However, I /still/ think it’s one of the best MP experiences around (at least potentially) and I won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

I would /very/ much like to hear something from SD on why the aesthetics dropped so remarkably.

[Symbiot]

Definitely not a port from console to pc… there are so many issues for the xbox version, and they asked the community for proof of the graphics problems. All the gameplay videos were pc rendered.

[jegis]

This isn’t a console port but concessions have been made for the console audience. This game is more PC centric than most shooters these days but just about every FPS has been a console port for the past four years.

[Bakercompany]

I’m not saying I won’t scoop Brink up in the coming months after they’ve implemented the fixes. I still think as it is Brink is a fun game. I guess i’m just good for now (once I hit 20 tonight).

There are several elements to Brink I wish I could carry on to any other game I play, they did so many things right in so many places in my opinion.

[H3LLS1]

[QUOTE=Bakercompany;317757]But check this from another thread.

Play this video (turn off the volume to ignore the commentary, was the only xbox vid I could find)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37jegXHvbU

Now play this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXOt4ujJac

I have no idea what happened either.[/QUOTE]

wow. i never saw the old video. how does a game go down in quality THIS much when it gets released?

[SphereCow]

Uhhh, as a 3d artist I can say they look pretty damn similar.

What’s different is the oversampling, and that the post processing effects are toned down.

Turn motion blur back on.

Also, why are you guys inserting a discussion about superficial issues into a thread about core issues?

[fearlessfox]

[QUOTE=Luddens Desir;317951]Uhhh, as a 3d artist I can say they look pretty damn similar.

What’s different is the oversampling, and that the post processing effects are toned down.

Turn motion blur back on.

Also, why are you guys inserting a discussion about superficial issues into a thread about core issues?[/QUOTE]

The quality of aesthetics /is/ a core issue imo. The atmosphere and tone of a game is just as important as the gameplay and network quality etc…

Regardless of why, the second video simply looks more immersive due to the quality of atmosphere.