I thought I’d do better to ask around on here, rather than taking my chances online with the teeming masses of Live.
I was hoping to get some multiplayer going around 10 CST or so. Any takers? I’m TvsWanderer on Live.
Yeah about those teeming masses, someone remind me never to get on Live during after school hours. Got home from work early and I thought I’d play some around 5pm CST and everything wrong about Pandora Tomorrow came out in one hour of gaming annoyance.
First you couldn’t find a game that wasn’t the Theater. Then when you get on the spy side is filled up and some whiney 12 year old won’t turn on Revenge where you play twice switching teams “cuz spies are kewl and yur l@me!” And every game is Ranked so that means when one side is going to lose someone drops out invalidating the game and invalidating the team switch. That doesn’t even cover the craptastic optimatch interface that locks up before you can tell the quality of connection.
So that’s pretty much an hour of my life I’ll never get back. Maybe I’ll go back to hardcore Steel Battalion where the price tag is a barrier to entry.
I’d, uh, be up for some PC Pandora Tomorrow, if anyone’s interested.
I just got done playing a few matches over Live!, and the eexperience was pretty good. Did have a few problems balancing teams, but it wasn’t too bad. I’ll probably be on for this and SB:LOC - send me a friend request or something if you want to play - I can guarantee I’m not a d00d.
Was just playing with Schmidt – he and I did well, although our opponents got craptastic when it looked like we might win. :(
I’ll probably be on, and hosting a server. I think I sent you a friend request (if you’re in Creole Ned’s thread, I sent you one – I did the whole damn list over the weekend). Look for Meursault.
Rorschach Six and I are playing right now.
I’ll be up for a few rounds in a few minutes, once Xbox Live finishes updating.
Yeah that was pretty fun especially the last game. For the record that was Master Yupa’s first and second games playing it online. We lost the first and tied the second, which is not too bad considering we played the Hospital and the Museum instead of the newbie mainstays Cinema and Warehouse.
I swear the Museum is the worst map if you’re a spy. Waaay too much of a bottleneck in the cafe and all the sensors already on the map. Sheesh. Couldn’t even make my patented “monolith run” on that game. Gotta give credit to Yupa for not getting frustrated and saying he enjoyed the game even though we both got Owned.
I guess Live, like all other public forums has it’s share of anonymous assholes. At least finding a group of people that don’t suck and keeping track of them is easier in Live than say, UT2004 (unless Chet sets up the server to run it - hint hint.) My hour of suck has been balanced out by the hour of good play. Thanks guys.
Agreed, Museum is a real bottle neck for the spies. It didn’t help that you told me all about your patented run in the pregame, but I put mines there regardless :)
That was quite fun. Maherd and I kept looking for more games afterwards, and we got ShieldWolf to wait around with us for a while, but we could never find a fourth so ShieldWolf left and Maherd and I played some one on one. We need more players guys! 9-Midnight EST are my prime playing hours, though I pop in and out all day between classes too.
Why does everyone like Cinema so much? It’s so cluttered, I think it’s my least favorite. I’m somewhat biased because it’s just the last map I bothered to learn, so I still don’t know it as well as the others, but even getting comfortable with playing it I still don’t see why everyone loves it so much. Museum, Warehouse, Schermerhorn, and probably Vertigo Plaza are my favorites, though I really suck at Vertigo for as much as I claim to enjoy it.
Anyway, Maherd and I had a great time too, pass on our thanks to Yupa when you see him again.
Because it’s the first map in the rotation. Cimema isn’t that bad, the soft ground is countered by the good lighting in most areas, but the good amount of ducts linking the lobby to the cafeteria and video game parlor provides a respite for spies who get past the lobby. A good amount of rafters alogn the top let a spy bypass the lobby and get into the back while the mercs hang out in the lobby and even theater. I don’t think it’s any better or worse than any other map.
Sorry I didn’t show up last night. I found out this morning that my Xbox has fallen prey to the devastating DVD-ROM failure, so it has to go out to be fixed.
Jeez, doesn’t anyone want to play this on the PC?? :)
— Alan
I play it on PC. I usually do 1v1 LAN games with my bro. I don’t have the map expertise to play online right now.
Also, does anyone get any use out of the alarm decoys for the Spies? Do the sounds they make pick up on the Merc sound detector? Or do you have to manually aim them at an alarm to get any use out of them?
Both. They show up on the sound detector for the mercs, and as an added bonus if you launch them near a sensor that’ll go off for a minute or so. Just be careful you don’t lock down that area or terminal you we’re looking to access. Alarm decoys work well in maps with a lot of already placed sensors such as Museum. You can really get the mercs running in circles as long as you shoot and move quickly, don’t wait to see if they fall for it.
3/30 8:45 pm pst if anyone is interested
also how do you pick up enemy transmissions? maybe they aren’t talking , but I never here them with traps I set
shieldwolf
Looks like the Optimatch patch is out. My Xbox is downloading a patch right now. We’ll see if it fixes anything.
[edit] Yep, looks like Optimatch is fixed. [/edit]
Giving away a fun tactic:
On Vertigo Plaza, as spies, if you aim it just right you can get an alarm snare all the way into the upper duct of the Data Center building from the roof of the helipad where you spawn, setting off a motion sensor there. I don’t have it quite nailed down, I can’t get the sensor to go off every time, but it’s a great diversion from a really good distance, that you can do almost immediately (though of course they’ll get wise if you’re doing it before you could have possible run over that far at the begining of the game. So head for the Library and Office while the alarm is going off in the data center, and you’ve got a bit of a head start.
I’ve been playing this every night, and can’t stop. Have to say, these levels are amazingly well designed, great balance while still providing advantages to both spies and mercs.
I will say the few times I randomly joined and xbox live game, the experience was terrible. I’ve taken to only playing with those people I know, however, from what I’ve been reading here, you all might play properly.
Because I’m bored, and I think you care (yeah, right) just throwing up a few notes on each level. Feel free to call me wrong:
Cinema: Only recently learned to play this as a spy. The trick is to know exactly where every duct goes (and there are a lot of them) and really, it relies on misdirection. The Sticky Cam is a must here, IMO, because of the size of the rooms. Using the rafters is helpful in certain spots, but I find the roofs of the kiosks to be more useful
Museum: Not sure why people say it’s Merc-friendly, a few well-placed alarm snares will ensure the mercs are nowhere near your objective, especially with how many rooms ‘seal off’. Spy Bullets seem to be the required tool to use, as you’ll see your opponents approaching long enough for you to abort decontamination and get the hell out of there.
Subway: Love this level, a single spy can complete this thing in under 5 minutes against a single merc. The two subway terminals are almost always ones I focus on getting. Without a doubt, use the tools of the level, hack the camera system (an absolute must, IMO) and use the gated hallway. There are two pipes in the water treatment room which head to hanging points on the ceiling, most people dont seem to know about these, and they make for good points from which to drop on a merc.
Research Lab: I find this level to be flat out complex, and rather spy-friendly. The isolation doors and the loud elevator give a lot of warning to an alert spy. There’s a series of ducts which connect the lab with the radiation center that need to be hacked. Once they are, a win is almost imminent. The one tool I’ve found to be crucial here are chaff grenades.
Vertigo Towers: Another level where chaff grenades are extremely useful. Someone already pointed out that there are a few places where you can fire an alarm snare from one tower and set of a sensor in another…best is when you do this to two different towers, one a moment after the other, leaving the third tower open for your picking.
Defense contractor: Pain of a level to get into against two mercs. Once you’re in, though, it’s easy enough to get at least one point. Hacking doors can be extremely useful. The offices should be avoided, I think. Much too bright, and too many cameras.
Warehouse: I think this level is boring. No sensors to use for misdirection, the three ‘mini-level’ design just feels cramped. In sector 2, going for the point on the lower floor is almost always a win. And in sector 3 it’s a bit too easy to knock out your opponents. Sticky Cams are a must here, more for their gas than their viewing ability.
Hospital: If any level is condusive to the mercs getting killed, it’s this one. Flashbangs are very effective, as someone else on these boards will attest to…that bastard. Having a planned route here is key. There are a lot of places for spies to take breathers, and a lot of rooms which are safe to simply lounge in. Nearly every point is feasable, and a lot of them have quick escape routes. The only one to ignore is in the room with the stacks of boxes, as you’re cornered horribly in there.
Hmm, suppose it turned out to be more of a ‘spy strategy guide’…oh well. I’d do the same for mercs, but I like to keep my merc tactics to myself. Oh, and if you don’t already, be sure you’re playing with infinite time. Screw rankings, killing off a spy is far more satisfying than simply slowing their progress enough for 10 min. And if a spy has completed two decontaminations on one life only to run out of time…well, that’s just BS.
Ummm…there was a topic to this thread, right? I guess the response is “Sure, I’ll play”, gamertag being the same as my nick here.
-AM Urbanek
Yay for strategy discussion!
The rafters in the upper lobby help you get to the ducts on the second floor that lead to the upper cafe and vid game sections. They’re relatively protected by the big banners on either side, so it’s just a merc with torchlight on looking straight up that give you trouble. An alarm snare or partner running interference should give you enough time to make it across. The kiosk tops are a nice place to rest if you’re not near a duct, but you really can’t get anywhere from there. The ground although nice and quiet is too well lit to stay in one place hiding behind a banner for too long. Also the mercs can’t place spy traps on rafters.
The connection between the cafe and the exhibits/storage area is a huge bottleneck. Sure there’s three ducts, a ceiling approach and two doorways, but they’re all fairly exposed, have lots of sensors around them, and most importantly a merc can get from one entrance to any other in less than 5 seconds. Team tactics and misdirection are key.
For the mercs on this level you’ll want to close the door at the bottom of the water area, also the terminal above the subway car can be easily covered by two mines/traps. The subway car has about 5 good places to put a mine.
Good places for a spy to hide in all over the place, but quick access for the mercs to all areas. I really like this map, good placement of sensors and a ton of terminals, and some really varied ways for the spies to infiltrate the building. Sometimes I even go in through the front door.
I also think one key to this as a spy is the willingness to switch buildings. If you get made in the office, why not leave behind a few snares and use the big zipline up top to quickly get over to the data center? Don’t stick around. Or even better yet, attack the building as a pair and once the merc on duty sees both of you have one split off and hit another building as the buddy comes rushing in for support.
Sometimes as a merc you can camp the routes in the courtyard and waste spys before they even start hacking a door. Be careful with Death From Above on the railings though if you have a spy going for the kill.
Great map for newbies since it keeps everyone in one relative space. The flow is very important, once section two opens up it is critical for the spys to get into that section before the mercs can seal off the three doors. Not so big of a deal for section 3 since the spys can get directly there from the spawn point.
Mercs in the tunnels are hell. Mercs covering the courtyard is effective as well. But if you have one in the tunnels and one covering the courtyard that leaves a whole wing unguarded. Like Vertigo Plaza, chaff grenades are a quick way to get though the multiple beam doors without locking the terminal, but they’re noisy as all get out. Once again snares are very effective, last night I was able to get 2/3 in 10 minutes by myself against two mercs. The first one I stood on the stairs and shot a snare into a tripped doorway, then went upstairs and capped the terminal up there. The second one I shot a snare into the lit window from the courtyard, then shimmied up the pole and broke into the darkened room before they could respond. (Hi Don Quixote!)
Of course, neither Mersault or I had ever even been on that map before, much less played it. Somehow I missed it on my walking tour of maps. That said, your misdirection did work wonders, though, and got us runing around in circles good. :)
I don’t really have any strategy hints, as I’ve only had the game for a day or two. From my limited playing though, I have found a couple of bugs. Firstly, the Optimatch is still borked. It no longer locks up, but if you leave all the parameters at ‘ANY’, it only returns a couple of games, and those are very out of date- 95% of the time, the game is ‘unjoinable’. OTOH, this is fixed by just choosing a map to play- it’ll almost always give current, accurate games/connection info (as a side note, didn’t UBI’s Xbox Ghost Recon have similar problems when released?). The other bug is much worse. It seems that when playing as a spy, whenever I try to ‘quick use’ an item (left trigger), it uses shatever I have in the ‘X’ (left) quick-use slot, regardless of what I have selected. I can still arm my gun and fire any of the other slots, but that doesn’t help when I am trying to throw a flash grenade and end up throwing a chaff instead. :?