The Dividing Line

30-Mar-2008

PC Steering Wheel Roundup

This post has been moved to our new gaming hardware site, Gaming Weapons.

View the post at PC Steering Wheel Roundup

28-Mar-2008

Black Mesa - A Second Life For Half-Life

If you played the original Half-Life (which, if you had a PC in 1998, you must have done) then the chances are you loved it and played it through several times. But would you play it now, 10 years on, now that you've been spoilt by the graphics and physics model in Half-Life 2?

Valve made a half-hearted attempt at bringing the original game up-to-date when they released Half-Life: Source, but that was simply a port of the original game into their new Source engine. You got the fancy new physics model but the dated graphics remained.

So how would you feel about revisiting the Black Mesa complex, but this time fully remodeled and powered by the latest Source engine? Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, if you're interested you should go and check out fan mod Black Mesa and you may find your dreams are about to come true.

As described on the Black Mesa website:

"Black Mesa (formerly Black Mesa: Source) is a Half-Life 2 total conversion remaking VALVe Software's award-winning PC game, Half-Life. Utilizing the latest Source engine from Episode 2, Black Mesa will reintroduce the player as Doctor Gordon Freeman, along with the original cast of memorable characters and environments seen in Half-Life. Black Mesa was built and founded on the basis that Half-Life: Source was inadequate as the Source engine port of Half-Life, regardless of the intentions of VALVe Software. As such, Black Mesa was founded to fully reconstruct the Half-Life universe utilizing Source to its fullest potential in terms of art detail, level sizes and code features. This total conversion will not require Half-Life: Source to play - only legitimate copies of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source on Steam."

The website provides plenty of information, including a developer blog that gives loads of info on the progress of the mod.

There's also a downloads section that gives a sneak preview video of the game, as well as allowing you to download some of the MP3 tracks that will form part of the Black Mesa soundtrack. Head on over and check it out, it's looking extremely good.

27-Mar-2008

Are Hardware Requirements Crippling PC Sales?

This post has been moved to our new gaming hardware site, Gaming Weapons.

View the post at Are Hardware Requirements Crippling PC Sales

26-Mar-2008

Fallout 3 To Get 200 Endings

To say that Fallout 3 is going to be a big game would be considered a slight understatement with the news that the game will have over 100 hours of content and will feature over 200 endings. Yes, you read that right ... 200 endings.

In a podcast for Official Xbox Magazine, Todd Howard, big cheese at Bethesda, is claiming that the game is nearly finished and they've now moved into the final stages of adding a bit of polish to the game.

"Being that we are Bethesda, everything gets a bit big, so as of last week we're over 200 endings. That's not an exaggeration," says Howard.

Small differences in the game ending are multiplied by various factors in the game, influenced by the player's decisions and actions as they progress through the wastelands. The result is over 200 different endings, although I find it hard to believe that most of the endings won't be little more than subtle variations on a few key themes.

Ending 143 - character stares meaningfully at the distant wastelands, with a scar on their left cheek after random encounter with Super Mutants.
Ending 144 - character stares meaningfully at the distant wastelands, with a scar on their right cheek after random encounter with Deathclaw.

However, even if the endings are very similar I'm not complaining as this means there's a huge replayability factor in the game. Add the fact that the size of the game has grown from the original estimates and Fallout 3 looks like it could soak up many weeks of time for the keen gamer.

Holland states that "Fallout is probably twice the size that we originally had on paper. We've definitely gone overboard... It won't end up being as big as Oblivion, but it's approaching that. The game is easily a hundred hours."

This really does sound like my sort of game. Good news is that it is still on target for release this Autumn.

I wonder how long it will be after the release before someone claims to have discovered all of the possible endings.

24-Mar-2008

Boxhead: The Zombie Wars

Zombie fans will be keen to know that the latest episode of the Boxhead games, Boxhead: The Zombie Wars, has been released.

The latest installment of the zombie slaying series includes turrets, more walls, different zombies ... so many zombies, before you know it the screen is painted red with the splattered remains of the zombie horde!

If you haven't played any of the series then go and give it a try. It's a browser based game that places you in the shoes of Boxhead, and then throws hundreds of zombies at you. You get to shoot them with an expanding arsenal of weapons and the quicker you kill them the better the weapons you have at your disposal.

In the world of browser-based games the Boxhead series really stands out thanks to its quality. The guy who develops it, Sean Cooper, used to be part of Bullfrog and has had experience working on classic titles such as Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper and Magic Carpet.

Just beware, there's a danger that Boxhead: The Zombie Wars will start to absorb far too much of your time!

22-Mar-2008

Roccat Kone - Don't Believe It's Released Until You See It

This post has been moved to our new gaming hardware site, Gaming Weapons.

View the post at Roccat Kone - Don't Believe It's Released Until You See It

20-Mar-2008

Graphical Loveliness In Race Driver GRID

The latest installment in what was the TOCA series of games is to be called Race Driver GRID, and judging by the new in-game footage it is going to be an absolutely gorgeous driving sim.

Codemasters have released some new video footage from Race Driver GRID which starts off with the claim that it is 'Actual Gameplay Footage'. The video then continues with some stunning visuals of beautifully detailed cars racing on some equally beautiful tracks, packed full of detail.

The action is fast and furious, with some bone-crunching collisions. If this really is in-game footage then put me down for a copy, it looks great!

Despite dropping the TOCA name and going for the meaningless GRID suffix, the game follows the same formula as the previous episodes with loads of different vehicles and championships to race in, driving on both tarmac and gravel. My only reservation is that we still have to endure a cheesy story to push the action forward. Cue hammy acting and cliched characters.

18-Mar-2008

rFactor Activation Is Simple

Having played the rFactor demo and enjoyed it, I thought I might as well go through the rFactor activation process and pay for the full game.

It's really simple to do, in fact if you've exceeded the rFactor demo's 60-minute time limit you'll be directed straight to the activation screen if you launch the game.

The procedure for activating rFactor is simple - just enter your name, email address and credit card details and the game will be unlocked immediately, allowing you to get straight back into the game again. You'll be sent an email confirming that your rFactor activation is complete, and that also includes your activation code.

You'll need that code if you ever need to re-activate the game again, and this is where I don't like the way in which the online licensing is handled. Re-installing the game isn't a problem as a license file is placed on your PC, and so long as that file stays in place you can re-install the game and not have to re-activate it.

However, if your hardware profile changes significantly you will need to reactivate the game, and you're limited to just 5 activations before you have to pay for the game again. This is to stop people installing the game on different PCs and copying the same license file in an attempt to cheat the licensing. The limit of 5 activations doesn't seem very generous to me, but as long as you're not the sort of person who likes to significantly upgrade their PC every few months then that limit shouldn't trouble you too much. You can read a bit more about the rFactor licensing in this forum post at EMACF1.com.

So how much does the rFactor activation cost? For me, a UK buyer, it was £24.99, which doesn't seem too bad at all when you consider the amount of freebies available to download. For US buyers I think the price is around $40 plus taxes, but the game will auto-detect your currency and will tell you the price before you have to give any credit card details.

So now I'm going to go and investigate some of the rFactor downloads on offer. I've seen an amazingly detailed version of the Nordschleife that should give me hours of fun. Maybe I can manage an 8-minute lap in the little Rhez hatchback.

14-Mar-2008

rFactor Demo - First Impressions

I downloaded the rFactor demo today, and I have to say that it's really quite good.

If you've never heard of rFactor then don't worry, it seems to be one of the better kept secrets on the PC. Essentially it's a driving simulation, covering a variety of car classes across a number of fictional courses, but the beauty of rFactor is the amount of downloadable content available on the internet.

I was a bit sceptical at first. I'd heard a little bit about rFactor, mainly a couple of reviews over a year ago, back when the game had little support on the internet, and a few mentions on forums and race sim websites. The screenshots I saw weren't amazing and the reviews talked about a solid game engine but with little else to shout about.

But since then the game engine has developed and the amount of user mods has increased dramatically. Browsing the rFactor website persuaded me that the quality of cars and tracks now available meant this was worth a second look.

The rFactor demo weighs in at a hefty 1GB, but this doesn't seem quite so bad when you consider what you're downloading is actually the full game. The idea is that you play the demo, love the game, pay to unlock it and then get straight back into the game without any further downloads.

The rFactor demo is limited to 60 minutes of play time, after which it locks down and won't let you play again unless you pay for the full game. It seemed like I managed to get over 60 minutes of play in my first run through the demo, and managed to have a go in most of the cars on a few of the tracks. It was only when I tried to start the game for a second time that it would not let me progress, and took me straight to the payment screen.

In that time I managed to try 3 of the cars on offer in the rFactor demo. These are the Rhez (a small hatchback), the ZType (a small coupe) and the Hammer (a larger, more powerful coupe). Each car has one or more race championships open to it, and the winnings from each of the races can be used to buy upgrades from a decent sized list for each car.

By the end of my run on the rFactor demo I'd managed to quite heavily upgrade two of my cars. More powerful cars means better results, which in turn means more prize cash which goes back into the pot for more upgrades or new cars.

The upgrades include the usual items - brakes, tyres, spoilers but there are also some more unusual items such as an endurance fuel tank, racing interior and even an upgraded horn.

The handling of the cars is excellent, each showing it's own different characteristics. The front-engined Rhez hatchback is prone to understeer as what little power it has hits the track through the front wheels, while the Hammer is much more fun with oversteer slides on offer, ready to catch you out if you squeeze on the power too soon.

Tracks are varied in nature, ranging from wide open circuits with nice grassy run-off areas, through to banked ovals and then to tight city circuits with no room for error.

rFactor's graphics are good, if not quite up there with the latest big titles. There's plenty of trackside detail, not that you'll notice much of it as you hurtle round the tracks, and each of the cars has nicely detailed 3D models and fairly good textures. The graphics can be scaled back from DirectX 9 through to DirectX 7, so the game will run on almost any machine with a 3D graphics card.

Sadly I didn't get chance to try the online play before the rFactor demo locked down, but I'm sure it's good. The reviews I'd read mentioned solid network code, with minimal data transfer and lag, so you should get smooth performance online.

So, having played the rFactor demo, am I tempted to buy the full game? Yes, I am. While it might not have the graphical sparkle of some of the latest releases the driving on offer is cracking fun. Tracks, cars, upgrades, championships - what more could you ask for? And looking at the free downloads on offer on the rFactor websites there's loads of opportunity to extend the life of the game once you've exhausted all of the game's original content.

The rFactor demo can be downloaded from a number of sites, and even as a torrent. Go on, give it a try, what have you got to lose?

12-Mar-2008

Mass Effect Landing On PC

Not being an Xbox owner, I missed out on all of the hype surrounding Mass Effect when it was released on Xbox. But I can't help but notice the excitement that's building amongst PC owners now that Bioware's space RPG is definitely coming to the PC.

I'm seeing an increasing number of articles and blog posts about Mass Effect that suggest its going to be a Grade A title. However, at this moment I haven't a clue about the main story or the game mechanics, and for once I'm actually going to try and avoid learning any more. Lately I've found the neverending previews of games often tell you far too much about the game and kill the element of surprise and fun, so this time I'm going to try and avoid them.

But that dosn't stop me getting excited about Mass Effect. What possible reasons could I have to be excited abuot a game I know nothing about?

Well, firstly it's a game by Bioware, and that immediately marks it out as being potentially great. Masters of storytelling and creators of fantastic game worlds, Bioware have an amazing back catalogue - Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and Jade Empire to name a few. All of those games were critically acclaimed, so straight away I'm expecting good things from Mass Effect.

Secondly, it's an action RPG set across multiple planets in a sci-fi universe. There haven't been enough good good sci-fi games for a while, and Mass Effect seems the ideal game to pull me back into a universe of lasers and aliens.

Third, Bioware are stressing that this is not just a straightforward port from the Xbox version, they're actually converting the game and its resources. This means a number of modifications have been made to the PC version, including a new squad-control interface, improved hotkeys for psionic powers and abilities, more save-game slots and a new inventory screen to answer some of the criticisms hurled at the Xbox version.

The PC version will also show improved visuals, with upscaled textures to make the most of the higher resolutions available on the PC. However, this doesn't mean you need a ninja-PC just to run the game, as Bioware are aiming to make the game playable on gaming PCs up to two years old.

Finally, the reviews on Xbox were excellent. Metacritic rates Mass Effect at 91/100, which don't forget is for the Xbox version. There's no reason the PC version shouldn't rate even higher when you take the improvements into account.

So that's why I'm excited about Mass Effect on the PC. It's also why I'm going to resist the temptation to find out any more about the game, as for once I feel confident that I can buy a game in advance knowing that it'll be great. That way I can avoid the previewsI can stick the DVD in my PC, install the game and start playing without knowing everything about the first few hours of gameplay.

If you're after more information about the PC version of Mass Effect, there's an interesting interview with Bioware at Eurogamer, which details some of the changes for the PC version as well as talking about the future of the Mass Effect series.

Oh, and if you heard all the fuss about the pornographic sex scenes in the game don't get too excited, it was all based on hearsay and ignorance.

09-Mar-2008

D-BOX GPL200 Racing Seat - Motion Sickness Almost Guaranteed

This post has been moved to our new gaming hardware site, Gaming Weapons.

View the post at D-BOX GPL200 Racing Seat - Motion Sickness Almost Guaranteed

07-Mar-2008

Lego Indiana Jones Will Be Here This Summer

If you're a Lego fan as well as an Indiana Jones fan, then you'll be happy to hear that Lego Indiana Jones will be released this summer.

UK Gamers will more than likely be aware of Play.com, as it's a great place to buy games and hardware. This year they're hosting their own gaming event, Play.Com Live on the 15th and 16th March (i.e. next weekend), and they're giving gamers a chance to get their hands on some of the upcoming releases they'll be selling. Guess what ... one of those games will be Lego Indiana Jones.

This is one of this year's games that I'm really looking forward to. I loved the Lego Star Wars games as they managed to capture the spirit of the films but with a great sense of humour and loads of playability. Sure, the games are really aimed at kids, but trust me ... if you're a fan of the films then you'll appreciate the games, no matter how old you are. If not, you're a grumpy old so-and-so and you should stop taking yourself so seriously!

If Lego Indiana Jones can follow in the same vein it will be great. Being an '80s child I loved the Indy films, and they still rank highly in my list of favourite films (except Temple Of Doom - apart from the mine-cart chase it was rubbish, mainly because of the screaming woman and Indy's child sidekick).

The release date for Lego Indiana Jones? According to Play.Com it's 6th June, so get your keypads ready!