Counterfeit Demo

[SchizoSlayer]

Well I played through a fair amount of this last night and I will say this:

WOOHOO! (with Homer Simpson comedy Stylings)

The first mod to be released (even if it is a demo of things to come) that actually is any real good. The characters have Ghand's typical style to them (although no mention of Sporks yet) and the comedy alternate options in the conversations are just begging to be tried out "He's dead, Bwahahahahahaha!"

So onto the gameplay. Linear. Pretty much something thats bloody hard to get away from these days, I've tried myself and it's a lot of work which ussually results in a poorer overall effect in the game. The bridge level has only one method of completion, wander through the boxes get to the bloke, talk to bloke get key and get back. I managed to do this the first time without killing anybody though Ghand, take note, I ninj'd all the way through that level only to be told that the troops wouldn't forgive me for killing their poker buddies.

The attention to details though is excellent (you tipped the van!!) with small conversations between NPC's adding alot of realism and comedy to the game, something I think Deus Ex lacked was a little comedy (I wanted lemon Lime) and the usual hurdle of kitting up the player is avoided by a very nicley done trip to the quartermaster, a mod tends not to have the time to let the player find all the good weapons and this is the best way I've seen so far of getting around that.

At a technical level I can't fault it. The mapping is excellent, no big holes anywhere to be found and the zoning is spot on. My framerate throughout the game was nice and smooth and I couldn't see a single bad intersection (unlike some other mods discussed on this board), I couldn't see any real faults with the levels at all so this section is incredibly brief

The only thing I did notice was that Dom's name in conversations was still JC Denton (I'm not sure if this was all the time or just during the bridge though, it was late) which can be remmedied by just changing the known and unknown name of the player pawn actor. A small oversight in an otherwise wonderful demo. I look forwards to the full thing.

[Brem_X_Jones]

I've played half the demo version, and am impressed. More later.

(Got to the bit where I was finding the sewer grate. Realised I couldn't find it and also realised it was six-o'clock so had to go to the pub)

Think you're being a little hard on the non-linearity. There's only one path through the level, but there's multiple ways to deal with the problems (i.e. The soldiers Patrol), allowing both stealth and combat. Deus always had a nonlinear episode with a fairly linear plot.
http://www.planetdeusex.com/counterfeit/

Get it.

Will be dropping Gand a line. Since my main feedback is a story-line based subquest I think could and should be phrased better, it's a good sign. The fact it's relatively well written is another big plus.

(My plot hole is the quest given by your quasi-girlfriend: Go ask the doctor about how her friend is in the hospital. I believe there's several phones in the room - why not use them to do it herself. To make it make sense in the game would be something like "You've always got on well with the Doctor - can you see if you can get a little more out of him than I can?".)

KG

[SchizoSlayer]

There is alway the option for stealth Vs Combat in a deus engine game, it's the fact that Vladislav (is that right) will always accuse you of killing the thugs even if you ninj'd like I did the first time (I too couldn't find the grate that time, have done now, Brem You're actually about 90% complete not 50%), it is a lot easier to stealth your way past the thugs than take them on directly (not to mention it saves ammo) as I've now tried both approaches. What I refer to as non-lienar gameplay is the possbility of not going directly accross the bridge to see the terroists but maybe having other routes. Prime example, in battery park you could either charge in the front door or use the secret entrance behind the vending machine. Thats the stuff thats hard to incorperate. Still the best amature level I've downloaded so far.

[Ghandaiah]

BAHAHAHAH! BAHAHAHA! SPORKS!

*Ahem.*

Well, I'm glad to hear everyone seems to generally like the mod. Ad for the many, many, many problems that it still has... well...

I'll just say that there's definitely a second version of the demo on the horizon. This demo is pretty premature, as I've said on the CF site. I almost regret releasing it now.

The next version will fix a lot of common problems. Like, a lot of people have complained about the sewer grate being too hard to find (even though the Moscow cutscene map played before the bridge map clearly shows where it is ), the linearity of the map (I'll probably connect the catwalks under the bridge with the top somehow so that you can take both ways), several objective/convo problems... I'll make it so that the conversation with Vladislav changes depending on how many people you've killed/knocked out/left standing... There's a lot of stuff I want to do to make it better. Not to mention some of the big stuff mentioned in the readme, like the damn infolink labels (that bugs the hell out of me, but our programmer, mouse, can fix it quite easily.)

Bah. At least people still like it the way it is. Unfortunately, I don't, after all of this stuff I've heard. But then... Who on this planet DOES like their own work?

Oh, and by the way, the bridge map isn't exactly the best example of non-linear layout... I mean, a bridge is pretty damn hard to not make linear. It's a bridge. It's a straight road over water. Humm. The later levels, like the compound you have to get into, those'll be where the non-linearity will SHINE like the SUN on a monkey's RED ARSE. HAHAHA! Sorry.

-Ghandaiah-

[Tim Was Already Taken]

Oh, and by the way, the bridge map isn't exactly the best example of non-linear layout... I mean, a bridge is pretty damn hard to not make linear. It's a bridge.

Good. Point.

[Count Hans von Hekeldicht]

Just because there's a bridge there doesn't mean it has to be the only way across the river... but I think we're doing something silly like this too, so I'll be quiet.

[TheWatcher]

Originally posted by Count Hans von Hekeldicht:
Just because there's a bridge there doesn't mean it has to be the only way across the river...

What if the water is full of flesh-eating fish, there are no long ropes, catapults or cannons lying around and the only boat has more water in than beneath it?