White Gold - whatever happened to it?

[EvaUnit02]

Whatever happened to White Gold? Ya know, the follow-up to Boiling Point: Road to Hell from Deep Shadow.

Apparently it was released like back in last October in the CIS nations (as "Xenus 2: White Gold"), but I can't find any other information.

[Koki]

not enough dots

[stormbringer_951]

wrong forum too

[vurt]

There's a pirate version out with a bad fan-made translation (russian->english).

I have to say that the game is very disapointing, the graphics is the same as Boiling Point and the gameplay, from the little time i spent with it, was very lacking. It feels, looks and plays like a very low budget game.

[gunsmoke]

Whatever happened to White Gold? Ya know, the follow-up to Boiling Point: Road to Hell from Deep Shadow.

Apparently it was released like back in last October in the CIS nations (as "Xenus 2: White Gold"), but I can't find any other information.

Last I heard they need a publisher for the rest of the world.

[Laser Eyes]

I have to say that the game is very disapointing, the graphics is the same as Boiling Point and the gameplay, from the little time i spent with it, was very lacking. It feels, looks and plays like a very low budget game.

That suprises me. Boiling Point was a great game except marred by bugs and a few design flaws. But for a few problems it could have been up there with the best games ever on PC.

[vurt]

That suprises me. Boiling Point was a great game except marred by bugs and a few design flaws. But for a few problems it could have been up there with the best games ever on PC.

Yeah it's too bad this wasnt an updated version of BP, i'd love to play that.

[Chucky]

I actually still play Boiling Point from time to time - IMO it's a badly under rated game. I've only ever had problems with the missing speech glitch - and once I did have my vehicle disappear - but apart from that it always plays fine for me too. The story is very straightforward but just immersing in the game and working on developing stats and resources as well as solving the plot is all really enjoyable - have had many memorable battles and still get a kick out of changing to AP ammo to shoot guard tower dudes thru the side panels etc.

It's evident they rushed Boiling Point into release - ie. the game and game world have lots of room for MUCH more content - ie. story development / sidequests - and overall it feels underpopulated and unfinished. Also, at the time BP came out really the only game to use "Ironsights" was Operation Flashpoint and CoD etc. - so crosshair shooting didn't bother me in a game like BP - but now having played SoC etc. I do miss ironsights in BP something terrible.

In fact, given SDK tools (topography, plants, buildings, vehicles and characters would have to be redone) I think very passable STALKER game reproductions could be made with the Xenus engine - ie. actual full game world maps without level changers - and with nifty extras like drivable vehicles and aircraft - ie. everything that's done in STALKER games with the Xray engine can be done with the Xenus engine - but they'd definitely have to put ironsights in.

[Jason Moyer]

Man, here I thought maybe White Gold was a codename for that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. patch that never came out.

[EvaUnit02]

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-XENUS2/xenus-2-white-gold

So has anyone tried the official English version yet?

[gunsmoke]

Did you play Boiling Point? Expect that level of quality. Buggy and just 'off'. Same with their new game.

[gozioso]

Boiling Point (fully patched to 2.0) was a really fun game, which showed great potential for the developers. However, I recommend that you avoid the gamersgate version of White Gold like the plague. It has the following issues:

(1) No English manual
(2) Crappy localization job (only the cutscenes have voice acting...they simply deleted the Russian ingame VO)
(3) No patches applied (and no obvious way to apply the Russian 1.1 patch)
(4) DRM issues which prevent you from playing
(5) Flickering issues with ATI cards
(6) Issues with sound effects cutting out
(7) Ridiculous $30 price tag for a 2.5 year old game

I was one of those people who was really looking forward to this game (and Precursors, which, unfortunately, has similar issues), but there is no way in hell I will purchase it in its current state.

[gozioso]

I just finished playing the Gamersgate version, and I wanted to post an update to this thread. Since the original release, Gamersgate has released the original russian sound files as a downloadable patch. This fixes most of the sound problems. Furthermore, Wesp5 (of Vampire:Bloodlines fame) has released an unofficial patch that fixes some other issues. My thoughts on the game:

Good:
(1) HUGE, open world to explore with loads of optional sidequests
(2) Solid gunplay mechanics with a decent weapon selection
(3) Lots of vehicles to use on land, air, and sea
(4) Good length (it took me at least 50 hours to finish)
(5) Very addictive gameplay
(6) Reasonably priced at $15
(7) Fairly stable (only two crashes total)
(8) RPG/FPS hybrid with perks and upgradable weapons

Bad:
(1) Absolutely God-awful localization job (think Zero Wing bad)
(2) There are still some broken quests and scripting bugs
(3) Certain areas have poor performance (thankfully very few), and I have an Alienware R4 death machine which should easily chew up any game available
(4) Last several hours of the game are a tedious, linear shooting spree (similar to the ending area of the first Stalker game)
(5) Balancing faction relationships can be challenging (and very expensive)
(6) Far too much money is required to bribe the various jackasses throughout the game to progress the plot
(7) There is no manual, and some of the in-game help text is flat out wrong (ex. you can't change camera angles in vehicles)
(8) Sprinting is wonky
(9) I don't think there is a way to get the 1.1 patch fixes on the Gamersgate version (which might address some of my complaints) [I tried the 1.1 diskless patch, but it kept prompting for a serial key and wouldn't accept the one given by Gamersgate]
(10) The story is pretty inane (the crappy localization makes this worse)

Well, as you can see, the game isn't perfect by any means. However, I quite enjoyed it despite these issues. It is truly a diamond in the rough. Your mileage may vary. If you are thinking about purchasing the game, be sure to visit the RPGWatch forum (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44) for useful information.

I also bought Precursors, and once I finish that game, I'll update this thread with my impressions. Feel free to ask me any questions in the meantime.

[Sulphur]

I will have to buy this eventually, because it's the reason for the funniest RPS article ever written.

This will be an obligatory link in every thread for this game.

[gozioso]

As far as (9) on my bad list, I just found out a way to patch the game. Refer to the instructions in this thread:

http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showt...post1061181487

I recently finished Precursors, and I enjoyed it:

Good:

(1) Large, open world spread across several planets (3 large ones)
(2) Solid gunplay mechanics with a decent weapon selection
(3) Good length (it took me at least 50 hours to finish)
(4) Very addictive gameplay
(5) Reasonably priced at $15
(6) RPG/FPS hybrid with perks and upgradable weapons
(7) Much better localization job than White Gold
(8) Space exploration

Bad:

(1) There are still some broken quests and scripting bugs
(2) Random terrible performance issues
(3) There is no manual
(4) Very abrupt ending (the game was planned as the first in a trilogy)
(5) Only land vehicles in the game (there are flyers, but you can't use them)
(6) Space side of the game is pretty simplistic

Bottom line:

If you liked White Gold, you'll definitely like Precursors.