Community Assessment

A fair assessment of the community from a player’s perspective. It generally matches mine, although I could go into much more detail on how to solve the issues outlined below:

player numbers tend to either go up or decline. patches sometimes ruin the game like in this current version alot of people crash after round win or 3rd round ect. the dev team has told us what they have planned, mind you these are big things but it appears to be a slow progression process so fans get restless at the little progress being made for what ever reasons, and rebellious due to well the game which still has its share of flaws. supporting this mod is just about the same way you play the mod, slow and patiently. the numbers as i said arent stable, cos well people grow tired of the mod, move on to other games or games which have just come out (ins mod survived arma2 and operation flashpoint 2 and americas army 3, but has suffered since mw2 came out) also mod flaws, or just give up on the mod.

the community is strong in a sense, alot complain but they still stay cos they enjoy the mod and theres nothing else out that simulates the experience better. also alot of the community have been playing it since it was first released and the community itself is made up of older blood (new blood being people who have just introduced themselves to the mod), i myself have not always been active on these forums but have been playing the mod since it was released. i must also say the real fun is not only on a pub server but in clan matches.

– byzantine90

DO NOT Punish the Player

Often players since the patch have found a negative score on their scoreboard. This, if being a factor on the affect of the total score of the player, should not be displayed. Otherwise, what’s the point? Incentive? Do not punish them for having a “-10″ kill:death ratio, or at least don’t tell them about it.

2.5 Review

Now that the patch came and the mod is more functional (many users experienced crash issues, as every major patch has), a proper look can taken at the latest iteration of Insurgency.

First impressions:

Yes, finally tracers are working. They weren’t in the original release because of a bug that you could see them through surfaces (i.e. behind walls, etc). Now that it took more than two years to solve, you begin to realize how important tracers are to the game, especially a game about war.

The M203 sight is more broken than it was before. Except now it defies logic. I don’t know how to fix that sight, since I have never used that particular one (the sight I used on the M203 with C7A1 is different), and apparently nor does anyone else.

Sounds take a bit of getting used to. I like the phrase, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but I understand the reason that it was an opportunity to get engineer’s work in the game, and I respect that. However, I do feel that some of the sounds before were better. M203 reload and pistol firing come first to mind. The shotgun I am getting used to, but preferred the previous one.

I like all of the new insurgent skins, but why replace the previous ones and not just add the new ones? It would see more variety in the player appearance. However, I do strongly advocate the replacement of the previous default skin (the light camo top) to the current dark camo with Iraqi flag smock. Nice work by Splinter on these, but spine’s originals are still very strong to use together.

I have been experiencing more Marine victories it seems. I’m not sure of the competence of the other team, but I also believe the Marine weapons have less recoil and stronger accuracy. Damage seems to be reduced on many as well.

Grenade physics are worse. They don’t bounce, and I don’t like the sound… it matches the dropping a weapon sound, but you should be able to hear a distinctive sound from a grenade bouncing or someone throwing their weapon near you.

I don’t recall the reason behind no weapon in first-person spectate, but it was a bug that was just waiting to be addressed. It makes spectating way better, and better shows the game to other users (who can learn from it by watching).

I do not like the VGUI in the spectate. I like the function (as we originally designed a death vgui that wasn’t completed for release because it caused crashing) and information. It is just not very clearly displayed. There is an overuse of Dity Headline font. I love that font (having picked it out myself), and we were one of the first media to use it (I have seen it since used on CNN). But it is not legible at the smaller sizes. I can barely read the stats on the VGUI. Plus it should be transparent so that you can see more of what is behind.

Also on the VGUI, I tried minimizing it, but it just locked up any ability to move around in spectate after. Nor could I enable the VGUI again. Not sure if this has been addressed by the patch, as I am too scared to use it.

The weapon retextures are nice.

Patch

Good job Louti on getting a patch out so quickly to fix some immediate issues.

Hey Pablo, do you feel what releasing often feels like? Feels good eh? Keep doing it.

2.5

They never wanted to do a 2.5 on Source as I suggested, only work on Beta 3 they said. Well, they took my advice, yet again, and released the ’summer patch’ in late October (where winter has begun in some parts of Canada) a ‘two point five’ patch.

Don’t bother updating, there is no improvement.

Rest in Peace Lt. Justin Boyes, the second fallen soldier I have served with in the North Saskatchewan Regiment.

Midnight Thoughts

Rumour has it, I don’t officially know since the INS programmer has posted it in his developer log that is not available to the public, that the next patch will be released this week.

Is this 2.2? 2.3? I’m not sure what version it is, since they haven’t really decided to name it yet. I had ideas for 2.5 that were on Source, to portray Afghanistan, but alas, we are only stuck with Karam. Those ideas were rejected by the current leadership.

I still don’t know what OFP2:DR is like, since they haven’t released the demo yet, but what is currently eating my time away is Project Reality for BF2. They also portray Afghanistan, particularly Korengal Valley. Not like the NYTimes does though. Too bad there isn’t a game company to fund a photographer like Louie Palu or Rafal Gerszak to photograph Afghanistan accurately for them. Or too bad a game designer has not yet reached war for the purpose of accurately depicting the combat experience for the medium.

The certain element that sets PR apart from INS, although I did witness this in INS albeit not as often as in PR, is the players. I join a squad playing PR and there is collaboration galore. That is all I wanted for Insurgency, just collaboration amongst team members in game. It all comes down to the players, right?

Before you abandon all hope with Insurgency, hopefully they will patch some things, and Alex Zandor will complete his Zgoda map. Until then, you can try the current installment of Zgoda on the TDB Custom Levels server, or likely on a European or Brazilian server.

Also, Luger’s US Army skins go much better in the temperate setting.

The End of The Beginning: Part Two

Dear Pablo,

I hope this letter finds you well.

Insurgency is about winning the little moments. That split second it takes to aim your weapon – essentially drawing weapons with one another in a duel – it is that moment you need to beat the most. It is the moment defining your survival. Do you risk shooting from the hip in an attempt to temporarily blind and hopefully giving you time to land the shot? Or do you aim by instinct to land the accurate shot, provided you are quicker on the draw and getting on target?

There are several factors that need to come into place in order to have success. Combat is complex. It is confusing. It is defined by the leadership, communication, and ultimately intelligence of the victorious force. Guerrillas are highly intelligent. There are battles and there are wars.

While I remain ‘Senior Advisor’ of the mod, those channels of communication were cut.

Here is my parting words of advice in regards to improving Insurgency. They must be public in order for them to find you.

1. Abandon Beta 3, it is a waste of time to just explore the technology while you could be working on improving the current Source version of the mod.

2. Release what you have so far in the patch, even if it’s only cosmetic. Give the community something – you make them suffer far too much for a released game that only needs improvement. I took it through the toughest times to get it started and off the ground running. I envy you can lead the development on the released product. Yet, you do nothing.

3. Understand your audience, but more importantly understand your topic. What separated us from everyone else was we seemed to know what we were talking about when it came to representation of contemporary war. You easily could market the mod that way, but do not have the vision in that area.

4. Recognize talent. It stares you in the face. More importantly, recognize the lack of talent. Jeremy was my Art Director. Who is yours? What is their contribution?

That’s all big picture stuff. Do you want me to go into more detail?

Cheers.