SGC Demo feedback

[DragoonEnRegalia]

After testing the demo out at SGC last Friday, I decided to take the demo home and play it there. Having not played a single game of Doom in my life, I got used to the controls and mechanics rather quickly, and now I'm doing fantastic.

The level choice is standard, though it fits for a demo: small, medium, large, and then an extra level. Cut Man is utterly compact and is the level where weird occurrences such as death-upon-spawn (on accident, may I add) and ladder camping. The weapon placement on the level, mainly in putting the dangerous weapons atop ladders, adds challenge in actually reaching the weapons, which is also excellent. On another note, the corridors are long enough to lend a major advantage to long-range weapons such as Needle Cannon and Rolling Cutter, which can make a Cut Man session a pain in the arse. This is a great map for tactical exercises, where one must learn to dodge enemy attacks with finesse.

Metal Man, unfortunately, does not improve on any issues with camping that were present with the ladders in Cut Man -- instead adding numerous new areas to lie in wait for trespassers. For example, atop the conveyor belts, one can snipe anyone below with Magnet Missile, all the while in an excellent position to escape should another enemy get on the belts and to the Magnet Missile camp. The player can then easily pick up the restoratives right below the camping spot, and survive without much of a hitch. These places are commonplace throughout the level, and can often be exploited, though this ultimately cannot be avoided. Regardless, the level makes for interesting gunplay all-in-all, and the weapon placement is better balanced than Cut Man in some areas. As with Cut Man, the focus is on tactics, but with more and more strategy mixed in.

Needle Man lends itself well to close-range combat, mainly with the Ring Boomerang and the Air Shooter among other weapons. While long-range combat is more than possible in some areas of the level, such as the window gallery area (which extends to a larger area via small tunnel), it is generally less effective in a game session than simply cornering an enemy with various close-range weapons. Though this can sort of defeat the need of a large-scale level such as Needle Man, it also encourages more hectic and complex strategy, mainly in finding the most effective weaponry and then flanking enemies in wolf-packs. This, unfortunately, was not something that my team did very well, and we often got pounded because of said complicity.

Skull Castle Interior is the map where the tide turns most of the time, and numerous higher mechanics, such as the background music (which generally is cathartic as always, and often motivates the players to get better), can make for mercurial game sessions when servers are busy. The main issue with the map, as has been said by many other players, is the tele-porter and the place to which it teleports. If another weapon was placed in said camping spot, one that would not be as utterly effective at laying waste to enemies as the dread Napalm Bomb, then many of the camping complaints could be solved -- this obviously only applies to the demo, as the weapon placement differs in the final game. Due to the many close corners in the map, weapons such as Napalm Bomb and Gemini Laser are the most effective, as they can be applied to either lay traps around a corner or to send laser beams ricocheting across walls. This map generally has the best mix of tactics and strategy, as I observed during my game sessions on Nam's server.

To make an aside from the levels: the skins included in the demo fit quite well, being the usual line-up of Classic Mega Man characters. The audiovisuals are excellent in general, with each appropriate sound effect for weapons and power-ups included -- it applies just the same to level graphics, where the sprites of each respective MM level create a fresh atmosphere in contrast to many other first-person shooters, such as Doom 2. The map design is inventive all-in-all, as is the weapon placement, and the music can make or break the atmosphere of a match. Overall, an excellent demo, if unfortunately flawed.

[CopShowGuy]

I don't see a large amount of camping in Metal Man's stage.  In fact, I see camping on that stage the least.  It's really at its worst in Skull Castle Interior with the teleport camp and, a more recently seen one, search snake spam from the pit of water towards the stairs.

[TERRORsphere]

Lol, camping is not an issue. If you see someone camping in Cutmans stage. Throw some scissor blades into them, easy.

Skull Castle teleport camp... Lazer them to death!

[DragoonEnRegalia]

I never said that the camping in Metal Man was worse than in Skull Castle, but that there was more camping in Metal Man's stage than in Cut Man. Indeed, Skull Castle is the worse offender, mainly with the tele-porter camping and tele-porter room camping. From my experience, though, Metal Man has offered succulent opportunities for camping in the games I've played. It can be a hassle at the least, and deadly if done well.

As for dealing with this, yeah, just laser the campers to hell in Skull Castle and hope it works. The Search Snake bombing pales in comparison to the Napalm Bomb, which is why camping around the tele-porter is a real hassle, as the best way to deal with it is the one weapon you can only get by going through the darn thing.

[TERRORsphere]

I've had no issues with camping. It's because I know how to counter it. Camping isn't against the rules, it's just another way of playing. A way of playing you gotta learn how to combat.

[CopShowGuy]

Lol, camping is not an issue. If you see someone camping in Cutmans stage. Throw some scissor blades into them, easy.

Skull Castle teleport camp... Lazer them to death!

Which works if no one else in the room below is trying to kill you.  I prefer to send snakes up their way just so they don't see them coming.

[DragoonEnRegalia]

Which is precisely the point if you're trying to root out the campers. It's get very risky to just go into the middle of a firefight and try to laser the campers like that, and those who pull it off and survive deserve a pizza.

[CutmanMike]

As for the campers in the Wily stage, there'll be less intensive to in the final version, as there's only a spark shock up there. Also snakes can really hurt them if you blindly fire a few up there.

[DragoonEnRegalia]

I used Search Snake a good deal for that, and it works wonders. It and Gemini Laser are the best bets for that spot. Thunder Beam is still rather nasty, but mercifully less than Napalm Bomb-ing from said position.

[Mr. X]

Are you sure you're delivering the finishing shot?

Yes, the message bar at the top has the "so and so was _____ by Mr. X's ______", but it doesn't appear in the center of the screen.  I tried the message settings but none of them seem to fix it.  Also, I never even touched the message settings when they disappeared.  They just stopped appearing in the middle of a match.

EDIT:  It just started working again suddenly.

About the camping issue, I almost like it when people camp up there.  I just use Gemini Laser and usually get about 2 easy kills.

[FuPoo]

i see a lot of people camp up there in that little balcony corner at wily stage but shoot a couple of snakes up there and theyre sure to scram after a few hits

[Anonymous]

i cant seem to start up single player.
when i click single player the thing loads but than it crashes and my computer randomly restarts

[TERRORsphere]

Try software.

[Shippou]

just played the game today, and it was fantastic i loved it. cant wait for the full version

[Anonymous]

The game is overall great, im still having trouble with online play though. And i can never seem to get past Metal Man's stage! Would it be helpful to aim, because it feels wierd to aim and makes me suck more