Strag

Last night, several TG folks with access to the MP3 beta patch joined our GRAW server for a coop shakedown. Initially things were a bit hectic and too fast-paced for us to be effective, but after some time we slowed things down. The mission timer, unfortunately, was capped at ten minutes, making for some very short missions. However, Apophis has corrected this, and we now have a more proper 45 minutes per mission.

As a huge fan of the original Ghost Recon (OGR) at TG, I'm happy to report that GRAW has the potential to be a worthy successor. The OGR coop mode is indeed faithful to the original Ghost Recon, with the added bonus of allowing three FOUR-person teams for a total of 12 players in the squad. The teams are the familiar Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie, with each being identified by color on the map. And, the mission does not end abruptly when the Leader is killed, which is a Good Thing!

The map is a spartan version of the one in single-player GRAW. Only the positions of friendlies appear, just like how it is with OGR at TG. There is a grid overlay, although each grid square appears to be 100 meters per side instead of 25 meters. As such, frequent use of sub-grids will probably be necessary to give proper locations of spotted tangos, at least until we can add our own improved grid overlays.

Tangos are just as brutal -- if not more so -- than in OGR. In GRAW's OGR coop mode, the goofy red diamonds identifying tangos (from the single-player mode) are gone, so slow movement and proper scanning are required for survival. One current drawback is that the various kits don't include binoculars, so the sniper kit takes on an increased importance. All long-range recon must be done by the sniper(s) at this point.

There is a mission setup screen very similar to that of OGR, where everyone can chat, plan a strategy, choose kits, and ready up. I didn't see a way to vote someone stripes, but perhaps I missed it. If this feature is absent, the Leader will need to be voted "manually" (and no hanging chads! ).

Folks who played OGR here at TG can expect a very solid game with GRAW. I know I felt things "clicking" toward the end of last night, and HSantal, who joined the action midway through the night, seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit. Right now we only have three OGR coop missions to play, but I'm hoping that the mod community will start to produce more content soon. If any folks here at TG would like to get (re)involved with modding GRAW, please let us know by either posting here or sending me a PM. It would be great if TG could become a major contributor in the GRAW modding community, just like it was for OGR.

The final version of the MP3 patch should be released fairly soon. For those TG players sitting on the fence with this game, I encourage you to give it a shot. We will be playing the game very much like how OGR is/was played at TG, so our TG OGR veterans should feel right at home. I won't say GRAW coop is flawless, but it is very well done, and it is certainly in the spirit of OGR. There are some bugs and glitches to be worked out, but OGR had those as well. What would Ghost Recon be without those?

Evo<^|SiNz|^>

Good to hear you like it. Did you find any variation in the placement of tangos on the new coop maps? I'm worried it might be a while before custom maps come out, and I've played two of the three new ones to death.

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"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
- Attributed to General George Patton, Jr.

Strag

Yes, there does seem to be some randomization of tango placement.

BHack

having not played the original ghost recon. Is there an objective to the OGR mode? Or is it sort of like firefight/kill all the baddies?

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Strag

In mission-based OGR coop play, there are typically multiple objectives. H-Hour has scripted some very intricate missions for OGR, such as Xerxes, that play extremely well. I hope we see this quality of missions available fairly soon for GRAW.

With the current maps/missions for GRAW, the only objective seems to be to extract successfully. This is pretty basic, so, again, hopefully we'll see some more involved GRAW coop missions from the community. If anyone here at TG would like to get involved, please let us know.

Magnum50

just wondering... I know were talking about and looking at the new OGR mode... but is there any word what so ever on bringing some of this stuff, (12 player co-op, mission continues after leaders death, etc etc) to the co-op missions?

Sure OGR mode is nice, and great teamwork and tactics are needed, but I'd sure like to see some goals in our missions later on... like the original GR co-op missions.

but anyway, count me in for some GRAW games.

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Magnum
www.gettacticaldammit.com

Strag

Yes, this is exactly what we're going to need. GRIN put in only the basic goal of extracting with their three OGR coop mode missions. We will definitely want more involved missions with different goals, and hopefully we'll start to see these soon from the modding community.

Again, this is a great opportunity for someone(s) at TG who might want to get involved in creating new coop maps and/or missions.

H-Hour

A while ago, GRIN had hinted that 12-man coop would be possible with a little "hacking". I'm hoping that with the 12-man coop game mode, people will be able to figure out how to enable 12-man coop missions. If not, then GRIN really missed the point on this one, but I suspect it will be done.

Strag

If this could be done, it would certainly tide us over until new content started to become available from the modding community.

beep

oooohhhh....

I may have to come back from the WoW land of the addicted to try this once the MP3 is public. Is there any timeline estimate for that?

GR is what brought me to TG in the first place.

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Beep


Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. - (Isaac Asimov)

Shiner

I building a new rig once the parts arrive and am pretty excited to be able to play GRAW at reasonable frame rates. Keep the updates coming. Any idea when the mp3 will be available for the rest of us so we can join you guys?

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Strag

Hopefully soon, but I haven't yet heard a date set in stone. Does anyone else know?



Last night we had another session of beta testing, with three or four players on the server at any given time. Things felt much tighter and very much like original Ghost Recon. With a full squad of 12, it should be quite enjoyable.

Maybe some of the other guys involved in our beta testing sessions will chime in with their impressions. (If so, please remember to keep it fairly vague. )

Trooper

The missions are harder and the AI are a bunch of crack shots. Looks pretty and sounds even better....hows that

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that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

TG_Bubba

Great fun, watch out for the _________ at the end of the ________ . When you get around the ______ and up the ________ it is right there.

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TG_Mateo: "Forget freedom, democracy, the blues and New York Pizza: Our lasting contribution to human society is Bourbon."

TG_Bubba

I will say this, it is a VERY SLOW PACED GAME.

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TG_Mateo: "Forget freedom, democracy, the blues and New York Pizza: Our lasting contribution to human society is Bourbon."