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Alpha Protocol Discussion Here:

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WabeWalker said:
I only played for about an hour and a half last night - but already I'm a little bit confused.

At the beginning there was a plane crash, apparently the act of terrorists. But then there seemed to be some kind of time-jump, in which the character, three months earlier, was being held captive by his own people? He wakes up in a medical facility, where he's being trained.

I found it to be very confusing.
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I'm was a little confused by that as well.

WabeWalker said:
Also, I pumped every point I had into pistols, and one point into stealth. How do you decide where to invest your points? It's a real crap shoot. And hey, maybe that's part of the fun, not knowing what to do.
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No, that's just part of what makes this pure unmitigated garbage. :D GOOD games hold your hand and baby step you through the whole thing. BAD games make you decide what to do.
 
WabeWalker said:
Also, I pumped every point I had into pistols, and one point into stealth. How do you decide where to invest your points? It's a real crap shoot. And hey, maybe that's part of the fun, not knowing what to do.
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Yup, build him up the way you want. :)
 
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This seems like it would be a fun game, but christ the controls are fucking terrible. I can usually deal with just about any awful control scheme, but this is too much. Every time I'm walking around, all of a sudden it seems like my mouse just skips and my camera angle jumps and I'm looking and walking in some random direction. I don't get it. Makes it really freakin hard to sneak around when I can't even keep my guy walking in a straight line. And don't even get me started on the hacking, WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING.

I can't even get through the tutorial it's so bad. Which is a shame, because it looks like it has potential.

I don't care about he dated graphics, I'm in it for the gameplay, but I can't play it. Has anyone else run into this with the mouse skipping? I'd love to play through this, but it's essentially impossible at this point.
 
Q-BZ, I'm not at my home computer right now, so I can't help you out - but are you saying you can't level up your character?
 
B2BigAl said:
This seems like it would be a fun game, but christ the controls are fucking terrible. I can usually deal with just about any awful control scheme, but this is too much. Every time I'm walking around, all of a sudden it seems like my mouse just skips and my camera angle jumps and I'm looking and walking in some random direction. I don't get it. Makes it really freakin hard to sneak around when I can't even keep my guy walking in a straight line. And don't even get me started on the hacking, WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING.

I can't even get through the tutorial it's so bad. Which is a shame, because it looks like it has potential.

I don't care about he dated graphics, I'm in it for the gameplay, but I can't play it. Has anyone else run into this with the mouse skipping? I'd love to play through this, but it's essentially impossible at this point.
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I didn't experience any of that?
 
I had that problem as well BigAl. Editing your ini's should hopefully fix it by disabling mouse acceleration - see my post on the previous page. (though I still ended up with stuttering at the beginning of levels while it was loading)

//edit: I doubt the problem occurs if you use an xbox controller because it != mouse
 
B2BigAl said:
This seems like it would be a fun game, but christ the controls are fucking terrible. I can usually deal with just about any awful control scheme, but this is too much. Every time I'm walking around, all of a sudden it seems like my mouse just skips and my camera angle jumps and I'm looking and walking in some random direction. I don't get it. Makes it really freakin hard to sneak around when I can't even keep my guy walking in a straight line. And don't even get me started on the hacking, WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING.

I can't even get through the tutorial it's so bad. Which is a shame, because it looks like it has potential.

I don't care about he dated graphics, I'm in it for the gameplay, but I can't play it. Has anyone else run into this with the mouse skipping? I'd love to play through this, but it's essentially impossible at this point.
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Bizarre. I haven't had any of these problems, either.

For laughs, if you have a controller plugged in...unplug it and see what happens.





WabeWalker said:
Q-BZ, I'm not at my home computer right now, so I can't help you out - but are you saying you can't level up your character?
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I fixed it. :)



awsalick said:
I had that problem as well BigAl. Editing your ini's should hopefully fix it by disabling mouse acceleration - see my post on the previous page. (though I still ended up with stuttering at the beginning of levels while it was loading)

//edit: I doubt the problem occurs if you use an xbox controller because it != mouse
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http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035788169&postcount=279

^^ For convenience. Thank you for this! :)
 
Thanks awsalick, I updated the ini and it helped a little bit. However, the jerkiness when loading is still there unfortunately, which was what I guess was my main complaint. Then to top it off, as soon as I tried to hack the terminal to begin the espionage tutorial, it crashed and hard-locked my computer.

lol, I give up. Maybe I'll give the 360 version a shot, or just wait for a couple of patches to come out and give it another go. Too many good games out there for me to play right now to be dicking around with this nonsense.
 
Also, I can only comment on Pistols - but the shooting mechanic is just fine.

It's a role-playing shooting mechanic. For pistols, it works like this:

You're hiding behind cover and you've got your pistol out. While in cover you aim towards an enemy by placing a huge yellow circle on him. The circle then turns red, at which time the circle grows smaller and smaller until a dot is centered on the character you're shooting at.

At which time you simply pull the trigger.

I haven't advanced too far down the Pistol tree (I initially pumped all my points into that tree), but I''m assuming that this mechanic gets easier the further you progress (does it take less time for the yellow circle to turn red, and center on the character?) Special abilities also unlock as you progress down the skill tree. A slow-mo chain shot, for example, unlocks fairly early on. Right now, using chain shot, I can target two NPCs at close range, and take them out, with a cool-down of sixty seconds. It's pretty much a guaranteed take down.

I noticed, as well, that the yellow circle wouldn't turn red when I marked characters who were far away, meaning I couldn't really shoot at them - and that makes sense because I'm using a pistol, which shouldn't really be classified as a long range weapon.

Anyhow, I thought the mechanic was pretty decent. It obviously rewards people who take the time to learn how the game plays.

I think that with Alpha Protocol you're better off playing the game the way it wants you to play it, rather than deciding ahead of time to play it the way YOU want to play it. It's just not an action game. Its roots are clearly RPG based.
 
GregP24 said:
I'm was a little confused by that as well.



No, that's just part of what makes this pure unmitigated garbage. :D GOOD games hold your hand and baby step you through the whole thing. BAD games make you decide what to do.
Click to expand...

At the beginning of the game you're walking into the office of this guy (I'm presuming the main villain) and the plane crash is being shown on his screens along with the reactions to it, then its going back and showing what led to you getting there. The plane crash happened before you joined Alpha Protocol.
 
Just cleared it as a recruit without directly killing ANYONE. Sure I left a LOT of people in a LOT of pain but no one died. At least not directly by my hand.

Tag skills were Stealth, Sabotage, and H2H. There were a few points thrown into pistols and a slight few thrown into toughness as well.

Protip: Heck is crazy. So crazy its endearing. Having him around is just fun.

Things got crazy towards the end of my playthrough and I almost ended up going against my character's principles towards the end because of lack of tranq ammo.

Another Protip: Bum-rushing 4-7 guys with H2H and no other non-lethal means of takedown left WILL. GET. YOU. KILLED... REPEATEDLY.

Next up? A veteran, straight talking(with occasional bursts of anger), shotgun-toting tech specialist. Possibly with an epic beard, I haven't decided yet.

So Shotguns -> Tech Aptitude -> Sabotage. I wonder what the Veteran responses will be like.

Also can't wait for a patch, the mouse jitters screwed up my long range pistol aiming something fierce not to mention almost getting my caught by cameras or enemies several times.
 
I just finished my first mission and had a blast - this game is RPG heavy, and I can see, right away, that the focus here is about character development.

If this game had been a straight up action game, with no RPG elements, it wouldn't have held my attention at all.

It's the building of my character that's going to keep me going. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.
 
This game does seem to like to suddenly freeze and crash to desktop without warning or ceremony every so often. And yes, all my drivers are up to date.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with this game. :)
 
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Q-BZ said:
This game does seem to like to suddenly freeze and crash to desktop without warning or ceremony every so often. And yes, all my drivers are up to date.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with this game. :)
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I've had it stutter and freeze for a few moments, haven't run into a crash yet. Taking the day off from playing it to see if that helps my annoyance at the game. Get away from the bugs for a little bit and maybe I can get a better handle on my feelings for the game.
 
God I love seeing level up screens suddenly pop up before me (usually accompanied by music).
 
Derangel said:
I've had it stutter and freeze for a few moments, haven't run into a crash yet. Taking the day off from playing it to see if that helps my annoyance at the game. Get away from the bugs for a little bit and maybe I can get a better handle on my feelings for the game.
Click to expand...

This game definitely needs a patch but I suspect we'll never see it.


Overall, I like this game and it's scratching some itches for me. I'm glad I'm not more than $26 out of pocket for it which is why I can be fairly forgiving.

I would not recommend paying full price for this game in its present form to anyone. If they put out a robust patch? Then maybe I could but not now.
 
Q-BZ said:
This game definitely needs a patch but I suspect we'll never see it.


Overall, I like this game and it's scratching some itches for me. I'm glad I'm not more than $26 out of pocket for it which is why I can be fairly forgiving.

I would not recommend paying full price for this game in its present form to anyone. If they put out a robust patch? Then maybe I could but not now.
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Does Obsidian have a history of not supporting their games after launch?

This huge discussion is making me want to put Mass Effect 2 and Age of Conan on hold for bit so I can dive into Alpha Protocol. :p I already put Assassin's Creed II on hold for Mass Effect 2.
 
GregP24 said:
Does Obsidian have a history of not supporting their games after launch?

This huge discussion is making me want to put Mass Effect 2 and Age of Conan on hold for bit so I can dive into Alpha Protocol. :p I already put Assassin's Creed II on hold for Mass Effect 2.
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Maybe more up to the publisher, in this case SEGA. Obsidian released a lot of patches for NWN2.
 
GregP24 said:
Does Obsidian have a history of not supporting their games after launch?

This huge discussion is making me want to put Mass Effect 2 and Age of Conan on hold for bit so I can dive into Alpha Protocol. :p I already put Assassin's Creed II on hold for Mass Effect 2.
Click to expand...

They've only released two games, not much of a history to go on yet. KOTOR2 was unfinished and buggy as hell at launch, but LucasArts gave Obsidian a chance to get like one patch out before severing ties. Atari let them support NWN2 and its expansions fairly well. At this point its really up to Sega whether they'll allow Obsidian to continue working on AP or not. I don't exactly have high hopes.
 
GregP24 said:
This huge discussion is making me want to put Mass Effect 2 and Age of Conan on hold for bit so I can dive into Alpha Protocol. :p I already put Assassin's Creed II on hold for Mass Effect 2.
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Don't.

I'd easily play AC2...if you can tolerate that hideous DRM...ME2, and Age of Conan way ahead of this. Play those first and then come back after and see if this thing's been patched by that point.
 
I played through to the end of mission one last night, and never experienced any bugs - and the game is running at well over 100 fps for me, maxed out. So for me, I'm not going to be waiting for a patch. I'm still waiting for Empire Total War to be patched - now THAT'S a game that needs a patch.

I have a question about how the first mission ends:






* SPOILER ALERT *

Okay, the first mission ends with Mike being kicked out of Alpha Protocol - why?

I'd re-watch the cutscene were it not for the checkpoint save system. The problem is, I was low on health when my progress was auto-saved. Then I had to take out that tank - it was tricky.

For the life of me I can't figure out why he was booted out? As far as I can figure out, Haliburton was selling weaponry to black market dealers in the hopes of igniting another cold war, so that they can spin a profit. So agent Mike learned of this - I'm not sure why he got booted out of Alpha Protocol for that.

Who booted him out anyhow?

It's confusing.
 
I'm giving up for now.

Too many glitches, crash to desktops, and other stupid and annoying things happening in this game that are marring what could have been something special. That's what's so frustrating. This game really feels like an unfinished and unpolished product. The potential is ALL over the place. I can see it. I can practically feel it but just isn't quite there.


Basically here's how I feel about the game in its present form (save myself a bunch of typing):

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/alphaprotocol/review.html.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/109/1093931p1.html

and

http://www.giantbomb.com/alpha-protocol/61-20984/reviews/

^^ I know that's for the console version but it's the same damned thing basically.

Jeff really nails the mixed feeling that I and probably a lot of other people have about this game. It really could have kicked ass with some more time in quality control.


My BS tolerance goes only so far. ;)


Back to Red Dead Redemption for me for now. I'll revisit this when/if they ever put a patch out.
 
Q-BZ said:
This game really feels like an unfinished and unpolished product. The potential is ALL over the place. I can see it. I can practically feel it but just isn't quite there.
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+1 to that.

I'm maybe 5 hours into the game now and I'm enjoying the story and character interactions but the bugs are VERY frustrating.

1. The jittery mouse lag. I have implemented the .ini edits but I still get it some of the time. It doesn't even make sense, I can see the view changing a bit to a side as the game stalls for a split second to load something and I moved my mouse a half inch, but turning me around completely?! COME ON!

2. The important NPC doesn't spawn after reloading a checkpoint due to death. I got hit by this issue hard last night, as I had to restart the whole game 6 times before I realized all you really have to do is back out to the main menu screen and load from there.

3. The whole turning-on-AA-makes-dialogue-options-invisible-thing. I hate when I can't utilize the 5850 I just spent a bunch of cash on with some nice AA since I get steady 60 FPS at maxxed settings.

I'm going to suffer through though, because once I start a game I really like to finish it.
 
Q-BZ said:
Don't.

I'd easily play AC2...if you can tolerate that hideous DRM...ME2, and Age of Conan way ahead of this. Play those first and then come back after and see if this thing's been patched by that point.
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I'm not an anti-DRM freak, I pay for my games. I've never had any problems with DRM in the past and AC2 is no exception.
 
GregP24 said:
I'm not an anti-DRM freak, I pay for my games. I've never had any problems with DRM in the past and AC2 is no exception.
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I don't think he was implying you are a pirate. A lot of people, myself included, feel that the DRM used in AC2 is absurd, and it has had it's problems such as the authentication servers being DoSsed shortly after launch. DRM like this makes it so ONLY the people who actually paid for the game don't get to play it at times, while pirates play it uninterrupted.
 
corruptblitz said:
I don't think he was implying you are a pirate. A lot of people, myself included, feel that the DRM used in AC2 is absurd, and it has had it's problems such as the authentication servers being DoSsed shortly after launch. DRM like this makes it so ONLY the people who actually paid for the game don't get to play it at times, while pirates play it uninterrupted.
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I know, I just felt like being a smartass. Don't know why. Probably because it's Friday. I do agree that the DRM in AC2 is over the top, but I haven't had any problems.

At any rate, I'm going to play some AP tonight.
 
I haven't experienced any of these bugs you guys are talking about? The game is working perfectly for me. I even think that it looks modern - the depth of field effect, when your weapon is drawn, in particular gives the game a contemporary feel.

Apart from that, Alpha Protocol has reminded me why I love RPGs so much. I'm already planning my next build, even as I play through the game primarily as a weapons man.

I've been maxing out my pistol skill. There's something called 'Chain Shot', which becomes more powerful as you progress. It allows you to enter a bullet-time slowdown mode, whereupon you mark your targets, one by one. At the level I'm at right now I can mark as many as five targets. If I couple this with a high level pistol (bought from the black market) and with special steel tipped bullets (also bought from the black market) I can clear a room very quickly. It really gives me a sensation of power.

Here's the thing though: I wouldn't want to play again this way. I'm enjoying myself a lot right now - but how cool would it be to advance through this game without pumping ANY points into weapons. My god, it would be a completely different game almost.

I'm already planning that. That's what RPGs are all about. The modern day espionage setting is a huge breath of air - like walking into a stuffy room and throwing open the windows. I like fantasy and science fiction, don't get me wrong, but playing an RPG like this, set in contemporary times... it's pretty amazing.

Jesus, I can't wait for the weekend. It's going to be raining too. Guess where I'm going to be?
 
Are you being paid to promote this game?

Seems like every hour or so you're back in this thread with some new comment. And you're still the only one who likes it without reservation.
 
quackduck said:
I don't know, the graphics seem to lack polish (IE they suck) and the gameplay just doesn't look.. that good.. so I guess to me, that's unfinished.
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I'm happy with the graphics.

They look modern to me. The depth-of-field when your weapon is drawn gives the game a contemporary feel. But there are other nice touches as well. The way the characters have that sort of glow around their edges - I see that in a lot of contemporary games, and to me it's a nice effect. This is maybe analyzing it too much but If you look at the windows you'll see that they're smudged - that's the modern Unreal engine at work, and there are a lot of other little touches exactly like that. All the safe-houses are nicely detailed and look very clean.

The game performance is nice and smooth. I'm getting over 100 frames per second. Maybe other people have experienced bugs, but I haven't experienced any myself.

This game feels absolutely finished to me.

But for comparison's sake: To me, Arma 2 feels unfinished. That game runs like utter crap on my system, and I can see no real reason for it. Empire Total War has been problematic for me, and feels unfinished.

But really we're just quibbling here. To say that these games actually are 'unfinished' is an exaggeration.

A game that really was unfinished... and I mean literally unfinished... was Ultima Ascension. The publisher said to Origin: Ship the game now, in time for the Christmas sales. Origin said, but the game isn't finished. The publisher said: Either ship it now, or else we're pulling the plug on the whole project.

Ascension had been in development for five years, and so with a loaded gun pressed to its forehead, Origin decided to ship the game unfinished. The developers, years later, said they couldn't believe it.... just couldn't believe it. They knew the game was unfinished, but here they were, signing off on it.

Are you suggesting that Alpha Protocol is unfinished? You'll have to provide me with some concrete evidence in order for me to believe that.

I have the game. I'm playing the game. And this game is finished.
 
sorry WabeWalker but you are nuts if you think the graphics look modern. they are absolutely horrible for a modern game.
 
Well, maybe unfinished was a bad choice of words. Maybe they did finish it, it just didn't turn out as well as I was hoping. The reviews haven't been good, so this one will be an eventual rental for me.
 
quackduck said:
Well, maybe unfinished was a bad choice of words. Maybe they did finish it, it just didn't turn out as well as I was hoping. The reviews haven't been good, so this one will be an eventual rental for me.
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I think you might be looking for "unpolished." It just looks all-around like things didn't get the TLC they needed.
 
quadnad said:
I think you might be looking for "unpolished." It just looks all-around like things didn't get the TLC they needed.
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Yea, a shame too, the game in it's current state just seems like a poor man's Mass Effect to me.
 
A poor man's Mass Effect?

This game is nothing like Mass Effect. That was a shooter with RPG elements. Alpha is a pure RPG... oh what's the point... I'm just talking to a bunch of brick walls at this point. I'd rather be spending time with Robert Goulet.
 
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