Comments - Criftus

I'm not entirely in agreement with Switch, but there *is* something a little off with the MJ12 Trooper. JC has never looked better though. This is a good take on the character. Keep it up!

Nice idea. Flying mounts are always great in games. =)

I do have a suggestion for future conceptual art which can also be used for future works of art as well. Sometimes "less is more" as they say. Making the viewer understand that the creature has many feathers/fur/etc. doesn't require that each individual piece needs to be drawn in, and sometimes to include each ruffle of fur or feather will actually detract from the overall look of the work, as I believe it does in this case. The wings themselves look fine, and in this case it was a good idea to include each feather, but his body could definitely do without all the lines.

Anyways, it's a cool idea. I actually like the photo of the sky against the concept. It establishes a sharp contrast between the two. Best of luck!

I agree with BlckWyerve ... it just goes to show that the engine doesn't make a good game, it's the artists behind it that do. Those maps look amazing. I'm really hoping that the scale and proportions are correct (I hate it when I'm almost as tall as a cargo container lol), but I'm sure they're good. :) Keep it up!

Ah. Right... Apologies. By "successor" ... uh... I meant... style-wise... yeah. :nervous:
Regardless, looks good in spite of my gripes. Cheers. :)

I'll have to admit, I liked your concept art for the characters more than the renders (like someone else mentioned, it's looking a lot less cartoony than I'd expected). The rabites and chobin hoods were always so nice-looking ... they're pretty evil looking in this one. =P It doesn't shout Secret of Mana successor to me the way they are now, you know?

The maps though. Wow. Captures the feel of the original perfectly. I'm really impressed with those. Keep it up!

I've had this game for a while now, and had a lot of fun with the single player (except the ending) and the multiplayer. There's just this one thing that's ****** me off about this game since I first tried it...

... All of the GDI/NOD facilities do some pretty amazing things and are all fairly large structures. So why is it that they're all not complicated? AT ALL? I mean, you'd think that in a facility processing Tiberium for instance there would be a little more to it, right?

These are all supposed to be independent, largely self-sufficient structures, but in the majority of the facilities there aren't any break rooms, meeting rooms, decontamination rooms, processing lines, warehousing/storage areas, maintenence areas, emergency exits, administrative offices, etc. etc. And every room always looked so empty too, you know? Just a terminal or two on the wall and a ton of floorspace. lol =P I think the NOD training facility was the most fleshed out of them all - they had an armory, a cafeteria, a training area, showers ... but each looked pretty dull to me... not in the least bit "realistic" or how I'd imagined the inside of the structure to be.

Was anyone else as disappointed with that as I was?

The calligraphy is quite nice. Generally speaking things aren't translated verbatim like that on posters or advertisements though ... and listing the owner of the club on the poster seems a little weird, doesn't it? I don't remember if there was an original Lucky Money poster in DX, so I guess if this follows what they had in the game that's cool. Damn though... that "Owner: Max Chen", and the other english really throws me off for some reason.

I was searching around for some mods to play and remembering my dusty copy of Unreal II I hit this one up. While I haven't played the demo yet (am installing Unreal2 as I type) the screenshots you've provided are *very* impressive and show a sense of style sorely lacking in so many projects. I really hope this one isn't permanently dead.

Unreal 2, while an older engine, still has some power to it ... were I you I would keep with what you've been working with - I mean, just look at Duke Nukem Forever. =P But I guess that's all dependent on if development picks up or is resumed.

All the best. I'll be watching this one for sure. =)

I'm really looking forward to this one. =) Everything is looking great - keep it up! =D

... both of those defenses don't qualify for me either (it's free/you don't mod) ... so I think our definitions of legitimate criticisms/complaints and flaming must differ a little. Making a huge deal (in caps no less!) over a publicly available model, or the mods similarities to a commercial product falls under "unnecessary flak" to me. Maybe it's just the approach that's annoying me so much.

I think CS is the most-played mod because they had a strong fan-base giving largely constructive opinions/suggestions that incrementally improved the quality of the content. I think "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all" works well in a development community, with "good" in that sense being something a little more useful than "u r t3h suX0rxz!!1!","this game is bad", "you're stealing" or "your mod is like ". People can have opinions - it's just whether or not those opinions have any value and are worth saying is the question. Sometimes they deserve a "**** off". =P

I dunno. Useless comments/opinions/criticisms bug me, and I've seen mods/software/emulators/games die because of them. "not having any business in the creative community" or not, I was looking forward to what they were producing and it was upsetting to have something ruined because a few people felt the need to voice their concerns. Just keep it constructive and helpful - is that so much to ask? =D

Anyways. That's enough for me. =)

What is it with "niche" scenes and overly critical users? For God sakes people...

Intellectual property or not, are you all from the patent office, some major media network, the supreme court, or perhaps the FTC? So this gate of theirs looks a lot like the one from Stargate... BFD! Are you so offended by this striking similarity that you feel the need to berate the mod creator over it? They're making a non-profit addition for your original purchase - why not keep your comments to constructive criticisms? Let them deal with the potential (unlikely) legalities should they somehow come up. User-outrage over something like a slight copyright infringement. It's hilarious. =P

As far as the BMW is concerned, it's good of you to have gone out of your way to clear that up. Contrary to popular belief, it's not "pathetic" (I actually laughed at the usage of that word - far too harsh) not to give credit for the author of a model in a screenshot update. Giving credit in the final work is all that matters. If they'd released their mod with no mention of a contribution by an outside source, then by all means complain. But going so far as to not source every contributor in a media update? Dastardly.
...does that not seem ridiculous to anyone else?

I've seen so many projects over the years be taken down by users with too much time on their hands. These are projects developers are doing with their spare time and are giving to you without asking for anything in return. It requires incredible motivation to continue creating something when the people you're making it for have nothing but criticisms to throw at you and your teams work. Why ruin something people can enjoy?

At any rate, mod developers (also anyone who contributes to a scene) should remember that the bulk of satisfied users don't leave comments at all. If anything, keep making mods for them.
... and me. =P

Reminds me of ONS Toon Country for UT2004. =) People should do more things with this kind of style. Good stuff!

I like the atmosphere of that first shot. Very professional. =)

I'd say stick with things relating to mods. The retrospectives on fallen/older mods is such an incredible idea. There are a bunch of modifications that never saw the light of day, and I wanted explanations for why things fell apart, or wondered if the authors moved on to other things in the mod scene. Articles like that could even resurrect interest in truly unique mod concepts.

I'd say stay away from comics, developer events and video reviews - they'll just take time away from what this site is about. There are already tons of VG comics around the net, and sites offering full coverage of industry events ... don't spread yourselves too thin! Hosting footage of mods in action would be a good idea in support of screenshots however.

Other than that, keep doing what you're doing. =D

... so much more could have been done with this concept! =(

I loved the new HUD (nice blue colour!), and as soon as I saw the stun baton I thought to myself how great it was going to be to play for the other team. Fighting against the resistance? Going after Gordon? Taking back captured bases? Having a squad of combine soldiers at your back? How cool would that be?

Then I saw the zombies. Okay, okay, zombies. No big deal. A few mixed in with retaking the base seemed out of place (considering the one soldiers exclaimation), but I can live with that. Oh, it's the whole place that's infested with zombies. There aren't any resistance members. Just screaming zombies. And an obscene amount of headcrabs...

Further along, a bridge collapses mid-combat (why I ask...?), and I tumble downwards to black. Like Mr.Kadish, I wondered what was going on. The sound effects didn't seem to follow any sort of pattern ... was I unconscious? delirious? is the game messing up? ...nope! load-time! it's okay! ... then as I'm nonchalantly walking across yet another platform it suddenly collapses as well and I die. People just don't build bases like they used to. =\

Since then I've become trapped in a storage container where some ammo & health was temptingly placed, jumped down into a pit where there weren't any ladders (a message actually comments on this...), leaped from a catwalk to another flanked by doors to find that neither door will open (I wouldn't mind this but for the explicitly placed incentives to make this jump), and run through so many tight, winding corriders that I wonder who designed this base and how anything was ever accomplished while it was occupied by the living! =\ ... and why the antlions?

That said, there were a few nice touches. Having combine hardware working for you was cool the two times I saw it used - but I suppose it's a given considering you're supposed to be a combine soldier. In a few areas I was impressed by the design as well. But ultimately I was disappointed. This idea has *so* much potential ... but in the end it's just running-and-gunning. A few minutes in and I forgot what I was supposed to be doing and who the character I was playing was. It could just as easily been Gordon.

... Anyways, maybe I've just become spoiled. This definitely isn't MINERVA.