24 replies to this topic

[Frodo]

Ribby, on 15 July 2011 - 03:26 AM, said:

Hi Frodo, I'm making the game review as I type this reply.

I have one question.

Should I include the content from the Content Submission thread?
http://www.reloaded....p?showtopic=51#

That's great Ribby.  Thanks.      And yes, we need review & screenshots, before it can go on site.  

Ribby, on 15 July 2011 - 04:06 PM, said:

Hey, where do I submit my review for Dark Horizons Lore: Invasion? In this thread or PM? The attachment limit is too small for my screenshot submission.

I can't put anything on the shoutbox.

Thanks Ribby, we appreciate the time you took for this.  I'm sending you a PM with my email.  Could you send your submission to there, please?  It goes without saying, please don't spread my email address around, hehe.  

[Ribby]

Review and screenshots submitted!

[Frodo]

That's brilliant work Ribby.  Thankyou very much.  It will be on site soon.  

[Ribby]

Frodo, on 16 July 2011 - 12:47 AM, said:

That's brilliant work Ribby.  Thankyou very much.  It will be on site soon.  

Frodo, I have second thoughts about whether Dark Horizons Lore: Invasion should be in the Abandonia Reloaded site.
After my review, I felt the game may suffer from serveral flaws may outweigh its gaming potential.

One of the most major flaws about this game is its drop of processing performance when a bot is destroyed. The video output slows like a simple web camera. I do not know if the game design intends to emulate a signal disruption from bot explosions, but this performance lag takes away much of the gaming experience. The performance lag also appears in the beginning of each game session (bot spawn spam).

Another flaw that should be addressed is the artifical intelligence of the bots (for singleplayer). The bots do not uses its special weapon, cloak (applied to some bots), or even use hoverjets. What I am just saying is that the A.I. does not seem advanced enough to provide that challenging mech combat gaming experience. Do not expect a implemented Unreal Touranment A.I. in this game.

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There is an updated version of DHLI, but the update is by a modding team. The updated version was released on March 14, 2001. The changes added robot infantry (smoke comes out from the body when damaged), adjusted values, added more weapons/maps, and allow certain bots to hover in air. I don't think that this version is really that great because it removed all cloaking abilities, which is something I liked about the game.

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If there another 3d robot combat game, I think that WindomBootfighterXPSP-2 from the company Mirror Moon, might be slightly better. This game allows online gameplay with no real registeration (and no chat during game sessions). The A.I. is definitely more advanced than DHLI, and you can smack down buildings. There are still performance lag for projectile spamming. No free for all mode though. Also no turning, but there is a locking target system.
http://mirrormoon.org/projects/windom

Edited by Ribby, 18 July 2011 - 03:14 AM.

[Frodo]

Hey Ribby  

Thanks for that information.  Don't worry about having second thoughts though.  It's not a problem.  But I do need to know for clarificatiion, would you prefer your review not to be on site though?  

If there's anything else that takes your fancy, don't be afraid to mention it.  

[Ribby]

I think I will eventually want my review to be on site.

I was just testing out the DHLI_v3.14, and multiplayer works (registeration required for some reason though [don't use important email addresses just in case])!
I even managed to get in contact with a modding team member behind the continuing development.
The contact was thur irc so I guess I was quite lucky to find a active idler.

I want to postpone the review so I can review DHLI_v3.14.
With the multiplayer working, this game will be a game with much more gaming experience than the earlier versions.

The performance lag is still there despite the minimum OS requirements. I decided to make a folder/.zip with extreme reduction in the graphics for some objects so there is less lag. The results turned out to be satisfactory. I plan to upload my folder/.zip to the Extras section.

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I finished the review for DHLI_v3.14 except for some confusion over a dubious publisher involvment of 'Acidbath Productions'. Once this is finished, I'll email the new review.
Nevertheless, you can see the updated game for yourself @ http://www.smellysea...unks3-14-11.zip
Here is the grayscale graphics pack for less performance lag. http://dl.dropbox.co...raphic_pack.zip
The updated version has a slight difference to in the interface; should I make screenshots for the matters of consistency? How many screenshots?

Edited by Ribby, 22 July 2011 - 06:25 AM.

[Ribby]

Lo and behold! There's a version/release date of 5-22-11!

Looks like I got to catch up.

[Frodo]

Hehe.  Have fun catching up.  

[Ribby]

I have to spend some time with the 5-22-11 release date of DHLI. My grayscale graphics folder seems to churn out inapprioriate errors (the game still runs with unacceptable operation) for some new maps so I decided to upload the 3-14-11 release as it is. I might get my grayscale graphics folder to work for the 5-22-11 release date later on in the future.

~I almost forgot to mention this:
the review for the DHLI 3-14-11 release is now sent to you.

[Frodo]

Dark Horizons is on site now.  Thanks Ribby