Squad

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Sneaky

Lord Nagafen Raider
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Squad is now available on Steam as an Early-Access game:

Squad on Steam


It's a game for those who enjoy larger scale FPS games, but who think that Battlefield is too arcady and Arma too much of a sim.

It's made by Devs who were in large part responsible for the excellent "Project Reality" BF2 mod. Here a Trailer for the mod, so that you know what kind of gameplay they are developing the game for, if you never played it (vehicle assets are gone for up to 20 minutes if destroyed, in some cases permanently for the whole match):



Here the description from the Steam-Store:

Squad is a 50 vs 50 multiplayer first-person shooter that aims to capture combat realism through communication and teamplay. Major features include vehicle-based combined arms gameplay, large scale environments, base building, and integrated positional VoIP for proximity talking & radio.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
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This looks pretty sweet. I just hope the servers are populated and not like Arma 3 where you don't see anyone for 20 mins only to die instantly.
 

Sulrn

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Project Reality/Squad is an awesome concept, but I think (from what I've seen streamed) is they favor realism too much over what made BF fun - the gun play + chaos. The team play/objectives are great, but if the meat in between isn't entertaining then what's the point? Concept relies almost entirely on the community to fill the gap, but that's a mixed bag of gems and utter shit if it's even populated at all.
 

Sulrn

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If you haven't played PR, don't be. The game is fun (if you have two like minded teams of wannabe Infantry - ie not CoD killers). The maps are big and the added functionality of changing and building on the terrain is awesome, but if you're coming home from work and want to kill some people this game doesn't scratch that itch very well. That is unless you're willing to lie in ambush for 10+ minutes or wait 20+ minutes for your squad to Air Assault in to victory while the other squads rush in the flanks by convoy. You just have to understand that going in - for me that's an unrealistic expectation that a largely sustainable share of the market is going to put up with that much less a majority.
 

Punko

Macho Ma'am
<Gold Donor>
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i like how everyone knows public LoL games suck because the 5 people in the team hardly ever cooperate, but when its 50+ dudes on each side it should work better right

The game is fun (if you have two like minded teams of wannabe Infantry - ie not CoD killers).
so its fun like never? pass
 

Sneaky

Lord Nagafen Raider
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It worked out quite well in PR2. You shouldn't forget that the server-admins have quite some influence on how the people on their servers behave, so in PR2 you usually had a choice between servers that were more ment for the quick fun and others that were played by those who enjoyed more coordinated games.

I played Squad a little bit now and, for me, it is too early to tell which way it will go in the end. It is quite a bit less complex UI/control wise than Arma3 (thank god), but combat is very punishing and it is far easier to die from an unseen enemy than it is in PR2 (better graphics play a huge role in this). On the other hand it is also very rewarding.
 

Sulrn

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Hearing your experience pretty much confirms what I saw on stream. However, if it takes a server moderator to save a game... I think that says enough.

I remember the BF2 days and the way the community played the game was drastically different from how it played BF3/4. 3 not so surprising, but BF4 with most of the same assets as 2 there was no excuse. Either the community that wants tactical play outside of their Squad is dead or they never left BF2/PR which means it's not large enough to make a meaningful contribution to making this a successful (long lasting) game. I think there's hope here though. Refinements in incentivizing organized team play while improving the overall experience could go a long way.
 

Trollocaust

Lord Nagafen Raider
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Just got turned off to the game a bit. Nothing like trying to defend a compound from inside a building but being unable to shoot out of the windows because they are a tad too high. Sounds like the other team could duck-walk in the courtyard with impunity.
 

slippery

<Bronze Donator>
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Summit is playing it right now. It's interesting. I doubt I could justify spending the money on early access shit like this though.
 

Sulrn

Deuces
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So here's a recap from someone that pretty much plays every FPS:

However, if you want a good video to see the potential of what the game has to offer I suggest watching Bluedrake:

 

Sneaky

Lord Nagafen Raider
86
12
Content wise Project Reality is so far ahead of most other comparable games.

So many factions facing each other on 40+ maps, 100 player servers, fleshed out communication (VOIP), a good selection of vehicles/helicopters/planes, etc.

And you won't have trouble finding full servers.

It's still being developed, too. The latest patch arrived in November and a new one with additional factions, bug fixes and other things is in the works.



And PR2:WWII is in beta, too :)



An issue I see though - in PR2 quite a few of the factions were made by the community (or at least started) and then implemented officially into the mod. I don't see how that will easily be possible with Squad and I fear the result will be less variety down the road.
 

Sulrn

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I'm honestly surprised that what was essentially a BF2 community project has blossomed into something so awesome and no triple AAA feels threatened even when they're quite obviously behind the power curve on gameplay and creativity. Right now the only reason to pick up BF3/4 is for graphics or polish (hah!) since CoD does generic shooter mp/SP better.

I don't think you'll see it stay smaller, I just think it means development will be a lot slower on expansion of the base game.
 
W

Wrathcaster

If anyone's still interested, the game's come along nicely enough that it's far smoother than Arma2 and DayZ Standalone. This is pretty much everything that DayZ has become, with structure and without the ridiculous P2W layouts that dominate every server that exists in DayZ's Arma2 incarnation. Standalone isn't worth mentioning.

It skips the survival aspect, which anyone who's played any survival game past a month knows is an absolute farse, and skips along to the team based PvP, which is what all survival games eventually become. It just lacks the grind, but with the huge open map that those games provided, albeit at a loss of freedom. But let's be honest, if you've spent two days in DayZ or any survival game, you know the deal. It's all about gearing up and rushing into PvP with a group and plunging headfirst into a few hot areas, usually minuscule in size.

I played DayZ from the Arma2 inception til the horrible, enduring, ongoing death of the Standalone for four long years. After the first few months, it was always the same- gear up and kill with a squad.

Squad skips several steps, while still possessing all the loveable bugs that any alpha should possess. It's just squad PvP in an incredibly open world, with a predetermined set of loadouts, which was exactly what endgame survival games have always been. The ultimate objective of all of them has always been senseless murder.

The sense of loss, however, is lacking. That I can't deny. But past two months no one in any survival game ever has ever feared loss. Combat in an open, undetermined, and utterly unpredictable environment was always the true draw.

The true fault of this game, other than everything that accompanies an alpha, is that it does lack the fear of loss that accompanied DayZ. Respawns are predetermined, in a certain point, within a definite timeframe, with a certain kit. Were this game to reach utter horrifying perfection, it would require no respawn servers... Something that is absolutely possible.

I invite you all to join me, the most merciless bastard that ever lived in the zombie-bandit infested hell that was online apocalyptic eastern Europe. I've gone from one alpha to the next, hatefully murdering all the way, mastering the ballistics of every shitty, buggy rifle that developers could throw at me.

Most interesting of all, someone managed to design a teamwork based game around this concept. I'm terrible at it, I hate nearly everyone that plays it with me, and I adore every second of it. Give it a shot. It's an absolute blast, and unlike Counterstrike, the teens very quickly lose interest.

Jendryk2000 on steam.
 

Sulrn

Deuces
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I'm happy that you're enjoying the game, but based on that post alone you're missing the entire concept/intended draw of the game itself and are inviting others to do the same with a community and design concept horizon that are/will be in direct conflict for your stated draw to the game in a community that's notorious for pushing back against people who do such.

Enjoy it while you can?
 

Trollocaust

Lord Nagafen Raider
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I'm happy that you're enjoying the game, but based on that post alone you're missing the entire concept/intended draw of the game itself and are inviting others to do the same with a community and design concept horizon that are/will be in direct conflict for your stated draw to the game in a community that's notorious for pushing back against people who do such.

Enjoy it while you can?
I agree with you. This game really isn't meant to be anything close to a survival game. If you think so then you have completely missed the point. The point of Squad and Project Reality before it is to be a military simulator; working with your squad, all filling different roles so you can work as a unit, along with other squads to achieve the common goal and win the game. This is no survival game. There is no lone wolfing. If you run around doing anything but supporting the other squads, you are wasting everyone's time and being a scrub. Kills are only a means to an end.

TLDR: The Squad/Project Reality mindset is applicable to survival games. The Survival games mindset IS NOT applicable to Squad/Project Reality. Oh sure you can do it but prepare to get kicked from all the servers you will play on.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
11,930
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Everyone can play for free this weekend, I've been jonesing to try it out before buying. Anyone going to play? Would be nice to run with a known group of people.