The DoWII Thead [Archive] - Page 3

Food Nipple

03-04-2009, 03:31 PM

1.)You have to get MS certification for a public beta if you're going to plan on releasing w/o it exploding.
2.)Clearly Relic can't fix things in a single day, if they've repeatedly had the same bug. Lying about your software dev process doesn't make it true.
3.)Shitty QA == True.

I will state that this is partially an architectural issue with 32-bit and DX9, so MS does have some blame, to be honest. I really question the decision to not have a DX10 implementation, which would outright get rid of these issues.

Overall, you seem to have a much higher opinion of MS Cert than I do. I don't know much at all about the PC side of things, but I have played my fair share of Xbox games with basic functionality issues that I would have assumed cert was designed to catch, such as games not rendering properly at specific resolutions.

Look at a game like Left 4 Dead, where the 360 version lags behind the PC by at least a month because patches on one platform need to be certified. When Valve discovered server-side exploits, they were patched on the 360 version within 48 hours; no cert was required, but the client side patches are certified weeks after the PC gets the same patch.

Relic does deserve most of the blame, anyone who played CoH knows that they've always struggled with post-release support. Back in those days, not only were they trying to fix the game, but they also had to deal with maintaining the Relic Online infrastructure, which was constantly broken.

I was hoping hoping that by offloading that work to GFWL, they would have been able to focus their attention on the game they were making, but instead we've gotten the worst of both worlds, where Relic continues to struggle with patching, but the entire process plays out at a much more protracted pace.

torrefaction

03-04-2009, 04:19 PM

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50231

*Edit*

And for the record, it's not like I don't understand the issues people have with Windows cert.

ClannerDelta

03-04-2009, 06:28 PM

And for the record, it's not like I don't understand the issues people have with Windows cert.

It just gets bothersome when they have a fix for a game and community (key part) destroying bug and can't release it for weeks.

DoW 2 will most likely never recover from the damage the Pop Cap bug has done to the game's reputation within competitive circles. I'm not saying Relic isn't to blame. Just that we ALL expect bugs. We also expect serious ones to be addressed in a timely manner.

bryan

03-04-2009, 08:06 PM

I thought that the competitive circles never really warmed to any of Relic's games. And from my understanding this game is pretty much geared away from competition.

Not that I'm excusing the poor patching.

Harv

03-04-2009, 08:25 PM

Well, I'm on the final missions in the single player campaign. The Warboss was relatively easy, but I've died twice fighting the avatar. Thing is I went and did the Warboss after dying twice to the avatar so I only just now picked up my second suit of Terminator armor. I gave it to my commander and I have Thaddeus wearing the other one. Whats the best way to kill that stupid avatar? Should I have Avitus take the terminator armor? I tried doing the ole snipe and retreat bit with Cyrus as well as using his stealth to restore my guys, but the damned avatar and half his assistant units have stealth detection. What a pain.

I figure I just have to keep slamming into him and retreating. I was actually close to beating him the second time, but I wasn't able to do it.

cassiusregicide

03-04-2009, 09:27 PM

Hotcod

03-05-2009, 10:23 AM

Keep cyrus in stealth for healing (along with gun drops) i had avitus in termy armour but didn't really bother with him much other than tieing up the underlings. Thaddeus in terminatior is a given (by far the best use of the armour) but don't have any on your commander. My FC had a hammer and the banners and other wargear he can use in normal armour is just to useful to give up. Just micro the FC and thaddeus to keep them out of blast and beating on the av, use the FCs and his battle cry (kills infantry instantly if you have the skills) to destroy the other units and get thaddeus on any tanks. I got my ass kicked by the av once the first time and the second time doing it this way was "easy" in that i was never going to lose but it was a hell of a fight.

Harv

03-05-2009, 08:58 PM

I ended up just wiping him out with Avitus in the Terminator armor with the heavy cannon mostly. I did beat on him a bit with the Dreadnought and Thaddeus in terminator armor.

I just realized, I don't think I've acquired a plasma cannon at any point. Am I missing something? I've gotten heavy bolters, but no plasma cannon.

ClannerDelta

03-06-2009, 10:14 AM

I just realized, I don't think I've acquired a plasma cannon at any point. Am I missing something? I've gotten heavy bolters, but no plasma cannon.

The good ones are random drop, but I believe you get a like 30dps one at some point.

Harv

03-06-2009, 10:44 AM

Any idea if you get the big Terminator hammer more than once? I made my Commander into a melee specialist and when you give him the regular Terminator gear he defaults to ranged attack so I gave him the big Terminator hammer, but then Thaddeus has nothing to work with.

It's all really moot though since I can probably finish any time I want now, just playing around with the guys at level 20 and finishing up side missions.

Hellfire rounds really make the Dreadnought nasty. One burst is enough to bring down a Carnifex.

ClannerDelta

03-06-2009, 11:38 AM

I had 2 drop on my last run through.

torrefaction

03-06-2009, 11:54 AM

Is it just me, or does the FC totally blow in Terminator armor?

ShivaX

03-06-2009, 11:58 AM

Is it just me, or does the FC totally blow in Terminator armor?

Hes not bad if you have decent weapons for him and a teleporter, but the loss of his commander items kinda blows.

Harv

03-06-2009, 12:00 PM

Is it just me, or does the FC totally blow in Terminator armor?

He really sucks with the default Terminator weapons. He isn't bad overall with the big hammer in Terminator armor if you went melee with him, but in general he definitely doesn't have quite as many nice abilities available in the Terminator armor.

I really find the Rally ability nice since it heals your commander as well as your other nearby troops in addition to breaking suppression. Alternating between that and the main healing ability can keep you alive for a while. Either that or the energy shield, which can absorb some additional punishment.

Problem is that towards the end since I made my FC a melee specialist he is really getting chewed up in close combat. Switching to the Terminator armor made it a bit better, that and the teleport ability keeps him alive a bit longer.

torrefaction

03-06-2009, 12:06 PM

It just seemed to me that I was doing significantly more damage with my non-terminatored stuff than I was once I upgraded.

I wasn't even referring to the suckage of losing Rally.

Harv

03-06-2009, 12:46 PM

It just seemed to me that I was doing significantly more damage with my non-terminatored stuff than I was once I upgraded.

I wasn't even referring to the suckage of losing Rally.

He definitely does more damage overall as a Terminator with the hammer. Thing is he is slower and I've noticed that overall the Terminator suited guys seem to have more trouble finding targets quickly.

Harv

03-06-2009, 06:40 PM

Well, I finished and I have to agree that the final mission was pretty easy compared to killing say the Avatar.

Of course I finally got a mega flamer (or whatever they call it) for Tarkus to use with the Terminator armor, so I had him, my commander and Avitus fitted out with Terminator armor and weaponry.

CES

03-07-2009, 04:33 PM

The good ones are random drop, but I believe you get a like 30dps one at some point.

I think there's a 40dps Heavy Plasma Gun you can get from an optional mission. I have it on Avitus right now and it quite simply annihilates everything it hits. Who needs a rocket launcher when you have a ranged anti-everything weapon that more or less ignores cover bonuses.

Also, FC with Hammer, Iron Halo and the ability to regain energy with each kill is borderline broken. With the Melee stat maxed out entire squads die in one swing. Hell, you can two shot a Fire Prism.

Harv

03-08-2009, 08:57 AM

Also, FC with Hammer, Iron Halo and the ability to regain energy with each kill is borderline broken. With the Melee stat maxed out entire squads die in one swing. Hell, you can two shot a Fire Prism.

If you maxed out melee you're probably level 20 or close at that point so it isn't that broken. You're supposed to be a badass.

Hotcod

03-08-2009, 08:57 AM

Harv

03-08-2009, 09:41 AM

The FC should be eating things up in CC at the end if you've speced him that way. Make sure to use battle cry, a lot, he will slaughter basic units while thats turned on as well as boosting damage. I didn't find any termy wepoans at all in my game and i still kicked ass

If you futz around near the end doing defense missions and what not you'll pick up a few terminator weapons for sure.

CES

03-08-2009, 12:39 PM

If you maxed out melee you're probably level 20 or close at that point so it isn't that broken. You're supposed to be a badass.

The FC is badass, make no mistake. The fact that he's invincible to everything outside of other commanders does seem a little unfair, though it's sweet, sweet revenge against the Tyranid bastards.

bryan

03-08-2009, 12:43 PM

If you get to end of a game and you're not badass, then there's something wrong with the game. :)

H.Bogard

03-08-2009, 04:36 PM

I couldn't get my FC to die even after trying when I equipped him with the Termy armour.

The weapons drop-rate for it is sucky though.

Rogue_hunter

03-08-2009, 07:44 PM

I couldn't get my FC to die even after trying when I equipped him with the Termy armour.

The weapons drop-rate for it is sucky though.

It's hard to have your FC fall in combat, unless he's a close combat machine, and he just happens to get blown up by a few friendly grenades.

And the weapon drop rate for the Termy armor is HORRID. I have three hammer and shields (two from mission rewards), one flamethrower and one assault cannon. only the hammer/shields are actually named, and I have no weapon for the off hand. I had a ton of Dreadnaught armor, but that gave me plenty of XP in trade. Overall, weapon drops do seem erratic or unusual.

Poewan

03-10-2009, 03:57 PM

Pop cap bug fix is up! The patch notes leaves me a bit cold and I havent tested it yet however.

Patch note :

• Addressed a Population Cap issue where during reinforcement, the final unit reinforced charged twice the population cap to the player. *NOTE* – This is part of 1 of a 2 part fix. There are still a few edge cases where the bug could occur. They are however, rare and require intended exploitation in order to recreate. Our next patch will completely resolve this issue but requires further testing and certification.

Harv

03-15-2009, 10:34 AM

Well, I'm almost finished with another campaign and am fooling around doing the missions it offers me. I'm finding Terminator armor is kind of a pain in the ass overall as you can't really take cover in it and standing out in the open firing the cannon with Avitus he gets killed pretty quickly by the Level 20 Tyranid shooters. This is on Captain level. I think he might do better without the armor so he could take cover.

bryan

03-15-2009, 11:37 AM

No point in giving Avitus Term armor, cause then his squadmates lose heavy bolters.

Harv

03-15-2009, 12:04 PM

No point in giving Avitus Term armor, cause then his squadmates lose heavy bolters.

I wouldn't say there is no point since his main Terminator cannon does way more damage, but it does seem less effective overall as the fire is not spread around as much.

The other thing I found annoying about this campaign is that I never got dropped a cannon for my Dreadnought. What a waste. The hellfire rounds are terrific and I didn't get to use them once.

Harv

03-15-2009, 01:31 PM

After doing a bunch more defense missions at level 20 there were finally a couple of missions that dropped dreadnought cannons for me.

CES

03-15-2009, 02:03 PM

No point in giving Avitus Term armor, cause then his squadmates lose heavy bolters.

Except for the fact that he gets a ranged damage rating of 1700+. It and Focus Fire more than make up for two missing heavy bolters (especially since the others get storm bolters which are still highly effective)

bryan

03-15-2009, 10:01 PM

Except for the fact that he gets a ranged damage rating of 1700+. It and Focus Fire more than make up for two missing heavy bolters (especially since the others get storm bolters which are still highly effective)

Yeah but the storm bolters have shorter range than his assault cannon, plus they move even slower in Term armor. It's not bad in boss missions but in defense missions it's a liability.

I think giving him Starthrower and having his two squaddies support with heavy bolters is the far better option. The squaddies suppress and he lets loose with hot plasma death.

CES

03-16-2009, 03:49 AM

Yeah but the storm bolters have shorter range than his assault cannon, plus they move even slower in Term armor. It's not bad in boss missions but in defense missions it's a liability.

I think giving him Starthrower and having his two squaddies support with heavy bolters is the far better option. The squaddies suppress and he lets loose with hot plasma death.

I actually dont bother with Avitus in defense missions since he's prime target for everything and without Term armour, he died in remarkably few hits. Instead, I switch him out for Thule and his mighty cannon. My setup is Cyrus (detpacks, Synapse killer), Thule (suppression) and Thaddeus (teleporter for those damned artillery units) You really do need to micro the hell out of Thaddeus and Cyrus though, which can be annoying.

bryan

03-16-2009, 07:14 AM

I use Avitus and Thule as my funnel of death and Thaddeus as my assassination squad. Once you get Thaddeus' invulnerability trait he's a force of nature, especially with Term armor. I didn't take Cyrus on my first playthrough as a personal challenge.

GigaFuzz

03-16-2009, 07:25 AM

My usual load-out ended up being something like:
Commander (normal Power Armour) with a Thunder Hammer
Thaddeus w/ Termy Armour
Avitus w/ Plasma Cannon
Scouts w/ Sniper Rifle. Use of accessories and high-powered shot while infiltrated is awesome.

If it was a defence mission I'd swap the Scouts for the Dreadnaught. My Dread was horribly mis-levelled though. I had too many points in the Strength/Close Combat tree, and I was mostly using him as ranged, but I didn't get enough points for the Hellfire rounds (which I've since seen in action - they're frickin' nuts!) or the self-repair ability.

Harv

03-16-2009, 08:29 AM

I tried using the plasma cannon with Avitus, but if you don't micro correctly he will often blow away your own guys with the thing.

In defense missions Thule with the cannon and hellfire rounds rules. Keep sweeping them with that and if they get too close you slam them. The other peeps are just to keep Thule from taking too many hits and possibly revive him if he gets too blasted.

This past campaign I kept getting wiped out in the defense missions by the Orks because I had no cannon for Thule. That stupid tank at the end would often catch me and wipe out my guys before I could get him taken care of. After a couple of losses like that I used the Orbital Bombardment ability with the commander to wipe the tank out before it could get too close. Still, highly annoying.

I'm experimenting now at level 20 and I find that Avitus with the rocket launcher isn't too bad either. Although this launcher is a nasty piece. Quicker firing rate and does splash damage. Has something like 96 damage per second.

I loaded my commander with the terminator armor and the cannon and that seems to work better for him overall than anything else as he can just stand in the back and take pot shots at people. Though, I do have his ranged skill maxed out, so that helps a lot I'd say. Between Avitus with rockets, Thule with cannon, Commander with cannon and then Thaddeus in terminator armor with giant hammer I can wipe out just about anything in defense or other missions.

Of course, you would expect that since they are all level 20 with maxed out equipment.

bryan

03-16-2009, 11:01 AM

Yup on my second playthrough I'm maxing my commander's ranged as opposed to his strength.

CES

03-16-2009, 11:42 AM

New discovery: Cyrus becomes much, much better when you get your hands on the Immolate ability. Used correctly it does more mass damage than even the Hellfire Cannon.

Karnov

04-15-2009, 12:01 PM

There's a singleplayer demo just released on steam now.

CES

04-15-2009, 12:11 PM

Just going to plug a SP mod I've found that I really like. It mixes up the squads a little by adding more people and making them distinctive (different weapons, unique armour)

Brothers Of The 4th. (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=217580)

/shill

Mortis

04-15-2009, 12:30 PM

Installed this yesterday, digging the little bit I played so far, but I can't bind my fucking keys? A quick google search did not reveal a workaround, WTF?

Veregon

04-15-2009, 02:59 PM

There are config files out there that let you bind keys but it involves editing them directly.

Mortis

04-16-2009, 07:57 AM

There are config files out there that let you bind keys but it involves editing them directly.

Got a link? (or name of the files to edit if they exist already) All I really want is the camera arrows to be WASD.

CappinCanuck

04-16-2009, 08:13 AM

You might be able to get away with downloading some keyboard key editing software. It basically just loads key profiles for the active .exe. I used to have something off the net for my old keyboard, but I got a fancy one now that comes with its own software.

Khrymsyn

04-17-2009, 08:40 AM

I still don't have Thule, but damn am I enjoying (and hating) this game.

I only hate because sometimes, the damn Tyranids can really overwhelm your team if you aren't careful.

Just got the Terminator armor, and have been bouncing between Cyrus for D missions and Thaddeus for O missions. Always bring Avitus and Tarkus, as Tarkus works great as "general" troops, and Avitus does well well to cause choke points.

Using the Force Commander, even at level 8 is pretty damn fun. He just charges into groups with his power axe and levels people. Bringing in Thaddeus for a nice "death from above" is too much fun when they land directly on guys and occasionally make a nice "squish".

Gotta figure out what to do with my Termy armor, as Tarkus is too usefull with the energy powered grenades, and I can't take grens with him if he wears the Term armor.

bryan

04-17-2009, 08:48 AM

Gotta figure out what to do with my Termy armor, as Tarkus is too usefull with the energy powered grenades, and I can't take grens with him if he wears the Term armor.

The only squad I found it worthwhile for was Thaddeus. You lose the knockback but being able to constantly teleport + invincibility makes the squad a nigh on upon unstoppable force of destruction.

GigaFuzz

04-17-2009, 09:42 AM

Thaddeus was my first choice for the Termy Armour as well. The loss of the jump pack knockback wasn't as bad as I thought, and the Teleport ability is excellent. Those Thunder Hammers rip through everything.

Tarkus tended to be the first one dropped from any mission. He was sort-of useful for soaking up damage, but his damage output was never high enough for me. My usual taskforce was FC + Thaddeus (Term.) + Cyrus (Sniper) + Avitus for offensive missions, with the Dread (Assault Cannon) replacing Cyrus for defence missions.

In other news, the Hellfire rounds for the Assault Cannon are obscene!

Harv

04-17-2009, 11:29 AM

The one thing I would like to do at some point is play a co-op campaign. I'd imagine that being able to micro two squads would make the game even more intense.

Panthera

04-17-2009, 01:04 PM

Okay, I finally bought this. The demo and steam sale both sold me on it.

Jackel

04-17-2009, 01:11 PM

Finally got the Dreadnaught in the campaign. Man this game is so addictive.

Karnov

04-18-2009, 01:25 PM

my awesome kaboom!
muqV0OLYJo8

replay is here: http://www.gamereplays.org/dawnofwar2/replays.php?game=47&tab=popular&show=details&id=76939
Warning! May crash your game/computer.

Shjinta

05-01-2009, 06:36 PM

bryan

05-01-2009, 06:40 PM

I just picked it up today, KZ 2 paid for it. I installed it and tried a quick skirmish. I'm digging it so far. I have a question. How hard will it be to load this on my Second PC for some LAN matches against AI?

Impossible - it's tied to Steam so you won't ever be able to run it simultaneously. One person logs into Steam it'll log the other copy out.

Not sure if you could run it in Offline mode to circumvent that, might try that later.

Jackel

05-01-2009, 06:46 PM

Impossible - it's tied to Steam so you won't ever be able to run it simultaneously. One person logs into Steam it'll log the other copy out.

Not sure if you could run it in Offline mode to circumvent that, might try that later.

I believe that running it in offline mode only works for the multiplayer. Co-op campaign doesn't work properly from what I've read.