[PC] NeoTokyo

[Scriabin]

http://www.neotokyohq.com/
http://www.moddb.com/mods/neotokyo

NeoTokyo is a mod for Half-Life 2, released Friday of last week.

From their Moddb page:

Mission Statement:
NEOTOKYO° is a first person shooter that aims to provide a visceral & realistic combat experience in a rich futuristic setting.

Background Story and World:
NEOTOKYO° takes place in and around a fictionalized Tokyo approximately 30 years in the future. Mankind has begun to fuse with technology. Government and corporate corruption have transformed Tokyo into a deadly dystopian nightmare. After a near-successful military coup by ranking members of Jinrai, the National Security Force (NSF) is formed - answering directly to the Prime Minister, it's mission is to investigate and eliminate all threats to Japan, both abroad and at home. The initial core of the NSF is made from an exodus from within the intelligence branch of the military. With this betrayal begins the war in the shadows between the NSF and Jinrai.

Its impact in the modding world has been ample, though I'd be hard-pressed to find much mention of it in mainstream gaming media.

The soundtrack is splendid, composed by indie composer Ed Harrison, easily trumping many mainstream titles.

The art direction is just as well-crafted, borrowing copiously from Ghost in the Shell, pop-culture and antiquated Japanese art and architecture.

As for mechanics, N.t. is matchless. It's a bit slower than the average shooter, but also a bit more involved, as it doesn't afford much carelessness. Teamwork is the guiding factor; no class is superior, or even truly independent of teamplay, for that matter.

I think it deserves a strong mention. It's a pleasant release from the usual summer doldrums and paint-by-numbers FPS franchises.

[Molloy]

I'm also a big fan of mods. For every piece of dumbed down shit like Team Fortress 2 there's a Fortress Forever. Just as Left 4 Dead is a complete waste of time once you've gotten to grips with the wonderful Zombie Panic.

I've been hearing about NeoTokyo for a while now and it doesn't excite me that much. It looks like Counter-Strike with better art direction.

[Scriabin]

I've been hearing that a lot as well. It does look like Counterstrike but it plays nothing like it. The only thing it seems to truly borrow from CS is the weapon selection and the feel of every weapon. Apart from that, it plays more like a faster-paced Rainbow Six. I'm at a loss for words because there isn't really anything to accurately compare Neotokyo to, at the moment. I'd recommend it to anyone just for its unusual experience. I disliked CS:S but managed to enjoy Neotokyo.

edit: They've just released their game manual.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/neotokyo/down ... kyo-manual
Worth a look if you're still unsure.

[icycalm]

As for mechanics, N.t. is matchless.

Wild statement backed up by no reasoning.



Now back on topic.

[Tain]

My favorite part about that claim is that the game has been out for a weekend.

It looks like Counter-Strike with better art direction.

The last man standing setup and getting better weapons as the map progresses are the only outstanding similarities.

There's no accuracy scaling at all (I've been seeing a lot of midair headshots by good players), the maps have a lot of areas that can only be reached as the lightest of the three classes, cloaking and leaning seem pretty important so far, and the ghost satellite uplink (you see where all the opponents are when you carry the "flag") has turned around some of the matches I've been in.

[BurritoLardoSupremo]

I'm not usually impressed by mods. Often, they are labors of the worst class of enthusiast. About the only thing that is impressive about Neotokyo is its sheer number of fans who talk it up like they were used car salesmen. I find it rather difficult to engage in any discussion about a mod when the topic opens with such blind, glowing praise as to sound like a parody of some source material I am unfamiliar with.

[Zen444]

I knew the mod was going to be terrible when the creators of it couldn't stop comparing it to Ghost in the Shell or Akira in terms of "looking like some shit in movies we stole ideas from."

[icycalm]

I find it rather difficult to engage in any discussion about a mod when the topic opens with such blind, glowing praise

Oh, is that so? I guess you are shit out of luck then, because this forum is only for people who find it EASY to engage in discussion, regardless of the circumstances.

I knew the mod was going to be terrible

Wild statement backed up by no reasoning.



Anyone else looking to get banned? Come on retards, post some more idiotic shit and make my day.

[TheBob]

The mod plays like Counter-Strike: Source, but with an xp system replacing the buy system.

Movement and shooting are very close to CS:S, and the graphics of course. The recoil is stronger, but once you get the high level guns, it becomes much less of a factor (fewer bullets to kill). The art direction has Japanese themes, but many of the maps could easily be mistaken for CS:S maps. I am not sure how others thought CS:S and NeoTokyo played so different when NT is essentially CS:S with different skins.

(Original Counter-Strike is a different matter.)

At the beginning of a map your choice of guns is limited, but as you earn xp your options expand to sniper rifles and machine guns. These are generally better, like the M4 or AWP in Counter-Strike, once you can afford them (CS or NT) nobody really ever goes back to the lesser guns. This creates a balance problem though. In CS, both sides are always earning money, but in NT no xp is automatically accrued each round leading to one side having higher level players. There is no Player Team Balance system to automatically account for this (at least on the servers I played). Therefore, it's up to the players themselves, but most choose not to end the one-sided beatdowns.

NeoTokyo did have an interesting Capture the Ghost (looks like a mannequin) mode. It's just like capture the flag, but once you get the Ghost you can see everyone on the map like a wallhack, however you lose your main gun. If you have voice, you end up becoming the team's tactician as you try to make your way to a retrieval point.

[icycalm]

At the beginning of a map your choice of guns is limited, but as you earn xp your options expand to sniper rifles and machine guns. These are generally better, like the M4 or AWP in Counter-Strike, once you can afford them (CS or NT) nobody really ever goes back to the lesser guns.

I don't understand what the parenthesis means. Can you please explain?

This creates a balance problem though. In CS, both sides are always earning money, but in NT no xp is automatically accrued each round leading to one side having higher level players. There is no Player Team Balance system to automatically account for this (at least on the servers I played). Therefore, it's up to the players themselves, but most choose not to end the one-sided beatdowns.

So what you would rather have is a game which gives XP even to losers who have not managed to accomplish anything in a round? What would be the point of having XP at all then? They are supposed to be a reward, aren't they? If players get them for free what's the point?

[TheBob]

CS = Counter-Strike
CS:S = Counter-Strike: Source
NT = Neo Tokyo

The losing team should not get free xp, as alternatives exist.

In Counter-Strike at least, Player Team Balance refers to an automatic system that will move players every couple rounds to balance out the teams, moving bad people to the winning team and good people to the losing team. It also serves a 2nd purpose in preventing stacking, or the habit of everyone trying to join the winning team, resulting in one side being greatly outnumbered. That way every round is as evenly matched as possible. This is an old problem in many online games and I am surprised NeoTokyo has nothing in place to deal with this.

After looking at their forums, they are working on implementing Team Balance after all. No indication of when.

[Molloy]

The appeal of modifications for me is that the developers experiment with unusual rules and mechanics that commercial teams wouldn't try, because it can take years of iterative releases before new types of multiplayer games can evolve into a truly satisfying experience.

There's another HL2 mod called Dystopia that tries to spice up CS:S type gameplay with cloaking abilities, and three types of weight classes. That game came out three years ago and Neo Tokyo just strikes me as something that's bringing nothing new to the table.

[icycalm]

CS = Counter-Strike
CS:S = Counter-Strike: Source
NT = Neo Tokyo

I know. That was not my question. I just don't understand the significance of that parenthesis inside that sentence. What are you trying to say by it?

In Counter-Strike at least, Player Team Balance refers to an automatic system that will move players every couple rounds to balance out the teams, moving bad people to the winning team and good people to the losing team.

I would totally hate that. I mean, we sort of do this kind of thing in basketball, in streetball, to be more precise, but these are team sports, people should be allowed to form teams and stick to them.

And besides, all the above has nothing to do with giving free xp to bad players. So you haven't really answered my second question either.

[MjFrancis]

Neotokyo already gives free xp to bad players, so long as they are on the winning team. You don't have to do anything other than survive the round while your side captures the ghost or kills the other team. This mechanic works as a reward for players who served as recon for the entire round, relaying enemy positions for the support and assault classes to kill - but not actually killing anyone.

It also happens to reward players who dicked around the whole time. Since good players on either side always stand to gain more xp than these people, the system works well. Some weapons may seem difficult to unlock, but that's because xp isn't handed out for free. Most games are played as a team deathmatch, when capturing the ghost yields more xp than just wiping everyone else out.

NeoTokyo did have an interesting Capture the Ghost (looks like a mannequin) mode. It's just like capture the flag, but once you get the Ghost you can see everyone on the map like a wallhack, however you lose your main gun. If you have voice, you end up becoming the team's tactician as you try to make your way to a retrieval point.

Microphones are even more important if your team doesn't have the ghost, since you can relay the positions of the ghost carrier's entourage. The vision of the ghost carrier's wallhack fades dramatically after 40 meters, so an open area can provide a clear shot for a hidden sniper.

I have played too many games where the ghost carrier does not have a microphone, and it makes the player a burden rather than a decisive advantage. Without his main gun, he's a sitting duck (every player can track the position of the ghost), and his teammates are struggling to protect him when they should be fragging the other team before they know what hits them.

[TheBob]

In Counter-Strike and NeoTokyo, once better weapons like high powered sniper rifles are available, nobody goes back to lesser weapons like sub machineguns by choice.

Which leads to an important difference between the two, and what works better in CS, is money versus XP. In CS, it costs money to buy a rifle, if you die, you have to buy it again. You are punished for sucking that round, and your enemy gets extra cash while you get stuck with a pea shooter because you blew five grand on that machine gun. In NT, you keep your XP and so you will have that awesome rifle every single round, no matter how much you start sucking.

As for the Player Team Balance system, it does suck to get moved from the winning team to the losing team, but it keeps more people happy in the long run. At least that has been my experience on servers with and without PTB systems. Servers without them will find everyone on the losing side logging off or joining the winning team, making matters worse. This even pisses off the winning team, because now they have no one left to kill.

Whether its free cash, XP, PTB or whatever, there has to be something to maintain balance in these online FPS games. The XP system by itself does not work the way its used here in NeoTokyo. I play to win, but I don't see the point of playing to finish out the map when my possibility of winning has gone down to near zero for this round and all future rounds. I will stick it out in Counter-Strike though, no matter how bad things are, because things will turn around or least my chances for turning it around will rise. Skilled play will still win the map at the end of the day though.

[MjFrancis]

The Neotokyo developers are working on a big update to the game, adding some new content and fixing a host of problems.

http://forum.radi-8.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=903

* Added map nt_bullet_tdm.
* Added map nt_dusk_ctg.
* MPN is now silenced.
* Increased chat lines, 18 from 6, and increased time chat stays.
* In chat, people who are dead have a [DEAD] prefix.
* Fixed erroneous enemy beacons in ghost scan.
* Weapons are now lowered when on ladders.
* Squad mates distance is now displayed in crosshair-over context.
* Team icons are now over heads and opacity increased for non-squad mate icons - squad mate icons are bigger.
* Fixed bullet damage/penetration bug.
* Grenades and detpacks no longer collide with players (fixes issue where you could place a det pack in a player to immobilize them).
* Removed "unconnected" from death notifications.
* Moved squad keys to F5-F10 and added "slot" commands for server plugin support.
* Add round start/end events for server plugin support.
* Teams locked to 16 players max.
* Changed team kill/grief punish to 1 minute ban and kick.
* Added neo_teamkill_punish cvar.
* Knife exploit fixed.
* Assault and Support classes can no longer bunny hop speed exploit.
* Secured weapon scripts.

The only reason PTB hasn't been changed, I assume, is that many servers have introduced this on their own. The lean-clipping bug wasn't mentioned, which sucks. The random weapons fire has been left in. This random cone-of-fire around the crosshair, <i>with bullets that don't follow a predictable pattern within this spread</i>, is simply retarded. Some examples of this are laid-out on this website:
http://www.theammocan.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=52&topic=5567.0

I'm also happy that they haven't nerfed grenades as so many noobs have hoped for. Five supports in one room? Easy, 'nade them, and most of them will die. This forces players to avoid rushing in without flanking and spreading out.

[icycalm]

The random weapons fire has been left in. This random cone-of-fire around the crosshair, <i>with bullets that don't follow a predictable pattern within this spread</i>, is simply retarded.

It sounds like reality to me, so I don't quite see the retardation.

[MjFrancis]

The cone-of-fire spread in Neotokyo isn't center-weighted or recoil-based. It's quite like rolling a D20 to hit your opponent if you are much farther than 15 meters away - it's not uncommon for bullets to appear on the left and the right of a stationary opponent with an immobile crosshair over them. Bringing up the crosshair requires a right mouse click to aim, so it's not like firing from the hip. It appears to be center-weighted in quarters closer than 15M since the cone typically covers your entire opponent.

This attribute is applied to everyone, so it's not game-breaking, but it's less skill-based than it could be.

[MjFrancis]

Client patch to be released this Friday on the 23rd of October. Seven new maps will be included.