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Frozen Synapse 2 - phase-based tactical combat in an open world

ushas

Savant
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Messages
550
Quick Dev Video with Paul #6 - #10









 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Jesus I cant wait for the beeta

edit: actually how does one get into the beeta? or is he just calling EA beeta?
 

mwnn85

Savant
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
210
Hopefully they've not bitten off a bit more than they can chew with this.
For game that they say is approaching a polishing stage it simply doesn't look all that feature-complete at the moment.
Maybe their definition of polishing differs to mine; I could see this taking another 6 months or more, easy.
From the video it sounds like much of the design is still up in the air.

I'd think I'd end up rather irritated if I'm running into city scape bugs or some of the other quirks like those shown in the latest video.
Particularly since the combat doesn't look much evolved from the first game.
Adding a complex living city is great of course but XCOM APOC tried it with a mixed success... (...and I say that as someone who's really looking forward to OpenApoc)
 
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LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014


Frozen Synapse 2 should come out in August.

We don't know exactly when yet, but this is ok to announce. Perhaps it'll make people argue slightly less about it on our Steam community, but we don't hold out too much hope. The game is currently undergoing final bug and balance testing, as well as a last beta round for gameplay purposes - we'll hold it back if there are any significant issues but don't anticipate anything at the moment.

Brand New Preview Vid

Here is a 30-odd minute gameplay preview video showing the scope of Frozen Synapse 2, in which I:

- Lose to one of the worst units in the game because I forgot it was carrying a gun

- Perform a daring raid on an enemy base and then forget to look for money while I'm there

- Casually hand over powerful artefacts to militant religious extremists and get myself into debt repeatedly

A news post about this would gladden my exhausted game developer heart.

Helpful Quote

Here is an actual quote:

"Frozen Synapse 2 is the culmination of everyhing we've done since we started Mode 7. It's got a proven tactical core with a big, systemic strategic overworld and I hope this gameplay video presents an honest, full depiction of the scope we've managed to achieve. We're being very open about the nature of the game because we truly believe there's enough in there for the content to stand on its own. If people don't like this we're probably going to quit and start an alpaca farm instead.

We're desperate to get anyone who enjoyed the first game to check it out, as well as anyone who is interested in large-scale strategy games - it's incredibly hard for any indie game to reach an audience these days, so wishlisting it on Steam would make a big difference to us. We have big plans to continue working on the game after launch, so we really hope it gains the traction we need to do that."
 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Game doesnt look as good as i was hoping it would be, but its been my most anticipated title for 2018, and will be a:d1p:
 

ColCol

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2012
Messages
1,731
Self-Ejected

DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Apparently the city isnt randomly generated like i was expecting. :decline:



Source?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/445020/discussions/0/1741094390462604050/

The 8 of 8 guy also specifically says it in the linked video


Lame. The fact that people don't know shows how terrible a job the developers have done of communicating with fans (you see this with a a couple other people also).

The last 8 months or so have been weird in regards to how the dev has been handling the game. Im still gonna day one purchase after sleeping, but im only cautiously excited at this point.
 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Initial impression is really bad

edit: Wow. I stopped playing so that i don't go over my 2 hour refund period. I'm amazed at how fucked up this seems
 
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Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,232
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.pcgamer.com/frozen-synapse-2-review/

FROZEN SYNAPSE 2 REVIEW

Most of the action in Frozen Synapse 2 plays out in these perfect five-second bursts, as your soldiers carry out their orders with nothing less than complete precision.

It's a wonderful thing to watch, at least when things are going right. Your team might breach a room from multiple entrances within the same millisecond, or duck behind cover just as the grenade that would have killed them explodes harmlessly on the other side. It's flawless and meant to be enjoyed, because those moments likely took plenty of planning on your part.

Just like its predecessor, this is a game fueled by intense simulation. You may not know exactly what your opponent plans to do next, but you can keep running tests until you have a pretty firm idea.

Let's say you find yourself controlling a soldier armed with an assault rifle facing an enemy unit holding a shotgun. Between these two units lies some basic cover. Should you tell your soldier to stand their ground and take a shot, or move to the cover and then open fire? Which is the safer option? What happens in either case? Unlike most turn-based tactical games, in Frozen Synapse 2, you don't need to guess.

Instead, you run a test scenario for each decision. This means not only simulating your soldier's actions for the next five seconds, but also those of your opponent. You can confirm what will happen if both units hold their ground, or maybe what happens if one, or both of them run for cover instead.

After collecting this information you'll want to see if you can give your soldier an order that has them win regardless of what your enemy decides to do. Obviously, this won't always be possible (although it's incredibly satisfying when it is), and that's when the game gets more interesting. The question changes from 'what should I do next?' to 'what do I think the enemy is going to do next and how do I counter it?'

In the singleplayer campaign, this often comes down to logic. The computer AI is certainly challenging, but I rarely found it truly surprising. Its response to player action is usually an aggressive one, although it tends to avoid most unnecessary risks. This makes it reasonably predictable to face, although in most cases that's countered by the fact that it'll bring a lot more firepower to the battlefield.

The campaign is heavily inspired by X-COM: Apocalypse (which is no bad thing)

However, playing against other human beings can be anything but predictable. This is where the game truly grabbed me. I'm reminded here of why I don't enjoy playing chess against a computer, but love playing in-person: the best move is often the one that surprises your opponent the most.

If you think back to the example setup I mentioned with the two soldiers facing each other, things change when another player is added to the mix. It prompts a third, vitally important question: 'what do they think I'm going to do next and how can I take advantage of that assumption?' It's these questions that made the original Frozen Synapse such a delight to play back in 2011 and they're still just as enticing in its sequel. The major difference here is that there's a much bigger playground for them.

The campaign is heavily inspired by X-COM: Apocalypse (which is no bad thing), and features a procedurally-generated city for the player to scheme and fight over alongside several other factions. Each of these groups has a different agenda, which sees them clashing at times, although all of them are equally interested in the 'relics' you've been collecting as you defend the city from an invading force.

There's so much room for experimentation here. Do you want to maintain a good relationship with the more powerful faction? You don't have to. From the very start of the game, you can choose to attack any building in the city, for whatever reason, no matter who owns it. If your attack is a successful one, you can then steal whatever was stored there. Be warned, other groups may choose to do the same to you.

Each of these structures is itself a unique map for you to fight on and the forces you'll encounter will depend on what squads have been housed there by the other factions. These squads move around in real-time between fights and have their own operations to complete around the city. This campaign is just full of systems to dig your teeth into. Although it was the game's multiplayer that I was drawn to, if you enjoyed the campaign from the original game, there's a lot more going on this time around. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Frozen Synapse 2 is not a game of dice rolls or chance. Luck isn't meant to be much of a factor. It's about running the very same simulations your opponent is probably running too and then trying to get inside their head and figure out what they'll do with that information. Just like in chess, it's about seeing a good move and then looking for a better one.

THE VERDICT
85

FROZEN SYNAPSE 2

Frozen Synapse 2 has plenty to offer with its campaign, but again, this sequel is at its best when playing against other fallible humans.
 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436

Great review that doesn't mention any of the horrifically busted shit.

Sluggish, unresponsive, and in some cases broken controls.
Crashes
Soft Crashes (Within 2 mins of starting the interface tutorial)
Clicking on the message alerts removes your interface
Ai rocket launchers shooting at walls 2 feet from their face
No random city gen as advertised (and which is still stated in the game description).
Cityscape is so blurry its hard to look at
Cluttered city interface that is hard as shit decipher.
Horrible UI in general
No interface scaling for 4k monitors (though this doesnt affect me personally)
----
All of this witnessed within 10 mins of playing.

There are even people complaining that you can't control more than 1 squad at a time right now.
---
The game still has potential, and the actual battles still felt decent (apart from the AI being retarded), but after such an extended wait, its incredible how unpolished this feels
 

ColCol

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2012
Messages
1,731
Seems like it does not have the multiplayer campaign in the city...is that correct? Disappointing.
 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Seems like it does not have the multiplayer campaign in the city...is that correct? Disappointing.

Yep that was also removed.

Wtf has this guy been doing the past 8 months. Jerking off apparently
 

ShadowSpectre

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
333
Location
Limbo
I'm hesitant about buying this now because of the reported bugs, UI, and graphical issues that have been popping up. It's too bad, because I really loved the first one. Looks like another wait until patched and purchase at a later date, which is becoming all too common these days. :/
 
Self-Ejected

DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
I'm hesitant about buying this now because of the reported bugs, UI, and graphical issues that have been popping up. It's too bad, because I really loved the first one. Looks like another wait until patched and purchase at a later date, which is becoming all too common these days. :/

Thats how its always fucking been, only you didnt even get patches in the (more distant) past.
 

Zenith

Arbiter
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
296
Can confirm, game's crashing regularly, but at least it autosaves every primed turn.
How was the city multiplayer supposed to work btw? I only watched one dev video, was it showcased anywhere?
 
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DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
So.. i got the free version.. despite having paid, so that i can give this an honest try without fear of passing the 2 hour mark. Will report back. I dont expect much though.
 

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