Payback - Initial Thoughts

[Mudi]

windows only binary

Does it work in wine, perhaps?

 

[Epicenter]

What's with all this custom proprietary audio nonsense.. wasn't Craig saying you just threw some Mp3s or OGGs in a directory and it played them automagically? I guess there isn't enough CPU time left over after all that 3D rendering to do any complex audio decoding, not at any acceptable bitrate anyway.

 

[jbrodack]

yeah the custom audio stuff was made to not require too much power of the gp2x. they really should have made adding in your own music easier and definitely need to make a tool for linux.

I want a download version too. and even more a download version of vektar since that game is pretty small. this drm crap is annoying.

i like buying systems where the person you are buying from doesn't assume you are a criminal and punish you with limited options because someone else might steal.

i like shareware games on pc where you just put in an unlock code or you pay and are then taken to the download page and can do whatever you want with the game.

payback does seem good quality though and i did enjoy the demo so im on the fence about this. i would definitely buy this if i could buy it as a normal download or a normal download that can be unlocked with an activation key or something.

 

[sbock]

@jbrodack

Full Ack.

 

[fargo]

What's with all this custom proprietary audio nonsense.. wasn't Craig saying you just threw some Mp3s or OGGs in a directory and it played them automagically? I guess there isn't enough CPU time left over after all that 3D rendering to do any complex audio decoding, not at any acceptable bitrate anyway.

:wacko:

------------------------

Thank you Planet_M for answering my questions

 

[slygamer]

Having a limit of five lives for a game where you are supposed to be able to run/drive around and do anything really cramps your freedom to do anything.

I just crashed the demo by getting the car onto the city wall and exiting the vehicle. The game stopped, then dumped me back to the GP2X menu.

The voiceovers may be a new feature for the GP2X version, but they are really quite woeful. Pity there does not seem to be any way to turn them off.

 

[ste_167]

Damn, I wish there was a 2d-shooter with big sprites available instead!

 

[Wolfsclaw]

When driving backwards and pressing Left or Right, do you still woosh in the wrong direction?

 

[Epicenter]

Damn, I wish there was a 2d-shooter with big sprites available instead!

I'm not pointing fingers, lighten the hell up. I was using ADPCM audio, not OGGs or MP3s, for the same reason. I think the custom format the RAW PCM is changed into is a DRM feature more than anything, though, so that you can't copy out the original music and play it somewhere else.

 

[ste_167]

Given the negative comments about Payback in this thread, my comment could have actually been complimentary towards you. I'll let you decide!

 

[namco]

I had a mission, on the demo, where the guy who I was following got stuck crossing a road due to the "traffic jam" funnily enough another guy, next to him, managed to get around the jam leaving the original guy still being stuck.

Does the game allow you an extra life if you have a certain number of points?

I showed this game to a few mates (I mentioned the lack of 3d hardware), they were impressed by both the graphics and fun gameplay.

My favourite thing to do is to lob grenades off the roof and watch the cops try and shoot me from below :lol:

 

[porthose]

Reading the thread, it seems to me that Payback has touched on a couple of issues having to do with loyalty to one system and paying for a game that may not be that fun or it is fun but annoying because its buggy and hasn't been play tested enough.

you know, I played the demo and had fun with it but yes i noticed the bugs etc, and places where i got stuck too. will i purchase it? no. i live in a free society and am free to go where i want and buy what i want. my point being...?

now, really i like my gp2x, i also like my psp and amiga 1200, plus the amd athlon that i've got. the point is, that all these pieces of hardware are just useless junk if the software produced, games, apps whatever is buggy and doesn't have the end user in mind. eg being fun, or productive, ease of use etc etc.

i work as a professional software tester and the software that we produce has the potential to affect millions of client accounts thus functional testing of the software is critical and taken very seriously. its a shame that play testing, function testing, unit testing whatever you want to call it is just not taken that seriously within the games industry. or maybe it is and ive gotten this all wrong... :blink:

i suppose at the end of the day, in the grand scheme of things Payback isn't all that important apart from that is the developers and their being out of pocket! All I can say is: thoroughly play test a game before releasing a buggy commercial game. I wouldn't buy rotten tomatoes from a grocer, I'd get fresh ones.

 

[woogal]

All those people that are finding the same bugs as you found in the demo - did you report those bugs to anyone when you first discovered them? Sounds to me like most of you found bugs but just assumed someone else would report them.

 

[craigix]

It would indeed have been handy if you had reported these bugs you found in the demo in the thread which was made for that reason when the demo was released.

It's strange you should wait until now to report them (and have an unhelpful attitude to go with it).

Anyway, Apex will indeed issue patches etc. to fix bugs reported.

-Craig

 

[namco]

It would indeed have been handy if you had reported these bugs you found in the demo in the thread which was made for that reason when the demo was released.

To be honest I've only just played the demo after the game was released, I hadn't known about the playable version (since I'm not on here regularily) and had only known about the rolling demos, either way I'm still impressed and I'm getting it anyway

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

It would indeed have been handy if you had reported these bugs you found in the demo in the thread which was made for that reason when the demo was released.

It's strange you should wait until now to report them (and have an unhelpful attitude to go with it).

Anyway, Apex will indeed issue patches etc. to fix bugs reported.

-Craig

Hi Craig,

I both agree and disagree with you on this point.

Agree:
Well we are a community and people who found bugs SHOULD have posted them in the relevant forum. Not doing so was just laziness on our behalf. Shame on you people who found bugs and kept it to yourselves. Don't forget folks, there isn't a game on the planet that doesn't have at least one bug in it somewhere.

Disagree:
You're charging for the finished product, from the consumers point of view it appears you didn't have dedicated 3rd party beta testers. The game wasn't tested enough and now we are expected to beta test a finished game ourselves. I think a simple "Sorry, updates are on their way soon!" wouldn't have gone a miss. Don't forget, there will be those who have never seen the game before and the full version will be their introduction, bugs and all.

It's good however that Apex are addressing the issues and we all know that all the bugs will be sorted out. Like I said before, we are a little community and helping each other is what made our scene in the first place. Give Craig and Apex a break, let them know the problems with an exact report of where you were, mission you were on and the exact fault and I bet they will fix it!

I for one will be buying this after Christmas.

Enjoy!!!!

 

[krosfyah]

Well said WarmFluffyUK, both your perspectives are spot on.

I am a bit baffled though as to why they relied so heavily on feedback from the demo instead of doing their own thorough testing. Surely that's not the right way to go about it when it's a relatively pricey commercial product.

 

[Planet_M]

It would indeed have been handy if you had reported these bugs you found in the demo in the thread which was made for that reason when the demo was released.

I remember a thread announcing that the demo was released, but not a thread regarding bugs "which was made for that reason". Eitherway, if you read my full initial post you will see the only bug I spotted from the demo was the intro movie dropping you back out the the menu when it finishes. I couldn't possibly have spotted all the other bugs I encountered on level 2 of the full game which wasn't included in the demo.

It's strange you should wait until now to report them (and have an unhelpful attitude to go with it).

There is nothing strange about reporting bugs in a game a few days after receiving it. I guess the claim about the 'unhelpful attitude' is aimed at me because I was annoyed when I made my first post. My annoyance was justified having had quite a poor time with a newly released game I had high hopes for.

I'm guessing that your 'unhelpful attitude' towards me in this reply may be because negative comments could affect sales. I would guess that YOUR attitude would further hinder YOUR sales though, you (as a representative of gp2x.co.uk) are the publisher of the game after all and your paying customers have the right to expect a certain level of quality control and customer service.

Anyway, Apex will indeed issue patches etc. to fix bugs reported.
-Craig

Now this is all we needed ot hear. Surely as a responsible publisher and retailer a more appropriate reply would have gone along the lines of "We are sorry that you have encountered these issues but please be assured that Apex are working to fix bugs and a patch will be released in due course. Further bug reports would be welcome to some_email_@ddress so that as many bugs as possible can be fixed. Thank you."

WarmFluffyUK's comments are spot on.

As an update: I completed the 2nd level last night in 35 minutes (without batteries going flat, still way off silver time!). The bug where the person carrying the briefcase gets stuck on the fence occured again, so should be reproducible. I didn't mess around too much so didn't encounter the other issues again.

Level 3 looks great, the city is covered in snow and fuzzy snowflakes fall from the sky, a nice effect. (I didn't mention the positives in my original post (i'm sooo sorry craigix ), since they have all been covered before on the forums here before - but this game does look great!). The snow makes wild driving a treat. I have had the music set to radio mode and enjoy the added variety of tracks. I will most likely make my own soundtrack when i get time (providing the windows util will work on wine in linux).

I am thoroughly impressed with the majority of what I see in this game, but my initial expectations were dashed when in a short space of time I hit so many bugs. I still expect to spend many enjoyable hours with this, but hope most of these issues can be solved in a reasonable time frame via a patch.

Has nobody else here got the full game yet? I'd be interested to hear other peoples findings too!

 

[yodaofborg]

The only reason I wont be buying it is due to a lack of a mid game save, even if it just saved your score it would be neat. Any mobile game should have ingame saves, I use my gp2x on commutes, which could potentially end just as I am nearing the end of a level. Having to leave my gp2x switched on till the next time I'm available to use it is not practical.

I hope this does get added though. because I really enjoyed the demo.

 

[Goity]

Craig: Custard PR have got their info round their neck a bit:
http://www.custardpr.com/gaming.html

One to watch
Payback – the first commercial game for the outstanding, Linux based GP2X gaming console.