@neo,
I just hope that EA can at least hold things on an even keel for the stock value, that should at least keep investors ahppy and things running smoothly for the present time.

With regard to my PC, at the time Crysis came out I was running an entry level E machine with a 2.8 gb proc, and 512 mb ram, this rig had cost me a neat ￡200, but of course for Crysis, it did need upgrades, a geforce 1gb that cost around ￡60, and RAM to 4GB that cost arong ￡45 at the time.

Not too hard on the pocket as I allready had the PC, but this rig was the crunch on the wallet, even at budget prices for me.
MB Budget Bundle
Asus, M4A78-EM
Proc, AMD Athlon x4 620 2600 Mhz
RAM, 4Gb Corsiar DDR 2 800 I think.
All in---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ￡180
Icute Game case front and two side fans-------------------------- ￡46.
G card, ATI radeon HD4800series-------------------------------------- ￡80,
Optical drive, bog standard,----------------------------------------------- ￡28
Seagate 250Gb 32Mb cache about------------------------------------ ￡50
OS 7 home premium 64bit, -------------------------------------------------￡68= ￡452 even rounded for cables and bits ------------------------------------------- =￡460
Put together before Xmas last as my present to me, less the ￡150 that I pulled back on selling mu old PC, ----------------------------------- =￡310,
Not such a bad setup for the price, and if you then round up to-- ￡350 for the extra drive and bits, I did ok and it seems to handle most of what i put on it gamewise quite well..
I had to just recall some of the costs without going through the paperwork but not far from the mark.
:-]

@neo, and Talon.
Regarding the situation between console/PC gamers, I had a good deal of inupt since opening, in trying to calm the masses even assuring that though my son has an eggbox (No pun intended), we had no problem about whats best, if he wanted to play Crysis I just had to move over, and I am indeed so glad he can get Crysis2 for his eggbox now, = more gametime for papa, lol.

Talon even put in some valuable comments in that direction, but I feel he will agree, that this issue of best performance goes back well before the crytek announcement, some of My Sons mates have been at each others throats in the past with this issue.

The fact has become more obviouse now as we have an influx of console Gamers within this new mix, some can be very competative, as can some PC gamers, we have seen this to be the case on a few occasions in here as you point out. like you, I too wish we could all get along, its not going to be too easy for a while but time will tell, as will the actual game release. lmao.

I'm down with the party idea, can Talon come, he a good guy. I have to road test the new Lara, so not too sure about my O'l Mum watching any of it, but btw, when I told her what you said, she burst out laughingand eventually said,
"tell him to hold the party till both eyes are done I think you all will take some watching". lmao.

Dare I say when I think the reccesion started, ok, the early 70s its just been a steep downhill since then in the UK. Maggie Thatcher Put on her boxing gloves, privatized all that she could, Miners were striking, Collieries and Mills were closing, the Steel industies all but died, thousands of people lost thier homes and jobs, the Military Machine faced huge reductions over time, and forces shed posts leading to amalgamation and reduction.

Shall I go on.... the recovery as it was termed in the 80's never really happened, and in the 90's the downhill trend continued, this I believe is mainly due to the huge costs of recent wars waged, and the sad lack of recourse put back into the country as a whole due to those costs.
=Deep reccesion.
neo. dont even think of asking, lmao,

Wow, biggest topic ever... that I have ever seen anyways

I noticed tighter funds in 2008. Right now, its at its worst for me. :O

Which is why im hoping Crytek sticks to their word of optimizing for last generation hardware for Crysis 2. I dont have the funds for a major upgrade.

I'll respond to everyone later. For now though, I saw this link on Kotaku and it made me laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRyX1tC2OS0

@neo
Many thanks for the link, its just awsome, damm near busted a gut laughing at that, and I even thought Stricklan it looked like him, did some smooth moves too, Ellenor Rosentall, wasnt too bad also, but I still back Lara anyday lmao.

That link was hella funny Neo. I was amazed.

[quote]That link was hella funny Neo. I was amazed.[/quote]Hi Enfadel, I thought it was amazing, got it while its hot as I think it may dissapear soon, how are you doing, you seem to be very busy of late, dont go overdo it, lol.

Who would have thought when you started this thread, with how it evolved and became so diverse, that it would hit the 200 mark, even so and back on topic, I do think the awards were somehow rigged, or something, lmao.

[quote] Also, with the way EA and Bioware have been mandating 10m (10,000,000) Sales Milestones, Crysis 2 is in very dangerous place when looking for longevity. They are self sustained at this point and using EA mostly as a Publisher, but Crytek needs to think and be bigger. You can blame that on Harry Potter and Madden. Those games put out high numbers and changed things forever.

You are right, we all love Crytek, but we are barely a blink of a percent in their Quarterly Pie Chart. What us fanboy’s should be doing, is finding a way to get more people interested in the franchise, way more people. We should be talking about how they improved the game from last time to make us loyal customers happy. We should be using these forums to point out the faults and then making absolutely sure to come back and explain to the world how they fixed them. If, when the BETA comes around, that is what everyone involved should be focusing on.

This is the reason Halo is such a great game, the developers have been releasing news with developers saying, We observed people had to use tricks with our previous game/editor to get what they wanted. So we made all those tricks a Feature so people don’t have to be hassled anymore. Bungie’s reputation and gameplay does the rest.[/quote]
~neokinesis

I think Crytek is listening.

The ‘Body Count’ is up to 39,000 but needs some way to go before reaching the 10 million mark. None the less, I have noticed a number of small improvements that have made it easier to navigate and post in the past month or so. The biggest improvement for me is the login placement. I am not sure if anyone noticed but if you browser was resized it was rather difficult to log in because the Overlay would often appear off the screen. Although it still does this to some degree, it is much more user friendly.

Why does that matter, you might ask? Well I sign on from remote locations quite a bit to get the more recent news or see what is going on with these threads. Sometimes that means a different browser or operating system, and it makes it more convenient for people like me who visit the site in such versatile ways.

Crysis 2 Central Station Commentary was released today, and it was definitely a step in the right direction. Thanks Yerli and Camarillo for giving us some anticipated developer feedback on what we can expect from the game. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t step up and say that I am noticing Crytek’s outward appearance shown a metamorphosis that is definitely welcomed.

I remember a couple of years back seeing a tech demo for a guy that displayed some procedural coding for large inner city maps. It was done like a game pitch and showed the character in a FPS world jumping from building to building, blowing through walls and making sure to narrate that all the building floors in the entire city were populated with real objects. I unfortunately can not think of this person’s name, or find the link online. I do however believe that it influenced some of the gameplay that I am witnessing as these news clips and marketing videos become live.

I am sure I am will not be the last person to say that I wished the new commentary accompanied some new Crysis Footage. But I like the effort.

what I would find very interesting is if Crytek found the video of that tech demo with the destructible buildings and appeared to be created in a similar environment to that capable with CryEngine2. I would like to see how the techniques in that pitch video, demo reel, or whatever it was, are being used in the game today. I want to hear not only about the technical feats of building an environment that can sub in different geometric states of its assets to display different levels of destruction, but I would also like to hear from the texture artists about how it makes their heart cry whenever they see the pinched polygon edge on the shoulder of the NanoSuit in The Wall video. I would like to hear from the Effects Specialist, talking about how he tried X number of times before they got the rolling smoke just right. Or the way they figured out an easy way to animated the paper flapping on the wall with the pictures and fliers of all those lost people.

I am sure I am not alone in knowing about the different alien designs and how or why each one was chosen. Talk about the technical limitations of some of the designs. Tell everyone about color palettes, mood, poly counts, or even how long it takes someone to build one of the characters. I would love to see the Technical Artists showing off the rig and explaining their trials and the obstacles they overcame in making it just right.

But next time, let’s hope Cevat can clean up a little. Yerli, your reputation and success speak for itself. But had I not known who you were, and had you not told me you were the Director and Founder at the beginning of the video, I would have thought you were just any ole guy. I want to feel excited when you speak, I would like for you to convey to me how much enthusiasm you have for your game. You looked worn out and tired with days old five o’clock shadow. Marketing Gold goes beyond the characters of your game. Please give me more charisma. I believe Crysis2 will be great but I want to see you believe it too.

Please don’t stop innovating.

Well Neo, the gloves come off, I see. Far be it from me to pass up a ride on the band wagon. My only gripe is that I saw nothing new. I think we already knew C2 would be in 3-D. I did find it interesting that different that there were different development considerations when working in 3-D but aside from that, it was pretty much a re-package of the first episode. I think this feature just doesn't translate well when you don't have 3-D glasses on. Seeing that funny weird double image tends to invoke a mild subconscious frustration.

Showing this feature was a step in the right direction though. The bread and butter of the game is the experience and the best way to satisfy loyal fans is to give a glimpse of the coming attractions. I would save the artistry and programming blogs for the developers diaries since those seem to be favored by the industry insiders and the extreme hard-core who likely will be perusing the website anyway.

Neo, your right about Cevat. His persona is important to the brand but I didn't think he was out of line at the Expo. The episodes provide a huge opportunity to develop a report with the fan base. By personalizing the staff, you can create a conscious brand loyalty to Crytek and Crysis. Very cool feature I am a part of with SWtoR is to give out some names that we can follow on facebook and twitter. Again, makes it more personal. I feel like I'm getting an insiders scoop instead of some marketing suits company lines. I looked for a couple names related to Crytek but it's impossible to find any legit people to follow besides Crytek or Crysis as a whole.

That's all I got for now. I guess now is the time I tell Crytek what a good job they doing to counter the mood effect of the constructive criticism I gave but too tired from programming around the clock to come up with an apology. Besides I don't think I was too hard so get over it. Good night.

@Enfadel - I thought Cevat looked presentable at the Expo. The video I was referring to with my previous post was not the Crysis 2 TV Episode 2. The 2nd TV spot was right on what I wanted to see. It was edited in an edgy way, the sound and visuals kept me interested, the pacing fast and exciting.

I agree though, that there wasn't enough NEW. I liked the line or two about how all current 3D technologies will be incorporated in the TV2 spot. Concave 3D, I think it was referred too. I also was surprised to hear that the performance did not take a hit from the filtering and re-rending of the environment for each of the lenses. Do I believe it? Honestly I am still skeptical.

I would like some Developer Diaries but I hate reading. I think they could spice up some of their Blog and TV spots with some more from the other Heads around the Studio. Ha haa, what I don't want to see is Janitor's spot, where he talks about how he works at the best UK Game Company and it makes him proud even though all he does is scrub toilets. More people should be included yes, but I draw the line with people that actually touched a controller or keyboard.

You know who doesn't often get to much play? QA. I think EA is handling some if not all of that based on their track record and Crytek probably outsources but it would be nice to see the guys that are working till midnight or later everyday to make sure the game ships.

What I also found interesting about the 2nd TV spot was how they talked about some things that happen when you use a 3D portal for gaming and how they are working through those. I would love to hear more about the 3D technologies. My philosophy is this, if a Great UK Company like Crytek supports 3D it doesn't mean much to all the other studios in the world. It is hard wrap your head around the new idea. But is Crytek says, its so easy and we were able to do all these neat things with it for a very little cost, well then other studios might pick it up. Why should Crytek do that? So down the road when every studio is using it, they can say we helped counsel the little guys, or even, we showed everyone it could be done right. That way it doesn't look like Ubisoft's Avatar game where it felt half assed and tacked on after the fact. What was that game? A poor Beyond good and Evil that played like a 3rd person FarCry. It was weird. 3D should be a design choice to propel the brand, not a gimmick to draw new users.

With the release of the two videos I don't expect another for a while. Sadly, I still want more...

@neo and Enfadel

Erm, well, yea. I think!
What you both said.

Sorry, all I can say is I expected a lilttle more info on TV 2, not too much more, like exactly what they meant with the jargon about 3D, With all the many questions that have been posed on this site regarding that very matter, an in depthe explanation would have answered many questions.

I am still waiting for someone to ask if two different coloured sweety wrappers will do the trick, as I have followed these posts, clearly there is still a lot of unknowns, as far as the average gamer is concerened, and suggesting that all 3D Technologies would be incorperated seems only to cloud the issue.

A good friend of mine who works in the broadcasting industry explained how 3d was affecting him with the camera arrangents and sheer added wieght and size of the said equipment, but that is TV, and his burden lol, he makes good bucks for his time.

It is refreshing to see that you are both on form, I had begun to think that you had grown tired of posting, and you know how much I love a good novel. @ neo again, what did you make of my Rig specs as posted up there, ^^

Be good guys, infact be fantastic, lol.

@Guss600 - I would be a hypocrate if i said that I didn't understand why the Editors Choice Award forum was the place you to brag about your system. As unfriendly as it might sound, my intension is definitely not to offend but It only matters that mine work when I want to play the game.

I realized that we are all off topic most of the time. :] Take me for example, I originally showed up here today to take a look at the NEW screenshot that was released. I guess it is sort of on topic, your Rig matters to the PC brat idea, and mine for the Crytek's need to innovate their Marketing Style to win the game battle. Cry-Tom is the man! I want to befriend him because he brings us all the cool content. My guess is he is PR or Community Manager of sorts.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the Exclusive: First Crysis 2 Multiplayer Screenshot! thread. It is a really nice screenshot. Looks like a ground level lobby with the ceiling blown out on the right. The characters are posed appropriately and there is a little more flare then the usual.

Again I think Crytek is listening. I still want to see more Marketing Gold. Show me those aliens with all their tentacle dreads, Maybe a clashing pose where NanoSuit Boy and Alien Conquerer are trying to smash the, you know what, out of each other. The screenshot made me warm and fuzzy but I haven't seen too much of a PR Campaign for the Bad Guys. Sometimes showing how horrible the Enemy can be is even better than Patriot shots of your Super Soldiers and Leaders.

I really hope I can play as the villains...

@neo,
You brought up the shares situation, to this I responded in the most posative way i could, then answered your q's and even more or less thanked you for the humour you brought to my o'l mums life for a while, when you enquired how I managed, as a guy with a little in the bank, given the cost of a decent rig, I had simply explained that it wasnt really that costly, by means of a breakdown.

[quote]@Guss600 - Unfortunately, the article suggests that revenues may be down in the next quarter and a drop may happen at that time but if EA is able to hold steady since they anticipate that, I believe it could pay off.

For a guy that claims to have a little bit in the bank, what are you doing playing Crysis? In the states, when the game came out, a Rig that would run the system offered by most companies, ran about 3,000 USD. And that was competitively marketed. I think for a recession that price is pretty steep, really steep even. It is awesome for Crytek to make the switch to console but there is no denying that many fans might feel like it dilutes the gene pool. As for me, I guess I got lucky, my home Rig could never run Crysis but I have so much time on it at work it got the bug out of my system. I'll be honest, people had gotten kind of used to eating chopped liver and at the time it kind of felt like driving a Ferrari.![/quote]

I have enjoyed the flexible and friendly manner that lead this post to its current point, and far from bragging, I merely wished to explain in full, how it was done on a tight budget, and I had no wish to impress the Brat Ideal, if that was the impression i gave then I appologise fully and completely.

Like you, and as I have said many times, would only wish for that big giant happy barbie, where we can All get along and have fun.

@Guss600 - Cheers to that brotha. You gotta make me a block buster rig too, then we can ride in style together.

I can't wait to get my hands around some alien neck. Isn't your trigger finger just itching for some Crysis 2 Game Action? I am so sad the title was postponed again.

@Guss, thats a nice rig, it should be able to handle C2 on medium to high. I'm a big ASUS fan, my specs are here.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5571&review=asus+g73+g73jh

@neo,
Wish I could say it was a blockbuster rig, i think its somewhere just above mid range at a guess, but as i say that was down to budget at the time, the recovery from that is slow , so I cant afford to make you a rig just now, lol

your quite right though, my trigger finger was twitchin to get a hold of a few Aliens and throw them around a bit, or just plain blow them svckers up, twice... well we have to wait now but I hope it provides more time for the devs to smooth things out just a bit more.
:-]
@Enfadel,
Just followed your link, and wow thats sweet and portable also, thats a bonus considering whats inside it, you shouldnt have any trouble with the latest games at all, and Crysis 2 should go well on that system, Sweet.

This ran Crysis on high but struggled on very high, the asus turbo did help a bit, but I am happy to wait a while before i do any upgrades to the beast, lol.

Again down to finances, but in due course i want to rev things up a notch, I want to see how well it deals with Crysis 2 before i do anything, and i am currently on with BFBC2 online set on high, and that seems fine.

Be good guys,

[quote]@Guss, thats a nice rig, it should be able to handle C2 on medium to high. I'm a big ASUS fan, my specs are here.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5571&review=asus+g73+g73jh[/quote]

I also like ASUS very much. Their products usually cost a bit more than average, but you get very high quality parts and good customer service.

Im also itching for some Crysis 2 action, but i know the wait will be worth a hopefully good quality product. Im really hoping that Crytek will support this game correctly.

[quote][quote]@Guss, thats a nice rig, it should be able to handle C2 on medium to high. I'm a big ASUS fan, my specs are here.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5571&review=asus+g73+g73jh[/quote]

I also like ASUS very much. Their products usually cost a bit more than average, but you get very high quality parts and good customer service.

Im also itching for some Crysis 2 action, but i know the wait will be worth a hopefully good quality product. Im really hoping that Crytek will support this game correctly.[/quote]+1000 and Limited edition comes to mind lol

A lot of new updates this week. I am really liking those Top Down shots of the multiplayer maps. Gets my gears going about CE3. Does anyone think that maybe Crytek will align its marketing strategy with Bungie? I am curious if anyone else has noticed that they have started ramping up before release. Pretty soon we might get that new Forum Site and some Beta. The part I am watching for is when they tell everyone they will be packaging an Editor so Developers and Consumers can get a taste before they buy the real deal. Who is with me?

[quote]A lot of new updates this week. I am really liking those Top Down shots of the multiplayer maps. Gets my gears going about CE3. Does anyone think that maybe Crytek will align its marketing strategy with Bungie? I am curious if anyone else has noticed that they have started ramping up before release. Pretty soon we might get that new Forum Site and some Beta. The part I am watching for is when they tell everyone they will be packaging an Editor so Developers and Consumers can get a taste before they buy the real deal. Who is with me?[/quote]Closed Beta for 360 only.
Very special Nano edition limited stock, not in shops, pre-order only, and at this time announced but still not available, not even EA show it yet.

there is some real rage going on about the closed Beta, not too fussed myself. But why tell me I can pre-order something really great, that I really want, but not tell me where this can be gotten from, that stinks. lol.

Top down shots are a bonus, it looks sweet and could be a real multiplayer test, but you know what I think, all we have seen so far is very limited, even the chat and the interviews have all been centered around a very small area, by comparison to the first two editions.

I just hope and prey that they are hiding many levels from us, and the gameplay is more extensive, also I too wish the site would get its final makeover, its been a while in the making now, so maybe its a choice time to let rip, and take the rage down a peg or two.

Level editing, way over my head mate, but they should try and please as much as possible just now i think,

[quote][quote]A lot of new updates this week. I am really liking those Top Down shots of the multiplayer maps. Gets my gears going about CE3. Does anyone think that maybe Crytek will align its marketing strategy with Bungie? I am curious if anyone else has noticed that they have started ramping up before release. Pretty soon we might get that new Forum Site and some Beta. The part I am watching for is when they tell everyone they will be packaging an Editor so Developers and Consumers can get a taste before they buy the real deal. Who is with me?[/quote]





there is some real rage going on about the closed Beta, not too fussed myself. But why tell me I can pre-order something really great, that I really want, but not tell me where this can be gotten from, that stinks. lol.

Top down shots are a bonus, it looks sweet and could be a real multiplayer test, but you know what I think, all we have seen so far is very limited, even the chat and the interviews have all been centered around a very small area, by comparison to the first two editions.

I just hope and prey that they are hiding many levels from us, and the gameplay is more extensive, also I too wish the site would get its final makeover, its been a while in the making now, so maybe its a choice time to let rip, and take the rage down a peg or two.

Level editing, way over my head mate, but they should try and please as much as possible just now i think, [/quote]

+1

Although, i am very annoyed with the closed beta. After all the marketing on the Xbox360, you would think it would need a beta the least of all the versions. I would be just dandy if the beta was on the PS3, because they probably need it.

Hey Talon,

I just noticed your post count, wow, 1020, my you been a busy li'l dude aint ya mate lmao,
You calmed down a bit yet ?? after all, we none of us know whats coming next mate.

Yeah im calm now. I really want to see Crash Site and Impact, i was most anticipating those being shown but Crytek showed Team Instant Action and Rooftop Gardens first. xD

Those levels look great, I'm super stoked to see what they have in store. I looked at the lay outs and they are keeping the levels so far pretty small to medium, i wonder if they are going to include some larger maps for gigantic mega matches. Maybe something in central park to give us a valhalla type map. maybe some sort of coney island type map to help break the monotany of the city enviornment. If they dont have these maps, I hope they give us a way to create them