ww.r60.org is hosting a PK League. Season 3 is open for signup.

http://www.r60.org/?a=10&g=0&lang=en <- Signup there :] HF

Yesterday announced gotfrag.com a Painkiller 1on1 Invite Tournament. The tournament is going to start on December the 1st at 7 oclock

The following players will take part in:

gellehsak
dj`
brett
destrukt
carnage
pfb
crater
cha0ticz
daler
InFlow
lexer
clowN
toast`
elpajuo
Fireblade
wr3ck

The best 3 players will also win the following prices:
– 1st place $50 Gift Certificate from GotGear along with 1 year free GotFrag? Prime membership.
– 2nd place $25 Gift Certificate from GotGear along with 1 year free GotFrag? Prime membership.
– 3rd place 1 year free GotFrag? Prime membership.

As promised a a short while ago, the THREE new Painkiller maps have been released. Developed by Ritual Entertainment, the 3 maps have the following names:

DM_Absinthe, DM_Balist and DM_5quid01

Ive ran around the maps, just to see what they were like.. and all I can say at the moment is that DM_Absinthe looks like the most playable (competitively).

The other two are “ok”, but lack that special appeal. You decide though.

Please remember that the three maps are only in testing stage, so they are NOT finished. You can also give feedback on the maps here.

Mirrors & Installation

Please extract the 3 files to your DATA folder.

The CPL
PKEURO

CAL, the online CPL amateur league have announced that they have opened a Painkiller division. The league will commence from January 3rd, 2005.

You can sign up for the division here and read more about the division here.

Its about time this happened. 🙂

http://se.pricerunner.com/games/pc-games/178699/prices <- Painkiller http://se.pricerunner.com/games/pc-games/225785/prices <- Painkiller: Battle Out Of Hell, Note that Gamesmix.com already has it in stock :].

BOOH is in stock at play.com and some guy on the forum said he got it already.. Does this mean we all have it within a few days? Only time will tell.. :>

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=PC&title=185826

I personally hope i get it tomorrow :]]

Also.. As [u]Riner pointed out for me, you can get booh for £1.99 delivered by using this link:
http://www.play.com/play247.asp?searchtype=allproducts&searchstring=booh&page=search&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

1st place – iTs|Spank – video ASUS V9520 Home Theater/P 128Mb, 100$ and champion’s cup
2nd place – App1c aka kekc – 125$ and diploma
3rd place – b100.P1vash – 75$ and diploma
4th place – M19*Askold – 50$

More info and demos
http://www.cyberfight.org/site/news/28185/?PHPSESSID=4aaae4adc37e2ebdf3c35ae713e7cd36

Jolt have sent word that they will be running the 2nd ever PC Zone Readers Challenge for Painkiller very soon. Heres the press release:

As part of the build-up to LAN finals of our 4Kings Intel Painkiller tournament we are planning to run a 32 player single-elimination duel tournament for Painkiller.

This competition is open to all players from Europe.

Good luck to all entrants, there is some coolarooney prizes to be won.

Yesterday the Abit Fatal1ty Shooutout came to Finland, making a stop at the Verkkokauppa.com store in Helsinki, where Finns could challenge the infamous Fatal1ty in a 4-minute round of Painkiller. The maps to be played were randomly chosen between DM-Psycho and DM-Sacred. The whole Z-Partio Painkiller squad was in attendance with the following lineup: Timo cubik Hänninen, Tarmo Dread` Juhola, Tommi fack Juhola, Jussi osir Kärpänen and Antti rat Tolvanen.

The former Quake 3 CPMA champion, rat, managed to become the second person to defeat Fatal1ty in his global shootout tour, the only other person being [EYE]sakh who accomplished the same feat a day before at Dreamhack LAN. The Z-Partio player started off well on DM-Sacred but was telefragged(!) in the first minute by Fatal1ty, but managed to grab a frag in the next minute, finishing the game in a 1-1 tie. On the second map, DM-Psycho, Fatal1ty was instantly under pressure, and rat got off to an early lead of 3-0. Fatal1ty managed to catch up and tie, but a last-minute frag put the situation at 4-3 after 4 minutes had passed. However, due to a server bug, the game continued for another 3 minutes, at which point rat was in a convincing lead with 7-4. Congratulations to rat, who will be receiving an Abit Fatal1ty gaming PC worth nearly 2000 euros!

All performed exceptionally well and gave Fatal1ty a very hard time, as is shown in the results below:

• rat (1-1), (5-4)
• osir (1-1), (0-1)
• fack (0-0), (0-2)
• cubik (2-2), (2-3)
• Dread` (0-2)

Fatal1ty went on to dominate all other challengers, which underlines the excellent performances of the Z-Partio players. osir, fack and cubik will also be receiving Audigy 2 soundcards for their excellent scores in the shootout.

The online qualifiers, which have seen 128 of the UKs best players battle it out for a place in the finals have now finished.

In the Bloodline tournament, the UKs top players will battle it out in order to find two new players to join the ranks of the world championship winning team: the 4Kings sponsored by Intel.

The players will participate in worldwide competitions in 2005 as part of the $1,000,000 CPL World Tour and the game of choice will be Dreamcatchers “Painkiller”.

The 8 finalists are as follows:

KuuLa, Razorb, Maniax, ZaF, Zaccubus, sU, DunToN, Appz

Who will come out of the tournament wearing the kings crown? Only time will tell. For more information, please visit bloodline.jolt.co.uk.

Just a note to let users of the site know that the Pkeuro buglist is now open to define and rank the bugs and issues you have with PK. When submitting an issue you can include a screenshot or relevant zip attachment. Also you are able to comment on each bug/issue to give feedback to others.

DC/PCF are well aware of this list and your contributions will be read. If you have nothing which isnt already on the list, please help out by voting on the severity of the issues.

You can find the buglist here.

The CBS news program known as ’60 minutes’ will be covering the CPL winter event this year. For those of you who have never heard of 60 mintutes, It’s been in Nielsen’s Top 10 programs a record 23 consecutive seasons and an average of 14 million viewers tune into the broadcast every week. It is a very mainstream program in the USA; Dustin Hoffman, Jim Carrey, and Alicia Keys have all been featured on the show recently. Now its time for the CPL’s turn.

Okay heres the good news.. 60 Minutes will be focusing primarily on the competitors of the USA national Painkiller qualifier for the $1,000,000 CPL World Tour. Not only could you guys be travelling to America to play in the first Painkiller world tour qualifyer, but theres a large possibility you could be on TV and viewed by over 14 million people aswell!

I am very pleased to see this anouncement. It will surely help e-sports a hell of a lot and I would like to thank the CPL for their grand efforts.

The CPL | CBS

==========
OVERVIEW
==========

When you play online, the game running on your machine is called the ‘client’, and the place where you connect to play is called the server.

When you connect to a server, there are two sets of data transfer taking place; server-to-client (downstream), and client-to-server (upstream).

Downstream data contains information about what you see happening, and upstream data contains information about your own movements and actions.

This document details the settings you can tweak your configuration to optimise your game for online play.

Glossary
——–

‘Ping’ – refers, in game terms, to the sum of all the delays from the time an event takes place on a server, to when the server recieves confirmation that the client has heard about it.*

*The components of ping are the network delays, and the delays inherent to the upstream and downstream update rates (the higher the rates, the lower the delays). Note also that the network component of ping increases as the use of remaining upstream and/or downstream bandwidth decreases, as you approach the limits of your connection speed. Painkiller netcode automatically removes much of the effect of ping to a reasonable limit (no need for pushlatency/timenudge settings). Despite this, a lower ping is always preferable.

‘Lag’ – refers to a percieved effect of delays taking place, commonly sluggish movement or game reactions.

‘Packet Loss’ – refers to upstream or downstream data packets being lost, to taking too long to reach their destination. Typical this is experienced as a sudden jerk in gameplay, or an event being missed.

‘Warp’ – refers to the sudden unpredictable movements of a player.

============
QUICKGUIDE
============

The key commands you should tweak to improve your connection, are;

setmaxfps – controls the amount of upstream data (update rate).
serverframerate – controls the amount of downstream data (update rate).
enemyinterpolation – smoothes player movements

Values given are suggested values only. You may find you need different settings for varying number of players on the server (i.e. Duel or Free For All games)

MODEM (33.6kbps or 56kbps)
————————–
setmaxfps 60, 30 or less*.
serverframerate 15 or less.
enemyinterpolation 1

*If the framerate becomes too low for you to play, it is recommended that you pick a reasonable framerate, and limit your upstream using the ‘clientbandwidth’ command. Try ‘clientbandwidth 2000’ and ‘setmaxfps 60’.

ISDN (64kbps or 128kbps)
————————
setmaxfps 60 or less.
serverframerate 20 or less.
enemyinterpolation 1

Low Bandwidth DSL/ADSL/CABLE (128/64, 256/128, etc)
—————————————————
setmaxfps 60 or less.
serverframerate 20 or less.
enemyinterpolation 1

Low Upstream DSL/ADSL/CABLE (*/64, */128)
—————————————–
setmaxfps 100 or less.
serverframerate 20 or less.
enemyinterpolation 1

High Bandwidth DSL/ADSL/CABLE (512/256, 1024/256 or higher)
———————————————————–
setmaxfps 100 or 125.
serverframerate 30 or less.
enemyinterpolation 1

LAN/T1/E1
———
setmaxfps 125 or more.
serverframerate 45 or more.
enemyinterpolation 1

==================
NETCODE COMMANDS
==================

Note: all commands may be entered from console, but require the prefix of a backslash, forwardslash, or dot.

setmaxfps 0-250
—————

This sets the client rendering rate, but it also influences how many client-to-server packets are sent every second. Sets the ‘Cfg.MaxFpsMP’ setting.

serverframerate 1-100
———————

Sets the number of server-to-client updates the client wishes to recieve from the server per second. Sets the ‘Cfg.NetcodeServerFramerate’ setting.

enemyinterpolation 1/0
———————-

Toggles smoothing of other players’ movement. Sets the ‘Cfg.NetcodeEnemyPredictionInterpolation’ setting.

netstats 1/0
————

Toggles rendering of on-screen network debug information.

clientbandwidth
—————

Sets the upstream client bandwidth limit. Sets the ‘Cfg.NetcodeClientMaxBytesPerSecond’ setting.

==================
NETCODE SETTINGS
==================

These settings are to be found in the file ‘config.ini’ in the ‘\Bin’ folder of your Painkiller install. NOTE: You should only ever edit this file while Painkiller is not running, or changes made will be lost.

Cfg.MaxFpsMP
————

This sets the number of client-to-server packets recieved each second. Also sets the client rendering rate. For a high rendering rate and lower upstream bandwidth use the ‘Cfg.NetcodeClientMaxBytesPerSecond’ setting. Default value is 0, but you should set this to somewhere between 15-125.

Cfg.NetcodeClientMaxBytesPerSecond
———————————-

This sets the upstream bandwidth limit, in bytes per second. Setting to -1 disables the upstream bandwidth limit. Default value is -1.

Cfg.NetcodeEnemyPredictionInterpolation
—————————————

This smoothes the movement of player models seen. Default value is 1.

Cfg.NetcodeLocalPlayerSynchroEveryNFrames
—————————————–

Sets the number server frames between which a server-to-client synchronisation takes place. This only affects your own player’s position. Between these updates, the client will use your movement input to predict your position. Setting this higher than 0 slightly reduces downstream packet size. Default value is 0.

Cfg.NetcodeMaxPlayerActionsPassed
———————————

This setting sets the number of client frames worth of movements which are buffered, and sent to the server in each client-to-server update. This is done so that in the event of single packet loss, player actions have a higher chance of reaching the server. The downside to this is upstream packet size is increased, which can lead to a higher ping. Default value is 1, suggested range is 1-3.

Cfg.NetcodeMinUpstreamFrameSize
——————————-

This setting selects the minimum size of client-to-server packets. If your upstream bandwidth is limited, you can use this setting, along with a fixed client framerate (via setmaxfps), to maintain a constant client-to-server data rate, and stablise the upstream component of your ping. Suggested values are 0-50. Note: this will usually incur an increase in your ping. Default value is 0.

Cfg.NetcodeServerFramerate
————————–

This sets the number of server-to-client packets recieved each second. Default values depend on your connection, but should be in the range 10-30.

Cfg.NetcodeStatsNumberToAverageFrom
———————————–

This setting allows you to control the amount to which the values observed in netstats on-screen network debug information. Default value is 1.

Cfg.NetcodeStatsUpdateDelay
—————————

This sets how frequently, the onscreen display for netstats is update, in milliseconds. The default value is 1000 (1 second).

=================
TROUBLESHOOTING
=================

1. My ping is very high (shows constant 255 on scoreboard, or doesn’t update)
—————————————————————————–

It is likely that your netcode settings are too high for the connection type you are playing on. Choose the settings for a lower connection type.

Check the location of the server, if it is in the same country as you.

Also check that you are not running anything else (such as downloads) which is using your connection.

2. When I enter a server, I cannot move, or if I do move, the player reacts after several seconds
————————————————————————————————-

This will occur when your ping is greater than 1 second (1000ms), but my ‘ping’ on the game scoreboard doesn’t update. (See 1)

3. My network symbol keeps appearing
————————————

The network symbol appears when no server-to-client data is being recieved. If it appears frequently, it is likely that you are experiencing downstream packet loss.

If your ping is high it could be because you are near the downstream limit of your connection. If this is the case then try lowering the ‘Cfg.NetcodeServerFramerate’ setting using the ‘serverframerate’ command.

If your ping is low, it may be because you are experiencing downstream packet loss. If this is so, try increasing your ‘Cfg.NetcodeServerFramerate’ setting using the ‘serverframerate’ command.

4. Other players are jerky, but my FPS is high
———————————————-

Make sure you have the ‘Cfg.NetcodeEnemyPredictionInterpolation’ set to true, by typing using the command enemyinterpolation 1.

In addition try increasing your server-to-client update rate using ‘serverframerate’. Recommended values are in the range 10-30.

5. My mouse movement seems sluggish, is this lag?
————————————————-

No. Try testing with ‘Smooth Mouse’ off (found in Options|Controls in the Painkiller menu). If you are using a PS2 mouse, check that the sample rate is high from Control Panel within Windows.

Make sure you have the latest mouse drivers/software.

Also make sure that your framerate is not dropping. (See 7)

6. I think I am getting lag in fights or with more players on the server
————————————-

This may be down to netcode lag, or it may be down to rendering framerate (FPS) drops. Firstly you should confirm it is not an FPS drop (see 7).

If you believe that it is netcode, lower your netcode settings.

7. My FPS drops a lot with more players on the server
—————————————————–

To see your framerate, type ‘showfps 1’ in the console. If your FPS drops a lot you may percieve this as lag or sluggish behaviour.

You may find it more playable to set your FPS to a lower limit, so that rendering happens at a constant rate. You can do this by editing your config to set ‘Cfg.MaxFpsMP’ to your new limit or typing ‘setmaxfps xx’ in the console, where xx is your required framerate.

Painkiller, like any new game, has high system demands. If your framerate is low, you should ensure that your video settings are set to ‘Fastest’ to improve your FPS, and make sure you have the latest hardware drivers.

8. Other players are telling me I am warping
———————————————

This might be either because you have a low setmaxfps setting, or a low clientbandwidth limit, or that your upstream is experiencing packet loss.

If you suspect your upstream is suffering from packet loss, try increasing ‘Cfg.NetcodeMaxPlayerActionsPassed’ slightly, in the range 1-5.

A little birdy has let me know that the likely release date for Battle out of Hell in the UK is now December 3rd. Only another week and a half to wait!!

[@W4rh0g]: okay, would [GameStar]Boe like to start us off please
[+[GameStar]Boe]: ok
[+[GameStar]Boe]: so
[+[GameStar]Boe]: Are you satisfied guys with the hype of the multiplayer of PK over the net?
[+[GameStar]Boe]: You were very hopeful…
[@[DC]Simon]: andrew first maybe ?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Satisfied? Thrilled! We always thought that since the fenomenal Quakeworld the FPS scene has been missing dynamic, hardcore MP game but we never dreamed PK could actually go as far as to become ‘the next big thing’ 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But on the other hand there are huge expectations growing
[@[PCF]Andrew]: so It’s both great and hard for us because we’re getting automatically compared to the well established MP titles that have been in constant development for long years
[@[PCF]Andrew]: So if PK will be only given enough time to mature it will surely live up to the hype, or or maybe even exceed it 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Would DC like to comment?
[@[DC]Simon]: sure
[@[DC]Simon]: we’re as close as can be to the MP community over the net and we’re extremely proud of that
[@[DC]Simon]: we have close relationship with the CPL, ESL, the ESWC and all of the major leagues anc communities throughout the world
[@[DC]Simon]: and that’s definitely something we will reaaaally work on in the feature
[@[DC]Simon]: future sorry
[@W4rh0g]: ok, could we have the next question from [JOLT]Titch please
[+[GameStar]Boe]: Any plans about WCG, as the biggest world-wide tournament? It could be a real blast…
[+[GameStar]Boe]: sorry, my 2nd 🙂
[@[maniax]]: np
[@W4rh0g]: Since its related
[@W4rh0g]: please carry on
[@[maniax]]: good question 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: Why an expansion patch now and not a part 2 within its own right next year
[@W4rh0g]: Titch’s question to PCF please
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: as some people are sceptical of the value of such patches
[@[DC]Simon]: hmmm which question should we answer ? Titch’s ?
[@[maniax]]: answer [GameStar]Boe’s firstly
[@[maniax]]: if you like
[@W4rh0g]: Titch’s
[@W4rh0g]: we’ll come back to Boe’s
[@W4rh0g]: manny..
[@[maniax]]: 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Titchs please
[@W4rh0g]: to Andrew
[@[PCF]Andrew]: You mean Expansion Pack, not Patch, right? 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: yes
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I guess the answer is pretty simple, after having finished original PK many people were still hungry for some more of the crazy carnage and were constantly flooding our forums with requests for expansion 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: There was definately a huge demand for ‘more of the same’, of course bearing in mind that in case of PCF its never the same, I guess variety of content has become our trademark now 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: however am i right in understanding that the pack also makes enhancemence to the games engines
[PCF]Andrew]: If we were to focus on Painkiller 2, we’d keep people starving for fun for too long, and besides the game would almost positively end up different than original PK
[@[PCF]Andrew]: We have said it many times – Painkiller is our goodbye to the so called oldschool gameplay
[@[PCF]Andrew]: and since old school fun was what people were waiting for – here it comes – Battle Out Of Hell 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Would DC like to comment
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Titch, yeah the engine is vastly improved over the original version, but it’s just technical side of it – the game remains basically same hardcore fun as PK – it only looks better 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: well I think pretty much everyone here thinks the same
[@[DC]Simon]: having more bosses to destroy, more levels to go through and more weapons to use is definitely interesting
[@[DC]Simon]: you get 10 levels, 4 new weapons (2*2), hours of gameplay and more MP stuff so yeah, we really feel like BooH is an kick ass add-on
[@W4rh0g]: [Ludus]Wincio, your first question please
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: sure here it is:
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: So if PK and BOOH are your goodbye to the oldschool gameplay (a nice one :)) what about the next step?
[@W4rh0g]: again to Andrew first please
[@[PCF]Andrew]: While Pk is our goodbye to oldschool we’re still far from saying goodbye to Painkiller 🙂 We’re constantly working on it to make it better, and will be supporting both original PK and BooH for a long time 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Apart from that as you all know PK Xbox is in the works and it’s shaping up to be a great game. I’m not saying ‘great port’ because we’re redesigning the game to suit consoles well
[@[PCF]Andrew]: so you might actually say we’re making a new Painkiller, not just a console port 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: As you can see we’re tied with PK for a long time, and it’s not something we are very unhappy with 🙂 It’s great to be able to work on something you love
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: …maybe we can wondering for a pk2?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: As for the more distant future, we do have a new project in mind but its too early to tell 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But it will definitely be equally story- AND action oriented 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: that’s nice to know, thx andrew
[@W4rh0g]: [NEXTG]Matteo’s question next please
[@W4rh0g]: Still here Matteo?
[@W4rh0g]: 😀
[@W4rh0g]: lets move onto [PCGW-S]Odland’s first question then
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: can do…
[[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: thx
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: 1.Can You tell us about the two new weapons and two new multiplayer-modes? And will all the weapons from the original appear in the Expansion Pack – BooH?
[@W4rh0g]: to Andrew please
[@[PCF]Andrew]: The two new weapons are basically what was most requested for PK – a brand new spanking flamethrower (with sweet hot air distortion effect) and a sniper rifle
[@[PCF]Andrew]: of course each of the weapons has their secondary modes which are nothing to sneeze at either 😉
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I’ll leave them for you to discover in-game though 😉
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: hehe…
[@[PCF]Andrew]: as for the new MP modes its again us listening to demands of community – there is a much anticipated Capture The Flag mode and a modified version of FFA called Last Man Standing
[@[PCF]Andrew]: And lets not forget about another simple mode in high demand – a duel mode
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: The dual-mode is it; is it first hit win or standard health?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Oh and the new weapons have new nifty new combos, as you’d expect from a PK weapons of destruction 🙂 But of course all the old favourite weapons are making their comeback in BooH so there is plenty of gear to have fun with 🙂
[19:47:04] [+[PCGW-S]Odland]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: The duel mode is you basic 1on1 deathmatch mode, this is what people wanted, I guess we’ll leave any modifications to modders… Believe me, for every MP player there are different ideas for MP modes. What we are trying to do is to create something that will appeal to majority
[@W4rh0g]: ok
[@W4rh0g]: [TVG]Chris, do you have your first question please
[@W4rh0g]: ?
[+[TVG]Chris]: Yup[+[TVG]Chris]: With recent AAA titles such as Half-Life 2 and Halo 2, how difficult has it been to continue marketing Painkiller to an oversaturated market?
[@W4rh0g]: I think that ones to DC 🙂
[@[DC]Simon jumps in
[@W4rh0g]: 😀
[@[DC]Simon]: I think it all comes down to the product and the community that goes with it
[@[DC]Simon]: HL2 and H2 quite started on the same foot as we did, gaining much respect through their flawless solo campaigns and continue selling with MP support
[@[DC]Simon]: so all in all, 2004 will probably be best known as the FPS year, and you’re damn right, it’s hard to fight against giants
[@[DC]Simon]: but you do know what happens to giants in PK… 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: lol
[+[TVG]Chris]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Good one 😉
[@[DC]Simon]: to finish on that
[@[DC]Simon]: this really, really comes down to how hard you have worked on getting player’s feedback and constantly pushing that though in your game
[@W4rh0g]: PCFormat-Chris, waiting patiently
[@W4rh0g]: Got your first question for us?
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: cool
[+PCFormat-Chris]: slightly off topic from what has been discussed, and focusing more on painkiller as a whole:
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Its good to keep in mind that most of the huge FPS games this season do not have that much of a replayability factor – you play through them once or a couple of times while PK is considered by many as a game that you can come back to time and time again, simply have a break from reality after work or sth. I think it will provide that value for people for a long time to come 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: I considered Painkiller quite the return to old-school gameplay (as you mentioned), and I even went as far as comparing it to the old ‘hordes-of-enemies-just-run-and-gun’ school of gameplay which games like the original Doom and, more recently, Serious Sam offered. Would you consider yourself in the same league as those games, now that you’ve reaped the rewards? Did you have something different in mind during development?
[@W4rh0g]: to Andrew please
[@[PCF]Andrew]: We did have a clear vision of PK from day one and I think we did manage to reach our goals – create something that is insanely fun and addictive. After all you could break down soccer or football into a simple formula: a bunch of guys chasing a ball, but that doesnt mean that more sophisticated sports are better. So the basic ‘run-and-gun’ is not something that we had to settle on – its something we intended to do 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: And as the tremendous feedback shows we managed to pull it off quite nice 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I might have deviated from the question a bit but I hope it covers it more or less 😉
[+PCFormat-Chris]: nope, your response is great.
[+PCFormat-Chris]: 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: ok
[@W4rh0g]: Boe, still have a question waiting for us?
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+[GameStar]Boe]: yep
[+[GameStar]Boe]: I had one long time ago, not answered, about WCG plans
[+[GameStar]Boe]: but I have an other, maybe better
[+[GameStar]Boe]: 😉
[@W4rh0g]: go for it
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Go on with a new one, I don’t think I’ll manage to ignore the previous question any longer 😉
[+[GameStar]Boe]: In PK the graphics & phisics are just seem so real, that the illusion of “I’m the monster-harvester hero” is nearly perfect. Were you attacked directly by “angry mothers” 😉 because of the game’s “pointless brutality” and the possible effect on youngsters?
[+[GameStar]Boe]: but you can answer WCG-plans also 😉
[@[DC]Simon]: Hmm except my mother, no one attacked me for playing too much PK 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: We’ll its a mixed bag of opinions. On one hand original PK was reviewed by a Christian Gaming site (can’t remember exact name, sorry) and we did recieve quite a nice rating 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: heheh
[@[PCF]Andrew]: On another hand though we’re having some problems with pushing BooH through censorship in Germany right now 🙂
[+[GameStar]Boe]: ok, and seriously?
[@[DC]Simon]: extremely seriously – as a publisher we’re really committed to child protection
[@W4rh0g]: Do you mean actual attacks Boe?
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: the PEGI and USK systems have all gone back and through PK and have chosen appropriate ratings for the game – which I find perfect
[@[PCF]Andrew]: So it looks like there are many people who understand that PK gameplay is pretty abstract fun and some people that would rather ban everything than take care of their children more closely 🙂
[+[GameStar]Boe]: any feedbacks from the “other side” of the good old “Games & Aggression argument”?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Lets not forget that PK has a proper rating so if a child reaches for PK it’s beacuse his or her parents are not there for them to provide another game or activity
[@[DC]Simon]: I think that as all mature industries
[@[DC]Simon]: the videogames have to grow up with their times
[@[DC]Simon]: I think that as all mature industries
[@[DC]Simon]: the videogames have to grow up with their times
[@[DC]Simon]: it used to be rock music, or the movies that were in sight of detractors
[@[DC]Simon]: it’s a good sign that videogames are now part of their time, and growing with it
[@W4rh0g]: Hopefully that answers your Question Boe
[@W4rh0g]: Titch, do you have your second please
[+[GameStar]Boe]: correct answer, thx
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: modding is a vital part of growing and maintaining an active fanbase. How are you going to actively encoiurage this ?
[@W4rh0g]: I think Titch might be away so we’ll come back to him
[@W4rh0g]: [Ludus]Wincio, have another for us please?
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: titch is alive so he is the first 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: but not a fast typer
[@W4rh0g]: ah sorry Titch 🙂
[+[JOLT]Titch]: 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: To Andrew please
[@[PCF]Andrew]: The best thing here is that modders do what they want, and the hardest part is to provide a game that they like 🙂 ANd we’re already past that point 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: having said that, we dont want to stop there, we’re working closely with some mod teams, one of them has even been a frequent visitior to PCF headquaters and has been getting a lot of active help
[+[JOLT]Titch]: however pariah will include modding tools with the game for example
[PCF]Andrew]: being a small team as we are we do not have as many resources to supporting mod community as other companies may have, but we’re doing what we can and already there are some nice mods out there or in the making
[JOLT]Titch]: so we will not see a PK SDK
[@[DC]Simon]: we’ll do our best to support modding, especially in putting together some contests, prizes all-throughout next year
[@W4rh0g]: Think Andrew is answering 😀
[@[PCF]Andrew]: As for SDK, most of PK code has been written in well known and free LUA script language so it is fairly easy to mod the game even now. I dont think we will release anything more than what is currently available (but you can make a new game with what is available already)
[@[PCF]Andrew]: If there is a really high demand from modders for more stuff then we will do it of course 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But for now I think there are more than enough tools and possibilities to work on PK
[@W4rh0g]: [Ludus]Wincio, have your second question for us please?
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: ok thx W4rh0g, I have one not strictly related on BOOH but I’m curious about it:
[@W4rh0g]: sure
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: This year, like we said before, we have a lot of shooter like Doom3, Half Life2, HAlo2 and more. What do you think about the evolution of the genre?
[20:29:40] [@[PCF]Andrew]: Shooters these days are clearly drifting towards a meaningful experience which is a good thing, I think in future we will see even more of emotions and intricate plots in games
[PCF]Andrew]: In a couple of years your average ‘computer free’ friend won’t be able to say “I’m not playing those stupid games” anymore, because they wont be ‘stupid’ 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: It could be 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Of course there will always be demand for pure fun in games but the majority of games will try to involve more of your senses than just fast reflexes 🙂
[+[GameStar]Boe]: Hope not PK2 😉
[@[PCF]Andrew]: ;-))) dont get me wrong, action will always be a big part of FPP games 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: I think that one of the biggest evolution of the genre is going to reside in what we have all lived as gamers
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: we will see 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: in the past there used to be only one hardcore niche MP game which was Q3
[@[PCF]Andrew]: but it’ll be probably more rewarding to kill those baddies because they have lured your older brother into the dark side to save your girlfriend who in the end will turn out not to be who she seems (or have any other complex emotion-rich scenario) than to just kill the baddies just because they’re shooting at you 😉
[@[DC]Simon]: and now we’re seeing Halo2 played in tournaments
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: sure the MP is coming put in any new products, hopefully in the next generation games we could see some new implementation like advance IA… 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: ok
[PCGW-S]Odland, do you have your second question please?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: As for the evolution of MP, its hard to predict, on one end people are waiting for more advancements in that genre, but then again, coming back to my football comparison – not much has changed in that game for centuries and its not bad, is it? 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: 🙂 Thx guys…
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: Ok…
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: The Expansion pack, BooH, must be sqeezing every ounce out of the PainEngine, because Battle out of Hell look significally better than the original. How much more will this perfomance boost demand of the hardware?
[@W4rh0g]: definately an Andrew question :>
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Well, we did improve quality of graphics on two levels, one is just simply higher quality of textures, models and lighting, and this one doesn’t cost any additional computing power 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But the other level is the addition of many sweet high-end, state-of-the-art, super-duper effects that do scream for GF6800 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: slurp 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Booh ships with a 6800 free yeah?
[@W4rh0g]: 😉
[@[PCF]Andrew]: So if you want ‘just’ the quality of original PK – ther eyou have it, no additional hardware cost
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: ok
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: but You need som moer firepower to get the eye-candy… sweet
[@[DC]Simon]: hmm then dont count on the 19.99 Euros price point 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: but if you have more than that trusty-old GF2MX of are willing to upgrade then you will be rewarded with some really sweet FX 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: One of them being specular mapping (used in latest gen games like Doom3) that adds dramatically to the amount of graphical detail
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I could go on and on about the eye candy, let’s just stop here before I bore you to death 🙂
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: go ahead… “bore us” 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Time to move on :>
[@W4rh0g]: hehe
[@W4rh0g]: [TVG]Chris, do you have your second question please?
[+[TVG]Chris]: Yeah. Sure
[+[TVG]Chris]: I know you’ve heard these before, but could you give me more detail. It’s killing two birds with one stone
[@[PCF]Andrew]: trust me, you dont want me to go into detail on those pixel-shading bump-mapping negative LOD render-to-texture vertex-bending mumbo-jumbo 🙂
[+[TVG]Chris]: Its been a few months now since the main game was released. How do you feel its gone down? Also where do you see the company heading in the future?
[@W4rh0g]: ta
[@W4rh0g]: do you mean PCF or DC Chris?
[+[TVG]Chris]: Andrew please 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: k 😀
[PCF]Andrew]: We’re really happy with awesome positive response from players around the world it feels great to be able to prove that creativity and talent can succesfully compete with zillion dollar budgets of the behemoth developer companies and well established franchises
[@[PCF]Andrew]: my only gripe is with how some people precieved the game – they saw ‘a mindless shooter’ in a negative sense without seeing beauty in simplicity of the game 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I guess the game needs a certain amount of openmindedness (or how you say that ;-))
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But its just a minor gripe, for a newcomer to the market we did extremely great and I’m proud of the work my team has pulled off for PK 🙂 As for the future direction of the company…
[@[PCF]Andrew]: We’re a bit torn here because our background was actually in less action oriented games…
[@W4rh0g]: more more
[@W4rh0g]: 😀
[@W4rh0g]: can you let slip one secret Andrew?
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I guess we won’t dissapoint our fans and ‘naysayers’ by trying to combine excellent action with excellent, emotion-rich adventure
[+[TVG]Chris]: Thank you for your answer 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I really cant say anything more guys, other than that the crazy heads in PCF team are really full of ideas 🙂
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: That’s good! We want new ideas! 😀
[@W4rh0g]: ok
[@W4rh0g]: PCFormat-Chris, have a question for us?
[+PCFormat-Chris]: hooray, my turn
[@Hutchy]: 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: i’ve got two, but i’ll ask the ‘on-topic’ question first…
[+PCFormat-Chris]: i’ve got two, but i’ll ask the ‘on-topic’ question first…
[@W4rh0g]: have you seen those clowns in the BooH movie?
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: How closely do you work with the hardware vendors to ensure that the PainEngine (or next version thereof) will look great on upcoming hardware. With Painkiller as your first title, did you have to approach nVIDIA to become part of their TWIMTBP campaign or did they offer to give you development kits – and how well did other vendors co-operate?
[@W4rh0g]: I guess this would be too both DC and PCF
[@W4rh0g]: Andrew, could you comment first please?
[@[PCF]Andrew]: sure
[@[PCF]Andrew]: NVidia guys are great!
[@[PCF]Andrew]: And no, I’m not getting paid for that 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: LOL
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Its simply that they helped us a great deal along the way
[@W4rh0g]: lol
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I cant overlook help that we recieved from Ati either, but it was our close cooperation with great graphics gurus at Nvidia that helped us in achieving top performance of Pain Engine
[@[PCF]Andrew]: ok, I might actually get paid for saying that stuff 😉
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: DC, anything to add? Like the ton of hardware that was supposed to make its way to PCF? 😉
[@[PCF]Andrew]: No, just kidding 😉
[@[maniax]]: lol
[@[DC]Simon]: lol
[@[DC]Simon]: honestly, Nvidia has been a great partner
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Its goot that the relationship with hardware vendors runs on development level more then marketing level, after all its not about marketing decissions but about the best possible performance on your beloved PCs, right? 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: we approached them with PK but knew them from the past already
[@[DC]Simon]: they were immediately thrilled by the potential of the game, its engine aswell as the connectivity between the game and their audience
[@[DC]Simon]: so things went naturally, from development to marketing worldwide
[@[DC]Simon]: and no I don’t have any GF6800 Ultra left 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: haha
[@Hutchy]: lol ;]
[+PCFormat-Chris]: thanks for the response
[+[GameStar]Boe]: 😀
[@W4rh0g]: Thats all the time we have for media questions. Thanks to all those who joined us to participate
[@W4rh0g]: We have time for one question from the game playing public
[@W4rh0g]: As a quick intro
[+[TVG]Chris]: Thanks to Andrew and Simon for taking our questions.
[+PCFormat-Chris]: Thanks guys, good luck for your future ‘developments’ 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: My pleasure guys, nice talking to you!
[+[JOLT]Titch]: Thanks for your time
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: yep thanx guy and thx also to Funty for the organization
[@W4rh0g]: Vo0 is regarded as (currently) the best pk player in the world 😉
[+[GameStar]Boe]: yep, thanks guys!
[@[DC]Funty]: my pleasure!
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: Good luck with other and current projects Simon and Andrew
[@W4rh0g]: He’s won ESWC 2004 and CPL Summer 2004 as well as our own PKEURO tournemants
[@[DC]Simon]: ta, thanks for coming so late on IRC 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Vo0 shoot away with your question
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Give it up for Vo0!!!
[+fnatic\Vo0]: hi
[+[TVG]Chris]: Good luck with future developments and wish you all the best.
[@[PCF]Andrew]: hi ther
[+fnatic\Vo0]: This question is ofcourse about the multiplayer aspect of Painkiller 🙂
[@Hutchy]: 😛
[@[DC]Simon]: hey Voo
[@[DC]Funty]: what a surprise!
[@[PCF]Andrew]: No, there are no ‘god’ cheats in MP if thats what you’re asking 😉
[@Hutchy]: lol
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: although you seem to have figured out something like this 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: actually there is, just type “/name Voo” and everyone will desert the server 🙂
[@Hutchy]: :]]
[+fnatic\Vo0]: I know you guys like the stakegun alot, but as it seems now, the weapon is too powerfull. People have already gotten really good with it, scoring alot of stakegun frags. It does 200 damage and for a spawn weapon, that is a lot.
[+fnatic\Vo0]: In a few months there will be no such element left as map control because people will use the stakegun too well. Are you guys planning to reduce the damage of the gun or maybe even use another gun as a spawning weapon ? Maybe the new MG is a good one – although I have no idea how much damage it does – it would seem like the best idea if you guys manage to balance it.
[@[PCF]Andrew]: This one is a tough decission to make. Our initial decission about using strong stakegun as a spawn weapon was a deliberate one – we did want PK to be a brutal game where spawn-fragging is fairly easy but at the same time we did want the ‘defenceless’ spawned guy to have a chance to turn things around
[@[PCF]Andrew]: It inflicts the gameplay in a serious way – if you go for spawn-fragging spree carelessly like in some other games you may get punished
[@[PCF]Andrew]: But at the same time as people are getting better and better with the weapon it actually might be too powerfull right now
[@[PCF]Andrew]: And its turning in a way that we didn’t want, so we are seriously considering to things: 1) lowering stake damage a bit, 2) adding vote command for selecting efault respawn weapon
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I think there are many people who got used to different gameplay tactics that stakegun imposes on game and will want to stick with it as a respawn weapon
[@[PCF]Andrew]: but for those who wish to change it we will make it possible to vote a different weapon. Time will tell what majority will choose
[+fnatic\Vo0]: If I could give an example … ?
[@W4rh0g]: Would you consider putting it to a public vote Andrew?
[@[maniax]]: I agree with Vo0 :p
[@[PCF]Andrew]: The problem is that there are SO many different views on the game and we have a hard job of setting the standard that will be followed on servers, during tourneys etc. And we’ll never please everyone, thats for sure. But the stakegun issue is probably the most common one so its on the no1. list of things to address
[+fnatic\Vo0]: That’s good to hear.
[@[PCF]Andrew]: I guess thats it then? 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Thats why i think a vote would be best Andrew
[+fnatic\Vo0]: If I could give an example about what could happen with the current weapon set… ? 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: We have one more question for [DC]Simon
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Vo0, shoot, but be quick (I know you are) 🙂
[+fnatic\Vo0]: What if in a final of a 1on1 tournament, you tied the score with 10 more seconds to go, and you are still quite alive (100 health and 50 armor). The guy who just died spawns right behind you and kills you with just 1 shot, where you would have probably lived if the spawn weapon wasn’t so extremely powerful, what about that? I would call it too big of a luck factor to allow such things in such an important match (a final).
[@W4rh0g]: this one was from [GameStar]Boe but got passed on
[@[PCF]Andrew]: but what an exciting finale that would be! 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: but seriously, point taken
[+fnatic\Vo0]: Ok, thanks for answering my questions. 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: Are there any plans in progress for WCG, as it is the biggest world-wide MP event
[@W4rh0g]: to SImon 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Ok guys, its really time to wrap it up, Its my 14th hour at work here and its not even a crunchtime 😉
[@W4rh0g]: thanks for that answer Andrew 😀
[@W4rh0g]: and your time this evening
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: we await the new patch and BooH
[@W4rh0g]: 🙂
[+PCFormat-Chris]: cheers Andrew. thanks for your time, go well 🙂
[@Hutchy]: cya andrew, and gl with the launch
[+[Ludus]Wincio]: Yes thx a lot and good luck!
[+fnatic\Vo0]: Thanks Andrew 🙂
[+[PCGW-S]Odland]: Thanks for Your time, all of You
[@[DC]Simon]: fairly simple question : to be brutally honest there are no plans currently for WCG
[+[GameStar]Boe]: thank you guys
[+[INGAME]Tekilla]: thanks dc & pcf guys 🙂
[@[DC]Simon]: I also tend to think the biggest MP event of 2005 is going to be the 1 million dollar CPL World Tour 🙂
[@[PCF]Andrew]: Thank you All for comming, hope that was entertaining for you as it was for me!
[@W4rh0g]: Does your agreement with the CPL stop you from discussing options with WCG?
[21:26:14] [@W4rh0g]: o/
[@[DC]Simon]: well, we have committed to the CPL World Tour and we really want to focus on that
[@[DC]Simon]: CPL are outstanding supporters and leader of the MP community
[@W4rh0g]: understandable
[@[DC]Simon]: trust me, 2005 is going to be PK year aswell, and specifically on the MP side of things
[+[GameStar]Boe]: thats right, but no 64 countries involved in CPL, if I’m right 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: can you embellish at all on the CPL deal?
[@W4rh0g]: such as when the “additions” have been agreed for timewise?
[@W4rh0g]: pktv etc
[@[DC]Simon]: 🙂
[+[GameStar]Boe]: thanks for the answer anyway
[@[DC]Simon]: everything is on its way
[@[DC]Simon]: everything is on its way
[@[DC]Simon]: we want to make sure that it’s 100% what everyone expects before discussing timing, but expect updates very shortly
[@W4rh0g]: ok great 🙂
[@W4rh0g]: thanks for your time Simon
[@[DC]Simon]: thanks for yours guys
[@[DC]Simon]: journalists and readers
[@W4rh0g]: almost the end of the working day in the US i guess 😀
[@[DC]Simon]: well I’m in Paris, so it’s too late to figure out 🙂
[+[TVG]Chris]: Right, thanks for answering our questions guys, but i must be off. Good luck with all future developments.
[@W4rh0g]: ahh 😀

.. is over. We have just finished the 2.5 hour Question and Answer session with DC, PCF and journalists from all over Europe. We also gave Vo0 a sneaky chance to ask his #1 question to PCF about the strength of the Stakegun. A question thats been on a lot of peoples lips for a LOOONG time. Below is an excerpt from the discussion with the whole log linked either here, or viewing at eslive here (thanks SwaT).

[TVG]Chris]: With recent AAA titles such as Half-Life 2 and Halo 2, how difficult has it been to continue marketing Painkiller to an oversaturated market?

[DC]Simon]: I think it all comes down to the product and the community that goes with it. HL2 and H2 quite started on the same foot as we did, gaining much respect through their flawless solo campaigns and continue selling with MP support. So all in all, 2004 will probably be best known as the FPS year, and youre damn right, its hard to fight against giants

[DC]Simon]: but you do know what happens to giants in PK… 🙂

Thanks to all those who joined us. Especially to Simon and Tiphaine from DreamCatchers, and Andrew from People Can Fly.

Starting off with sakh from EYEballers, last week it was Stermy from Play.it who we interviewd. Today its the very well known zyz from SK-Gaming who we asked a few interesting questions. zyz played Quake3 for the german Q3 topclan Unmatched previously. He then switched to Doom3 and teamed up with SK-Gaming and now after the announcement that Painkiller will be the World Tour Game, he is playing Painkiller with his Teammates SteLam, neok and gitz

The full interview is here > http://www.team-dignitas.com/news.php?newsid=756

The CPL have modified their original announcement we bought to you recently. It now seems that the 3 new maps being developed by Ritual Entertainment will be made available for playtest by the 29th rather than just released. This is probably a good thing as huge numbers of testers can only make the maps better (assuming they listen to the people who know what they are talking about 😉 ).