XIII question

[Blackhawk]

I'm a bit confused. There is a save option through the menu, and a quicksave key, and a quickload key, but everytime I try and load a save, it reloads the level instead. What am I doing wrong?

[Blackhawk]

Nevermind. A thorough Ubi forum search shows that it is a fake quicksave. It doesn't actually do anything. Quickloading (or manual loading) just takes you back to the previous checkpoint/level start with all the enemies back, all of the objectives reset, and your inventory reset.

That genuinely pisses me off. I saw this on sale for ten bucks, but before I bought it I came home and did some research - I read several reviews to ensure that it had a quicksave before I went out and spent the money. Unfortunately, those reviews failed to mention that the quicksave didn't actually save anything.

You know, a few years ago, when a game came out without a save system, it was decried and lambasted. Every recent shooter I've seen has been save-free. Pariah, Project Snowblind, Brothers in Arms, Second Sight (not technically a shooter, but still). I can't play the bloody things that way - I like to explore and take my time. Rushing to the checkpoint isn't exploring. Checkpoints punish exploring. I like to play a game as a narrative - repeating the same section over and over is like reading chapter seven of a novel over and over - I already know what is going to happen, and all the thrill is gone.

Oh, well. Ten bucks I didn't have, wasted.

[LawBeefaroni]

Grab the Chrome: SpecForce demo. Light on instructions but quicksave anywhere, plenty of exploring. Short, but a relatively small download.

Just remember that you have a body suit that with enhancements you can turn on and off.

I never picked up XIII because there was a point in the demo where I couldn't move. After a cutscene. Every time.

[farley2k]

Oh, well. Ten bucks I didn't have, wasted.

I'll buy it from you for $5! You can make back part of your money.

[warning]

If you install the patch it clarifies that it saves at the last checkpoint and is not truly a quicksave.

Unfortunately the patch also adds non-skippable logo movies when the game starts that weren't there in the retail copy. Gah!

[Giles Habibula]

Don't feel bad. I paid $30 for mine and then ended up getting another copy free with my videocard a few months ago. So I just wasted $30.

the damn card also came with URU, which I already had, and Prince of Persia, which I already had.

Just picture me standing over the toilet, flushing dollar bills down it.

[Smoove_B]

Trying to set the record for greatest thread necro with this announcement:



RISE! RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

[TheMix]

I know I played it. I vaguely remember enjoying it. But all I really remember are a few bits here and there. I liked the appearance. I liked the way noises were handled. But I recall nothing of the story. So I guess I'd be down for a replay.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I barely remember it and I know I had it on CD. Still might. It's going to be funny to see people wondering if this is based on Archer.

[Isgrimnur]

Never did get it the first time around. I'd be down for a reboot to save me from having to go back for the first one.

[Smoove_B]

Nothing like an apology:

Greetings,

The highly anticipated remake of XIII, awaited by many fans, came out earlier this week. Unfortunately, players expectations have not been met by the launch version and we hear loud and clear the legitimate criticism and disappointment.

First and foremost, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for the game’s technical issues. In its present state, XIII does not meet our quality standards and we fully understand players’ frustrations. The pandemic has impacted the game’s production on many levels. Pivoting to home working for the teams has added unexpected delays in the development schedule and the QA process. We hoped we would be able to provide a Day One patch fixing all the issues but the development of this update is taking more time than expected.

We want to assure you that PlayMagic is working hard to solve all the game’s issues. With live monitoring and multiple patches in the upcoming days and weeks, we hope to reach the quality level we all expect for the optimum gaming experience. The first update will be pushed shortly to fix the most urgent issues regarding the controls, frame rate, collisions, rendering and sound. For information about the upcoming patches, please follow this link:

In addition, we wanted to thank the community for all the feedback. We are reviewing every single comment carefully, passing along the bugs and issues to the development team. Feel free to send us your feedback and questions to: support_XIII@microids.com

Finally, know that we are working on a detailed road map highlighting the upcoming free additions to the game content like new levels, weapons, skins and modes for the local multiplayer.

We are aiming to please all the XIII fans and we’ll work relentlessly to achieve our goal.

The teams at Microids and PlayMagic

[Blackhawk]

I read two things.

1. A bunch of excuses as to why the game sucks that include the fact that they knew before release that it sucked, and
2. Absolutely nothing about the elimination of the game's atmosphere by completely changing the art style. It would be like making the next Assassin's Creed game cel shaded.

[Rumpy]

I played the original game about a month ago, and loved how it looked at higher resolutions with full anti-aliasing. The cel-shading, the art-style and texture work all contributed to a fairly unique experience, and the sparseness of the world actually helped set the atmosphere, so the fact that the remake took away most of what I liked about the game really puzzled me. The remake just looks like a second-rate generic shooter.

If someone wants to play the game, they should get the original. It's cheap and can be had on GOG or Steam and requires just a few tweaks to get it working with modern resolutions. It's a gorgeous looking game for its age.

I think a good compromise they could have done with the remake would have been to give fans a retro mode, of a similar looking game with cartoony textures running on a newer engine. I mean, that's what you'd expect more or less, with the game going in, but they've dropped the ball big time here.

[Sudy]

The hell is a "fake quicksave"?? Did that make it into the remake?

[Blackhawk]

The hell is a "fake quicksave"?? Did that make it into the remake?

*shrug* I posted that 15 years ago. Apparently I'd had a bad day.

I get the idea of having a dedicated thread for things, but lately we've been taking that to extremes.

[Sudy]

Haha, the thought just amused/frustrated me. I think your ancient frustration was warranted. Your old posts have aged better than many of mine. Digging up old threads may be frowned upon in "normal" forums, but here it can be kind of cool to revisit old posts.

[Blackhawk]

No doubt. Every now and then I'll see what I was talking about ten years ago, or right after OO launched. Sometimes I find it inspiring, either in what I've learned since then, or by being reminded of fun ideas I'd forgotten about.