They finally got the jetpack strength and skiing velocity inheritance right per my tastes. I've only ever played Tribes: Ascend so apologies to the older games fans as I'm not sure if this will suit your liking.
Game still needs some work, but the core seems to be there now and 12v12 feels like a good size for the maps that currently exist in-game.
To answer questions people who played previous tribes may immediately have:
- game visually is like an updated Ascend
- bases have generators now
- base turrets still aren't as opressive as I wish they were
- competitive mode is 7v7 in this test (up from 5v5- I still play casual 12v12 because I think it's more fun)
- confirmed 32v32 private servers
- still only testing CTF
- vehicles are not in the game yet
Anyone can request access to the play test on steam (Tribes 3: Rivals) so if you have a passing interest give it a shot.
Wait what tribes is back? Is this real am I in a dream? Hitting someone in the dome with a spinfusor was a level of high I've never achieved in gaming since. SHAZBOT
They finally got the jetpack strength and skiing velocityinheritance right per my tastes. I've only ever played Tribes: Ascend so apologies to the older games fans as I'm not sure if this will suit your liking.
As someone who played every single entry in the series this is good news. The minigun better not be hitscan this go around though. Really fucked up the balance and they never got it right because it either was op or nerfed to uselessness (in ascend that is).
Minigun is fairly contentious right now because it looks like they overcorrected from the last test (it isn't hit scan but bullet projectiles are really fast).
I expect them to dial it back in because they've been responsive to feedback so far.
Biggest complaints from this test is they made the hitbox for spins a bit too large (bps are a bit too easy right now) and the velocity for spins and miniguns is a little high, but this is the best movement has felt in the game (in my opinion of course).
If they do some combination of tweaking spims hitboxes and/or reduce projectile velocity I think they'll be in a really good place. Minigun needs either a small damage nerf and/or projectile speed lowering too.
That's all good to hear. It really is one of my favorite multiplayer FPS of all time.
I hope they allow mods in private servers. Some of the mods for OG tribes were absolutely bananas, with dozens of new weapons/variants, and one mod that added big ass airships you could control and even build on.
Hell yeah I love tribes! Spent most of middle and high school playing heavily modded versions in 1 and then 2
I never played Tribes, it always looked too fast and too twitch-shootery for me. Is that the right way to interpret it?
I like pew pew stuff but I much prefer slower paced things where strategy is more important than who can get their crosshair on target faster than the other person. Long TTKs and more teamplay.
It's significantly less twitchy than similar era games like UT/Q3/Counterstrike/TFC. There's a lot more focus on positioning and momentum and waiting until you find the right firing solution on your target. It feels fast, but most of that's movement not shooting.
Almost nothing...Uhh, Halo? Battlefield? Titanfall? None of them get the feel of Tribes. Titanfall comes closest, but it doesn't have the immense maps needed. It's a very, very movement based game, very focused on the jetpack and optimal engagement ranges, way more about evasion than aiming. You can spec a short-range character and play it as a twitch shooter, but you don't have to. Honestly I'd recommend torrenting Tribes vengeance and playing the singleplayer (Which if you've played earthsiege/cyberstorm will be a nice story to play through)
Genuinely I don't think there's a even a good modern comparison.
Maybe some odd combination like saying the movement is similar to CS Surf maps and the combat is like TF2 soldier air shots? There are more weapon types beyond that (with the most popular others being a longer range demoman grenade launcher type weapons of varying ranges). I don't think that combination even holds up great as a comparison point because it's so unique but that's the best I can do.
I wouldn't call it a twitch shooter its more close to the speed of say quake or arena shooters of old. Lots of hp, lots of time to react and all based around movement.
The mechanics are some of the most fun I've ever had in an fps. Its 90% speeding over slopes and getting big speed up. Skirmish fights at that velocity result in both players missing all the time. All the weapons are slow projectiles with hitscan weapons being very low damage and reserved for finishing someone off.
Once every now and again you'll hit one of the projectiles at high speed against another player and feel like a god.
I loved Tribes. Then Hi-Rez and their E-sports fever killed it. Ascend WAS fun - at first.
Are the going to allow mods?
If they are catering to
E-spurtz like Hi-Rez with the constant shitfuckery because of E-spurtz crying about casual then I fear for it.Hi-Rez is in
from what they did to Ascend.Prophesy Games is an "independent" spin-off from Hi-Rez and it looks like they took the assets from Ascend to just revive it on face. Oh PTSD shazbot. Might get back into it, but if they are a Hi-Rez clone it worries me about the whole constant nerfing / screwing for the sake of E-spurtz catering rather than making a good game and telling the niche E-spurtz crowd "that's the game deal with it and play the game".
The way I'm treating this is enjoying it so long as it's fun.
My expectations are incredibly low for long term sustainability strictly because of just the difficulty of fps-z games to reach audiences who have never played a game like it before, so as long as im having fun I'm sticking around.
I think all fears related to Prophecy's roots in Hi-Rez are warranted, but I figure at minimum I can at least enjoy the game in the moment.
I hope it goes well. Lucky you got in the ground floor. If it comes out of private I might join in.
In case I didn't make it clear enough anyone can request access on steam and they're letting pretty much everyone in once the new playtest starts (current cadence seems to be every Thursday-Saturday)
the only multiplayer match-game i ever vibed with was Ascend. this glowing review probably won't be enough for me to brave the wastes of multiplayer again but jetpack skiing is hands-down the GOAT of fps styles
I just watched some gameplay, it looks really fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L1E6trcrTc
