Battlethumbs: Idle Company

[James]

OMGOMG this was awesome. Even thought the server browsing and general UI is really crap, the game itself is super smooth and fun. Now the only thing missing is:

• Thumbs playing
  
• The game not suddenly disconnecting
  

You should definitely try to play with people you know. As Andy intimated, we just finished an excellent game, and were awarded the top squad pin on at least two occasions. At one point three of us were medics, which resulted in much defib leapfrogging deep in enemy territory, and one hilarious incident when we all descended on Patters (playing assault) and, without any prior arrangement, simultaneously threw a bunch of health at him. It was almost intimidating, especially since he was cowering in a corner (from tank fire, of course - Patters is no coward; quite the opposite, in fact).

Anyway, it's a good game. Excellent environments and sound design, too. Sitting on the back of a jeep as it sped through the desert towards the front was surprisingly cinematic. Not since being impressed by the clouds of dust and billowing rags on that one map in Killzone2it'llblowyouawayIGN.com had I been struck by a multiplayer game having the atmosphere of a single player experience. Actually, Left 4 Dead has some really nice touches, but they tend to be less grand. The fantastic shadows the torch casts, for example. It'd be great if your team-mates' torches were actual light sources too, though.

Ramble? Go off-topic? Me? Are you quite mad?

[Jamsl]

That was a great game today. I rarely had any idea what was going on, who I was or where I was going but still massively enjoyed it.

Hopefully, understanding will come with time.

[James]

Sorry I kept making impossible demands of you. I kept forgetting that you hadn't unlocked the repair skill yet.

[monkeyarmada]

Soon my merry friends, you'll be able to witness my general FPS fucktardary in all it's glory...

God I'm so jealous of you guys getting all pew pew action! It's turning me into a winey biotch.

Mondaymondaymondaymonday....

[toblix]

Oh, is there already a Thumbs thing going on? When, where, etc.? I noticed Armchair was playing, but the server was full. Didn't see anyone else on, but I guess that's to be expected when I have to manually add everyone. Steam integration FTW

[James]

Today was impromptu. I saw Andy playing, I asked to join, we fought with Skype for a while, then Jamsl turned up and Andy was still fighting Skype, then he won and we joined a game and Patters turned up and then Pirate as well.

Hey people, probably get Skype. The sound quality seems better and we can talk inter-squad if there's more than four of us and so on.

And yes, Toblix, JOIN US.

[toblix]

Have any of you tried TeamSpeak? It's Skype-ish, but made for gaming. Actually, it's more like an XBL party. I have a server running at least, if Skype is a problem.

I'll be on the lookout for people playing.

[Armchair General]

Have any of you tried TeamSpeak? It's Skype-ish, but made for gaming. Actually, it's more like an XBL party. I have a server running at least, if Skype is a problem.

I'll be on the lookout for people playing.

Yeah we 'tried' teamspeak in as much as we downloaded it (Pirate, me and maybe someone else I think) and could not figure out how to get it to work . Hence we moved to user friendly Skype.

Skype seems to work very well (Earlier Armchair goof excepted) and I'm not really sure what the benefits of Teamspeak would be over Skype?

Also, although not vital, many of us have exchanged Skype ID's so it's kind of already up and running.

[toblix]

Yeah, it's a real bitch to get up and running. I guess the advantages are that it probably uses less bandwidth, and apparently scales really well. It only came to mind as a fallback, since you apparently had some Skype issues. I'm already running Skype, so it's no big deal.

[Armchair General]

Just me with the Skype problem! What's your Skype tag? Mine is Armchair General (imaginative I know).

[toblix]

I'd rather not post it here, so as to protect my double life. I found two of you on there, though. Which one is you, and which one just wishes he were?

[toblix]

OMGOMGOMG I just played with a bunch of thumbs guys and it was totally awesome. I killed a bunch of young men and racked up points, unlocked pins, badges and new weaponry like a shotgun I didn't use, and a weapon prototype, which I did, and which was awesome. Also I rode on a little car with JamesM, blew up three guys at once with a grenade, and got disconnected from Skype a couple of times. All in all, A++++ will play again. Although I might be horribly wrong, I felt I didn't suck completely, which made things even more fun. Also, we should agree on Thumb or Thumbs. Also, I tried riding a helicopter but died at once. AWESOME FUN FOR EVERYONE!

[James]

I prefer Thumb. Everyone else prefers Thumbs. I like to see it as a descriptor for us as individuals. We are each a Thumb. I guess Thumbs describes the clan as a whole. I prefer the former. OPPOSITION, MAKE YOUR CASE.

I liked driving you around, Toblix. I felt like you'd be more appreciative of my driving style than those PRUDES who get all upset when I crash and kill my passengers. But yes, it was awesome. We were careening around and we whizzed past an enemy tank I think and we got to the enemy base and I didn't have time to steer to the gate so I drove straight at the gate and it just so happened that there was enough of an incline that we jumped just high enough to clear the concrete bit at the bottom and then I drove around the back of a building and there was a load of guys so I jumped off and SHOT THEM ALL. It was fucking sweet. INSERTION DEEP INTO ENEMY TERRITORY. SPECIAL OPS. Fuck yeah.

We need to do a lot of this with a lot of Thumbs. Two full squads is very good. It's a bit awkward when we don't have a multiple of four, though.

[toblix]

OPPOSITION, MAKE YOUR CASE.

I also prefer Thumb.

We need to do a lot of this with a lot of Thumbs. Two full squads is very good. It's a bit awkward when we don't have a multiple of four, though.

Let's always do multiples of four, then. Simple.

[James]

"Want to join? FIND THREE FRIENDS, LOSER."

[Scratch]

I prefer Thumb as well and was originally designated as such. But after finding out that I am in the minority, I switched over to Thumbs.

Also I ended up creating a "dummy" skype account just for this. My tag is skratches.

The game so far has been much too chaotic for me. I am still in the process of getting a hang of it. That doesn't mean it wasn't fun to run around in an idiotic manner for the first few games.

[James]

One problem I have is that the game doesn't unlock any of the class-specific abilities until you've levelled that class up, encouraging people to play it as straightforward deathmatch, which is the wrong introduction to the game, I think. Then again, it's satisfying to unlock the good stuff.

[Patters]

I prefer Thumb as well and was originally designated as such. But after finding out that I am in the minority, I switched over to Thumbs.

The one thing which makes me choose Thumbs over Thumb is the fact that when I played with clans (SAP for Unreal, WAR for Halo, WAR WERE CRAP, I quit when I realised they "recruited" me for being good at the game..) they were dubbed as the SAP/WAR Clan, Thumbs clan sounds more appropriate to Thumb clan, despite not being a clan in the general sense.

[toblix]

I unlocked stuff like a mother fucker tonight. I guess it's not much of an indication of my skills, but it felt nice and motivated me for playing more jesus I WALKED RIGHT INTO THEIR TRAP!

[illeria]

Great BF event tonight with fellow thumbs! I really hope we get more games like this going.

[James]

The one thing which makes me choose Thumbs over Thumb is the fact that when I played with clans (SAP for Unreal, WAR for Halo, WAR WERE CRAP, I quit when I realised they "recruited" me for being good at the game..) they were dubbed as the SAP/WAR Clan, Thumbs clan sounds more appropriate to Thumb clan, despite not being a clan in the general sense.

Ah, but what you have bear in mind is that this is the 'clan' tag we're deciding on; the 'clan' name could be completely different (someone said they thought Idle Company was a good clan name for example). Together we can be Thumbs, and each individually a Thumb.

God, the fact that this conversation is even taking place is fairly awful. But necessary, of course.

[Armchair General]

I think Thumbs is a better tag. Thumb is too individualistic, Thumbs; more inclusive. Also, we will be identified as Thumbs guys (see yesterday when we were asked to switch teams). Furthermore, I am of the opinion that Thumbs is friendlier than Thumb. Thumbs I say.

[Armchair General]

...God, the fact that this conversation is even taking place is fairly awful. But necessary, of course.

VITAL

And...Who the fuck was that Wokkels guy ()

[James]

Thumb is too individualistic, Thumbs; more inclusive.

That sounds dangerously commie to me. STICK YER SOCIALISM UP YER ARSE, NHSMAN!

[Armchair General]

I prefer Thumb as well and was originally designated as such. But after finding out that I am in the minority, I switched over to Thumbs.

Also I ended up creating a "dummy" skype account just for this. My tag is skratches.

The game so far has been much too chaotic for me. I am still in the process of getting a hang of it. That doesn't mean it wasn't fun to run around in an idiotic manner for the first few games.

(Sorry to multipost)

I think you will find it much better when you can join in the chat via Skype, we kind of make 'rough' plans to assault a base or throw multiple first aid boxes at Patter's head for instance.