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Gears of War 4 Beta |OT| Hello Chainsaw My Old Friend, I've Come To Rev You Up Again

Rod Fergusson, the head of The Coalition who is tasked with the latest installment of the Gears of War franchise came out and discussed his disappointment in the mainstream media on how they have handled the Gears of War 4 Beta release. According to Rod, the media have ‘twisted’ the meaning of the word Beta to mean ‘Pre-Release Demo’, which is a misrepresentation of where they are in development. Rod also pointed out that the game is far from a technical masterpiece and that they should have called it an Alpha so that they media could grasp the idea of where they are at this point.

“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo’. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”


http://www.ticgn.com/media-twisted-word-beta-gears-war-4/
 

Strootman

Member
jeez

QomAIqz.jpg
 
Rod Fergusson, the head of The Coalition who is tasked with the latest installment of the Gears of War franchise came out and discussed his disappointment in the mainstream media on how they have handled the Gears of War 4 Beta release. According to Rod, the media have ‘twisted’ the meaning of the word Beta to mean ‘Pre-Release Demo’, which is a misrepresentation of where they are in development. Rod also pointed out that the game is far from a technical masterpiece and that they should have called it an Alpha so that they media could grasp the idea of where they are at this point.

“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo’. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”


http://www.ticgn.com/media-twisted-word-beta-gears-war-4/

Well to be honest, they should have called it an Alpha from the beginning, instead of assuming people are too dumb to know what that is.

Falsely calling it a beta because it's an "understood term" would obviously lead to this. Now tons of people are hung up on the graphics, even on an "enthusiast" forum like neogaf.
 

nOoblet16

Member
Well to be honest, they should have called it an Alpha from the beginning, instead of assuming people are too dumb to know what that is.

Falsely calling it a beta because it's an "understood term" would obviously lead to this. Now tons of people are hung up on the graphics, even on an "enthusiast" forum like neogaf.
Well it is a beta test of features and gameplay with an alpha build.
 

etta

my hard graphic balls
Yeah I'm on my monitor. I'm really not seeing a big difference. Course it might be readily apparent in motion
65inch 4K here.

I'm in the Gears 3 final looks more appealing than Gears 4 Alpha/Beta crowd.

The lighting looks better, atmospherics, and despite probably using less triangles, appears to have more varied and complex geometry.

I dunno, I think the difference is instantly noticeable. Gears 4 looks really clean, smooth, and has very good AA. Textures are nicer, and the overall level of detail in the world is better. Apparently lighting isn't final, and animations don't appear final either, so those will surely improve.
On top of that, we can infer that the drop to 30fps for the campaign will yield pretty noticeable results. Even Uncharted 4 MP looks a little cartoony compared to the SP, 60fps is very costly in games today, especially multiplayer with other players putting more strain on the CPU.
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Saw a guy grab a boomshot and upon hearing a chainsaw behind him, he turned around, panicked, and shot a rocket randomly in the air. Got ripped into two. It's hard to describe it but I couldn't stop laughing. Classic Gears.

I hope they will release some new modes, that would be awesome. Reached level 21 and got the beta bonuses or something which is nice. Guys, I think this will end up being a really good game.
 

nOoblet16

Member
I dunno, I think the difference is instantly noticeable. Gears 4 looks really clean, smooth, and has very good AA. Textures are nicer, and the overall level of detail in the world is better. Apparently lighting isn't final, and animations don't appear final either, so those will surely improve.
On top of that, we can infer that the drop to 30fps for the campaign will yield pretty noticeable results. Even Uncharted 4 MP looks a little cartoony compared to the SP, 60fps is very costly in games today, especially multiplayer with other players putting more strain on the CPU.

All of this has to do with running at higher resolution but level of detail of the world absolutely does not look as good as Gears 3, primarily due to how angular the game is right now and the absolute lack of ambient shadows. The textures also look flatter due to not using PoM as heavily as Gears 3. You are disregarding the actual issue people have with the graphics but I understand that it's not final. However, we are only judging it based on this beta and I am sure with the full lighting pass in the final version it will look better than even Gears UE or atleast as good...no doubt.

Also Uncharted looks slightly cartoony because it's always been its artstyle tbh.
 

Lrrr

Member
Rod Fergusson, the head of The Coalition who is tasked with the latest installment of the Gears of War franchise came out and discussed his disappointment in the mainstream media on how they have handled the Gears of War 4 Beta release. According to Rod, the media have ‘twisted’ the meaning of the word Beta to mean ‘Pre-Release Demo’, which is a misrepresentation of where they are in development. Rod also pointed out that the game is far from a technical masterpiece and that they should have called it an Alpha so that they media could grasp the idea of where they are at this point.

“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo’. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”


http://www.ticgn.com/media-twisted-word-beta-gears-war-4/

Here's a question for Rod - why call it a Beta if it's in an Alpha state?
 

SwolBro

Banned
Because a large amount of players complained on Epic's forums that Gears was too dark and you couldn't see shit..especially in MP. It's the entire reason why absolutely none of Gears 2 maps were set in dark. Even maps with lightning and rain (like Subway, Mansion) ended up going bright and daytime. Gears 3 tried to change that a bit and tried some dark maps but none were as dark except maybe Bulletmarsh revision. If you can find the neogaf thread for Gears 4 reveal you'll see half of the people complaining how they can't see anything.

Although part of the reason for Gears 1 being so monotone was due to technical limitations of the lighting in first gen UE3 (it was the first UE3 game too so alternatives weren't discovered just yet), Gears 2 improved the lighting engine and as a result became more colourful. Gears 3 used even more advanced lighting with GI which meant even dark areas got lit.
And that's really sad. The tone of Gears 1 is absolutely amazing. I thought they were going to go back to that look for this game.
 

aBarreras

Member
And that's really sad. The tone of Gears 1 is absolutely amazing. I thought they were going to go back to that look for this game.

yuckk, i love gears 1, but coming back to it, it is ugly as sin, they are going to back to the tone and the mood, not the lack of color

So stopping power is out right? Feels like my lancer doesn't focus fire as tight in 3.

It plays well, but I hope the lancer gets a bit of a buff. Gears has always had the gnasher stigma, and while I enjoy that weapon, I felt 3 was perfectly balanced.

as far as i understand, lance with active reload has the stopping power
 

Grisby

Member
So stopping power is out right? Feels like my lancer doesn't focus fire as tight in 3.

It plays well, but I hope the lancer gets a bit of a buff. Gears has always had the gnasher stigma, and while I enjoy that weapon, I felt 3 was perfectly balanced.
 
Rod Fergusson, the head of The Coalition who is tasked with the latest installment of the Gears of War franchise came out and discussed his disappointment in the mainstream media on how they have handled the Gears of War 4 Beta release. According to Rod, the media have ‘twisted’ the meaning of the word Beta to mean ‘Pre-Release Demo’, which is a misrepresentation of where they are in development. Rod also pointed out that the game is far from a technical masterpiece and that they should have called it an Alpha so that they media could grasp the idea of where they are at this point.

“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo’. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”


http://www.ticgn.com/media-twisted-word-beta-gears-war-4/


Yeah, people take "beta" to mean "nearly ready" because that's how a lot of companies use the term beta now.

Having said that, I feel like being disappointed in the beta and knowing what "beta" means aren't mutually exclusive.
 

Grisby

Member
Graphics are really rough. That, and there's a lot of skipping/stuttering. I got faith that it'll look better/run better though!
yuckk, i love gears 1, but coming back to it, it is ugly as sin, they are going to back to the tone and the mood, not the lack of color



as far as i understand, lance with active reload has the stopping power
Ok, maybe I just didn't notice it as well as I thought I did.
 
Haha Jay this is so amazing

lol yeah the dropshot is really awesome. Great for flushing people out at power weapons or going for map control. Ive mostly seen people use it at close range, but it has some great long range potential as enemies dont have a chance to react since they dont see it.
 

SwolBro

Banned
yuckk, i love gears 1, but coming back to it, it is ugly as sin, they are going to back to the tone and the mood, not the lack of color

But it was it's own style. this just looks like it's trying to be something it's not. ever since Gears 1 the game has looked cartoony.
 

Lupin3

Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
Anyone knows what the numbers stands for that are in the bottom right corner of the bounty cards?
 
the number of cards you have



well snipers aren't know for their close quarters tendencies, it is logical they are thinnier

On no it's completely understandable, I just prefer my monsters large!

I hope there are lots of unlockable characters. The breadcrumb trail of characters in Gears of War 3 was awesome.
 

aBarreras

Member
But it was it's own style. this just looks like it's trying to be something it's not. ever since Gears 1 the game has looked cartoony.

i think is good to realize the ambient of the first game, it starts in an cloudy afternoon, and then night, and then the hollow, and then a sky full of nemacysts, the reason the game was dark and muted were technical reason, but epic gave logic to these limitations,

gears 2 remains somehow dark but it is not as dark as the first one, lots of glow and things like that,

now on gears 3, nature has finally taken over the old cities and that kinda stuff thats why there is a more lot of color on this one, and also for example Azura is supposed to a utopia and the like.

Gears 4 campaign will happen over a night so i expect to be a lot of darks and shadows,

ALSO having color doesnt make a game cartoony
 
i think is good to realize the ambient of the first game, it starts in an cloudy afternoon, and then night, and then the hollow, and then a sky full of nemacysts, the reason the game was dark and muted were technical reason, but epic gave logic to these limitations,

gears 2 remains somehow dark but it is not as dark as the first one, lots of glow and things like that,

now on gears 3, nature has finally taken over the old cities and that kinda stuff thats why there is a more lot of color on this one, and also for example Azura is supposed to a utopia and the like.

Gears 4 campaign will happen over a night so i expect to be a lot of darks and shadows,

ALSO having color doesnt make a game cartoony

Gears of War 2 was the perfect evolution of the original's art style and tone. It added to it without truly abandoning it as Gears of War 3 did.

The latter completely lost the grungy, dirty and dark style that defined the series.

I think Gears of War 4 will be dark but I don't think it'll look anything like the first game.
 
Well I've reached that point, this game sucks.

The weapon balance is far and away the worst in the series. The maps just promote running around like a chicken with your head cut off with the overpowered weapons. There's no real sense of teammwork or fighting for locations on the map.

I just could not be more disappointed in this game. If TC doesn't make some significant changes for the final game I think this will be the first Gears game I don't buy and it bums me the hell out because Gears has always been my main multiplayer game.
 

Trup1aya

Member
Can someone explain how the drop shot works. I think I saw people shooting it into the ground for kills but also shooting it into the air.

How is it balanced? Does it home in on targets, or is there an invisible plane that has to intersect with the enemy?

It seems OP from what I've seen. I'm trying to understand the nuance.
 

3DShovel

Member
Can someone explain how the drop shot works. I think I saw people shooting it into the ground for kills but also shooting it into the air.

How is it balanced? Does it home in on targets, or is there an invisible plane that has to intersect with the enemy?

It seems OP from what I've seen. I'm trying to understand the nuance.

It does not home. It goes in a straight line as long as you hold the trigger. If you shoot at the floor it will bounce off of the floor and go straight up.

Any who, I used to be in the "consistent shotgun" camp but after tonight's session I refuse to believe that it's consistent. 1 shot downs, 4 shot downs, point blanks making the enemy lose all of their blood but still survive. It can be really bad sometimes and I hope they fix it.

Apart from that, having the bullets come out of the barrel seems to have too much sway, making it really hard to blind fire at all with the shotgun. It feels like when I get kills it's because I swept the fastest and managed to get the sweetspot. The main thing I liked about center screen aiming was that there was an aspect of precision to it. This feels much more random. I know they won't change, I'm just commenting is all.

Also, PLEASE! Get rid of the MASSIVE delay between rolling and being able to shoot again. The sandbox plays MUCH faster now and this delay seriously just does not fit at all. Fix that shit.
 

Kibbles

Member
\Honestly, people on here overstate the differences between beta and final graphics. I've played a lot of console betas and rarely do they look noticeably worse than the final game.
 

Grisby

Member
Couple things:
-Audio needs work
-Active reload cooldown is kind of wack
-Character choice
-Feels like Lancer's fire has more spread. Need it narrowed.

Having a lot of fun. It's good ol' gears for the most part. Dropshot is a good addition.
 
Honestly, people on here overstate the differences between beta and final graphics. I've played a lot of console betas and rarely do they look noticeably worse than the final game.

This alpha build they are using looks worse than gears 3 (at most on par). Do you honestly believe the final game will look like this?

I mean it's missing a lot of lighting/textures and has janky animations.

Also this build is way older than 90% of other beta builds.
 

kingwingin

Member
Went back to ultimate edition and this blows hard! Its crazy how much smoother movement feels in gears 4. You dont stick to walls when running by them, you can turn corners easily, shotgun that works!

I need 7k more kills for my seriously achievment. After that im never touching UE again other than for the campaign
 
Rod Fergusson, the head of The Coalition who is tasked with the latest installment of the Gears of War franchise came out and discussed his disappointment in the mainstream media on how they have handled the Gears of War 4 Beta release. According to Rod, the media have ‘twisted’ the meaning of the word Beta to mean ‘Pre-Release Demo’, which is a misrepresentation of where they are in development. Rod also pointed out that the game is far from a technical masterpiece and that they should have called it an Alpha so that they media could grasp the idea of where they are at this point.

“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo’. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”


http://www.ticgn.com/media-twisted-word-beta-gears-war-4/
Where's that quote from? The article doesn't cite a source.
 

Voliko

Member
The more I play this game the more it makes me want to go back to Gears 3 or just drop Gears altogether. Many of the things people are complaining about- shot delay, sub-par map design, poor weapon balance, terrible sound, way too generous active reload system, are not issues in Gears 3. Hopefully most of this stuff gets fixed. And I think Gears 3 does look better, especially artistically.
 
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