SOCOM beta

Zatoichi

Anyone know if Ireland is getting any free beta keys without having to pre-order? Eurogamers keys are UK exclusive.

guil

yeah the admin of ps3.ie is on the beta and he's from dub, dont think h preordered

Clover

have a read of this

looks like we will be checking our inbox's and junk folders .

super_furry

Well I got a key from the Eurogamer site. Any idea if creating a new account with a UK adress would work?

super_furry

The code works without a UK address. I'm downloading the beta right now, I think you just have to be signed up as from the UK in your Eurogamer profile.

guil

i registered as from ireland and i'm downloadin it on the ps3 now

Clover

guil07 wrote: »

i registered as from ireland and i'm downloadin it on the ps3 now

ffs , what was the point in the whole UK only thing???


edit : thanks to super furry and guil07 for posting that you got one from eurogamer , i got a code at 17:30 and there where 827 left and by 17:50 they where all gone.

projectmayhem

I was refreshing EG at 4PM exactly from work and the site was in bits. Got one with 4500+ left at about 4:20PM (thanks to the sites slow speeds) and am currently downloading.

Delighted with myself

I've only been able to connect to one game so far, but my impression so far is that it is average at best.The graphics are incredibly bland, menus take an age to load and connecting to a match is a pain. MGO trounces it in every department from what I've seen so far.
I know it's only a beta but I'm a bit disappointed.

super_furry

Not impressed at all to be honest. The biggest problem is actually getting into a game. The lobby system is a horrible mess and leaves you waiting up for 40 minutes for a game to end before you can get into it - best thing I've found is to join and empty lobby and wait for it to fill. Aside from that it's mixed impressions, the game looks like Resistance - a first gen PS3 offering - but the framerate still judders a bit and the aiming and hit detection seem to be a bit off.

Clover

played a few games tonight and the frame rate was poor , getting into a game was very poor and it locked up my PS3 twice :mad:

but apart from that it's only a beta and i hope the little problems get ironed out as it has potential.

prodigal_son

Im an Irish beta tester for the ps3, Hope some of you guys get on it, even if you have to pretend to be from the UK...

If you do, add me, not enough Irish accents online, if you ask me!

Crucifix

I'll second or third that it's hard as hell to get into a game. Seems like if you join a match in progress it leaves you at the loading screen til the next round. The game is ok once your in there I guess.

guil

cant find any info but i bet a load of ports need to be forwarded for socom

Clover

prodigal_son wrote: »

Hope some of you guys get on it, even if you have to pretend to be from the UK...

My location on my Eurogamer profile is Ireland and i was able to get the code thank god.

guil

guil07 wrote: »

i registered as from ireland and i'm downloadin it on the ps3 now

see above

WarZoneBrother

anyone have a spare code?

WarZoneBrother

WarZoneBrother wrote: »

anyone have a spare code?

Nope, but don't worry. You're not missing out on anything,it's a bit crap really.

projectmayhem

Deleted User wrote: »

Nope, but don't worry. You're not missing out on anything,it's a bit crap really.

"a bit"?

It's a shocking game. I've played BETA's, been a games tester and all that too, and this feels like pre-alpha rubbish. The menu system is laggy, the game itself has a fairly jittery framerate (though it's not as bad as the 10fps some people are reporting) with a 5min loading time from lobby to the actual game.

All this for PS2-style shaders and graphics on maps that don't compete with COD4 size and scale.

If this is beta the bugs will be ironed out, but the graphics can't be overhauled in time for the normal release, which is shocking if it costs anything more then €30.

The worst part about the game is that I can handle any number of bugs (I put up with BF2 for many years!) if the game itself is fun... and this game is just annoying to play.

prodigal_son

projectmayhem wrote: »

"a bit"?

It's a shocking game. I've played BETA's, been a games tester and all that too, and this feels like pre-alpha rubbish. The menu system is laggy, the game itself has a fairly jittery framerate (though it's not as bad as the 10fps some people are reporting) with a 5min loading time from lobby to the actual game.

All this for PS2-style shaders and graphics on maps that don't compete with COD4 size and scale.

If this is beta the bugs will be ironed out, but the graphics can't be overhauled in time for the normal release, which is shocking if it costs anything more then €30.

The worst part about the game is that I can handle any number of bugs (I put up with BF2 for many years!) if the game itself is fun... and this game is just annoying to play.

Im gonna have to completely disagree with you.

Graphics can be changed in time for the final release, This demo could be using 8 or 9 month old code/graphics. Graphics on playstation games are usually the last thing to get bumped up.

Menu systems can be changed very quick.

This is far far superior to pre alpha code or alpha code. You dont pass through walls, you dont get stuck running on the spot, you dont get any of the alpha glitches in this demo/beta.

I have not seen one thing that cant be changed or updated from this demo. Thats not saying they will be changed, but they could.

That said, it could launch exactly as is, who knows, but I have seen bigger turn arounds.

projectmayhem

prodigal_son wrote: »

Graphics can be changed in time for the final release, This demo could be using 8 or 9 month old code/graphics. Graphics on playstation games are usually the last thing to get bumped up.

I've been lead to believe (albeit by a journalist friend) that in fact this version is nearly the same as was given to journalists at leipzeig a week or two ago, which was apparently their latest build.

Also, while Graphics is usually the last thing to be fixed up, this doesn't include rendering, textures and the like. Post-processing effects and second-pass rendering tech. is fixed at BETA stage. They're not going to re-texture the entire game before this thing is released, if they want it released on time that is.

prodigal_son wrote: »

This is far far superior to pre alpha code or alpha code. You dont pass through walls, you dont get stuck running on the spot, you dont get any of the alpha glitches in this demo/beta.

Clipping isn't an issue at all, but there are situations that clearly they fixed from clipping that are ridiculous. For example, on one map there are ledges in buildings with roofing and huge gaps between which to fire. Enough space to jump up onto the ledge and pop off some rounds... but you can't actually pass through the area to get onto the ground below, despite massive headroom.

prodigal_son wrote: »

That said, it could launch exactly as is, who knows, but I have seen bigger turn arounds.

You're right in that I have played worse trash in BETA stage that got turned around fairly quick... and I can't imagine Sony allowing this to be released in this state. I know the beta is more about server loads and stuff, rather then actual bug fixing, but they do want to hit shelves at christmas... Which gives it about 2 months before they need to hand in their gold code. It may seem a long time, but if they want to compete against COD and Killzone2 in Feb. then they'll want to pull out all of the stops in the coming weeks of development.

Either way, I was excited about SOCOM. I wanted it to be a 3rd person Counter-Strike for the PS3... but I can't help but feel massively deflated by the title. It looks/feels like Slant6 just took their PSP engine (to make SOCOM & Syphon Filter) and shoved a PS3 game into it.

prodigal_son

Latest build doesnt mean anything in Playstation beta testing. The latest build can hold graphics and code that is up to a year old.

They can also leave things like rendering and textures out of the beta, and bump it up in the final. In a playstation beta it can happen.

I cant give examples, but i can only try to reasure you, that for a playstation beta, the bugs and issues with it, are not too bad, and nothing pops out at me even at this stage as unfixable.

Wether its allready fixed, or in the process of being fixed. who knows...

If anyone wants to try anything out on it with me, would be glad to join in, just add me, fenian...

WarZoneBrother

Deleted User wrote: »

Nope, but don't worry. You're not missing out on anything,it's a bit crap really.

ye heard alot of stuff about that..i'm a diehard resistance fan so want to get the R2 beta but sadly don't think us irish are good enough for it

projectmayhem

prodigal_son wrote: »

Latest build doesnt mean anything in Playstation beta testing. The latest build can hold graphics and code that is up to a year old.

They can also leave things like rendering and textures out of the beta, and bump it up in the final. In a playstation beta it can happen.

I cant give examples, but i can only try to reasure you, that for a playstation beta, the bugs and issues with it, are not too bad, and nothing pops out at me even at this stage as unfixable.

Wether its allready fixed, or in the process of being fixed. who knows...

If anyone wants to try anything out on it with me, would be glad to join in, just add me, fenian...

Yes they can leave out a lot in the beta but as I said, this is apparently pretty much the same "latest" build as was given to journalists. It's also pretty inconceivable that they'd have a new build where they took out rendering and textures...

WarZoneBrother wrote: »

ye heard alot of stuff about that..i'm a diehard resistance fan so want to get the R2 beta but sadly don't think us irish are good enough for it

I think there just isn't enough of us Irish to actually make a difference in the R2 beta really. They want people to cripple their servers so they can make sure it doesn't happen on normal release. Ireland won't ever do that

WarZoneBrother

ye i suppose but the people that play resistance alot should get it..

samsamson

I hate to put the cat amongst the pidgeons, especially in relation to a game franchise which I love to death, but this game is being released on October 14th. So much for having even 2 months to fix the problems people are mentioning.

Lets hope these guys know how to work fast.

prodigal_son

projectmayhem wrote: »

Yes they can leave out a lot in the beta but as I said, this is apparently pretty much the same "latest" build as was given to journalists. It's also pretty inconceivable that they'd have a new build where they took out rendering and textures...

I tried to explain, "Latest" build for a playstation game doesnt mean "latest code and graphics"... No its not inconceivable that they would have a latest build with 6 month old graphics and code.

Latest build just means, there is no newer "stable" build available.

Im a playstation beta tester, I often have access to the same or newer builds than the journalists. I often get to talk to devs etc, Why would they need to add the latest graphics to a build meant to test the servers and nothing more? They dont need to so sometimes dont.

All i know is, we were told this isnt a beta, its a demo and we are free to discuss it publicly. Which means, it might be spot on what the finished game will be like..

prodigal_son

prodigal_son wrote: »

I have not seen one thing that cant be changed or updated from this demo. Thats not saying they will be changed, but they could.

That said, it could launch exactly as is, who knows, but I have seen bigger turn arounds.

They have a hell of a lot to change/fix/improve. I've spent a while playing it today and it's god damn awful. In this day and age it simply isn't good enough. There's no way this can compete with COD/ Metal Gear Online or Killzone 2. Just play it back to back with MGO, the difference is unreal, Socom is inferior in every department. Socom just looks and feels like a half assed attempt at a game.The developers would be as well off cancelling it and starting again.

projectmayhem

prodigal_son wrote: »

I tried to explain, "Latest" build for a playstation game doesnt mean "latest code and graphics"... No its not inconceivable that they would have a latest build with 6 month old graphics and code.

The latest build for a game is the last compiled batch of code. Why they would have some "different" set of graphics is bizzare. Having 6 month old graphics on new code could feck up the whole system when they integrate the "new" graphics. It also adds more workload and means you're not testing the system properly. Any company doing that is having a laugh...

prodigal_son wrote: »

Im a playstation beta tester, I often have access to the same or newer builds than the journalists. I often get to talk to devs etc, Why would they need to add the latest graphics to a build meant to test the servers and nothing more? They dont need to so sometimes dont.

My CV has two previous jobs working in the games industry, I know what goes on with journalists but giving different builds to journalists for a PSN-dedicated multiplayer game makes no sense as a new build is mainly going to resolve network issues since that's going to be the bulk of the game code, as you're not exactly pushing the boundaries of physics with a game aiming to be a 3rd person counter-strike.

Also, this whole talk of "adding" the latest graphics again makes very little sense. Why would you bother with the headache of integrating the "latest graphics" into newer code? You end up running into overheads then because you've got more budget to play with when you've got much lower resolutions/textures etc. etc. Then you integrate new graphics and suddenly all your budget is gone, causing more f-ups then you would ever have had during development.

As someone said, this game is due for release in October, at this stage they should be showing off release candidates, not beta demos.

Also, just checked some shaky-cam footage from leipzeig, and the graphics etc. are the same as what we're playing.

prodigal_son

projectmayhem wrote: »

The latest build for a game is the last compiled batch of code. Why they would have some "different" set of graphics is bizzare. Having 6 month old graphics on new code could feck up the whole system when they integrate the "new" graphics. It also adds more workload and means you're not testing the system properly. Any company doing that is having a laugh...



My CV has two previous jobs working in the games industry, I know what goes on with journalists but giving different builds to journalists for a PSN-dedicated multiplayer game makes no sense as a new build is mainly going to resolve network issues since that's going to be the bulk of the game code, as you're not exactly pushing the boundaries of physics with a game aiming to be a 3rd person counter-strike.

Also, this whole talk of "adding" the latest graphics again makes very little sense. Why would you bother with the headache of integrating the "latest graphics" into newer code? You end up running into overheads then because you've got more budget to play with when you've got much lower resolutions/textures etc. etc. Then you integrate new graphics and suddenly all your budget is gone, causing more f-ups then you would ever have had during development.

As someone said, this game is due for release in October, at this stage they should be showing off release candidates, not beta demos.

Also, just checked some shaky-cam footage from leipzeig, and the graphics etc. are the same as what we're playing.

Listen, I tried to be polite to you, but what youre talking about is not, and ill stress it, NOT the way online beta testing on the playstation works.

Online beta testing is about testing the servers, nothing more. Are you saying the job of the online testers is to test graphics? to test features?

because its not, They have in house testers for that. Youre concluding that they have released the inhouse beta, which they never do, they release the latest online beta, which can and sometimes is up to 6 months old game engine wise, with the latest online code written into it. It adds nothing to their overhead, as the job is to test the server which can be done in this way for cheaper.

Does your CV include online beta testing for the playstation?

This isnt a beta though, its a demo, but it is of average quality to any beta recieved up to 3 months before release, In fact its actually better than most quality wise.

super_furry

Check you email, I just got one in my mail there despite never signing up to be part of it. Think they're just sending them out to registered PSN users. Already have a code from Eurogamer, so if anyone wants it let me know.

Interestingly enough Sony are calling it a demo, not a beta in the email.