Tag: computers

Battlefield 2042 Breakaway Map: Adventure and War in the Antarctic

Battlefield 2042 has some truly interesting maps to play on. One of those maps is Breakaway, which is a map that takes place in Antarctica. I have always enjoyed playing on snowy and arctic maps since the Delta Force games.

There is something unique about snowy maps. The color in it is particularly amazing to see in these modern games. The full textures and the shapes can be full revealed in these engines.

This is a map that reminds heavily of Battlefield 2142 with its heavy emphasis on snow in the European theatre. Battlefield 2142 in many ways had some of my favorite maps in the Battlefield series. It’s bold willingness to embrace its setting in its map design gave it a unique style which I cannot see in the newer games.

One of the main issues with Battlefield 6 when I was playing the beta was that too many of the maps looked similar to each other. One of the reasons why Liberation Peak was on top for me was because it was able to combine a small town, hilltop fortifications and lots of mountainous terrain. Empire State was too interior oriented for me to enjoy. Siege of Cairo is better as it is more exotic being an Egyptian setting and I think that it seems better designed than what we see with Empire State.

That is why when Battlefield 6 comes out, I am sure to enjoy Liberation Peak as my favorite map. It is big enough and has some of my favorite geographical features of mountains and snowy peaks. That is what makes it so beautiful and enjoyable to play.

There are still some maps out there that have not been released but I believe that they will play to their own strengths.

Empire Earth and the importance of aesthetics in video games

The future ages in Empire Earth are my favorite parts of the game. All parts of the game, excluding the Modern Age receive my attention.

Take a look at the screenshot here. It showcases the Nano Age cities with its smooth lines and high-tech architecture.

In the screenshot above is bit more intimate than the other screenshot. It shows multiple Guardian soldiers standing in military formations near the sea. The Guardian soldier is the apex of soldiers in Empire Earth. In the Nano Age, they look more like astronauts with guns than soldiers we recognize.

The AA guns are also another great part of the game.

They are intimidating and look like air guardians waiting to smash any enemy airplanes that approach.

The towers of the Nano Age stand gleaming white alongside the snow and the sea.

This is why Empire Earth still stands among one of the best video games in history. The presentation of the game is awesome.

This is what video games need now. They need an aesthetic vision to help distinguish themselves. Genre orthodoxy is getting in the way and people to embrace some more creativity.

That is the only way that the video game industry can regain some strength. It will take time of course, but breaking out of genre conventions and having some unique vision that goes beyond graphics is what games need in this age.

Nvidia’s GeForce Now is the future of mainstream gaming

There will always be room for tinkers working on their gaming pcs; the age however of everyone having to shell money on them is going to give way to cloud streaming games.

I have talked about Nvidia’s GeForce Now many times on here. I think that the service is great for those who have great internet connections and lots of bandwidth. With an internet connection, you do not have worry about the system requirements only the strength of your internet connection and to a lesser extent, the location of your router and bandwidth usage. Such requirements are easier to deal with than the arcane internal structure of computers.

The Strength of Nvidia GeForce Now

The main strength is the ability to play any device you have. This is a major change which will bring more opportunities for different kinds of gamers. One of the issues we have with our gaming industry right now is that there is genre orthodoxy. You simply cannot be syncretic like in the past; your game has to be certain way or have a certain style.

This is where the RTS genre began to stumble after the release of Empire Earth. There was no sense of how the genre could move on with Starcraft breathing down its neck. Starcraft II, while a great game, would ossify the genre and prevent it from growing here. There were many experiments and crossovers such as Activision’s Battlezone series. Such experimentation is rare now.

This is what Nvidia GeForce Now can bring to the table.

What we need in the gaming space is an opening up of the player base. Sometimes we are too arcane in the way we talk about our games. Sometimes we need new perspectives to help innovate. This isn’t to say that our traditions are not important, but we need to take our time to invite newcomers.

This is the only way that the industry can truly start being healthy again. New perspectives will beget risk but no great artform was able to change without someone taking the first step in an uneven river.