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Warhammer 40K: Space Marine


DarthParametric

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Space_Marine_Logo.png

 

I could have sworn there was an existing thread for this, but I couldn't find one.

 

Anyway, I have been kind of wary of this one. As much as I love 40K, from early videos this seemed like a bit of a cop-out by Relic - a generic console shooter. With the release just a month away, I'm still unsure, but the demo is now out and here's a British man playing it who attempts to allay some of my fears:

 

[youtube=hd]nb50aAFiOpM

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I've been looking forward to this, I haven't followed it too closely, but what I've seen looks great.

 

I'm a bit bummed that they've chosen Ultramarines, even though they are pretty much the face of 40k and the Space Marines in general thanks to Robot Girly-man. But on the other hand, given 40k's heritage, I'm glad that the main characters are voiced by mostly British actors.

 

I haven't got time to watch the whole video, but I am planning on downloading the demo which is out today on Xbox and PC.

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Definitely looking forward to this game. The Dawn of War games made me really like the 40k universe, since I think it's an interesting combination of Sci-Fi and Fantasy and having a Darksiders-like game in that universe sounds pretty good to me, as long as it isn't too short and the story is interesting.

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This game looks very promising. I loved Dawn of War, but I didn't really like Dawn of War 2. One of the things I really like about this is the development team is deliberately calling it "Gears of Warhammer." I'm just saddened by the choice of enemy factions; Chaos and Orks. It's ALWAYS those two and Eldar, never anything else. In the announcement trailer a few years ago, there was some monstrous creature in the background just before the orbital strike, and it bore a strong resemblance to a Tyranid carnifex, which got my hopes up that DoW2 wasn't going to be the only game with Tyranids. And like Astor said, the Ultramarines are a bit overused. But I'd rather have them that the Blood Ravens. If any chapter should be used, it's Blood Angels, Space Wolves, or Salamanders.

 

Anyways, this video is great. The guy's commentary makes it so much better. Hopefully the 360 version will be as fantastic as PC.

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To all in the UK wishing to download the PC version of the demo released yesterday, click this link.

 

It seems that, for whatever reason, the demo is not available on the UK version of Steam, which I find odd considering Warhammer 40,000 is a thoroughly British product. I realise of course that has little do with it, but it has annoyed me.

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For my fellow members of the PC master race, you may wish to partake of some modding: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?262044-Space-Marine-Custom-Titus-Skins-Big-Update

 

It's only a dirty texmod texture hack, but it will suffice until the proper tools turn up, the retail version comes out and real modding can begin. Hurray for Dark Angels!

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For my fellow members of the PC master race, you may wish to partake of some modding: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?262044-Space-Marine-Custom-Titus-Skins-Big-Update

 

It's only a dirty texmod texture hack, but it will suffice until the proper tools turn up, the retail version comes out and real modding can begin. Hurray for Dark Angels!

 

Normally I'm also a Dark Angels guy, but considering the melee-centric focus this game seems to have, I'll probably go Black Templar (or perhaps Angry Marine). Almost anything's better than the rather bland and characterless Ultramarines.

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Hopefully in the full game someone will add in some Terminator armour and then you can go Deathwing. There's already Chaos Terminator armour in the game from what we've seen in trailers, so there may already be some loyalist version models in the game without requiring custom meshes to be made.

 

I guess it all depends on how accessible the engine is. Apparently it's using the Phoenix Engine. Seeing as the engine was made by Relic themselves, I'm hoping it's just an upgraded version of their Essence Engine (DOW, COH, etc) or at least has some commonality in file formats, etc., as that should make modding a lot easier.

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Sweeeet:

 

th_Space_Marine_Mesh.jpg

 

So, the mod tools are working for model extraction at least. No re-export to game as yet, but presumably that will be ready to go once the game goes retail. That opens up some very tasty possibilities.

 

Oh, and for those of a curious disposition, marine boy there is 9.5K tris. Split into 9 separate models - each arm, each leg, each shoulder pad, chest, head/helmet, backpack. Individual textures (diffuse/normal/specular - plus what appears to be some sort of glow/env map - for each model) are either 512x512 or 256x512.

 

EDIT: I've been poking around in the innards a bit more. There seems to be a few MP bits and pieces in the demo, like the other Chapter skins. Here is a Corvus helmet and shoulder pad:

 

th_SM_Corvus_01.jpg th_SM_Corvus_02.jpg

 

And here's Titus's head:

 

th_SM_Titus_Head.jpg

 

This is the "cinematic" head, which I presume is only swapped in for cutscenes. It's 5K tris. I haven't looked at the "in-game" head yet, but I would imagine that has reduced detail to make things easy on the console crowd.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've enjoyed what I've played so far, and I'm impressed by how well Relic have managed to capture the atmosphere of the 40k universe.

 

I know they're old hands with the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, but they've done really well at recreating the feel you get from reading the background to the universe so far. And It's even mellowed my Ultramarine hatred a little, too.

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THQ is just the publisher. Relic is the developer.

 

Of course! Apologies, it's probably THQ have a more vibrant logo at the start of all their Warhammer games that I forget that Relic are the true masters.:p

 

Heretic! Nothing can mellow blandness of such an epic scale.

 

Oh, I still think they're bland, clichéd and boring, but at least the game isn't in your face about their supposed brilliance like Codices authored by someone who shall remain safely anonymous.

 

Please don't anyone send the Ordo Hereticus after me. Unless they're Sisters of Battle. :p

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  • 2 weeks later...

:) The Thunder Hammer is a lot of fun to swing around. I does limit your weapon options a bit though as you can't use any of the heavy weapons at the same time.

 

The Power Axe was also a lot of fun while i had it. :)

 

The multiplayer aspect was not so easy as i kept getting killed every few seconds. :(

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yahtzee discusses SM is this week's Extra Punctuation. I have to say I mostly disagree with him on the 40K background fluff (although he does make a couple of valid points), but I 100% agree with his closing comments that the game has largely been given a pass purely because of the licence, overlooking a number of flaws that would be crucified if the game used another IP.

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I can agree that the game was not as good as I hoped, but it was fun nonetheless and it has significant modding potential from pure cosmetics (I've already made a small reskin of Titus' chestpiece to make him look more like a captain and less like a sergeant) to weapon replacements or tweaks.

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