Gaming Payware to Freeware Simming

Coolhand

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A couple more mainstream sims have gone 'freeware' (albeit in a stripped down form) this time in a bid to attract new customers and fill up online multiplayer servers

(as opposed to it sometimes being 'abandonware' like falcon 4, which is not really abandonware, but owned by certain members of the falcon community)

First; Rise of Flight, this one really makes me wish i had more free time to waste on games... As a flight sim, its basically a stunner on every level. The stripped down free version takes the form of an "unlimited demo" which comes with 2 flyable planes - however these are good planes, the Spad-XIII in particular is one of the best planes in the game.

The "demo" also comes with a very good dynamic campaign, where unlimited missions are generated over the spectacularly rendered front lines, you also have full access to the multiplayer, and again with the Spad, an aircraft worthy of taking you into battle.

How do they intend to make money - yeah sometimes game development has to be paid for :lol: so they intend that you'll become so addicted to the game that you'll buy new aircraft from their store. Although the aircraft are reasonably priced (imho) you'd spend a lot of money to have the complete set, you will also need to buy more aircraft if you want to participate the entire dynamic campaign which currently runs from 1916 to the end of the war in 1918. Presumably the earlier stages of the war will be accessible in future... But there's a ton of dynamically generated content to enjoy, and online battles to participate in with an unexpanded 'demo' version.

I really recommend this sim for its great looks, dynamic campaign and fantastic WW1 dogfighting... the only downside is that you'll need a fairly powerful machine to get the best from it (it seems to have a very efficient engine btw) and the initial download is around 4gb.

The second (and last) game is ARMA2... Which again had a full commercial release a few years ago and if you like that sort of thing, is an outstanding infantry simulator - If you remember the original Operation Flashpoint then its basically the same again with many improvements (codemasters own the name(and seem intent on driving it into the dirt(pun slightly intended)), but Bohemia own the soul)

I haven't tried this one (i have the full commercial release, which to be honest, can probably be picked up fairly cheaply from ebay or wherever) but I believe its been stripped of the single player campaign. However, user made missions and online multiplayer are fully supported, its a slow game online at times but entertaining, especially if working as a team with friends.

Again, probably a large download, also power hungry game, probably more demanding than rise of flight, but you can always turn settings down in both games.

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Overall, its interesting to see developers for the sim market taking a different approach, one which might prove beneficial for everyone - particularly the gamer on a budget, and seriously puts a dent into the argument of those who justify piracy by quoting high prices for games.

A word of warning though, the savvy purchaser, if choosing to invest in either title, might find it wise to pick up an older commercial copy of either game - and thereby might get the content for cheaper than buying in multiple parts online - however this probably wont do the developers much good.

If you try either title, let us know what you think, or what you think of the concept in general... I personally think this is a good direction for commercial sim developers to take, but who knows how it will work out.
 

spacekid1998

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great post i did not know about this and probably wouldnt have found out on my own. downloading both :)
 

HarvesteR

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I've got ArmA2 here, and the entire series, since the original OFP for that matter ;)

It's an amazing game (although I shouldn't call it 'game' since it's more of a mil-sim)... It IS power-hungry though.. you need a serious rig to play it with graphics on high. But it's the best MP experience one can have.

Now it seems, BIS has taken to making DLC packages for it... they're releasing new campaigns, maps, weapons and vehicles, and they've taken a very clever approach to that.

Usually DLC will cause a playerbase split. Those who have the package will play on package-enabled servers, and those who don't, well... don't. So what BI did to solve this was release a free 'Lite' version of the DLCs, which you download as a patch. This patch contains any improvements to the game engine, and also a 'blurred-down' version of the content. SP campaigns, obviously, are not included... But this enables players to play on the same MP servers as those who have the package, and see the new stuff. These blurred down weapons and vehicles seem to be a few LODs short of the full versions, but you can still use them in game.

It's a very clever approach. And with a DLC being about 10USD, no one's feeling ripped off.

Cheers
 

Jarvitä

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Funny, Team Fortress 2 just went free to play a couple of days ago as well. They're planning to make profit through in-game microtransactions (item store). Also, the MMO EVE Online is introducing microtransactions along with an existing subscription model. Is this an indication of a general shift in terms of monetization strategies for games?
 

Coolhand

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It does appear there's a shift (at least with pc gaming) to give the core away for free and charge for content. It's been adopted i think first by these MMO's and smaller companies. Interesting to see the model spread to more mainstream big budget titles.

It also effectively kills any second hand market, which is such a big issue for console companies, they're trying different ways to lock up content for any second hand owners with certain titles - unlockable via the 'microtransactions'.

(which aren't really all that 'micro')

If you buy a game second hand, you may as well have ripped if off, for all the good it does to the developers and publishers. I'll follow that up and say thats no excuse of course, and buying second hand certainly helps support umm, the dastardly owners of game stores and their cretinous, foul smelling employees.

(no offense to any stinky gamestop employees we might have on the board:tiphat:)

But then the console market is basically unsustainable without people being able to sell their full price, first week of sale purchase to help fund further purchases. Perhaps they will also adopt a similar policy, this type of thing was orginally planned for Gran Turismo 5, iirc... But there you would be expected to pay $60 and have maybe one car to start with (guess which one:lol:) and then pay for the rest (pushing the cost of a complete title into the hundreds) At least, that was the rumour, many years ago.

I guess the pc market isn't so affected, as it seems more games are purchased online than in stores - not that i've checked, but none of my local game shops seem to have any pc games at all.
 

Turbinator

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You forgot Team Fortress 2, as of 2 days ago it is completely Free to Play.
You get everything with the free version.

team_fortress_2_group_photo.jpg


http://www.teamfortress.com/
 

spacekid1998

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Yes its going to be called "Pay 2 Pwn" where everyone can play but to be any good you're forced to buy the better weapons
 

Turbinator

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The emerging term used to describe those that play the ever increasing number of Free to Play games, and use cash to get an advantage over others is Wallet Warrior.


Another free to play game that I would recommend is called World of Tanks. You can get everything someone that pays can get, it would only take you a little bit longer, it has a HUGE player-base, and it just finished a 1 year closed beta and went full release in March.

It's a WW2 tank game.
world_of_tanks_screenshot_01.jpg

http://www.worldoftanks.com/










.
 
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Evil_Onyx

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Yes its going to be called "Pay 2 Pwn" where everyone can play but to be any good you're forced to buy the better weapons

Not true, i play and have played TF2 for 3 years, if you are good you don't need any of the drops.

But if you want something you can buy it, trade for it (thats trade an unwanted drop for something you want) or you can wait for it to drop for you.

I think this is the way PC gaming has been going, over the last couple of years and is a good thing for the PC gaming industry. More money gets back to the developers rather than the (greedy) Publishers, encouraging the developers to continue to support and develop the games.

As for games in general who is willing to buy a game for £30 to £40 when you cant believe most reviews (as most of them are paid to review the games by the publishers) and few games nowadays have demos.
 

CigDriver

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I play RoF, WoT, and Arma2. I've bought most of the add on planes of RoF and some of the addons for Arma2. If I was more into Arma, I wouldn't think twice about getting more of them. World of Tanks is my big timesink now :) And, yes, I support them through purchases

Overall i think this is a great move for the PC game industry. It cuts down pirating, and lets more people enjoy games. As long as anything can be had through good old playing that can be bought in their store I'm fine with it. I don't like to see major advantages given to people who can afford to buy them.
 

Turbinator

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World of Tanks is my big timesink now :)

Just... one... more... battle.... before... sleep...

What country tank tree are you going down?

I am playing the German tree exclusively.
During the closed beta I went down the Heavy Tank path, now after release I am playing the Tank Destroyer line.
 

Sar

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Downloading arma2, looks nice and I did like OFP.
 

CigDriver

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I'm running Russian heavies (Love my KV with 107 :) ) and I've almost unlocked the IS. I also have a su-85 that is a few games away from unlocking the 107 (this is where I spent CBT), i need one more radio to elite my Leopard, and I'm also working an easy 8. As you can see I'm all over the place so nothing really high level yet.

Like I said, I played Russian TDs in CBT and also did German and Russian heavies. I made it a good part of the way through the IS3 and almost elited my Tiger.

Just... one... more... battle.... before... sleep...

What country tank tree are you going down?

I am playing the German tree exclusively.
During the closed beta I went down the Heavy Tank path, now after release I am playing the Tank Destroyer line.
 

blixel

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Another free to play game that I would recommend is called World of Tanks.

I'm not much of a gamer. I prefer to stick with the simulators, but I downloaded World of Tanks because the video looked pretty cool and I was in the mood for a distraction I guess.

So far I'm liking it! I jumped into my first battle not really having any idea what I was doing, but having played plenty of WASD/Mouse games in the past, it was easy to figure out.

It's amazing what you can get for free these days.
 

Turbinator

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Did you play with the LoLtracktor, er... I mean Leichttraktor?

The game is a lot of fun, specially when you move away from the stock tanks.
And the speed increases, as the stock tanks are the slowest in the game.

For anyone that plays WoT, add me to your friend list, my username there is Turbinator.


CigDriver, in the closed beta I made it all the way to a fully elite 100% crew and tank King Tiger and Ferdinand.
And I missed the 5x XP week they had towards the end :( could have had a Mauser AND a Jagdtiger... :( :(

Don't forget about Clan Wars (aka Ultimate Conquest)
http://uc.worldoftanks.com/uc/clanwars/maps/earth/reg_02/




.
 
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Evil_Onyx

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dammit now I'm addicted to WoT now. Very fun game though.
 
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