Wahammer 40K: Space Marine

[Chaz]

You can buy any corded 360 controller, plug it in, and you're good to go.  The "Windows" version just comes with a driver disc that's extraneous if you have an updated version of Windows.  The wireless ones do require a separate receiver though, and you can't use a wireless one with a charging cable to connect to a PC because the cable only does power, not data.

[EngineNo9]

It does work with the XBox360 controller on PC, so you might look into that if the keys bother ya. Now I always remain confused whether you can just buy any XBox360 controller and plug it in, or if you need some special "XBox360 Controller for Windows" thing that has special Windows drivers.

If you buy a wired 360 controller, you can just buy any of them and plug it into your Windows PC.  If you have a wireless 360 controller, you'll need the wireless gaming receiver hooked up to your PC to use it there.  Assuming you are running Vista or Windows 7, I think the drivers should automatically install and it just works.

EDIT: heh, I should go to the next page before making replies...oh well, it still stands. 

[leo8877]

Thanks guys, I'll be playing on the 360, but just tried out the PC demo to see how it looked/ran.  I was pleasantly surprised, but not enough to skip playing on the big screen, with stereo and couch!! 

[Chaz]

Hook your PC up to your TV!  Best of both worlds!  It looks stupendous like that.

[USMC Kato]

Thanks guys, I'll be playing on the 360, but just tried out the PC demo to see how it looked/ran.  I was pleasantly surprised, but not enough to skip playing on the big screen, with stereo and couch!! 

I'm torn on which version to get.  If enough of my friends gets it on the xbox, that will be my choice.

[leo8877]

Thanks guys, I'll be playing on the 360, but just tried out the PC demo to see how it looked/ran.  I was pleasantly surprised, but not enough to skip playing on the big screen, with stereo and couch!! 

I'm torn on which version to get.  If enough of my friends gets it on the xbox, that will be my choice.

Definitely 360 for me, but I'm not sure about the MP yet.  It looks fun, but will I want to play that over BF3?  I'd say doubtful, but maybe it will impress!

[Blackjack]

I've read some complaints about clumsiness in using the thumbpad for movement control on the controller on this, that's maybe the one thing I'd be wary of. But you can of course rent the console version first to check that out.

Me, I'm just joyful that the PC version seems to both look great and run fast, which is not a combination I'm used to. My system had its share of struggles with both Homefront and Medal of Honor for example. And I don't so far have the inexplicable 3rd person motion sickness issues I ran into on Red Faction: Guerilla and a couple others.

[EngineNo9]

I've read some complaints about clumsiness in using the thumbpad for movement control on the controller on this, that's maybe the one thing I'd be wary of. But you can of course rent the console version first to check that out.

Or just try the console demo.  Or use a 360 gamepad on the PC.  I didn't see any clumsiness using the controller at all.

[Harkonis]

Thanks guys, I'll be playing on the 360, but just tried out the PC demo to see how it looked/ran.  I was pleasantly surprised, but not enough to skip playing on the big screen, with stereo and couch!! 

this always makes me step back and realize not everyone uses the exact same setup for both their PC and 360   Same monitor, same sound system, same chair.

[Blackjack]

Relic's having a contest to win an Alienware Aurora desktop PC, including a copy of the CE edition of the game (can enter through Sept. 6):
http://www.spacemarine.com/alienware?loggedout=1

And I guess it's duh, but the game went gold across all three platforms, announced yesterday:
http://www.spacemarine.com/blog-post/space-marine-has-gone-gold
=============
Sifting through the official forums revealed some interesting "meet the team" posts of Q&As with the devs, including:

Meet the Team: Jerry Edsall – Lead Programmer
http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/1970

Q.) What steps did you and the team take when picking the game engine for Space Marine?

During preproduction, we looked at pretty much every engine being used to make a game at THQ.  We were fortunate to find a lot of great tech internally; stuff like the Darksiders engine at Vigil Studios and the Saints Row engine at Volition. We also had our own technologies powering our PC titles like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes.  Our team of programmers took of all the cool tech we found and assembled it into the Space Marine engine.   

===============
Meet the Team: Ian Cumming - Art Director
http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/2273

Q.) How hard has it been translating the fine details given within the Warhammer 40,000 IP and bringing that to Space Marine?

The Warhammer 40K universe provides us a lot of tools and content to work with which is great, and our familiarity with the IP helped us jump right in to Space Marine.

Space Marine has definitely been an interesting transition from our DOW RTS series. We focused on capturing the epic scale of the world and its unique mix of massive factory and gothic architecture, but from ground level – quite a different view than what you would see in an RTS. You end up solving very different problems in a world where you can walk up to everything and inspect or interact with it. This applies to both environment and characters.

===============
Meet the Team: Brent Breedveld – Animation Lead
http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/1768

Q.) How does an average day at Relic look as the Animation Lead of Space Marine? 

I’m responsible for directing the cinematics and core game play animation so no two days are ever the same.

When it comes to core game play I spend a lot of time with our Lead Designer, Game Director and Senior Animators.  We discuss what combat moves will best suit the design of our game play. Once a plan is set I then speak with the animators and we lock down our animation plan and ensure that everything will flow together.  We then film reference of ourselves acting out the combat as best we can.  Foam swords and toy guns are in abundance here.

The acting gives us a great example for foot placement, basic timing and posing.  Though our acting may be a bit awkward the animators gain a lot from using it.  Animators will then move forward with blocking in animation, pass it to designers and check their work in game. I’ll give feedback periodically throughout the day on their animation by viewing it in 3Ds Max or in game. We’ll then continue with animation iteration and feedback until its right.
...
Q.) How much of a role did motion capture play in laying down the animations within Space Marine?

Though facial capture was our choice for the faces we decided against using motion capture for the bodies in both game play and cinematics. We recognized that this game would have a lot of melee combat.  To have the Space Marine perform combat that looks and plays well in game means a lot of exaggeration.  We didn’t feel we could achieve this to the level we wanted using motion capture.   Though motion capture could have helped in some areas, such as navigation, we wanted an overall consistency to the look and feel of Space Marine animation.  We decided to use all key-frame animation rather than risk a disconnected look between melee combat, navigation, shooting and cinematics.  It helps having such a talented group of key frame animators as well.  Confidence in the animation team played a role in the decision as well.

In choosing key frame animation we still faced the challenge of setting an overall animation style for all the animators to follow.  It was important to keep our characters from looking too cartoony or too different from one animation to the next.  To give a real world timing and weight to our animations we shot reference of ourselves acting out combat moves, Ork taunts, Bloodletter runs, and Space Marine sync kills.  You name it, we acted it out.  We then would exaggerate and perfect the posing, motion and game play timing needs after that.

===============
Meet the Team: Matthew Berger – Campaign Lead
http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/1697

Q.) What inspirations did the team pull from in laying out the singleplayer campaign?

A lot of the campaign locations were defined by our story which was very specific in what was happening and where it was happening so on a high level we had the skeleton of the campaign laid out; the major gameplay beats, the major locations, what happened to our characters etc.. 


In addition to that we have a very rich IP that we are working with and it is defined by the grandeur of the spaces and the sheer scale of everything.

So you have the story which has given you the skeleton of the campaign and the IP that defines the type of spaces you are looking at. 40k is all about massive scale for everything. Everything is bigger and over the top; it’s very gothic and on some level dehumanizing.

You’d think that it’s difficult for us to find material for that but there are some amazing pieces of engineering that people usually don’t know about and yet there are pictures on these specialized websites.

We also looked a lot at Soviet architecture which has that large dehumanizing cog in the machine vibe (perfect for a Forge World).

And sadly when you’re in need of battlefield imagery, destroyed cities and the like you have a wealth of images and reference material to pick from. We looked a lot at WWII, Stalingrad pictures but also more recent conflicts in the Balkans. In addition to real world inspiration we also have a concept team that did a lot of sketches for us and they came up with some really unique ideas.

And of course like everyone else we use other media as reference, movies and comics/manga are a very common language and you’re constantly referencing back to them. I know that I’ve mentioned Akira and Hellboy on more than one occasion for this project.

[Razgon]

Thanks guys, I'll be playing on the 360, but just tried out the PC demo to see how it looked/ran.  I was pleasantly surprised, but not enough to skip playing on the big screen, with stereo and couch!! 

this always makes me step back and realize not everyone uses the exact same setup for both their PC and 360   Same monitor, same sound system, same chair.

If everything was easily wireless, I'd totally do this as well - but right now I'd have to cable across the living room with kids and GF running around so, not so feasible unfortunately.

[Blackjack]

I played the jump pack demo mission on the toughest skill level last night. Man, they do fire rockets like crazy at that setting. After wiping a few times, I played with a bit more "sense of urgency," and got through it.

[Blackjack]

Some goofy demo announcement videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM-NzRw5qog

(and w/ Tricia Helfer and Lance Henriksen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZiCDVCql4

[baelthazar]

Some goofy demo announcement videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM-NzRw5qog

(and w/ Tricia Helfer and Lance Henriksen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZiCDVCql4

Tricia Helfer actually did that pretty well. Also she's technically a Sister of Battle.

[Blackjack]

Been trying to find some new footage. Here's Game Trailer's official preview from earlier in the week:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/preview-warhammer-40-000/719435
*Has some interesting SP footage, including battling some gigantic flying thing that the Warhammer experts here more likely know the official title of.   And a lot of glimpses at MP.

[Harkonis]

I kinda miss the early helmets with the beaked look

this is not it btw

[Blackjack]

Been trying to find some new footage. Here's Game Trailer's official preview from earlier in the week:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/preview-warhammer-40-000/719435
*Has some interesting SP footage, including battling some gigantic flying thing that the Warhammer experts here more likely know the official title of.   And a lot of glimpses at MP.

Watching the Gametrailers preview at home, I can't wait to do the shield-bashing execution/fatality move (I think that's what it is)...



It seems to involve taking a big red metal shield off a certain type of orc, bashing him sideways with it, then bashing him overhead with it, two-handed. Too much fun. Captain America would approve.   This game, even just the demo, is gradually corrupting my soul. 

[Harkonis]

I think at the end he embedded it vertically in the guy and it looked like a tombstone.  very cool

[Roguetad]

I played both the pc demo (using a controller) and the ps3 demo, and the pc version had better graphics.  The game played great.  I didn't think it was possible to capture the ranged-melee feel of a space marine, but they did it. 

[Blackjack]

I played both the pc demo (using a controller) and the ps3 demo, and the pc version had better graphics.  The game played great.  I didn't think it was possible to capture the ranged-melee feel of a space marine, but they did it.  

Amen, though really, I hope the game does well sales-wise on all platforms (including PS3). I still ache that Company of Heroes didn't sell as well as it should have. Apparently at least a little bit of the COH game engine tech is somewhere in this game's DNA, so to speak (according to one of those forum Q&As I posted earlier), which makes me feel good (and a bit wistful).

Most demos I just play through a couple of times but I really have been going back through this over and over, sometimes trying different things. I'm trying to get the hang of sprint/attacking, but holding the left Shift key isn't quite happening naturally for me. I might try rebinding it to something.

The grenade launcher thing was awesome once I knew how to use it (detonating with R key as explained to me here).

I've taken lots of videos but mostly they just how clumsy I am. 

[Blackjack]

I think at the end he embedded it vertically in the guy and it looked like a tombstone.  very cool

Now it makes me wish there was a full-time "melee shield" weapon.   Though that particular "tower" shield might be tough to use with one hand.

[Blackjack]

I wasn't having much luck finding new vids so I've been looking through some old ones.

This Machinima.com one from E3 is partly, what turned out to be the playable demo stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLHtqI8CEDo
*The Relic dev says it's about 2 hours into the game fwiw. So at least when you play the full game, it won't just be going through the demo level again to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGToH9mQTjY
*What's interesting about this April video is it seems like they've, in a way, toned down the violence a bit since then in terms of what happens to the Orcs' character models. I know it's funny to say that when you're ripping up Orcs in a geyser of blood, with a chainsaw in the demo.  

But in this older one you can see them sort of getting split up into torsos, arms, heads etc. I don't think that happens in the demo. I have no complaints, just an observation. I think maybe they decided to ramp up the blood spray, blood geysers, etc., and tone down the, well, separation of Orc body parts. Bloody good fun without making you feel like a butcher per se.

[CeeKay]

played a bit of the demo and thought it was decent, but it doesn't feel like a day one purchase.  considering how quickly the price for the downloadable version of Human Revolution fell at Amazon I'm gonna wait a bit to see if they put it on sale.

[Blackjack]

played a bit of the demo and thought it was decent, but it doesn't feel like a day one purchase.  considering how quickly the price for the downloadable version of Human Revolution fell at Amazon I'm gonna wait a bit to see if they put it on sale.

Clearly your impending nuptials have affected your judgement.   Either that or the 149 Steam games you haven't gotten around to playing yet had something to do with it...

I expect the game to do well on all platforms and not become a bargain bin inhabitant any time soon. Though if you're nice, maybe I'll gift it to you as a wedding gift.  

[CeeKay]

I think it's more that my recent installation of Gears of War is sating my appetite for this type game.

[SkyLander]

I played the PC demo now and aside from not liking the keyboard controls, I was really surprised by how well it looked.  I have a nice nVidia 460 GTX, but an olllllld core 2 duo and it looked great with the settings up.

Thanks for the grenade tip! I musta hit reload (R key) accidentally once.

It does work with the XBox360 controller on PC, so you might look into that if the keys bother ya. Now I always remain confused whether you can just buy any XBox360 controller and plug it in, or if you need some special "XBox360 Controller for Windows" thing that has special Windows drivers.

I'm not so much bothered by the default keyboard keys, as much as I find some difficulty getting used to using "E" for actual combat. I'm used to just opening doors and loot chests with it.  

You need the wireless thing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109243

You don't need any drivers though they are all part of Windows 7.

[Blackjack]

New Thunderhammer video...

'Only War' Series - Thunder Hammer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRmiqaB-Fe4&feature=youtu.be

I'd still think a Space Marine would at least need some goggles with wiper blades on them to keep their vision clear of blood and guts.  

I'm Vista 64-bit, fwiw. I think I'll be fine with keys/mouse, but I'll keep the info/link in mind if I change my mind, thanks.  

I'll be curious how well this runs on that Onlive system, as this is available on that too.

[Blackjack]

According to the official Twitter page, they'll announce some details about the co-op stuff later this week:

http://twitter.com/#!/SpaceMarine (Aug. 29)

RT @sledgehammer70: Ready to wreck havoc in Space Marine with your friends? Stay tuned for full Co-Op details this week!

*Note: A Relic rep seemed to confirm co-op earlier in the month, and then the post was promptly pulled. So this seems like the more official confirmation.
===================

Prima supposedly set up a "demo guide" online that's supposed to reveal some "secrets" in the demo (hidden areas/doors maybe?), but the links don't currently work. I'll post a link if they ever get around to fixing it. Even the one referenced by the official Twitter account doesn't work.

[Blackjack]

Couple things skittered out via Twitter announcements...

Unboxing of Collector's Edition (PC edition)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5yTSh7m18I&feature=youtu.be
*I woulda gotten it for geeky reasons if it had a little Space Marine statue or something, but an art book and trading cards and magnetic emblem doesn't quite do it for me.

Prima's Space Marine Insider video: Defenders of Humanity
http://www.spacemarine.com/blog-post/warhammer-40000-space-marine-insider-series-defenders-humanity

[Blackjack]

While the world doesn't need more 720 HD-quality YouTube videos of demo footage (there are already a zillion posted)... what the hell!  Let's start...

Melee Madness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAa1X5x7kvs

[Roguetad]

He used sprint for that first charge into the orcs.  I didn't figure out how to do that until the 3rd time I played through the demo.  On the consoles you press the left stick in and he'll start sprinting.  If he's near baddies he goes into a shoulder charge.

[leo8877]

He used sprint for that first charge into the orcs.  I didn't figure out how to do that until the 3rd time I played through the demo.  On the consoles you press the left stick in and he'll start sprinting.  If he's near baddies he goes into a shoulder charge.

Is the charge automatic?  I've been pressing X or Y (on 360) to to a shoulder ram.

[Blackjack]

On PC, I think you hold the Sprint key down (Shift, by default), sprint and ... honestly I don't remember if I had to hit a key (E/Execute or F/Stun) or if the final charging into them just happened automatically. Something for me to try again tonight.  

I tried various times to get jump pack footage, but I have this habit of overshooting my targets badly. Still effective due to the huge stun/knockback radius, but it's pretty goofy for video footage.

[Roguetad]

I tried various times to get jump pack footage, but I have this habit of overshooting my targets badly. Still effective due to the huge stun/knockback radius, but it's pretty goofy for video footage.

I noticed that if I tap the jetpack button he will quickly skim across the ground towards wherever I'm aiming.  It's a quick way to close ground without using a big jump.  Not sure if it will be tactically useful in the full game, but it was a nice surprise when I accidentely did it.

[Blackjack]

I tried various times to get jump pack footage, but I have this habit of overshooting my targets badly. Still effective due to the huge stun/knockback radius, but it's pretty goofy for video footage.

I noticed that if I tap the jetpack button he will quickly skim across the ground towards wherever I'm aiming.  It's a quick way to close ground without using a big jump.  Not sure if it will be tactically useful in the full game, but it was a nice surprise when I accidentely did it.

Ew (a good "ew" ), I will have to try that, thanks. Kind of like a scene in the movie, "The Rocketeer"

I guess Relic's issuing a new "Only War" series video about each weekday until release...

Warhammer 40K Space Marine: 'Only War' Series - Chainsword (a wee bit bloody...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjDz5YshEw&feature=youtu.be

[WarPig]

I tried various times to get jump pack footage, but I have this habit of overshooting my targets badly. Still effective due to the huge stun/knockback radius, but it's pretty goofy for video footage.

I noticed that if I tap the jetpack button he will quickly skim across the ground towards wherever I'm aiming.  It's a quick way to close ground without using a big jump.  Not sure if it will be tactically useful in the full game, but it was a nice surprise when I accidentely did it.

Reminds me a lot of Tribes with the jet pack tricks/exploits you could do.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Blackjack]

He used sprint for that first charge into the orcs.  I didn't figure out how to do that until the 3rd time I played through the demo.  On the consoles you press the left stick in and he'll start sprinting.  If he's near baddies he goes into a shoulder charge.

Is the charge automatic?  I've been pressing X or Y (on 360) to to a shoulder ram.

Hopped in and just sort of experimented a bit (PC demo). I think when you sprint at enemies and just as you're about to hit 'em, you can either hit the Stun key (F) to try to stun a few targets, or you can hit the melee key (right mouse button) to do some sort of sweeping melee weapon attack. Or maybe they both do the same thing, though the animations seem just a bit different from each other.

I do think that jetpacking quick-leap could be useful at times. When you "explode" from the air into the ground (RMB) it stuns/knockbacks targets in a wide radius. But I've found it hard to just lumber over to a stunned target in time to execute them (the knockback is so far so it takes precious seconds to reach them).

[leo8877]

From Kotaku:

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is out next week. And developers Relic have only today revealed the fact the game will have a co-op mode. It's a late addition to the game; so late, in fact, it won't be available until next month.

The co-op mode, called Exterminatus, has two maps, and lets up to four players take control of a Space Marine in what's essentially a Horde match, fighting wave after wave of increasingly difficult alien enemies.

It'll be free, and will be released in "early October".

[raydude]

After playing the demo every night since it was released I decided that I need more Space Marine and pre-ordered it on Steam.

[Blackjack]

After playing the demo every night since it was released I decided that I need more Space Marine and pre-ordered it on Steam.

I salute you!

Exterminatus sounds fun, Leo. I wonder if you can ever "win" (i.e., the incoming waves are a fixed number) or if it's one of those things where your "score" is based on how long your co-op group survives.

The isometric Alien Breed shooter series campaign (including with a co-op buddy) had certain areas where you had to survive incoming waves for X amount of time to progress. I woulda liked something like that in Space Marine, maybe where your group fights along a certain length path, then into an arena type area where you fight waves for X amount of time, then entry unlocked to the next path, arena, lather, rinse repeat. Though I'm glad to get any sort of co-op at all.

The Alien Breed games also had a co-op arena where it was just a matter of surviving as long as you could, and the score was (at least partly) based on just how long at least one of you did.

And do note (in Space Marine) that supposedly you only get the co-op if you bought the game new (so I assume rentals, or buying it second-hand means you wouldn't get it, be able to install it, something like that?).