Online roaming

[spaceboy]

Here are some interesting tidbits from a GameInformer online review.  My comments are in red.

"While the game is set in a sort of post-apocalyptic/global-warming-ravaged world, the giant landscapes do make everything feel a tad bit empty. There are camps and outposts in each region that act like a hub but other than that there isn't much. One way the final version of the game will help with this is using the player's connection to the Internet. Much like Test Drive: Unlimited, other players will populate the world around you, making it seem like there are drivers everywhere. By invisibly jumping from game lobby to game lobby as you drive, a normally 16-player cap will actually feel like there are hundreds—a clever bit of smoke and mirrors."

-That sounds awesome.  I was wondering about online free roam that with 16 players, you'd never see anyone. But this really lifts my spirits. Wahoo!

"One of the unique features of Fuel was open to us, however. Their version of a track editor pretty much trumps anything that has come before. Most games allow you to edit races on a grid or by intersections. Fuel lets the player drop up to 32 checkpoints anywhere in the world on a road and make small circuits or giant stretches. In just a few seconds, we had a 60 mile rally created and ready to play. The game will pretty much take care of everything else and you're ready to play. Players will also have the opportunity to share these races with the world via the games multiplayer.

While our preview of the game was limited, we did get a chance to free roam a major chunk of the games many locations. With a world this big, it's going to be tough to run out of places for fans to explore. Asobo is promising plenty of goodies like liveries, fuel points, scenic markers and more peppered throughout to the world. This seems like the groundwork for a really cool title, we're just hoping it's enough to fill out the huge shoes that they have created for themselves. "

Sounds promising race fans!
Full article with a couple screen prints is here.

[PZ]

It sure does look like a huge open world, large enough to get lost in!

[JRD]

Populating a huge wold online.......
Multiplayer is going the next step indeed.
I always think about Second Life. Its a virtual world righ there, in the cyber space, you just go online, do whatever you do and leave when you want. But the world is always there and there are always thousands of people online at the same time.
Games like Fuel will have a huge map permanently loaded over the net with races going on 24/7 with thousands (realy > 1,000) racers at the same time........  :D

I know there are MMO since a long time ago, but I think it will be different... will be much better (alhough I never played any MMO  ::) )

[Art Blade]

Hey everyone... I just read through the first (pre-release) posts and can now compare what was said with what I have experienced.

When you go online with your PC, there is no difference between SP and MP at first. You select "free roam" (online, this time) and enter the world where you last saved. This is seamless, like it will be the same spot in the world, regardless SP or MP. You could enter the world at any "hub" (the world map is divided in regions, and each region has a main entrance, the camp). There are also helipads scattered around in the area which you can chose as side entrance or to fast travel inside the area (like a teleport).

The world is empty. If you are lucky, you will sometimes see one or two other players at a camp that have just teleported there, like you. The probability is high that you'll find players in a camp that is unlocked for everyone already, like Offshore Shack, so even those players who have not yet earned region-unlocking stars by winning career races may start roaming from there. Mount Rainier for example is the last region to be unlocked, so only players who have played a major chunk of SP will be able to teleport/enter there.

At first you don't know anybody, and your MSGFWLive-list of friends is empty, and the list of players online is empty too. You will see the first people when you try to join or create a race. People racing with you will fill the slots in the "lobby" before a race starts, and after the race they are visible in your list as "XY, last met 1 minute ago" or so. You or they can then get in contact by sending messages or invitations to a race. Like that, your list will grow. Sometimes someone wants "to be your friend" which means both of you will be notified if the other one is online, allowing for further races.

During hours and hours and hours of non-stop online free roaming I never met anybody outside a camp. The world is empty. You can of course ask a "friend" or more to meet at a camp and start free roaming from there together, which I like.

One exception to "the world is empty" - I had been climbing a difficult mountaintop to get one Vista point, and remained there (actually I had a chat with Deadman, Spaceboy and JRD then). After the chat I returned to FUEL and oh wonder, another player had parked right next to me and sent me a message "what a coincidence, to meet someone in this Emptiness". Funny thing, that Guy calls himself DeMaDriving, short for Dead Man Driving, just when OWG Deadman told me in the chat he was purchasing FUEL. LOL, that is a coincidence. Next funny thing... I read the equivalent of a business card of DeMaDriving, and he's from Germany (like me) from Cologne (like me) and lives in a part of the city I can throw a stone at, so close to me. THAT is a coincidence. LOL ;D

However, if you go online for a free roam, don't expect to meet anyone out there, it's 5,000mi² - how are the odds you see this world "crowded" with players...

Just find friends and ask them to join you. Like that, it's already a great experience if you can share with someone, watch him drive, chase him, go places together... it is very relaxing and fun. Good thing to do is go collect goodies together, like vista points, liveries, doppler trucks... :)

Impressions free roam

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edit: corrected a typo

[PZ]

Too many coincidences, my friend  ;D

Great report, and I still say Fuel vistas are the best I've seen in any game.  :-X

[Art Blade]

cheers :) Yes, those vista points are nice, yet usually not easy to get to (mostly some mountain tops)

I keep meeting and driving with the same guy, together we drove around 1,000+ miles already ;D

I do hope to see "our" deadman online soon, perhaps we can roam with like three or more people.

Sidenote, my bloody Live doesn't w@&k with my microphone, the guy I keep driving with recommends skype. It sure would be easier if we could actually talk rather than stop for sending messages. Might have to take a look at that.

[PZ]

Skype is not too bad, but that means installing a client application on your machine and signing up for another account!  ;)

[Art Blade]

I am very very hesitant about it... it would also be a possible security breach. And I have heard about that. Thanks for your comment.. I'll leave it be. Maybe I find a way to educate Live... hehe

[PZ]

lol, I'll bet there is a better chance convincing Live to change their ways than it would be to get you to install a client on your PC!  ;D

[JRD]

Great pics Art... too bad I can't join you guys and free roam  :(

But that's OK. I mean, it's not ok, but I can live with that  ;)

I'm doing lots of free roaming myself, collecting liveries, reaching vista points, chasing doppler trucks and progressing on my career, of course.
So far I have unlocked, besides Offshore shack, Tsunami Reef, Dry rigs, Big Cauldron's Edge and another one (The Ashtray maybe?)... still lots of places to go and stuff to do... I'm hooked on FUEL   :-X

Got a thrilling race on vid but can't convert it into mpg or mov... not sure why. It happened before and I thought it was a one time only issue.... as soon as I manage to create more vids, I'll upload them here.

One thing I miss so far are weather effects... I was expecting to race between hurricanes, sandstorms, blizzards, lightning storms... but nothing like that so far... only some lightnings in the horizon and windy races, but nothing I have to struggle against!!  :(

[Art Blade]

Good point, glad you mention it. The intro of the game shows impressive weather effects, people trying to escape tornados - that was what they made us believe and probably wanted to incorporate: "find your way around a tornado" but well... it's not there. During your SP career you'll encounter about a handful of erm... breezy... weather. You'll see a huge tornado once and during two races you'll have to race under those conditions, like inside a tornado, but it is scripted (you can't find a way "around" it), the other few races are just taking place in well... very windy conditions. Maybe I forgot one or two races, but it was only a very small number. I don't know about the challenges, only participated in 22 so far.

During free roam, there is just regular weather, all sorts of it, but no tornados. Not that I have seen one, that is. Since SP and MP don't differ, you won't miss a thing :)

[JRD]

They could've created a critical-weather challenge for each camp... making 19 races where you have to struggle against the weather in addition to other racers (or against the clock or whatever).... that'd be cool.... earthquakes, tornados, lightning storms, blizzards, floods.............



Now I'm drooling....  :P


Maybe in FUEL 2... if they ever make it, after many bad reviews  :(

[spaceboy]

Hey Art,  I've seen your Dead Man fuel friend on the codemasters site.  Here he is posting on this thread.  Small world I guess.

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363869

[Art Blade]

haha, really!  :)  :-X - as PZ said, "too many coincidences" LOL

[Art Blade]

More Pics...

when you look at the pics, there are always two racers close to each other - yet you barely see the second one even if he is almost only a stonethrow away. Now you can imagine that it is virtually impossible to accidently meet someone. More likely, you lose someone  ;D

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[spaceboy]

hilarious, you can almost see the guys smiling for the picture.  The animations when you stop are pretty realistic I guess, wiping crap off their pants, looking around at the views.

[Art Blade]

haha, sometimes they do exactly the same, like some weirdo-ballet  ;D ;D

[PZ]

Great pics Art!   :-X  In fact, I could swear that I've actually been to some of those desert shots.

[Art Blade]

cheers :) it's top right of the world, the white flats

[Art Blade]

more pics (just looks so great I can't help taking screenshots) :)

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[JRD]

The first one is a winner...  ;D

[Art Blade]

That's what you look like when your engine is a wreck  ;D

[JRD]

Oh, I know how it looks like son, I know  ;)

At first I thought it was a distant village after an artillery attack on Arma 2, with thick, tall, black smoke columns soaring into the sky, but then I saw legs coming out of the smoke and the speed-O-meter  ;D ;D ;D

[PZ]

That's an interesting vehicle you got there on the snow  :-X

[spaceboy]

I like it with no licensed vehicles because they were able to get pretty creative and you've got some great rides there.