Yeah, the game does lack in balance, nevermind bugs. The steam+lightning combo, or even the icicles are far superior to anything else, and lasting fun gameplay is all about having many viable options. I do like how powerful they make you feel though, so I'd prefer buffing existing elements over nerfing those combos, or even adding new equally powerful combo elements, like earth+life=>Plant or earth+arcane=>Crystal...
Even more than that though, I'd want more the levels themselves encouraging or discouraging elements, like make one of the stages be constantly raining so you have to cast water shield all the time if you want to use lightning, and have large areas of the swamp be filled with a foul mist that prevents Life from working, or snowy areas preventing you from casting fire, etc etc... That icy river part before Khan was the most fun part of the stage in how it made you reconsider your element usage, what with fire suddenly becoming a lot more useful and all. I would have loved it if most of that stage had taken place on an iced-over lake.
from the cynical brit interview, the single player was a necessary after-thought, their attempts to balance larger spells comes from their volatile consequences. The game is *not* hard, if you want to make an argument that everything that makes the game not hard is OP then using the remaining crap and complaining that the remaining crap makes the game "too hard" is a trivial conclusion at best.
<!--quoteo(post=1828661:date=Jan 30 2011, 06:37 PM:name=ZiGGY)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ZiGGY @ Jan 30 2011, 06:37 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1828661"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->from the cynical brit interview, the single player was a necessary after-thought,<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Considering coop doesn't work at all that is kind of surprising.
<!--quoteo(post=1828662:date=Jan 30 2011, 06:38 PM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Jan 30 2011, 06:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1828662"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Considering coop doesn't work at all that is kind of surprising.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> be as surprised as you want, it's in the interview, the coop problems stem from WAN issues afaik, also as far as i can tell the game has simply been rushed out to create revenue and then abandon (yes I am aware of its recent patching, this is my OPINION, the singleplayer thing is cited from a developer)
I'd suggest anyone looking to play co-op without a team put their names + steam ids in this thread and everyone can enjoy the game how it's meant to be played.
I just played some hours with a friend over internet, we used steam voice chat to cooperate. Had we been more than 2 we could have used a group chat. So I do not really see any problems with coop, it works nearly flawless for me when I host, the only problem is joining, but seems like pressing join game on steam friends work pretty well.
The lack of dedicated server is a bit of a pain as it's a massive strain on a listenserver right now but jeez, how can Chris honestly not like this game? It's not my sort of game but even I had a blast with it!
is there ANY. POSSIBLE. WAY. to survive a lightningbolt storm? Putting on lightning resist with self shield and fully charged sphere shield only resist one hit and then you are screwed.
Regular shield to be immune to wet, lightning resist to make lightning bolts not damage it (I think?) so you remain dry and can keep casting lightning resist.
<!--quoteo(post=1828697:date=Jan 31 2011, 12:14 AM:name=Feha)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Feha @ Jan 31 2011, 12:14 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1828697"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I just played some hours with a friend over internet, we used steam voice chat to cooperate. Had we been more than 2 we could have used a group chat. So I do not really see any problems with coop, it works nearly flawless for me when I host, the only problem is joining, but seems like pressing join game on steam friends work pretty well.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I csn't connect for more than 10 seconds and when I do it runs like crap.
NS2 has better network functionality than this game.
I've managed to get 2 player working smoothly; 3 player can be a bit of an issue and 4 is a no go right now.
Although the internet side isn't everything. It's got a great concept, it's fun as hell and you get to mess around with tom foolery and blow things up.
I suggest if you don't like the game and can't deal with the current issues Chris (of NS2 too) you may want to consider doing something else other than replying in here.
<!--quoteo(post=1828772:date=Jan 31 2011, 10:00 AM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Jan 31 2011, 10:00 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1828772"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I csn't connect for more than 10 seconds and when I do it runs like crap.
NS2 has better network functionality than this game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Many people who host seem to have bad computers and/or internet. And joining servers seem to be hard in general, unless you use join game in steam friend. I got a decent computer, and can run it with low lag (sometimes there is lag spikes) with 2 friends connected. Altough both of my cpu's are at near 100% almost all the time (usually one of them actually is at 100%), and at times they both hit 100% (thats when lag spike occurs). Makes me glad the game can use more than 1 cpu ;). With the tv on I am at constant 100% on both and have constant lag though, but its easy to solve by turning off the tv. I got approximately the same performance when I play singleplayer though, so that has little to do with lag in coop (I guess only ppl who host is ppl who can run it fine in singleplayer).
What it needs is some sort of dedicated server, then there will be several good hosts. But until then, I host myself, making my friends join ;).
To connect manually you need to have ports 27000 up through to 27030 UDP open. You also need your server port (default 7331) open.
To give people ideas of how hosting sessions from machines I've played across so far go,
256k upload: 2 people stable.
1.3MB upload: 3 people max, not stable. 2 people stable.
5MB upload: 4 people max, not stable. 3 people, stable.
On a server I hosted, 3 people was not amazingly stable, my upload is 1.3. It was maxxing out my upload all the time which, I found a bit excessive. A 2 player adventure though was very fun and stable.
Those of you at university (or in Scandanavia) will have nice uploads to host with :<
EDIT: My machine is a Phenom 2 X4 3.2GhZ 4GBDDR2 ATI 5770 machine. The 5MB upload machine was a Core i7 960 8GB DDR3 GTX 480 machine. The 256k upload machine was a Core2Duo 2GHZ 4GB DDR2 9800GT machine.
I didnt know I had that many ports forwarded :S. Any other games that require them which I might have forwarded ports for before?
I used the minecraft default port as I knew that was forwarded ;)
I hope they make it better soon though, you should not several mb/s to host for 3 ppl over internet (the fourth, you, if localhost) :p. I didnt notice that 3 players was that unstable with my net, and its about 1 mb/s. Might be cause I were hosting though.
For some reason, sometimes some games across Steam don't need ports 27000 -> 27030 open; for some reason others do. It's strange, Borderlands for example I didn't have to open it up for on Steam but Magicka I have had to.
Generally speaking they're the Steam P2P/Server ports.
<!--quoteo(post=1828869:date=Jan 31 2011, 06:06 PM:name=Aldaris)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Aldaris @ Jan 31 2011, 06:06 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1828869"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmmm, my G15 macro keys don't see to want to work with this game. Either quick macros, or ones put together through the desktop profiler.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I had to build in different levels of delay to get mine to work properly. 22 milliseconds seemed to do the trick when each button is used only once in a spell, but when the same button is used multiple times, you need to build in more delay (more like 300 milliseconds). Seems like they put in some padding in case you were spamming the button and only wanted to press it once.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Updates to Magicka have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.
Fixes Fixed save games disappearing when disconnecting from online game. (For real this time) Fixed crash for alternative character models appearing in cutscenes. (Chapter 7, Chapter 12). Fixed crash caused by conjuring large quantities of elements. << Fixed crash due to beams merging. Fixed crash where Chapter 11 boss collided with shield. Fixed crash where Clients and servers would send old messages when reconnecting. Fixed high-end machine jitter. <<<<<<<< Improved network batching. (should result in serious network performance increase). <<<<<<< Improved startup routine to prevent threading problems. Improved authentification on connect. (should result in fewer auth-failed) Fixed a missing file that resulted in french text not appearing correctly. Fixed immovable objects jittering. Fixed issue where characters would get stuck during cutscenes. Fixed issue where scripted player movement would remain after a cutscene. Fixed missing boss titles. Steam join through overlay fixed. Fixed Chapter 1 collision. (behind door) Fixed Chapter 3 collision. (you can now fall down the well) Fixed Chapter 7 cutscene lockups and other issues. Fixed Chapter 8 cutscene lockup. Fixed Chapter 8 navigation fixed. Fixed Chapter 9 cutscene lockups. Fixed Chapter 11 teleport issue. Fixed Chapter 12 cutscene lockup. Conflagration is now properly synced over network. Features/Balance Chapter 3 now has proper pirates by the picnic. Chapter 8 now has manual exit at the end of level. Fire Damage increased from 40 to 60. Spawned summons now capped at 16 per player. Goblin Pirate damage reduced from 155 to 72. Added server list filter option for “Passwordâ€. Removed obsolete port option of game hosting (always hosted on 27016 anyways). Server list sorting added (click the header).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Still crashed twice on same place yesterday, when entering the boss area of fafnir.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Fixed jittering caused by avatar move orders persisting on clients. Fixed issue where self shields would get desynced. Fixed so that elementals that weren’t initialized collided with beam spells. Fixed crash initializing a dialogue chain with a dead actor. Fixed crash due to navigation desync in chapter 2 secret area. Fixed “Too fancy for fireballs†achievement sometimes not being awarded. Fixed crash on Chapter 11 boss confuse ability. Fixed so that Chapter 12 boss does not start attacking before cutscene is done. Features Added Chapter 1 Text in intro. Known Issues Network uplink bandwidth, while improved, can be demanding Steam attempts to install XNA framework every time game is launched on rare occasion Quitting the game while the credits are rolling will not award a game complete. Mouse outside screen in full screen with multiple monitors will minimize the game. Crash due to leaving too many enemies alive in previous scenes (NonPlayerCharacterCache is empty)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Finally completed the campaign and both challenges with one friend. I thought those were supposed to be endless? The battles became rather easy when you got summon elements, I foresee a drastic nerf on number of summons.
Can anyone tell me what "summon death" actually does? It seems to just kill a random player on the team :/
Also, the final boss was such a pushover :/ didn't they talk about a hardcore mode?
The good thing with magicka is that as long as the hoster has the dlc, everyone got it, and the skins only require one client to have it, then you can murder him for his stuff. So if someone has the dlc, he can host a vietname challenge map, or whatever, and if someone has it at all, ha can spawn with a nade throwing stuff and a gun (which makes him a good target for friendly fire).
<!--quoteo(post=1840935:date=Apr 13 2011, 07:33 PM:name=Feha)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Feha @ Apr 13 2011, 07:33 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1840935"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The good thing with magicka is that as long as the hoster has the dlc, everyone got it, and the skins only require one client to have it, then you can murder him for his stuff. So if someone has the dlc, he can host a vietname challenge map, or whatever, and if someone has it at all, ha can spawn with a nade throwing stuff and a gun (which makes him a good target for friendly fire).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Picked it up yesterday, I have yet to try it though. It contains two challenge maps, "Survivor" and "Rescue mission". I imagine the mission is more than a simple arena.
Comments
I do like how powerful they make you feel though, so I'd prefer buffing existing elements over nerfing those combos, or even adding new equally powerful combo elements, like earth+life=>Plant or earth+arcane=>Crystal...
Even more than that though, I'd want more the levels themselves encouraging or discouraging elements, like make one of the stages be constantly raining so you have to cast water shield all the time if you want to use lightning, and have large areas of the swamp be filled with a foul mist that prevents Life from working, or snowy areas preventing you from casting fire, etc etc...
That icy river part before Khan was the most fun part of the stage in how it made you reconsider your element usage, what with fire suddenly becoming a lot more useful and all. I would have loved it if most of that stage had taken place on an iced-over lake.
The game is *not* hard, if you want to make an argument that everything that makes the game not hard is OP then using the remaining crap and complaining that the remaining crap makes the game "too hard" is a trivial conclusion at best.
Considering coop doesn't work at all that is kind of surprising.
be as surprised as you want, it's in the interview, the coop problems stem from WAN issues afaik, also as far as i can tell the game has simply been rushed out to create revenue and then abandon (yes I am aware of its recent patching, this is my OPINION, the singleplayer thing is cited from a developer)
The lack of dedicated server is a bit of a pain as it's a massive strain on a listenserver right now but jeez, how can Chris honestly not like this game? It's not my sort of game but even I had a blast with it!
I csn't connect for more than 10 seconds and when I do it runs like crap.
NS2 has better network functionality than this game.
Although the internet side isn't everything. It's got a great concept, it's fun as hell and you get to mess around with tom foolery and blow things up.
I suggest if you don't like the game and can't deal with the current issues Chris (of NS2 too) you may want to consider doing something else other than replying in here.
NS2 has better network functionality than this game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Many people who host seem to have bad computers and/or internet. And joining servers seem to be hard in general, unless you use join game in steam friend. I got a decent computer, and can run it with low lag (sometimes there is lag spikes) with 2 friends connected. Altough both of my cpu's are at near 100% almost all the time (usually one of them actually is at 100%), and at times they both hit 100% (thats when lag spike occurs). Makes me glad the game can use more than 1 cpu ;). With the tv on I am at constant 100% on both and have constant lag though, but its easy to solve by turning off the tv.
I got approximately the same performance when I play singleplayer though, so that has little to do with lag in coop (I guess only ppl who host is ppl who can run it fine in singleplayer).
What it needs is some sort of dedicated server, then there will be several good hosts. But until then, I host myself, making my friends join ;).
To give people ideas of how hosting sessions from machines I've played across so far go,
256k upload: 2 people stable.
1.3MB upload: 3 people max, not stable. 2 people stable.
5MB upload: 4 people max, not stable. 3 people, stable.
On a server I hosted, 3 people was not amazingly stable, my upload is 1.3. It was maxxing out my upload all the time which, I found a bit excessive. A 2 player adventure though was very fun and stable.
Those of you at university (or in Scandanavia) will have nice uploads to host with :<
EDIT: My machine is a Phenom 2 X4 3.2GhZ 4GBDDR2 ATI 5770 machine. The 5MB upload machine was a Core i7 960 8GB DDR3 GTX 480 machine. The 256k upload machine was a Core2Duo 2GHZ 4GB DDR2 9800GT machine.
I used the minecraft default port as I knew that was forwarded ;)
I hope they make it better soon though, you should not several mb/s to host for 3 ppl over internet (the fourth, you, if localhost) :p.
I didnt notice that 3 players was that unstable with my net, and its about 1 mb/s. Might be cause I were hosting though.
Generally speaking they're the Steam P2P/Server ports.
I had to build in different levels of delay to get mine to work properly. 22 milliseconds seemed to do the trick when each button is used only once in a spell, but when the same button is used multiple times, you need to build in more delay (more like 300 milliseconds). Seems like they put in some padding in case you were spamming the button and only wanted to press it once.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Updates to Magicka have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.
Fixes
Fixed save games disappearing when disconnecting from online game. (For real this time)
Fixed crash for alternative character models appearing in cutscenes. (Chapter 7, Chapter 12).
Fixed crash caused by conjuring large quantities of elements. <<
Fixed crash due to beams merging.
Fixed crash where Chapter 11 boss collided with shield.
Fixed crash where Clients and servers would send old messages when reconnecting.
Fixed high-end machine jitter. <<<<<<<<
Improved network batching. (should result in serious network performance increase). <<<<<<<
Improved startup routine to prevent threading problems.
Improved authentification on connect. (should result in fewer auth-failed)
Fixed a missing file that resulted in french text not appearing correctly.
Fixed immovable objects jittering.
Fixed issue where characters would get stuck during cutscenes.
Fixed issue where scripted player movement would remain after a cutscene.
Fixed missing boss titles.
Steam join through overlay fixed.
Fixed Chapter 1 collision. (behind door)
Fixed Chapter 3 collision. (you can now fall down the well)
Fixed Chapter 7 cutscene lockups and other issues.
Fixed Chapter 8 cutscene lockup.
Fixed Chapter 8 navigation fixed.
Fixed Chapter 9 cutscene lockups.
Fixed Chapter 11 teleport issue.
Fixed Chapter 12 cutscene lockup.
Conflagration is now properly synced over network.
Features/Balance
Chapter 3 now has proper pirates by the picnic.
Chapter 8 now has manual exit at the end of level.
Fire Damage increased from 40 to 60.
Spawned summons now capped at 16 per player.
Goblin Pirate damage reduced from 155 to 72.
Added server list filter option for “Passwordâ€.
Removed obsolete port option of game hosting (always hosted on 27016 anyways).
Server list sorting added (click the header).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Still crashed twice on same place yesterday, when entering the boss area of fafnir.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Fixed jittering caused by avatar move orders persisting on clients.
Fixed issue where self shields would get desynced.
Fixed so that elementals that weren’t initialized collided with beam spells.
Fixed crash initializing a dialogue chain with a dead actor.
Fixed crash due to navigation desync in chapter 2 secret area.
Fixed “Too fancy for fireballs†achievement sometimes not being awarded.
Fixed crash on Chapter 11 boss confuse ability.
Fixed so that Chapter 12 boss does not start attacking before cutscene is done.
Features
Added Chapter 1 Text in intro.
Known Issues
Network uplink bandwidth, while improved, can be demanding
Steam attempts to install XNA framework every time game is launched on rare occasion
Quitting the game while the credits are rolling will not award a game complete.
Mouse outside screen in full screen with multiple monitors will minimize the game.
Crash due to leaving too many enemies alive in previous scenes (NonPlayerCharacterCache is empty)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Can anyone tell me what "summon death" actually does? It seems to just kill a random player on the team :/
Also, the final boss was such a pushover :/ didn't they talk about a hardcore mode?
...But you can dodge his attack, and make him hit something else...
I'm not sold on it atm...I like the game, but I'm not sure the DLC will be long enough to be worth the cost by itself ($5 for one(?) level)
BTW, you can get the full game + DLC for 50% off right now, I would recommend it if you don't have it already ($8 for both is def. worth it)
......
awesome. DLC done right.