Nova Logic® Delta Force Series for PC and some recommendations for other tactical* 1st person shooter games.

* NOTE: I'm only discussing tactical 1st shooters. Not just kill 'em all games like Doom, Half-life, or SOF. These games mentioned are multiplayer, team-based, mission oriented.

 

OK, I like playing 1st person shooters with some friends online. I started with the first Delta force in '99. they now have several in the series: Delta Force, Delta Force 2, Land Warrior, Task Force Dagger, Black Hawk Down, Team Saber (expansion pack for Black Hawk Down), and now Joint Operations.

Delta Force was the first 1st person shooter to have an unlimited playing field that I know of. No, you don't loop over ground, or stopped by an invisible wall, you can actually run out of range, miles away. All other 1st person shooter games I have seen are 'fogged out' or you can't see beyond a certain distance, and the map is 'built' as you run.

Play cooperative missions or can play team death-match. Frame rates are low, ( no 3D acceleration), but not bad as a game goes. AI wasn't too tough, even on hard. Also with Delta force 1 is you don't have to link to a Nova Logic server for multiplayer games. You can go Peer to Peer.

This game will play on windows XP.

Delta Force 2 was decent. Frame rates are low, ( no 3D acceleration) but will play well. AI is harder to kill in this game then some of the other titles, and buildings and trucks blow up better. It also came up with grass to hide in. That is very cool. There still is a following with this game. This is also the first game to offer a scenario editor to make your own missions. There are some homemade downloadable missions posted on some sites.

With Delta Force 2, you can't go Peer to Peer for multiplayer games. You had to log on to a Nova Logic server. There was a program written to combat this, called IP4DF2. Hard to find. Still posted on Delta Force Barracks site. http://www.dfbarracks.com/downloads/index.php?action=df&fid=84

As of this writing, Delta Force 2 works well on XP, but it doesn't seem to work well on a Ti 4200 video card (with drivers lower then 42.00). Landscape is good, but items such as: my gun, trucks, and people come up in total white (except in the scope). Works much better with: TnT series (N64), RAGE pro, ATI 7500, 8500 and some matrox cards.

See below...

Delta Force

Delta Force 2

Here's a shot of Delta Force 2 on a Ti 4200 card running on XP. everything is white except buildings and landscape. (This is a snow game!) in the Scope though, it returns to normal colors. Fog is blank. You can't see items as reduced, they are either full show, or you can't see object at all.

 

Land Warrior was the first game in this series to use video cards 3D acceleration. Weapons act decently, (except in Task Force Dagger) sounds are good, detail is decent.

This one also comes with a Mission editor, and is decent. Make sure you update it.

Land Warrior also can't go Peer to Peer unless you use IP4LW ver. 1.1 (another TCP/IP connect program) and run Land Warrior version 1.00.31 (Any update above 1.00.31 will kill IP4LW) You won't find IP4LW ver.1.1. What you will find is ver. 1.0, then an update and a patch. If you really want to run this: install ver. 1.0 then run the update, then the patch. Info site is now gone, but I think I saved the page, and I will post it as it was. Look for updates

The biggest problem with this games is alot of fans were totally put off by the poor AI, buildings, bugs not fixed, etc.

Multiplayer death-match and team death-match work well.

Problems: (Mostly for online co-op missions)

• enemy can shoot/see through: walls (concrete, stone, steel, etc.) or from underground in tunnels, but you can't.
• For joining players, you can't kill AI (for the most part) unless you shoot them in the feet.
• If you play co-op, only the serving player can see incoming enemy helicopters, joining players can't till it's destroyed.
• Game will sometimes punt a player without reason.
• You can die without any reason, sometimes just by walking in a certain spot.
• AI don't run smoothly for joining players, they are in a standing position and 'blink' (disappear and reappear) in say, 10 meter intervals.

Really, there are too many bugs to list and too few updates. In my opinion, Land Warrior was fixed to run, and very little effort was made to make this game play well. This game would have been really awesome if more effort was made.

The one thing I do like, is alot of people made tons of missions (hundreds) for Land Warrior. I have downloaded over 240 of these missions. Some are only co-op, or only team death-match, some are really good, some are poorly put together. If there are no mission objectives, or your names come up as unknown (too many objects), you will have to fix it, or skip it. Another homemade program good for fixing homemade missions is bms to mis (*.bms file to a *.mis file). *.mis files are the ones you edit, *.bms are the playing files.

 

Land Warrior

Task Force Dagger

There are still lots of Delta Force 2, Land Warrior, and some Task Force Dagger maps still posted on sites. Download the 3-star (or higher) rated maps. Nothing lower because they are too poorly made.

 

Task force Dagger was a total rip-off. Done by Zombie Studios, and almost exactly like Land Warrior, but some colors were changed on a few buildings, a couple of new buildings were added (but you can't enter most of them), and too many redundant weapons that don't shoot worth a damn. AI is as poor as Land Warrior, and if you like to play cooperative online, you have to update the game because Zombie Studios didn't incorporate it into the game. There are lots of maps posted. Some are decent.

I bought it when it came out, and I totally regret it.

Definitely don't waste your money on it. It's been out now for a few years and hardly any updates either. If you really want it, then look for it used, and then download all the maps. Delta force barracks site still has lots of maps and downloads. http://www.dfbarracks.com/

Black Hawk Down is the next in a series by itself. In a way, the other game, Joint Operations is very, very similar in look and play. Team Sabre is the expansion pack for Black Hawk Down.

I have a feeling this is what Nova Logic did with Land Warrior and Task Force Dagger. Make a few changes, make new missions, and package it as a new and different game.

I've only tried the demo, awesome graphics, but I fear Nova Logic will let its fans down again with poor support and much needed fixes. To date, I still don't own this game, and I'm not looking to ever get it.

 

By the way, Commanche 4 also has an unlimited playing field, but I've only played the demo so not much input from it. It does seem to be a good game though. I haven't checked for how many updates are posted.

Nova Logic has gotten alot of complaints from their customers, but don't seem to care enough to answer. I have written them several times myself without a response.

 

I have gotten fed up with Nova Logic, (Personally, I wouldn't recommend Nova Logic's games to anyone, until they start fixing bugs they usually ignore.) and starting looking for better games of the same type. Here's what I found:

Black Hawk Down

Joint Operations

Team Sabre

Other tactical* 1st person shooter games worth getting are:

 

 

Tom Clancey's Rainbow 6 series and mission packs.

Consider this game if you're stuck with an old pc that won't run modern games. These games are 1999-2000 - Considered very old in the gaming groups. Lots of mission packs, very cheap to buy (new or used), very team oriented. You are a counter-terrorist group doing missions. These missions take serious planning. You can even make your own missions with the maps provided.

• CPU: 166 MHz or better, 3D video card
• RAM: 20 MB minimum, 32MB recommended
• 3-D Supported chipsets include 3Dfx Voodoo, Nvidia Riva, Matrox G200.
• TCP/IP connection at 28.8 kbps or faster
• will run on Win XP.

You can connect Peer to Peer with no problems. AI can be very hard for beginners. If you get the gold pack as shown, you get The Eagle Watch mission pack, and a strategy guide. Really good value.

This game and Rogue Spear need careful planning to get the mission done. You just can't go in with guns blazing.

You choose teams with different strengths, weapons and gear, and in some missions you need to position a man to snipe a guard, then set up some of your men outside a room with hostages or a bomb ready to go, take out the guard, flashbang from both doors and storm the room.

For beginners, reading the strategy guide for some insight on how the game will needed to be played is a must, or you can use their recommendations for each mission. If you are not careful, you will end up with all your men dead, and a failed mission.

Graphics are by today's standards are poor, (considering the age of the games) but gameplay is realistic. For people who like tactical shooters, this is a good one to start with. Cheap to buy, interesting to play, and no logging on to distant servers. You can easily go Peer to Peer.

Rainbow 6

Eagle Watch

Covert Ops

Rogue Spear series and mission packs

Another game to be considered if you're only running an old computer. Similar to the first Rainbow 6, somewhat better graphics then Rainbow 6, lots of mission packs, also cheap to buy (new or used), very team oriented. You are a counter-terrorist group (again) doing missions. These missions are not easy to play. Rogue Spear also takes careful planning and tactics. Like Rainbow 6, you can make your own missions with the maps provided.

• CPU: 233 MHz Pentium3D video card.
• RAM: 64 MB recommended.
• Display: 640x480x16 or better 3-D
• Direct X 6.1 or better.
• Supported chipsets include 3Dfx Voodoo, Nvidia Riva, Matrox G200, etc.
• TCP/IP connection at 28.8 kbps or faster
• Will Run on windows XP.

 

What's so great about these two? you don't need a hi-speed connection, or a fast PC and they are still fun to play. You can link with other players Peer to Peer using your IP address. Loading is quick, and Lag is minimal on both.

Some things I don't like about these two is you can't set the difficulty to easy or normal for learning, and you can't just get the game and start playing. You really need to learn these two at least decently

 

Rogue Spear

Black Thorn

Ghost Recon and mission packs.

Tons of fixes and updates, very cool to play, and very team oriented. Bushes and trees look very real. Fighting is very good and real. Limited playing field, but bigger then the other two. AI is very sneaky and can perform like you are playing online with real people. Very good game. AI can be set to easy (but still good) so you can have fun learning the game. When playing multiplayer, you can go unlimited spawns, or a set amount.

This game doesn't require anywhere near as much planning as Rogue Spear and Rainbow 6. You choose your men, and go in and get the bad guys. Some mission goals, but are usually easy to deal with. One interesting thing about this game is you all share 'Internet lag'. For the layman it means the person joining who has the slowest connection, you all have that speed. Very fair, but you don't want to have 5 peeps join all with Hi-speed internet, and one with dial-up.

The one thing I don't like about the standard weapons is it takes too long to zero them on a target at short range. I can see this when aiming at a long distance, but when you turn a corner and there is a bad guy' standing there like 15 feet from you, it shouldn't take 3 - 4 seconds to point your gun at him!! With Ghost Recon, you gotta run some of the mods online. The weapons then respond more realistic. Some of the mods I find not too bad are: DA 4.9 (Dark Angel) HX4, HX-5, Navy Seals, DVS-1 weapons mod, blood patch, and Full view. Tried Frostbite mod, Very cool maps, but we found they tend to crash more then other mods listed. I haven't tried too many other mods.

Also there is an Editor with the game, 'igor.exe'. You can mod the weapons, and make changes. Some things you can do is:

• increase or decrease the magazine loads
• increase the kill ability from the weapons
• speed up the zero factor
• change the kits
• increase number of Frags, mines, etc.
• increase the kill range of all explosives
• increase or decrease the rate of fire
• etc.

Becareful when modding kits or weapons. if you screw something up, and you can't find the file, you may have to re-install. Something else you don't want to do is turn up the rate of fire too much. Some mods like HX5 have a Vulcan gun. If you crank it up too much, it will totally lag out your game. It's not based on your PC either, it's based on your connection of the slowest joiner.

With today's computers, you can host quite a few guys and run mods that give you like up to 200 AI. Personally, I would stuff your PC full of RAM. I'm running 1.5 gigs of ram, host for 4-8 people, and have about 130 AI without much lag (depending on who joins).

This one is worth buying if you like this type of game.

System Requirements:

• CPU - Pentium II 450 MHz or better
• Memory - 128 MB of RAM
• Operating System - Windows 9X/ME/2000/XP
• Direct X - DirectX 8.0 or higher (included on CD)
• Video Card - 32MB DirectX 8.0 compatible 3D card
• Drive Space - 1GB minimum hard drive space
• TCP/IP connection at 28.8 KBPS or faster

If you buy Ghost Recon Gold Edition Pack, you get all three titles in one box. Cheaper to do.

There are now lots of Mods for this game, that come with: Updated and added weapons, some missions, (some are 'borrowed from Sum of All Fears' game.) and other neat mods.

I still play this one, even though it's now an older game. Graphics are still decent by any standards, and gameplay is still fun. we run a few mods (HX4, DA-4.9) and crank up the AI count. then play CQB. I've also increased the Frag radius from 4 meters to 20 meters. It does a more credible job of killing bots in a room. Also adding a +3 multiplier to thru walls really helps. make sure you throw them far!

Sum of All Fears

I won't go into this one too much, because it's almost exactly the same as Ghost Recon. A bit of a rip-off.

Ghost Recon

Desert Siege

Island Thunder

Ghost Recon Gold

Rainbow 6 Ravenshield

Plays a lot like SWAT 3 EE, and the other rainbow 6 games, but graphics are Wow! Missions are not too hard, but you have to be really careful entering a room.

You can kill through walls now (somewhat) but it seems your enemy AI has a better chance of success of doing this.

Buildings and rooms are very cool, (you do have a limited playing field though), and AI can be tough. Very realistic movement, (running, open doors, climb ladders, etc.)

What I really hate about this game is the fact the browser is a bit of a pain (Ghost Recon Browser I still feel is the best yet.). You have to join, then log into UBI (I find they are a total pain) to play. To join IP, it's not too bad, but if the server person makes any changes, you usually get booted out, then you gotta rejoin. The makers of this game should have made the server component the same as Ghost Recon, but made the interface different.

They have worked out most of the bugs as of this writing. Game is a good stealth 1st person shooter. Very little respawns, If you join another person, that means you each can die 4 times. (If you go with backup.) 4 people, 2 times per game.

This game really needs a 128 meg video card, and a much more modern PC

Athena Sword is the expansion pack for Ravenshield, and it's as good. They now sell both as one package, and Athena Sword has now gone gold.

Go here for system Requirements

SWAT 3

SWAT 3, Elite Edition, and CQB is very realistic for its age. Really good for less killing, more tact and stealth then all the others mentioned. You lead a SWAT team into hostage situations or a bank robbery gone bad and come out with zero hostage body count. Lots of fixes and updates. Another good game for people with older computers.

Really good graphics for the date of the game , decent sounds, OK dialog, Less shooting, more stealth, and surprise with tear gas, flashbangs or shooting bad guys in the leg or hand to stop them. Small playing field that is mostly indoors.

There are homemade missions downloadable from various sites, lots of updates, and some mod packs. This game needs some skill and planning, (not nearly as much as Rainbow 6 and Rogue Spear) and beginners can handle these missions without too much problems. AI can be turned down for newbies wanting to learn and still have fun.

This one I also really enjoy playing. Get Elite Edition so you can play multiplayer.

System Requirements:

• CPU: Pentium II® 266 MHz
• Windows® ME/2000/98/95
• System RAM - 64 MB
• 550 MB hard drive space
• 8 MB video card,
• DirectX 8a
• TCP/IP connection at 36.6 KBPS or faster

SWAT 4 and Mods

Really good graphics (better then expected, even by today's standards), but I find the movement kind of 'slides'. It's not as 'crisp' as most shooters are. Zero times for weapons is slow. There is a mod we use for very fast 'zero' times. It's called 'Code 11'. Hard to kill AI sometimes. even when you're standing point-blank range, and you shoot for the face, and AI still kills you. That pisses me off. I doubt if there's too many people who can take a few .223's in the beak from 5 feet, and turn around and shoot you back, like nuthin' happened.

SWAT 4 has a mod pack out, and a gold Edition. If you are looking to get into this game, get the Gold Edition.

Much more demanding but I still can run it very decently with my Ti 4200 128 card. The 1.5 gigs of ram help out alot also. For Processer I'm running an AMD 2500+.

I have to admit I perfer Swat 3 over Swat 4. I perfer the gameplay, the movement, and the instant zero for the weapons.

 

Required

• Windows® 98 SE – Win 2000 (w/ SP 3) – Win XP (w/ SP 1); DirectX® 9.0c
• Intel® Pentium® III 1.0 GHz – Intel® Celeron® 1.2 GHz – AMD®; Athlon™ 1.2 GHz or Equivalent
• 256 MB RAM
• 1 GB free Hard Disk space
• DirectX® 8.1 – compatible sound card
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 2 w/ 32 MB (MX 200/400 Not Supported), ATI® Radeon® 8500 w/64 MB or Equivalent Graphics Card
• CD-ROM / DVD-ROM (required for installation)
• 56k Modem for online play

Recommended

• Windows® 2000 (w/ SP 3) – Windows® XP (w/ SP 1)
• Intel® Pentium® 4, 2.4 GHz – AMD® Athlon™ XP 2500+ or Equivalent Processor
• 512 MB RAM
• DirectX® 9.0 – compatible sound card
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 4 Ti, ATI® Radeon® 9500 or Equivalent Graphics Card
• Cable or DSL Modem for online play

Swat 3 CQB

Elite Edition

Swat 4

expansion pack

Swat 4 Gold

Half-Life®: Counter Strike

I have heard this is the best for online multiplayers. The number one played online action game built as an add-on for Half-life, The PC CD-ROM named Game of the Year by over 50 publications worldwide. The package also contains the multiplayer components from Half-life, Opposing Force, and Team Fortress Classic.

Personally, I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, 'cause I want to try a used copy.

Everyone who has played it, loves it.

System Requirements:

• Pentium 200 MHz
• 3D accelerator card 4 MB or better.
• 32 MB RAM
• 400 MB hard drive space
• DirectX® 7.0a
• TCP/IP connection at 28.8 KBPS or faster

 

Counter-Strike Condition Zero

Counter-Strike is the #1 online action game in the world. Engage in a realistic brand of counter-terrorist warfare in this popular team-based game. I personally haven't tried this one.

I've been told to get Condition Zero, because it has all the original maps with a facelift. I've also been told there are some cheats not fixed yet. (As of this writing.) Still, for yourself, or with a group you know, could be awesome. Very little demands on today's computers.

Required

• OS: Win 95 to Win XP
• Processor: Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or better.
• Required Memory: 96 MB or better.
• Required Disk Space: 500 MB

 

May 10, 2006

Half-life: Counter-strike

Counter-strike Condition Zero