DBZ Mod for Quake 3 - Bid for Power
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| Short Version -- Give it a shot. What is Bid For Power? -- Bid for Power is a Total Conversion for the Quake 3 Engine that borrowers heavily from the Japanese Anime, Dragon Ball Z.. In fact, during it’s development the game’s original intent was meant to BE Dragon Ball Z. However, due to an impending Cease and Desist order, they had to throw out the Dragon Ball characters, change up the attacks some, and the end result is the current incarnation. That isn’t to say, that you can’t get the Dragon Ball Z Models. There are numerous packs for the game, which provide all the character you could ever dream of playing. The game starts off with six characters, each with five attacks. With packs that add to the amount of total attacks, the official packs made by Rodney Olmos add more characters to the fray. Links -- Bid For Power 1.2: Zip. Dragon Ball Z Models: Features.. Goku, Gohan (3x), Metal Cooler, Mirai Trunks, Chibi-Trunks, Chibi-Goten, Tien, Yamcha, Android #16, Vegeta, Frieza, Krillen, and Piccolo. Feelings before hand -- To me, Bid For Power is a classic game that I’ve played for numerous years on and off, from it’s prime until its ‘dead time.’ That being said, it’s kinda hard to remember the original Mind set I was going through before downloading the game. To do this, I’m going to have to channel my inner N00b (This was four years ago folks!), and call forth tall the hype I was believing in. -Focuses…. Omfg! I get to play with Vegeta! Goku! What? I can’t! That’s not cool… But it’s still based on the Series so it must be cool! I mean they did design it after the series, so they’ll have awesome power struggles, and melee! Yea, it’ll be great… Ki auras, power teirs, it sounds awesome! Yup…. I think that about sums up that. –caps Inner newbie.- Getting it all set up -- Bid For power comes in two ‘flavors’, a Zip and an Exe. Both are easy to install, and typically pose no problems as long as you have 1.32 Point Release for Quake 3 installed. That being said, nothing really to complain about here; however, there are problems with joining servers. You see, Bid For Power is a very configurable Total Conversion, a server can alter the attacks, add new attack sets, and change the game completely on their server. Though this may sound great and all in theory, it poses a large problem in compatibility. Sure, an outside source from the original team can create a high caliber pack of characters and attacks, releasing it to the public… But, if you join a server with a character that they don’t have, you’ll be kicked from the server! That’s right, since their Servers don’t include the attack set that your character calls for, you’re not going to be able to connect. This causes a lot of problems since there are a few hundred packs and models out there for Bid For Power. To keep things simple folks, if you intend to play, just use the main characters and THEN ask if they the character you want to use. Also stick with these packs if you want some DBZ character fun. User Interface -- The menu of the game isn’t that spectacular, but it does the job. There’s a backdrop of the characters of the game in the background, large buttons to various subsections of the menu. Overall, It’s nice and fits with the game. In game, you’re provided with a Ki Gauge, a Health Gauge, a Charge Gauge and a traditional kill Counter. The Ki Gauge fills as you charge and the Health Gauge drops as you’re hit (Dur). Everything is self-explanatory thanks to the easy Menu. You don’t have to go hunting down for commands or controls. Controls -- Bid For Power offers many new objects to Quake 3, Flight, charging your energy, boosting about at break neck speeds, blocking, melee and the ability to side teleport. That’s just the control side of the game. All the controls are really tight considering the speed of the game. When you hit the left strafe button, you are going to go left. There’s no lag in control, which is great in game. However, there’s on control that’s Vital to the game, that IS NOT Listed in the game, and that is the side teleport. You see, the command to do the Side teleport is ONLY listed in the Read Me. Of course, no one reads ‘Read Me’s, so they have a tad of a problem getting out of melee stun. Imagine if you were, being stunned for three seconds, unable to move, as your opponent pummels you with Ki Blasts. Not fun, eh? Enough to make most quit the game before they learn that all they have to do is double tap side strafe in either direction to teleport out of stun. Game play -- The Original Premise of the game was that there were going to be Power Teirs are your character gained Power from killing opponents. The server would set the Base Power level, and then through killing people a character would become stronger. As they reached higher power levels, they’d gain new attacks, fly faster, and do more damage. This was fine the beginning, but the more tournament oriented individuals enjoyed the full speed of the game at ‘Power level 1 Million’, which was the max that the game had to offer. All attacks were given, and each character was on an equal playing field, rather than the first person to kill and get their attacks would most likely be the winner. Since the game is played always at the Top Tier, this game is fast. It’s insanely fast, so fast that it takes a good deal of mouse control to keep track of who you’re fighting. However, that adds the element of skill to the game as the player has to adjust to the speed before they are able to be the best. Ki blasts, beams, homing attacks, you name it, this game has it. From the incredibly cheap Rage attack that creates a dome of energy around a player, to the classic Kamehameha style beams, you really feel like you’re in an anime. With the Ki system, there’s also a Melee system. Melee has one main feature, it stuns someone that isn’t either blocking, or holding down melee. Meaning, it’s the ultimate cancel to the guy that keeps spamming charge attacks; however Melee isn’t that in-depth. Melee in BFP can be summed up as a gauntlet on wheels. You put your crosshair on your opponent and when you get in range, you’ll ‘teleport’ near them, and hit them. The True Breakdown. Sound- 7/10 -- The sounds of the game immerse you in the world quite like Dragon Ball Z. However, despite the great sound effects for the beams, charging, and the like, there’s a few problems. Some characters still have a ‘Sarge’ taunt, or lack some sounds. Maps- 9/10 -- A plethora of maps, that’s all that can be said. So many maps, that each offer another style of play. This game offers both medium sized maps, to ENORMOUS maps. We’re talking about you won’t even see the person as a speck across the screen maps. We’re talking about ‘Hey is that a beam coming to me… ‘ –taps foot- ‘Yup, I think it is…’ –some time later- ‘Yup, it is a beam!’ Weapons- 10/10 -- A complete retooling of Quake 3 into a Ki based system. Every character has five attacks, which fall into different categories, i.e. charge up, homing, rapid fire, beam, and a few others. Each attack provides the characters with its own unique style of play. Models 9/10 -- The models fit the style of Mod well, they are animated and stylish despite being thrown together at the last minute. The original characters aren’t quite the Goku and Vegeta that you were hoping for, but the Team’s modeler did release them in a separate pack. Game play 7/10 -- The game is fast… It requires skill to play, and it takes time to learn. This game has a great divide in it when many played it. There were the Good players, and then there was everyone else. The difference was extraordinary. It feels like an anime… You’re able to dodge, block, and see every attack coming at you. Defiantly a plus, but what really hurts it is that the melee is nonexistent, and some attacks are overpowered… And that it is hard to learn for new players. Overall 8/10 -- The game is fun, and it was great when it came out… It broke a lot of ground for Total Conversions when it came out. Sure, the graphics are a bit dated, and it’s not quiet it was hyped up to be. However, it’s still a solid Total Conversion that you can get a few friends together and play with. |
