Project Reality on your dinosaur computer, let's play!
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 1:20 am
Greetings earthlings! So back in 2009 when I had more hair and free time I dabbled in this BF2 mod called Project Reality. The game really captured my attention because it was squad-based, combined arms, and required teamwork to be successful. Unfortunately at the time my video card couldn't quite keep up so I had to stop, and then real life eventually took over and the game was lost to the sands of time. I always recalled it fondly, however, and I quite frankly held it nearly on the same pedestal as Day of Defeat. Sort of like comparing The Wire to Breaking Bad - equally as good but albeit different methods of storytelling.
-In PR your 'team' is comprised of squads, with communication between squads and to the commander performed by only by the squad leader. An in-game VOIP system called Mumble allows for inter-squad chat but only if you're within range of other players. Great for calling for medic from another squad if yours was killed.
-Lone wolves don't usually fare well because kits are limited and distances from spawn tend to be large. Kits can be sniper rifles, pilot kits, heavy mgs, anti-tank rockets, etc. Also, rally points (hasty squad spawn points) require a 3-man squad to be laid, again promoting squad membership and teamwork.
-Forward operating bases can be created which are more robust multi-squad spawn points. These can feature MG, AA, AT emplacements and foxholes but require a supply crate (furnished by truck or helicopter) and troops who use their etools/shovels to construct the FOB. So for instance, to create a FOB a squad would need to determine and the location for the FOB, then squad leader would request a supply drop from the Helo or Convoy squad. That helicopter or truck would need to make it to the location safely, drop supplies, then squad would start constructing and hope to god the enemy didn't see the activity.
Let me go a little further. I played a map last week which featured urban warfare in Iraq, with myself on the USMC side. My squad leader gave us all a waypoint on the map then told us to sit tight at our base while he requested transport. An APC arrived and we all jumped in. I watched powerlessly from a porthole as the driver took us towards the city, hoping an RPG didn't come flying in at us. We reach our destination on the outskirts and SL yells at us to disembark and take cover. We rush out to a berm just outside the city with small arms fire crackling in the distance. Our SL gives us a new waypoint and tells us to provide overwatch while each member crosses an open street into the city. We begin taking direct small arms fire and I spot and call out an enemy location. We concentrate fire on the enemy and take him down. Meanwhile deeper into the city we hear explosions and heavy fire. My squad leader gives us a move instruction but a Cobra gunship comes screaming in and drowns out my SL. I watch this thing wrecking a location in the city with rockets and realize there's another player up in cockpit seeing a whole different slice of action then I am. He was most likely called in by a different squad for support, god bless him.
So now here's the hard pitch: The game is now FREE as a standalone (it required BF2 before but not anymore). Also, my 3-year old HD6850 video card and Q6600 cpu have no problem playing this even on high settings.
It's just as good as I remembered it and probably better since there's been consistent dev support for years. There's a new map even, Grozny, that I battled on for an hour and a half last Sunday. As a squad leader or specialist (pilot, apc gunner, etc) there's a learning curve but for me I was able to acclimate very quickly as a medic or rifleman after having been away for 6 years.
And it gets better! The devs from Project Reality are now working on a privately and kickstarter funded successor to PR called Squad which is in pre-alpha testing. Guys in the pre-alpha are already raving about it even at that build lol. If you're on Reddit they did an AMA, check it out!
If you're interested go to the Project Reality website and you can find the torrent. It's completely free and I d/l in about an hour. I'm going to be playing again this Friday since I'm off work, and maybe again over the weekend if I'm not working. I might try helicopter transport but those things take about 20 minutes to respawn so I may hold off so as not to curse my team with bad flying.
I can't link to Youtube from work but you can see some cool gameplay videos there too. If you do get it just chat me on Steam when you see me online and I'll get you settled in so we can play together. I know it's an old game but it will get us ready for Squad in the future...LET'S DO THIS!
-In PR your 'team' is comprised of squads, with communication between squads and to the commander performed by only by the squad leader. An in-game VOIP system called Mumble allows for inter-squad chat but only if you're within range of other players. Great for calling for medic from another squad if yours was killed.
-Lone wolves don't usually fare well because kits are limited and distances from spawn tend to be large. Kits can be sniper rifles, pilot kits, heavy mgs, anti-tank rockets, etc. Also, rally points (hasty squad spawn points) require a 3-man squad to be laid, again promoting squad membership and teamwork.
-Forward operating bases can be created which are more robust multi-squad spawn points. These can feature MG, AA, AT emplacements and foxholes but require a supply crate (furnished by truck or helicopter) and troops who use their etools/shovels to construct the FOB. So for instance, to create a FOB a squad would need to determine and the location for the FOB, then squad leader would request a supply drop from the Helo or Convoy squad. That helicopter or truck would need to make it to the location safely, drop supplies, then squad would start constructing and hope to god the enemy didn't see the activity.
Let me go a little further. I played a map last week which featured urban warfare in Iraq, with myself on the USMC side. My squad leader gave us all a waypoint on the map then told us to sit tight at our base while he requested transport. An APC arrived and we all jumped in. I watched powerlessly from a porthole as the driver took us towards the city, hoping an RPG didn't come flying in at us. We reach our destination on the outskirts and SL yells at us to disembark and take cover. We rush out to a berm just outside the city with small arms fire crackling in the distance. Our SL gives us a new waypoint and tells us to provide overwatch while each member crosses an open street into the city. We begin taking direct small arms fire and I spot and call out an enemy location. We concentrate fire on the enemy and take him down. Meanwhile deeper into the city we hear explosions and heavy fire. My squad leader gives us a move instruction but a Cobra gunship comes screaming in and drowns out my SL. I watch this thing wrecking a location in the city with rockets and realize there's another player up in cockpit seeing a whole different slice of action then I am. He was most likely called in by a different squad for support, god bless him.
So now here's the hard pitch: The game is now FREE as a standalone (it required BF2 before but not anymore). Also, my 3-year old HD6850 video card and Q6600 cpu have no problem playing this even on high settings.
It's just as good as I remembered it and probably better since there's been consistent dev support for years. There's a new map even, Grozny, that I battled on for an hour and a half last Sunday. As a squad leader or specialist (pilot, apc gunner, etc) there's a learning curve but for me I was able to acclimate very quickly as a medic or rifleman after having been away for 6 years.
And it gets better! The devs from Project Reality are now working on a privately and kickstarter funded successor to PR called Squad which is in pre-alpha testing. Guys in the pre-alpha are already raving about it even at that build lol. If you're on Reddit they did an AMA, check it out!
If you're interested go to the Project Reality website and you can find the torrent. It's completely free and I d/l in about an hour. I'm going to be playing again this Friday since I'm off work, and maybe again over the weekend if I'm not working. I might try helicopter transport but those things take about 20 minutes to respawn so I may hold off so as not to curse my team with bad flying.
I can't link to Youtube from work but you can see some cool gameplay videos there too. If you do get it just chat me on Steam when you see me online and I'll get you settled in so we can play together. I know it's an old game but it will get us ready for Squad in the future...LET'S DO THIS!