Emergency 5 at Gamescom

[theparanoid]

To be honest, I aint convinced about EM5 yet. Graphics are pretty and all, but I haven't read much about actual gameplay improvements over Emergency 3/4 besides some very minor changes you could tell from the videos. Looks like they were mostly focused on improving graphics, yet gameplay remains pretty much the same. The video's gave me a 'been there done that' feeling, because of the way you gotta interact in the game. Imo, gameplay is more important that some neat graphics, and thats exactly the only thing people are apparently excited about. "oooh, it looks so good, instant buy"

 

Hopefully the modding capabilities are at least as accessible as in EM4, but we'll see. An improved editor doesn't necessarely mean you can do more stuff. Nor that it means that it will be easier to build mods. Looks like the editor will be more accessible to newbee modders, but new models (kinda the first thing you need to build a mod right?) still need to be made by someone with moddeling experience. With improved graphics that will actually be at least a little more complex than it was in EM4/3, don't you think? Besides that, modders will be dependable of third-party 3D software to build new models, and hopefully the game uses a compatible 3D-model format.

 

We'll see if the finished gameplay will be as much as improvement as the graphics appear to be. I just hope there's AT LEAST a way to convert EM4's model format to whatever format the new game uses.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Hoop

Yes that was one of my concerns as well.  I have yet to see one new feature or anything in the thread we had with suggestion for improvement. 

 

To me it seems like it the Emergency 2012, 2013, 2014 game with a editor, which at this point seems to be easier to edit the map.  

[Officerrule]

 

 

I just hope there's AT LEAST a way to convert EM4's model format to whatever format the new game use

 

This is what I don't get... Its blatantly obvious that the models required in EM5 are vastly more detailed then those made in EM4, by most if any mods. What would be the point of just converting models if they aren't taking advantage of at least the basic improvements of model details, scaling, material textures etc that Emergency 5 offers? 

 

Lets start to face it, Emergency 5 in terms of what it is built from is brand new, they've said themselves there isn't a piece of Emergency 4 used in the new adaptation. Its been 8 years since Emergency 4 was released, and I can stand corrected, but Emergency 3 wasn't that different from Emergency 4, especially in the engine department. The change between EM4 to EM5 is similar to most game series that have lived on vibrantly to meet different eras of modding (GTA is a perfect example), and this is it, this a new era of modding Emergency, where we (you creators) may and most likely will have to start from scratch.

 

In terms of not seeing anything new... keeping in mind all we've seen are a few videos, most of which are showing the exact same thing. Of course like Schrodinger's cat we don't know whether the game is good or bad until we open the box, so at the moment... it is both, until people make somewhat of a universal / collective agreement on its fate-. which can't be done until we have all gotten and played the game. 

 

You can do some digging to read some information about EM5, a lot of stuff I haven't seen posted here such as; There are no mission maps anymore, there are only detailed maps of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich which have both dynamicly created emergencies (medical emergencies, fires, crimes, car accidents, drownings etc.); and larger scripted emergencies which are the missions, now called events- such as riots, plane crashes, avalanches etc. 

 

The map opens up as you play, as you complete missions (events) more and more of the map will become open to the player (that is if I read what I read, correctly)

 

Now that missions are no longer separate, but all part of the same game (I.E no going back to a menu), the campaign is based on an achievement system.

 

Plus tons of other stuff that right now I really can't be arsed to type out. 

 

[BeastyBill88]

You can do some digging to read some information about EM5, a lot of stuff I haven't seen posted here such as; There are no mission maps anymore, there are only detailed maps of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich which have both dynamicly created emergencies (medical emergencies, fires, crimes, car accidents, drownings etc.); and larger scripted emergencies which are the missions, now called events- such as riots, plane crashes, avalanches etc. 

 

The map opens up as you play, as you complete missions (events) more and more of the map will become open to the player (that is if I read what I read, correctly)

 

Now that missions are no longer separate, but all part of the same game (I.E no going back to a menu), the campaign is based on an achievement system.

 

 

Now this is new info! I love that Idea, having the missions/freeplay as one gamemode, because with EM4 the campaign missions don't really get played its usually freeplay or multiplayer. I would like to see if multiplayer will work in the same way for EM5 though being able to do co-op missions etc.

[theparanoid]

This is what I don't get... Its blatantly obvious that the models required in EM5 are vastly more detailed then those made in EM4, by most if any mods. What would be the point of just converting models if they aren't taking advantage of at least the basic improvements of model details, scaling, material textures etc that Emergency 5 offers? 

 

Lets start to face it, Emergency 5 in terms of what it is built from is brand new, they've said themselves there isn't a piece of Emergency 4 used in the new adaptation. Its been 8 years since Emergency 4 was released, and I can stand corrected, but Emergency 3 wasn't that different from Emergency 4, especially in the engine department. The change between EM4 to EM5 is similar to most game series that have lived on vibrantly to meet different eras of modding (GTA is a perfect example), and this is it, this a new era of modding Emergency, where we (you creators) may and most likely will have to start from scratch.

 

In terms of not seeing anything new... keeping in mind all we've seen are a few videos, most of which are showing the exact same thing. Of course like Schrodinger's cat we don't know whether the game is good or bad until we open the box, so at the moment... it is both, until people make somewhat of a universal / collective agreement on its fate-. which can't be done until we have all gotten and played the game. 

 

You can do some digging to read some information about EM5, a lot of stuff I haven't seen posted here such as; There are no mission maps anymore, there are only detailed maps of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich which have both dynamicly created emergencies (medical emergencies, fires, crimes, car accidents, drownings etc.); and larger scripted emergencies which are the missions, now called events- such as riots, plane crashes, avalanches etc. 

 

The map opens up as you play, as you complete missions (events) more and more of the map will become open to the player (that is if I read what I read, correctly)

 

Now that missions are no longer separate, but all part of the same game (I.E no going back to a menu), the campaign is based on an achievement system.

 

Plus tons of other stuff that right now I really can't be arsed to type out. 

 

I stand by my nothing new.   Not one item you mention is new to me. I know off all that.  I even look at stuff that only been in German. 

 

Of course this video mention all what you did.  It in English

 

 

It about 5 days old

[Officerrule]

I stand by my nothing new.   Not one item you mention is new to me. I know off all that.  I even look at stuff that only been in German. 

 

Of course this video mention all what you did.  It in English

 

 

It about 5 days old

 

Good that you know - by all means I didn't mean nobody looked, there's most likely leaps and bounds of stuff we've yet see.

[MikeyPI]

I stand with the hooper, I don't see anything new in this version that is crying out this will make this game revolutionary to me.  While modding it appeals to me, and it seems like the map editing context will be easier, that is the only thing that I see of it that has me going at this time.. The gameplay concept is in fact a revisit of the original versions of the titles where you "advanced" along the game, it is a good premise that I frankly prefer overall, but nothing new.. It looks prettier, but to me pretty doesnt always equate to a game which has tons of depth and replay value.. I hope they make a way to bridge the content otherwise the modding community will take a serious hit in the transfer.  Face the facts, most people cannot afford professional software for a hobby, hell most people would not want to purchase such software to be able to mod a game... Depending on the ability to mod this game will dictate it's fate imo most people don't want to play a game with original content in it, not for a very long time anyway.....  I personally won't continue onto EM5 if I am having to reinvent the wheel for everything that I could possibly want to do.  This has nothing to do with being lazy, it has to do with time constraints and the reality that I should not have to remake all my content just because they've taken it upon themselves to make my content incompatible....  Really most of the "features" they speak of being so great in the new game should be capable of being altered onto our existing models/skins accordingly... 

 

Just my thoughts on this but I'm not sure yet on this one.

[Officerrule]

I stand with the hooper, I don't see anything new in this version that is crying out this will make this game revolutionary to me.  While modding it appeals to me, and it seems like the map editing context will be easier, that is the only thing that I see of it that has me going at this time.. The gameplay concept is in fact a revisit of the original versions of the titles where you "advanced" along the game, it is a good premise that I frankly prefer overall, but nothing new.. It looks prettier, but to me pretty doesnt always equate to a game which has tons of depth and replay value.. I hope they make a way to bridge the content otherwise the modding community will take a serious hit in the transfer.  Face the facts, most people cannot afford professional software for a hobby, hell most people would not want to purchase such software to be able to mod a game... Depending on the ability to mod this game will dictate it's fate imo most people don't want to play a game with original content in it, not for a very long time anyway.....  I personally won't continue onto EM5 if I am having to reinvent the wheel for everything that I could possibly want to do.  This has nothing to do with being lazy, it has to do with time constraints and the reality that I should not have to remake all my content just because they've taken it upon themselves to make my content incompatible....  Really most of the "features" they speak of being so great in the new game should be capable of being altered onto our existing models/skins accordingly... 

 

Just my thoughts on this but I'm not sure yet on this one.

 

My point is the current models/textures used in EM4 seem no where near detailed enough to comfortably fit into the new and improved graphics engine that EM5 is built from, like putting a GTA SA vehicle into GTA V-. its just going to stick out like a sore under-developed thumb. Yes not everyone has heaps of time on their hands or money to spend on development software, but I'd honestly wait a few more months then have a mod that utilizes models made for a game that was released 8 years ago and, non-the-less are no where near the standard models the base game provides.

 

just look at the videos and screenshots, nothing from EM4 is going to fit into this game without looking completely out of place, the characters, cars, buildings, props, equipment, effects, animations all are highly improved and extremely detailed compared to its 8 year old predecessor.

[MikeyPI]

As a modeler seeing their "new" vehicles vs their older ones, the improvement is not that spectacular to me, the engine dynamic makes them appear prettier, but as far as level of detail goes, you can increase the quality of a model simply by upgrading the skin applied to it along with how it is rendered... A model does not need to be complex  in order to appear very realistically, most of that occurs by the rendering applied to it. Most of EM4 models have 512 or smaller textures applied, this low resolution results in the fuzzy nature of them, for example I use 1024 on most of my models now, this upgrade makes them appear much more crisp while the actual polygonal count on them does not increase.  Most people look at a model by it's polygonal count and assume that is what makes a model, the only time you need an overcomplicated mesh is in the instance where the object in question takes dynamic damage from it's environment:  IE: A car that can be struck by other vehicles will appear more realistic in dynamic damage than a lower polygonal counterpart..  I do not see anywhere in their adverts yet that suggest this will be the case with the new game, if it is not the case you'd be quite surprised at how easily us modders could upgrade our existing content to appear just fine in the new environment.

 

A Model is a model, it is the rendering applied that sets them apart.

 

 What I hope they do is make it fairly easy to IMPORT content into the game... Without that being possible it will be a serious thorn in the modding of the game, thus have a drastic effect on it's longevity.

[Hoppah]

My point is the current models/textures used in EM4 seem no where near detailed enough to comfortably fit into the new and improved graphics engine that EM5 is built from, like putting a GTA SA vehicle into GTA V-. its just going to stick out like a sore under-developed thumb. Yes not everyone has heaps of time on their hands or money to spend on development software, but I'd honestly wait a few more months then have a mod that utilizes models made for a game that was released 8 years ago and, non-the-less are no where near the standard models the base game provides.

 

just look at the videos and screenshots, nothing from EM4 is going to fit into this game without looking completely out of place, the characters, cars, buildings, props, equipment, effects, animations all are highly improved and extremely detailed compared to its 8 year old predecessor.

 

Nothing wrong with a little skepticism.

 

Original EM4 models are extremely low quality and wouldn't fit in EM5 indeed. I absolutely agree with that. Newly made stuff by users on this and other forums are already a great improvement over the original EM4 models. I don't see a reason why they wouldn't fit in EM5. Have you seen the vehicles made for the the RCMP mod? Worst case you'd need to update the details a bit and the scale probably has to be changed too, but thats easy to do.

 

Alot of fan-made cars made for GTA:SA have probably been converted to GTA IV too. It's not necessarily polygons/texture that make the model look better, the game's engine is just as important.

 

Anyway, this isn't even my main concern about EM5. It's the lack of new functionality / innovation. We'll see about that later indeed, but I am not as excited as other people yet. That's all.

[Woutske]

There are also many tools available to increase polycount / rounden exisiting models; so most vehicles can be upgraded fairly easily.

[topfuzz]

I agree with what everyone is saying yea the graphics look great but nothing much has really changed im really irked that they brought the doctor car back. That will be the first order of business, i do however like the map change i think it makes more sense to have all of the events take place on the same maps and map editing should be easier. In terms of game play nothing appears to have changed there's no new scripts or options we cant even control the lights or sirens!  I was also hoping the events would be dynamic but they are the same too just spawned boring.

 

In my opinion because they are a small developer and they are aware of the large modding community such as this one and all the advances in gameplay that modders have made. They are just being lazy and cheap and figure that whats the point in adding all this content into the game when the community can do on their own. They are just going to give us the bare necessities as usual. 

 

As for emergency 4 content i think most of the newer mods will be comparable if not better than  the units in emergency 5 which aren't going to be anywhere near as detailed. I just hope there is a way to transfer or convert the content so we wont have to start all over. I just hope modding is easier for newbies like my self so we can get alot of new content into the game quickly. 

[theparanoid]

I agree with what everyone is saying yea the graphics look great but nothing much has really changed im really irked that they brought the doctor car back. ...

You do release that in Germany the Doctor car is a major response unit for emergency.  Unlike EMS in US where Paramedic are allow to do many things with radio communication to the hospital, in Germany a doctor must be there an authorize it.   Think of the doctor car as an ALS response vehicle and ambulance as BLS unit till it meets up with the Doctors on site.    As long as the company making the game is based in germany.   Well the doctor car will be there. 

[Officerrule]

I think its extremely unfair to say they're being cheap and lazy... it is by all means no where near cheap or easy to create a game based on a completely different and new engine. As I said before, we've not seen a lot-. what we have seen is mostly the same thing repeated again and again by different people. Give it some time and when they're ready to release some official info then it would be best to comment on the quality of the game.

 

But I do see a problem with this... see if they changed things I guarantee you there would be people upset over the fact that things aren't as they were, so in a way they can't really win... even then we don't know what they've changed, by the looks of screenshots and information people can be handcuffed now... which is nice.

 

 

 

Each person in the game has a particular goal or exercise during the day various activities from. It encounters a traffic accident, they will be disturbed in their daily routine, stops at the roadside, ogled the forces and taking pictures with their mobile phone.

 

This is something new, pedestrians are now somewhat simulated and are no longer just aimlessly walking about, also that they can ogle scenes is a great idea as It was very basically hinted in EM4, now pedestrians seem to have somewhat of life in them. Also its confirmed that vehicles will pull over to responding emergency vehicles.

 

About the ability to toggle both lights and sirens... I agree I don't know why they still haven't given that ability and I do really hope they read these messages and add that ability into the base game.

 

And like theparanoid said, this isn't a game based on American responders, its based on European responders and as such they develop their game that way, that is where creators come in and modify the game to simulate American responder styles (or any other country) rather then the European/German style the base game comes with. 

[topfuzz]

You do release that in Germany the Doctor car is a major response unit for emergency.  Unlike EMS in US where Paramedic are allow to do many things with radio communication to the hospital, in Germany a doctor must be there an authorize it.   Think of the doctor car as an ALS response vehicle and ambulance as BLS unit till it meets up with the Doctors on site.    As long as the company making the game is based in germany.   Well the doctor car will be there. 

 

Yes im fully aware i just find it totally inefficient and a waste of resources they could easily give you the option to allow the doctor to ride in the ambulance. 

[topfuzz]

I think its extremely unfair to say they're being cheap and lazy... it is by all means no where near cheap or easy to create a game based on a completely different and new engine. As I said before, we've not seen a lot-. what we have seen is mostly the same thing repeated again and again by different people. Give it some time and when they're ready to release some official info then it would be best to comment on the quality of the game.

 

But I do see a problem with this... see if they changed things I guarantee you there would be people upset over the fact that things aren't as they were, so in a way they can't really win... even then we don't know what they've changed, by the looks of screenshots and information people can be handcuffed now... which is nice.

 

 

This is something new, pedestrians are now somewhat simulated and are no longer just aimlessly walking about, also that they can ogle scenes is a great idea as It was very basically hinted in EM4, now pedestrians seem to have somewhat of life in them. Also its confirmed that vehicles will pull over to responding emergency vehicles.

 

About the ability to toggle both lights and sirens... I agree I don't know why they still haven't given that ability and I do really hope they read these messages and add that ability into the base game.

 

And like theparanoid said, this isn't a game based on American responders, its based on European responders and as such they develop their game that way, that is where creators come in and modify the game to simulate American responder styles (or any other country) rather then the European/German style the base game comes with.

 

 

The AI behavior really has nothing to do with gameplay, thats just an improvement of the game engine. All im saying is how is this game going to revolutionize the series and push it forward???  

[theparanoid]

The AI behavior really has nothing to do with gameplay, thats just an improvement of the game engine. All im saying is how is this game going to revolutionize the series and push it forward???

Realy?  AI behavior can many times make a break a game.  without AI there is no game.

Yes im fully aware i just find it totally inefficient and a waste of resources they could easily give you the option to allow the doctor to ride in the ambulance.

But that not how it done in germany. And as allready explained the game developer is german, so there going to based on German emergency services. Just like they did for all the other version of emergency 1-4

[Jakethejake]

The one thing that I don't understand is why they didn't build or contract to build an American version of this game to be shipped at release? A Boston, FDNY, Chicago, or Los Angeles version would have been a huge hit here in the US. I have zero desire to play the German version. This means that I have to hope and wait for some team to build a map of a city that I am interested in playing. If I was the developement team, I would have anticipated this and would have sold a US version right out of the gate. The US city mods have been very popular. Why not build them into the game? Then modders could tweak the maps and apparatus as they saw fit....

[Kingairway]

Ill mod the S*$%# out of this when it comes out, but what makes me really not even want to bother is the missing Siren and Lights scripts.

 

I am holding my breath and hoping we either havn't seen this feature yet or .. all the game play at gamescom was dumbed down or stripped of some extra features. or hopefully modding is so easy we can add features like this into our mods.

 

In my Opinion and its my Opinion; but no control over sirens and lights is a huge step backwards... the game loses alot of realism, I am grateful for all the work and money put into this already and if I had all of the skills,team, money Id make it but hopefully this is something we can either change or see in future releases, I hope we dont have to wait 6-12 months after release of EM5 for this feature to be used, or wait 5 years for EM6

[theparanoid]

The one thing that I don't understand is why they didn't build or contract to build an American version of this game to be shipped at release? A Boston, FDNY, Chicago, or Los Angeles version would have been a huge hit here in the US. I have zero desire to play the German version. This means that I have to hope and wait for some team to build a map of a city that I am interested in playing. If I was the developement team, I would have anticipated this and would have sold a US version right out of the gate. The US city mods have been very popular. Why not build them into the game? Then modders could tweak the maps and apparatus as they saw fit....

Maybe because despite all the USA mods they had more sales in the eu then over in states?

[topfuzz]

Maybe because despite all the USA mods they had more sales in the eu then over in states?

 

You may have a point, in one of the videos they mentioned the fan community and i believe he said the Danish where there biggest fans, i was hoping he would mention us but no go  . I just dont think the game is mainstream enough in the US or even in the world outside of Europe for them to justify making different versions of the game for every Country/City. I didnt see anything about this game on IGN or anywhere else the reason i even know about it is because of this community so that should tell you something. 

[RangerDog]

Boooeeee xD 

It were the Dutch fans :DDD

 

But its the most easyest to make every thing german, like i think it would be cool to see Amsterdam, for Belgium Brussel, And a Swedish guy another city, etc etc etc. So it's not posible to make veryone happy. They made a mod function, so you can build better maps etc, so that also cool

[Jakethejake]

Well perhaps it is the chicken vs egg story. What comes first? Do you ignore the US market and wonder why the sales are flat, or do you include the US market and push for more sales?

Just my opinion. I think that because the American market has been basically ignored, the sales are flat. But the American mods such as LA and The NY mods are the only reason that I bought the game. Until Brooklyn or Boston or such shows up, I'll hold my $$$...

[RangerDog]

Everyone thinks  the US markt is big, but who says a indian markt isnt bigger (just a random example). Its more simpler to just hold it on german cities, because i as a Duch fan (He also said we are one of the biggest fan cumunicty's) Would like to see Amsterdam in the mod etc. and what US city would they make, it's imposible to make that choice, i think it is wise just to let it like this.

[Jakethejake]

Everyone thinks  the US markt is big, but who says a indian markt isnt bigger (just a random example). Its more simpler to just hold it on german cities, because i as a Duch fan (He also said we are one of the biggest fan cumunicty's) Would like to see Amsterdam in the mod etc. and what US city would they make, it's imposible to make that choice, i think it is wise just to let it like this.

 

I know that none of my friends will play a German based firefighting game.  New York, or Boston, or LA would get half of them to play.  But it would have to be a vast upgrade from what we have now.  The game would have to have a good multiplayer basis, and represent real tactics and equipment.  Really, one cannot just do a NY mod.  They would have to do a prominent west coast city as well because the tactics are very different.

 

I'm not bashing the developers, but am merely wondering aloud why the US market has been consistently ignored?  Like I said, if not for Hoppah and Dyson and Raf and crew, I would never have spent any money on this game.  I never bought 2012.  Why?  No modding.......

 

Hopefully, Brooklyn comes out soon to keep me interested.  Also Emergenyc is coming out within the next year or so.  But realistically speaking, who wants to wait a year or two for the same game with just a graphics upgrade?

[BeastyBill88]

I'm not bashing the developers, but am merely wondering aloud why the US market has been consistently ignored?

To be fair most games are based in the US, that game Rescue 2013 has what 3 different versions a US one, a UK one and the German version. But I think they will leave it to the modding community to expand the game just like they have with EM3 & EM4... That's if modding is in EM5 like they said last year.