INX Game Servers Blog

Call of Duty 4 Linux server 1.7 patch is here. Finally, after kicking dustbins and even considering playing different games in frustration, we’ve received the 1.7 linux patch! You have to love how it makes it way at around 4am GMT

Without further ado the technical blurb:

•  Fixed an exploit that allowed players to access certain console dvars during multi-player matches.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when a Chinatown Sabotage match would go into over-time.
• Fixed a bug where the MP icons (Bomb, Defend, Capture, etc) were always showing up as English regardless of the install language.

Thanks very much to Ryan and co at Icculus as ever.

But we do have to ask the Call of Duty 4 game makers, why does it have to be this way every time?

Here’s how it works:

• Call of Duty 4 1.7 patch released client side. Also released server side for Windows. No COD 4 Linux update.
• Gamers eagerly update their clients to 1.7. But no Linux update. They cannot connect to 1.7 servers.
• Something like 75% of servers were shown to be running at 1.6, which shows either they were Windows weren’t updated, or more likely you have around 75% of Call of Duty 4 servers running on Linux.

Result, Call of Duty 4 drops heavily in the “most played” rankings. People go to other games. The Call of duty 4 game server community is dead for a week.

So why we wonder can’t we see the patches released at once? I’m sure there’s a good reason

Anyway, we have tested and distributed this patch to your Call of Duty 4 game servers. A reboot on your control panel should effect the update. If not, as always, please contact our support team at http://support.inx-network.com

Until the stress and heart ache of the next patch

- Olly.

So on 1st February (2008) Infinty Ward released Patch 1.5 for Call of Duty 4.

Whilst this fixed some bugs and did improve the in-game server browser at the official IW Forum we have had four months of PC gamers posting please for fixes and features for the game.

Some of these may be nitpicking (changing weapon realism etc) but for many of the oldschool CoD players things like their Clan tags in colour (or even having enough characters available to put their name in) are an important aspect of gameplay. A whole host of other bugs and features have also been listed to be brought to the attention of the IW Community Manager – fourzerotwo. So has he and, more importantly the programmers and developers at IW, listed ?

Well apparently not.

The much-hyped Patch 1.6 was announced for release on 5th June. When I say announced, this was not on the official IW Forum like all previous patches. Oh no, fourzerotwo chose to announce it on his own personal blog site (what an ego !).

Still at least we knew the patch was coming. More importantly PC gamers were also to get the map-pack that console gamers had previously had released. Given the number of maps that the community have developed themselves I am not convinced that this was such a bargain. Console gamers had to buy their map-pack but in a deal bewteen IW and nVidia, it was agreed that nVidia would sponsor the map-pack release.

 And therein lies the start of the latest round of moans, gripes and whinges. Having stated the patch would be released on 5th June it appeared a couple of days before to people signed up on an nVidia forum. This prompted much discussion about whether it was the the full patch or just the new maps. Oh the confusion !

To this day, there has still been no official announcement on the IW forums that the patch has been released !

Oh well, at least we have it.

And there’s all those bug fixes and features we’ve been waiting 4 months for aren’t there ?  Err, actually, no.

According to fourzerotwo :

“the 1.6 Patch for the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that will add support for the new maps, fix a server crash exploit recently reported by the community, and a few additional features / bug fixes. I will post a full patch notes list next week”

Well it seems he has been too busy playing on his Xbox as he never has posted the patch notes. More worrying is the fact that the patch had a serious bug in it allowing a major game exploit.

According to his latest blog (13th June) :

I also wanted to note for our PC players, we’re currently working on a fix for the PC cheat exploit that many of you reported to us after the 1.6 patch. Thanks to everyone for their quick response in getting us information on it. The programmers are currently addressing it and I’ll update you when you can expect the fix to hit servers as soon as I know

Gee, thanks. Given that it’s been four months in development you would have thought they would have picked up on this.

So, where does that leave the CoD4 PC playing community ? In comments to his blog I spotted this one from the man himself :

At this time everything we’re working on is underwraps. I can say that we’re not planning any new weapons, prestiges, etc. for COD4 at this time, all those rumors are just rumors

and also, in response to a comment about clipping on the Pipeline map :

As for the Pipeline clippings, yes the LD’s are aware, but don’t think we’ll be doing any clipping updates

Now call me cynical but from the tone of these plus the rumour mill about CoD5 already being in production, I am tempted to suggest that it may be a case of “that’s all folks” as far as CoD 4 is concerned. Maybe a fix for the exploit but it certainly doesn’t sound like any more major patches and the fixes/features requested are probably going to leave PC gamers whistling in the wind.

So, does a developer have a duty to continually work on patches for a game ? If so, for how long ? It ties up developers and programmers and will not in itself generate more income. Look at the MoH Airborne disaster. maybe it’s just time to accept the game with all its faults and move on to the next new game out.

What’s your view ?

UKDarkstar

So you’re a professional programmer, employed by a major gaming software developer and then you’re forced to release a set of tools to let the amateurs improve on what you’ve written. Can’t say I’d be too happy about that but it’s the norm in the gaming world for many leading games.

Call of Duty 4 is no different and once the tools were released the game mods started to appear. Long-standing modders hastily converted the older CoD mods like PAM, AWE, extreme+ and ACE. Many of these allow you to vary all sorts of game options for weapons etc. and provide additional effects and options not included with the original game.

So if gamers are crying out for these options why aren’t they included in the original game ? Good question – go ask the developers ! Given that some of the mods can be unstable maybe developers just opt for safety and go for whatever will be most compatible for players world-wide or maybe they just don’t get too involved once they’ve developed a game and move on to other projects. The Call of Duty community has tended to support the game for many years well past what the developers may have regarded as the shelf life.

Apart from the above wide-ranging mods there are a few that fill a gap for niche players. Given that the aim for CoD 4 was to make a more realistic war simulation, updated with modern weapons and scenarios I always find it rather odd that one of the most popular mods converts players to zombies ! There are several of these zombie mods out now for CoD4 – just be careful not to scare yourself if playing after midnight with the lights off !

As usual, sniper only mods have been popular and these players seem to be a group on their own, liking the “purity” of a small map with not much running around and the gameplay reduced to picking people off. Not for me but, hey, each to their own.

A recent innovation which I’ve not seen for previous CoD versions is a bot mod. Perhaps originally developed to allow the amateurs to test their mods and custom maps with bot players rather than in a live environment, this has now progressed to the PeZBOT mod which allows you to fill your map with computer controlled players. Useful if you can’t find (or haven’t got) any friends to play with

Other mods seek to add to the game realism such as the ever-popular Heat of Battle mod. Out now in beta for CoD4 it seeks to provide new gametypes (capture and hold) and add additional realism. Again, this may be for a purist niche of players and it can be hungry on PC resources too but it has a growing number of players.

So what else do people like to change ? Common small mods allow for weapon changes, uniforms and sounds. It’s really down to whatever people want and can get to work with the mod tools. Personally I like the better supported mods like AWE. From an admin’s viewpoint it is easier to get support and also to get problems fixed.

What’s your view ? Do you like to stick with the original game or do you prefer a modded version ?

More on Call of Duty 4 in the coming weeks.

UKDarkstar

So, am I going to blog about the map competition debacle ?

Nope

Map distribution problems with iwd and ff files ?

Nope

So, what are we talking about this week ?

Simply put – maps, Maps and MAPS !

The longevity of the Call of Duty series has been partly due to the community map-makers who have got to grips with the tools released by the developers allowing custom maps to be developed. I have the greatest respect for these guys who talk about things like Radiant, caulking and prefabs. Doesn’t mean much to me but that’s why I respect them !

With the original Call of Duty, United Offensive (UO) and CoD2 all being WWII based, there are a plethora of maps out there which have centred around real life campaigns mapping exact detail for the real terrain encountered by those who fought. There are also maps which can be put into other categories such as “jump” maps, fantasy and game specific (such as sniper maps for those who wish to play rifle only). Now just how popular are these custom maps ?

Well, a quick trip to www.codutility.com shows how many maps are still available for the older CoD versions :

Call of Duty – over 500 maps listed

United Offensive – over 600 maps listed

CoD 2 – over 900 maps listed

So, for those who have never tried out something a bit “different”, well worth a look.

Hmmn, all well and good I hear you say but I’m playing the latest incarnation, Call of Duty 4. What about that ?

Well, nearly 250 maps listed there today and remember that other listing sites are available

So, just what do CoD 4 players have to look forward to ?

Well, the whole point of CoD 4 was to bring it up-to-date, hence the title Modern Warfare. We also need to remember that both the Distributor (Activision) and the Developer (Infinity Ward) are US-based. The back of the box says :

“Fight as a member of U.S. forces and British Special Ops in global hotspots to eliminate a well-armed, ruthless force of international separatists”

Hmmn, what that really boils down to is the Yanks and the Brits against some cold-war leftovers or middle-eastern type opponents (trying to stay out of anything non-PC here). So what does that really give us ? Well, the stock maps seem to either be a very gray affair and looking like run-down eastern-bloc type scenarios or we get a hot dry looking arena in sandy colours that seems to lend itself to the middle east. Ok, you say, what’s wrong with that ? That’s where modern conflicts have been – look at Kosova, Iraq etc.

Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with that at all but variety is, they say, the spice of life. The map tools seem to be spawning many maps that are just variations on these themes and whilst it is nice to ogle the fancy graphics and design I must say I am getting a little bored with the “look”. There’s also the fact that there have been other “modern” conflicts – look at the British with the Falklands and Belize and, as for the U.S. – maybe too many hotspots to mention ?

Some map-makers have brought back maps from previous Call of Duty versions but they don’t all work well with a “modern” twist. I mean does the map-maker keep the WWII look or do they modernise it ? Purists would say keep the original WWII feel but then would you really want to play that with modern style soldiers and weapons ? Many think not. Some maps have been updated so they have the same layout as an old original but buildings look modern and have a scattering of cars and even the odd ferris wheel thrown in. Maybe it’s just me but they just don’t seem right.

We’re also seeing gamers new to the Call of Duty series coming from a Counter Strike or Battlefield series background. This is bringing new map styles but again to the criticism of the older CoD community.

Personally I think that once the game has matured for a couple of years and developed it’s own hard-core community we will see some amazing maps being developed just as we have with earlier incarnations. At the moment it is suffering from many new gamers and map-makers jumping in and doing things too quickly. Many of these will not stick around as they will always move to the latest game out so there will be a weeding of out the lesser well-made maps. Thats sounds a bit patronising maybe but it’s just me in Grumpay Old Man mode. Maybe that’s why, even now, I still go back to plain vanilla Call of Duty and some of the great maps that were made for that.

Well that’s my view on the early days of maps for Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare. Next time we’ll maybe look at the mods that are available and don’t forget to post your comments here on the blog.

UKDarkstar