TheVille

Its in its final beta and you can get a key for steam to try it out if you own Just cause 2 and its planning to be released on Steam on December 16th.....

http://www.jc-mp.com/keys/

I can't wait to play it!

Got mine yesterday!

Got a key yesterday.

This mod is tons of fun. Multiplayer is probably the only feasible way to make the already-amazing Just Cause 2 even better. It's too bad that the beta tests are filled with trolls and griefers, but you're bound to get some bad seeds when you have literally thousands of players in the server at once, and playing with others is still a lot of fun besides. It's best with the massive numbers of people you get in the tests - a small group can probably have fun if they stick together, but JC2's map is large enough that you can occasionally go for several minutes without seeing anyone else, even during the tests. Players tend to cluster around a few key locations, primarily the various airports, leaving anything outside of those mostly unoccupied.

We should get a Ville group going during the test and have an in-game meet-up!

I've logged a few hours with the Steam beta since the test started, and there are a couple of new features worth checking out:

- BOOST: Holding Shift while in a land or sea vehicle will give you a massive burst of speed. This boost can be applied even while in the air - if done properly, it will allow you to fly indefinitely. I used it to get to the top of the map in a double-decker bus.
- FIRST-PERSON MODE: My new favorite feature. In an environment like Panau, a first-person camera is a great thing to have in order to fully appreciate the level of detail put into the world and the landscape. With the new first-person view, skydiving and even just walking around are much more fun. Driving is a bit difficult as the camera tends to clip through your vehicle (and sometimes your player model, leaving you staring at a pair of floating arms), but it is a fun and different way to play. For the most part, it works remarkably well. Reminds me a lot of Mirror's Edge.

Hopefully locally-hosted games will be possible once this releases. I want to see some Ville races/contests/whatever! Anything where we're not getting killed every few seconds by griefers or dealing with a chat full of troglodytes (two of the less savory features of the multiplayer mod).

This is gonna be so awesome. I'm down for a ville group.

I got my key! I may mess around with hosting my own server...

I just got my key. So how does this work? Are we able to play/host servers now, or do we have to wait until the mod is released?

Currently there doesn't appear to be a way to host servers. The only way to play is to join the main test server, which shows up by default in the server browser accessed from the main menu.

Be warned, it is extremely profane in there.

I'll just wait for the release then.

Release is in less than 8 1/2 hours!

At some point in the last couple days, the demolition derby was changed from a rules-free smash-fest at the PAN MILSAT radar dish to an organized competition similar to the races, with the last man standing winning a substantial sum of cash, plus small cash prizes doled out to all competitors based on final ranking. Besides the dish, derbies can also happen on top of one of the Mile High Club's balloons and on a tiny circular island (the latter is limited to about a dozen contestants at a time due to its size). Each one plays very differently - for instance, it is extremely easy to slip and fall at the MHC; the tiny island is utter madness as everyone struggles just to stay on the landmass; and the dish has no way to score ring-outs on competitors, meaning that the only way to win is to be the last one whose car hasn't exploded. All are tons of fun, but all require a large-ish number of people to play, so I hope to see some substantial-sized Villun groups getting together for a few rounds in the ring!

Just Cause 2 is now 80% off, leaving it at a whopping $3. I didn't have it before but I'm thinking that it's probably worth 3 whole dollars.

So worth the $3. A couple of us were playing multiplayer last night, such chaos, such pointless shenanigans. Such stupid fun.

$3 is an absolute steal for this game. The multiplayer is fun, but even the singleplayer alone before that was enough to make it easily my favorite Steam game, a title which it has firmly held since shortly after I got it. It does a brilliant job of being over-the-top ridiculous while keeping a perfectly straight face about it. I can't say too much without resorting to spoilers, but suffice it to say I am over 140 hours in, still finding new things to do, and nowhere near tired of it. The DLC is fun too (the Air Propulsion Gun is itself a profound experience), but I'd advise waiting for the Steam Christmas sale as it frequently goes on-sale alongside the game. I got all of the separate packs for a total of two bucks in one of the sales.

Shoot me an invite for multiplayer games when they get going. I need to fill some time during this brief break from coursework!