Hun-Speak

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March 27, 2001 -- What I'd Like to See in Shogo 2
(As If Anybody Asked)

The screenshots have been posted. The rumors have been neither confirmed nor denied. Is there a Shogo 2 in the works? It seems highly likely. As we await the official word from Jason Hall, I thought it might be fun to put down the things that I would like to see in a follow-up to Shogo. Now please understand that no one at Monolith asked, and I seriously doubt that they would care what I think. But hey, what's the point in having a website if you can't talk smart from time to time?

#1: Better Enemy AI
The enemy artificial intelligence in the original, unpatched version of Shogo was abysmal. The patches brought it up to merely bad. I can snipe at someone and not only will they not move out of the way, but his buddies will just stand around and wait too. To make up for this, far too many of the enemies in Shogo were placed right around a corner. If you didn't know they were there, BLAM! you're dead. Lots of fun. Not.

#2: Better Netcode
This has been a sore spot with Shogo players, especially with modem users. The spiraling ping of death (where your ping increases upwards rapidly and stays there) is a well-known nemesis. One would hope this would be a top priority.

#3: Employ Strong Anti-Cheat Measures
All online games will be subject to cheating as long as the source is released for mods. Not much can be done about that. But Shogo was particularly easy to hack, especially with the rapid-fire cheat. KISS: Psycho Circus (a LithTech 1.5 title) had a fix for this. One MUST be included with Shogo 2.

#4: Include Squishie!
Squishie (man vs. mecha) is my all-time favorite mod. I was deeply saddened when Sspeare never got it updated for the 2.2 patch. Maybe now that he works for LithTech, he can get this one included on the CD. Capture the Flag would be cool too, but Squishie would be killer.

#5: Less Powerful On-Foot Weapons
Admittedly, this one is a far lower priority, but I feel there are far too many one-shot-kill (or one-shot-critically-injure) weapons in the on-foot levels in Shogo. No weapon in Quake III Arena can kill a fully armored person. In Unreal Tournament the Redeemer or a head-shot can, but at least the latter takes some skill.

#6: Give Me More Big Bot Action!
OK, so this one's a given. My favorite thing about Shogo was flying around town, jumping on buildings, bullgut a-blazin'. More of the same with updated graphics would be absolutely wonderful.

There you have it, six things I'd love to see in Shogo 2. Will any of them make it into the new game? Will there even be a Shogo 2? Time will tell. In the meantime, it's kind of fun to dream.