IGI 2: Covert Strike a UK Fan Site

IGI 2 Covert Strike UK Fan Site Logo

 

 

This is version 1.4 of the Unoffical FAQ, To add a Question or Answer scroll to the bottom of the page.

Most Answers are taken From Interviews, Press Release and Posts in the Offical Forums.

Thanks to Ole Kasper Olsen from IGI 2-Covert Strike for an excellant Q&A session with Innerloop where the community got some good answers.

If there is an error please let me know

Questions
General
  1. What is IGI 2 Covert Strike?
  2. What is the Storyline?
  3. When will it be released?
  4. What are the System Specs?
  5. Will IGI 2 use a different Game Engine?
  6. Will IGI 2 be ported to XBOX, PS2, Linux ect.?
  7. Will it utilise EAX 3.0 (Advanced HD) or similar Sound System? Submited by Felipe Ordonez
  8. What Does IGI Mean?
Single Player
  1. The AI was rubbish last time will it be improved?
  2. Can I save?
  3. What Weapons will be available?
  4. How big is IGI 2?
  5. Will we be able to drive Cars?
  6. Will Jones be More stealthy?
  7. Will Anya speak to you to give you updates?
  8. Will there be cheats?
Multiplayer
  1. What about Multiplayer?
  2. What will IGI 2 use to connect to games.?
  3. How many Maps will there be and what type of Game play?
  4. Will there be a cooperative multiplayer mode in the game?
  5. What are you doing to stop cheating?
  6. Will 56K users be able to play online?
  7. Will we Be able to give any weapon to other player (ammo, armor)?
Editing
  1. Will there be an Editor?
  2. Isn't a level editor a good way to keep the interest in the game high?
More Info
  1. It would be great if you could add....
  2. Can i See any Movies?
Single Player Campaign
  1. Help The game keeps crashing in "Ambush"
  2. Im in the prison Level but Pribori wont move what do I do?


Answers
General
  1. What is IGI 2 Covert Strike?
    IGI 2: Covert Strike is the second installment in the Project IGI 2 universe, in which you play former SAS operative David Jones.

    It is made by Innerloop Studios and Published by Codemasters.
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  2. What is the Storyline?
    IGI 2 starts off shortly after the end of Project IGI, when Jones starts on a new mission while Anya is recovering in a hospital. Several new Characters are introduced to the Story, both Goodies and Badies.

    Set in Lybia, China and Russia the game follows Jones as he attempts to recover top-secret technology stolen by a rogue agent and Chinesse General.
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  3. When will it be released?
    It has now Been released.
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  4. What are the System Specs?
    (i) Minimum Requirements
    Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
    DirectX 8.1
    Pentium III or Athlon at 700Mhz
    128Mb RAM
    Supported 32Mb Graphics Card
    DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card
    8x CD-ROM
    1.9Gb Hard Disk Space
    (1.4Gb for game, 500Mb free after installation)

    (ii) Recommended Requirements Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
    DirectX 8.1
    Pentium 3/4 or Athlon at 1.2Ghz
    512Mb RAM
    Supported 64Mb Graphics Card
    DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card
    32x CD-ROM
    1.9Gb Hard Disk Space
    (1.4Gb for game, 500Mb free after installation)

    (iii) Supported Graphics Cards 3dfx Voodoo 4/5
    ATI Radeon, Radeon 7xxx/8xxx/9xxx
    Matrox G400, G450, G550, Parhelia
    Nvidia Riva TNT 2, GeForce 256/2/3/4
    SiS Xabre

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  5. Will IGI 2 use a different Game Engine?
    The game will use the same engine as Project IGI, although significantly enhanced to meet the current demands in graphics.

    As we know from Project IGI, and Joint Strike Fighter before it, this engine is incredibly good at drawing vast landscapes, and at the same time, it's also good at rendering buildings and other closed quarters.

    The engine is capable of creating an immense atmosphere, using weather conditions and lighting.
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  6. Will IGI 2 be ported to XBOX, PS2, Linux ect.?
    At present Time there are no plans
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  7. Will it utilise EAX 3.0 (Advanced HD) or similar Sound System? Submited by Felipe Ordonez
    Yes (See Single Player Campaign)
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  8. What Does IGI Mean?
    "Institute for Geotactical Intelligence"
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Single Player
  1. The AI was rubbish last time will it be improved?
    Yes it will!

    We already know the following:

    We are improving and adding to the AI in many ways. For example, AI troops will not only react to events around them, they will also respond with coordinated and intelligent action to provide a much greater challenge for the player. On spotting a fallen comrade AI troops will alert other guards, assess the situation and respond by beginning a search of the area, slowly fanning out from where the corpse was discovered. If the player is spotted, an attack will follow, with the AI flanking the player on both sides, all the while laying down suppressing fire from cover. The player will have to be skilled and resourceful to get Jones out of a gunfight alive."

    Codemasters said this in a Recent Press Release: "Artificial Intelligence for the game’s enemy agents has been significantly reworked and the original game’s continual enemy respawning has been eliminated. Soldiers are more alert and react accordingly to a wide range of game situations, such as hearing an alarm siren or detecting destroyed security cameras as well as other dead soldiers.

    Enemy soldiers of different ranks and abilities react in their own style to alert situations. Some soldiers will prefer running for an alarm button and calling for back-up, than engaging Jones in combat."
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  2. Can I save?
    The implementation of a new “save” system for IGI 2: Covert Strike has been a heated talking point on the Offical forums. Improving over the original game’s lack of save feature unless at the end of a level, IGI 2’s Save system will be a function of the map computer – a device which David Jones, the game’s central character, uses to receive tactical support in the field from IGI HQ.

    The map computer has the functionality for Jones to download and upload – to save and load – the current mission status and position. Doing this in the field will take time and drains battery energy from the map computer, so players will have to save tactically.
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  3. What Weapons will be available?
    As in Project IGI, IGI 2 will feature a vast array of realistic weaponry. In screenshots we've seen the Dragunov, an MP5, the M16 and a knife, in addition to the binoculars.

    The press release goes on to mention sidearms, machine pistols, assault rifles and missile launchers. The word minigun has also popped up on occation. If the models and sounds in Project IGI is something to judge by, the weapons will be outstandingly well made.

    As opposed to the original, you will not be able to carry as many weapons as you like in IGI 2. Also different from the original, is that you have to manually pick up an enemy's weapon.

    When you walk over a weapon, an icon will pop up and give you the option to pick it up or not. It is believed that only a small number of weapons can be carried at any one time.

    There will also be some more equipment and gadgets than in Project IGI. For example IGI 2 will include thermal imaging goggles.
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  4. How big is IGI 2?
    IGI 2 will have about 19 levels (+ multiplayer) and the size of the levels will be very variable. On average, they will be as big as in IGI1
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  5. Will we be able to drive Cars?
    There will be no drivable vehicles in IGI2. However Jones will come into contact with vehicles.
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  6. Will Jones be More stealthy?
    Yes.

    Jones will be able to swim and go prone.
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  7. Will Anya speak to you to give you updates?
    definetly
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  8. Will there be cheats?
    Yes and no Codemasters said this recently. "There will only be 'Open all levels' and 'Complete level' cheats. If people want to cheat to see all the SP game, that's up to them. But because of all the MP reasons above, there will be no God Mod, all weapons etc." This was just announced by Innerloop:
    "Hi everyone, I'm sure we all can agree that not feeling too sure if your online opponents are cheating against you, leaves you with an uneasy feeling when playing.
    So preventing cheating is important to us. We want to make it hard for people to cheat online in IGI2. And we think it will be hard.
    While it is resource-demanding and work-intensive, I'm quite sure that Valve have gone down the right way for preventing cheating in Counter-strike. Time will show how effective it is, but for most players I'm quite sure it will work ok. (Providing people want to play without cheats).
    There aren't really that many 3D-engines around, and a huge percentage of the FPS-market is based around just a couple of engines.
    At Innerloop we have written our engine completely from scratch. Even though our file-formats were semi-hacked for Project IGI (it wasn't that hard), we have no intention of releasing our source-code for IGI2. And creating cheats for a game has nothing to do with hacking file-formats. You will have to go deep into the core of how the game positions other players, how damage is dealt, and/or what is being rendered and/or how it's being rendered. You would basicly have to reverse-engineer a good part of our core technology. This technology is proprietary, and VERY different to the other 3D-engines you find out there in other games.
    Compare this with the open source policy of other FPS-companies (which we do admire) and you will find that creating cheats for IGI2 is going to be harder than for say Counter-strike.
    Considering how many games have been created around licenses of id's code (which is a lot more than 30 by now), I'm sure you will agree that the incentive for a hacker to get to know this source-code and find ways of exploiting it is quite large. It will be applicable to a huge number of games (with modifications of course).
    Also, given the large userbase created by such a huge range of games - there will thus be more people interested in trying to create cheating mechanisms.
    Now, as much as it would be fun to outsell any id software title - it's not realistic. If IGI2 does reasonably well - but doesn't sell a million copies - you should feel a lot safer when it comes to cheating.
    We will of course be monitoring the game's activity after release - and create patches if/when someone creates cheating-mechanisms for multiplayer. However, we're not too worried about it from our end.
    Just some thoughts on the subject, so you're not going around being too worried about cheaters in IGI2 MP."
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Multiplayer
  1. What about Multiplayer?
    Meanwhile, development work on IGI 2: Covert Strike’s all-new multiplayer mode continues. IGI2: Covert Strike will deliver a full team-oriented multiplayer mode, with squads of eight players per side. With objective-based gameplay, it pits IGI operatives against terrorists from around the globe.

    There will be support for up to 32 players, and that the multiplayer maps will have objectives the team must accomplish. Here's a quote from CVG's hands-on preview: "Similar to Counter-Strike, IGI 2 will utilise a credit feature that will allow team members to purchase guns and equipment. If you die during a round, you can also buy yourself back into the game using the credits. Cost depends on your patience or on your team's ability to cope without you - if you buy back in straight away it will cost you more than if you hang on for a few minutes."

    CVG also reports that there will be possiblity to communicate with team-members via a voice-over-net feature.
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  2. What will IGI 2 use to connect to games.?
    GameSpy, All Seeing Eye and in-game browser.
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  3. How many Maps will there be and what type of Game play?
    The focus will be on squad-based play, with a decent number of maps in the box
    There will also be Map Packs released every few months
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  4. Will there be a cooperative multiplayer mode in the game?
    No
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  5. What are you doing to stop cheating?
    Innerloop had this to say:

    "We have this in hand; we are working with the main game server providers to prevent cheating wherever we can."
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  6. Will 56K users be able to play online?
    Yes
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  7. Will we Be able to give any weapon to other player (ammo, armor)?
    Yes
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Editing
  1. Will there be an Editor?
    Innerloop had this to say to this question in a recent Interview: "If the demand is big, it's not impossible that there will be released a level editor for multiplayer levels."
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  2. Isn't a level editor a good way to keep the interest in the game high?
    The tools at Innerloop are extremely high-level, so an interface will need to be written. We’re concentrating on the game at the moment, but once it’s released we’ll be looking very seriously at this.
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More Info
  1. It would be great if you could add....
    Sorry. This is just a Fan Site and can not incorperate any ideas into the game.

    Try posting the idea to Codemasters IGI 2 Forum but SEARCH First it may already of been put forward and discussed.
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  2. Can i See any Movies?
    A number of videos have been released, Covertstrike.tk have a complete list. until recently the only one available to the public was of poor quality, there were a few issued in German PC magazines which for copyright reasons are not available online, at E3 in May 2002 Codemasters Promo video was released Available Here (thanks igi2match.com) which is well worth the download.
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Single Player Campaign
  1. Help The game keeps crashing in "Ambush"
    Unfortunately this is a bug that appears on some systems, until a patch is released the workaround is as follows
    "Turn sound settings to Miles 2D Put speaker setting to 5.1 ( if you still want the full surround effects)"
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  2. Im in the prison Level but Pribori wont move what do I do?
    According to Vasquez
    "Getting stuck on the 'Prison Break' level (objective six doesn't trigger). You *must* kill the two guards from on-top of the main gate roof with the sniper rifle. Killing them any other way (ie: different gun or place) means objective six is never triggered. "
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Add a Question and Answer
Version 1.0 of the Unoffical IGI 2 FAQ.

 

 

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