Capcom heeds suggestions: Lost Planet Multiplayer updates now here

If you’re one of the countless, faceless players who tried out the demo of Lost Planet over at the Xbox Live Arcade, then you most certainly would be glad to know that Capcom was actually listening to what you had to say.

In fact, Capcom has not only made several key changes based on your feedback and suggestions for the games online portion they are also already planning to work on a patch that will be available in time for the North American and European launch on January 12.

Most of the fixes will be directed to the Lobby and Matchmaking functionality of the game, as well as the addition of some elements not included in the demo. According to Capcom, some of these changes had already been anticipated by the team and were included in the final gold master of the game. Some even came from your very own suggestions! Because of that, Capcom would like to extend its thanks to all those who took the time “to share their thoughts on Lost Planet.”

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition finally comes out on January 12, 2007, and will support up to 16 players online. As part of the pre-order campaign, those who purchase in advance get access to a special version of the demo with two maps instead of one.

Anyhow, the changes include the following:

Private slots can be set by host!
Invite friends to a match
Number of players in a room will be displayed next to name of the room
Players will not be kicked all the way out to the main menu if they try to join a full game
New button allows players to refresh the match list without going out to the main menu and selecting Quick Match again
Players will now go to a post-game lobby at the end of a match, not kicked back to the main menu
The ability to replay a match with the same group without leaving the post-game lobby
Cycling maps on replayed matches when map selection is set to Random
Text size on the team selection screen will be greatly increased when using non-HD resolutions.
When manual team selection is set to ON, players will have 20 seconds to form teams.
The time limit on each match will be maxed out at 60 minutes, instead of the current unlimited time.
A player%u2019s custom match criteria will now be saved.

Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the full details on all the great additions. So, we’ll be bringing that to you, as well.

Just click on Full Article to read the complete list of changes.

Anyhow, the changes include the following:

Private slots can be set by host!
Invite friends to a match
Number of players in a room will be displayed next to name of the room
Players will not be kicked all the way out to the main menu if they try to join a full game
New button allows players to refresh the match list without going out to the main menu and selecting Quick Match again
Players will now go to a post-game lobby at the end of a match, not kicked back to the main menu
The ability to replay a match with the same group without leaving the post-game lobby
Cycling maps on replayed matches when map selection is set to Random
Text size on the team selection screen will be greatly increased when using non-HD resolutions.
When manual team selection is set to ON, players will have 20 seconds to form teams.
The time limit on each match will be maxed out at 60 minutes, instead of the current unlimited time.
A player%u2019s custom match criteria will now be saved.

Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the full details on all the great additions. So, we’ll be bringing that to you, as well.

Navigation Changes:
Demo version:
Three options in Player Match selection, namely: Quick Match for searching all available games, Custom Match for defining search criteria to search for specific game types, and Create Match to create and host a match.

Final version:
Game search under Quick Match will undergo the following changes:

Next to the name of each host hosting a match will be a readout of the number of players already in the room compared to the maximum number of players allowed. This is to let the players know how full a room is before they enter.
If the player tries to enter a room that has been closed or where the match has already begun, the player will not be forced back out to the first player match menu to then re-search for games. Instead, the player will be able to immediately browse and select a different session to join.
There will also be a button set to allow the player to Refresh the match list without having to perform a Quick Match search again.
Create Match remains the same.

Post Game Lobby, Rematches and Friend Invites
Demo version:
Scores are shown after a match. The screen shows the team placement for Team Elimination matches, as well as individual rankings and points. The user’s own stats such as Kills and Deaths are also displayed. Exiting the screen leads back to the Online Menu where they can select Ranked or Player match or any of the other menu options.

Final version:

All players in a match will now be given the option to play again with the same players.
If the host player opts not to play again, the game will be closed and all players will have to search for a new match to join.
If the host player opts to continue and rematch, anyone else who chooses to rematch will be taken back to the host’s lobby, and the match will be open for new players to join.
Rematches will use the same match settings as originally set, including the stage. However, if the stage is set to Random, this will select a new stage at random with each match, much like Gears of War cycles through the stages in order when the stage is set to Custom Cycle.
To change the game settings, the match must be disbanded and created again with the desired settings.
The ability to invite friends and reserve slots through Private Slots is not seen in the demo version, but will be available in the final version.
When setting up a match, the host will have the ability to reserve Private Slots for friends up to the max number of allowed players to allow Friends special access. With this, it is possible to hold completely private matches, and matches with enough slots for friends with room for additional players.
Combined with the Rematch option, players will be able to stick with their friends through multiple games.

**So, if you wanted a fully private game in a party setting, all a host would have to do is specify that all 16 slots are reserved for friends and invite them in, set the map to random, and enjoy your session. If you wanted a semi-private game, but wanted to max out or increase the number of players beyond that of your friends, you can do that too by specifying a lower number of players for friend slots and letting Xbox Live fill in the rest.

Team Formation Changes:
Demo version:
The text for the Gamertags listed in the middles of the screen is small and difficult to read on SDTVs. Also, there is no team switching available.

Final version:

The size of the text will be dramatically increased . However, the development team has noticed that in the event a game (ie. Fugitive) has 1 player against 15, the 15 names for the one team may spill over to outside the list area and possibly cover up the team name. But at best, this is but a minor issue, unavoidable as it may be, and will most probably not be problematic for the majority of matches.

For the team selection, it will be taking placing on the countdown screen. Here, players will be able to press the button corresponding to the team they wish to join (2-4) teams.
Turning on the team switching will set off the countdown timer giving the participants 20 seconds to finalize teams on this screen. Turning it off will give the players 10 seconds to view the team list and confirm team sides and teammates.

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