Thoughts and report on version 0.9

[Quicksilver6]

Hello, I'm posting this here as the FAQ said. Before I start, I'd just like to say I like this project, and if I complain about something, it's not because I think it sucks but because I'm hoping by telling you what I think about the game you'll improve it and make it the best fan game ever.

But Anyways, let me get started.

Things I like:
It's pretty much privateer all over again, and it definately has that old-timey feel; a good thing in this case. All the ships, weapons, and stations are the same, which is great. I can see there's a definate effort here to make the project professional. I like the graphics, they're all well done. Above all else, it's FUN, also I actually want to keep playing this. That's the best compliment I think I can make.

Things that need work:
Is it just me, or does combat take FOREVER, even against a single talon? It just seems to take much more hits then I remember to destroy enemy ships. Also, I notice they do things I can't, like strafe, not shelton slide, STRAFE, and reverse thrust really fast before ending on my tail, something I can't seem to do. This makes combat not fun to do and makes the game less fun then it should be. In fact, it makes combat very, very frustrating. Every single other ship has a way higher refire rate then mine for some reason. Missiles are way, way, way too slow. I can't use dumbfires unless I'm really close, and when that happens, I take splash damage! Speaking of missiles, their range is ridiculous, reaching into the tens of thousands of meters. I can shoot at them when I can't even see them. Also, is it just me, or does it take FOREVER to make enough money to buy a new ship?

In summary

--- Combat: Too long, AI seems to be able to do things Player can't (reverse, Strafe, better guns) COMBAT IS WAY TOO FRUSTRATING
--- Missiles: Too slow, range too long.
--- Gameplay: takes too long to make financial progress(Could just be player error on my part)

Well, That's all I have to say besides "Don't get discouraged" and "keep it up"

Thanks!

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

Balancing the combat has proved to be the most difficult part of this. It's especially hard with a single laser, as the AI tends to go into evasive maneuvers when badly damaged. Lower difficulty settings reduce or eliminate that behaviour. Most of the time spent on the AI has been used making them dumber

Couple things related to it firing rate:
Though missiles can lock on 10s of thousands of k away, that doesn't mean they can actualy fly that far. If you fire a missile from that far away, it will blow up long before it gets to its target. Having them get locks at that range is then suboptimal, but not really game breaking.

Your guns are the same as their guns. Same stats, refire and everything. I can think of a couple reasons it might look like they fire faster. They don't always have all the same guns, so they fire at different times. The player, with uniform guns, may not fire as often, but when he does it's with more shots at once. Also, even if the AI has uniform guns, you may be seeing the AI running out of energy causing him to fire one at a time. Again, it looks faster, but it means fewer bolts per sec.

To earn money, I try to take more than one mission at a time, and try to load up on cargo while I'm at it. Of course that has the side effect of attracting pirates.

Thanks for the comments, glad to hear you'll keep with it!

 

[hellcatv]

With respect to the talon strength issue
the talons were overpowered in 0.9b (we added 10 to their armor! whoops!)
we've tried to correct this for 1.0 and have posted a pre-release for a select few to download... if you wish to be selected you can post to that thread