Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ryan390]

Firstly, thanks Alex and everyone who's worked on this game so far, it's really impressive and definitely one of a kind.

Couple of things that stood out for me in the latest version:

- Skill system feels rather restrictive (I know a lot of people have mentioned this) I must say, I actually like it but it becomes a problem when you want to start incorporating automated fleets.

- Which brings me onto my second issue.. Why is CR limited for automated fleets to ridiculously low levels? Even with the hard earned automation skill and an 'alpha' core (fully integrated with a story point too) - is apparently enough to raise CR to just 50%. I don't like this feature at all it's purely restrictive for no apparent good reason. Keep it fun!
   I don't understand why I had to find an explanation for 'why' I was getting low CR in a tooltip / popup. That's a bit late to know after all my skills are already invested at level 15.. really really bad mechanic!

- The story I'd like to say was interesting but it was a constant barrage of reading / go over there / fetch this / fly here / explore that / talk to him.. The only bit I genuinely enjoyed was 'that special encounter' - which I will not spoil for anyone who's not done it yet. The rest is very laborious, as a player you just want to end up progressing it because you're
   waiting for the good interesting stuff to happen. Appreciate things need some build-up but this isn't it IMHO. Reams and reams of text does not make such an otherwise interactive, deep game more engaging, it takes you away from that IMO.

- The story thread stops rather abruptly after making the player wait so patiently and jumping through so many hoops.. With a version of 0.95a, I'm wondering how much story content and progression is actually going to follow on, which is worrying.

- Having a large fleet but still only being able to deploy a few of the players ships is incredibly annoying. CPU fleets more often than not end up deploying most, if not all of their ships, making a lot of fights impossible to win as the player if you take any inkling of a deployment penalty.

- The tutorial is focused a lot around ship control and combat but I feel it's missing a section to explain some of the core game mechanics like dealing with phase frigates or explaining some of the more hidden mechanics in the game

- Something seems to have been 'changed' in regards to how frequent asteroids impact the drive bubble, ships take damage and asteroids hit 'all time time!' This catches you off guard when trying to attack a pirate base in an asteroid belt,  the CR damage is extreme in some cases. I find it a very frustrating experience IMHO, I'd revert this back to what it was. There's no real way around it, travelling slow still seems to cause the impacts so I'm not sure what the thought process is here. 


Otherwise a solid title, I could rattle off other gripes but those were the things that stood out most. In the back of your mind think 'Is this fun what I'm about to do or change' It's not always what makes sense, usually gameplay and fun go hand in hand, not everything has to be mechanical, restrictive or sterile.

Cheers

[Dex]

Not to wax lyrical but the Epic Dudes have done a great job, right?

- Im unsure what you mean here? I mean, apparently im in the minority as to liking the new skills, frigate favouring and all (ive not had a problem), but with regards to restrictive? you can respec ad nauseum to certain extent. Admittedly some skill cant be but they are very powerful and you can understand why.

- Which brings me onto my second issue.. Why is CR limited for automated fleets to ridiculously low levels? Even with the hard earned automation skill and an 'alpha' core (fully integrated with a story point too) - is apparently enough to raise CR to just 50%. I don't like this feature at all it's purely restrictive for no apparent good reason. Keep it fun!

I never got a radiant but they seem stupid op with an apple core, and depending on which ships and cores you choose you got a lot of extra officers you can add to you rfleet. AFAIA

interesting but it was a constant barrage of reading / go over there / fetch this / fly here / explore that / talk to him

Pardon my ignorance, but what alternatives are there in a game like this? I mean you didnt mention 'fight this' but i imagine its implicit. They only others i can think of are 'escort this' fleet, 'defend this' planet, and a couple mix/match variations of the above.

I agree with the sudden end to the story, but we arent at 1.0 yet and i think it would be fair to comment after then.

Large fleets, well, ive never had a problem with this, you can still bring more ships than you can deploy, retreat them as they are damaged and reinforce with fresh. And as you kill the enemy you can retreat with impunity, maybe jog to the nearest shipyard for a rapid once over, or in a circle for a couple days to get your breath back. Even, using the 'terrain' like allied ships, 'allied' ships, or separating them from their fellows. I always found theres tools enough.

I can verify that going slow prevents asteroid collisions and hyperspace storm damage, so im not sure whats happening your end.

I will say, that many of your issues can indeed by addressed by mods. You will have to wait a while for the majority to catch up as they are themselves playing the game (selfish gits).

Now, im not saying that i like EVERYTHING, theres a few, some, several sharp edges and freyed tatters but all my qualms have been addressed by others. Loudly.

[Jet Black]

I always thought that enemy fleets get to deploy more if they have a larger fleet than you point for point?

9999/9999, both deploy 50%?
3333/9999, you deploy 30%?

The idea of a ai fleet does sound really cool, cant expect the dev to up it too far from 30. Best bet is to mod it or wait for a mod to set it to whatever your taste is. I want one of those Radiants pretty bad lol. The skill should be raised to let you have one without any cr loss. But lets face it, is one radiant worth every single ship having an extra hull mod built in not even counting extra vents/capacitors?

Also, I did the asteroid impacts. Glad they made it mess ships up. It gives me a reason to avoid them.

[Ryan390]

Glad your enjoying it Dex, same here and yes they have done a good job.

Skill Progression
Yeah I don't mind the skill progression system either, I just wish they were a little more transparent about how automated ships work and how to manage them properly in a fleet.

I thought something along the story lines would introduce that, but it never came. You do end up getting some skills given to you from the story line, which makes me also wonder what's the point in certain skills like Transverse Jump, as it can be gained via skill (like previous version) or in this case, a mission. This generates a conflict of interest I think between natural skills and key skills such as the jump. But then if you don't want that skill because you know your going to get that ability for free, you still have to, because you're interested in the skills to the right side of it.

That's where some of the restriction comes in, you have to progress from left to right, limiting how dynamic you're character can be. I wanted automated fleets but I need at least to choose one skill in each group because automated fleets is fully on the right side. 

Story Narrative
Totally agree with you there Dex, the alternatives would be physical actions such as a scripted event where a fleet comes out to meet you (in space) and some dialog kicks off within sector, an event is triggered for instance. Most of the story takes place with you being docked on a planet and taking constant shuttles down to speak with the Provost. Pretty much all of the character interaction takes place statically and none of it in real time space, which to me made the story narrative feel detached from the Star Sector world and mechanics, almost like it was a separate ark in a different game. It just didn't feel organic.

You have to remember, this is an extremely visual game, hustle and bustle of ships coming and going throughout their business. Pirates / Fleet captains, scavengers roaming around. Constant faction wars, traders, smugglers, amazing planets and visuals, stuff to discover..

As a player you want to interact with all that and the story should be an extension of the visual interactions we see and use when we play the game. Who knows?

Fully aware also this isn't 1.0 but 0.95a and 1.0 isn't a big difference really (unless the releases remain as chunky as this) There's plenty to grow on in terms of story..
I have one good example of where the story developed, built up a massive amount of curiosity and tension, and was visual in terms of (sound / music and eye visuals)
It did result in a battle and a WTF moment (Yes you should know what part I'm referring to) - Also had a decent feeling of reward at the end of it.

Now yes, not all the story can be like that or at that level, but the difference between hours of text and delivery runs to that sudden change was a little extreme.
The disappointment was after that scene ended, it's back to flying around from A to B and sending messages between characters that you don't really care about or have no attachment to.