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[StianStark]

The onslaught (from the Bis'mar mission btw) blowing up is 100% gameplay, the explosion is not fake and those are Atropos-class torpedoes, which do a fair bit of damage. I did however play that mission quite a few times before I got that shot - I wanted to time the teleport of the hyperion to coincide with missiles just about to hit it, and that took a few tries.

[mostmodest]

I quite like the new trailer. On a side note, is it possible to get a youtube "series" with a video uploaded every so often basically showcasing a different feature/ship/weapon/system/something else; along with a message from someone in the dev team about part of the dev process (i.e. Alex talking about coding in a new feature, StianStark talking about SFX or something like that). It could be a short few minutes, and could also be a way to spread the word about the game, and keep people (like myself) from asking unnecessary questions.

Also, this is my 100th post ^.^

[arcibalde]

Bravo 

And new sounds are awesome.

[L33tGuilty]

So ... this is all we are getting for March or is there something els coming soon ??

[mendonca]

It's probably a bit weird but I think my favourite bit of the trailer was the warehouse / hangar scene at the end!

Really great job, Stian

[Sproginator]

Very well done Stian, Digging the new update trailer very much

[Dr. Death[Lexx]]

Great trailer. I enjoyed it a lot. Nice work.

[Wyvern]

Interesting.  I watched this the first time on a machine that didn't have sound... and found it exceptionally meh.  Watched it again on a machine with sound... big difference.  Not sure if this is something worth talking about, really, but it might be nice if the visual components of the video were able to stand on their own.

For an example: once, ages ago, I watched the movie "Up" on an airplane, without a set of headphones.  And it worked; I could see the characters, understand what was going on, and follow the plot.  Would it have been better with sound?  Of course!  Was the sound in this trailer awesome?  Yes it was!  Was there room to improve the visual interest of the trailer?  I think there was - and I would probably never have noticed that if I'd watched it the first time with sound.

It also kinda showed up how annoying the screen flash on destroyed ships is; I don't notice it as much in gameplay, when - typically - you don't have large ships going pop in rapid succession... but I'd really like some less overwhelming ship destruction graphics.

[DelicateTask]

You raise a good point. As awesome as the current graphics of the game look, it lacks a certain amount of polish. I understand the whole alpha thing, but I'm starting to wonder if it's not approaching a good time to start improving visuals, to start exploring the graphical capabilities of the game.

Not to derail the conversation, though, I've got to say that the music was sweet. Is it likely to make it into the game?

[StianStark]

To answer in short: Making a trailer that "works" both with sound and without sound is an utterly, completely different thing to making a trailer where you assume the viewer is going to have sound. The former is a bit like fighting a boxing match while hopping on one leg singing "God Save The Queen". Might it be a nice thing? Possibly, yes. Is it incredibly difficult and debilitating to what you're actually trying to achieve? Sadly, also yes. Comparing an indie game trailer without dialogue and subtitles to a million-dollar full-length animation isn't exactly apples vs apples in this context either.

I'm not this clear-cut about the explosions tho

[Wyvern]

Oh, certainly.  I'm just pointing out that there's some possible room for improvement - mostly in terms of pacing & visual interest.  For example, there are several points where, visually, it just sorta stops for a bit - the slowly fading white screen after the onslaught, the game title with glowy letters, a couple of other spots.  Worth making any changes to the trailer?  Of course not; with sound, it does work quite well.  Worth maybe thinking about a bit, regardless?  I think so.

This is intended as constructive criticism; I liked the trailer, but figured that just another "Awesome!" post would be less than useful.  If my commentary isn't helpful, or isn't worth thinking about... well, feel free to ignore; I'll shut up now.

(For reference: No, when I watched "Up", there were no subtitles either.  I had no idea what anyone was saying.  The movie still worked.  I was amazed.  It may, indeed, be an apples to space shuttle comparison, though.)

[Alex]

It also kinda showed up how annoying the screen flash on destroyed ships is; I don't notice it as much in gameplay, when - typically - you don't have large ships going pop in rapid succession... but I'd really like some less overwhelming ship destruction graphics.

Fair point. I think you probably dislike it more than I do though, since I don't actively dislike it. IF I ever get around to coding ships breaking apart (a huge if!), I'd probably take a look at it then.

You raise a good point. As awesome as the current graphics of the game look, it lacks a certain amount of polish. I understand the whole alpha thing, but I'm starting to wonder if it's not approaching a good time to start improving visuals, to start exploring the graphical capabilities of the game.

Well, given how much Important Campaign Work there is to do, it's probably not That being said, any specifics you'd like to point out? I'm pretty far from being able to look at the graphics with a fresh eye - and honestly, if the combat in the final release looked the way it does now, I'd be fine with that - but I'd still love to know what stands out to you as needing more work. Since I do end up tweaking things here and there.

Not to derail the conversation, though, I've got to say that the music was sweet. Is it likely to make it into the game?

I'm not sure - it's pretty much custom-fitted to the trailer. I don't think I've actually listened to it w/o the trailer, though, so I don't know if it stands on its own.

This is intended as constructive criticism; I liked the trailer, but figured that just another "Awesome!" post would be less than useful.  If my commentary isn't helpful, or isn't worth thinking about... well, feel free to ignore; I'll shut up now.

Just wanted to say that I appreciate the feedback.

[StianStark]

I probably came off too strong there, didn't I? Sorry about that, Wyvern. Of course criticism is always welcome.

I think I understand your point better now as well. I might be a bit guilty of liking some of my own musical material too much to make chopping operations on them when the visuals call for that, that's a difficult thing for a musician. It's somewhat similar to film editors who might do the first few weeks of rough editing without any music, then when the composer arrives and hands him or her a big chunk of music it can be so influential that the mood of a previously musically silent scene will totally change. This can be quite a shock if you've grown accustomed to something that you've worked on for some time and probably seen hundreds of times already.

[Wyvern]

I probably came off too strong there, didn't I? Sorry about that, Wyvern. Of course criticism is always welcome.

I think I understand your point better now as well. I might be a bit guilty of liking some of my own musical material too much to make chopping operations on them when the visuals call for that, that's a difficult thing for a musician. It's somewhat similar to film editors who might do the first few weeks of rough editing without any music, then when the composer arrives and hands him or her a big chunk of music it can be so influential that the mood of a previously musically silent scene will totally change. This can be quite a shock if you've grown accustomed to something that you've worked on for some time and probably seen hundreds of times already.

Ahh, I'd assumed that I was the one who had come off too strongly.  Yay, internet not carrying tone of voice?

And, err, I did really like the musical material; had I been trying to improve the trailer (not that I have enough skill at such, but nevermind that), I would've tried to adjust pacing/interest of visuals to match the music rather than the other way around.

[DelicateTask]

I might be a bit guilty of liking some of my own musical material too much to make chopping operations on them when the visuals call for that, that's a difficult thing for a musician.

I know that feel. I wrote a song a few weeks ago and showed it to my non-musical friend who told me to my face that certain parts were too long and boring and that I'd have to chop out half of it. I was mad, but he was right. Didn't make it any easier to admit.

any specifics you'd like to point out? I'm pretty far from being able to look at the graphics with a fresh eye - and honestly, if the combat in the final release looked the way it does now, I'd be fine with that - but I'd still love to know what stands out to you as needing more work. Since I do end up tweaking things here and there.

Mostly things that have been suggested before. Debris flying off of ships when heavily damaged or destroyed. Gratuitous particle effects such as sparks and flames. I know that I find shields a tiny bit boring to look at. Maybe a shimmering texture laid over it. One thing that really stands out to me is how boring parts of the UI look. Just colored line borders and text with some flat buttons. Some actual art graphics (all greebled up and techy) in the various menus would look great. Or if you don't want to be stereotypical and do that, then maybe make the menus look like a holographic projection. Something where the UI that you interact with seems more in-universe that your character might be interacting with instead of just a game interface for you the player.

Again, not trying to derail the thread and make it into one big "yell at Alex because we want stuff," but you asked.