Well, I finally beat the combat UI into reasonable shape, and was able to record a full playthrough of one of the earlier (and definitely easier) missions. The fleets are comparatively small, and so is the map, making for faster-paced action.
The mission briefing, to set the mood:
The independent prospector ISS Hamatsu is coming back from a tech mining expedition on a decivilized world. The haul is good, and the Hamatsu’s captain has retained a mercenary ship to provide protection en route to market at the Hegemony worlds.
It turns out the captain’s worries were justified. Coming out of hyperspace for a routine refueling stop in the Corvus system, the ships are attacked by a suspected Cult of Lud task force. The Ludii blame technology for humanty’s ills, and will do anything to prevent the Hamatsu and its high-tech cargo from reaching Hegemony space.
After a brief conference, the captains of the Hamatsu and the mercenary ISS Black Star conclude that a counterattack offers the best chance of success – retreat is not a viable option as the Hamatsu is running low on fuel.
The ISS Black Star is under your command.
This is the first look at a continuous slice of Starfarer gameplay. Enjoy!
I was going to talk about fighters in part 2 of this series, but thought better of it. Oh, you’ll still find out more about fighters – it just won’t be from me talking, but through the magic of video. And Fraps. Which is totally killing my desktop, I might add, forcing Starfarer to run at less than the silky-smooth 60 fps. Using Windows Movie Maker isn’t helping much, either – I had to scrounge up some plugins to export the project in HD – by default, you can’t even do that. Ahem.
This video has me setting up some combat scenarios in a sandbox. It lets me spawn ships and fighter wings at the touch of a button, and then they fight it out. In the actual game, you’re controlling a ship – but in this sandbox, we’re just watching the AI fight it out.
As our crack Eastern European video production crew was not involved in the making of this video, please pardon any rough edges.
I want to introduce myself. I am Ivaylo, I hail from Eastern Europe and I am responsible for the trailer you see below. Please post many approving comments, otherwise I will be fired. Thank you.
Because I know most of you love to multitask, while you post your comments and watch the trailer, you can continue reading this post!
