Playing info; so far

For discussions about the release version of the game.
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toyotaed
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Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:51 am

Playing info; so far

Post by toyotaed »

If I may, I'd like to state a few obvious things that may become an issue in the final release; perhaps now is the time to address them


1.) Some of the graphics, especially the continual rocky terrain, is hard on the eyes. The differing terrains on some planets (the green, for instance) is much easier on the eyes; could the harder-edged graphics be smoothed down?

2.) I see that the shields cannot (currently) be raised, nor can (currently) the weapons be armed, if not in 'combat'. This might be be an issue when entering an encounter with a race that has already attacked you.
...Waiting to see if the opponents open fire, before being allowed to take proper measures, merits some discussion.

3.) Some of the interaction dialogue could use a refreshing. When in a contact, my Captain is telling an Elowan captain "Dude, that is one green ship", or referring to a Thrynn as "Lizard Man"....
Uhhhh......'nuff said.
Personally, that indicates some lack of attention to the verbiage that one would find useful regarding the interaction scripting.

4.) IMPO, 10 'training missions' is sufficient to get the players out into the galaxy. Eliminating the elsewhere mentioned '50 black acid squirter quest' was a good move.

5.) There is a need to have the 'manual' available. Players are going to want and need this in the final release. Along with the obvious issues involved, particular attention needs to be focused on how/when the crew members gain experience, since they cannot be educated at the Starport, as in the game's predecessors. The experience issue, along with a few others, could really use an in-depth explanation.

6.) The flux issue continues to generate interest.

7.) Trade depots...Are they a reality in this game? I have not observed one so far.

I'm not complaining here, not one iota.

...Just noticing and posting things that future players might have an issue or two with...A great product is def one that has no complaints from the beginning to the completion.
toyotaed
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:51 am

Re: Playing info; so far

Post by toyotaed »

8. One thing that is rather different here is my crewmember stating "long range sensors detect...; short range sensors detect..."

If one desires an encounter, the player must sit and wait for the ship(s) in quetion to arrive, or fly in some direction after the contact is lost.

The simple "motion detected at X nn / Y nn" was more than sufficient in SF1 and SF2.

I'm glad my sensors are working, but my sensors need to give me more info. If I have sufficient technology to fly into hyperspace, surely my ship's sensors should have sufficient technology to be able to tell me how far off a contact is...
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Steve
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Re: Playing info; so far

Post by Steve »

#2 - This one I may be able to do something with, or maybe not. I'll mess with it after my current modifications are done.

#3 - Rest assured I never wrote any of the "Dude" comments. Those three examples are now missing from the next packaged update. Please let me know if you see any other examples of dialogue that should go missing.

#5 - In this modern age I would rather put together a FAQ entry on the official Lost Colony website with answers for everyone's common questions rather than put together some sort of PDF or manual. The crew skill checks and also the activities which improve their skills would be perfect, but what other questions have you run across?

#7 - Trade depots don't exist as present. This may be an interesting feature that I was considering once to try to implement in Lua directly within this encounter code itself. I don't plan on touching this until after "1.0" has been released.

A couple years ago I wrote up pseudocode to deal with something like this and the complexities did not get too horrendous.

#1 & #8 - I personally couldn't do too much with but any other open source developer is welcome to tackle if they wish.
vconverse
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Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:40 pm

Re: Playing info; so far

Post by vconverse »

It is obvious that many people spent many hours making this a reality. This is one of only two games I ever played that I finished. I searched for this game several times over the years hoping that it would be available for the new OS's. I saw that it was being worked on but hadn't kept up to date on the progress until now. Great job.

I have a couple of questions. First, is there a downloadable Game Manual. I see the online version but would be interedted in a copy I could print offline.

Secondly, I downloaded the zip file and extracted to a directory. I didn't see an install or setup executable in the main directory so started the game by running the starflighttlc application executable. The game played properly but when it came time to exit I had no ability to close the program and exit. Ultimately I had to treminate the program through ctl-alt-del. Did I install the program incorrectly?
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Steve
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Re: Playing info; so far

Post by Steve »

There is no PDF or Word document version of the manual, but if you or anyone else is interested in slowly going through a 60+ page word document and cleaning up the formatting I'd be happy to post it online. PM if interested.

There should be an installable version, but it will run the same: https://sites.google.com/site/starflighttlc/downloads

No easy way to instantly quit - Escape, quit to main menu, hit esc again. Added to the to-do list.
vconverse
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Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:40 pm

Re: Playing info; so far

Post by vconverse »

If you want to e-mail me the manual I will try to clean it up over the Christmas holidays. I didn't try ESC to get to the main menu to exit the game. I never got there so just had to terminate the program. I recall the ability to train crewmembers by paying a fee, I didn't see that in the personnel area.

Vince Converse

<Removed e-mail address - spammers have caused problems in these forums. - Steve>
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Steve
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Re: Playing info; so far

Post by Steve »

Just sent you an e-mail with the document.
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