X-Wing vs TIE Fighter was probably all competitive factor, considering it didn't have an actual story-driven campaign until Balance of Power came out, unlike this.
I'd disagree, considering it was the one I played as a kid and I didn't even have an internet connection. It had missions/campaigns before balance of power they just weren't connected into any kind of cohesive storyline. They we're basically scenarios.
Semi-related: the sequel to Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall is out as of 2 days ago and alongside giving more backstory on the setting it mentions Vanguard more than once and basically pinpoints exactly when the game takes place. It might be a good idea to pick it up if you want to know as much as possible about Squadrons. It's also just a great book in its own right that reminds me a lot of Rogue Squadron.
I guess I don't see why these ships wouldn't have decent bridge capacity?
For most of the ships, bridges make a lot of sense really. The small ones...I dunno. They are all pretty massive once you get a reference for size compared to one of the SLFs I guess.
I seem to recall one of the cockpits having something that looked like a bed in it when you looked to the right. I can't find any pictures that corroborate this though, so maybe I am misremembering.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Essentially it's a program for programming sticks. The neat thing is it uses vjoy to make a virtual stick and programs that. Stick and throttle from different places? Game won't recognize multiple devices? No problem.
Just beware that the UI for this is practically non-existent and its a huge pain in the ass to get it to work properly. If you have a Thrustmaster the TARGET software does the exact same thing and is much more user friendly.
X-Wing vs TIE Fighter was probably all competitive factor, considering it didn't have an actual story-driven campaign until Balance of Power came out, unlike this.
I'd disagree, considering it was the one I played as a kid and I didn't even have an internet connection. It had missions/campaigns before balance of power they just weren't connected into any kind of cohesive storyline. They we're basically scenarios.
Yeah, that's kind of the point. For the sake of certainty, I started up the GOG edition--every single player mission has the same multiplayer pre-mission setup options (along with the inclusion of difficulty...which just coincides with the AI difficulty you'd find for wingmen in multiplayer). The single player missions (strung together into a "operation/campaign" set if so desired) are basically asymmetrical versions of the multiplayer engagements, or even direct copies. It was absolutely intended as a multiplayer-focused competitive version of the earlier to games (which didn't launch with multiplayer), but considering how many people were actually online and playing video games (in the days before MSN Gaming Zone, much less Steam), they created a mission set that basically works like "offline" matches with bots today. Balance of Power was the actual return to a singleplayer campaign.
So I figured if I have to get above Mostly Harmless to get out of the starting area, ok, let's go kill some fools. So I reinforce the hull, strip out the mining lasers and add two beam lasers and two pulse lasers. Set up some firing groups, and head out to the nav beacon. Only to find that I can't actually scan the beacon for some reason. And that I have to have all of the lasers on mouse 1 for them all to work. So I have questions.
1. If I have my beam lasers on mouse 1, my pulse lasers on mouse 2, why is the ship telling me I have to hit "M" to use that option (mouse 2)
2. Other half of question 1. Why are my scanners and weapons interfering with each other. Wouldn't switching from weapons to scanners just swap out what is on mouse 1 and mouse 2?
3. How do I set it up correctly so I can scan for pirates / bounties so I don't kill the wrong people and get killed by the space stations.
So I figured if I have to get above Mostly Harmless to get out of the starting area, ok, let's go kill some fools. So I reinforce the hull, strip out the mining lasers and add two beam lasers and two pulse lasers. Set up some firing groups, and head out to the nav beacon. Only to find that I can't actually scan the beacon for some reason. And that I have to have all of the lasers on mouse 1 for them all to work. So I have questions.
1. If I have my beam lasers on mouse 1, my pulse lasers on mouse 2, why is the ship telling me I have to hit "M" to use that option (mouse 2)
2. Other half of question 1. Why are my scanners and weapons interfering with each other. Wouldn't switching from weapons to scanners just swap out what is on mouse 1 and mouse 2?
3. How do I set it up correctly so I can scan for pirates / bounties so I don't kill the wrong people and get killed by the space stations.
1) "M" is the default toggle key to switch between Analysis and Combat modes. If the game is telling you to switch modes, it means you might have a scanner item in that fire group (or, if you're in Analysis mode, it'll just make it so you can't fire any offensive weapon)
2) Sadly, fire groups are Analysis/Combat mode agnostic. By this I mean it won't separate the fire groups based on which mode you're in...you'll have to set up separate fire groups yourself
3) You just need to target a ship and wait for the target info to fill out. If it says "Wanted" you're safe to engage. If it says "Clean," you'll accrue a bounty and become "Wanted" until you either pay off the bounty or wait it out in a different system. To bolster the bounties you get, you can mount a Kill-Warrant Scanner and use that on a ship that is already "Wanted" to see what other warrants are attached to the ship. Thankfully, a KWS can be used while in Combat mode
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
No system in the starter area sells a kill warrant scanner, so just targeting a ship will scan it? About how far away do you reasonably have to be?
This seems bizarre to me, because a KWS was the very first thing I bought as soon as I loaded into the game on Xbox, PS4, and PC (granted, I came in right around when Horizons first came available...so things might have changed since then), and is part of the reason how I got my butt into a decently kitted out Viper Mk3 after one or two hours in a High-RES.
Otherwise, you just have to be able to lock onto a target and keep it in the front 45-degree cone in front of your ship for a few seconds. So, the range is whatever your sensors are capable of locking onto a target.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
A starter area. Turns out, there are multiple places you can start from. Really surprised none of the stations in your system have a KWS. Oh well, guess you'll just be getting basic bounties until you eventually make your way to either LSE 239, HR 8061, or AY Indi.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Eh, that's fine. I only need to get to mostly harmless to get the mission to leave the starter area. Then it's saving up for an Asp Explorer and being out in the middle of nowhere for a while. Hell,I've only played like 6 hours total and I already have almost a million credits plus a maxed out for the area Cobra mkIII, so I can't imagine it'll take all that long.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
Alliance is waaaaay harder with the XWAU upgrade that boosts the amount of lasers that can be on screen at a time. I can't even get near frigates without being annihilated along with my entire squadron.
Lol, I decided that even though I didn't have the requirements for the "explore the galaxy" mission, I'd do it anyway. And it worked! Got my 100Gs and now I have 40 tons of cargo space and a kill warrant scanner. Not that I really plan on bounty hunting or anything. Basically just going to grind out 7 mill with transport missions and get an Asp, then I'm out! See you at Colonia!
Lol, I decided that even though I didn't have the requirements for the "explore the galaxy" mission, I'd do it anyway. And it worked! Got my 100Gs and now I have 40 tons of cargo space and a kill warrant scanner. Not that I really plan on bounty hunting or anything. Basically just going to grind out 7 mill with transport missions and get an Asp, then I'm out! See you at Colonia!
At the rate I am crawling you will probably get to Colonia before I reach Sag A*
I still find it amusing that the first Freespace was marketed as a Descent-adjacent title for...the sales boost? I think the studios within Parallax had already begun to split by that point?
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
I still find it amusing that the first Freespace was marketed as a Descent-adjacent title for...the sales boost? I think the studios within Parallax had already begun to split by that point?
Hell, that's why I never checked them out until they were budget releases. I didn't really care for Descent, and after seeing the box for the first one, I just assumed it was more of the same and associated Freespace with Descent. Later when I found out they were honest to goodness space sims ala Wing Commander, it blew my mind.
I still find it amusing that the first Freespace was marketed as a Descent-adjacent title for...the sales boost? I think the studios within Parallax had already begun to split by that point?
Hell, that's why I never checked them out until they were budget releases. I didn't really care for Descent, and after seeing the box for the first one, I just assumed it was more of the same and associated Freespace with Descent. Later when I found out they were honest to goodness space sims ala Wing Commander, it blew my mind.
Freespace 2 has probably one of the worst sales to quality ratios in gaming history. 26,983 sales the year it was released. That's it. Marketing...did not help.
Phoenix-D on
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
Yeah, I picked FS2 out of the bargain bin and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Not that I had the money at the time to buy it full price, but damn that was one hell of a game.
People say this, but it's not super clear to me what people were expecting in 1999. Games weren't being advertised on TV or in movie trailers back then. But they had extravagant 3 page pullout ads (p69-71) in gaming magazines, a demo for the pack-in CDs, previews talking about the new beam weapons, and a slew of glowing reviews, they had a Ship of the Week feature on... Adrenaline Vault? Online Gaming Review? One of the significant gaming sites back then, anyway. The box cover art stood out nicely. I don't know what kind of marketing push people think would have turned things around. To me it was advertised the same as anything else.
Man, there's so many '90s game ads that were printed in (or on - back covers are hard to hide) mainstream game mags that would probably get me infracted if I posted them here.
Just GIS "Jo Guest Battlecruiser", for example, but for God's sake don't do it at work. Actually Battlecruiser 3000AD had a whole slew of them, but hers was the best known. I even just stumbled on one for the Game Boy Pocket, of all things, as well.
I'm part of the "Love Descent, don't care about Freespace" crowd. Not to disparage the actual game itself, but I wasn't a huge Wing Commander fan either--it was the modding scene I followed Freespace for.
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
Just GIS "Jo Guest Battlecruiser", for example, but for God's sake don't do it at work.
Of all of the things for her to want....
The suggested Google search of 'Jo Guest - English glamour model' pulls up a search for "jo guest fibromyalgia," which is probably a preferable association.
Now, obviously, I'm not asserting that fibromyalgia is preferable to playing Battlecruiser, because I don't know what it's like to have fibromyalgia so I really couldn't say.
However, I also don't know what it's like to play Battlecruiser; so it would be presumptuous of me to conclude that it wasn't.
Do you want a Space Flight Sim (Elite) or a Space Flight Sim (X4)?
Elite is all about exploring and dogfighting across a galaxy.
X4 is about having a fully realized economy where (almost) everything is used for something and possessing the tools to manipulate it, or sabotage it, or improve it, or just destroy it and replace it all with your own personal stations and fleets of civilian and military ships manned and captained by people who work for you.
Posts
Because people love being entombed in a steel casket?
I'd disagree, considering it was the one I played as a kid and I didn't even have an internet connection. It had missions/campaigns before balance of power they just weren't connected into any kind of cohesive storyline. They we're basically scenarios.
Semi-related: the sequel to Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall is out as of 2 days ago and alongside giving more backstory on the setting it mentions Vanguard more than once and basically pinpoints exactly when the game takes place. It might be a good idea to pick it up if you want to know as much as possible about Squadrons. It's also just a great book in its own right that reminds me a lot of Rogue Squadron.
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Fall-Star-Wars-Alphabet/dp/1984820044/
Although you might want to read the first book before you get into that. It also offers a lot of information on the setting and Vanguard Squadron.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
You're not wrong.
For most of the ships, bridges make a lot of sense really. The small ones...I dunno. They are all pretty massive once you get a reference for size compared to one of the SLFs I guess.
I'm down for a Spelljammer game.
you're in luck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhuLv-MYKII
Drivin' me nuts etc etc
Just beware that the UI for this is practically non-existent and its a huge pain in the ass to get it to work properly. If you have a Thrustmaster the TARGET software does the exact same thing and is much more user friendly.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Yeah, that's kind of the point. For the sake of certainty, I started up the GOG edition--every single player mission has the same multiplayer pre-mission setup options (along with the inclusion of difficulty...which just coincides with the AI difficulty you'd find for wingmen in multiplayer). The single player missions (strung together into a "operation/campaign" set if so desired) are basically asymmetrical versions of the multiplayer engagements, or even direct copies. It was absolutely intended as a multiplayer-focused competitive version of the earlier to games (which didn't launch with multiplayer), but considering how many people were actually online and playing video games (in the days before MSN Gaming Zone, much less Steam), they created a mission set that basically works like "offline" matches with bots today. Balance of Power was the actual return to a singleplayer campaign.
1. If I have my beam lasers on mouse 1, my pulse lasers on mouse 2, why is the ship telling me I have to hit "M" to use that option (mouse 2)
2. Other half of question 1. Why are my scanners and weapons interfering with each other. Wouldn't switching from weapons to scanners just swap out what is on mouse 1 and mouse 2?
3. How do I set it up correctly so I can scan for pirates / bounties so I don't kill the wrong people and get killed by the space stations.
1) "M" is the default toggle key to switch between Analysis and Combat modes. If the game is telling you to switch modes, it means you might have a scanner item in that fire group (or, if you're in Analysis mode, it'll just make it so you can't fire any offensive weapon)
2) Sadly, fire groups are Analysis/Combat mode agnostic. By this I mean it won't separate the fire groups based on which mode you're in...you'll have to set up separate fire groups yourself
3) You just need to target a ship and wait for the target info to fill out. If it says "Wanted" you're safe to engage. If it says "Clean," you'll accrue a bounty and become "Wanted" until you either pay off the bounty or wait it out in a different system. To bolster the bounties you get, you can mount a Kill-Warrant Scanner and use that on a ship that is already "Wanted" to see what other warrants are attached to the ship. Thankfully, a KWS can be used while in Combat mode
This seems bizarre to me, because a KWS was the very first thing I bought as soon as I loaded into the game on Xbox, PS4, and PC (granted, I came in right around when Horizons first came available...so things might have changed since then), and is part of the reason how I got my butt into a decently kitted out Viper Mk3 after one or two hours in a High-RES.
Otherwise, you just have to be able to lock onto a target and keep it in the front 45-degree cone in front of your ship for a few seconds. So, the range is whatever your sensors are capable of locking onto a target.
This is the starter area.
A starter area. Turns out, there are multiple places you can start from. Really surprised none of the stations in your system have a KWS. Oh well, guess you'll just be getting basic bounties until you eventually make your way to either LSE 239, HR 8061, or AY Indi.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
At the rate I am crawling you will probably get to Colonia before I reach Sag A*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEpg3xkaUOk&feature=emb_title
Hell, that's why I never checked them out until they were budget releases. I didn't really care for Descent, and after seeing the box for the first one, I just assumed it was more of the same and associated Freespace with Descent. Later when I found out they were honest to goodness space sims ala Wing Commander, it blew my mind.
Freespace 2 has probably one of the worst sales to quality ratios in gaming history. 26,983 sales the year it was released. That's it. Marketing...did not help.
Not that I had the money at the time to buy it full price, but damn that was one hell of a game.
People say this, but it's not super clear to me what people were expecting in 1999. Games weren't being advertised on TV or in movie trailers back then. But they had extravagant 3 page pullout ads (p69-71) in gaming magazines, a demo for the pack-in CDs, previews talking about the new beam weapons, and a slew of glowing reviews, they had a Ship of the Week feature on... Adrenaline Vault? Online Gaming Review? One of the significant gaming sites back then, anyway. The box cover art stood out nicely. I don't know what kind of marketing push people think would have turned things around. To me it was advertised the same as anything else.
Just GIS "Jo Guest Battlecruiser", for example, but for God's sake don't do it at work. Actually Battlecruiser 3000AD had a whole slew of them, but hers was the best known. I even just stumbled on one for the Game Boy Pocket, of all things, as well.
Steam | XBL
Of all of the things for her to want....
The suggested Google search of 'Jo Guest - English glamour model' pulls up a search for "jo guest fibromyalgia," which is probably a preferable association.
Now, obviously, I'm not asserting that fibromyalgia is preferable to playing Battlecruiser, because I don't know what it's like to have fibromyalgia so I really couldn't say.
However, I also don't know what it's like to play Battlecruiser; so it would be presumptuous of me to conclude that it wasn't.
Depends.
Do you want a Space Flight Sim (Elite) or a Space Flight Sim (X4)?
Elite is all about exploring and dogfighting across a galaxy.
X4 is about having a fully realized economy where (almost) everything is used for something and possessing the tools to manipulate it, or sabotage it, or improve it, or just destroy it and replace it all with your own personal stations and fleets of civilian and military ships manned and captained by people who work for you.