KevinC
4301
Burst lasers lack redeeming qualities, IMO. Use Pulse.
I think burst does more damage per hit, so if you can only get a couple of shots into something before having to aim again i would pick burst.
They both have around the same DPS, i think there is also a difference in range but i dont have the game installed anymore so i cant check.
I have tried out class 3 gimballed pulse, beam and burst lasers, and while I enjoy the sizzle of fat beams, I’ve settled on pulse, as they’re very good at punching out subsystems.
I am tempted to go back and try out a fixed beam paired with a railgun on this monster, it’s got the maneuverability to potentially make it work, but only if I can sort out the power requirements needed.
EDIT: Well, I couldn’t find any class 3 railguns to try out (and indeed, the wiki doesn’t list any stats for such a thing), but a C3 fixed beam paired with a B3 plasma accelerator is… amusing.
Pulse lasers are like beam lasers that keep cutting out. I prefer to line 'em up and write molten death in their hull plates.
Thrag
4305
I do really enjoy the effect of raking a beam laser down the hull of an enemy ship. I started in the Vulture with two fixed beam lasers, which is nice but burned through the weapons charge a bit too quickly. The frag cannon can be devastating against larger ships at point blank range, however it has that ammo limitation which makes me use it as an emergency weapon. I think I might try keeping the one fixed beam to rake lines and loops in the enemy hull for aesthetic reasons, and replace the frag with a gimbaled pulse or burst for subsystem targeting. Hopefully it will work out like in the Viper using fixed beams for shields and gimbaled multicannons to take out subsystems in larger ships.
It is part of the reason i’ve not been playing much ED (the online thing), however if i found the game more compelling i’d probably bend my rule a bit more, but it is a serious bone of contention, and one i nearly went for the refund option on (after Frontier decided to not do a true SP mode, very, very late in the day). The only reason at that point i didn’t get a refund was i’ve paid for the ‘all expansions’ version during the Kickstarter and i am just willing to wait for atleast one of those to see if the game improves for me enough.
Oh, i have 99% just been playing the training missions, trying to become a pro Flight Assist Off pilot, so plenty of challange in that. I did have a quick look at the online main game mode, but didn’t do combat or anything. After a few weeks with ED a few months back, i’ve mostly been back in FFED3D+AndyJ mod for my Elite kick, i just prefer that SP version of Elite more currently (but ED can keep improving etc).
@ Kevin C, you are probably correct. I was just surprised by the Steam announcement as it had seemed David was pretty against it initially (why pay a share of the profits from your game to Steam etc), and really once a game has Steamworks in it, it becomes very hard for the none Steam version to keep up in terms of patches and updates, and i was under the impression most games probably just focus on the Steam version at that point, but yeah that is probably quite a bit of ‘projection’ of my Steam dislike in this ;)
schurem
4307
Spoken like a true cave dwelling Luddite 😜
i’m just not into cheating folk ruining my game, and that about sums up nearly all online MP games from my experience. It’s basically about that, and my god with the grind in ED it really explains the rage/quit posts the ED forums have fairly often! I just prefer a true original Elite SP expereince, if i want to hang with buddies i go down the pub/have a barbecue etc. I’m old fashioned like that.
Where was it announced the switch to steamworks? So far it sounds like you download the game and it gets updated through the launcher normally.
Besides like you said, its an online game, everyone has to be the same version or they won’t be able to play. They won’t fuck up like that.
KevinC
4310
There isn’t one, it’s only available for sale on Steam.
You realize in solo mode it’s just you and the AI, right?
And space. Don’t forget space.
Yeah, I only play in Solo mode, I haven’t even tried logging into the open play.
I prefer the private group my own self. Nice mix of AI and people I know.
KevinC
4315
Same. Playing with friends? Awesome. Playing with strangers? No thanks. That pretty much describes every game for me.
Yeah, playing with randos is what kept me away from multiplayer games for so very long. Playing with friends though? I get the appeal of multiplayer now. Not with EVERYTHING, but I’ve totally come around on it for the most part.
I play Open Play exclusively.
You need not run into another player unless you actively seek one out by, say, mincing off to Lave, or Sol, or any other of the “popular” planets.
In the last week or so, I started at out in a frontier system, did some exploring, then nipped down all the way through Alliance, Fed, and then Empire systems. Then I zipped back up coreward to the frontier, then back to the Alliance core systems around Ethergeze.
Total players encountered: 0.
Thrag
4318
I’ll add my voice to the chorus. Whenever I think of open online play with random people I turn into Roger Murtaugh. Fortunately solo mode has everything minus the people.
So far Dangerous is very much a very well done modern remake of the original. However that said it’s current failing is that it’s currently not much more than that. There is a grind, but isn’t that part of the authentic Elite experience? I played a large amount of elite in the 80s and the original was pure grind.
I’m even starting to enjoy the “online” parts of solo mod, meaning the persistent universe. Since I have my vulture outfitted with the best parts I can find around the region I’m in and I have a good cash buffer, I’ve been spending only half my time in RESs and the other half doing missions to try and boost democratic Alliance factions in the cluster of high population worlds around Leesti, Lave, etc.
I’m currently on a 8000 lightyear exploration trip to the cat’s paw nebula. Only 1500 to go. That’s about 70 jumps. Dan Carlin’s podcast series on the first world war is very good.
and the original was pure grind.
Before there was a word for it! Back then it was just… shooting spaceships = awesome! Now we are all so jaded.
