So this is one of those games I stumbled across without expecting much. I figured I’d give it a quick poke or two and then uninstall. But after a couple of hours, I think I’m convinced it’s worth sticking with.
My concern is how it holds up over the long run. But I really like that tech tree (despite still being confused about some important things) and I can imagine the combat being really gratifying in a Pillars of Eternity kind of way.
Anyone else playing? I can’t be the only one.
-Tom
You’re playing an early access game? Gasp?
I’m about 5 hours in and I love it. Only thing I don’t like is inventory management, it’s overtly burdensome and ridiculous in the same way as Shadow Warrior 2. Eventually I just stop trying to save everything.
I’m playing it, and I’m loving it so far (far more than I expected to, BTW). Glad to see a thread for it!
So, uh, @tomchick this thread appears to have no category, and I can’t see it in the games category.
EDIT: yeah, the only way I even see the thread is through the ‘new’ threads. Once I opened, and replied, it seems to disappear completely for me.
I most certainly am NOT. What makes you think it’s early access? I’m seeing that it came out on the 21st and even had a 1.01 update on the 24th.
What the…? I’m not sure how I did that. My administrative powers seem to have spawned a thread in the Phantom Zone. I have now rescued it.
-Tom
Weird, I could’ve sworn it said EA when I bought it. Apologies.
Well I’m glad I wasn’t the crazy one! I wonder if there have been others… I don’t recall any but you can never be too sure.
I like it, but units need to auto-shoot and use items a bit better, its REALLY hard to control stuff.
This is what I like about Tom’s streams. I had never heard of this and frankly probably would have never thought to try it but watching last night prompted me to buy it. Now to go find my own rail gun :)
Same here.
Heard about this when Brian mentioned it in the indie thread the other day. Watched splattercat play it on YouTube and picked it up a few days ago. Only played a little, though, so far.
You probably know this, but spacebar to pause!
I also found myself frustrated when I realized, oops, my vanguard has just been sitting there taking damage because I didn’t give him a new target after he killed his old one. But I suspect combat is supposed to play as a staccato pause/play/pause/play/pause situation. It does seem a bit odd there’s no way to just tell a unit to attack whomever’s closest. Or is there? I wonder if there’s something I missed on an AI settings screen. It took me forever to figure out how to hire crew and where to see a character’s detailed stats.
-Tom
Ahem… it took you forever to see me yelling it in chat.
There isn’t. There are, however, formations and stances but they’re kinda useless. I just select the whole team and attack each enemy in turn. Hardly very tactical but so far I’ve had precious few encounters that required me to pause and strategemize.
On the one hand, I like the passive/automatic abilities so I don’t get overwhelmed but OTOH I sorta wish that battles could be more tactical and require pausing and doling out individual orders and using specific skills. I do like the COMBO stack on the enemy’s heads tho… very nice!
I had never heard of the game before the stream. I looked it up just before the stream and said, “pixel art…meh!” About halfway through the stream I decided it is a must play at some point. Great find!
I often feel that way about pixel art too, but it works here and is blended with other styles.
It looks like the scout has an active ability for a mega snipe hit called assassinate. I can’t seem to figure out how to get the requisite 5 sniper aims.
Also still pretty confused (like Tom was) as to what unlocking those class specific techs in the research tab actually do. It looks like they grant passive abilities…like the pills for the medic.
Also, how are “consumables” used. Can’t figure out if I need to assign them to crew members and how to activate them.
Prerequisites for combos happen automatically. For the sniper, you need 5 aims/shots in a row on a singe target, I believe. When that happens you’ll see a button pop-up over the target’s head indicating you’ve met the condition and when you press the button… BAM! Assassinate!
Some unlock passives, some actives. The Vanguard’s Tractor Beam thingy for example is an unlocked skill and it requires manual activation and targeting. The medic’s Happy Pills, OTOH, are passive… they just toss em around!
Consumables show up globally on the hotbar so no matter who you have selected, you can use consumables (if allowed) and it comes out of the global storage.
Good Lord. Got to level 9 with a squad of 1 Vanguard, 1 Medic, 1 Marine, 1 Engineer and 1 Scout. Total Party Kill.
There is definitely some strategy here. If I had focused on the poison gas guy I probably would have been ok. Is there any way to see if some enemies have immunities or resistances to things.
Also, can you just run away, beam up and then come back later? I got overwhelmed quickly but I think I might have had a chance to disengage and run.
Also, you would think finding a discombobulator for some lost space navigator would be a lot easier. :)
I was told YouTube copyright rules let me take credit for everything that happens during a stream.
I’m sure you know this, so I’m partly bringing it up as a reminder to myself, but there’s a difficulty menu every time you land, which lets you can jigger the risk/reward calculus. I’m guessing we should probably be pushing the risk up a bit? When I found the loot donkey that quadrupled my sniper’s DPS (Mr. Marquac and His Marvelous Purple Railgun!), it was after I’d notched the difficulty up a bit.
-Tom