Nice work! Good to see that decent indy products can still get picked up and distributed. Also nice to see that there’s indy designers willing to pour years of work in to get a game right.
–scharmers
I second the props. And Starshatter looks good, though the name has disturbing defecation overtones for me. Probably just me.
Thanks, scharmers, I really appreciate it.
Runesword, it’s not just you. However it seems to be more common in the UK than elsewhere. If my wife ever lets me make the sequel, everything will be explained at that time.
And if xpav is still hanging around here, someone should tell him that the game he asked for someone to design is finally finished. :)
The digital download version of Starshatter is now available at Matrix Games online store. Since Kitsune has already seized the moral high ground on behalf of Sheinmegatsuziasiaishduaishduasjhdyziiiiiieeee I can only ask you to please, think of the children!
Excellent. I was wondering how I was going to be able to find this game. Digital download rocks ! :wink:
Congrats, milo.
Way yo go, Milo!
Can’t wait to spend some time with it over the weekend . . .
If I download this from Matrix and don’t want to get the official CD, can I burn my own backup?
Is this going to be available at B&M stores at all?
Yes, you can create your own backup CD.
I don’t know when or if Starshatter will be available in any conventional software retailers. It kind of depends on how the initial online sales go, and how the PC game market in general is looking at any given moment.
Somehow I missed the release of the demo for this one, so I’ve just been trying it out for the last three hours. I’m now on my way to Matrix to buy the full game, so you’ve got my 25 quid, Milo.
Edit: And the taxman got 4 quid :( .
I DLed the demo over a month ago, but I haven’t tried it yet. Guess I better get started!
I bought a couple of copies at the Matrix booth while at Origins. Gave them to my interns and am playing vicariously through them :) I hope word continues to spread and this game does really well!
I purchased the full version of Starshatter two days ago and have been playing the Operation Highland campaign (after the training campaign) since then.
So far so good. The game seems to be rock solid stable and I am running it at 1280x960x32 at max detail on my 9800.
It’s wonderful to once again play a game with a full dynamic campaign. For example I destroyed some minefields around a ship dock and next mission they were gone. Enemy ships seem to follow logical attack paths from one mission to the next and damage is persistent. Ships will attempt to break off an engagement if they take too much damage.
Fog of war is a big factor in Starshatter and on many occasions I have had to search for enemy ships. It brings a level of uncertainty to the mission to add some extra spice.
The HUD is excellent. Kudos to Milo for allowing us to click on areas of the HUD to activate certain commands. It’s an extremely intuitive method and very well implemented.
The only bug I have come across is that sometimes your fighters will be recorded as destroyed even though they have landed safely back at the carrier. Maybe Milo can confirm this ?
Two wishes - allow some panning views in cockpit view when using the hatswitch on a joystick and it would be nice to have spoken radio comms to complement the radio message text on screen.
Some voice support would be useful, critical messages that get ignored while your scheduling repairs or busy setting nav points. View panning may be supported with the 3d cockpit. Milo added it as a mod feature and it isn’t used with any of his ships.
Have you been promoted to a destroyer command yet? Its a much more complex game, head on duels are shared suicide and so your forced to experiment. I haven’t had brilliant success but I am behaving with a bit more intelligence. Sensor blind spot from engine wash (and weaker shielding), remembering turret coverage so the torpedo actually gets through, and hitting the ship components (like the fusion reactor) :)
Milo, what is the practical use for the Overide Function?
Sean - Yes that is a bug that somehow escaped every beta tester and myself. Only it’s not “sometimes”. Every time a fighter docks during a campaign mission, it is marked as killed in action.
I’ve already coded the fix for this, I am just trying to see what other last minute foul-ups I can gather into a useful patch. For now, your best bet is to forgo the landing bonus and just end the mission when you get in sight of your carrier.
At one point I was planning on having 3D cockpits for every user playable ship. Then I realized how much work that would be! It is still a possibility for a future expansion, but it’s going to take me some time to build up all the artwork for all the fighters and starship bridges as well.
Glad you are enjoying it so far!
Ah! Well that explains it. I might have to restart my campaign as I have lost quite a few fighters because of this.