Thanks for the summary. I have tried it, though the last time was a few months ago. I am just a $35 backer with the starter ship, so there’s not much fun to be had in Arena Commander. Also, I found the joystick controls pretty wonky. Flight and gunnery was much better with a mouse, which maybe isn’t what I am looking for in a space sim.
Your summary of the ‘physics’ behind it all makes sense, though the stuttery, fiddly little movements at low speeds just feels decidedly clunky to me. Maybe this ‘precision’ mode they are talking about will address that? I want to swoop into a landing pad, dropping my gear, and settle onto the tarmac in one smooth motion.
In the end, I have a hard time squaring the circle of the atmospheric-inspired (though unrealistic) flight and combat models that I enjoy vs the circle-strafing reality I see in so many Star Ctizen videos. I love the yaw-dampened feel of things in Elite. I think they made some great choices with the ‘feel’ of things that maybe aren’t realistic, but have verisimilitude and are – most of all – fun and serve to strongly differentiate one ship from the next.
But, I also like combat in the Evochron games, for example, and that uses a pseudo-Newtonian model. I’ll give SC another try at some point and see if it’s more to my liking.
I did dislike the handling A LOT when i tried it months ago, and now I love it, so you might be surprised. I think they really changed it for the better.
I can’t use the mouse in this thing to save my life, though. It feels definitely better with a 360 pad, although it lacks true precision of a dedicated stick (my HOTAS is locked away and haven’t had time to configure it). Maybe it was better with the mouse a while ago (right now it feels really off)?
Looking at Elite videos (haven’t bought it yet) I would say the flying feels different here, but probably as good at decent speeds. The shooting in Elite feels loads better, though. Here I have a hard time hitting anything due to the high speeds and fly time of the projectiles. Which would be good if a few hits were enough, but you need sustained impacts to truly damage a ship.
As for ship differentiation: If they allow (as it seems they will) to individually configure each thruster of a ship, including the power of maneuvering thrusters, we are going to get wildly different feeling ships.
mok
1824
JonRowe
1825
Lots of hot takes here. I am definitely still dubious of this project, and I am not a backer, but you have to give them credit, they showed a lot of stuff yesterday. Do yourself a favor and watch the presentations of the game parts, and it looks like they got something going on, but it is still frustrating that they don’t have solid dates yet, over a year past the original due date.
At least watch their content before criticizing it. Nothing they showed yesterday makes me any more confident that the game will be out before the end of 2016, but at least they showed some significant progress on the game. This definitely feels like an early E3 stage presentation, 3 years into the project. That is some slow going.
I loved the part where he showed how thick the script was for SQ42… yes, because a long script DEFINITELY means it is good right?
And 24 hours after the presentation they have 4000 more backers and a lot of more money. Man, they know how to put eyes onto the project and profit from it. At this point it’s safe to assume the controversy has hurt them nothing at all. If anything more people are watching the presentation (and some of them biting).
Timex
1828
Yeah, CIG needed to show off some good stuff at their show, and they did. There are certainly going to be those who are unimpressed by everything shown, but many clearly were quite impressed.
Just out of curiosity, what impressed you the most?
I just watched Jim Sterling’s impressions of Line of Defense.
Hilarious stuff.
Timex
1831
For me, it was good to see the entirety of the multiplayer stuff all come together, being able to fly between the various locations within the system, walk around on the ships and man the stations, EVA out of the ships, engage in the FPS combat, all within one seamless environment. That’s the game I want to play.
Wtf did I just watch? A game menu loading simulator?
mok
1833
LOL - women can only be pilots!
Timex
1834
Well, technically, you watched a “game failing to load” simulator, since it never actually loaded correctly.
MrTibbs
1835
Pretty slick referral program.
Would anyone like to use my referral code? :p
jizzy menu simulator with some screenshot screensaver mixed in, yes.
Miramon
1838
The sad thing is a wing-commander-type game with a few optional, weak and (relatively) easy to do MMO elements would have done very well indeed on its own without this enormous superstructure it’s been attached to. But it really sounds like they’re making a Vasa of a game, ie badly designed, lopsided, and guaranteed to sink on launch.
Yes, I also think the single player campaign version of the game is going to be the best of the two games they will release. While what they are doing with the persistent universe is cool, it’s bound to be janky for a long time. Still maybe a cool accomplishment, but certainly not polished (for you can’t polish something of that complexity that fast).
Timex
1840
I think the multiplayer is what’s going to make the game truly great though, eventually, if they pull it off. If they realize the universe they are going for, that will be a really awesome environment to play in.
I’ve always been more into competitive multiplayer environments though, rather than single player games, so this is just my perspective. There have been precious few single player games which have offered experiences that I enjoyed as much as the best multiplayer ones. Games like half life, witcher 3, mass effect… Those games were masterpieces, but I don’t really expect that kind of game from squadron 42.
I’m more interested in an eve like experience, where you can actually control the combat in space and on the ground.
I’ve had the exact opposite, my best and most immersive experiences have been those not disrupted by the multitude of asshats who thrive in MP.
