Trese Brothers Games (Star Traders: Frontiers and more)

Steam has the Trese Brothers’ collection at 60% off.

http://store.steampowered.com/bundle/462/Complete_Trese_Brothers_Pack/

It does not appear to include the new Star Traders (Frontiers) (and so should not be titled ‘complete’).

It probably won’t for a while: they don’t put their games on huge discount lightly (that 60% off collection might be the biggest discount they have ever done).

I really hate playing EA games; but I’ve noticed that my strategy of holding out until a game exits EA sometimes doesn’t work - the game gets released and I’m no longer paying attention to it, so I don’t bother picking it up. So maybe I should just bite the bullet and play EA games when the developers have a track record and/or the game is pretty fleshed out.

So:

  • Is this game complete enough to be worth playing, and
  • Does it have the @brianrubin seal of approval (yet)?

I’m only a bit in but I’m really liking it. I’ve liked all their Star Traders games though.

I bought Heroes of Steel for $5 @amandachen and so far I like it. It is a fairly casual RPG which fits well with where I’m at in gaming. Don’t have time to learn complicated systems and need something I can jump in and out of easily. It allows one to save and quit just about any time without losing game time.

One thing I like is the crafting. You can merge a couple items, like a weapon with a trinket provided you have a couple Bloodstones, which are rare commodities and a smith, and you get an item that is a better weapon but the improvements are a bit random. And I like that the variety and quality of the weapons and gear that you can upgrade are limited. So if I upgrade the best sword I have, I’m not liable to find an even better sword soon thereafter (though you do find better items eventually, but it is a slower drip than other games of this type) and being frustrated that I should have waited a bit longer to not waste those rare Bloodstones. Or worse, not spending the stones as I wait for the inevitable better item. This seems like a smart design choice and for me crafting decisions are more thoughtful and have longer lasting benefits.

And it has a fairly engaging story. The Trese Brothers are good at creating a story that draws me in enough to put up with somewhat repetitive combat.

Those are my reflections after several hours into the game.

I regard the game as pretty much done and just bug fixing / minor tuning. Full disclosure though I have a very high tolerance for indie style rough edges GUI and lack of documentation.

I now have ten hours in to Star Trader 2 and really enjoying it. After several false starts, I’m finally making progress with my current crew and ship, and finally earning decent cash for upgrades. Trese Bros. keep cranking out patches a couple times a week, but the game feels really complete.

Also, I’m getting to know my 28 member crew, especially the command team, and feel a sort of emotional attachment since I know them by name. None have died so far, but if one does… Not being able to save scum ups the anxiety level a lot. I’m glad they did the save system this way, even if I may end up cursing it.

It has a distinct Space Rangers 2 vibe, particularly now that I’m just cruising along as a privateer without following the storyline. I just wish it had a way to search for galactic prices on trade goods like SR2 has. As it stands now I’m just planet-hopping, then looking for decent prices.

Saw this post on the Steam forum:

CoryTrese [developer] Dec 5 @ 10:44am

Custom difficult is coming soon.

EDIT: And sure enough, I almost lost a redshirt, but my McCoy saved him:

image

I bought this because of all the good buzz here but I’m waiting for the story eras listed on their dev roadmap to get added. Love reading all the impressions though from those who have dipped their toes in early. :)

No shit. :)

Guilty as charged :)

Wait, wait - I’m a kickstarter backer for Star Traders 2. What is Star Traders Frontiers? And how is someone already playing Star Traders 2, I’ve not received any emails saying it is released yet?

Put those two things together ;-)

Or better yet, check out the Kickstarterpage - Star Traders 2 IS Star Traders Frontiers.

Did you ask for a steam key? Its only out on PC. If you asked for mobile version, you have to wait a few months.

If you did ask for steam key, then you should have received an email from Andrew Trese in mid-November with the key. Check your spam folder?

Hmmmm. I think I was focused on the iPad version when I signed up. Don’t remember if they asked during signup

Yes, they did send a survey last year where you specify what format you want. However, if you just go to the KS page, in comments, and tell them now what you want they will accommodate. So if you never did the survey, or if you changed your mind, they’ll take care of you. They’re very responsive.

Replying here so I remember to check this out soon.

I bought Star Trader: Frontiers yesterday and am finding this helpful in learning the ropes.

If you have the time and inclination to figure out the game mechanics on your own I would skip the wiki. I do not have either so I found it a useful way to get into the game since there is no tutorial yet.

So did this ever get better with patches? I played about 10 hours of ST:F at the end of December, and it was just dull.

Most of the minigames had so few decisions and were so boring that they might as well not have existed at all. The ship combat had a little bit more going on, but I still found every battle followed exactly the same formula; you might have two dozen ship combat skills, but there was never any reason to use most of them.

The crew management looked like it was supposed to be a big part of the game, but in practice there was nothing to do there but to occasionally go and choose skills/perks for the people who had leveled up.

I was moderately invested in the main story, but it just wasn’t worth getting through more of the gameplay for the next little story beat.

Thanks for the link!

I am trying out the game in-between Battletech, but a bit hard to know what to do. I was surprised at how many crew members you have starting out. It is a bit overwhelming trying to decide what skills or job to pick for each crew member. I suppose time will teach which skills are needed most at the beginning of a game.