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New player's topic of questions and suggestions

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 7:57 pm
by Synchrone
So.. ignore if you will. Or just ignore any ignorant questions/comments I write here. :P

Okay.. I like VegaStrike (the reason you see me posting here).. but as of now (I'm sure it's not intended to stay this way) when one starts a new game one's kind of thrown into the deep. In the system I started I encountered hostile craft (I think.. 's been a lot of jumps away.. don't know what system it was, even.. or if the system one starts in is randomly determined or not).

So.. I started doing trading missions.. thus far all I have done. Makes quite a bit of money, but heck if I know how I ended up in pirate area and aera territory. Seems harder to get away from conflict than to get into it.. or perhaps it's because the better paying missions go through or to hostile territory.

And now I have this new vessel (more expensive so.. I thought it to be better) I find the bar below the power bar (to be used for hyperjumps and auto jumping) emptying.. with no idea why.

Oh yes, and the map.. I mean the interplanetary system map.. really.. it's a jumble. Any way I turn it, it's a mass of different colours and names. Perhaps there's a possibility to zoom but if not I'm afraid it won't be much help in deciding where to jump or not and what systems lie close to eachother or are connected. Not saying that I need a better map.. but to me it doesn't seem very useful at the moment, that's all.

Another thing is that upgrading and repairing and buying new ships is all very odd.. to me it's more like gambling. Make a bit of money, buy a ship, outfit it with reasonable sounding things and pray it works. Right now I have a.. not sure what type of ship I have, but it was costly. Bought a reactor, two neutron guns (can outfit more, of course.. but I'm being cautious with only a light reactor.. or perhaps not? No idea..).. and find they hardly work. Can't seem to buy a better one (even if I sell the other one.. I have enough money, too).

Oh yes, the ship info.. perhaps that'd help.. and I will take a look at it, but really, this (the upgrading section) can use some interface changes to show more information (as what costs how much power to use and what creates how much power, for example). Including the ship purchasing.. no stats but cargo space and cost? And if I do buy it.. how do I know whether I (or just the ship) can use it.. and if so, how if it requires activation?

In conclusion.. the thing I think this game needs most at the moment is a good interface all over (including the shift-m menu.. why these buttons with no names on them??) and easy to see and compare information. This might include a notification of how dangerous/hard a certain mission is. And a nice tutorial in a safe system.. but I bet that's in the works.


Well.. that's it for now.. good luck and I hope I get to make this ship into a bounty hunter.. unless I purchased the wrong type of ship...

P.S.: While I'm busy.. what key is used to set your ship's speed to equal that oif your target in the Mac version?

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:37 pm
by jackS
from some of your comments, you seem to be using an older version of VS. Which release are you using?

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:48 am
by Synchrone
Ah.. well, i'm using 0.4.1 for mac but looking at the front page it appears to be the most recent released version for that platform. *shrugs*

And.. thanks for the reply. I don't hope I appear to be too critical. Oh well.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:11 am
by hellcatv
We uploaded a new version just now that hopefully addresses your complaints :-)

good luck downloading it (sorry you happened to download just moments before a new release)

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:09 pm
by Synchrone
Thanks. And no problem..

-edit-Now if I can only find where to download it.. is it called 0.4.1 as well, because the only thing I can find which might be a newer version (but could be the same as the one I downloaded) is 0.4.1D in the files section..

But.. I'll keep on playing anyway.. Oh.. and if I wish to purchase weaponry which actually works on my franklin with a light reactor.. what should I buy? I bought a pair of lasers but they don't seem to work (I'll try my turrets later). Similarly, I bought tractor beams to rescue and pick up cargo, but haven't found a way to make them work either (haven't taken a rescue mission though).

Also.. g is the key which shifts between guns, but it doesn't seem noticeable (except probably when firing/using them.. if they work) which ones I have selected. Oh.. and I keep on getting a Rlaan gun every once in a while. Caused by a fault in a mission?

And lastly, I assume I have to repair my ship so often because I have a 2-emitter shield.. (leaving the sides vulnerable to debris) if I buy two 2-emitter shields, would they cover all sides? And somewhow I can't add a light 4-emitter shield.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:56 pm
by Halleck
Well, I heard through the grapevine that 0.4.3 for osx is coming soon, so sit tight.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:31 pm
by Synchrone
Halleck wrote:Well, I heard through the grapevine that 0.4.3 for osx is coming soon, so sit tight.
Oh.. I don't mind using the version I have.. I was just wondering.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:02 pm
by hellcatv
should be out tonight if I can get my mac back up and running

I foolishly installed OS X 10.2 instead of 10.3 lol

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:56 pm
by Silverain
Synchrone wrote:And lastly, I assume I have to repair my ship so often because I have a 2-emitter shield.. (leaving the sides vulnerable to debris) if I buy two 2-emitter shields, would they cover all sides? And somewhow I can't add a light 4-emitter shield.
A two emitter shield has front and rear emitters that generate a forward and rear hemisphere cover. Losing front shield means that you can take direct damage from anywhere in the forward 180 degree arc.

A four emitter model has front, rear and both sides covered, essentially covering each quarter. So losing a shield only loses a quadrant of shield cover, not half.

Either model, however, provides 100% protection from all directions when fully powered.

The ships themselves are designed to fit either the two or four emitter (hard coded). Generally, light ships can only mount two emitter models, and the heavier ships only mount four emitter models.

So to answer, 2 emitter shields cover all your ship, and you can't mount 4 emitter model as your ship was not designed to.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:06 pm
by Synchrone
Okay, understood.

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:50 am
by Integral
hellcatv wrote:We uploaded a new version just now that hopefully addresses your complaints :-)
Wait, should I be able to attach a decent reactor to a Franklin in 0.4.3? I can't.

Daniel