Winning, Losing, and Cheating

[drewm2]

I just deleted everything VegaStrike and re-downloaded so as to start from scratch. The reason being, I couldn't do anything anymore, for I got struck by 15-20 enemies (only Pirates, Uln and Hunter) everytime I flew my ship. On the rare occassion I could knock them all out, I was in dire need of repair. So then a great big ship would spawn when I approached a planet or station for repair, and spawn where I couldn't avoid it. I'm calling this cheating on the program's part, for after I surprisingly beat what it throws out in a "fair" (to use the term loosely) fight, the program just kills me. Or, just as I was about to complete a mission, a couple of war cruisers would spawn and bear down on me, generally having my ship torn to scrap by the time I could figure out who was firing on me.

Granted, I got to a point in the game where, had I not tried a few ships that didn't work out, I may have been equipped to deal with such threats. But how do you play this type of game without trying out some stuff, then getting rid of what doesn't work?

At any rate, I consider that I "lost" my first game (even though I actually had a few "new games" in there as I learned how to play) because I couldn't win- my skill had not advanced as much as the program apparantly expected it to.

I will consider it a "win" when I can go anywhere I want and do anything I want without fear of being shot down. From the other posts, I assume this means having a Goddard that is properly pimped out, and my experience tells me I need to do this at a rate that is quicker than what the program expects.

Here's a question- Does all this jive with everyone else's thoughts about the game? Is this just a part of learning the game, and if so, does it sound like I've got some basic principles figured out?

Thanks for any advice,
-Drew

[Angel Of Time]

I wouldnt know... sure when i was starting i kept getting shot down.... but i took things into my own hands!! I SET THE GAME TO IMPOSABLE AND WENT TO THE SAVE FILE AND PUT IN BEHOLDER!!!! So i fly a beholder class ship so i never get shot down! lol but yeah i think its a bug when your flying along nothing around you and boom a ship appars in front of you YOU CANT AVOID IT so boom! you have died. i think ship should spawn randomly!

[drewm2]

LOL! That sounds pretty cool. But for myself, part of the fun of the game is the challenge and the "reality" of working your way up to the mac-daddy ship! So it's no more fun if I cheat than if the computer does.

What really gets me though, is after hours of fighting hyenas, plows, dodos, maybe some robins etc., having some good fights, waiting on R2 to do some repairs and stopping in for others and restocking missiles, finally you get to the last system to scan. Now 2-3 corvettes spawn and start shooting, you're not equipped to ourun or outfight them, so you're dead. Realistic, perhaps if was random and only occassionally at the last scan, but not when it happens every time. And even though realistic is good, this is still a game, so you have to assume some consistency, some sense of whether or not you'll be able to finish the mission.

So if the Pirates learn your tactics and adapt, that's one thing. As you complete missions and they keep getting more difficult, that's also cool. But to have something thrown in out of the blue that you can't defeat, that's just changing the rules in the middle of the game. It's no fun, which makes the game pointless.

Basically, hard is OK, but impossible isn't worth my time. If the game wasn't so awesome for flying and fighting details, I would have already dropped it. Now I spent all day hauling cargo to get my ship pimped out, so I can safely explore and keep searching for better ships. But cargo hauling, to me anyway, is a boring, eventless aspect of the game- occasionally necessary and an efficient tool to use sometimes. But if I can't generally make money off the action of bounty, defend and clean sweeps, then I'm just not going to keep playing.

So the point of all that long-winded crap is that this is an awesome game with lots of potential, but it also has some major problems. I just haven't figured out yet whether the good outweighs the bad!

-Drew

[Oblivion]

Angel Of Time

i think its a bug when your flying along nothing around you and boom a ship appars in front of you YOU CANT AVOID IT so boom! you have died. i think ship should spawn randomly!

It's fixed. I think. Grab the SVN version or Zeog's Development snapshot download in the Future Developments thread.

Drew

So the point of all that long-winded crap is that this is an awesome game with lots of potential, but it also has some major problems. I just haven't figured out yet whether the good outweighs the bad!

So that's the reason for ranting in the off-topics??

[To Megatherion]

A cloaking device CAN help not getting shot down...
As for crashes with spawning ships...try flying at a slower speed...
I rarely ever have ships spawning so close I can't avoid them.