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TehGherkin posted:
First, do this: General Battuta posted:When you've got a missile incoming, don't freak out; wait until the beeps are very close together, then turn sharply, hit afterburners, and drop one countermeasure. Second: Never stop moving. Don't automatch speeds since that keeps you moving too slow but definitely manually match speed with your target once you close to gun range so you don't overshoot them. If they start pulling away from you use your afterburners to close the gap. Shift power to engines from guns and miss less, you need afterburner a lot and guns cycle pretty quickly until you get the huge lategame power drains. The ideal rhythm is to close with a target, match speed, sap a panel of their shields (or just their hull if you haven't gotten that far yet), throw 2 missiles at them when they're too close to juke in time, hit 'target nearest hostile' as the missiles are in flight so you may start zooming towards the new target with burners and close with them while matching speed just as the missiles hit and finish your first target. Repeat until satisfied. It will almost never happen this smoothly, and never happen PERIOD if you're fighting Dragon-class interceptors. Also, that thing where you got blasted sllooooowwwwllly following a freighter transport? That's the game telling you to lose your sense of humor around anything remotely approaching a capital ship. Never stop moving. Willie Tomg fucked around with this message at 04:51 on May 7, 2012 |
# ? May 7, 2012 04:47 |
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# ? Jun 14, 2024 13:20 |
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Well I guess we can disagree about never stop moving, but it's nice that the game can work with different play-styles! One thing I think I've noticed about the enemy AI. If you have an enemy targeted, they are much more evasive than a non-targeted enemy. It's easiest to spot when you are behind a group of bombers. If you target one, it starts to dodge after taking only a little damage. If you target one and shoot at another, it won't start to veer off course until it's nearly dead. Has anyone else noticed this?
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# ? May 7, 2012 05:54 |
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Yes. It's how I ended up handling those drat Cordi Warriors in Wings of Dawn.
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# ? May 7, 2012 06:04 |
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General Battuta posted:Yes. It's how I ended up handling those drat Cordi Warriors in Wings of Dawn. I'm really impressed with how the Cordi ships behaved in Wings of Dawn. They really did feel like a swarming bug-race rather than just another Freespace enemy. Individually harmless but hard to swat, but they swarm like pros.
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# ? May 7, 2012 11:04 |
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I wish that Robotech mod wasn't abandoned because that could have potentially been great. No idea if they had the mechs actually transforming or not, but seeing a mod where you could do that and it would affect your speed (fighter and GERWALK would be fast, Battloid would be slow) would be cool. That and missile spam. With one of the missiles being a Coke can.
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# ? May 7, 2012 11:21 |
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COuld anyone say a few words about the campaign Homesick? It sounds interesting from the description in Battuta's guide. I really like the idea of persistent characters and a familiar home-base kinda cap ship, a reason why I like Wing Commander so much (if only freespace had chalkboards). I'm nearing the end of Derelict and am setting my sights on what to do next.
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# ? May 10, 2012 09:09 |
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I remember it being one of the first custom campaigns I played but other than that don't remember very much other than liking it. Literally the only things I remember about it are:
On a somewhat related note mentioning Homesick reminded me of Transcend (I have no idea why I equate these two; I think maybe I played them back to back so when I remember one I remember the other) which I also enjoyed but boy was I not amused at having to fly a Herc II the entire campaign. If I had to play an entire campaign in one ship it better be a Herc I cause Herc Is are where it's at. (you should play Transcend too)
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# ? May 10, 2012 10:53 |
I played Homesick a fair time ago but it's still up there as one of my fond FS2 memories. It's a very good campaign - but I have no idea if it's compatible with the newer builds of FS Open. Insert name here said that Homesick is like Transcend. Close. Homesick is far closer to Transcend's 'prequel'/predecessor Sync.
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# ? May 10, 2012 13:04 |
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Well, I think we've figured out the bug that was causing BP2's escort missions to be more difficult than they should be. The LODs of the Karuna models are misaligned 60 meters forward of where they should be, but the turrets didn't move. This means that if you're far enough away to put the ship on LOD1 or LOD2, one of the ship's missile launchers will be shooting the back of the conning tower.
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# ? Jun 2, 2012 12:52 |
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General Battuta posted:Well, I think we've figured out the bug that was causing BP2's escort missions to be more difficult than they should be. The LODs of the Karuna models are misaligned 60 meters forward of where they should be, but the turrets didn't move. This means that if you're far enough away to put the ship on LOD1 or LOD2, one of the ship's missile launchers will be shooting the back of the conning tower. Wow. That's... really quite something. And explains so much - I've been completely sure that I've had those ships completely screened from bombers, only for them to lose chunks of health.
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# ? Jun 2, 2012 12:55 |
No wonder the UEF's getting their asses handed to them. Their workhorse frigates are designed to commit suicide!
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# ? Jun 2, 2012 13:10 |
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I just started playing FS1-SRT for the first time and noticed that while "Gliding" is listed in the control schemes, it doesn't actually function in the game. Are there addons that enable it for both FS1 and FS2, or is the ability to glide too much a departure from the intended gameplay that it isn't worth using?
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# ? Jun 24, 2012 20:44 |
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treat posted:I just started playing FS1-SRT for the first time and noticed that while "Gliding" is listed in the control schemes, it doesn't actually function in the game. Are there addons that enable it for both FS1 and FS2, or is the ability to glide too much a departure from the intended gameplay that it isn't worth using? Glide is a feature of the FSO engine, but it is not used by any of the stock FreeSpace 1 or FreeSpace 2 ships. It's generally used by mods set in other universes, like Diaspora or Wings of Dawn.
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# ? Jun 24, 2012 21:00 |
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General Battuta posted:Glide is a feature of the FSO engine, but it is not used by any of the stock FreeSpace 1 or FreeSpace 2 ships. It's generally used by mods set in other universes, like Diaspora or Wings of Dawn. I read as much and also managed to dig this up. It's an addon that enables glide to the ships in the FS2 campaign. The trade-off, however, is that it requires another addon that adjusts the AI to use the glide function among other things. I really love glide, and feel a little gimped without it, but I'm not sure if I want to take it so far as to gently caress with the AI on a first time playthrough. I also don't know if it's compatible with Open FS2 and can be run alongside the ultra shiny texture addon. Anybody have experience with this mod and can comment on the quality of the adjusted AI? Also, how well does coop work for FS1-STR and FS2 mods?
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# ? Jun 24, 2012 21:16 |
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Fury AI rocks - I was on the team that helped* design it, and it makes FreeSpace a lot more engaging and tense. I'm not totally certain you want to use it on a first time playthrough, though. (And yes, it's definitely compatible with FSO, and practically every mod can be used with the MVPs). I know there was a glide mod for Blue Planet AoA - maybe you could try that out when you get there? Another option is just to mod the ship tables to add glide to all the FS2 ships. You could use it yourself, though the AI wouldn't, I don't think. This would be pretty easy as long as you had VPView. I liked FS2 co-op a fair bit, though it's quite easy. *Fury and Sushi really do deserve the lion's share of the credit
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# ? Jun 24, 2012 21:59 |
General Battuta posted:Fury AI rocks - I was on the team that helped* design it, and it makes FreeSpace a lot more engaging and tense. I'm not totally certain you want to use it on a first time playthrough, though. (And yes, it's definitely compatible with FSO, and practically every mod can be used with the MVPs). Fury AI is incredible but, in my experience, it massively unbalances the campaign - to the extent of making some missions almost impossible.
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# ? Jun 24, 2012 23:09 |
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Oh yeah, you definitely don't want to use it outside of campaigns it's designed for. My bad. It'll make Shivan ships with default loadouts shoot Trebuchets and render some softer-hulled targets completely impossible to defend.
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# ? Jun 25, 2012 02:09 |
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Well, that's alright by me, considering I've spent all evening modding in the cockpit models and I've got almost all the immersion I need. The only thing I'm having a hard time finding is a script that enables the head-tracking freelook function to be used by a mouse with a key toggle. It's a good thing I've been meaning to build a head tracker, but in the meantime I'm not having any luck trying to simulate it.
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# ? Jun 25, 2012 02:34 |
General Battuta posted:Oh yeah, you definitely don't want to use it outside of campaigns it's designed for. My bad. It'll make Shivan ships with default loadouts shoot Trebuchets and render some softer-hulled targets completely impossible to defend. If it's any consolation, I haven't run across any 'impossible' missions yet - just a fair few where you have to be on the absolute top of your game. Still, excellent work on the AI, Battuta. EXCELLENT JOB PILOTTTTTT
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# ? Jun 25, 2012 02:54 |
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Hey dudes Diaspora has been released, go play the poo poo out of it. e: The previous OP was generous enough to close his thread so we could get rid of those pesky commas. New thread right here! General Battuta fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Sep 6, 2012 |
# ? Sep 4, 2012 13:22 |
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Trying to run FS2O from my macbook, but my fps just drops to a crawl at the most random points (asteroid fields and random cruisers seem the most common problems). Tried tuning down the graphics, didn't work. Does anyone have any idea on what might cause this problem?
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# ? Nov 17, 2012 03:13 |
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Sobatchja Morda posted:Trying to run FS2O from my macbook, but my fps just drops to a crawl at the most random points (asteroid fields and random cruisers seem the most common problems). Tried tuning down the graphics, didn't work. Does anyone have any idea on what might cause this problem? If you're using the MediaVPs, it's probably them. What are your macbook's specs?
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# ? Nov 17, 2012 10:37 |
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Well, solved the problem (turns out I had to disable GLSL support under advanced options) and went on a binge. Finished Freespace, Freespace 2, Age of Aquarius and War in Heaven. General Battuta, you guys are brilliant. That ending... Delenda Est and Sunglare are just perfect. Seriously, Delenda Est is not just the best level I played in a mod, it beats every other Freespace mission hands-down. Sunglare is fittingly tragic, it's cliffhanger works fantastically, and this is one of the better endings I've seen in a game this year. By the way, am I the only one who keeps reading all of captain Simms' lines with the voice of Katee Sackhoff? EDIT: poo poo, just found out you designed that mission. Holy hell, you deserve a medal! A Worrying Warlock fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Dec 15, 2012 |
# ? Dec 15, 2012 00:28 |
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I'm glad the mission didn't flip out and break on you. We've had problems with a persistent bug that turns Karuna armor into tissue paper. The big fight around the Carthage would become a hair-pulling exercise in frustration. In fact I'm really glad, because that whole finale is really dear to us.
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# ? Dec 16, 2012 05:03 |
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I had that problem the first time, but solved it after 5 minutes on Hard Light Forums. To be honest, I'd completly forgotten it already
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# ? Dec 17, 2012 00:40 |
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The next act of Blue Planet 2 is slated to be released shortly: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=83225.0 Can't wait. Also some info in that thread on how Blue Planet is going to be structured: Blue Planet 1 (released) Blue Planet 2 Act I: Chrysalis (released) Act II: Apotheosis (released) Act III: Tenebra Act IV: War in Heaven Act V: Revenant Blue Planet 3
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 06:21 |
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Oh heeeeelll yeah. Of course if we're only up to act 3 of part 2 then that means it'll probably be 2016 or so by the time it all wraps up but gently caress, something to look forward too come election year
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 06:31 |
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Oh my gosh, I did my third or fourth replay of Blue Planets over xmas, it gets better every time. I am so excited! :O
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 06:35 |
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The way we're shipping Blue Planet is increasingly dumb (split it into three releases, split the second release in half, split the half in half ) but Act 3 turned out to be a hell of a lot of work and we didn't want to wait until, for example, 2016 to release it along with Act 4 and 5. I'm really excited for this release, and a little nervous. The missions and the narrative are both deeply unconventional. We playtested pretty hard to make sure the new mechanics came across well, but I think there's still a lot of potential for frustration. On the other hand, I hope this release makes it clear that we recognize the potential for hoary old cliches in the story (super soldier chosen one character in Laporte, benevolent enlightened goody-two-shoes saviors in the Vishnans, recognizably conscious and comprehensible Shivans ) and want to steer for something more interesting. There'll be a cool new installer for Windows to help minimize the dependency hell that's characterized past releases. You'll also get a cutting-edge FreeSpace Open build from the 3.7 branch to use on all your favorite mods, because our missions are too loving huge and weird to work on anything else. It has deferred lighting and shadows and all kinds of goodies. Nothing official but we're hoping to release Saturday or Sunday. Post in this thread if you're badass enough to finish Act 3 without ever shooting at an enemy fighter. I should buy myself a BP avatar! General Battuta fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Jan 4, 2013 |
# ? Jan 4, 2013 08:01 |
Just the thing to end my vacation with then, Battuta! I'm psyched!
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 10:14 |
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Well dammit Battuta, I'm supposed to be working on my thesis this weekend! But I have to know what happens to Laporte, and what Samuel is doing, so here we go! Just as a side question, giving my earlier praise of Delenda Est, have you designed many missions for this one as well?
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 12:45 |
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Also is act 3 comparable in length to each of the first 2 acts? I need to know how much I should saviour it haha.
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 12:47 |
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It's 6+1 missions. That +1 is a sort of base camp you'll return to between missions, where you can talk to other characters (love those ). It'll change between each mission. The other missions are pretty replayable, with a fair few different paths and things to uncover. I think it'll be worth playing at least twice just to try doing things differently. There are also a couple very pretty in-engine cutscenes to bookend the act.Sobatchja Morda posted:Just as a side question, giving my earlier praise of Delenda Est, have you designed many missions for this one as well? Axem, Darius and I are the mission designers and we all collaborate pretty closely thanks to the magic of TortoiseSVN. I'd never take sole design credit for any of these missions, since we all worked on all of them, but I guess I was 'lead designer' on three missions and the base camp I mentioned above.
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 16:48 |
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How well do FS2 missions work in version control? I know that they're text based, with the SEXPs being dumped out as a lisp-looking language, but I'd be interested to know how that works in practice. SVN isn't really well known for it's fantastic merging strategies, ever come across any bad conflicts that you had to manually resolve?
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 17:03 |
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Also are any other versions getting the AoA engine update magic in this release?
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 17:06 |
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Dukka posted:Also are any other versions getting the AoA engine update magic in this release? Everything done to AoA will also be applied to the totality of WiH. The only change is that we'll be releasing slightly newer builds with some fixed bugs and shadows set to default off, due to their performance cost. Furret Basket posted:How well do FS2 missions work in version control? I know that they're text based, with the SEXPs being dumped out as a lisp-looking language, but I'd be interested to know how that works in practice. SVN isn't really well known for it's fantastic merging strategies, ever come across any bad conflicts that you had to manually resolve? 95% of the time SVN handles .fs2 files beautifully - they're small text files and SVN will happily update and merge. But, like you said, the problem is conflicts. If two users start operating on mission A, one of them commits version B, and then the other guy tries to commit version C, SVN will try to merge their changes. If version C changed something that version B hadn't touched, it'll merge fine; same goes for version B changing something that C didn't touch. But if they both try to alter something from A, it'll throw up a conflict, spit out a couple different versions of the file into your SVN directory, and wait for you to resolve the merge manually. It's usually not a problem because we're all on IRC when we work, so we can check in with other people editing the same missions. But it does occasionally lead to some hilarious snafus. One big source of conflicts is the header at the top of each .fs2 file that tracks the position of the camera in the mission editor. Someone might open a mission, move the camera a bit, decide they don't need to do anything, save habitually, and close. Next time they try to update that mission from SVN it'll start yelling about conflicts. I should make a post about some of the hilarious things we've discovered about the FreeSpace 2 engine. The lack of divide by 0 protection is a perpetual comedy and we're constantly stumbling on weird quirks. It wasn't until 2011 that people realized players shooting capships with laser weapons suffered a weird behind-the-scenes damage penalty compared to their AI teammates, and that'd been around since retail.
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 17:43 |
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General Battuta posted:I should make a post about some of the hilarious things we've discovered about the FreeSpace 2 engine. The lack of divide by 0 protection is a perpetual comedy and we're constantly stumbling on weird quirks. It wasn't until 2011 that people realized players shooting capships with laser weapons suffered a weird behind-the-scenes damage penalty compared to their AI teammates, and that'd been around since retail. It occurs to me that I never did play any of BP2. I'm going to have to fire up and beat BP1 again and then dive into it. This is in no way a bad thing!
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 18:35 |
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I updated all those about HLP mods with summer 2010, which was notable for shipping all that stuff we thought we'd never do - warship command, mid-mission subspace jumps, subspace missile strikes, actually human-level AI, etcetera. Meanwhile some mod came out, hope it lives up to expectations!
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 03:21 |
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War in Heaven Pt Deux is out. Link here.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 05:40 |
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# ? Jun 14, 2024 13:20 |
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Now I can enjoy even more missions with cool pals in space.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 07:35 |