TopSpeed

I reinstalled and rebooted again. Now it hyperspace works correctly. Thanks for the responses.

This has been consistent throughout career mode, roam mode, and quite a few instant actions scenarios. I have reinstalled and manually forced an update by changing the settings.ini version number.

When I should be going in to hyperspace, I don't. The 'HS' icon is on the HUD, I hear the voice telling me I am going into hyperspace, the craft orients itself to my targetted destination, etc. But I don't go anywhere. I don't get the tunnel/lightspeed fx and don't move. Time passes, ships enter/leave the system, etc, as long as they don't enter hyperspace. Any craft that enters hyperspace stays there. When I target them, I can see they are listed as being in hyperspace, but the distance to them doesn't change and the countdown time remains the same.

I have played the other BC/UC games, so have jumped many times before. I parsed the UC:Gold manual and read the VCF before posting. It's not that I don't know how to jump, it's that the jump doesn't seem to be working correctly. My assets, whether Command Craft, shuttles or fighters, just won't actually go into hyperspace. Other craft will show as though they are in hyperspace, but never seem to move or leave it. Time passes, new craft enter the system, etc., but those ships who come in and hyperjump for whatever reason are just staying in hyperjump. The screen in the lower right shows the craft in "hyperjump mode" (the white lines like TV static), but the distance doesn't change and the destination time doesn't change. I tried variable distances and destinations, different assets (shuttles & fighters, AI controlled and self controlled), and still get the same result.

I recently purchased UC:G from DigitalRiver. The download was the most recent version, 100.003, I believe. First time out, I found I didn't have any hyperspace FX nor do my craft seem to be going into hyperspace. Time passes and objects and ships move normally it looks like. When I try to jump I hear the 'hyperspace initiating' voice and then just sit there. I found a similar thread regarding an issue with UC (I think), but it was from '05, and indicates the issue was identified and fixed. I have already done a reinstall and a manual patch and have the same problem. Thanks

I was dissapointed with the demo overall. The ground combat was weak. The space combat was weak. The interface is a prettied up version of Rebellion. For lack of a better way to put it, the 'feel' of the game was off for me. I like RTS games, and I dig Star Wars, but this one was bleh. For example, the rock-paper-scissors style of this kills that but is weaker against these is present, but is difficult to utilize. The combat is a big hairy jumble with little overall ability to affect things once opponents meet. No base building is no fun, especially considering some of the cool structures and such that have been featured in the movies (think the Hoth battle). Certain units in the demo were waaaay overpowered as well. Take the Empire's Speeder Bike. It has a special ability that drops a thermal detonator. This thing will wipe out a ton of troops and damages vehicle, but the troops are too slow to get out of the way. Even if you concentrate fire on the speeders when you see them, it is difficult to destroy them before they can get a detonator off. In the demo, X-Wings are the only spacecraft worth bothering with. Cheap and effective, they beat the other ship types hands down against enemy fighters and capital ships. For the demo, you get the tutorial and a single galactic conquest/campaign mission. The first planet you have to capture, via a space battle, was obscenely easy. Send in 8 X-Wing squadrons and you win without doing much of anything except pointing them at the target. Total cost of destroying two capital ships and a full space base? 8 x 250 = 2000. Cost of the capital ships and the base? Not sure, but the Correlian Corvette runs about 1250, and it's supposed to be cheaper and weaker than the Star Destroyer. The second planet you have to conquer in a land battle. You buy whatever reinforcements you want before you go into battle. The Empire has a ton of top-notch forces: AT-ST's, an AT-AT, heavy turrets, speeder bikes, and stormtroopes. You get some 'native' forces, Jawas and the like, and whatever you bring as reinforcements. One trick to this was to re-start the game until you figured out where the enemies base was so you could destroy his barracks and vehicle factory, thus depriving him of further units. Otherwise he just keeps getting more forces to replace losses, while your reinforcements run out all too soon. Once engaged, a tactical retreat was almost always fatal so it was all or nothing. Throw in one of the Empires' plentiful speeders dropping detonators in the midst of my troops every few seconds and it got ugly quick like for the Rebellion. I figure it's a demo and chances are some things will be changed in the retail version. However, other posts I've seen are so overwhelmingly positive that maybe it's just me. For comparison, RTS games I like are Total Annihilation, StarCraft, Dawn of War, Command & Conquer: Generals and Warcraft II. For turn based games, I like Age of Wonders 2 and Kohan 2. EaW tries to mix both styles, but doesn't do either well in my opinion.

Not that I don't like it here, mind you, but the traffic is a bit sparse and has mostly a lot of BC players. Anyone have a board they can recommend? I prefer good info and a more mature community. I used to visit Gonegold.com, but with its' demise I still need a replacement. Thanks

You got it, or almost! When you lose a craft, you have to buy replacements, if available, at a base you can do business with. Once you have bought the replacement, go to Tactical, I believe, and you will see an option 'replace craft' or close. Click it and go!

Don't forget to check the shuttles cargo manifest once in a while, too. Often enough parts and weapons I could have used have ended up in one of my shuttles after a raid.

Are you using the TOM (Team Orders Menu)? There's some info about it in the UC Manual Revisions.pdf file on the downloads page. Frankly, the last time I tried to walk on a moon, I forgot to put a spacesuit on and promptly died. I did get a nice glimpse of my Wildcat first, though.

I've never seen experience point loss for upgrading. However, you lose experience for friendly losses in the zone you are in. I would venture to guess you lost experience due to a combat you didn't see rather than upgrading.

I saw this, too. After a few hours of game play, the inflation levels seemed to be normal, relative to my BCM experiences.

So you don't feel stupid. Me too, and thanks!

I did find in the manual where it reads how close you get is based on the size of the target your jumping to. Going to have to go through the appendix and see the size of those stations and bases.

I have been trying to find a pattern for how much distance you will be away from a target when you jump to it. For example, I usually end up around 80.0 or so from jump gates, and 12.0 or so from flux fields. Same with bases- some are around 30.0, while some I pop out around 80.0. I'm wondering if anyone has found a pattern, and if so, what it is. Thanks

I also had this 'problem'. Turns out it was the charge rate on my FC or SC was 0. I had to wait a bit for it to recharge. I believe it's on Tactical-Launch, then the ship in question. At the bottom is the charge reading. Seems more likely considering you specifically mention you had them out for a long period.

The number keys work fine; with or without numlock being on. With them I can control pitch, angle, etc, as desired. However, prior to the RC1 patch I was also able to use the arrow keys (not the ones on the number pad), and the INS/DEL keys (also not the ones on the number pad) to control horizontal, vertical, left/right movement. It was merely convenient because I was used to them, has the keys on the number pad do the same thing.

Since the RC1 patch I have had a similar problem. Previously those keys worked to twist/roll the ship. Now, since applying the RC1 patch, those keys do nothing (at least while in space) regardless of whether or not the numlock key is on or off.

I've tried several of my regular BCMG milk runs and inflation hasn't seemed to be taking its toll. Anyone got some some suggestions to make a few credits on the quick for UC? Thanks

Oh, and the appendix is located in the Universal Combat folder (where you installed the game), in the Docs/Appendix folders. Lots of good stuff there.

Keep at it Holliday. I spent my first few hours trying to get my shuttle of Earth, realizing eventually, with some help, that I needed to use the 'escape atmosphere' keys. I still avoid ground actions because I feel like a Zimbabwean Tree Slug with the controls. Anymore I just launch OTS (orbit to surface) missiles on them from a distance. Oh, and when I did get off Earth? I found my command ship had wandered off because I forgot to park it. Oops! Nevermind the time I decided to go for a space walk and again forgot to park it! Ever try going planet to planet with a jetpack?

I used a very good beginner tutorial to 'get into' the game the first time around. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it atm. I know it is paraphrased on the Gonegold.com forums, under a couple of different threads. Web address is www.gonegold.com. Go to the forums, and search for 'battlecruiser' or 'universal combat'. No fees or registration required.

The correct answer here is Firestorm class super-carrier!

There's an excellent chart in the Universal Combat/docs/appendix folder. It is installed when you install Universal Combat (and BCM/BCMG for that matter). It is in html format, called tradeitems.html, I believe. There are also several other appendixes that are extremely usefull.

Wait a minute... there's a good Star Trek movie? Which one?