Praylak

True the military hardware available is no match for a Dragon, but it's not much help when you consider the mass numbers the movie hinted at. They compared thier reproduction to that of fish in the movie. That's actually a huge statement, but I assume many probably missed it. Take for example a common Angel-fish. It can lay two thousand + eggs in one laying. Now add to that the fact that many common reptile species(which I would more closely compare the Dragons with) can reach maturity in less than a year. In that relatively short amount of time, a creature at the top of the food chain like this would over-populate at an amazing rate. Once the havoc began, governments would have more than just Dragons to deal with. Mass panic from people alone would probably cause just as much damage to local infrastructre as any Dragon could. The world was overcome by the sheer numbers of them. It's not hard to believe.

Realizing Im a nobody, and the value of my opinion is only the sum of my posts indicated on the bottom bar, Im going to make one anyway. (..On with the jockstrap and breastplate.) I hope the SC (salute!) was only being humorous when he suggested that the game needs to be more difficult. When one considers the whole of the simulation, and that must include the difficulty curve (which for this game is a 90 degree upward arc), BCM is just fine and seems well balanced here. Once the complexities are overcome I dont feel one should be rewarded with godlike enemy AI that can kick your ass at every engagement. A fact in which many games suffer from. Duncan is quite likely a very good player. The game is just fine.

Most impressive! Make the best game ever even better. Christ, I suppose I'll contact the lawyer, and get the divorce process going now....

On the contrary you can successfully land your CC and take off from the surface of the planet without any damage, and without using the Auto landing system. I do all the time. Its called CLWG. (Controlled Landing Without the Gear) Instructions.. Standard descent to about an altitude of 1000. Assume VTOL control, hover and decend to minimum altitude of 36. (Now, pay attention to the throttle here otherwise you'll jump in forward motion and road rash your undercarriage.) With Throttle at 0, switch to FTOL mode and your CC ever so softly will decend at a rate of 2m/s to the surface. A landed status can be confirmed by TAXI indicator on the HUD, and your altitude on the EAI tape reads 0. Issue Halt orders, engage A/P, and shut off the engines. To leave, reverse the process exactly as described. Watch your throttle! Switching from VTOL to FTOL at an alitude of 36 will lead to a most unpleasurable experience. Try it, works great, like everything else in this sim. [ 03-02-2002, 11:52: Message edited by: Praylak ]

Very interesting. I knew that Kryptonium, stronium, and uranium were volatile, but it seems to suggest there are other minerals to be weary of. Rest assured, Jo is getting no rest on my ship until she gets her AI up. She can forget about piss breaks too. It's a tricky thing, because these minerals, not only repair minerals, but they deliver a nice price for trade. It's obvious why. In any case, I'll be watching this very closely! Thanks.

Thanks, I don't feel so evil anymore.

Before BCM, I had the 23.11's installed. As reported by others on the forum, I too had problems but good fps. Then installed the 27.51's, problems still remained but image and effect quality was better. Now, 27.42's are installed and BCM runs fine, image quality and effects are great, FPS has dropped though. Xierxior, 70 fps is good, I'm curious what options you have enabled and what res your using. Thanks

In my effort to find an answer to a strange damage problem, only one post seems to match. quoting - Fox " The best thing for damage control in BCM is to avoid it entirely. Dont fly into corrosive atmospheres, turn on your countermeasures if a flock of missiles are after you, and jink." I'm curious about this "corrosive atmosphere". My CC is parked on the moon Umbriel in the Uranus region. Only the starting amount of 5 units each, of the viotile minerals are onboard (not a large quanity), haven't used cloak, and all systems are normal including the reactor. Shield's are set to 25%, engines off. A/P on, with halt orders and there are no hostiles on the moon. After a shuttle trip my AE took, I was surprised to learn upon my return that the ship took what appeared to be massive radiation damage. Most systems hit for 20-30% damage, many personal from every area radiated. My first thought was, radiation from the planet had penetrated my low shield setting, because although I can repeat this, it doesn't happen if my shield setting is at 50% or higher. But I can find no evidence in the manual, appendix or here to support the theory. Or perhaps this is just a coincidence. Save the day, help a noober and his low AI crew. [ 03-01-2002, 15:40: Message edited by: Praylak ]

Ya I know, like I said it's kinda outta character. This method of "scavanging" is only valid in the beginning when you have no experience or money. Desperate times for a commander starting out. You don't have the means to start heavy lucrative trade runs, and loosing fighters at this point is not good, especially when they are what...?... 3+ million each? As well, ship repairs as you know, require some expensive items that you do not start with. In any case damage from battle can be a serious imparment at this stage of the game. The funds I would get from mining and trade would have to go to repairs or purchasing of said items. Last night in just an hour I recovered 9 cargo pods(4 trips out). Sure enough, there was some juicy high priced items in them. I should have enough capital now, I can begin some nice trade runs. An thus ends my dark career as a leech. [ 03-01-2002, 12:39: Message edited by: Praylak ]

This method I use may seem somewhat out of character for a Military caste player, but I'm just doing this to get my rig and crew up to par. After which, I'll feel more confident charging into a heavy engagement. Planetfall at a place of good regional traffic, and deploy miners. Park your CC, halt orders, engine off. AE takes off with your best shuttle and hang out in orbit or near by in space. Eventually, the likely event of a battle between to ships is going to take place. When the one ship is about to blow (your monitoring this battle of course), HJ to it. Thats right, spring into the fray with your unarmed, 75 point shield, shuttle. By the time you come out of Hyper space a nice fat cargo pod should be waiting for you. Grab it and get the hell outta there fast. Repeat as required. Hope those Vandals still have a target to shoot at, otherwise plinking at you is the next best thing. But for me, this has been a goldmine. I've found the best engine upgrade like this. It's risky, no doubt. But fortune never calls on those that have no balls.