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Universal Combat - First Impressions


Supreme Cmdr
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quote:

Derek, color me impressed so far, and congratulations on a job well done! Dreamcatcher can go screw themselves because they tried to kill an excellent title.

I agree 100 percent.

(OK...200 percent).Its obvious to the most casual observer that this title deserves more than it's reduced status to $19.90(US).I am still trying (to no avail) to figure out what is going on in the minds of Dreamcatcher managment.

Dunno .. I guess thats for others to decide.

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Guest Evenios

i dont like the vertex shader requirement. It should have been an option NOT a requrirement. and it should have been better labeled on the box as no other game in history has had that requirement.

i cant comment on the game itselve since i havent been able to load it :-p

Please surely there is a way to come out with some patch to work around that? i dont have a agp slot!

:-(

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quote:

As for the gaming looking great; so much for them saying they reduced the price because of its quality. Bastards. -Supreme Cmdr February 05, 2004 10:11


Calling them Bastards is by far an understatement. I pre-ordered and payed 49.95 and in my oppinion is a great price for this type of game. I own all 4 titles now (if you include the gold edition of BCM) and even BC3k is worth more than 19.95. I am studying C++ and am just begining to understand how hard it is to write a game that is only a couple thousand lines of code I can't immagine how many lines of code a game of this epic perportion is (feel free to indulge my curiosity though). Then on top of that Dreamcatcher is probably screwing you as far as the "Publishers justification for taking 80%+ of the profits". I'm not a profesional game programer yet but I already hate publishers. ARGH

By the way I am 100% satisfied with the game so far it runs FAR smoother than previous titles and ive only had one bug so far myself relating to crashing my cc every time I land on planet but i made a post on that in the tech forum.

Mr. Smart I say Job well done keep it comming

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quote:


Originally posted by trix9000:

but im entitled to my opinion just like you guys are entitled to kiss mr. smarts feet and praise his word as if it were gospel.


bye. Thanks for stopping by. You were warned about this. We do NOT tolerate this behavior here. And before you go clamouring that you were banned for your opinions, take note that your posts remain as they were originally written.

It is quite obvious to me that you do not, in fact, own this game. I blame myself for relaxing the forum registrations rules, because I didn't want to be bogged down with authing new registrations, giving the influx of new gamers.

But thanks for pointing out the error of my ways. A valid UC registration number is now once again required (as with BCM and BCMG) for registering and posting on the boards.

quote:


Originally posted by Elric_Sloan:

(except for the close up look of the planets while in space: they still dont look right for some reason)!


Yeah, this is right thorn in my side and amounts to realism over quality. The problem is that the sphere a really massive 3D object. The texture used is a 1024x512 perspective correct bitmap (e.g. look at PTE3STETEXEARTH.TGA. Imagine what happens when you take such a low res texture and wrap it around a massive sphere. It will be grainy up close (its complex 3D stuff that I won't explain here, or everyone's head will explode ), but look great from afar. In fact, hyperjump away from the planet and look at it in your rear view. Or target it in the NID and view it with F10 to see what I mean.

We added detail texturing up close, but that did little good. Its one of those things where you keep thinking about it until you give yourself a brain tumor. Hey, at least it is a real 3D spherical planet with accuring day/night sides, rotates with time, orbits around the center of the region etc. So, I think an up close grainy texture is a small price to pay, right?

quote:


Derek, color me impressed so far, and congratulations on a job well done! Dreamcatcher can go screw themselves because they tried to kill an excellent title. I will NEVER buy another DC title unless they rectify the situation that they have put you and 3000ad in!

Congratulations!


Thanks Eric. It was a team effort. And high or low price, we stand by our work. So we lose money this time around, but hopefully we gain new gamers for the future. Thats what a franchise is all about.

Given more time, it would have been near perfect. At least I prevented them from shipping and RC1 build. Small price to pay I think. If you glance at the 1.00.02 upcoming patch, you'll see just how close we were - with that list mostly consisting of tweaks, new features etc, and some odd bugs here and there.

quote:


Originally posted by Evenios:

i dont like the vertex shader requirement. It should have been an option NOT a requrirement. and it should have been better labeled on the box as no other game in history has had that requirement.

i cant comment on the game itselve since i havent been able to load it :-p

Please surely there is a way to come out with some patch to work around that? i dont have a agp slot!

:-(


A vertex shader is a DirectX 8.1 requirement. If your card does not meet even the DirectX 8.1 requirement, its time for an upgrade.

And no, there is no way around it. In fact, it used to require DirectX 9, as well as both vertex shader 1.1 and pixel shader 1.1. I thought about it and had to put in graphics fallbacks (from BCM Gold!!) for those without a pixel shader card. I made that decision after the box went to manufacturing, which is why it still says ps1.1 is required, when its not. Without a pixel shader, you don't get ANY of the advanced terrain graphics features, shield fx, planetfall fx, damage fx etc etc. You lose a TON of graphics enhancements without a pixel shader. Believe it or not, shaders are the next gen in the gaming graphics. And have been since 2001.

And it is labeled on the box quite CLEARLY

[ 02-07-2004, 06:31 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

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Well, I've played the game a few hours now and here are my first impressions;

The Good

I LOVE the new planetary terrain graphics. Absolutely fantastic. Standing in the grass and trees, watching horses, etc pass by is wonderful. I've always enjoyed the BC series for their openness and usually play more of the exploration role than the combat one.. this makes exploring and sightseeing a treat. Can't praise it enough. The game would be worth the full price, for me, for this feature alone

I disagree with a previous comment about quality of textures. They look fine to me. Sure, it ain't Morrowind but what do some people expect? You could spend a lifetime exploring one planet, never mind the whole cluster provided in the game. I can't wait to get into some firefights in that terrain.. Flying a shuttle in low is so cool

The space graphics are great too. Doesn't feel as much as a quantum leap as the terrain, but still very improved. The shield effects are lovely and the backdrops make a big difference.

The extra vehicles provided are great. The new ones seem to be of especially nice quality. I.e, the ship shown on the back of the box.. fantastic

I like the new interface, it's taking a while to re-adjust. It's familiar enough, though, that I can still find what I need to find.

The new planets.. Still not completely convincing from up close, but a whole lot better and they look awesome from a little further away. I can't help wondering if you just get too close to them in the BC series. In Eve I use to try and get as close as I could to the planets and they didn't look so great from really close up either. Maybe planetfall/orbit could be done from a little further out? Probably wouldn't be as realistic from a reality sense, but would keep the planets a little further away, where they look excellent. Earth from maybe 2 or 3 times orbit distance looks a treat. Better than anything except maybe the orbiter sim with the hi res earth add on.

I haven't played enough to see if/what other enhancements exist beyond the graphical changes, but these certainly bring the series much closer to the current state of the art. Considering the depth of the game is so far ahead of just about anything else available, this is a great achievement.

I don't really have a 'The bad' list other than I was hoping base capture (by player and A.I) would be in the game. I've known it wasn't in for a while, so it's no disappointment now, but it would have been nice Would definitely get my vote for any future game or add on pack. Also would have been nice to have an option for pixel shaded water.

I do appear to be getting some bugs. Won't go into much detail as this isn't the right forum, but to sum up.. When entering planetfall I often see some explosions or ship engine trails floating in the atmosphere (without any ship visible) Also, there seems to be some clipping problems with the buildings disappearing when getting close. The water seems to change colour/shade and small lakes kinda flicker on and off at times. I had a couple CTD's in the first 10 minutes but nothing since. I have the shuttle landing problem (drone deployment) but that's well known anyway.

Finally, suggestions. I know it's too late now, and probably shouldn't post this here but, real quick..

With the wildlife.. how cool would it be if on the more alien type planets you got wierd 'alien' wildlife?! Some of it rare and hard to find. For the explorer in me that would be so cool. Also, The grass and trees draw distance seems quite small.. I totally understand why, but my computer seems to be coping quite well (apart from the occasional stutter) so an option to increase the draw distance would be great.

Overall, total thumbs up. Looks like BCMG is finally heading for the dusty shelf cause it seems to improve it all round with no downsides

PS.. I like that the splashscreen still shows BCG. Kinda show's it's true heritage

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Guest Hellbinder[CE]

my first impressions so far...

1. The Game is by FAR the most polished product you guys have ever released! The entire presentation within the game is just really really nice.

2. The Graphics have taken a giant step forward. The entire atmosphere of the game has taken a giant step forward. The Vehicle models and shader affects are very nice. The Vehicles are all big and Bulky and just look like they weigh a ton! very nice effect.

3. I totally LOVE the mouse mode control system. It rocks!!!

4. Either i am getting better at this or the game is a little easier to play. Perhaps its the slightly revamped menu system?

5. The packaging for the game is the best you guys have ever produced. The maual, quick reference sheet, star map, artwork, even the main menu screen in the game is top notch. Did i fail to mention that the menus in this game just look and feel and work soooooo much better than previous games.

6. The Music is just AWESOME!!!

Ok the bad stuff...

Only One...

1. The FPS mode could use a little more polish. the little things like some interesting death animations. Some more effects for the weapons some stuff like that. The aiming with the weapons zoomed way in is a little bit on the unstable side. Or it could be my mouse

Thats it for that...

This is sooooo not a 19.99 title. On the flipside of that while i was in EB purchacing it... Several people saw me reading the box and asked some Questions about the game. Inclding the Store manager. They had not realized that it was a BC Title. The end result was that the game looks impressive and even though they had "heard things" about BC they decided to pick it up and give it a shot becuase it was only 20$.

This may indeed turn around and get a lot of new blood playing BC titles. it may also get those who felt burned by a past title to give it another shot. This game IMO is the finest BC game i have ever played. I am not saying that lightly it really is head and shoulders above anything 3000AD has ever put out.

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1.) I like the new interface -- I have a much easier time navigating and reading the information on my ship's systems. I also like have my missile systems congregated on the left hand side with the other weapons systems.

2.) Music and sound effects are awesome. They have greater depth than previous titles.

3.) Shield effects are very cool.

4.) Either I'm out of practice or I swear the AI is much more aggressive. These guys are out for blood!

quote:

Originally posted by Hellbinder:

This is sooooo not a 19.99 title. On the flipside of that while i was in EB purchacing it... Several people saw me reading the box and asked some Questions about the game. Inclding the Store manager. They had not realized that it was a BC Title. The end result was that the game looks impressive and even though they had "heard things" about BC they decided to pick it up and give it a shot becuase it was only 20$.

If this is a $19.99 budget title, then I expect to DC's upcoming title Painkiller to be similarly priced.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

Thats not the splash screen. That screen is the SafeDisc splash screen.

Gotcha. I misspoke when I called it the splash screen instead of the Safedisc splash screen. Still, it was strange to see that when I was expecting UC!

Otherwise, I'm enjoying the more-intuitive menu scheme and new graphics engine.

I also agree that the FPS aspect could use some improvement to bring it into line with the quality of the rest of the game.

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Actually, although the FPS part of UC isn't up to a dedicated FPS standard (and this is usually because a 'proper' FPS is so scripted - and imo is usually boring anyway) I'm really impressed with the ground based ops in UC.

The instant action mission where your base is attacked by a crashed gunship is really cool. Being able to hop into one of the many vehicle's.. tracking down the landing site. There are so many different ways to play it and it works pretty well. It has something of a midwinter feel to it (anyone remember that classic?!)

I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time in FPS, on the ground, than I ever did in BCMG.

Nothing's ever perfect of course. I wish the groans as people get hit were only hearable from a much closer distance.. and I the fact that your AE is often trying to orient himself to east/west can be frustrating, but it's a much more enjoyable part of the game than it was before and I'd far rather 'go FPS' in UC than in most FPS's available today.

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The cruisers seem a lot slower than in BCMG (or is this just my imagination?). It may also be that I'm just missing the afterburners, badly.

It also seems that the enemy is far more lethal (I guess this is part of the action oriented approach.)

I tried out one of the marine scenarios, did well until I crashed into the sea. Wouldn't you know those pesky Insurgent Aircraft were STILL trying to shoot me while I was swimming towards a base??!?!

But I am finding it hard to land without using AP, so I let my crew try it and they promptly buried my cruiser upside-down in a hillside. I took the opportunity to run through the woods to a nearby city. Zooming over the landscape using my jetpack was exhilarating. And the approach to the city through the woods...oh my...how cool is that.

I'm loving the new terrain engine SC...it's awesome. In fact all of the improvements are great!

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I agree with Grizzle.. the AI does seem tougher. This is, of course, great.. but it would be nice to have some corner of the galaxy where you could 'get your shit together' without being attacked. If such a place exists I haven't yet found it.

I've tried playing the paramedic caste and, although you have far fewer enemies, it doesn't take long before you find one, and it kills you.

SC, would you consider putting in a caste where nothing attacks you? Just so you can watch it all in safety and explore?

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Guest Shriver

btw, as a developer, what do you think overall about the game? Especially wrt Dreamcatcher's comment

that they lowered the price because of its "quality"? [/QB]

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Hey, i got to play UC for some time today and i must say i'm impressed, i can't wait until my copies arrive, i really liked the game, especially the new models. They look good in action... i must ssay that i had a lot of fun playing roam and not to mention the fleet defense IA scenario (though i didn't figure out until my fourth try that i had to elevate instead of going forwardor i would get bumped from the carrier to the water) and #14 on the chase for a crashed gunship! lot of fun

I think i have to disagree with the post above of mine, the game's music is a really good one, cheers to Vanethian!!! and a price of 19.99 is not just fine, IMO its not what UC's quality deserves.

Heck, that quality nonsense is rubbish! does anyone remember that one of the shittiest games of all time "Real war" was released at 49.99!!! and later its shittier expansion "Rogue States" was released at a price of ummm... 29.99? or was it 19?

Great job SC, indeed

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I picked up UC this morning and have played for about eight hours throughout the day. This is the first game I have played in the Battlecruiser series and so far I have been having a good time with it. The gameplay is very deep and it is obvious that a lot of thought, effort, and vision was put into the design. I have to say that I like all aspects of the game with the exception of two things.

1. The Manual: While the printed manual is nice and has successfully taught me how to operate the game(over a period of 4hrs.) there was a few things I felt needed to be added. Descriptions of the differant missle and weapon systems would have been nice. As I have been playing I have noticed a wide range of ATA, STS, ect. missle systems but I am not sure what the differance between them are.

I would have also liked to see a description of each of the many assets in the game. Stuff like max speed, common role, weapons loadouts, ect. would be nice from a gaming perspectave and would help me flesh out the game world in my mind.

2. The control scheme is nice once you get used to it but there is one thing that I am having a hard time getting used to. When using the mouse steering mode I have a hard time with the crosshair and the mouse pointer being seperate. It is extremely hard for me to line up shots when piloting fighter craft. Is there an option that I am missing that will link the mouse pointer directly to the crosshair in the center of the screen in mouse flight mode?

Other than these two things I think that this game is great and has the potential to eat up a lot of my time. I will definatly keep my eyes open for other titles released by the developer.

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Guest Hellbinder[CE]

quote:

I like to think of myself as someone who "goes" for complexity, but if you are really interested in my opinion, I find the User Interface ambiguous to the point of pathological. Reminds me of the first time I had to run a couple of algorithms in Mathematica, where the UI is a series of command lines and a series of lucky events.

I find myself deciding on a course of action and flipping around in the manual until I get it right. Then on to another series of thoughts and hopeful outcomes.

As a physics major, I found the modelling to be less a sim' and more of a game, of which I find still acceptable for a $20.00 game. The graphics are fine, music... not so much.

There is a lot of promise somewhere in here and I hope to find it.


I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion...

As For My Findings as an IT professional and web developer...

I think the Menus are EASY to understand and as Straight forward as you can get. In fact the menus in this game are GREATLY improved over any previous BC title. So much so that even Homeladfed talks about how much easier the game is to play.

The Game is intended to be deep and have the feel of a Space Combat SIMULATION. Of course you should have to actually RTFM when you first start playing to learn all the Ships systems. Its the kind of game you can play while watching some movies on a Sunday afternoon. Things take time to develope.

There are no *hopefull outcomes* you follow the rules you follow the perscribed methods and prceedures and you get EXACTLY what you told it almost to a Fault. Thats just the way the game is.

Another thing..

Wether a game has arcade physics or ultra realistic physics it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with it being worth 1$ 10$ 50$ or 5,000$. Its a Design choice to get as Balanced a result as possible.

Personally I would expect someone who is supposed to be a Programmer, Physics major or whatever to grasp the depth of this game pretty Quickly.. I am a little Suprised at your comments.

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Guest Hellbinder[CE]

quote:

Originally posted by DominionX9:

I picked up UC this morning and have played for about eight hours throughout the day. This is the first game I have played in the Battlecruiser series and so far I have been having a good time with it. The gameplay is very deep and it is obvious that a lot of thought, effort, and vision was put into the design. I have to say that I like all aspects of the game with the exception of two things.

1. The Manual: While the printed manual is nice and has successfully taught me how to operate the game(over a period of 4hrs.) there was a few things I felt needed to be added. Descriptions of the differant missle and weapon systems would have been nice. As I have been playing I have noticed a wide range of ATA, STS, ect. missle systems but I am not sure what the differance between them are.

I would have also liked to see a description of each of the many assets in the game. Stuff like max speed, common role, weapons loadouts, ect. would be nice from a gaming perspectave and would help me flesh out the game world in my mind.

2. The control scheme is nice once you get used to it but there is one thing that I am having a hard time getting used to. When using the mouse steering mode I have a hard time with the crosshair and the mouse pointer being seperate. It is extremely hard for me to line up shots when piloting fighter craft. Is there an option that I am missing that will link the mouse pointer directly to the crosshair in the center of the screen in mouse flight mode?

Other than these two things I think that this game is great and has the potential to eat up a lot of my time. I will definatly keep my eyes open for other titles released by the developer.

Hey man.. Check out the game shortcuts in your start menu. You will find the appendix to the manual with all the detailed info you are looking for. its all in HTML format and is very easy to follow. It shows Ships, Weapons, Supplies, Systems, assets, the works. Check it out.

Your other Question... You should not be firing at the cross hair...

Use the mouse to aim the recticle at the target lead marker. I have been piloting all day in mouse mode. I think its awesome.

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About the widescreen issue. I'm using a widescreen monitor right now, and the D3D games I've played (which are a few) supported widescreen at 1920x1200 resolution. Those games were Deus Ex, and Medal of Honor. Though I dont expect all games to support such a near rediculous resolution, it's cool when they do. It adds to the immersion factor when the games fills up all the 24 inch widescreen goodness my monitor offers.

Though, I said "widescreen issue". It's actually not an issue at all. Few people have widescreen monitors, and widescreen support does not make a game more fun.

On another note, I drove 20 miles out to the only gamestop in my area that had the game to buy it tonight, and when I got there I couldn't get it because their credit card machine was down and I only had a $20 bill (not enough to cover the tax). -_-

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Many thanks for the help... Guess I have to wait until the next game for that. I think it would be cool to be a Merc... and I mean a REALLY hired gun to go from planet to base to planet Chasing jobs and bounties! Or being a SCIENTIST looking for vital infomation or scans, trying to keep alive.

The game is still good. I know some people are hung up on litte tiny details in the graphic but I'm not, Good engine, Good Design! I just need someone to come up with a mod (or expansion pack) that give meaning to PARAMEDIC, EXPLORER, POLICE, COMMERCIAL, SCIENTIST plus other non military caste purpose other then being weak. Until then I'll just keep doing the military, scavenger or trading bit. But I love the dog fighting, it is really cool.

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Well, I read the first page, and most of the second of this thread. And I noticed that everytime someone posts negetive feesback they are harrassed and confronted about their opinions, yet the whole point to this thread is first impressions. Well I'm gonna give you mine, and I dont have much good to say about this game SO FAR.

It seems I cannot access all of the control configurations on the config screen. I can see the begining of several rows of words there, but I cant click on them. Second, mabey I'm missing something, but I was under the impression you could use the mouse to control the ship, my mouse wont control the ship even though that check box is checked 'use mouse control'. once again mabey I need access to those control configuration screens. so for these reasons I have very little time playing, as I'm really just trying to get everything configured. First person lacks much compared to current FPS. I know, I know, the game wasnt primarily designed to be a FPS. But you included it, AND you ask for an opinion. As a person who has played hundreds of FPS's I was disappointed, as it was one of the selling points for me. Saw a few poly seams, prolly drivers. Though mine are up to date. Noticed collision detection problems in first person mode (on structures). So far I cant get the game to detect my mouse wheel.

After reading about the game I was really excited. And I'll say what I liked. The music sounded good while it was playing, I got annoyed trying to configure the game and turned it off. The graphics are nice, I was impressed by hi-res ship textures, they look good. High poly count is good. I understand about the trees, what has been said by SC in his post, and it was about as I expected knowing beforehand the scale of the game, so I think their good. I was suprised to see wildlife, thats cool for a game of this type. I havent payed much attention to sound fx, backdrops, planets, models up close or textures up close, as most of my time has been spent trying to configure controls. The game is a bargain at 20 bucks.

I'll admit I havent spent much time in the game, or trying to get the controls configured for that matter. But I'm looking forward to exploring the game when I do.

Now, I would like to comment on a few other posts.

quote:

Really? How many games actually do support widescreen? And why?

uh, quit a few, and more coming. Why? two reasons. 1 people are buying widescreen monitors and televisions, and 2 there is a demand for applications and games in widescreen.

quote:

If you read the manual it would tell you what units you can enter. I can't think of any game that gives you a visual cue to tell you what units you can/cannot enter.

uh, no offense but I didnt buy the game to read a book, I bought it to play a game. 'any game' huh hitman 1 or 2 just for a 'any game', and there are tons more I wont list.

Originally posted by MythicalMino:

My 2nd "complaint"....why hasn't LucasArts been knocking down your door, begging you to make a REAL Star Wars game????? I think Universal Combat would make a totally AWESOME Star Wars game...unless they have, and you have turned them down.

Their already out there... look around.

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quote:


Originally posted by Opal_Dragon:

The game is still good. I know some people are hung up on litte tiny details in the graphic but I'm not, Good engine, Good Design! I just need someone to come up with a mod (or expansion pack) that give meaning to PARAMEDIC, EXPLORER, POLICE, COMMERCIAL, SCIENTIST plus other non military caste purpose other then being weak. Until then I'll just keep doing the military, scavenger or trading bit. But I love the dog fighting, it is really cool.


It is primarily a combat game.

And who says you can't be a merc? Thats what the raider caste is for.

quote:


Originally posted by SGT Nails:

Well, I read the first page, and most of the second of this thread. And I noticed that everytime someone posts negetive feesback they are harrassed and confronted about their opinions, yet the whole point to this thread is first impressions.


I hope you're joking. We don't and never have - tolerated that here.

quote:


uh, quit a few, and more coming. Why? two reasons. 1 people are buying widescreen monitors and televisions, and 2 there is a demand for applications and games in widescreen.

Wrong. There is no special programming required to support widescreen resolutions - its the aspect ratio that counts. And if you read the post in the tech support area, you'll see a discussion about this.

quote:


uh, no offense but I didnt buy the game to read a book, I bought it to play a game. 'any game' huh hitman 1 or 2 just for a 'any game', and there are tons more I wont list.


Boy, you done sure picked the wrong game. With that kind of attitude, I'm not surprised you can't get the mouse wheel working. You would have found the problem had you looked in the FAQ. But what do I know?

quote:


Their already out there... look around.

You clearly missed the point he was making. Go back and read his entire post. He was talking about a Star Wars game with space *and* planetary portions.

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quote:

It seems I cannot access all of the control configurations on the config screen. I can see the begining of several rows of words there, but I cant click on them. Second, mabey I'm missing something, but I was under the impression you could use the mouse to control the ship, my mouse wont control the ship even though that check box is checked 'use mouse control'. once again mabey I need access to those control configuration screens. so for these reasons I have very little time playing, as I'm really just trying to get everything configured. First person lacks much compared to current FPS. I know, I know, the game wasnt primarily designed to be a FPS. But you included it, AND you ask for an opinion. As a person who has played hundreds of FPS's I was disappointed, as it was one of the selling points for me. Saw a few poly seams, prolly drivers. Though mine are up to date. Noticed collision detection problems in first person mode (on structures). So far I cant get the game to detect my mouse wheel.

This is crazy, if you would read the manual you would see that the mouse control requires another button to be pushed to activate it. I will not post the button here because you should read the manual!!!

Furthermore, in the FAQ there is a section on mouse issues. Have you even tried that fix? If not, do so. If you have then maybe you have a problem and should report it.

quote:

Furthermore, you may address me as Sir, not boy.

Wow! You are slow on the uptake aren't you? First of all, from reading Derek's post, he wasn't calling YOU boy, he was using boy as an exclamation, as in "boy, did I mess up!". Not Derek's fault if you did not comprehend his post. Secondly, why on earth would any of us address you as sir? For me to adress someone as sir, they have to either be my superior (which you are not), have earned my respect (which, again, you have not) or be signifigantly older than me (which you may be, but I cant tell it by your posts!)! What a crazy, stupid request!

I think you came to this board looking to be offended by what ever Derek said, and decided to take offense about any and everything! Read the manual, read and try to COMPREHEND the posts and maybe, just maybe, we will get along just fine!

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Guest Shriver

As For My Findings as an IT professional and web developer...

Personally I would expect someone who is supposed to be a Programmer, Physics major or whatever to grasp the depth of this game pretty Quickly.. I am a little Suprised at your comments.

There is no need to get insulting...

I'm 19 years old and I have been attending Embry-Riddle University since I was 17. My specialized field of physics is flight dynamics and unstable airframe designs.

I do enjoy games like Independence war and Terminus and their Newtonian flight models in varying degrees of realisim and I was hoping for something similiar. I was one of the many disappointed in EVE online with the "skunked" models and ignorant ship flight characterisitics. They have Zero understanding of acceleration and gravitational constants in non frictional enviornments.

That being said, UC seems to have similar problems with general physics that any first semester physics class would bring into play. I can only imagine programming them into a game would be a rather collosall task at best for a large staff, let alone an independent development company.

User Interfaces have a huge pyschology behind their developement. High performance Aircraft use simplified displays, controls and instrumentation to prevent pilot overload. There are two forms of UI, Positive and Negative Interfaces. The F-22 Raptor has a positive interface, with much of the Aircraft's "house keeping" in the hands of the Airdata Computer, leaving tactical and fight handling to the pilot. A perfect Example of Negative UI is in the A-6 Intruder. A pilot spent most of the time "Running the pattern" in the cockpit's instrumentation, to the point that I can only wonder how they ever had time to actually make a bomb run.

UC seem's to have a Negative Interface, for reasons that I can not fathom.

Graphically speaking, EVE has it beat hands down. Sorry but that is the case. It is rather difficult to find something that UC is comparable too. But keeping in mind the purported number of algorithms and processes running at any given time, I could state flatly that they are along the same lines as "Tribes". That is with all things considered.

I have seen a number of things that indicate to me that the code could use a bit of tightening. The system seems to be running constantly an FDN rather than as a minimal. That is to say, it is trying to do everything at once, which as any Discrete math student can attest, is not possible or necessary. Principles of uncertainity and issues within the limitation of computability indicate that one is not warranted and another is not possible. Prinicples of uncertainity indicate that within dynamic environments, specific values can not be know simulatneously. The FDN is trying to do just that, when a Minimal would be more than sufficient to do the task.

I see a number of people commenting about the size of planets in the game. Size is immaterial to scale. What is more important is minimal unit of measurment. A Planet measured in meters comes back with a very impressive number. Earth has a Mean Radius of 6.37 x 10^6 or 6,370,000 meters from the center to the surface. Jupiter has a radius of 11.2245 earth radii and doesn't seem to impressive. This is a simple matter for a math engine to handle. My T-89 seems to deal with both rather quickly. And how far is too far. From an engineering point of view, there are few instance where it is necessary to go below a 100th of a Radian. Is it necessary for the math engine to compute below a meter?

Now, that being said... it is just a game. Some games are way overprices for what they charge, others are undervalued. I think I got skinned on Terminus, and my money's worth with I-War. EVE online was a bad Star Trek episode. Afer all that has been said and done. UC is a Twenty Dollar game out of the box.

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