92 replies to this topic

[Supreme Cmdr]

Yeah, I did a ton of tweaking. I tried hard not to go overboard with the planetary units though, or you'd never succeed without cheating.

The NPC personnel could still need some tweaking though, since they sometimes doing funny things; especially in densely populated scenes.

[Darkling]

Just one example that I noticed is that before if I'm in my Firestorm out in space, I would cloak and they would stop firing on me. Now, they're not so stupid, they stop firing AFTER they see that their shots are no longer hitting anything. Nice touch, I need to ajust tactics:)

[Supreme Cmdr]

Yeah, thats one of the items that were tweaked actually; and it works with both turrets and guns.

[Cc]

One thing that is worth the price of admission is the new terrain,especially on the moon (or moons).

Came in for a landing and it was very realistic.

[Cruis.In]

been having fun so far, trying to get rich, no crashes, latest video drivers and sound accel down a notch, left it on all day too.

However, after trading for hours and not saving, I went to get a drink while jumping and a damn capital ship killed my shuttle... RATZ...

those bastards.

[Supreme Cmdr]

Thats your first impression? Surely you - of all people - can do better than that.

[teknocack]

It took awhile for me to sit down here and type some first impressions. I've had some difficulties and wanted to be able to focus.

Graphics-Let me state the obvious by saying that the graphics are a significant step forward. Any naysayers out there simply don't understand the tradeoffs required by a game of this depth. To have visuals of this caliber and still have the complexity that all of us love is a credit to the design and the advancement of computer power.

Sound-Love the beefier main gun sounds!

The stuff that wasn't broke you didn't fix and of course, that is good.

Curse you Red Baron for designing the best space combat sim in the known world.
Down Fanboy, down!

[Cruis.In]

its the best damn game in the series in my opinion and after 7 years of playing I am having incredible fun playing it. Graphics are lovely. I can hear PTA firing now (love that) couldn't before, don't know or I can't say whether it had a sound, or I just wasn't hearing it. Laser beams look thick and sweet which I also noticed from UC.

was that a little better?

As for what I don't like, only one thing really. I play a cruiser so this doesn't affect me as much, but I find hyper jump transit times are too long for carriers, and even though shorter for cruisers still too long. Also the normal thrust speed for when you are not in hyper space is too low.

This was one change I never liked in BCM from bc3k. Alot of time is spent flying the rest of the way to dock with a station that you jump to etc etc... It really is a lull in activity.

And that is the only gripe I have.

[Supreme Cmdr]

This is the first game in the series in which PTA fire had sounds. Couple that with my implementing sounds for nearby (those within range) ships that are firing, and you've got a whole new gig. Assuming your rig can handle it. To me, I LOVE the chaos of everyone and their mother firing. My favorite skirmish has got to be the CMDR version of Homeland Security IA. Just jump to Mars just before New Yorker, unleash your fighters on escort, give your CC the order to engage the nearest hostile carrier, activate the A/P and listen to all hell break loose.

As to the jump times, I actually reduced them in AWA for carriers. Compare to UC and you'll notice the difference. Since EACH ship has to be tested, I'm not inclinded to just go screwing around with numbers, thereby unbalancing the game and screwing up the crafts flight dynamics. Heck, I even reduce the jump target range from 800km to 150km for people who were complaining about being too far from a jump target on emerging from hyperspace.

[Cruis.In]

I know you can't go pissing around with the numbers, I was letting you know that it is one thing I don't like. But I wonder how others feel about the times, because when you look at it, it does add to the feeling of small ship big universe because it takes an acceptable time to fly from one end of the galaxy to the other.

I was thinking more of an across the board fraction cut thereby retaining the balance, but everything is reduced.

Oh and I did try the IA scenario it is just so much to do in so short time I getting right now, but I did get in a big battle and it was fun. Even though I died. And it was way cool looking at it... oh yeh that is why I died, I was just looking at the battle and not doing anything!

I wish the manual would hurry up and come.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cruis.In:

I was thinking more of an across the board fraction cut thereby retaining the balance, but everything is reduced.

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Doesn't work like that.

[Spindoktor]

From the demo (Homeland Security CMDR IA mission), I could never keep the damn New Yorker alive long enough for it to carry out its mission. Staying alive myself was no problem, but once the New Yorker jumped into the Mars region, it was toast. I even tried pulling the reds away from where the New Yorker jumps in by jumping to another gate beforehand.

I have to revisit that mission now that I have the full game.

[Grizzle]

Ok, one word. Awesome. You really nailed it SC. Though I've only played for a short while it's rock solid and beautiful to look at. The hyperjump animation is killer.

I need to play around with it a lot more, and play with some settings because I noticed a few small issues on my rig. I don't have the large green reticule in my HUD and Saturn has no rings!! I'm sure it has something to do with my VC settings, so I'll massage them a bit to see what's up.

It really kicks ass though and I can't wait to dive in deeper.

More to follow...

[Supreme Cmdr]

That large Green reticle was removed because I found it to be too goofy.

Saturn having no rings is a different story. You might want to create a topic in the tech support area so that we can check it out.

[Grizzle]

quote:

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Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:
That large Green reticle was removed because I found it to be too goofy.

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Ah, actually that was a wise choice, I honestly like it better without.

quote:

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Saturn having no rings is a different story. You might want to create a topic in the tech support area so that we can check it out.

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Will do. Lemme see if I can get them to show then I'll put up some info.

[John Prezioso]

I just installed it for the first time last night. My thoughts:

1) The ship lighting effects were the first noticeable enhancement that I could see. The way the ships glimmer in the light given off by the Nebulae and suns gives them a distinct shiny metallic look. I like it.

2) The planets (viewed from space) have a noticeable cloud cover. A very nice effect, but on my machine the cloud cover gives the impression that it is rotating very rapidly. Not sure if this is a graphical glitch with my PC or not, but it's no big deal.

3) The hyperspace and planetfall animations are spectacular.

4) The planet terrain is a MAJOR improvement. The planets finally feel like living breathing ecosystems, and add tremendously to the level of immersion.

5) The FPS controls are improved but the contol/movement still feels a tad clumsy (this is comparing a game that does virtually EVERYTHING to a game like Doom or HL that only need to focus on the FPS control scheme, so I'm not surprised.) Being a very adaptable gamer, I'm sure I will get the hang of it.

All in all, I plan to be spending ALOT more time in First Person.

So far, a very worthy upgrade, in my opinion.

[babs]

I've downloaded and patched the game without a problem.

Improvments are numerous:
-gfx effets (hyper jump cinematics)
-Hud simplifictaion
-terrains looks realistic
-shaders on planet gives a niice looking effect
-And many more

For me the main jewel is the improvement in the game stability. 5 hours of gameplay without a straight CTD. Its my new record.
UCAWA is, without doubt, a major step in what will be the reference in space sim games scene.
keep it up SC.

[LJP]

Ok first impressions...

Autopatcher is excellent! couldnt find another word for it.

Graphical improvements are excellent also, spent most of my shakedown cruise admiring the eye candy.

Stability is great, though I have a bit to report which I'll do so on the tech sup thread if it doesnt already exist as a known problem.

All in all, very impressed. I'm as impressed now as I was way back when i was first blown away at the concept that bc3k v1.0 offered. Thanks for all the work SC, you've done an incredible job, and congrats on getting the digital download working!

[Grizzle]

Additional first impressions:

So I loaded her up just to play for a little while last night. Had retrieved some mining drones from the surface of the moon, and wanting to maximize my profits, decided to head to Velari in Polaris to unload the minerals. I had been fortunate enough to afford some shield and armor upgrades before I began my trek, and boy would I need it.

I find that lots of enemy craft jump into a system and just ignore me, so I'm happy to concentrate on my task. Jumped through Jupiter and Lyrius without hassle and I think I was about to jump to Lennen, or I might have made it to Lennen and was going to jump to Polaris, but I can't remember because what came next had me fighting for my life for about an hour.

Pretty much every kind of Cap ship and fighter from every kind of race suddenly decided they had tolerated my presence long enough (or maybe it was because I turned the music on, I usually play without it.) I found myself engaged in the largest firefight ever in my BC/UC career. There was simply too much going on to describe it fully, but man was it a blast! It was pure mayhem and just when I thought I could take a breath the red glow of shield damage filled my screen and I was attacked again, over and over! I ended up with about eight intruders on board, destroyed a half dozen cap ships and countless fighters.

I finally had to turn tail and head for safe haven as all of my Marines were nearly half dead from the beating the intruders handed out. I had nearly depleted my stores of missiles in the process and the Officers quarters was nothing but a smoking hole inside my ship.

It was pure insanity, but I survived and I can't wait to give it another go tonight! This is the best version in the series to date!

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Grizzle:
(or maybe it was because I turned the music on, I usually play without it.)

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LMAO!!!