44 replies to this topic

[Supreme Cmdr]

This thread is for discussing the just now released IGN sneak preview which is also available to select members of this community. If you checked your PM this morning and got the notification, then well, you should be downloading the game by now!!

Your version may vary, but you can check the VCF.

I've seen some posts elsewhere in which people are complaining about missing DirectX files, running the game, getting a crash, then having to go download them. PEOPLE, thats why there is a WARNING right there in the installer asking you to press OK to update the DirectX drivers OR ELSE VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN!!!! *sheesh*

02-19-08

The IGN exclusive sneak preview page is up. As well as their pre-orders page.

[RemoW]

Hats off to 3000AD yet again!

It was amazing too be in the cockpit of my Starlance as the game came to life on my monitor. The HUD is well arraigned and easy on the eye the status indicators for the armor, shielding & missile count on the left and right of the HUD were very modern and functional.

The hyper-space effect is almost beyond words in its experience.. As I started the game I decided to travel to Saturn I jumped for the Saturn jump gate, and was instantly launched into an ultra-realistic blur of activity as I screamed towards the gate. The cockpit animation kicks butt as you drop out of Hyper-space to a slightly bumpy ride then all is once again calm and surreal.

As I came out of hyper space near Saturn I must have been passing through its rings because I could swearI seen ice crystals bouncing off the hull of my Starlance (two thumbs up!) The nebula were very vivid and highlight the star clusters beautifully IMO.

The interface was as clear and straight forward as always I fell right at ease with the menus in the very brief time I had to play so far. Well enough wasting of perfectly good gaming time I'm out of here for now. I'll post more as I advance in the tutorial.

Cheers

Remo Out

[Supreme Cmdr]

If you have an XBox 360 controller, you're in for a treat because it vibrates during jumps, guns/missiles launches, collisions etc.

[ShoHashi]

Excellent!

I downloaded, patched and fired it up late last night. I did get a small amount of time in it before I hit the rack. But from what I saw, any screenshots will not do Echo Squad justice. You simply have to see the real thing!

The first thing that struck me was the cockpit view. The cockpit layout is pretty awesome. As Remo says, the HUD is well arranged and efficient. I'm very impressed with the game thus far.

Once I get more time in it later today, I'll post some more of my impressions. Good job, SC.

-Sho

[Supreme Cmdr]

TIPS:

• If you fail to destroy all fighters in phase II, the tutorial will end
  
• If you fail to destroy the transport ship in phase III, the tutorial will end
  
• If you fail above training phases, you won't get to active combat duty which contains one major space battle and one planetary strike mission
  
• Don't forget to dock with GALCOM HQ, Excalibur or Merlin and stock up on ATA and ATS missiles before embarking on the planetary strike mission

I suppose you vets didn't even bother with the in-game commands then?

[RemoW]

Supreme Cmdr, on Feb 16 2008, 09:26 AM, said:

I suppose you vets didn't even bother with the in-game commands then?

Not yet its always eye candy first then game play.

[RemoW]

You stirred my curiosity SC so I had to go try the in game commands real quick before I head off to the Matinée. All I can say is truly ingenious now all your documentation is right there in real time super cool to say the least!

[ShoHashi]

Ok, I had more time to play the demo today. I almost made it through the first scenario before I ran out of time. But that's okay, I just wanted to take my time going through the tutorial so as not to miss anything.

I was pretty impressed with the planetfall and planetary egress graphics. The flames and "smoke" rolling off the ship as it plummeted down towards the surface was awesome! The clouds are good too, as good as Microsoft Flight Simulator. I also, when docked with Excalibur and GalCom, like the new Logistix screens, specifically the "blueprint" diagram in the Crafts tab.

-Sho

[RemoW]

I just can't get over the new cockpit Boss it takes me back to my BC3K V2.0 days. I like many others here I'm sure still remember the fighter and shuttle cockpits from BC3k that many of us logged hundreds of hours of play in before BCM arrived.

Here's a shot of a cockpit in GCES using the F6 camera key.

Starlance Cockpit

Now isn't that just beautiful its like being in a Cadillac and adds to your total immersion into the universe IMO!

[Supreme Cmdr]

heh, the Starlance cockpit isn't even the best cockpit. And we did cockpits for all 25 fighters in the game engine. Episode 2 of the game features the Interceptor MK1 (the fighter seen in the recent gameplay movie)

[RemoW]

Supreme Cmdr, on Feb 16 2008, 04:07 PM, said:

heh, the Starlance cockpit isn't even the best cockpit. And we did cockpits for all 25 fighters in the game engine. Episode 2 of the game features the Interceptor MK1 (the fighter seen in the recent gameplay movie)

Holy smoke talk about working overtime thats alot of drawing to fully model 25 orignal cockpits from scratch. I can't wait to see some more of them when episode 2 comes about.

BTW wasn't it the MK1 fighter or was the MK3 that we played with in the old BC3k v2.0 I forget?

[Supreme Cmdr]

That was the MK2

[RemoW]

I agree with Shohashi the entry burn cut scene is just wicked as you egress earths atmosphere. I went down to snap a few photos and came back with this one of a cool cloud formation during a bank maneuver.

Cool Cloud Formation

[Supreme Cmdr]

I am quite shocked that nobody noticed that Mother, is different!!! Surely she's not that monotonous guys!! If that was Resnig, you'd all notice. hehe

[ShoHashi]

Nice shots, Remo.

Quote

I am quite shocked that nobody noticed that Mother, is different!!! Surely she's not that monotonous guys!!

To be honest, I really hadn't noticed, SC. I think it's probably due to my sound settings. It's pretty loud in the cockpit with the ship noise and music. I can just faintly hear Mother and other chatter, so I'll have to fiddle around with the settings a bit.

-Sho

[RemoW]

Supreme Cmdr, on Feb 17 2008, 04:17 AM, said:

I am quite shocked that nobody noticed that Mother, is different!!! Surely she's not that monotonous guys!! If that was Resnig, you'd all notice. hehe

How embarrassing I did miss that.

[DennyMala]

I got a little time to fire up the game and see the graphic and general handling of the fighter and I may just lift my hat off to the SC for the wonderful work.

Effects are more realistic and the graphic itself is astonishing.

I'm waiting to set myself to my PC for a couple of hours and follow the tutorial step by step to see better the potential of the game.

Will report more later.

Great work SC.

[Supreme Cmdr]

Anyone with access to a 1080 big screen TV used for playing games, is in for a treat. I've been researching some crackling sounds coming from my receiver because my gaming rig is connected to it (and a Westinghouse 42" 1080p display) via a Creative Labs DTS-610 decoder outputting in DTS. Anyway, everytime I fire up the game on that rig, I just sit there and play instead of focusing on the problem I'm supposed to be researching. :}

Posted in wrong forum.

rtoolooze1, on Feb 18 2008, 10:58 PM, said:

Well, after downloading the sneak preview and and then being ripped away from the computer all weekend because of company coming in from St.Louis, (Grrrrr.....) I finaly got to sit down and check it out. First off, graphics are very immpressive! Eventually tho, I had to tone them down some for better performance. ( Darn AMD 64 3000+ Geforce 6600 Gt ) Even so, graphics still looked darn good.

I love the cockpit. Took alittle getting used to, but made it more immersive. I still need to read all the docs and continue exploring what I can, but I can't wait to get my hands on the full sim.

Well, back to more testing.

Thanks Derek.

[rtoolooze1]

Quote

am quite shocked that nobody noticed that Mother, is different!!! Surely she's not that monotonous guys!! If that was Resnig, you'd all notice. hehe

I did notice that Mother is different. Sounds real good too. The hyper jump graphics are cool also. Man the jump is fast. Of course thats because I'm so used to jumping in a capital ship.

( Sorry for posting in the wrong forum. Boy that was a noob mistake, sheesh )

[ShoHashi]

Thanks for the patch, SC!

Man, are my dogfighting skills off. Those two Insurgent Alynx(sp?)'s near the ISS station gave me a run for the money. The scenario ended before I could finish them off, but on the plus side, I survived! I'm going to have to give it another go.

-Sho