Discussion from the BCM Beta front

[Supreme Cmdr]

T'is the season to be jolly, so, I am lifting the NDA ban on discussing the game until I close this thread.

So, feel free to discuss our upcoming phenomenon, with folks not in the Beta. I think a few testers posted some first impressions over in the Beta forum. Feel free to cut and paste if needed.

[Gallion]

My First Impression of BCM:

quote:

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Loading BCM Beta went smooth. I loaded everything BTW...I fired that puppy up. Boy what a difference

I decided to launch from Wraith HQ instead of Galcom HQ, what a shock! The Lyrius system is a whole lot of red, keep in mind that I've been playing BC3K all day and wasn't prepared for the dramatic change in the eye-candy splendor, this is goanna be bloody great, I can smell it. Took a trip to Lennen to pay a visit to the Raider station there, which they didn't take to kindly to my presence. Managed to nail a couple of raider FCs whilst there too - all from TacOps, something I don't do in BC3K.

Aside from the billion-fold increase in visual stimuli I really like the changes in the interface. It is intuitive and easy to nav through, all from the bridge. Though whilst in TacOps I kept moving mouse pointer to top left to get the TacOps CMD Palette to appear, was getting frustrated until I noticed all those purty ICONS on the right side just staring at me - DUH!

The other thing that I really like is the ability to move, load, and store cargo/weapon items while on a station via the TRADCOM/TACTICAL menus -without having to launch from the station to move stuff around. Heck, before I left Wraith HQ I have all 40 marines prepping fer combat (was looking fer a fight somewhere I think

); SC cargo optimized, missile load out to my particular nuances; flip-flopped the FC PILOTS around (I still likes the old PMS squad in at least one FC); and FEs assigned to SC fer pilots (about all they're good for IMO).

All in all this be one sweet Madre that will only get better. To those with V3 cards - I suggest that ye collect some bottles or al-cans and gets at least a GF2 MX or a V4.

Looks great SC and first impression is excellent

Well worth the wait.

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TTFN

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Fleet Commander Gallion

(Pro Tem)

GCV Graf Spee, Starbase Cerberus

Fleet Leader - Wraith Fleet (Pro Tem)

Wing Leader - Wraith Fleet/Corsair Wing

"Run Silent, Run Deep"

Corsair Cove

Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series

Leader, Team 1

[This message has been edited by Gallion (edited 12-19-2000).]

[Rico Jansen]

I wish I could say something about what the beta is like. But unfortunately, and I mean ofcourse VERY..., I don't have the CD yet. Not to mention a V3 or even a V4 or whatever. Since my voodoo 2 has 12mb I figured it was enough. Funny surprise when I found out add-in cards aren't enough. But it shouldn't be too much of a problem thesedays. V3s are heading for the bargain bins I think. So I'll get myself one soon.

But some question about something Gallion said. What's an "(old) PMS squad"? Must be something about the best pilot-copilot mix. I guess explaining this is something for the tips section. But it's probably a pretty down-to-earth-understandable acronym I can't seem to figure out. Gallion, please help me out of my misery.

Rico

[Steve Schacher]

quote:

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What's an "(old) PMS squad"?

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Gallion was making a joke. He was referring to crewing a fighter with only women pilots.

[Guest rtoolooze]

C'mon all you beta testers, lets hear some news from the front. Any scap of information on BM would be welcome. Now that I have AMD Thunderbird 900 with GeForce2 GTS and 256megs, I'm ready. Any beta testers with these specs out there? How does it look?

[Supreme Cmdr]

rtoolooze, how are you able to post here when your email server has been been bouncing every email reply sent to you in the past few days? How did you get email confirmation from UBB? Are you aware that you sent two emails, both of which were replied to and both bounced with an error from your ISP saying that the email address [email protected] was unknown?

[Guest rtoolooze]

SC, My email is actually [email protected]. I think what happened is that I set up my email account wrong the first time using [email protected]. After calling my isp, I got the right username and password from them, and registerd with this forum. I even got an email from the betatest saying I was denied cause all the fields were not filled in. But I guess you know what happened there. Thats why I sent you those email with all my computer specs. I was wondering what happened, lol. buddytool is incorrect. Please use [email protected], and it will work. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Guest]

BC3K was always a game of personal choices and living with the consequences. BCM both expands and refines this concept. For example, your begin new game screen gives you the choice amongst other things of - who you are going to be, what you are going to do, and what you are going to do it with, there are multiple choices all leading to very different in game experiences.

Contrast the Commander career with its awesome array of firepower and strike potential, crew to care for, and massive operational range with that of the PSP (planetary support pilot). With a single armed craft no crew (other than your AE) and a single planet as your operational theatre. Or the unarmed Trader who wants to ply the spacelanes avoiding the tensions and conflicts which occurr, as far as possible - fleeing at the first sign of trouble, living by his wits - not by his PTA or Vagrant.

Continueing the theme of making choices, during a recent game during BCM testing my Battlecruiser arrived at Gazer1 in Pluto region. All seemed calm so I chose to do bit of a spacewalk to have a close up and personal view of Gazer 1. Jetpacking over to the station the sense of scale in the game becomes apparent I AM SO SMALL the station is SO BIG, Pluto in the background is even BIGGER my BC seems such a long way away - the immersion of the game is such that at that point I actually seemed to FEEL my vulnerability - my isolation from safety.

You just know that if trouble showed up - well you would be the fly on the windshield.

Jetting back over to the BC keeping a close eye on the pack charge level, regaining full control - the view from INSIDE my BC suddenly felt, well lets say reassuring to say the least - take it from me , a space suit is no substitute for LIN SPEC IV shields and TIT V armor in this universe.

Overall the game is already looking good and playing well - bearing in mind we have not yet even seen many of the SFX and some features in action yet- much to look forward to.

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[Guest rtoolooze]

Nice post Brandon. I too am part of the beta team, just waiting for the cd to show up at my door. That does sound scary, out there in space with just a space suit and a jet pack! I get worried sitting on the bridge waiting for my drones to get picked up and the shuttles to return. I can only imagine how I would feel trying to high tail it back to my ship in a jet pack cause some baddies showed up and were speeding toward my ship!

[Adam Thomas]

Does anyone else have anything to say about the BCM beta? Perhaps about the changed manouverability of the ships?

[Joel Schultz]

Any comments about the galactic scope? Same old places to go as before? Or can we expect something more?

Oh yeah, please don't spoil any surprises for us in answering!

[aramike]

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Schultz:

Any comments about the galactic scope? Same old places to go as before? Or can we expect something more?

Oh yeah, please don't spoil any surprises for us in answering!

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There is this thing, you see...I dunno, SC, can I say it? Well, what the heck.

There's this thing in BCM that really changes the whole...

*message garbles and fades to nothing*

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Vice Admiral Michael Kristophers

ICV-Intrepid, Spectre (Antis)

Fleet Leader

Spectre Fleet

"You can only love or hate something you truly understand."

Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series

Leader, Team 1

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Any comments about the galactic scope? Same old places to go as before? Or can we expect something more?

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The galaxy remains unchanged. Why should it?

It just looks a helluva lot nicer and more ominous. And the questions you are asking are already addressed in the press previews. Dunno why anyone would want to repeat them.

quote:

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There is this thing, you see...I dunno, SC, can I say it?

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hehe, yes of course. Just like I said in my first post.

[Joel Schultz]

quote:

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The galaxy remains unchanged. Why should it? It just looks a helluva lot nicer and more ominous. And the questions you are asking are already addressed in the press previews.

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Ahhhhhhhh... So that's where my befuddled memory dredged up that question from. I had tried searching the forums but turned up nothing. Drat, this comes of reading too many game p/reviews and mixing them all up. Sorry for the redundant question... I suppose I better take my sanity pills again

quote:

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There's this thing in BCM that really changes the whole...

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AAACK! I wanna know! No I don't! Yes I do! No I don't! Arrggghh...

(Did you really have to explode my brain, aramike? If it's a spoiler...please mark it so those of us who hate spoilers can avoid it like an incoming STS missile)

TTFN

[aramike]

quote:

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Did you really have to explode my brain, aramike? If it's a spoiler...please mark it so those of us who hate spoilers can avoid it like an incoming STS missile

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LOL!!! Actually, it was just something to get people up in arms about. Honestly, I had nothing in particular to say.

[Joel Schultz]

OK, hopefully this won't be a stupid question answered elsewhere

Economics, in single-player mode. I read both previews, and no one really commented on this. I dug back through some forums and found some major discussion surrounding this and other gameplay balancing issues, but what I read mainly dealt with multiplayer issues. And those threads are over half a year dead.

Granted, the cool new visuals, improved controls and updated flight dynamics grab the most attention because of their inherent "pizazz". But economics was a major part of Free Flight Mode in BC3K. I'm surprised no one has said anything about it yet. Particularly in relation to the new and improved caste system: are our beloved (and not-so-beloved) BC commanders still able to trade goods for profit? Gallion's post hinted at some form of trade, but it wasn't clear whether the trade was for a profit run or simple part/weapons restocking. Now, I know certain castes do trade for profit (e.g. traders), but can any caste do so? Like the commander? Or marine looking to get that shiny new jetpack, or looking to sell off his vehicle for a new one with more firepower and a CD player?

Maybe nothing's been said because nothing's been changed. But I don't see how that could be...

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On an completely unrelated issue, please tell me that my favorite PERSCAN screen has gotten a facelift I recall reading in one preview something to the effect that BCM had lost BC3K's DOS feel for the most part. If one screen screamed "DOS" at you, it was PERSCAN. I also seem to recall reading somewhere here that PERSCAN was going to be spiffed up some, but (as usual) am not sure where or if I imagined it, so I'll risk asking the question and paint a bullseye on my backside and wait for the "READ THE ..." response

Kinda surprised this thread has been as quiet as it has.

[Guest]

Joel - A new economics trading model is WIP and has not yet been implemented. As of this time your commander can trade. Perscan is currently in the Beta we are testing but the FAQ also suggests this is "under consideration" at this time, several commanders have voiced your eagerness to see this feature included in some form or other - SC will decide whats best for the game.

On flight dynamics - the new models are brilliant - The heavy ships really feel just that - heavy. Cap ship to Cap ship combat is now a different ball game. The planetary craft have their own feel and include excellent VTOL where applicable - the HAGs and LAGs really fly like advanced gunships.

Your AE is now far more central to the game - if you decide to have a go at those pesky fighters in a FC yourself you had better ensure you have the needed skills, if you get popped on the mission its game over commander - no magical reappearance on the bridge of your BC, one pauses for thought before heading for the FC launch bay now.

[This message has been edited by Brandon (edited 12-28-2000).]

[Guest BL]

I was wondering how "deep" those gas giants are; how far down you can go without bumping into something. I was also wondering what that something might be (i.e. the core, or the increasing pressure, or whatever else might happen if you go too deep in a gas giant.

[ShoHashi]

I'd love to let you know, BL, but the SC hasn't implemented them yet in the beta.

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Commodore ShoHashi

ICV Aries, New Frontier (Rinaal)

Station Commander, New Frontier

Bishamon Fleet

ICQ 484321

[email protected]

"You can only love or hate something you truly understand."

[Kush]

Okay, ever since Derek started this thread, I've been checking it religiously everytime I enter the forum and I'm not getting anywhere near the exciting info I want, so I'm gonna start tossing out stuff and hopefully I'll start something.

a) The old game worked great with my 3dfx card. I've always been a 3dfx kinda guy, they may no longer claim the fastest card or the prettiest, but the drivers were always solid (Well, as solid as drivers can be) How does BCM stack up on the non 3dfx cards? I'll eventually have to get one, how do they perform?

The new terrain looks AWESOME! Has it been implimented yet? Are there any problems?

c) Are the voices the same. I liked the old voices, and I wouldn't ask you to waste time on re-recording all the voices but I'm curious to know if maybe more voices were added? Different voices for the different races perhaps?

Okay, that's all for now. I'm just gonna keep fishing for info till I get some or somebody shuts me down!

[Guest]

Kush -

a) yes non 3DFX is supported, many testers are using Nvidia Gforce etc.

The new terrain is not yet implemented in the beta.

c) as far as I am aware the voices are largely as per BC3K. No race specific speech.

[Guest rtoolooze]

Hello Kush,

I got the beta cd back on Wed., Thurs. my motherboard went to craps, got a new one on Sat. (Abit KT7-Raid!) and finaly got the game running last night. I have a AMD Thunderbird 900 coupled with a GeForce 2 GTS, and I must say it looks and plays awesome. I've only had a few zeloncrim show up in the limited time I've played, so have yet to see any frame rate drops.

The new terrain has not been implemented, so can't say much about that. You've seen the screen shots!

The voices are basicly the same. When I played as a Gammulan or a terran, the voices were the same, so were the pictures of the officers, pilots ect. I think it would be neat if all races had different voices and pictures and so forth. Don't know what th S.C. has in mind yet, or if he has the time.

The one thing that strikes me is the ominous feeling you get in space. Much more realistic!!! Planets seem huge. And when you hyperdrive to another region in a capital ship, sit back and enjoy the ride, as it takes much longer to arrive at your destination. When I sent a FC down to Earth, it took way longer than in BC3000ad, much more realistic. I like it that way. It just shows you how huge the game really is. As soon as I have more testing time in, I'll report back with some more info. C'mon you other tester's, give the other fans some info please.

rtoolooze over and out

[This message has been edited by rtoolooze (edited 01-01-2001).]

[This message has been edited by rtoolooze (edited 01-01-2001).]

[Kush]

Now we're talkin'!!!

Okay, got a couple more.

- Anyone tried playing cd music while in the game? I've heard the new game music, and it's a thousand times better than the old game music, but I have to confess to a terrible dirty little secret; I've been dying to play BCM with some YES playing in the backround. There's something about vast open space and prog rock that makes my heart go pitter pat.

- Has the multiplayer been patched in yet? Ooooh lordy I can't wait for that one!

- What are some of the things you guys talk about on the beta forum? Is it all kinda boring? I guess that which is forbiden makes one overly curious.

[Gordon]

Hey Kush,

1)You can add your own MP3's to the music file in BCM so start downloading your favorite Yes songs.

2)Multiplayer has not yet been implemented

3)There are usually discussions regarding bug reporting and verification. We are split into groups so every career gets tested. SC has responded very quickly to known bugs and made the necessary repairs. There are fewer and fewer bugs to find with each release. The great thing about working with the SC is that he is always open to our comments and suggestions considering the type of pressure that he is obviously under. Based on the advancement of the game in the beta program I could see a DEMO version being released sometime in the near future. Hold on to your hats because you will be blown away with the changes that are in store for you.

[Supreme Cmdr]

Yep, Gordon's right, a demo is coming, hopefully next month, once the new terrain and multiplayer (both are currently internal WIP versions only and not released to Beta team) are all finished.

Kush, why not just apply for the Beta program and save yourself the hernia?