richterm

Well, the Star Fury is fully repaired and my boys are finishing up the reactor upgrade. (picked up the Eyestar last night) Sadly, one of my marines corkscrewed Shuttle 4 into the Alaskan tundra last night while on approach to pick up a mining drone. Grrrrr! I did a little dance with 4 drones and two shuttlecraft and was able to get the precious cargo on board and get the drones back to work with minimal headache. Still, that's about 1.7 million or so that I'm NOT going to be able to use on anything else except buying new shuttlecraft. (let's not mention the OC lost as well, ok?) I feel like I'm trying to dig a deep hole in the sand right at the water's edge and the ocean keeps filling the hole back up on me. My grand schemes of a long patrol into sectors I've never seen just looks like it's very very far away...which makes me realize that I've never strayed much more than a single jump or two beyond our solar system in any of the BC games I've played. That's kinda sad. (although, to be fair, this is the first time I've had decent hardware and the time to put into actually playing) Star Wars...aye, I've played that since launch last year. Things are kind of on hold, I'm waiting for the space expansion (due at end of October) while dinkering around with some buddies of mine. My wookiee is currently working on Creature Handler and Bioengineer along with Brawler, so he's fun to play. (at one point, he was a Master Politician and the founding mayor of a metropolis) UC plus Tivo is a good combo for me right now...I can pause what I'm watching to deal with in game stuff and then go back to it when I'm either in dry dock or waiting for things to happen.

Reloaded game from an earlier save after my CTD. Don't try to land on Pluto. Even if your adorable 5 year old daughter is begging you. I don't have any idea how long it's going to take me to repair all the damage (it didn't help that I was attacked while trying to get to the jumpgate to return to Earth) Shield and engine upgrades are almost done. Lost shuttle 3 to intruders when I had to activate launch control for a few seconds to recover a fighter. Grrrrr. Guess I'll have to shuffle around with the mining drones, as all 4 were redeployed. And in that same scuffle in the area of the moon, somehow 3 of my fighter crews were all killed in action, so I had to tractor in the 3 craft. More stuff to repair. Wonderful. So at some point, buy a replacement shuttle. I've been docking at stations to begin repairs and then leaving. It allows me to not need to buy the parts but then for my crew to get the experience from fixing the systems. Sounds good to me. I've been tempted a few times to scuttle this career and start over, but having the "walking wounded" Megaron has been fun so far. Eventually, all systems will be upgraded and back to 100% and I might think of TRYING to leave the Sol system... My Star Wars Galaxies buds are probably wondering where the hell I've been...

Ack. Crash To Desktop . Landed shuttle 1 on an aircraft carrier. Got out, walked towards carrier bridge and gave the "/" command to enter. BANG Ack! I should be more liberal with my saves, but I was having way too much fun...

Star Dancer got turned into a bright ball of plasma and glowing metal bits after being smacked around at the jump in gate at Mars. Take home lessons: 1. Upgrade more stuff before leaving Earth. 2. I have a cloaking device. Remember to use it. 3. Always be ready to do an emergency hyperjump. A few instant actions scenarios later to cool down and the Star Fury (a Megaron) was commisioned. She is now at the Moon, buying up Radine since GalComm was fresh out. (doh!) FC3 is beat up and the 2 crew have already been cloned, but several Insurgent vessels will no longer be bothering the true citizens of Earth. Soon, the mining drones will be full and I can do Round 1 of upgrades in earnest. No crashes AT ALL on the desktop machine. Performance is fantastic.

Well, UC to me really finally begins to answer the promise made on BC3K long ago...the life of a starship commander and all that it entails. I'm running it on a 2.0 GHz system with 768 MB and a GeForce FX 5200 video card and it runs like a dream. I also sometimes run it on my Compaq Evo N610 laptop, with 768 MB and a crappy ATI mobile Radeon board...it has crashed to desktop on this rig, but that's not surprising...I'm using the "faked out" desktop drivers on the card so the Star Wars Galaxies actually sorta runs on the machine. So not the SC's problem... My biggest challenge is that I refuse to load from a saved game if I am killed, so I'm getting pretty good at the first 2-3 hours of the game. I then get into something over my head and die...bah! Probably goofing with more Instant Action scenarios would help this. The depth of the game is unequaled and leads to most of the negative impressions...people are unwilling to invest the time into the game to really see just how cool it is. And that's a shame. In any case, I'll be hoping to spend some time in the coming weeks sharpening up my ground combat skills...I really haven't explored this piece of the game much at all, other than quick little excursions. All in all, a great upgrade to an ambitious series...the Holy Grail gets closer every time.

If the patch is such that saved games need to be deleted, it's often very worth patching. Plus, with the frequency that I get destroyed, my save games tend to be worthless anyway. (I refuse to reload from save if I'm destroyed...only if the game crashes or I'm loading to continue a career)

If you can spend $55, you can buy a GeForce FX 5200 video card that runs the game great. Yes, it's not very high end, but it works dandy with both UC and Star Wars Galaxies (which is one of the gnarliest games out there in terms of "GIVE ME HARDWARE!") The card fits in a regular AGP slot and also comes with a backplate that lets you put it in a slimline case. I've had mine for about a week and am tickled pink. Here is the card: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-139-165&depa=0 Good luck! And no, my system profile is not accurate...I'll try to remember to update it tonight.

Ok, I'm happy. Star Dancer is hovering over a city on Earth, waiting for the shuttles to return from dropping the mining drones. I'm blown away by the new graphics and how WELL the planetside stuff works now. Methinks I'll be spending some time looking for a naval fleet to visit while I'm on world. I just need to get past the first radine shortage and life will be good...plus upgrade my reactor to something a little less like a 1970's gas guzzler.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: quote:Originally posted by richterm: So the home rig should be very happy indeed... whoa!! look who the cat dragged in!! Heh. 4 kids wear ya out...the gaming time is starting to open up again. I've had a chance to do 2 instant action scenarios already, just to see what things look like. Even with a "cost effective" video card, it's hawt...you may very well have outdone yourself with this one. I will commision the Star Dancer once Lt. Joshua (the soon to be 2 year old) is in bed. Once I'm somewhat more comfortable with the new stuff, I'll see what all the fuss about multiplayer is about....

I've upgraded my home system using various and sundry parts I've been able to acquire. And two days ago, my new video card arrived. I downloaded the UC Demo at work and burned it to CD. Brought it home last night and it ran pretty darn well. So I swung by Best Buy at lunch today and now own the full version. I've owned a flavor of BC3000 since the original. I was making some strides in BCM but got distracted by some real life issues and the knowledge that UC was out and I couldn't run it properly on my rig. Tonight, the Sun Dancer shall launch again from Earth! All enemies, foreign and domestic, will quake before me! Well...maybe not. But I'm sure looking forward to the latest ride. And the big shocker is...I installed and patched the game on my laptop and it wasn't horrible even with the sub-par video controller that Compaq shoved into the Evo N610. So the home rig should be very happy indeed...

I'm in New Jersey. I've found it via mailorder and I'm pretty sure I could scare up a copy. So...multiplayer...any feedback?

Ok, just read the product page. Slap me with a fish for not doing so first. Additional small galaxy, more missions, multiplayer. Those are the primary bullet points. The multiplayer is really what piques my interest...so my question concerning ease of finding multiplayer games is still valid.

I need an opinion from folk here. I'm in a situation where I can't upgrade my hardware to deal with UC. I've downloaded the demo and performance on my laptop is OK in space and the graphics planetside are borked (go ATI Mobile Radeon 7500!) My current desktop system is 733 mhz, with a GeForce III Ti 200. The graphics look great, however... When the SC sets minimum system requirements, he really seems to mean them. Between the stupid chipset locking me in at 512mb and the slower processor speed, no joy there. Upgrading to a new machine is not a financial option. Between the wife and the kids, it just isn't gonna happen. So..... I have BCM. It runs very well on both systems and so far it's quite fun. (yes, it's an older game...however, I took a break from it shortly after buying it.) Is it worth buying BCMG? Yes, it would be good to support 3000AD some more. No question there. But a casual glance shows that the multiplayer is the most significant different between the two games. Are people actually playing multiplayer BCMG at this time? Would it be the kind of thing where I would be wasting my time trying to find games? And are there any other updates that those of you who have played both think make it worthwhile? Thanks in advance...

The Sun Dancer is now in orbit around Pluto...space out there is quiet, although 2 hostile Corsairs decided to pay a visit shortly after we jumped in. I ordered all fighters to launch and then plotted an intercept course. Before the jump engines could recharge fully, the fighters smoked one Corsair and the other enemy scooted out just as Sun Dancer emerged from hyperspace. So it goes. I was able to upgrade the shields to a Linear Spec IV, courtesy of the lunar mining. I'm considering deploying the drones on Pluto now. Anyway, I bought out the moon's supply of Radine and also bought a good chunk from the research station at Pluto. We've deployed a probe and I've ordered it to Jupiter to keep watch and now I'm planning a foray out of the solar system. Yeah, that's the ticket. I'll recall the fighters and jump out of the system once they have been prepped. Hopefully, I'll return to once again to see the stars of home. ---------------------------------------- On a systems note, I popped the resolution up to 1024x768 and set for 32 bit color. Man, things look sweet. I spent 5 minutes just staring at Genesis station as the ship hung next to it in orbit.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: quote:Originally posted by richterm: Well, I've now officially kept my ship alive for almost 5 hours. I think it's a record. hehe, and I'm sure repeated saves had a lot to do with it. Never! Seriously, restoring from a save is the cheap way out. I never do that with a "live ship" (that is, a ship that I'm playing seriously. If I'm testing something stupid just for kicks, then I might restore) quote:Originally posted by richterm: Although, I will confess that I am playing pretty cautious right now...the longer I have this ship, the less I'm willing to do something stupid to get us all killed. So that's probably helping me to get into it. And thats EXACTLY how the game was designed to be played. Cool. I'm a pretty impatient guy. Doing well in this game will no doubt be a stretch for me.

Well, I've now officially kept my ship alive for almost 5 hours. I think it's a record. After leaving the station, I sent all 4 shuttlecraft to retrieve the mining drones from the moon...they were al around 60% full and I needed money. And money I got. Selling the minerals allowed me to buy out all the Radine at Genesis. I also stocked up on some spare parts and bought an upgraded reactor. We launched and my crew began the reactor upgrade as I sent the mining drones for another collection. Looking at my maps, I decided to pay Saturn a visit. With the main reactor at 95%, I plotted the course and hyperspaced to the jump gate. Once at Saturn, I set a course for the planet itself, figuring buzzing the gas giant could be fun. The alert klaxon went off...it was an Insurgent Interceptor. I launch two fighters, armed 3 missles via FATAL and gave the order to engage. This little booger managed to beat me up a bit! A Battlecruiser Mark III doesn't dog fight real well and my pilots were screwing around. I was finally able to turn the bogie into a rapidly expanding cloud of gas with a missle shot...but not before he scratched up my ship pretty good. Surveying the damage, he had taken a few systems down to about 60-70%...the cloning machine, shuttle launch bay, FC 4 launch bay, scratched up the main guns, knocked the primary turret system down to almost 50%. Conclusion: looks like a shield upgrade is in my future. I jumped back to Earth and docked at Galcom to repair things yet again and also to restock on medpacks, vacpacs and combat kits. Would you believe Galcom had neither medpacks or combat kits? I launched, pondering this mystery. Setting a course back to Genesis Station, the Intruder Alert went off just as I ordered the crew to jump to hyperspace. Bah! Quickly, I doublechecked and turned off Launch Control. Good thing, as the 3 intruders were scrambling to the shuttlebay. I dispatched some Marines and 2 intruders were blasted into little pieces. The third scrambled madly out and met his untimely demise in Medbay...as I had ordered a few troops there to be treated for their own wounds. Intruders just aren't too bright sometimes... As of last night, the Sun Dancer was in a nice relaxing orbit around the moon, waiting for the drones to fill up a bit more. I'm pondering a shield upgrade and then possibly a trip into more dangerous waters. The stars, after all, ever beckon. ------------------------------------------ So at some point, I ended up with -650 experience (!) Smoking the enemy craft at Saturn knocked me back up to -600, but I'm wondering how I lost the XP in the first place. Probably one of the single biggest wins so far for me is the now rock solid stability of the game. On my older machine with the previous patches (from when I last futzed around over a year ago) I would have long since crashed to desktop a few times. The ONLY crash I've seen EVER with BCM so far this time around was prior to patching for my missing Indeo codecs (thank you, Microsoft and XP Service Pack 1) Anyway, with the game running so well, I'm finally getting to really enjoy Derek's vision. Although, I will confess that I am playing pretty cautious right now...the longer I have this ship, the less I'm willing to do something stupid to get us all killed. So that's probably helping me to get into it.

The Sun Dancer is in dock, at the Genesis Station orbiting the moon. Another 20 minutes and the damage done to the troop deployment bay by the sudden intruders will be fixed. FC2, one of my Vagrants, had been crippled in some earlier action. Her freshly cloned pilots are awaiting those repairs and we'll be heading out before the fighter is in perfect shape. Just can't spare the time. I've sold some minerals that Drone 1 scooped up. Don't tell the Admiral, but myself and a young flight engineer named Wesley took SC1 after I landed the Sun Dancer near one of our moon bases. After buzzing around the moon a bit, we picked up the drone to sample the findings. Not bad, so we redeployed it and allowed the other 3 to continue working uninterrupted. I've got a promising crew, but they are still so green. We've engaged a few targets, including an Insurgent ship near the Neptune Jump Gate. After selling the minerals from the now active drones, I believe I'll take the ship on another local patrol run. Part of me is eager to do a long patrol towards enemy space...but I don't imagine we would last long. Not yet, anyway. It's almost time. I'll head down to the fighter bay to check on FC2. Then, bother my now resting crew. The stars beckon. I hope that I can keep the hull of my ship between them and my crew... ---------------------- Yep, I'm playing BCM after quite a long break. It's running like a champ on a Compaq Evo 610 laptop with 768 MB of RAM and Windows XP Pro. And man, I feel like such a RUSTY N00B!

The download can be found right on this page: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&DisplayLang=en

Nimbus, no kidding... I work in Rahway, at a certain drug company. Live down "the shore" in Toms River. We're got an EB here (to keep it on topic) but I haven't checked their stock out yet. I've got a few friends that I've hyped the game to, but none have taken the dive yet. We shall see - one of them loves sub sims (similar insane attention to detail) and scifi in general...can't understand why he won't bite, other then his Everquest addiction that steals most of his computer time...

Well, for what it's worth, EB in Woodbridge NJ had no copies left on last Friday. That's where I bought my copy a few weeks ago.

Saint, you use the transporter. It's in the book, but: 1. Order all folk that you want to beam down to Transporter...use Tactical/Crew and then change assigments. Yes, you can do this with prisoners. Don't forget to order yourself. 2. Once everyone has arrived at the transporter (use Perscan to watch), go to TacOps. Zoom in on the planet and use the Transporter button to access the control strip. Use SetPos to pick a likely spot and then Deploy. 3. You'll beam down. Do stuff. 4. When ready to beam up, switch back to TacOps (alt-S). When you click on yourself in the TacOps view, there will be a pop-up menu that includes a check-box with "Evac". Put a check in this box. 5. Once all folk have been marked for evac, click the "Evac" button on the bottom control strip. Forgive me if vague, but it's late here.

SC- Doh! Bad construction on my part...I did not mean to imply that BCM was missing anything "from the back of the box" --- which is one of the principal complaints concerning DAoC. I was actually trying to point out that BCM is being patched continually and that's a good thing...next time, I'll be a tad more careful.

Yes, SC, did you at least take that high-speed lunch run you were talking about? Merry Christmas to you and yours!

A decent review. Not to drift off topic too much or to repeat too much of what anyone has said...but game reviewers (IMHO) have an impossible job. Let us take my 2 current favorite games: BCM and Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC). DAoC, for those of you who don't know, is a massive multiplayer online roleplaying game loosely based upon King Arthur/Celtic/Viking legends, where you play a heroic character who grows in strength and power...yada yada yada. Here's the thing...DAoC has smashing reviews. Pegging the charts. Here's the other thing...it shipped missing big chunks of the high end game, which requires players weeks to notice. It's a fun but flawed product, which is being patched often to address these flaws and to add new content. (sound familiar?) So the same thing that works against a deep game like BCM works in favor of titles that have a good "first impression" but serious flaws that may take some time to manifest. Is BCM a "better" game? Depends on what you want...once multiplayer is available, yes on all counts, for the social factor. Would Joe Game Buyer know that based on reviews? No way. The Battlecruiser games have stood the test of time...even the shakiest versions won converts. BCM will continue to win fans on an ongoing basis...and I truly believe that the multiplayer aspect will be 100 times as addicting. So I read the reviews, shake my head a bit and chuckle knowing that I have something that other gamers struggle for years to find...a deep game that rewards the effort and time spent with surprises and fun and moments of pure amazement. Those are my 2 cents, anyway.

I'm one of those "noobs" who hasn't wanted to be one, but hasn't had much of a choice...most of my experience with the game has been very much through the eyes of those who have been able to play... You see, until I put together a new system with BCM compatibility as one of the priorities, I was running BC3K on a mix of systems that were just not stable. Much crashing, very frustrating. Now that BCM runs like a rock, I can finally relax and enjoy myself. While getting blown to kingdom come. Repeatedly. Looking forward to MP, if for no other reason the 100 fold increase in the richness of the galaxy. Hopefully, I won't just be a target.