coder_1024

I took some video while attempting to dock with GCHQ. Granted, as soon as I actually touched down, it bounced me up into the inner depths of the station and I ended up getting sort of stuck there until I used the hyperdrive to get out. Thought it was some neat looking video though so I figured I'd post it. UCAWADocking.divx You'll need the free DivX Player to view the video. Gotta say, I love the look of the FIRESTORM :-)

Yes, you can download the free Excel Viewer from Microsoft to view the file without having Excel installed. You could also download Open Office which should be able to work with the file as well.

I found the below to be a help to me when picking assets and thought others might find it useful as well. Its the same info in the game appendix, just arranged in such a way as to let you easily compare a given stat across assets. The Excel spreadsheet lets you quickly sort by each stat using the buttons along the top. If you don't have Excel, there's a PDF also. UCAWA-Assets.zip

quote:You know, you could've taken one of those gunships, gone to a base, grabbed a shuttle; then come back and retrieve your CC from the ocean.d'oh! good point. hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure that would have gotten me out of trouble with high command, but I'll remember that for next time. quote:Next time take pictures!no way! without pictures I can still deny it ever happened :-)

We had just survied an attack and the crew was busying themselves making repairs to try and bring our assets back to full functionality. Figuring they could handle things on their own and not wanting to get in the way, I took one of the fighters out for a spin and went planetside to buzz a naval carrier group. I landed on the carrier and hopped out to check things out, accidentally falling into the water in the process and ending up at the bottom of the ocean. Since it seemed to be a long swim back to the top and there was no way I'd make it in time (since I'd have to walk away from the computer at some point), I used the transporter to EVAC myself. I ignored the looks from the crew members as I materialized, soaking wet in the transporter. After having changed I used the transporter to again send myself to the carrier deck again ignoring the looks from several other crew members and was finally back on the deck. After chatting with the crew on the carrier about the lack of guard rails and how important safety is, I hopped back in the fighter and did some low flying, buzzing the carrier. Somehow (must be a computer malfunction, as opposed to pilot error) this resulted in my fighter doing an unintentional water landing. With the fighter bobbing on the surface, I jumped out into the water and used the transporter to EVAC myself. I again ignored the looks from the crew as I materialized for a second time soaking wet in the transporter. They were starting to think something was up, but didn't say anything. After changing, and since the repairs were pretty well completed, I had the notion of taking the CC planetside and using the tractor beam to pull the fighter out of the water. Somehow in doing this I got a bit too low and the entire CC did a water landing (once again another computer malfunction which I mentioned to the engineering staff). At this point, I left the craft and used the jet pack to make it to one of the ships in the carrier group, and grabbed one of their gunships. Figuring the CC might be a lost cause, I went for a spin in the gunship, this time accidentally (thats the story for the record anyway) letting a few rounds off at the CC which was now sinking fast. In response, the carrier group started attacking me. They clearly didn't know who I was or they failed to realize that the ship was already sinking anyway. It was all over after that. I exited UCAWA to go do something else and the strangest thing happened. Later in the evening a couple men in suits showed up at my door and announced they were from GC and that, due to my horrible performance, I was officially on probation/monitored performance/etc and would not be given command of another ship for some time. They're sooooo touchy over there at GC!

I played UC awhile back with a pretty old rig and was very impressed with the game, despite the obvious issues with trying to run it on a rather weak box which was well below the min. reqmts. Anyway, I recently upgraded my machine and wanted to check out the latest offering since I now have a better equipped machine. I'm still working through the tutorial, but figured I'd stop and post some initial impressions. [*]I bought UCAWA online through Digital River. Being able to do the whole thing online was a big plus for me. The purchase/download/install process was very smooth. [*]This one is probably just me, but I couldn't figure out how to add another game to my web registration. The result is I have two separate system profiles, one for each game key (UC and UCAWA). Perhaps this is the way its intended to work. Hopefully I didn't do something incorrectly. [*]It was confusing that the updater just runs and exits without indicating you're up to date. A quick check of the forums, VCF, and downloads page along with a manual examination of the updater XML file being downloaded by the updater cleared things up for me. I did notice the VCF seems to indicate one later version (v1.00.09) than is available from the updater or the web site (even after registering the game key). I'm guessing this is only available for internal/beta testers? [*]overall I'm once again impressed by the depth of the simulation as I've been every time I've dabbled in the products in this franchise. I've never spent enough time to gain significant expertise mostly due to having a crappy machine before, but it is pretty cool how much thought/time has gone into this. you get the feeling you could spend tons of time with the game and still not scratch the surface of possibilities. [*]I love the way the interface works wrt the priority targets list, the "tab list", and ctrl+p designation. This greatly simplifies things in heated situations, allowing you to very quickly order your ships around. [*]The lighting effects on the ships are awesome! [*]I got the impression that the scale of things wasn't consistent between the first and third person pov when outside your ship standing on your ship. i.e., from a 3rd person pov, zoomed out, you look like a dot compared to your ship, but when you switch to 1st person pov it seems like it would look bigger than it does. Sorry if this isn't clearer. It could just be too much caffeine and not enough sleep :-) [*]When landing a fighter on a planet, exiting it, and then running back to the fighter, the game bounces you away from the fighter if you try and run right up next to it. If you then use the jet-pack and try and land on top of it, you get in a wierd sort of oscillation rapidly moving up and down until you jet-pack away. On a similar note, when trying to land on my ship in space, my char sunk waist deep into the ship and had to move a bit to eventually surface. [*]the transition between the bridge interface and the tactical/logistix/etc. interface has always seemed a bit jarring to me. it seems like the tactical/logistix screens could be overlaid on the bridge display using the same visual style used by the other bridge tactical displays providing some more continuity. not a big deal though. it gets the job done. [*]although there are a number of ways to target things in space, when you're sitting in front of something, it'd be nice to be able to just click it in the 3D world and have it targeted. [*]it would be nice to be able to configure the distance at which you drop out of hyperspace so you wouldn't have the additional time closing that last bit of the trip to the gate for example. [*]being able to zoom in/out in the F9 view using the mouse wheel would be a big plus. [*]despite having all the settings cranked up, when flying very low over a planet's surface only a very small radius appears to be rendering in high detail (trees, etc). i think my machine could handle a larger radius and it'd be nice to increase this. perhaps this is an option I haven't yet discovered. Anyway, my overall impression is a 10 out of 10 for UCAWA as I would have expected with something in the BC series. Excellent product and it makes other space games look pretty trivial in comparison. Note that I was brainstorming from my initial experience with the game to get the above list. All said and done, the game is great. I just wanted to provide what I could for feedback.

thanks :-)

bummer! Looks like I just missed the window. Was hoping on participating in the multiplayer servers at some point once I gained a bit of experience. Any additional explanation available? Or an ETA as to when MP will be again available?

quote:If you turn your shields off to save the very expinsive gas that runs them how do you keep form taking alot of damagewell, I'm a noob at this as well, however, if you're worried about conserving fuel (iridium, radine, plutonium), try the following. take your cc to earth (for example) and deploy all four mining drones. Now just let it go and wait until they're all completely full. Recover them, launch back into space and sell the mined minerals at GCHQ. In a single run, I went from having 75k in the bank to around 2.5mil and was able to buy a very large amount of each of the three primary fuels. Anyway, given the ability to mine, you should be able to get a decent amount of cash to pay for fuel. Also, it didn't appear as though I was being penalized for loading up on tons of fuel, but maybe I wasn't watching the numbers closely enough.

quote: quote:I have a similar problem. If a system is damaged just barely, the components will be repaired, but the system will remail at 99%. I keep trying to repair, but to no avail. The system will always remain at 99%It works as designed because 99% is a valid value for units being repaired or replaced. If they ever get to be 100%, it will be gradual and eventual. I've seen something similar as well. In my case, FC1 had a system at 99%. I docked with GCHQ near earth and initiated repairs. The estimated complete time was the same as the start time (even with a single engineer) and I just let it go. I checked back (while still docked) in a little bit and the repairs were suspended, and the system was still at 99%. So, again, I selected it, and assigned SEs to it. Each time it turns blue, indicates a completion time the same as the start time, but then shortly later switches to white and shows the suspended mode. SC, I know you indicated that 99% is valid since repairs are gradual, but since they keep going into suspended state while docked at GCHQ (which should indicate there aren't any parts issues), I thought this might not fall in that category. Note also that when this happened I was able to get other systems repaired, so it wasn't like the station SEs weren't working properly. [ 08-30-2004, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: coder_1024 ]

sorry, my bad. I have read the manual a couple times as well as going through the tutorial. I could have sworn that I varied the throttle and was still stuck in VTOL mode, however, I just tested it again and it works as expected.

Just picked up UC and wanted to post some initial impressions... After working through the manual and then the tutorial, I was repeatedly amazed at the depth of this product as I progressed and discovered new aspects of the simulation. It almost doesn't seem like a complete picture to call it a game. This is one heck of an impressive product and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. Although my system doesn't meet the min. specs, UC ran fine through everything I tried up until the part in the tutorial where I had the shuttle, FCs, marines, medic, etc at the base, along with the CC, and I exited the CC to first person. Ended up having some big slowdowns at that point. So, its definitely time to upgrade my machine :-) I am impressed that it ran as well as it did up to that point despite my wimpy specs. Note that tacops runs fine even in this situation and things are ok in vehicles, its just first person that has a harder time of it. Anyway, keep up the good work and thanks for a great product :-)

I've observed that if I enable the joystick throttle from the options, the ship can get stuck in VTOL mode. I'll be flying along fine, use S to slow down to a stop, which switches over to VTOL mode, and then try to start moving again with W, but the ship refuses to move. joystick throttle is zero'd the whole time. I can get moving again if I toggle autopilot on then off (assuming there's a waypoint to head to), since this will get the ship moving and get it out of VTOL. The other way around it is to just disable the joystick throttle. I'm sure its probably an issue with my joystick and not with UC, but I thought I'd post this in case someone else encounters it.

quote:You are reading the wrong and older VCF included in the demo. Don't you know by now where the regularly updated one is? You're kidding me, right? d'oh! Yes, I was reading the one using the Start Menu shortcut. I've updated to link to the one on the 3000ad site now. Sorry.

quote:You could also land the CC, and then go explore in a SC. true. i just don't want some baddies trying to come hassle the mothership! :-) quote:All you have to do to keep your CC at its current location, is to give it the HALT command from the command menu, enable the A/P, and then send your AE where you'd like. This DOES work. So, I dunno why it doesn't work in the demo. When you issue the HALT command and turn on the A/P, you are doing the SAME thing that waypoint order does. You do NOT require a waypoint order to achieve this. ok, understood. thats ok, because this will let me practice my formation flying skills :-) (if anyone hasn't tried this, it really rocks!!)

quote:No, its not a bug or it would be in the VCF. sorry, I didn't see it in the VCF, so I thought maybe it was an as of yet unknown bug. quote:Obviously the camera is at a different position that your ship, or you won't see your ship if they were both at the same location. understood. quote:btw, a demo is meant to be played, not for posting what you think are bugs. I am noticing far TOO many nonsensical posts from you. Please tone it down or your posting priviledges will be revoked without warning. I *am* playing the demo, and loving it. I have to say, you've done an awesome job with it! The game is truly a marvel :-) While playing I encountered some things, and after checking the readme, VCF, manual, and searching here, I posted. Just thought others may be aware of what was happening, or at least it would provide some usefull feedback to 3000AD. Am I in the wrong forum? I don't want to be banned, but I'm confused as to what I've done wrong.

quote:Its the second to last time in the known bugs section of the VCF. Which part did you miss? I checked again, and didn't see it in the VCF. The second to the last item in my file, is "If you deploy your AE in space, get back on the craft, go to a planet and then deploy again, his inventory items will not be initialized." Anyway, if you know its a bug, then no worries. Sorry 'bout posting for a known bug. :-(

Has anyone else seen the following? (I checked the VCF, and didn't see it. I apologize if I missed it). Planetfall has been established. I'm hovering in VTOL at about 30k alt. I then switch over to the tactical view (to create some waypoints). I then clicked on my ship to zoom to it. Everything is fine. I then tried this at 20k. No problem. Then I was at around 10k. This time, the ship was "teleported" to the ocean floor. My alt had just been reset to 0. Anyone else seen this?

quote:3. Has anyone seen a difference between the altitude reported inside the bridge, and the one reported when you're in an external view of your ship? I think I saw this when my ship was hovering at a very low alt (< 100) quote:i did i was at 35619 on the bridge and at the F9 views it was 35691.blah. my guess is its that altitude of the camara when its first placed. quote:I'll have to check this again. I was getting a larger difference. At one point I thought maybe one number was an elevation above ground and another was altitude. I'll get back to this thread with the actual numbers once I get a chance. ok, I went back and checked. I was in VTOL, near the surface. Inside the bridge, my alt reported was 1623. In the external view, my alt was 2308.blah. Is this a bug?

wohoo!!! :-) I think I've got it working. I setup a waypoint, and then set the command for the waypoint to be "Wait for Instructions". I then engaged the A/P. I observed it, and basically, the ship kept flying back to the waypoint, over and over again. Very cool! I then moved my AE out to a shuttle craft, and launched. I was able to do some formation flying with my CC. What a rush! :-) So the trick is the, "Wait For Instructions" command, it appears. Anyway, now I can leave my CC up at 30k alt, and send a shuttle in to do the "dirty-work" :-) Thanks to all for the feedback! The only thing is that it seems you would burn a lot of fuel flying around the waypoint all day. Is there a way to have your ship just sit at a hover, while you leave it? This also takes fuel, but maybe not as much?

quote:Have you tried DISabling the A/P while in VTOL mode with "halt" issued? Or do you want the ships AI to have some control over it? I tried it again. This time, I was hovering, I issued the HALT command (but did not engage A/P). The ship's command now showed as HALT, and I was hovering nicely. But, as soon as my AE left the bridge, it switched out of VTOL and started dropping like a rock. quote:Set waypoints for the CC and tell it to follow them while you go off an explore. I'm going to give this a try. I was concerned by something I read in the VCF, though. It says: "...If the AE is not on the bridge when the CC exhausts its waypoints, the ship now switches to HALT state...". So, I'm guessing that once you get to the last waypoint, its going to do a similar thing (i.e. drop out of the sky). quote:The HALT command does exactly what it was designed to do. Learn how to use it, as per the instructions provided. The demo readme instructions only discuss the HALT command in the context of landing the craft, and then HALTing so you can exit it. The VCF doesn't say too much either, except for providing similar instruction to the readme. Also, there's the stuff I quoted above. I checked the BC3k manual, and the only thing it says about HALT is that it causes the ship to hold at its location and maintain radio silence. What exactly does the HALT command do? It doesn't appear to cause the ship to hold a location. Why does a ship in VTOL, suddenly drop out of VTOL when issued a HALT command?

quote:Coder, which non-clickables have tooltips? I'm pretty sure there aren't any. The few I noticed were, "Solar Reactor Output Level", "Armor Level", and "Hull Level". Again, its nothing big, but it looks like it may just be an oversight (which might be a quick fix) so I thought I'd post it.

Just wanted to follow up on this thread. Since my last post, I tried just leaving the ship in VTOL mode, and then moving my AE off to a shuttle to exit the ship in. As soon as my AE leaves the bridge, the ship drops out of VTOL mode. This time, I *did not* issue the HALT command.

quote:only the clickable ones have tooltips. But there are other non-clickable items that *do* have tooltips. This is what led me to think it might have just been an oversight, and that the tooltips just weren't yet added for those. Of course it could also be by design, I suppose. quote:check your drivers. only think i can think of. I'll check again. Was pretty sure I had the latest. Also, its not reliably repeatable. It happens sometimes, doesn't happen others... quote:i did i was at 35619 on the bridge and at the F9 views it was 35691.blah. my guess is its that altitude of the camara when its first placed. I'll have to check this again. I was getting a larger difference. At one point I thought maybe one number was an elevation above ground and another was altitude. I'll get back to this thread with the actual numbers once I get a chance. quote:stations and planets are big things. have your battlecruiser fly over the station and view the target camara. Then zoom in using page up and home. his reall shous off the size of the station compared to the battlecrusier. ahh... ok. Thanks for the help :-)