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Universal Combat - First Impressions


Supreme Cmdr
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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

I just released it to you guys in our Beta program, since you are already familiar with GBS-I and GBS-II. I don't plan on releasing it to the public.


Whoah. That was one of the reasons I bought UC. I know that some might say that is my own fault and that GBS-III was never mentioned on the box as being included with my purchase, but now that I have some more fundamental knowledge of coding, I was hoping to mess around with it to get a campaign together. I don't care if it doesn't come with a help file, that's what experimenting is all about. Hope you change your mind SC.

-Gnowor

P.S. Somehow I think that I'm going to get a rather short and sweet reply most likely containing the letters O, and possibly N as well, possibly not in that order.

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Hello everyone!

first post

let me preface this by saying that I only picked up BCM/G a few months ago, poked my nose into it some, was put off by the learning curve & went on to a couple other games that I had picked up at the same time. Then about a week ago someone at my forum posted about UC ..which reminded me that I had BCM/G ...so I put it back in.

Now that I'm overcoming the learning curve all I can say is ...man, I should have never taken it out in the first place!!! lol!

This game is turning out to be just what I've been wanting ever since I first played privateer.

As soon as I realised I liked it I ran out & bought UC. (retailed $39.95 at CompUSA btw) I love the new graphics, interface & semi-streamlined functionality ...what I really love is 20 marines instead of 5 on my Sunflash

I do miss accessing nav orders from the fpi tho & there are some things I'd have liked to see. (I'll post them in "what it could have been" later)

all in all this scores way high on my list!!

kudos SC, 3kAD ....bravo, well done!!

I'll be referring you to all my friends

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I think UC is great...My only gripe is that I wish there could be a way to speed up time in the game...I have played the ROAM Planetary Support Pilot career where it seamed to take forever to get to where I wanted to attack...I applaud the realism but just wish there was a way to speed that process up...If this was discussed before sorry just want to throw in my 2 cents...Thanks

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quote:

Originally posted by Spags:

I think UC is great...My only gripe is that I wish there could be a way to speed up time in the game...I have played the ROAM Planetary Support Pilot career where it seamed to take forever to get to where I wanted to attack...I applaud the realism but just wish there was a way to speed that process up...If this was discussed before sorry just want to throw in my 2 cents...Thanks

I totally understand the wish to speed up time, but I'm glad you can't.

If you could, I'd use it.. but only because I couldn't resist. Games where you can accelerate time, for me, turn into a high speed nightmare. Almost everything ends up being done at 60x compression, only slowing up for the important game elements.

Yet a game where only the important parts are played in real time, becomes less real.

You may be bored having to travel these routes or perform those repairs in real time, but these parts of the game make the 'whole' experience more meaningful.

You can't have an epic without the highs and the lows. Knowing those repairs are going to take many hours, or that journey will take a while make the thrill of mission all the sweeter

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Tonight I saw an AI shuttle launch to tow a AI disabled fighter! Anyone seen that?

I never saw that in BCMG. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened, I'm just playing the game deeper now, it seems like it all fits together better.

The king is dead, long live the king

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First Impressions.

Good:

Planets look great

Music is good.

Menu is excellent.

Graphics are incredible considering scope and size.

Sounds have improved, esp the lasers, more bass-sounding now.

Bad:

BC exits hyperspace too far from jump-gate. It use to take only seconds to get to jump-gate in sub-light speed. Now it takes minutes.

The jump-gates have graphics annomolies, I liked the old jumpgates. Maybe Freelancer had some influence on deciding new jump-gate design.

Those are the big pluses for me and the minuses. Other than that, for a newbie, its a perfect game.

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quote:


Originally posted by StarRider:

The jump-gates have graphics annomolies,


Get better graphics drivers. Nothing I can do about it really.

quote:


Maybe Freelancer had some influence on deciding new jump-gate design.

Nope. Jason - who has never even seen, let alone played Freelancer - did that jump gate model long before FL was even released. heh

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First Impressions

(late cause had to get a new PC before playing)

but all I can say is WOW!!!

On purpose I played, with the mindset of the reviews. i.e. Graphics werent good, controls sucked, FP is bland, yada yada yada

All I can say is BULL SHhhh.

After Starting a new roam campaign, and saw my BCM Mk1, my first thought was very nicly done. I F10d Galcom HQ and was amazed. But I saw 1 thing that will end my review here... LAUNCH BAYS WERE OPEN. I can now do docking ops. WOOOHOOO (only thing i could think was missing)

PS FP mode is really well done too

BTW: i was using an unpatched version, had no issues

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just got the game and i must say so far its pretty good: defently best bang for buck game i've ever gotten: however, i do absolute despise new kb layout, that sheet seeems to be missing some of the layout there pdf or html files that show everything? cuz this new layout is killing me:P

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quote:


Originally posted by Romale:

however, i do absolute despise new kb layout, that sheet seeems to be missing some of the layout there pdf or html files that show everything? cuz this new layout is killing me:P


You'll get used to it. No, there is no PDF. No, the layout isn't missing anything. But please don't use this topic for that.

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The first time I added a posted here was when RC3/4 were out, now I have RC7. I must say that the "roleplaying" factor has really increased with the addition of the escorts. Playing a trader now seems like something I'd like to do.

Getting a couple of guys on your team whether in space or on the ground really spices things up.

The Afterburner/Retro and 1-9/0 keys are the perfect balance from old to new style.

The 2 ways to play Roam are also welcome!

I am looking forward to all the RC#'s that are coming as each blows away numerous issues, and strengthen a great foundation. Please keep the new elements coming in additon to the fixes!

I finally setup my own website so I can start to add some interesting screen shots to the "postcards" section. Wife and kids are beginning to wonder why I am getting bags under my eyes from staying up late and playing.

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You are EVIL Derek Smart! Despite owning every BC product you have made and being a sometimes critic UC is simply addicative, exciting, and very well developed. My addiction has been noted by my spouse. Will BC pay for a divorce?

As a side note 20$ for this product is a slap in the face. I have paid much more for other Dreamcatcher products that don't work months later [e.g. Pax Romana].

Kudos on a superior job.

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quote:


Originally posted by Michael R Lyons:

Will BC pay for a divorce?


Dunno, but I hear Pixan has some really bad and cheap attorneys for hire.

quote:


As a side note 20$ for this product is a slap in the face. I have paid much more for other Dreamcatcher products that don't work months later [e.g. Pax Romana].

Don't worry, they're gonna pay

[ 03-08-2004, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

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My first impressions:

Before reading manual(!) relying on old BCM knowledge...

Crap! Why isn't my fighter moving? Argh!

KABOOM

While reading manual...

Hey, when did WASD get introduced for ship motion control?

After reading manual...

Ok, a few of the control changes really threw me for a loop. But hey, that's what the manual is for, right? Heh.

Positives:

EDIT - gameplay goes without saying on a 3000AD title. I don't know any other game that lets you do so much. BC & UC are in a class of their own this department and set the standard, IMO. On to the rest of the stuff...

Space graphics are prettier than in BCM (FYI, I didn't buy BCMG, I waited for UC instead). No where close to my aesthetic standard bearers (Homeworld & Riven) but not expected to either unless SC develops a UC port for a Cray. For a BC title (call UC what you will, it's still a BC title to me) they were excellent. On a planet, I had the black cloud layer glitch mentioned in the VCF -- bummer there. But I have no doubt we'll see a fix for it sometime in the future. It was kind of neat watching a starbase attack of mine begin at day and it go to dusk to night over the next couple of hours. Rain effect was cool. Quite pleased with the look and feel, especially since I know I'm running with a less-than-recent graphics card.

And did I mention how cool it is that Earth is recognizably Earth from space? I can't wait to do a tour of the solar system.

The music wasn't quite as hyperactive as in BCM -- not that BCM's was bad; I really liked it. UC's music is slower, moodier. Given that battles aren't frenetic frag-fests until you get into the thick of them, I thought it appropriate. It takes time to get places in the game, time in which you can plan your attack (or retreat) or in which to cringe at one's stupidity for getting in over one's head. The music was reminiscent of Total Annihilation's slower non-battle music (TA is one of my standards for excellent game music), while still retaining elements that reminded me of BCM's score. Nice job Vanethian!

Sound effects were good. Some were integrated so subtly I didn't notice -- I went to check to see if I left a TV on before I realized that background chatter I heard was the game. I dunno, I'm not to good at rating sound effects unless they are pretty bad or detract. UC's did not.

The interface has improved significantly since BC3K 2.0 and BCM. Still daunting , but improved nonetheless. The keyboard chart is pretty helpful.

Having a ROAM mode without NPC generation was a really good idea! Finally, a chance to familiarize with general CC ops without having to worry about hostiles until you want to worry about them. Applause to whomever thought that one up!

Also, the shuttles finally seem to have much improved landing/deployment AI. No more deploying marines to their death from 3000 ft.

Speaking of improved AI, my marines seem to have gone to college and learned tactics. Some out-of-the-box low AIs dispatched a boarding party pretty effectively without getting horrendously chewed up. Hey, maybe someone cloned a brain for Resnig too; can't wait to find out...

Other nicities: anyone who says there's no tech support is flat out lying or misinformed. I DL'ed 1.00.02 RC 7 patch no problem -- yes there's been 7 updates to the game available for owners thus far. And as for general support, I had a question regarding Logistix and solar reactors answered by none other than SC himself, along with two other community members.

Price/value: definitely worth more than the $20 my wife paid for it. What was DC smoking?

On the negative side:

Clutter level is a bit high in the "alert" radar mode. All those tags in an area with lots of entities make it hard to see what's where. I like to do "blind" strafing runs on ground bases -- no target selected, just fire at anything I see on the ground. I need "alert" on to see targets at a distance, but there's so many... If I switch to "active" I can see again but then it's harder to spot some of the smaller ground targets visually.

Speaking of clutter, the keyboard chart really suffers from this. If some stuff could be recategoriezed or another page added, maybe that wouldn't have been as hard to find stuff on it.

I never really liked first person shooters that much (I doubt this'll ever be a UC feature I'll use too much) so I admit to some bias against. Anyway, I thought it was a bit difficult. In order to see a marine to shoot at you seem to have to move in too close to see them. I'm probably forgetting a zoom feature somewhere, probably on the DIE -- I could've sworn BCM had one in there. Also, trying to use the tactical radar in the DIE seemed difficult. Commands I was used to using in space didn't work the same in FPS. I kept hitting "R" to change radar mode and instead I reloaded my weapon (yeah, it's documented on the keyboard chart). I just don't like FPS even when a game is designed to be a pure FPS game; that the UC interface has to do so much more than a "pure FPS game" does made my FPS experience that much more frustrating to me. Again, I must point out I have a pretty strong bias against FPS in general; I can count on one hand the number of FPS games I actually enjoyed playing.

During a major starbase attack on planet, framerates tended to stutter a bit too, particularly when my CC would bank and the viewscreen swing around bringing the starbase buildings into view -- there'd be a pause right before all those went visible. But that's likely my fault -- I have a 1.33 GHz machine, but I think my graphics card is dated (GeForce 3 Ti200). Nothing hardware can't cure.

Also, I noticed that shuttles need a pretty long "landing approach" for any kind of landing/deployment operation. Not a big deal -- you set a first planetary entry waypoint about 4+ km out and then the "action" waypoint where you want it. However, if you set the waypoints too close, the shuttle has insufficient time to glide down. Instead, it settles into an agonizingly slow spiral around the landing waypoint, losing altitude at maybe 500 ft/minute. It'd be nice if the pilot realized he was sitting smack over the waypoint and just switched over into VTOL and dropped vertically from 6500 ft to ground level in seconds rather than spiral for what would likely be half an hour. (If you get stuck in this situation, BTW, to get your shuttle down just go to TACOPS and manually drag the waypoint a few km off to the side -- the shuttle will follow it and lose altitude doing so. Once it's low enough, drag the waypoint back to where you wanted it and the shuttle will follow again but be low enough for the pilot to initiate VTOL landing cycle). Alas, the only snag in what I thought was a marvelous improvement in shuttle piloting AI.

Overall: very impressed. All the improvements were worth waiting for. What flaws there were didn't really detract from the overall experience. Nice work.

P.S. BTW, is the city Dreamcatcher is based in locateable on Earth in the game somewhere? Heh heh heh...

[ 03-08-2004, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: Joel Schultz ]

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quote:


Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

quote:

Originally posted by Joel Schultz:

Applause to whomever thought that one up!


ahem, that would be yours truly I added that in the latest RC7 patch.


Thank's SC!

This is why it pays to be up-to-date on the latest patch. That feature alone would've made my day when I started messing in UC. That's up there on my "all time best enhancements to BC" list. With that feature, you almost don't need a tutorial because you aren't bombarded by attack NPCs right off the bat...

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quote:


Originally posted by TheRedComet:

quote:

P.S. BTW, is the city Dreamcatcher is based in locateable on Earth in the game somewhere? Heh heh heh...


lol now there's a use for a bugnor OTS.


Apparently some of the GALCOM races are telepathic - TheRedComet seems to read minds.
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It has a much different feel to it. The first things I noticed was how long it takes to get places now and the fact that fighters can easily trash carriers. It makes for a very different game experience. It is still good, but it's for playing when I'm in more of a "2001 Space Odyssey" mood. I'll play BCMG when I'm in a "Traveller" mood.

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quote:

Originally posted by Sir John Falstaff:

The first things I noticed was how long it takes to get places now and the fact that fighters can easily trash carriers. It makes for a very different game experience.

I actually love this part, sometimes I climb into the Fighters and Escort my CC through the different areas knowing that I have the firepower necessary to take down an enemy carrier.

I HAVE THE POWER

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