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DarkOne
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Looks like Dreamatrix has got all the rights back for Spaceforce:Rogue Universe and decided to re-release the game as Spaceforce: Rogue Universe HD. As you can see by the video in this post that the game has been visually updated from the original 2007 release.

 

Website: http://www.dreamatrix.net/site/index.php/spaceforce-rogue-universe.html

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/372480

 

A few facts about the game:

  • You can either play Story Mode to solve main quests, or Free Mode to roam around space and freely trade and/or fight with other civilizations
  • There is over 40 hours of gameplay in Story Mode
  • There are over 2500 side quest missions
  • Free mode can be played virtually endlessly

So is there anything new to the game besides a graphics update?

 

Yes. According to Dreamatrix they have included a new patch (v1.3) to the game:

 

- fixed bug with time machine and cloaking device

- fixed some resolution errors (more stable 1920x1080 resolution)

- faster world loading

- some fixes to the English translation

- added better support for shadows (more stable)

- slight tweaks and changes to enemies AI.

- memory usage optimizations

- various small optimizations and fixes

- added support for VSM shadow maps

 

 

Also it was stated that modding the game should be easier since the developers said they have unlocked all files for editing. Still not sure if they are going to release official mod tools that were hinted at in the original release.

 

Personally I hope Dreamatrix supports this game for longer than the previous owners did because as I stated before in a few posts in the past I have always thought SF:RU had a lot of promise it just needed a bit more patching and the ability to mod the game better. I will be interested to see if we can get more updates and some robust mod tools or either instructions as to what files do what in the game engine.

 

Check out the trailer below and don't forget to buy the game on Steam if you like it or you want to play a more updated version of the game on your PC.

 


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Geraldine
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I got this incoming as it was part of the pledge package in their recent Kickstarter. I only found out it was the HD version when Dreamatrix told me, nice!


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XenonS
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Looking good, but the game comes only with a very 'basic' tutorial not telling the exact keyboard commands. Many of the trade items and upgrades are not explained, will have to find out by myself and be patient...

I found a guide for beginners on Steam, but still I have a lot of questions, for example: I'm not able to target any ships, so I probably need some equipment for that, etc.

 

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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I'm confused -- the trailer linked above shows the original release. Same texture definition and same (low) polygon count.

 

And I hope the new release will contain more than a patch 1.3 (the crash occurring on the Sol<-->UrsaMajor transition needs a fix badly, and I bet there are more lurking that I haven't discovered).

Some quests are also bugged. There's a Satellite Activation quest in the Lynx system that sends you on a wild goose chase. The satellites are absolutely nowhere, and you can only Cancel the quest.

Speaking of which... the hideous X to cancel a quest you've taken is not being displayed. If I weren't told that it's in the lower right corner of the quest picture I'd never have guessed how to Cancel a quest. Fix it. And make sure the game manual explains it properly, with pictures and all. Right now it doesn't even say you can CANCEL a quest.

 

The game could use a host of improvements especially in the UI.

- Player ship's own coordinates (xyz) shown on the map.

- Stations' and any other object of interest's coordinates shown on the map.

- Introduction of long-range probe objects fired from the player's ship, to quickly scan the unknown space ahead (so the tedium of flying through each map square isn't forced down the player's throat. If he wants to manually explore, fine. Otherwise probes are available at most stations.

- Ability to set a bookmark at specific (remote) system/coordinates (right now you can only set a bookmark at your current position. Archaic)

- Ability to move or delete a bookmark after it's set

- Ability to give bookmarks a meaningful name

- Ability to set *hundreds* of bookmarks (not just 10 -- the galaxy is big, you know)

- Autopilot ability to navigate autonomously to a given bookmark, even if it sits in a remote system

 

- Add an interface containing a list of all known Stations and Buildings with the ability to set a course to it for the autopilot (much like in Freelancer). Each entry should contain a static picture of the object, and basic info such as system, civilization, object type (dare I ask? Make it sortable and filterable for maximum usability. Imagine a list growing to thousands of entries. You don't want to annoy your players to wade through *that* every time they search for something). Possibly take it one step futher and allow the player to add his own notes to each entry. You fly a spaceship with an onboard computer, hopefully the ability to write some notes won't make the game fall into the AAA militare-grade simulation category... I mean, it's 2015: my car has got air conditioning -- you can put some optionals in your games!

 

 

If I was certains the devs would read this, I could come up with more ideas.

Until then, this is it.


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XenonS
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Hi fox,

I'm currently playing the game in HD, not via HDMI cable though but a normal D-SUB connection, so I cannot tell about grafics improvements. Patch 1.3 has said to have corrected 1920x1080 resolution problems. At this resolution, sometimes I have to TAB out to Windows and go back otherwise the screen will remain black. Also somtimes the game freezes and I do the same to go on playing.

 

Sadly, I can confirm you that the UrsaMajor sector bug is still there (1.3)

 

You seem to know a lot about the game. May I ask you 3 questions:

 

1)

There are some objects in space that change the aiming reticle when I get close (some cargo i suppose because I changed my radar to Cargo and flying towards these objects), but I cannot select these objects with J, scanning them, or doing anything. If I try to teleport them (T),  I get a message "Not enough energy cells". Can I do something with such objects once I have bought the right items/upgrades ?

 

2)

I have read the manual that comes with the classic non-HD version and a Steam Beginner's Guide, but still I don't fully understand the upgrade system. I know there are 'Levels' you must reach in order to use specific items. I was not able to buy some items although I had enough credits. How do you go up the levels?

 

3)

Bookmarks:

After trying hard, I now understand that you can save your *CURRENT* position to a bookmark. But can you tell the ship to fly to a specific point in the sector?

 

Thanks very much to consider my questions, also because the game website seems to be rather not frequented.

 

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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Hi fox,

I'm currently playing the game in HD, not via HDMI cable though but a normal D-SUB connection, so I cannot tell about grafics improvements. Patch 1.3 has said to have corrected 1920x1080 resolution problems.

 

Sadly, I can confirm you that the UrsaMajor sector bug is still there (1.3)

 

You seem to know a lot about the game. May I ask you 3 questions:

 

1)

There are some objects in space that change the aiming reticle when I get close (some cargo i suppose because I changed my radar to Cargo and flying towards these objects), but I cannot select these objects with J, scanning them, or doing anything. If I try to teleport them (T),  I get a message "Not enough energy cells". Can I do something with such objects once I have bought the right items/upgrades ?

 

2)

I have read the manual that comes with the classic non-HD version and a Steam Beginner's Guide, but still I don't fully understand the upgrade system. I know there are 'Levels' you must reach in order to use specific items. I was not able to buy some items although I had enough credits. How do you go up the levels?

 

3)

Bookmarks:

After trying hard, I now understand that you can save your *CURRENT* position to a bookmark. But can you tell the ship to fly to a specific point in the sector?

 

 

Thanks very much to consider my questions, also because the game website seems to be rather not frequented.

 

XenonS

 

Hi XenonS

I don't have the HD version. Everything I say applies to the original 2007 release. Hopefully it's the same for the HD.

 

 

1) The objects you speak of are 'debris'. Just like the game said to you, to teleport them you need to increase your Energy Cells capacity. When piloting the ship, look at the bottom-right corner of the screen, there are 3 vertical bars: gray, orange and yellow. The thin gray bar is your Energy reserve. Notice a number on top of it? That's your Current Energy Cells Level, rounded to the nearest integer.

To see the proper Level, not rounded, go to a station and dock. Open the Upgrade/Repair Ship screen, look on the right where you have the 'Upgrade Ship' writing in green.

Hover the mouse on the Energy Cells entry. See the tooltip? It gives you 2 numbers: Current Level and Current Value.

Increase the Level by buying upgrades, and the Value will increase itself accordingly. IIRC to teleport the Debris you need a Value of at least 3.0

You can also buy (or craft yourself) a couple of Energy Cells modules.

Once you can teleport the Debris you'll discover they're often empty. But when they're not, you'll get assorted crafting materials (random amount and type).

 

 

2) As I partially explained in 1), to increase your ship stat Levels you either buy permanent Ship Upgrades or equip Modules. The two things work together, and you'll want to do both.

Permanent upgrades are structural to the ship and once purchased there's no going back. Choose wisely, as each ship can only receive a limited amount of upgrades. Also, the upgrades get expensive fast -- but they offer the best Level increase in return.

Modules can be moved from one ship to another (when you buy a new ship, that is). You can buy them or you can craft them. Modules provide a ship stat Level increase of 1.5x times their own Level (a level-10 module means a ship stat level-15 increase) and 2 modules combined can only ever give you a max Level increase of 30. Sounds cheap, especially if considering how much it takes to craft some of the Level-10 modules, but you must consider that the ship stat Level increase coming from a Module is not bound by the physical limits of the ship itself. That is to say that if a ship is limited to a Weapons level of 100 through structural upgrades, you can still raise her Weapons to 130 by equipping 2 Level-10 modules.

 

Notice that each ship falls into a Class, usually either Light Fighter, Fighter, or Heavy Fighter.

Light Fighter ships can only mount 1 Module per type and they're limited to a max module Level of 5 (or was it 4? oops)

Normal Fighter ships can mount 2 Modules per type but they're limited to a max module Level of 7.

Heavy Fighter ships can mount 2 Modules per type and go all the way to max module level 10.

 

 

3) You can autopilot to a given bookmark _if_ you are in the same System of it. You cannot tell your ship to fly to a specific point in the sector, unless that point is a bookmark.

 

 

 

Give a holler if you have more questions.


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XenonS
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Hi Fox,

thanks a lot for taking the time, I highly appreciate 😎

I'm only a few hours in the game, I started Free Play as Trader + Exploration ship. I use a 2nd screen with keyboard commands, and I have mined, done some combat, looting droped cargo from ships to increase my credits. I find the grafics and gameplay quite good. Yesterday the game just CTD as I tried to go from Solar > Ursa Major, but I have read your post about so I was prepared 🙂

 

I now will go through your Upgrade explanations, I'm sure I will then understand the game better.

 

Is it better to start with the Story Mode which probably comes with a tutorial?

 

Thx very much,

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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Is it better to start with the Story Mode which probably comes with a tutorial? Mmh nno. Story mode adds nothing in terms of learning. And the very same tutorials you get in story mode are present in free roam.

 

Instead, if I may suggest an improvement or two...

Quit to Windows, navigate to your game install folder. You should see a 'System' folder in it. And inside System there should be a 'Config.cfg' file. Make a backup of it (never hurts to have a parachute if something goes wrong) and open it with notepad.

 

Now you're looking at a list of parameters that can affect the game's rendering. Not everything listed appears to have an effect, but most of it does. I will comment on 2 things here (experiment with the rest at your own risk):

 

RenderingDistance: 1500

This affects the distance from *you* at which the game even begins to draw stuff. A ship further away than 1500 what-they-are (meta-units? meters?) won't be seen. Small things won't be a problem. But big things suddenly popping into view can get on your nerve, especially against a bright background.

It appears that you can safely double this distance amount. In my non-HD version it defaults to 1500 (which is quite 'near' if you ask me). I have raised it to 3000 and have nearly eliminated the pop-in of everything.

 

 

ShowArmorShieldOnLockedShip: 0

This one triggers a tiny but useful UI change. I recommend you turn it ON by setting the number to 1

Ships are made of Armor and Shields -- okay you know it.

What the game doesn't tell you is that different ships will be made out of different Armor and Shield types. Each and every weapon in game will be stronger against specific Armor and Shield types, and weaker against others. You can verify this easily: dock to any station that sells a few weapons and examine their tooltips. You'll notice how differently they fare against specific Armor/Shield types.

There are 5 Armor and 5 Shield types that can virtually combine in 25 modes. In practice only a handful of combos are in use, the others don't exist.

Every ship in game, including your own, uses one such combo. Problem is you don't know which. You'll know that a weapon can do increased damage to Meta plating, but you won't know which ship uses Meta plating. Heh.

That's what the setting is for. Turn it ON and when next you target a ship you'll see her Armor and Shield types color-coded in the targeting reticle, in the form of 2 small icons at the corners. The icons and their colors will be the same observed in any weapon tooltips.

 

Just in case, if a weapon says 'Nano Plate 152%' it means it's particularly effective against Nano plating, dealing an extra 52% damage. Sweet.

But when it says 'Quant Shield 22%' that weapon will be horribly ineffective vs. Quant shielding. You may not punch through it before the enemy autographs your skull (maybe *he* is mounting weapons that are your bane).

Learn when to retreat. If your shields go down in 5 hits: run.


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XenonS
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Thanks a lot to elaborate on this. I will take a look for sure.

Yes, I noticed that some ships are quite challenging and totally different. But it's good you can involve friendly ships in the battle, I like it.

 

The voice-overs are funny but confusing because NPCs are speaking with each other, so sometimes you don't know if YOU are the one which is under fire 🙂

 

XenonS


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XenonS
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I just have found a very good guide for the game in Russian at

 

http://www.elite-games.ru/spaceforce/interface.shtml

 

I have made some test with Google Translate to see how it translates in English and the results are quite good (funny but acceptable). A Word doc in English is underway, a 1:1 of the webpage.

I think I will contact sapog662. Maybe he is the autor, or for sure he knows who has made this excellent online guide, so I can send him my English version.

All the keyboards, UI icons and important game features are covered. Very good and far better than the manual.

 

XenonS


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XenonS
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Fox,

Again thank you for your Upgrade descriptions, I see much more clearly now

These changes in the config file are very helpful. At least I know what sort of cannon is best suited against a specific ship. However, it remains difficult to compare the different cannons because of the many variables.

I was in a system with only enemies against me, the "Collective". At some point there were with 5 ships against me... Had to use my nanobots and EMP defense, but I was able to escape using an asteroid field. Funny gameplay for me up to now.

 

Crashes:

It seems that in the HD version every time you go in a Jump gate, your Profile gets  saved automatically. I had a crash from Phoenix to Centaur IIRC, re-loaded the Profile and everything was as before (I checked my cargo, credits, they all were as expected). At least now, such crashes will only be a time waster but will not delete your game state, so you can go on.

 

The rendering in the HD version has been raised to 2000 as default, I changed it to 3000. I have reduced the resolution to 1280x720 (16:9) in order to have bigger fonts. The game doesn't look worse with that.

 

Cheers,

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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At least I know what sort of cannon is best suited against a specific ship. However, it remains difficult to compare the different cannons because of the many variables.

I bet you're searching for weapons good against every enemy, so you can go anywhere and take on anyone. But that's impossible by design. With only 2 active weapons some foes will always be your bane. And if you make everyone enemy, then, where will you go to dock and switch weapons, restock and sell stuff?

 

Diplomacy is your friend. Choose your allies so you won't meet in battle specific Armor/Shield combos that would make your life difficult.


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XenonS
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Yeah, thanks. First I was confused, but now I'm looking at the color combination with the ship target and my cannons. In one of the quests, I didn't attack because the target was too strong for my cannons.

As for diplomacy, I simply try to keep the slider in the middle for a neutral relationship. I always pick a hostile faction to work for in the quests.

 

In my game version (HD) I don't have to pay for jumping in non-adjacent systems, the amount to pay will be displayed and I also hear the coin sound when hitting 'Launch', but I get no money substracted. Maybe that's because I'm playing in Free Play. These jumps would be quite expensive anyway 🙂

 

Another strange thing: Whit Meteor Showers, a lot of ships seem to get active and attack me for some weird reason...

 

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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Hi XenonS,

 

Watch it -- there's no neutrality in SFRU. Either you are Ally and they won't attack you, or you are not-an-Ally and they're going to attack you eventually.

And should you retaliate and kill your attacker, it will only deteriorate your standing with his faction further, making it more likely to be attacked next time.

This brings us to the subject of meteor showers. It is my belief that when ships around you take damage they seek a scape goat. If there's no obvious source to blame and you're not-an-Ally with them you may become that scape goat.

Call it a flaw in the AI.

Enemies would attack you anyway, while allies would not -- and you wouldn't notice the flaw.

But since you keep people in the grey Dunno Zone... they pick on you in stupid self-defense.

I don't know what to say about the jumps you ought to pay for. I just made a test and I do pay. And the jumps aren't as expensive as you make them sound (then again, I'm rich).

Can I ask you what Race and Class you play, how many Credits you got, how much Experience points you made, and what difficulty you play at?

All these info are in your Inventory screen, select the Statistics button at the bottom-left of the screen. Or post a screenshot of it.

Believe me, Story Mode and Free Roam play exactly the same minus the fact that in Free Roam you don't have a main quest to follow (and bad voice acting to endure).

 


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XenonS
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I started Free Play as Trader and Exploration Ship. Here is my profile:

 

Class: Trader

Experience: 6921

Rank: 2. Apprendice

Race: EMD

Difficulty: Easy (Changed it during play)

Current Credits: 9254

 

My Repository is full of Narcotics which are illegal on Solar (otherwise no way to enter station) and crafting stuff in order not to lose them if I'm killed.

Not much credits yet, I use most of them to buy upgrades and improve my ship, I think saving the credits at the start doesn't make sense, I wouldn't  go very far...Even at the Easy diff. level the game is quite hard in combat, that's good so I can expect more on higher levels = 🙂

 

What I haven't done yet: Hacking, building destruction, attacks on larger ships or using ID cards. Also to allow for wingmen I have to boost my credits first, hehe...I engaged one just to see how the commands are handled, but then I got killed in a flash (reloaded my profile). It's a huge difference if you accept a quest named "Destroy Attackers" or "Destroy Subject". The 2nd one is a lot easier with the trick to 'insult' him to get him away from his group (I didn't found this out by myself though...)

 

That's it for the moment. Will have to get deeper in the game. I find the gameplay very good considered that it came out just after Freelancer. The combat here is much more challenging than FL IMO, a bit like in Darkstar One, but here you have wingmen which is a big plus.

Do you have all game files uncompressed? The HD version has all directories open for modding. Especially the data dir with the Global Settings file contains a lot of useful triggers, but there is still the console of course.

 

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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The jumps free-of-charge might be due to the Easy difficulty. But I'm guessing. I always play Normal and don't know what's affected by the difficulty. Combat certainly is.

You're right: it's pointless to amass credits -- unless you're saving for a new ship and her upgrades.

Doing quests is a way of making money, but all quest types save one affect multiple factions at once. Pick quests poorly and you'll mess your standing with the factions you care for.

The real money in this game lies in trading. It may be hard to believe in a game so combat-oriented, but facts are that if you find a lucrative trade route you can make good money in little time.

Since you're EMD and hang around Sol I should inform you that a profitable trade route is near. I'll be more specific if you'll ask me to.

Do I have all game files uncompressed? Many dirs and files in my install path. No idea if as many as yours. Excluding the 'Profiles' folder and what's inside, I count 4845 files in 53 folders, worth 2.90 GB (3123538177 byte). Note that my non-HD version is boxed -- not a Steam download.

Now let's talk about the things you haven't done yet...

HACKING:

A risky activity. The more you hack without being caught, the better you get at it. Expect to be busted a lot in the beginning.

Hacking can be used on any building, provided that it's no Station, Repository or gun platform.

By Hacking a building you slowly siphon their Credits over time, until depleted. Buildings don't regenerate Credits until you leave the system and come back.

If you don't get caught, nobody will know what you did.

If you are caught, ships will appear and attack you. You may stay and resume the hacking, but you'll take a beating. You can repeat the caught-resume thing as long as they got Credits, but more ships will gang on you each time you get caught. Once you're done hacking, you better flee. Ships will pursue you, then leave you be. They'll hang around the building looking for you should you fly back. They won't disappear until you leave the system and come back.

If, and only if, you don't kill your attackers, your standing with their faction will be unaffected despite your awkward hacking.

Don't hack a building if a capital ship is nearby.

BUILDING DESTRUCTION:

Similar to hacking. You'll make a lot of ships angry, and if you care about your standing with their faction you better not fight back. The very act of destroying a bulding will lower your standing with them already.

No building is gone permanently. Leave the system and come back, there'll be a new one. Usually the buildings targeted by a quest will be special ones that exist only for the purpose of the quest.

Don't destroy a building if a capital ship is nearby.

ATTACKS ON LARGE SHIPS:

Attack a capital ship on your own and it's your funeral. Their gun is unforgiving. They don't need to aim, they just hit you hard and instantly. Let's not talk about their vast Armor and Shield amounts.

Capital ships aren't invincible, just deathly dangerous. You need a strong ship, with lots of upgrades and good modules. And proper weaponry. And tactics! Capital ships have a fatal weakness that you must learn to exploit.

ID CARDS:

Fake ID cards have a % success rate. It's chance-based. The first time an ID card is rejected, the card disappears.

ID cards can be used when you want to trade with a Merchant ship. If they belong to a faction you're not in good standing with you may try a fake ID. If they bust you the ID card is gone, and they may attack. Otherwise you make your trades and the card remains with you. ID cards don't influence the price of goods, far as I know.

Don't try a fake ID with a Station -> it would automatically fail.

ID cards don't need to be physically within your ship's inventory. Leave them at any Repository.

Sure I write a lot... Was it annoying?

 


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XenonS
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Sure I write a lot... Was it annoying?

You are joking 🙂 I highly appreciate your help, thanks a lot. I WILL read all this, latest when I get stucked in some operations. The manual explains the basics but it doesn't expand on the details, and for sure not on yours, so: thumbs up for this !

 

 

The jumps free-of-charge might be due to the Easy difficulty. But I'm guessing. I always play Normal and don't know what's affected by the difficulty. Combat certainly is.

I don't know how I came to this conclusion, but I was wrong, I do pay for jumps if they are somewhat far away. I must have falsely read my credits, they are hard to read,  sometimes with a comma on it, sometimes not, so I surely got it wrong.

Jumping more than 4 worlds away may cost you more than 2500 cr. I think that the 'map vicinity' of a world doesn't count for the price, what counts are the nr. of connection roads to take in order to get there, a fine system.

 

 

Pick quests poorly and you'll mess your standing with the factions you care for.

Yeah, that's interesting, and it's in the overall Diplomacy where the game is shining IMO. As you said in your last post, staying neutral with a faction can only get you in trouble, I better go for a > 80 points in diplomacy or I shouldn't care. The problem - and challenge - is: these numbers tell you only about the attack probability, they don^t reflect some NPCs attacking you because of your cargo or because some factions are at war. 

 

Friendly fire:

I had a lot of trouble lately, I had to reload several times, also jumping out of the sector and in again to see if it changes, but no: Although my relation with the Ezodar is 95 (!!), if I get in their sector Cassiopeiea and Cepheus, I will at some point get attacked by entire groups of them - just like Pirates. After I got killed and re-jumped in the system, this time it's a powerful EMD ship that suddenly turns red and attacks me (I am EMD and at max 100. No, I didn't shoot him by mistake). I got a voice-over saying 'you are a traitor'...Still I don^t know the reason for this, this happens when I have expensive cargo or nothing in my ship, maybe I picked the wrong faction before to work in a quest, I still don't know. I was running some in-sector trading with buildings you can enter for 'special' trading - not stations - they have the best selling prices; I buy from stations or traders and re-sell there inside a sector for good profits.

 

ID cards:

For a reason to these friendly faction attacks, I suspect that I have hit the U key by mistake changing the ID cards, but that shouldn't matter, right? If I change the ID card before jumping in a sector, will it have consequences?

 

Quests:

What I don't understand with Quests is: let's say the briefing is that you are going to destruct / kill a EMD subject or building; but at the same you can chose let's say the Alreani as working for (by paying the 50 cr), so does this mean that if I go on with this EMD and Areani will at some point be hostile? However, by working against faction you only lose 5 points, so that^s not enough to entirely swing their attitude (when largely above 80), so: what happens? or: I get something wrong obviously 🙂

I think the Mail list with 'Galactic News'  is the only place to know about factions being at war or hostile each other, your Diplomacy map doesn't tell you that.

Is there any other way to know about inter-faction relations? This may be important to know, or you run in heavy fights like here above.

Don't know but I imagine that if faction A and B are at war, then doing a quest for faction A will get you hostile with faction B, even if your numbers for the faction B are good ?

 

Evasion tactics:

The combat in this game can get very hard, especially if you have the wrong cannon loaded (my ship cannot load 2) and are out of missiles. My speed is still not upgraded much and I have a really hard time to evade if I chose not attacking. The things I do to evade is de-selecting the target (K), use my afterburner a lot with 30 degree direction changes, flying towards a sun or asteroid field, but it's hard to gain distance so you can use the Mega Speed, in-sector Jump or go in your inventory to make weapon changes (you can enable this in the config file !)...The best I found was to fly towards the jump gate making a lot of small route changes with afterburner to dodge fire and eventually jump out. Docking at a station doesn't help, your attacker will just wait for you 🙂

 

 

XenonS


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Jumping more than 4 worlds away may cost you more than 2500 cr. I think that the 'map vicinity' of a world doesn't count for the price, what counts are the nr. of connection roads to take in order to get there, a fine system.

It must be a change brought by patch 1.3

In the non-HD version (patch 1.2) the cost of a jump is indeed based on the map-distance from System A to System B.

I can jump from Ursa Major to Aquila in 740.5 credits. And you?

 

 

Friendly fire:

I had a lot of trouble lately, I had to reload several times, also jumping out of the sector and in again to see if it changes, but no: Although my relation with the Ezodar is 95 (!!), if I get in their sector Cassiopeiea and Cepheus, I will at some point get attacked by entire groups of them - just like Pirates. [...]

They shouldn't have attacked you.

But I myself have had a similar problem occasionally -- last time it was a lone Ord ship in Dorado system. My rep with the Ords is 100% and this ship attacked me. Whatever motives behind the attack, they were limited to the individual. Other Ord ships nearby didn't join him.

Next time it happens: open a comm channel with the attacking ship and ask her to cease the attack (you pay 100 credits). She should leave you be.

 

 

Quests:

What I don't understand with Quests is: let's say the briefing is that you are going to destruct / kill a EMD subject or building; but at the same you can chose let's say the Alreani as working for (by paying the 50 cr), so does this mean that if I go on with this EMD and Areani will at some point be hostile?

The short answer is: You can't change how the factions feel about each other.

Now the long answer.

First we must clarify an important detail: You -the player- are a special agency in the game. Although you had to choose a race/faction to belong to, when you created your profile, you're not actually a member of that faction. It was only to allow the game to apply a preset to 'initialize' your like/dislike situation with the factions.

You are a freelancer. A one-man faction of your own. Pretend that you are the 'Xenon' faction. The quests you take only affect the reputation of Xenon. You aren't influencing the other factions involved in the quest job.

For example, you take a quest to go destroy an Ord building, and you choose to do the quest for the Makkinist.

The moment you blow up the Ord building, the Ords will dislike the Xenon faction more.

Since you completed a quest for the Makkinists, the Makkinists will like the Xenon faction more.

But Ords and Makkinists won't like or dislike each other any different.

Pay attention, because the system adheres to its rules so strictly to become stupid.

Suppose that you take a quest to go destroy a Makkinist capital ship, and you take the quest for the Makkinists.

What will happen to your reputation?

The moment you blow up the Makkinist ship you earn a -5% reputation with the Makkinist.

Since you completed a quest for the Makkinists you earn a +3% reputation with the Makkinist.

The two shifts are summed algebrically and you net a -2% reputation with the Makkinists.

 

Don't know but I imagine that if faction A and B are at war, then doing a quest for faction A will get you hostile with faction B, even if your numbers for the faction B are good ?

No. Faction B would continue to like you, provided that you don't destroy their assets. Not all quests are about the destruction of something. The Satellite-related quests involve no violence, and they pay you +3% reputation like any other quest.

Doing the Satellite quests you can befriend every faction (except the Collective).

The Yah-An-Ra are a faction particularly easy to befriend, because they're at war with the Collective. For every Collective ship you kill, you earn +1% reputation with the Yah-An-Ra.

- Ezodar at at war with Draglon.

- Makkinist are at war with Ord.

- EMD are at war with UF.

- Yah-An-Ra are at war with Collective.

I don't remember if the Chulta Olirion are at war with anyone. Definitely not the Pirates, for I killed hundres of 'em and didn't make the Chulta any happier.

Pirates and Collective are kinda special factions, they take on anybody (but at least you can *befriend* the Pirates, oh yes).

But I never really dug into faction's relationships so don't take my word for it.

 

 

 

As for shaking off an unwanted encounter...

Don't forget to boost your Rear Shield recharge rate.

Just pick a direction and go -- don't steer too much. If you can easily put an obstacle (asteroids, buildings) between you and them go for it, but if they're too far off your path don't bother. And to fly towards a star is no use, the AI is unaffected.

Speed, Energy Cells, and Countermeasures are important here.

Speed is to outrun your pursuer. They won't give up till you put some distance between you and them. The faster you go the sooner this happens.

Afterburners multiply your base maximum speed, but they feed on energy. Upgrade your Energy Cells to sustain your burners for longer.

Countermeasures can have missiles go in totally another direction instead of homing onto you, but they begin to pay off after you put some levels in them. At level 100 they definitely screw a lot of missiles. However, missiles fired from up close aren't so easily fooled, that's why you'll need Speed to keep a decent distance.

Maneuverability is also a ship trait to boost, just not as important. Maneuverability affects the time it takes to change direction or also reach maximum speed. Ships have momentum. More Maneuverability means less momentum.

Note that the *Weight* of your *current* cargo works against Maneuverability.

And finally, your ship Durability can (and will) negatively affect your overall ship performance: Speed and Maneuverability in particular. Durability repair costs are set at 5% your ship's base cost in credits. The more expensive a ship is, the more you're going to pay for its Durability.

I should inform you that Stations aren't the only place you can repair Durability at.

 

 


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XenonS
(@xenons)
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Thanks fox, that's all very useful to me, especially the 100 cr 'bribe' for not attacking which I completly forgot 🙂

I will check and come up with the travel cost you asked for, but I guess I'm wrong again, I didn't consider the comma in the price, so my 2500 above would turn to be 250 only which is more reasonable.

As for factions, yes,  I realize that I have no influence on inter-faction behavior, it cannot be like I imagined above otherwise the whole game would turn into a chaos...

 

About the Friendly Fire: Is it possible that NPC ships react to the fact that I have 7 quests which I did not yet complete? Also I have dismissed 1 or 2 of them. I didn't complete some of them because my ship is still too weak, in one of them I have to destroy a subject but as soon as I approach the target I see an enemy CAP ship in battle with my target, I have to leave asap, otherwise...guess if I will last long 🙂

 

I find the gameplay very good up to now, and I can't complain about the quests beeing repetitive as told in some reviews, quite the contrary: there seem to be different combat challenges in all of them, the AI is very good IMO.

 

Cheers,

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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About the Friendly Fire: Is it possible that NPC ships react to the fact that I have 7 quests which I did not yet complete? Also I have dismissed 1 or 2 of them. I didn't complete some of them because my ship is still too weak, in one of them I have to destroy a subject but as soon as I approach the target I see an enemy CAP ship in battle with my target, I have to leave asap, otherwise...guess if I will last long 🙂

I have another theory. Still unconfirmed -- take it with a grain of salt.

Today in the Crux system I was again attacked by a lone Ord ship, even though the Ords are my friends. No other Ord ship would open fire on me, just this guy with some agenda.

 

Minutes earlier -always in Crux- I witnessed a battle between an Ord ship and somebody else I didn't check on. Since they were all friends to me I ignored the event and minded my own business (to reactivate 4 satellites scattered nearby). The Ord would broadcast "These insects fight like the Ord, I need help!" multiple times, but -like I said- I had no enemy of mine on the radar and chose not to intervene.

 

I suspect that the Ord that would later attack me was the very one asking for *my* help -- help which didn't came. If that's the case it'd explain his hard feelings towards me.

 

Worth note is that I bribed this Ord to cease the attack. It worked the 1st time, for about 10 seconds, then he resumed the attack. I attempted a 2nd bribe, but he took the money and kept firing. I fled.


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XenonS
(@xenons)
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Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 399
 

Yes, there must be something in the game code that makes these 'exceptions' for friendly attacks. I have found this in the manual in the Diplomacy section (page 24):

 

"(...) But every AI opponent has a mind of its own so don't be surprised if someone attacks you just to take your cargo. For example collectives are beasts and pirates are thieves in hart."

 

Also, I don't think that NPC radio messages are thrown out just randomly. They fit the situation (in most cases IMO). In my case, they were talking about my cargo, in another case an EMD attacker called me a Traitor. Both were normally friendly factions. So, your theory may be true.

 

Travel costs: I get the same numbers as yours for the same travel, no change in patch 1.3.

 

My first attempt in Hacking has blattantly failed, and I escaping to the jump gate to evade Ord attackers 🙂 Must stop the hacking before the first bar reaches the end...

 

XenonS


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XenonS
(@xenons)
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Let's see if I get this HACKING stuff right:

I think that the amount you can win is patheticly low, just 500 on average, considering your difficulties once you fail...Also you cannot always get the full amount, you have to interupt before. That^s because the lower green bar only grows slowly in some cases.

 

If I understand it right, and what I do is:

The % displayed in the upper bar corrisponds to the full lenght value. So if it reads 20% but the bar is half full, then your chance to get caught is 10%; at full lenght 20% etc. with new bar values.

Best hacking is done with most money and the smallest max security % level.

If I fail hacking, I go on anyway with it to collect the total of the green lower bar, even if I get attacked (need good shields and armor).

Still not sure that all works like this, but you don^t get a penalty in Diplomacy for a failed hack, as long as I don't kill the attackers

 

It has been said that hacking with the activated Cloak Device reduces the upper bar speed which is better caus' the green bar can catch up faster. I wonder what the attackers will do if I'm not visible though 🙂

 

XenonS


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fox
 fox
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Let's see if I get this HACKING stuff right:

I think that the amount you can win is patheticly low, just 500 on average, considering your difficulties once you fail...Also you cannot always get the full amount, you have to interupt before. That^s because the lower green bar only grows slowly in some cases.

 

Once you've siphoned all money you often receive bonus ID cards. They can be sold for extra bucks. Anyway, the more you hack to the end (get all money) the easier it becomes, for the game progressively manipulates the random rolls in your favor -- and you get busted less and less.

I've never completed the Cloaking Device myself, but I know it feeds off the same energy pool as the afterburner. That means you can't stay invisible forever. Should you be busted while hacking (and you are invisible) the enemy ships would have no target. Not yet. Your energy is going to deplete and you'll be game soon. Better save energy to cloak yourself for the fly-away trip, I think.

The best buildings to hack usually are those belonging to the same faction that manufactured the ship you pilot. For example: fly EMD -> hack EMD. Why? Because the EMD ships coming out to destroy you won't have weaponry suited for their own (therefore *your* own) Armor/Shield combo.

Speaking of EMD buildings in particular, the best ones to hack are those that look like a rib cage. Their enveloping shape will shield you from most shots and missiles, allowing you to keep hacking with little worry.

And remember to boost your Rear Shield recharge rate both for hacking and for flying away.


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XenonS
(@xenons)
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Joined: 7 years ago
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I was able to gather all console command codes, also found the old game forum in the internet archive (the Dreamatix game forum is still alive but under heavy spam attack). Nothing terribly intersting though, most links are dead.

I will need to find some indications for the time machine and the cloaking device, because I only got 1 piece just by chance, a moving light that you can target with the cursor. I then used the T command to teleport and got 1 time device piece. Seeing the piece size, I think there are 8 pieces for each device, 16 in total, but they all must be hidden very well...I assume all pieces are located in the space plane of a sector and not outside, otherwise no chance to find them in a reasonable time.

 

XenonS 


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fox
 fox
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Each device counts 9 pieces.

Actually it's easy to know if a system you're in contains a piece of either device: the Map (M key) will tell you. Every few seconds you'd notice a sort of radar blip, in the form of a rapidly expanding small circle (on the map, yes). You'll find the thing at the center of that circle. The blip ceases once you collect the piece.

When close enough, your radar will also pick up the piece's signature. Just switch to Cargo mode, point your nose towards one of the cargo dots, and look sharply at the space in front of you. If you see a purple or a light blue ball, that might be it.

 

 

I assume all pieces are located in the space plane of a sector and not outside, otherwise no chance to find them in a reasonable time.

Nope, the pieces can be off along the vertical axis too. The map will give you the horizontal position with good accuracy. If once there you still don't see anything, it's either above or below you.

The real problem is: the 18 pieces are scattered all over the galaxy, including the alternate systems you can enter via the uncharted jump gates. Leave no stone unturned.

 

 

Oh wait -- There's something you should check on.

In the non-HD version there's a known bug that prevents the player from collecting the last piece of each device. The bug exists in patch 1.2 -- so unless it's fixed in 1.3 you too are having it.

The bugfix is about 2 numeric typos in 2 text files. You open the files you're told, you check the numbers you're told, you make corrections if you need to. Flat easy.

Bugfix instructions at this link: Cloak and Time devices missing final parts

 


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