2019-01-13 23:42:14 (edited by defender 2019-01-14 04:25:02)

I know you must be pretty burned out right now Freeman, but any chance you could answer some of these questions in an updated readme soon? The larger this thread gets, the more berried things will become.
And yeah, I think many of us would be happy to help you find more laser sounds for a small update maybe a couple months from now when your not so damned tired of the game LOL.
Thank you for all your prompt and in depth responses to questions though!
Oh and, do you have a place to donate? It seems only fare you should be rewarded in some way for all this hard work you've done...

2019-01-13 23:52:33

well when you consider just how big this game is i totally agree with the above post. i'd certainly love to see more added to the game that's for sure. it is really good no doubt about that. especially for a first release this has been done so so well.

2019-01-14 01:00:27 (edited by Dark 2019-01-14 02:24:39)

Totally agree with connor on combat, I'm having the same problem exactly.
I'm hoping if I get enough cash for a better ship or maybe even the  military laser it'll make a difference, since if I can target faster at least I might get some breathing room, but we'll see, oh and agree with defender about donating too, I've really enjoyed both of Freeman69's previous games, although I never really worked out the strategy for echo quadrent and this is frankly amazing, as well as being the sort of game that I and many others have been wanting for a good long time now.

Edit: Okay getting the military laser did not help with combat at all, mostly because again everytime I try and shoot an enemy or something else shoots at me, literally every ship in the galaxy decides to pile in even in a danger 1 system, so even if I manage to kill something I usually get killed myself a second later. The ai really! needs to be less aggressive here, since combat is getting frankly annoying at the moment and nearly impossible to actually get anything back from, and from what I gather with the ship prices the cobra isn't supposed to be a completely crappy ship either.

Asteroid mining and hunting stuff in nebulas and such is fun, but at the moment  the game seems basically like the adventures of sir robin, since pretty much everything is based on running away as much as possible, and getting killed when you can't run away, and even if you buy armour and weapons they don't help with that very much.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-01-14 07:18:37

lol nice i crashed into a jiant star. so can you crash into ships as well?

2019-01-14 07:40:59

also, do wormholes count as autopilet destinations? i mean if yu're trying to get from point a to point b? i ask because i am using the autopilet to get somewhere and all that's happening is that i seem to be going round in circles. i'm trying to get to one of the faction capitals.

2019-01-14 08:11:53

hello, the game is as beautiful as your name.

2019-01-14 08:15:56

it's absolutely brilliant. no doubt about it. yay i finally worked out how to get from point a to point b. now lets hope i get a good profit after all that!

2019-01-14 08:17:37

something i would like to ask, is it me or do the space lanes seem busy no matter how far from any planet/freeport etc you are? if that's the case isn't that a little weird? wouldn't the spacelanes be more or less busy when you are near or far from a given port of call?

2019-01-14 08:38:33

One thing I would love is not eject on press of e, but hold down for a second, and a whoosh raising in pitch to let you know hey if you aren't meaning to eject, let go now. You can get it back but if someone's on your butt, not really.

I agree with Dark on the combat thing, literally probably 8 out of every 10 systems have a fugitive in them. You can't fight, if you kill one, you better get back to a free port immediately, because your health is at like 10%. Also how do you know the state you're in. You can tell with them because it pitches up, but you I'm not sure unless when they say damaged, scram, etc. Also if you're not a criminal, how come the other ships don't try to assist you. Not all the time I've been run into by a fugitive have I been near others, but a lot of the time, I have. I could see not wanting to literally make them all gang up on the one enemy, especially since you say in the doc that everybody is just going about their own business, but yeah. I've been ganged up on when I've shot other ships, so I think its kind of only right that it could happen, not saying every single time, and not every single ship near you, but yeah.

Two control related feature requests. Could there be a fine control option when holding shift with the turning keys to turn you slower. This would help lock you in on moving targets. Some of them you can just sort of keep ahead of and lead into your path, but it couldn't hurt right? The second is maybe shift with S to set your course 180 from where you started. You could have it as a n autopilot function and the turning sound could indicate when its going on, and then when it's done, you're 180 degrees from where you started.

Also, wondering if you'd like some help with sounds. I like some of them, but some of them are well, a bit weak. The lasers, for instance. Give me like 5 minutes with goldwave and I could cook something up. Hit me up if you're interested in that front, as I could also help find better sounds if you don't want hand crafted ones.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2019-01-14 09:43:38

As far as stars go at the moment, you actually have to fly into stars to refuel your ship for free. You'll here a plonk plonk sound, when you enter the corona, if you follow that you'll enter the danger zone and hear a voice saying "max fuel"
the danger zone won't kill you instantly, but there will be things called cmb or something like that flying around that you need to avoid.
Usually I wait until I hear that "max fuel" indicator, then turn my speed to zero and turn around until I get the beep which indicates the shortest path out, then I crank my engines back up.

Hth.

The thing I find really  odd, about combat, is that you have a criminal status flag and the manual says shooting vipers or worms will get you in trouble, but it seems at the moment shooting at nearly anything! makes you public enemy number one.

I've never got any criminal status, I always remain as clean, but even if I shoot at a python or faraos or something else that I have a chance of actually killing, I'm always swarmed by three or four other ships even in a low danger system.

Indeed, the chief difference in danger rating seems to be that in lower danger systems other people shoot at you first less often, but if you shoot at anyone your fair game.

Also agree with Ironcross on damage and targetting.

I do wonder if buying a better ship will help since turning faster would undoubtedly let me target enemies faster, but that will mean lots of trading, and likely lots  restarting after deaths too.

Actually I wonder if the best way of playing the game is to start with a worm class ship which insures you won't get shot at, and then just grind until you can afford something better than the cobra, since even with max armour and the military laser combat still seems frankly nearly impossible to survive most of the time.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-01-14 09:54:54

Hey there,
Can maybe someone explain some of the basics? I actually read the guides alrady, but I still don't get how to land or how I can check where I can can land at next. And how do I mine?
Thanks for answers.

- Eagle Ear Entertainment
YouTube
Twitch
Mastodon

2019-01-14 10:08:53

@Eagle ear, landing is easy.

First centre what your looking to lad on, EG a planet, freeport etc so that when you hit the r key your told something like "freeport ahead 500"(you'll also hear the scanning sound when something is centred).

Then, get closer, you can do this with the o key to engine boost if its a long way, like over 1000 or so. When your at about 300 you'll be told "Can't jump free port"

At this point, carry on checking distance with the r key and also slow down from 10 to about 5, when you get close you'll be told "entering docking field" if it is a freeport or "entering atmosphere" if it is a planet. At this point, hitting p, instead of activating hyper space jump will land you on the given object, though be sure that your within the docking field  atmosphere or you could wind up flying off to another system.

To mine, first use the ask for advice menu to get the position of the nearest asteroid field set in your auto pilot (though of course if you see an asteroid field while your out in space and want to check it out you can do that too).

Then, launch. The auto pilot will tell you if you need to jump to another system. Eventually, the asteroid field will be  ahead with the r key just like the freeport.

When you've entered the field you'll sometimes run across asteroids in your forward scanner view, you'll hear a beep sound and something like "asteroid 250", if you see an asteroid, fire your laser with the i key and it'll break into meteors. Note that the meteors and asteroids will move so you'll need to pay attention to when the scanning beeps are moving right or left to keep the object in view.
when you have blasted meteors enough, you'll hear a resource such as gold 50, or cobalt 75, when you hear that then fly towards it (you'll also need to keep adjusting your path with the arrows to keep it centred), and pick it up.

Often asteroids will leave rocks behind, which aren't worth anything, if you see a rock then shoot it.

Also, if you have a radar you'll be told in objects in your general forward view, so if you hear a high pitched beep off to your right, it means there's something ahead and right, and you can turn and scan it, note you  toggle the radar with the f5 key. I recommend keeping it off until you need it since it can make the soundscape a bit cluttered, though its handy when asteroid mining.

This is how asteroid mining works, nebula mining and gas giant mining work virtually the same way, accept there you don't need to blast the asteroids and meteors to get the resources, they'll show up on your scanner, but bare in mind methane is like rocks, its utterly worthless so if you see it just blast it.

Also, from what I've gathered gas giants aren't exactly rich in resources, you only occasionally see stuff worth picking up, so usually your better sticking with asteroids or nebulae, or indeed trading resources.

hth.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-01-14 10:18:07

Hi,
Wow, this game seems awesome! Going to download it right away! Good work freeman69!

Best regards
Pranam
Don't forget to give me a thumbs up!

2019-01-14 10:25:01

s
p
o
i
l
e
r
I have a question about one of the missions in the game. it tells me to go to the zokolo two southwest from the military shipyard. But when I go to that sector, there is no zokolo there. When I ask for directions in the sector with the shipyard, I get directed to one that's only one sector away and the mission doesn't continue. the thing is, when I played that same mission on a different save file, the zokolo showed up and I was able to retrieve the target. I've been all over the target system but only see the supergiant, a jovian, and some terran planets.

I used to be a knee like you, then I took an adventurer in the arrow.

2019-01-14 12:11:33

A few more general answers, followed by combat tips
You can replace sounds in the sounds folder, although names are case sensitive and some of the vocal ones contain the tilde character ~
Owning a moon is more of a bragging right than anything, a bit like achieving Elite status. It was an area of potential expansion.
Moon ownership was a nod to deep space nine where Quark always mentions his cousin's small moon.
If resources are found in dangerous areas then look elsewhere. You may have to move around a bit.
When you ask for directions, it's like asking different strangers. You may get the same answer twice or a different answer.
The border number refers to the number of jumps to the neighbouring faction. It was going to be used in a mission, but didn't happen.
Not bumping into ships or celestial bodies was a early decision, in part because it would either spin you around or be the cause of damage.
Ships are everywhere, and perhaps that isn't totally logical. It did cross my mind, but was another low priority that got lost in the mix.
C M E stands for coronal mass ejection, or a solar flare, which is what does the damage when flying in close proximity to stars.
Note to Ironcross - thank you for the offer of help with sounds. I will very probably be in touch.
Turning slower can be done by tapping the direction key rather than holding it down. A crude answer, but it works.
I may add a 180 degree turn, or perhaps a 180 degree immediate flip option. I'm thinking about other updates.
Note to Connor - There is a zokalo in sector 80 by 85, south west of the shipyard.
You can change the beacon priority from Freeports to Zokalos in the status menu, which might help.
As mentioned above, asking for directions can result in different responses.
Tips on combat and danger
Perhaps the best advice I can give is to note the population size. High population systems have higher maximum spawning levels.
However, low population systems may re-spawn quickly or slowly.
You may have noticed that the capital is very busy, but very safe.
The danger level is an estimate based on the level of piracy and the level of law enforcement, including bounty hunters.
These variations were put in to make systems different from each other, as well as the type and placement of celestial objects.
So, early in the game it's not cheating to run, or to stick to quiet systems.
Think of it in terms of more systems becoming available, the tougher your ship gets.
Bounty hunters look for fugitives and do attack them.
You don't hear ships firing at other ships, but it does happen. You may hear explosions though.
Ships attacking you may turn away to attack their own attacker.
Pirates harass all traders, if they detect them. They also get distracted by ejected cargo.
One tip is to tap overdrive once to get away from the pack.
Any ship will get fed up, if fired upon, and defend themselves.
The laser pitch varies, based on total hull and armour remaining.
A higher pitch means that someone is near death. I believe that familiarity with practice does help.
A hit by the player results in two tones. The second tone is at constant the pitch of zero hull. So when the tones match, the enemy dies.
You can change the volume settings for specific groups of sounds, which might help a bit.
On the subject of donations, the offer is very much appreciated, but knowing a game is being enjoyed is reward enough.
Plus I don't want to get in trouble with Firelight Technologies, or Eric, who let me use his marvelous music for free.

2019-01-14 12:13:07

I'm afraid I sort of assumed the missions would be primarily combat based, and since combat is so impossible I haven't bothered with them.

What is the problem, is that looking at ship stats, the  cobra seems relatively good for turning speed, indeed if the cobra is supposedly to be a balance between trading and combat, I'm not exactly sure what a pure trading ship would be like big_smile.


In fairness its relatively easy to make money from trading and mining, but its still a little depressing that bounty hunting, or heck even defending yourself is so bloody impossible, and whether you live or not depends entirely on whether you  get away quick.

If I'm missing something about combat, please let me know, but at the moment it seems basically firing your laser spells death, whether in offence or defence even with the max laser and armour. Missiles can sometimes work, but not well enough to get you out of tight spots, since basically as soon as you start shooting at anybody! even if they shot at you first, a hole bunch of ships jump in wanting to kill you.

I wonder if there is something wrong with the fugitive settings somewhere, since I've never shot at a viper or a worm, but it seems that I'm always public enemy number one no matter what I do.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-01-14 12:31:19

Hi Dark,
It does sound like you've made yourself a fugitive, which would be indicated in the status page.
Bounty hunters can be tougher, with stronger lasers, so you would be in a lot of trouble early on.
Otherwise, not all fugitives detect you when they appear, and pirates will target other traders who are nearer, or chase cargo.
And pirates who are attacked by bounty hunters will tend to turn on their first attacker.
If you want to go bounty hunting then I would suggest you wait until you can afford a sidewinder ship and pulse laser.
The cobra is a balance between speed and rate of turn, however smaller ships turn faster and straight line speed may not be so important.
The worm was added as a safe way to learn about navigation and trade, before all hell is let loose.
Hope that helps, but don't bite off more than you can chew early on.

2019-01-14 12:47:51

yes i started right at the very beginning.
so what sorts of updates are you going to do freeman? am glad you are going to add more stuff to the game because it really is good and has so much potential. i guess i'm sounding pushy whilst not meaning to be because i love this type of game and since i lost the remaining sight i had there's been nothing around that even comes close to what i used to play. this does very much have an elite type feel to it. that's coming from someone that has played the comidor omiga 500 version and completed it in less than a month. all 5 missions elite rating as well. i say completed, its endless as you know but in terms of the missions etc i did complete it.
would certainly like to see stuff done with moons. maybe have your own station or stations somewhere that trade and make money. would also like to see more faction interaction?

2019-01-14 12:49:51

Nope, My status is now and has always been listed as clean with no penalty points. I've been extra careful not to shoot at worms or vipers for that reason, but even if I shoot at a pirate who has just shot at me, the entire galaxy all turns up and I end up very dead very fast.

As I said, I enjoy the game, but yee gods combat is really frustrating!

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-01-14 13:05:01

Hi there. So, I have no clue whether this question has been asked or not. But basically when I am in  my ship with auto pilot engaged and the auto pilot tells me to jump now, I'll press o. But how can I know when to stop the jump?

Paul

2019-01-14 13:10:26

Please, could You change a c key to press, not to hold and to get those informations by using arrow keys?
It'll be easy for use with screen readers, such as NVDA.

Ja volim samo kafu sa Rakijom.

2019-01-14 13:16:07

i just press and hold c i have nvda works fine.

2019-01-14 13:47:46

I have the same question regarding jumping, after turning on an autopilot I have a message, that I need to jump, I am holding on O key, but I am not sure that I have jumped and how long I can do this.
If you have a problem when you are holding c key, simply put nvda to sleep.

2019-01-14 13:52:51

you press p.

2019-01-14 14:05:51

p creates a vortex though. And when I do it, it doesn't seem to reach the dest

Paul