Turn Based Question

[Awac835]

I just tried the demo. This game have crazy potential.

Defo going to buy it when salary is comming in the first.

Also looks like the game/franchie have really good support from looking at the devs own forum.

edit:

Oh well bought it [:D] good independent games need to be supported.

[killroyishere]

Where did you get the demo? Erik said it would be sometime next week before a demo was released? Is this the like old demo of the origional release? Link?

[rhohltjr]

Erik,

Looking at the innards, do you think it can be modded in any way?

Etc, changing planet names or substituting pictures (face) ???

[Rob Brennan UK]

Humm , i may well give the demo a fair go at least .. looks interesting to me.

[killroyishere]

Where's all the feedback? Usually new game threads are packed with impressions and inside information about the game. I didn't even get answers to my questions except from Judge on the printed manual (thank you JD).

[Justascratch]

I downloaded the game this morning and I'm having a blast. One thing for sure this game has wonderful game play and could easily be programmed up to a much larger scale to become a very competitive space epic. The interface is not clunky it is just limited to 800x600 resolution, but it is very responsive. I've been killed twice so there is definitely a reasonably competent AI at work.

I usually avoid the lower cost titles - glad I made an exception.

I'll try and post more specifics once I get a little further along - but so far I'm having a great time.

[JudgeDredd]

I would probably give this a punt at the price, but I am snowed under with my model making, ED:BTR, Operation Barbarossa...and others.

[killroyishere]

Whenever you can spare a moment Justrascratch I'm very interested in the boarding combat? Is it generic or tactical? Generic meaning quick calc. Is there an option for quick calc? I'm a great fan of space trader and turn based tactical combat games. Anything you or anyone else can tell me about it as far as how it actually plays (screenshots are weak and don't tell enough information from the ones I've seen) I'd appreciate it.
I'm really surprised someone from Matrixgames hasn't popped in here for more info on it.

I would probably give this a punt at the price

punt? As in meaning you wouldn't buy it?

[JudgeDredd]

Punt as in "give it a try" as in buy [:D]

Give it a punt means give it a go in Britain (or at least, some parts [:D] )

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Punt as in "give it a try" as in buy [:D]

Give it a punt means give it a go in Britain (or at least, some parts [:D] )

Punt in the U.S has the opposite meaning. basically on 4th down you "punt"the football to the opposing team.

How about some basic AAR? An early effort with a player getting destroyed would be a nice intro.

[anarchyintheuk]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Punt as in "give it a try" as in buy [:D]

Give it a punt means give it a go in Britain (or at least, some parts [:D] )

Always wondered were the term punters came from. You're chock full of . . . wisdom. [;)]

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Killroy,

ORIGINAL: killroyishere
EDIT: Also does the physical game come with a printed manual?

No printed manual, sorry, but our usual PDF E-Book - please see the explanation of the "Editions" on the front page of our store and also note that each game's "Game Specs" list whether a PDF or Printed manual comes with the Physical edition.

EDIT: What about random galaxies for new games do they change each new start or do the planets move within the galaxie(s) we play in?

The galactic map starts out the same, as the game is set in a particular galaxy with a backstory. However, the game unfolds differently every time and your own actions affect how it unfolds as well, including systems changing hands and one faction becoming stronger than another, etc.

EDIT: Can you show us a screenshot of boarding ships and innership combat? How many men/women can fight during innership battles? This part sounds a bit like X-Com in space. Will each member have their own stats like X-Com? That would be kewl. Can we name them?

Sure, give me a sec to set it up. The basic idea is that you start with a ship that just has a crew of one (you), but as you get larger ships, they can fit more crew. At that point, you can hire the kind of crew you want, differentiated between normal crew, officers, marines, battle droids and pirates. Each type of crew has a purpose (for example, if you're planning to do lots of illegal things, you really want pirates instead of normal crew, and marines and droids are great for boarding actions).

Ok, here's an example of a boarding action. Normally, I would not have done one here (since the enemy ship was a larger one than mine), but it was my first chance for the purposes of this example. In the space combat, I weakened the enemy ship and had the option to board. I initially started from the prow of the ship (see the schematic on the left). At the beginning, I had 4 Marines and 1 Officer, as well as 6 Crew. I used the "Commando Strike" option which puts the brunt of the fighting on your Marines (and any Droids) to conserve my crew. I ended up taking that section (which you see in blue) and then could advance to the second section, the main ship corridors. However, here I ran into much stronger resistance and used the "Retreat" option to pull back my boarding party. I was able to successfully disengage. With stronger forces, I could have continued and taken the ship.

All of this also happened while I was escorting an invasion task force of Marines from one system to another as part of helping my faction win the fight in the second system (I chose the Mercenary career in this particular play through).

Regards,

- Erik

[killroyishere]

Well thank you Erik for the screenshot of boarding. It looks like there are 4 options but I can't see the one on the right what is it? What are the basics for a victory taking each area of the ship? Just the one with the most numbers? Are any cards used? I was hoping for a more tactical combat system overall I guess I had visions of grandeur of something this game just isn't.
Have you ever played the game called "Sentinel Worldsl"?
http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/senti ... erId,3971/
It's an old dos game that has ship to ship combat and then tactical boarding it's sort of an rpg game as well but no real trading game like this one. Units were represented by numbers and had stats sort of like Wasteland. Battles played out with little lazer lights flashing from the numbers until they captured the ships command center.
When I read about this game I had a flashback to Sentinel Worlds and halfway expected it to be simular. I know I put in a lot of hours playing it and I don't think I ever finished it as it was pretty hard to figure out the adventure portion of it.

[RedArgo]

I could never get Sentinel Worlds to work long enough to do anything back in the day.

I would be interested in seeing an AAR for this one too and I'm looking forward to the demo.

[NielsB]

Hi there,

I am the developer of Smugglers 4. Erik was so kind to invite me here. Thank you for your comments. I am excited to see how the game will be received by an experienced strategy gaming community like this.

The boarding is - as you can see on the screenshot - definately not squad based and more - like killroyishere asked - generic. However crew combat is just one of many possibilities in the game and I would ask you not to compare it to games who specialize on squad combat. The meaning of the options do have a strategical element though that will become obvious if you have to replace a lost crew. Basically you have three options when boarding a ship: You can fight through the the bridge or just conquer the cargo bay (to plunder & flee) or the engine room (destroy engines & flee). The three available attack commands are: Commando strike (attack with Marines & battle droids only), all out attack (everyone attacks but also everyone can be hurt) or EMP strike (can salvage enemy droids). Droids can only be salvaged from enemy ships and not bought. In general you should try to save the easily hurtable but expensive officers and normal crew members. Getting a large amount of valuable battle droids will also be important later in the game. The icons you can see on the left of the screenshot are the different ship sections you can attack (e.g. bridge, cargo space).

The galactic map and the position of the faction always start out the same. Like Erik already told you though the war can go many different ways and already the first star systems attacked by the factions can be different. You influence the war by fulfilling missions, buying war bonds (for traders that have money, but do not wish to take part in trading missions) or - later - by leading a fleet to conquer enemy star systems.

Because it came up in a different thread: If you feel the game is too easy for you and you would like a bigger challenge, then you can turn on the veteran mode in the options menu. I had to create the game also with the inexperienced players in mind so I couldn´t make the normal game mode too difficult. When you check out the game please remember though that in the first tutorial combat (just the tutorial and just the first one) you will always win.

I hope you enjoy the game.

[FeurerKrieg]

Hi NielsB - Thank you for taking the time to comment on your game and also for the effort you have put into developing it.

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks Niels, that pretty much covers it!

Killroy, I played the heck out of Sentinel Worlds, I think I finished that game twice. Very fun game, but that was probably the most in depth and detailed sci-fi RPG until Knights of the Old Republic. This is not the same as that but in terms of exploring a dynamic galaxy while advancing your alter-ego, it does scratch some of the same itch. However, Sentinel Worlds was also a more fixed storyline from what I recall and while this is less detailed, it is also more of a "sandbox" with an open storyline.

Regards,

- Erik

[killroyishere]

Sentinel Worlds pretty indepth and detailed for a commodore 64 game eh? [:'(]

Don't get me wrong I like this game it's just the combat engine would drive me bananna's before I even get to the good stuff I think. Any chance for an auto combat resolve feature like you mentioned? Plus I could use an increase of the text font ability also my eyes my eyes a kingdom for some new improved eyes.

[Tophat1815]

 NielsB could you explain the veteran mode more please?

[killroyishere]

The difference I saw from normal to veteran mode in the demo is the ai will hit more often and you will miss it more often but still not enough to lose battles just closer ones as where I might have 1/2 my armor left after a battle in normal mode I might have 1/4th to 1/8th left in veteran mode.