How to play ? (demo game)

[PDiFolco]

Hi,
Since the original STUN I try to hang to the game by trying the demo, but every time I fail to even understand what I'm supposed to do ... Yet the game doesnt look that complex, and I've played everything and some more in the genre (from MOO to GalCiv in 4X, all the SFC series for starship combat games, etc..). I suppose it's me plus the lack of any doc in the demo.
With the new v3 it was as usual, my 1 hr demo time passed while I was trying to equip my ship and wait for a couple scientists to board my scout... I don't even know if they came indeed, the game stopped and now I can't even restart the demo game ! [:(] This demo rather detracted from my interest in the game, I think the limited time is too harsh a constraint, given that anyway the demo is quite limited (small map, 2 races, limited tech..).
And some demo tutorial should be welcome.

[Erik Rutins]

The demo actually has loads of tutorial help through the tips messages and as far as I know also has the F1 online help manual. Did you notice the tips at all? I'm sorry to hear you had trouble with it, but STUN is actually just as easy if not easier than MOO and GalCiv.

Regards,

- Erik

[PDiFolco]

Hi again,
Forget it, I bought the game yesterday, and really enjoy it, *with the manual* ! [;)]
What happened was that I didn't understood the interface/GUI and didn't manage to build stuff - Still the interface is simple and cool, but I was expecting something else I suppose .. [X(]
Good game, I should have played it earlier ! [:D]

[Mangudai]

I just tried the demo. The control interface was very difficult at first. Even the most basic tasks like moving, fighting, building freighters, adding ship components, etc were counterintuitive. I'm glad the programmers incorporated the shift-click information feature, however the advice often did not solve my problems. It took me over 40 minutes to figure out the basic controls. However, once I got a feel for them I really appreciated them. Handling the controls is very quick once you know what you're doing. The game pauses and allows you to quickly center on any spot where action is needed.

A couple of thoughts, tips, and suggestions if there is a patch.

1. The reason I couldn't build freighters is that available systems were not in range of my existing freighter technology. I wish the game explained that more carefully, or had a freighter tutorial or something. I wasted quite a while checking the manual, trying what it said, etc to no avail.

2. Even if you have an instant colony ship artifact, you can't build a colony ship unless you have enough money.

3. I had trouble moving because of some automatic pauses that I didn't understand yet. I had trouble exploring because my scout had no weapons and ran away from sentries.

By the time I figured these things out I only had about 20 minutes to play the demo. I got the the fusion age and detected a rival civilization. I haven't got into diplomacy or conquest yet. I understand why some players get frustrated trying to learn the game. The controls are good, and somebody put a lot of work into all the helps. But, the helps don't help enough when it comes to figuring out very basic mechanics and controls. A bit of work here would help the game appeal to a wider audience. I've decided the game has enough merit to purchase.