Testing 4.5.0 ...
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:09 am
This is my first post so please be gentle ...
Yesterday I took SS 4.5.0 out for a spin. First off I want to say that the game now looks very good indeed. The TAC references is also a welcome addition. However, playing the first day of Highland as a grand admiral in charge of the Archeon, I found the following:
1. The fighter-crash/collision bug is back. At least to some extend. Although not all fighters crashed upon docking, 4 out of 16 sorties collided with the carrier. 1 fighter was lost to enemy action but an operational loss rate of 25% is simply not sustainable. In other tests I found similar loss rates. I don't know if it has any effect but some of the crashed fighters were damaged in action although all were still 'in the green' when attempting to dock. No enemy was near during the docking procedures and the carrier hadn't moved an inch during the engagement (heading 000, pitch 0.0, speed 0). For me, interested in fighting from the admiral chair, this is a serious bug. I will accept a few operational lossed during a campaign, especially if the fighters are (severely) damaged, but 25% means I'm out of fighters after a few days.
2. Move patrol. I do not like the way 'move patrol' works for capital ships. Since the first version, all capital ships overshoot their target position, the lighter ships (FF) sometimes by a long way. The reason for this, I think, is that they do not reduce speed fast enough or all the way to 0 when they arrive at the designated point. This makes setting up a defensive screen of capital ships very hard or even impossible. This also makes handling a group of capital ships very cumbersome. The 'hold' action is usefull to a certain extend but also means micromanagement for which I simply have no time. The same behaviour, BTW, is also shown when setting NAV points making elaborate fleet manoeuvres, especcially when coordinating different combat groups difficult. Ofcourse, I wish for capital ship formations, but this is another matter.
3. Fighter twirling. Fighters, especially on egress of a mission, but sometimes in other circumstandes have a tendency to 'twirl', that is, rotate or gyrate around the axis of flight. As far as I can tell, there is no reason for them to do this and takes up times and fuel and in general makes them vunerable to attack as well. I may be missing something here, but I think that the best and most economic way of moving from point A to point B is in a straight line (while maintaining formation).
4. NAV window. I can't set height in the NAV window when planning missions. I'm please that the 'skidding attack' bug has been squashed (very annoying) but I would like to set up attacks in which fighters not only attack from different directions but also from different heights (thus dividing the defenses). The same ofcourse can be said for directing capital ships.
All in all, some things one might want to look into.
Yesterday I took SS 4.5.0 out for a spin. First off I want to say that the game now looks very good indeed. The TAC references is also a welcome addition. However, playing the first day of Highland as a grand admiral in charge of the Archeon, I found the following:
1. The fighter-crash/collision bug is back. At least to some extend. Although not all fighters crashed upon docking, 4 out of 16 sorties collided with the carrier. 1 fighter was lost to enemy action but an operational loss rate of 25% is simply not sustainable. In other tests I found similar loss rates. I don't know if it has any effect but some of the crashed fighters were damaged in action although all were still 'in the green' when attempting to dock. No enemy was near during the docking procedures and the carrier hadn't moved an inch during the engagement (heading 000, pitch 0.0, speed 0). For me, interested in fighting from the admiral chair, this is a serious bug. I will accept a few operational lossed during a campaign, especially if the fighters are (severely) damaged, but 25% means I'm out of fighters after a few days.
2. Move patrol. I do not like the way 'move patrol' works for capital ships. Since the first version, all capital ships overshoot their target position, the lighter ships (FF) sometimes by a long way. The reason for this, I think, is that they do not reduce speed fast enough or all the way to 0 when they arrive at the designated point. This makes setting up a defensive screen of capital ships very hard or even impossible. This also makes handling a group of capital ships very cumbersome. The 'hold' action is usefull to a certain extend but also means micromanagement for which I simply have no time. The same behaviour, BTW, is also shown when setting NAV points making elaborate fleet manoeuvres, especcially when coordinating different combat groups difficult. Ofcourse, I wish for capital ship formations, but this is another matter.
3. Fighter twirling. Fighters, especially on egress of a mission, but sometimes in other circumstandes have a tendency to 'twirl', that is, rotate or gyrate around the axis of flight. As far as I can tell, there is no reason for them to do this and takes up times and fuel and in general makes them vunerable to attack as well. I may be missing something here, but I think that the best and most economic way of moving from point A to point B is in a straight line (while maintaining formation).
4. NAV window. I can't set height in the NAV window when planning missions. I'm please that the 'skidding attack' bug has been squashed (very annoying) but I would like to set up attacks in which fighters not only attack from different directions but also from different heights (thus dividing the defenses). The same ofcourse can be said for directing capital ships.
All in all, some things one might want to look into.