Hi!
I've just finished the winning path for Eps 1-4, and I can only describe the experience as pure awesomeness. I love how the look and feel of WC1-2 has been captured, and the dark tone of the plot is quite fitting as well.
I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with all that "perfectly good Confed pilots go pirate just for the hell of it" business, and it didn't make much sense to me to have them reassigned to active frontline combat duty just like that. But that's not such a big deal as, otherwise, the fiction is fairly good overall. Commodore Hard-Ass Reismann is great but I think he could benefit from a bit more "screen time".
The voiceovers contribute a huge deal towards immersion, with some great quotes ("I am Trigger, you are dead"), and give different pilots distinct personalities. And you even reused original WC scores!
The missions are a blast to play, credible design and objectives, and I'd say that they are about the right difficulty, but it's a shame that changing the difficulty level in the options panel doesn't seem to affect gameplay significantly.
As for gameplay itself, I think it's pretty solid overall, but it takes some time getting used to. Everything is deadlier than I remember it, and except for bombers, shields actually shield very little - on the other hand bombers are total sitting ducks, and since the AI just does its thing instead of taking heat off bombers, being shot down while in one isn't as much a function of skill as it is of luck. That is a Bad Thing™. Another thing are laser cannons, which I think are out of balance with the rest of guns - their low power use and high rate of fire make them more effective than other supposedly better weapons. This brings two issues. First, Drakhris are a much worse threat than more advanced and/or heavier fighters, such as the Jalkehi (not to mention the Jalthi!) due to excellent gun convergence and wolf pack tactics. And second and (more importantly), Rapier >>> Sabre. This is also influenced partly by the superiority of the HS and dumbfires over other missiles.
I have a few questions: Can you actually follow Squealer back to the pirate base when he offers to escort you there? I tried, but the nav map wouldn't allow me to set "Pirate Nav" as an objective. Also, what happens if the Firekka fighter complement takes huge losses? I thought it was pretty clever to have the game keep track of craft, but what are the consequences? Can non plot-critical pilots actually be KIA? And, is it a bug that Spoons is listed as "active" in the killboard after he gets iced, or an engine limitation?
Now, I understand that there is also a losing path that is at least as interesting as the alternative, so what are the conditions that set the path? I don't feel like metagaming and letting a carrier die to see if that yields a different result, so is there a mission tree that explains some of this?
Oh, and um... the Raptor is awfully off scale. I know that it's the "official" Claw Marks size, but I think it's obvious that whoever made those just made up a random number without giving it much thought. Anyway, since it's not a campaign fighter, this doesn't have much effect on anything. It's cool to have WC1 oldies available in the sim, at any rate.
I can't wait for the conclusion. Keep up the good work!
I've just finished the winning path for Eps 1-4, and I can only describe the experience as pure awesomeness. I love how the look and feel of WC1-2 has been captured, and the dark tone of the plot is quite fitting as well.
I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with all that "perfectly good Confed pilots go pirate just for the hell of it" business, and it didn't make much sense to me to have them reassigned to active frontline combat duty just like that. But that's not such a big deal as, otherwise, the fiction is fairly good overall. Commodore Hard-Ass Reismann is great but I think he could benefit from a bit more "screen time".
The voiceovers contribute a huge deal towards immersion, with some great quotes ("I am Trigger, you are dead"), and give different pilots distinct personalities. And you even reused original WC scores!
The missions are a blast to play, credible design and objectives, and I'd say that they are about the right difficulty, but it's a shame that changing the difficulty level in the options panel doesn't seem to affect gameplay significantly.
As for gameplay itself, I think it's pretty solid overall, but it takes some time getting used to. Everything is deadlier than I remember it, and except for bombers, shields actually shield very little - on the other hand bombers are total sitting ducks, and since the AI just does its thing instead of taking heat off bombers, being shot down while in one isn't as much a function of skill as it is of luck. That is a Bad Thing™. Another thing are laser cannons, which I think are out of balance with the rest of guns - their low power use and high rate of fire make them more effective than other supposedly better weapons. This brings two issues. First, Drakhris are a much worse threat than more advanced and/or heavier fighters, such as the Jalkehi (not to mention the Jalthi!) due to excellent gun convergence and wolf pack tactics. And second and (more importantly), Rapier >>> Sabre. This is also influenced partly by the superiority of the HS and dumbfires over other missiles.
I have a few questions: Can you actually follow Squealer back to the pirate base when he offers to escort you there? I tried, but the nav map wouldn't allow me to set "Pirate Nav" as an objective. Also, what happens if the Firekka fighter complement takes huge losses? I thought it was pretty clever to have the game keep track of craft, but what are the consequences? Can non plot-critical pilots actually be KIA? And, is it a bug that Spoons is listed as "active" in the killboard after he gets iced, or an engine limitation?
Now, I understand that there is also a losing path that is at least as interesting as the alternative, so what are the conditions that set the path? I don't feel like metagaming and letting a carrier die to see if that yields a different result, so is there a mission tree that explains some of this?
Oh, and um... the Raptor is awfully off scale. I know that it's the "official" Claw Marks size, but I think it's obvious that whoever made those just made up a random number without giving it much thought. Anyway, since it's not a campaign fighter, this doesn't have much effect on anything. It's cool to have WC1 oldies available in the sim, at any rate.
I can't wait for the conclusion. Keep up the good work!