[Fr3z3r]

Last week I decided to download TDD (+ patch) to see what all the fuss is about. My previous contact with WC was in the form of playing the crap out of Privateer (still love it to bits) and giving Wing Commander 2 & 3 a solid go (not overly impressed, although both were nice games). In short, I played enough to recall what the overall style should be like and actually looked foward to seeing how the "hardcore space navy" concept would translate into FS.

Essentially:

IT'S REALLY GOOD.

Everything works. The combat is, I would say, somewhere in between classic WC and FS, requiring a slightly different approach than FreeSpace, while still allowing me to use most of my favourite anti-shivan tactics against the cats. The missions are laid out very well, the script is excellent, the voice acting - superb for a free mod. The briefings, the ships, the overall suspense and the feeling that every victory is bittersweet - straight 'A's, people. Solid, immersive and rewarding work (even the oh-so-oldskool frustration of having to repeat those long missions time and time again contributes to the immersion, at least in my case).

I'd imagine you guys would also like constructive criticism, so here goes. Note that none of it invalidates my overall praise and thumbs-up - I just though I'd point out the minor aches (I'll put them all in one big spoiler tag for convenience):

Spoiler:

1. The engine bug that adds ugly lines around text (ATI card here), which was fixed in FSO 3.6.14RC6, I believe.

2. Scripted deaths sometimes happen well away from the fight which supposedly causes them; it's really funny when you're 50m behind a 100% wingmate and (s)he suddenly screams and explodes without a reason (happened to me twice so far - when you 1st go against Vaktoths and when you 1st encounter asteroid-fighters).

3. The interface between missions (briefing screens etc.) is, well, pretty ugly; the main decks are fine, but some of the screens... I don't know, it might be personal preference, but I think I found the classic WC games more appealing in this regard.

4. So far, I haven't had a single mission which would allow me to select different ships or loadouts. I don't have a problem with that, but why tease with buttons if they can never be clicked?

5. The FS-style energy management is a bit confusing. As far as I can tell, increasing engine power doesn't do anything, which in turn makes managing all 3 levels a bit of a pain.

6. Capship missiles can't be shot down until they're pretty close to their targets. Bug or balancing?

7. I find myself using just 1 gun 95% of the time; using more than one seems to drain the batteries far too quickly. This is different to both FS and classic WC, where I'd usually use the whole array and I don't recall them running out of juice this fast. It could just be my playing style, but for some reason it doesn't feel quite right.

That's all I can think of atm. Keep up the massively impressive work, WCS team!

[headdie]

I cant speak for the rest of it but

4. So far, I haven't had a single mission which would allow me to select different ships or loadouts. I don't have a problem with that, but why tease with buttons if they can never be clicked?

The only time we see a confed pilot in canon being able to select their own ship/load out is during the WC3-4 era when Blare is the commander of the carrier's fighter wing, the rest of the time you get assigned your craft which usually has the default load-out.

[Fr3z3r]

Again, I'm 100% cool with that - except that I'm being teased with inactive ship and loadout selection buttons before every single mission.

[FekLeyrTarg]

Spoiler:

You're going to be able to select your loadout when you reach the first Nephele mission

[Aginor]

Hi and thanks for playing the game

Concerning your points:

3. The resolution of the screens AND the color palette is (or was at that time it was done) pretty limited IIRC, I did a lot of those screens and I wasn't quite happy how they turned out. The design comes from WC4 originally


5. All Energy controls do something;
Weapons: More energy for your weapons (faster recharge rate)
Shields: Faster shield recharge
Engines: Faster Acceleration (top speed stays the same, except when you lower it.)

6. Balancing mostly.

7. That was the same in WC3. Using full guns drains energy quickly. Actually the energy consumption of the guns was adjusted by counting the salvos you can shoot in WC3.

The rest of them... you are either right or someone else already explained it.

You still got a lot of game to play, so have fun!

[Fr3z3r]

FekLeyrTarg - thanks!

Aginor - thank YOU! And thanks for clarifying these points. Are there any patches/updates coming btw? Not that any of these (and other) issues are game-breaking or anything, but the experience can always be made even better for newcomers.

[Aginor]

There is a patch for people that have problems with asteroids killing their performance IIRC, and in the official WCS Forums there is also some patch for a mission that many people thought was way too hard. It is doable though, so normally you won't need patches if you don't have any problems.