[Iron Wolf]

Hmm...

I'd also try to change the com bat system a little bit. I just had two levithans take out and Aeolus crusier without any damage... and when I play out the same scenario in freespace, the aeolus always deals atleast 50% damage to one of the Leviathans.

also, is it jst me, or do the resources on a planet begin to deplete after a while? While interesting, it is worth nothing that for that to happen, the planet would have to be going though a couple hundred years of mining.

[Polpolion]

AI? Possibly. It would be added before netplay probably, but after the three species. I am also taking suggestions for how to make Shivans, be they playable or non-playable, as no FS game would be complete without them. The current working plan is as follows:

Instead of a homeworld, Shivans have a "Point of Entry," effectively an uncharted or unstable subspace node. Instead of building new units, they call in reinforcements. (Action name? Summon = too fantasy-ish, Build = incorrect) Shivans get resources by mining gas from gas giants or nebulae, and they also have a slower but steadier supply that is built up at the Point of Entry (PoE). To defeat a Shivan player, what would you have to do? Blow up the PoE? To do that would probably require a meson bomb, but I'm worried that including them would mean one action would have too much power.

The PoE could be a Knossos, and you would have to destroy it with a meson warhead or two. And then since canonically, the node stays open after the portal is destroyed, the PoE would continue to exist from anywhere between, say, 1 and 15 turns.

Man, the Shivans would be a ***** to balance. If at all possible, that is.

[Dark Hunter]

You could make the Meson Bombs specific to only destroy Knossoses, and hence include them only in games with Shivans.

If you are a Shivan player you could have a "Build Knossos" option at unstable nodes (to give them an equal production capability to Terrans/Vasudans). I know it's not canonically true that Shivans build Knossoses, but it might work for the purposes of the game, yes?

[Iron Wolf]

Man, the Shivans would be a ***** to balance. If at all possible, that is.

80-Sathani, here I come!

[Colonol Dekker]

You could make the Meson Bombs specific to only destroy Knossoses, and hence include them only in games with Shivans.

If you are a Shivan player you could have a "Build Knossos" option at unstable nodes (to give them an equal production capability to Terrans/Vasudans). I know it's not canonically true that Shivans build Knossoses, but it might work for the purposes of the game, yes?

Stabilise node would be more appropriate....

[Aardwolf]

Uh, okay... interesting ideas here... I should mention that any stuff having to do with the Shivans will be put into action after I make the Vasudan fleet. I've completed another one of my many bulletted lists of stuff to do, and it is as follows:

Stuff to do:

Short term goals:

• Add an optional DISPLAY_NAME field to the unitstats.dat file, particularly to be used with the noncombat vessels.
• Add Non-Colonizable Planets, including mineable gas giants
• Add AWACS and Gas Miners
• Replace Herc with Pegasus
• Fix carrier jump glitch, if still present
• Reduce missile capacity of squadrons to 5 and 8
• Make minimap update properly for carrier actions
• Add a map jump screen displayiong systems, connections, and general stats for the displayed systems
• Make the map jump screen accessible by pressing Z on the main screen
• Check: do freighters carry cargo inter-system?
• Make squadrons deploy from carriers fully tapped
• Make nebulae
• Make asteroids

Goals for later:

• Create Vasudan Fleet
• Create AI (maybe?, also might come after the Shivans are added)
• Come up with rules for a Shivan fleet, and create it
• Make NetPlay

Ongoing goals:

• Work on the manual
• Fix bugs as they arise
• Make more things doable using the keyboard

[KappaWing]

I'd work on the manual last. Might as well not waste time on it as everything will change anyway.

[Iron Wolf]

Okay, playing for a while...

Now, the combat system is good, but I think that you need a slight change. As I said, two Leviathans killed an aeolus without taking any damage... bit odd. Instead I propose a system like Combat in Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri If you ever played that. That way, you won't be able to just bombard an enemy with a swarm of sucktastic units that take out your single GTVA Colossus without losing a single ship.

Just an idea.

Other then that, lookin good!

[Aardwolf]

Manual idea... I'll think about it.

And I don't know much about that Alpha Centauri game, so either you'll have to enlighten me about the combat system in it, or... do nothing. I was thinking, I could decrease the global damage factor so that battles last longer and ships are more likely to get a chance for a counterattack, but that would mean more ships in play at a time. Suggestions?

btw it's Meier's not Meyer's.

[Aardwolf]

Well, even though nobody seems to be interested in this anymore, I am still working on it. I have added a new feature which I will release soon, a map jump screen, which lets you jump from star-system to star-system almost effortlessly. It can be accessed from the main screen by pressing Z. Then, click on one of the big buttons to jump to that star-system, or one of the little ones to go to the star system containing it, and to look at the jump node to the star system with that number.

Also, the same file is now available at http://www.game-warden.com/masterpokey/files/Installer0v952.rar so if you don't like RazorsKiss for some reason you can get it there. Also I may switch over completely in the future.

Edit: and I was trying to build a website at http://www.game-warden.com/masterpokey, but I gave up.

[Iron Wolf]

Whoops! Forgot!

I forgot that explaination as well... I'll send it to you in a PM. Just don't let me forget.

[Aardwolf]

@Iron Wofl: Okay, are you going to explain what you meant by that... ever?

Anyway, I have added a Map Jump Screen, made the main screen scrolling accelerate as you hold the arrow keys (with a "friction" that makes it have a maximum, but it also comes to a sudden stop if you release the keys), and it restores the last camera position if you use the map jump screen to switch star systems.

[Iron Wolf]

@Iron Wofl: Okay, are you going to explain what you meant by that... ever?

Just a bit busy, sorry.

[Aardwolf]

Ha... he didn't notice/mind that I called him Iron Wofl...

Anyway, I am beginning to consider making the Vasudan deck... yes, it is called a "deck" in the code... before I finish up the other features. It will use the same classes as the existing deck, w/ the exception of the TerranDeckSet class, which will be replaced by a ZodDeckSet or if I am feeling more "cultured" a VasudanDeckSet class. I have also tweaked the most recent to-do list a wee bit by adding two new items and putting status icons next to the things that needed them. Next release will not be too far away.

[Dark Hunter]

We are still interested in it, Aardwolf. I've installed a copy to my flash drive so I can play it on the school's computers, in fact! 

Any news on the including Shivans front?

[Aardwolf]

If I add the Vasudans soon, the Shivans may come soon after, but they will be virtually identical to the other two species for a while. The next release (probably by the end of this week) will have all of the new features I've included so far, and it may have the Vasudans as well.

Needed: Three 140x140 images of "Vasudan" cities, for use as the modifier icons for... you guessed it... Vasudan cities.

Also, more ways to incorporate the Shivans as canonically as possible would be appreciated. My most recent idea on the subject was this: the different species can represent different difficulties, maybe, where Shivan is the easiest, Terran the middle-difficulty-level, and Vasudan the hardest, with the least variety of units. But then I would need other balances as well, wouldn't I? Ideas appreciated!

[Aardwolf]

New version with all the awesome new features that were in the screenshots, none additional to that, is here:

http://www.game-warden.com/masterpokey/files/Installer0v953.rar

Edit: And for a break from the humdrum of the FS-TBSG, I give you: Attack of the Flying Squirrels 1 + 2:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/f2f32f/

They are effectively 2d and 3d line drawn space combat sims, AotFS lets you control the action of the green team using M to move, E to stop the last action, and F twice to fan out between the two places the mouse was when you pressed F. Select by dragging with the mouse. You can also SHIFT-select to add to the selection. AotFS2 is 3d and lets you rotate, but you cannot control the action.

[Colonol Dekker]

You need a software company name..........   Aardwolf software, see its original and does what it says on the tin...

[Aardwolf]

I have been taking a break from work on this game for the past week or so, I may continue in a while, I doubt I will give up on it entirely.

In the meantime, here's another ridiculous game I made a while back:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/85f06c/

A and Z zoom.
Arrows scroll.
Select by clicking or dragging with the mouse.
1 builds a colonizer (planet action)
2 builds a battlecruiser "    "   "
3 builds a fighter           "   "    "
c orders a colonizer to colonize, click the planet after pressing c
m orders all selected units to move to the area you click
x orders all selected units to move to the target area or unit and attack it or the area, depending which you clicked.
CTRL+SHIFT+D enters or exits demo mode

[Dark Hunter]

You need a software company name..........   Aardwolf software, see its original and does what it says on the tin...

With the logo being an aardvark with a wolf's head!