[An4ximandros]

Kinda makes you wish for a "faction" or "unknown" or "unspecified" icon pack.

Say a Station is represented by an octagon, a destroyer a Triangle, a fighter as a Square, a bomber as a hollow square. Civilians as circles, etc.

Maybe I'll give this a shot in the afternoon. Just gotta re-install GIMP.

[mjn.mixael]

You could just use the fs1 icons, though you can still click on any ship icon to see what ship class it is set for. that's why you should just use the unknown icon.

Also, briefings do not, as a rule, give away too much of the mission. Any good mission designer gives away exactly the information they want to in a briefing, regardless of icons.

[Lorric]

You could just use the fs1 icons, though you can still click on any ship icon to see what ship class it is set for. that's why you should just use the unknown icon.

Also, briefings do not, as a rule, give away too much of the mission. Any good mission designer gives away exactly the information they want to in a briefing, regardless of icons.

You know, it must have taken me like 2 years to know you could click on the icons myself. I didn't figure it out myself either, I saw someone do it on a let's play to my surprise.

I've also already made use of the unknown ability. I expect to make use of it for any mission where you don't know what's waiting. (Btw, I realise you were not talking to me. I'm just saying.)

[Mongoose]

Heh, it probably took me about that long to figure out I could click on them too.

[Mobius]

FS1 icons plus ship classes set as unknown equals unpredictability, which is probably what Lorric needs.

There are things called "reconnaissance" and "long-range sensors". You probably never heard of them.

Sure, long range sensors can easily predict the exact bomber class the Shivans are going to sortie from the other side of the nebula.

Come on Matth, people and should have used the unknown icon more often.

[Rheyah]

Ah but let's be fair here.  The briefing for the FS2 mission where you fly the Mara did not tell you to dive dive dive.

Sometimes a briefing can work in your favour through storytelling.  After all, a tactics briefing is only intended to determine how you want the situation to turn out.  Not how it actually does.

[AdmiralRalwood]

FS1 icons plus ship classes set as unknown equals unpredictability, which is probably what Lorric needs.

There are things called "reconnaissance" and "long-range sensors". You probably never heard of them.

Sure, long range sensors can easily predict the exact bomber class the Shivans are going to sortie from the other side of the nebula.

Come on Matth, people and should have used the unknown icon more often.

Whenever shivan fighters showed up in briefings, I just assumed the class was set as "command's best guess for what kind of fighters you're likely to see."

[Luis Dias]

Ah but let's be fair here.  The briefing for the FS2 mission where you fly the Mara did not tell you to dive dive dive.

Sometimes a briefing can work in your favour through storytelling.  After all, a tactics briefing is only intended to determine how you want the situation to turn out.  Not how it actually does.

Exactly, a kind of Starship Trooper's fiasco where everything is so well ****ing planned in the briefings, how every enemy ship is analyzed, etc., and then this briefing shows itself to be absolutely misleading, if not incompetent and the whole mission goes bananas with everyone screaming at each other blaming anyone else.

[Lorric]

I have now completed my journey through the let's play with the Wardog Squadron. And I will be sticking with a silent protagonist now for sure, and I am now free to move forward with the story aspect of the campaign.

Don't let that stop you from posting in the thread though if you still want to discuss anything that's been raised in it. I may well join you too.

A big thank you all for your efforts to help me. Truly, this thread has gone greatly over any expectations I might have had for it when I created it, and has done more than just answer my initial question. I am most grateful.

[InsaneBaron]

I have now completed my journey through the let's play with the Wardog Squadron. And I will be sticking with a silent protagonist now for sure, and I am now free to move forward with the story aspect of the campaign.

Don't let that stop you from posting in the thread though if you still want to discuss anything that's been raised in it. I may well join you too.

A big thank you all for your efforts to help me. Truly, this thread has gone greatly over any expectations I might have had for it when I created it, and has done more than just answer my initial question. I am most grateful.

Glad this all helped! Actually, it influenced my own decision regarding the player character (Thiazi 1) for my own little project.
Glad you enjoyed the AC5 playthrough. It's one of my all-time favorites, and BryUK made a really good playthrough of the whole series that really showcased the storyline well.

[Lorric]

I have now completed my journey through the let's play with the Wardog Squadron. And I will be sticking with a silent protagonist now for sure, and I am now free to move forward with the story aspect of the campaign.

Don't let that stop you from posting in the thread though if you still want to discuss anything that's been raised in it. I may well join you too.

A big thank you all for your efforts to help me. Truly, this thread has gone greatly over any expectations I might have had for it when I created it, and has done more than just answer my initial question. I am most grateful.

Glad this all helped! Actually, it influenced my own decision regarding the player character (Thiazi 1) for my own little project.
Glad you enjoyed the AC5 playthrough. It's one of my all-time favorites, and BryUK made a really good playthrough of the whole series that really showcased the storyline well.

So you will be having a silent protagonist too?

The game itself doesn't look fun to play to me. I don't like heavy missile combat and invulnerable wingmen (I presume they're invulnerable since they never die.) The wingmen seem to contribute very little offensively too, so it's basically you who has to do everything. But I did find it an interesting experience. Three wingmen just like my campaign. It might well see a revisit at some point when I'm trying to write my story.

So thank you!

[InsaneBaron]

I have now completed my journey through the let's play with the Wardog Squadron. And I will be sticking with a silent protagonist now for sure, and I am now free to move forward with the story aspect of the campaign.

Don't let that stop you from posting in the thread though if you still want to discuss anything that's been raised in it. I may well join you too.

A big thank you all for your efforts to help me. Truly, this thread has gone greatly over any expectations I might have had for it when I created it, and has done more than just answer my initial question. I am most grateful.

Glad this all helped! Actually, it influenced my own decision regarding the player character (Thiazi 1) for my own little project.
Glad you enjoyed the AC5 playthrough. It's one of my all-time favorites, and BryUK made a really good playthrough of the whole series that really showcased the storyline well.

So you will be having a silent protagonist too?

The game itself doesn't look fun to play to me. I don't like heavy missile combat and invulnerable wingmen (I presume they're invulnerable since they never die.) The wingmen seem to contribute very little offensively too, so it's basically you who has to do everything. But I did find it an interesting experience. Three wingmen just like my campaign. It might well see a revisit at some point when I'm trying to write my story.

So thank you!

I was actually planning on having a speaking protagonist, but he was becoming impossible to write, and after the discussion I decided that unlike Transcend or Blue Planet, this isn't the kind of story that needs a speaking player character. So I took the same approach: letting the wingmen do the talking.

On a tangent, Ace Combat might explain my personal preference for Hercs and Taurets with their huge missile banks.

[Torchwood]

That, or the Tauret being the only good fighter the Zods have