[General Battuta]

The tactical priority gauge will tell you to designate artillery targets up front if you get a chance to look at it in time.

[Rhymes]

I had no technical issues running Act 3.
Tenebra cooperated with me just fine, no hiccups, glitches, stutters, or anything else.  Guess I just got lucky here.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape.
I'd been pretty heavily invested in the story since I read the supplemental material before WiH came out, and seeing a lot of those ideas being brought up and tied into the campaign itself was a real treat.

I sanitized the Gefs in 'Nothing is True.'
I thought about it for a second before I pressed the button, but I remembered that the op needed to have traces of Gef craft in order to be able to sell the frame-up, and I wanted the rift between the Terrans and the Vasudans to worsen at the time (not so sure after Universal Truth, but I'll get to that later).  Also, thinking both as player and PC, I realized I wanted the Gefs dead, and I felt Laporte would probably not think twice about killing them, especially fresh from Delenda Est.

I believed the Ridwan pilots had to die.
I didn't like having to kill them, but I didn't see any other option that guaranteed operational security. 

Vidaura was my favorite wingman.
Those wingmen were not my favorite people.
Of the other three pilots of Falcata wing, Vidaura was the one who I liked the most, but even so, I found all three pilots to be relatively bland--compared to Corey, Taylor, Simms, and Ng'Mei, Falcata wing was just...there.  I didn't despise any of them.  I just didn't really care about them one way or the other.

I had a horrible time on the assassination.
I used the decoy transport during the assassination.
I used the sensor flashbang during the assassination.
I could not for the life of me figure out what the hell I was doing on this mission.  I understood the basic concept, but anything beyond "locate Henriksson's transport, kill her, and run" took me multiple tries to piece together--often after getting swamped by the escort.  I really didn't feel like the briefing did a good job of explaining that mission at all, but eventually the pieces started falling into place, and seeing the hit come together and getting away scot-free was an awesome feeling.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future.'
Initially, I planned to capture the colony-- again, the operation took precedence--saving the hab would mean less hostility from other Gef cells, and blowing it up would just drive them right to Steele. However, I'd managed to get the transport destroyed during my first run on this mission (too busy focusing on sentry guns rather than fending off Gef fighters), and decided to just blow the whole thing up, but I didn't have enough time and had to restart.  After that, I was able to protect the transport and take the colony with time to spare.

'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots.
Operational security.  The Vasudans needed to buy into the big lie, and that meant Gef debris.

I loved flying the Custos-X.
I was a little overwhelmed at first, but the controls were easy to understand, and even though the thing handles like a brick, having its capabilities and firepower more than made up for its shortcomings.

I adapted well to 'Her Finest Hour'.
I felt the (many) tactical options in HFH were much better presented than in Everything is Permitted. Having more things bound to hotkeys and the functions of everything being more obvious (designating targets for the artillery frigates, for instance) definitely made the mission much more comprehensible to me.  It still took me a lot of tries to get this one right, but that was because I kept dying (which was always my own damn fault).

I took the Carthage's surrender.
This one was purely personal in the moment, but I felt it made for a good character arc for Laporte after the fact.  The Carthage was pretty near and dear to me and, enemy or no, I couldn't bring myself to order the kill.  After the fact, I felt that including the decision in Laporte's development as a character worked--her choosing to spare the Carthage marking her getting over the pain of what happened during Delenda Est and letting go of her desire for revenge.

I summoned the Toutatis in 'Her Finest Hour.'
Didn't even know it was possible to get her killed.

I had no trouble with the turret placement in 'Eyes in the Storm.'
Okay, first try I had a little trouble--because I was too stupid to realize the great big jump node with the glowing pathway showed me EXACTLY where everything was going to come from.  After that, turret placement was easy.

I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth.'
Honestly, the mission was a little unnerving--seeing swarms of radar signatures following me after meeting Sam, for instance, but it wasn't like Transcend-level horrifying.  It was impressive, though especially from a storytelling and FREDding perspective.

I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen.
I see some shades of GTI in there, especially with their lack of accountability, but they struck me as being more sensible about that independence than GTI did.  Plus, without their influence, I doubt the UEF would have lasted nearly as long as it has.

I have supported the UEF, and still do.
This one is complicated.  When I first saw the 14th BG destroy the Renjian, it was, as far as I'm concerned, the GTVA's moral event horizon. After reading the supplementary material, I understood their reasons for starting the war, but I still felt it was wrong. Now, however, it's much simpler: if the GTVA wins, everyone's ****ed. Everything everyone has said/done suggests that the Vishans, one way or another, are the only thing keeping the Shivans off our asses, and if the Federation is destroyed, that protection goes with it. In another world, I might support the GTVA knowing what we do about Morpheus and the Vishnans, but not with the Shivans hanging over everything like a sword of Damocles.

Humanity has a chance.
In spite of everything, we're not dead yet, and, like I said, the Federation winning may give the Vishnans the leverage they need to convince the Shivans to hold off.  At the very least, it will buy us time, and there's still another 1.4 campaigns left in this story.

[Crybertrance]

I think that should be made clearer in the briefing. However, that being said, the Artillery clearly fires a Torpedo salvo just a few seconds into the mission, that should be an enough clue that the AWACS ins't messing up the Torps.

if you are looking at them.  i was busy reading text, issuing orders, or worrying about the karuna.

Looking at them? Lol! In my first two~three playthroughs of HFH, I actually flew right in the thick of the Apoc. salvo as it flew past me! I couldn't have felt more badass... 

[qwadtep]

Eh...? I swear some of my votes changed when I hit submit. GET OUT OF MY HEAD SAM

I had some technical issues running Act 3
I can't run Act 3
But that's expected because my computer is old. Compatibility build fixed it.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape
All of it. Plus I rocked out. Why isn't rocking out part of the poll?

I released the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'
I figured staying true to the Fedayeen's word would improve relations with the Gefs at the same time as Gef relations with the GTVA were subverted. Risk of them blabbing to Steele aside.

I believed the Ridwan pilots had to die
Duh.

Kovacs was my favorite wingman
Those wingmen were not my favorite people
They were okay, but they lacked the depth of the AoA or WiH1 casts.

I had no trouble pulling off the assassination
I used the decoy transport during the assassination
Easy mission.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future'
'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots
I loved flying the Custos-X
That was fun.

I adapted well to 'Her Finest Hour'
I took the Carthage's surrender
I feel like WiH2's story plays out something like the Baldur's Gate series, where keeping your inner monsters in check makes more narrative sense than the alternative. How long until Laporte learns Time Stop?

Placing turrets was tricky during 'Eyes in the Storm'
The controls are clunky and I ran out of countermeasures and I spent most of the time sitting on the repair drone which had kind of odd proximity detection by the way. Actual range measurements on the tanks would have helped.

I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth'
I escaped 'Universal Truth' with my mind intact (Vote intercepted and replaced with "I found the laughing man in 'Universal Truth'")
I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen (Vote intercepted and replaced with "I'm uncomfortable with the Fedayeen")
Pretty much confirmed what I was thinking about AoA all along, which is that the Vishnans are evil manipulative cosmic horror bastards and that the Beis are out of their minds.

I changed sides from UEF to GTVA
Devil's in the details, so to speak.

[An4ximandros]

(...)the Vishnans are evil manipulative cosmic horror bastards and that the Beis are out of their minds.

What!? Don't you understand? The Vishnans stand for all that is good in the universe! If we fail them, they will abandon us to the plot twist!

[Meneldil]

I had some technical issues running Act 3
Problems with the pilot files on the first playthrough.
No problems whatsoever on the second one, though.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape
"Most of" being the key words. Repeated clicking with random results was a bit unnerving...

I released the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'

I believed the Ridwan pilots had to die

Kovacs was my favorite wingman
With favorite meaning literally the one I favor the most, because
Those wingmen were not my favorite people
Not that I hated them, just didn't get particularly attached to them either.

I had no trouble pulling off the assassination
Well mostly. The hardest part for me was finding the right angle to scan those damn subsystems!

I used the sensor flashbang during the assassination

I hacked a Mjolnir during the assassination
I hacked it, but I had no idea I'd have to use it immediately. No complaints about that, though, I guess not being told everything is realistic.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future'

'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots
'One Future' didn't, but I did change my mind. In the context of the first mission, letting them go is a bad idea.

I loved flying the Custos-X
... even though I thought I'd hate it! I think the mission is very nicely structured so that you don't get overwhelmed by it.

I adapted well to 'Her Finest Hour'
I guess you could say so. I died a lot, but I mostly knew what I was doing, even though I wasn't really sure about how would slaving the artillery to multiple targets work. In the end, I managed to complete all the secondary objectives (admittedly by exploiting heavily the Falcata wing's unkillability) and got away with <10% losses.

I took the Carthage's surrender
What else would I have done with it?

I had no trouble with the turret placement in 'Eyes in the Storm'
No, but I sucked horribly on the rest of the mission, no idea why.

I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth'
It was very, very atmospheric, though. Especially some of the alternate debriefings I saw in FRED.

I met the face of madness in 'Universal Truth'
Well I had to! But I have to say that contrary to the usual wanting to press the red button, this has a majestic setup and you really don't want to turn around.
"Run."
Brilliant!

I escaped 'Universal Truth' with my mind intact

I found the laughing man in 'Universal Truth'
On my second playthrough.

I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen

I'm uncomfortable with the Fedayeen

I have supported the UEF, and still do
Kind of. The UEF has the right to sovereignty, but what the Elders are doing seems to be a bad idea, and the actions of the GTVA should be understandable even if you don't agree with them

Humanity has a chance!
Looking from behind the fourth wall I'd bet it does! Not that everybody dying after ten years of waiting wouldn't be an... interesting way to end a mod.
In-game, things look awfully grim.

[Klaustrophobia]

i should update my responses with my impressions after a second playthrough. 

I had tech issues the second time through.  I was unable to access any of the shivan information packets in Universal Truth.  the downlink box at the top of the hud didn't even show up until i approached ken.  i played this mission three or four times on the second campaign playthrough due to exploring different options (and failing as a result), and was unable to connect to the comm nodes every time.  i was also unable to connect to some of the jump nodes in the bit with the 14th and bei, but not sure if that was by design.  i understand not connecting to the ones that go red, but at least one of them that stayed green and had a jump portal open inside it didn't trigger.  i forget the name, but i'm pretty sure it was the first one on the right (with the third prong on top).  also, for whatever reason the stuttering in her finest hour was notably worse this time through.

the custos grew on me even more, and i've ended up playing that mission several times in the tech room.  this time through, i let the gefs go.  i probably still would have responded with it didn't make me regret my decision after just the playthrough, but after trying the custos mission on hard and insane through the tech room, i might revise that.  i barely even noticed the extra presence on easy.  it got a little bit harder on med, but still quite do-able.  this time i successfully captured the habitat, but it sort of seemed like a lot of the dialogue/reactions later in the campaign was as though i blew it up.  nothing outright referenced it, but the general impression that the rest of the gefs were pissed that i'd massacred kostan was still there.

i still had trouble using the mjolnir in the assassination.  the first time i again got discovered and ****ed up by the patrols while waiting for it to hack, and the second time i didn't figure out how to use it in time before they regained control (i had no idea that was going to happen).  i thought it was going to be used with the number keys again like all the other new gameplay type stuff.  still never used the decoy.  and this time, i KNOW i got shot, but the debriefing still said i never took any hits.  does it base this on hull damage?  it might be that they never punched through the shield, i didn't notice if that was the case or not (too busy trying to break lock and run).

eyes in the storm went better this time, now that i knew how to access the emp/repair turrets and remembered to use the numpad instead of arrow keys.  however, i'm not sure the repair drone was working right.  it never repaired me (though my hull was 80-something percent, does it do the same 70% thing as the support ship?) or my wingmen or nearby platforms that i could tell (their hulls were all red, i got them next to it by 'form on my wing', adjacent platform at 20% and never increased that i saw).  if it's possible and reasonably easy to do, range indicators would be really useful in this mission, like a circle around the platform from the top-down view as you're selecting which tank to deploy.  it would probably be distracting if they were present in-flight.

universal truth was creepier the second time through, but it still didn't bother me.  i noticed things i hadn't before, like the shivan fighters circling in the first section.  i knew the vishnan fighters were there the first time through, but i never actually saw them chasing me (i was just running straight to the exit).  this time, i saw them and a couple of playthroughs they actually shot at me.  i also don't remember seeing the semi-transparent sathanas images pop up during the chase bits through the nebula the first time.  i also saw a LOT of stuff going on in the events page that i couldn't see in-mission.  it's driving me a little bit nuts thinking i'm missing all this content/easter eggs.
still haven't found the laughing man.  anyone want to throw a spoiler tagged hint at me? 

her finest hour went better for me this time, passing on my first try.  but then again, i was probably on my 8th playthrough.  this time i used the artillery from the start to kill the minelayers, got the mjolnirs pretty quickly, and completed all other objectives, except i don't think i got all the radar dishes.  i had enough to call all wings in, with 7 points left over.  one of the frigates did withdraw just before i called the attack.  knowing they were coming in where i was definitely helped.  i tried to direct traffic a bit better this time, since i felt i had more time and everything wasn't in immediate danger of getting shot down.  i was still largely unsuccessful at this.  i just didn't know what all the wings in the comms menu were.  it would really be helpful if they were named "durga wing", "uriel saturation wing", "subsystem strike wing" etc.  i ended up eventually sending everything after the carthage's engines again.  i thought i did a good job of keeping everyone alive this time.  at mission end, the box on the side said i had 41 units left on the field (then one died during the surrender dialogue somehow, leaving 40), but according to the debrief it was a near total loss of all fighters.  what up with that?

[General Battuta]

I think we ****ed up a lot of stuff with persistent vars - I don't think the casualty count is resetting between missions properly, or something. I don't know. For some reason the casualty counter is just totally ate up.

[Klaustrophobia]

i'll try it with a new pilot soon. 

[qwadtep]

I think we ****ed up a lot of stuff with persistent vars - I don't think the casualty count is resetting between missions properly, or something. I don't know. For some reason the casualty counter is just totally ate up.

This is my suspicion as well, but my CPU-choked computer is crashing every time I try to confirm. It should be trivial for someone to add a modify-variable to reset it at the beginning of the mission, though, right?

[General Battuta]

Should be. Yet units-lost is a CPV and I could've sworn CPVs were only stored when the player moved successfully to a new mission.

[Black_Yoshi1230]

Had to kill the lights and shadows, some missions could run with all, others could only "cleanly" work with glow only. Pilot wise, no visible problems. Used Compatibility Package.

Blew up the Gef pilots. Ridwan pilot death unnecessary.

Made timing everything on the assassination (the hard part is just listening to the ship and getting the strength high enough to mark it as a valid target), beam first, transport as the beam was firing, and used the sensor burst to cover my escape. Escaped without being radar locked.

Killed the MacDuff, spared the habitat. Custos-X was a joy to fly.

Spammed the Support Craft, Shrikes and Ammo Packs in "Her Finest Hour." Let the Carthage and the Iolanthe live. Everyone else died (sabotaged the pulse turret grid, kept the artillery pressure on). Third Fleet Capital Elements remained intact.

Turret placement was not bad, but the problem was that I had to keep repeatedly hitting the arrow keys (not sure if the intent was to a grid-like movement effect, I was thinking in such an open world, cursor movement should be more fluid).

Survived intact in Universal Truth, but had to kill all the lighting effects minus glow. Was a genuine shock. Still on the side of the Feds. Humanity has one chance to survive the ****ed up design of the Old Ones. The Alliance has to stop being complete pricks against Zodkind.

[0rph3u5]

So I'm finally through Act III (after killing two pilots trying to get through the original WiH-release again, I decided to fast-track it on the weekend)...

(In my defense I didn't read through this topic, so there might be repetitions in my answers)

I read most of the material in the dreamscape

However the wingmen became a blur after a while ... Maybe it is because they didn't get much of personal introduction to distinguish them by - voice acting or maybe some theme music for each would help to make them more recknognizable

I sanitized the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'

At the time I though it was imperative to the mission that GEF wreckage was found and so I blew them up (see my answer on the Fedayeen) ... I regret that decision after 'meetinig' Awhireinga Greenfly in the dreamscape. (see my answer on GTVA/UEF alligance)

I don't think the Ridwan pilots had to die

... but send my wingmen to take them down; I simply saw no way to complete the mission without leaving the wing alive at the time of the mission. I feel bad about making that call.


I used the decoy transport during the assassination
I used the sensor flashbang during the assassination
I hacked a Mjolnir during the assassination

I called the decoy so I could disable the transport, used the flashbang to dodge GTVA patrols after that and used the Mjolnir to finish the job.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future'

Didn't realize there was a way to blow it up. Didn't have the time (mission finished with 4 seconds left on the clock) to check out the opening on the asteroid.

'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots

See above, the mission didn't but the interaction with Greenfly did.

I loved flying the Custos-X

While I had a bit of problem with the controls for the Custos-X, I liked flying it. Unlike with the turrets in "Eyes in the Storm" the controls were explained in a way that I could figure out all the commands with my personalized keybindings.

I adapted well to 'Her Finest Hour'

Except for a not noticing that I had to select the elements of the strike team on the first try.

I took the Carthage's surrender

Destroying the ship wasn't mission critical, also though capture of GTVA experimental tech (or the remains there of; destruction-in-case-of-capture-protocolls are rather strict) might prolong the war and allow for a differnt solution than GTVA or UEF victory (see GTVA/UEF alligance)

Placing turrets was tricky during 'Eyes in the Storm'

Unlike with the Custos-X I had a hard time figuring out which controls I needed to make it work. Maybe I misread something but still I had to call up the reference chart.pdf that came with the GoG version to figure out which keys to bind for the turret placement to work. After control issues were resolved everything went smooth.

I escaped 'Universal Truth' with my mind intact

... with LaPorte's mind intact.
I really though I would loose the sanity part when I couldn't resist probing Ken for the answers on the Shivans. But then during the scene with the Visnans I realized I was running on borrowed time so really hurried to get to safety.

Other than that, "Universal Truth" did try to confirm my initial suspicions about the Vishnans that I had since "Ken" but after thinking it over I'm not convinced what was provided in "Universal Truth" can be accepted as solid fact, just like all the glimpses in "Ken".
The revelation about Ken was unexpected but it made perfect sense. Did nothing to lower my guard towards Ken however, I'm still expecting some motive other than those provided during "Universal Truth" to surface as the story develops.

I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen

Not hard for me as I'm a firm believer in the idea that for a society to hold values and to remain true to these values, these values must at least be questioned if not opposed by members of said society. Challenging the values of society will either affirm said values by justifing their value again and again or reveal them as useless and obsolete.

Another idea I loathe to submit to is that in times of crisis it's necessary for a set of members of a society to break with their values for the common good and leaving other members of the society blameless for the acts that need to be done.
While I hate to affirm this particular brand of reasoning, the necessity to limit the blame for normally socially undesirable conduct to the pepetrators and not let it expand to all who would benefit form it, is given due to the fact that otherwise one would have to blame ALL beneficiaries of said conduct which would include coming generations who by accident of birth never had a chance to impact a course of events that is History to them.


Humanity is doomed! / Humanity has a chance!

That remains to be seen. Silently awaiting if going to be crossed by Ken but I know that humanity has no future with the UEF/Vishnans or the GTVA either.

I can't supported the UEF or the GTVA

My support for the GTVA fell at the end of AoA when the war started as I couldn't quite wrap my head around the why. In "Ken" I got to a peek into the paranoia that gripped the GTVA but since I don't fully trust Ken I'm still skeptical to accept anything that happened in "Ken" as fact (which is what keeps me from pitying Steele).
Even if I considered the glimpse in "Ken" to be fact, I can't wholeheartly support the GTVA for seeing war on Sol as the only option to combat the Vishnan influence on humanity.

My support for the UEF which was originally very strong got a huge hit in "Ken" and finally fell about "For the Wrong Reasons" when an Elder openly admited to visions guiding the Elders. At that point, even if all the scepticsm towards information gained from Ken I couldn't bring myself to see the UEF as victims of the GTVA, as certainly an outside party had orchistraded these events and the UEF Elders had been its willing and unquestioning accomplices.

However there is a faction in Sol I would support: GEF Greenfly...
What was to be seen of their transhumanist world more than just intrigued me. Maybe it's the appearently inherent materialism in their views ("Foundries. Vats. Kind of the same. Make the ships. Make me.") that speaks to me as someone who grew up in an intellectual envoirment that still treasures an unnecessary mind/matter-dualism... maybe there is more I can't put my finger on just yet... but as it stands now I'm willing to throw my lot in with them rather than any other faction involved in the war in Sol.

[leoben]

For some reason, Mssion 2 and onwards, I'm still getting stutters every 5-6 seconds - very annoying, although I have an enthusiast setup.

[Luis Dias]

I had no technical issues running Act 3

Really hard to with the machine I used.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape

By "most" one should read "more than half, less than the total". Easily bored by the content, and this has to do with the nihillistic above-human scope of the psychological environment, but also with the pretensious bastard I was playing. What a bore Laporte is, always judging others, daring to rate or qualify even the nature of the Fedayeen's alliance with the Hammer of Light to the very HoL agents. Having beared my own "character" saying silly, presumptuous, too self-aware words with practically everyone (and miraculously leaving the conversations without no one shouting a "**** you Laporte who dafuq you think you are?"), I always reached a point where I thought "ok, enough of this ****, let's see the next mission".

I sanitized the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'

Emotionally easy thing to do. They were bastards behaving like scoundrels, and it seemed a really bad idea letting them go with grievances or data against me.

I don't think the Ridwan pilots had to die

Not exactly. They probably had to, but the plot point didn't click on me. I *got* the plot point, but it seemed convoluted. Why would anyone believe the story that the UEF tried to "save" the Vasudans from the GEF, specially after the events in WiH 1? Why wouldn't they believe the exact opposite? It seemed a risk to include the UEF fighters in the scam, a risk that wasn't even considered by the Fedayeen, etc. I was unconvinced by the presentation.

Those wingmen were not my favorite people

At first I thought "Man, of course I don't like these guys, I've only seen them in one act". But now I know it's not about that at all. Fact is, Laporte is departing humanity and entering a place of non-existent morality apart from zeros and ones. She's becoming a machine. And the Fedayeen (and her fighter mates) are part of her conversion. The conversations are all about how she's still a human being and how that might be a problem in the missions going forward. After a while, they commend Laporte for becoming as psychopathic as they already are.

Are we supposed to create a bond with these psychopaths? Not even in principle! Having left humanity behind, the thought of even creating bonds with pseudo-humans like Kovacs et al is obsolete. I'd have bonded with the UEF fighters that died mercilessly in mission 1. Not with these psychopaths.

I had no trouble pulling off the assassination

That one and zero was too important to **** up with some idiotic late night moral compass. There was no emotional bond to aggreviate matters. A lot harder would have been to assassinate Byrne for instance. That would have been hard. To assassinate someone we were "acquainted to" just a page ago (and already portrayed as a traitor) wasn't even a question.

I hacked a Mjolnir during the assassination

Coz I'm lazy. And coz I was fragged every time I tried to kill it conventionally (later I learned it had to do with the insane-level RoF bug).

I destroyed the Gef reactor in 'One Future'

Not easy to notice the entrance. At first I tried to destroy the Destroyer and only then worry about the asteroid. I always failed the mission because those lazy marines were too slow and incompetent, so I tried to escalate the speed in which I obliterated the Destroyer to no avail. Then Battuta pointed me that I should just go into the asteroid, not wait for the marines. Next attempt I completely ignored the destroyer and went directly to the core, bombed everything and then faced the destroyer.

'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots

Nope.

I loved flying the Custos-X

Except for those first minutes of the first attempts where I was like "OMFG lots of missiles going my way, WTF should I do, press what? Manage what? Wait, what did you sa.. FUUUUUUU..."

Much has been already said about the complete lack of a learning curve in WiH act 3.

I was overwhelmed by 'Her Finest Hour'

I just didn't know what to do and how to do anything.

Until I learned how to manage the artillery. Then my mind clicked. I was trying too hard to go around my wingmates doing everything I told them to do with them. Except they are invincible and I am not, so that wasn't good. Only when I became cynical about the game itself, and said to myself "the hell with the immersion, I'm gonna sit here and command everyone to work for me", I started to see real results (finished the level right at the first attempt).

So it was really really hard until I figured the level out. Then it was easy. Still demanding, but manageable even for a lame player like me.

I took the Carthage's surrender

Needless murder is needless murder.

I had no trouble with the turret placement in 'Eyes in the Storm'

Some trouble with the controls, the zoom, etc., but I'm used to ****ty twitchy interfaces.

'Universal Truth' really freaked me out

In a good way. When I heard "Requiem" I knew I was seeing a bloody work of art. And the shivan cutscenes, omg. Just amazing.

I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen

Desperate times need amoral nihillistic bastards who will do anything necessary to get things done. A somewhat fascistic 24-like idea, but I wasn't too bothered by it. The sheer vertigo of the existence of culling "Gods" who will wipe you out if they feel like it shatters the liberal hippie residing inside of me. We are in the verge of being culled, of being wiped out. No time to pander to silly emotions and medieval moralities.

"I have no sides"

I haven't. Neither with the GTVA nor with the UEF. Slightly numbed at that question.

Humanity has a chance!

Doesn't feel like it though. The main problem with WiH act 3 is that it doesn't convey the drama and the tension correctly. We know we have to run, but we don't understand why and where to. The setting is unclear, the purpose hidden. I'm sure this is why BP team was reluctant to release only Act 3.

[##UnknownPlayer##]

I had some technical issues running Act 3
I had FS2_open crash on me a few times for no discernible reason. It didn't seem to be mission related though since reloading I could continue playing just fine.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape
But I have played many RPGs, everyone knows you always talk to everyone before moving on!
I think some ability to choose conversation options might be appropriate in here, since the campaign is all about kind of defining who Laporte is amongst the Fedayeen.

I sanitized the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'
This mission is kind of a killer though if you don't do it right, so I went through it so many times I tended to change which options I picked for them. I ended up on "sanitize" because if you go viral strike on the AWACS they just hang around complaining they're not going to do anything except attack the AWACS. Since they've all got "compliance devices" under their seats, this seemed problematic - I should've been able to tell them to attack or I'd blow them up anyway.

I don't think the Ridwan pilots had to die
It doesn't quite come across that they've got to go to protect the mission I think. Coming across a half-blown up Vasudan convoy and a bunch of (by that time) Gef wreckage seems like it makes the point. Of course by that time in the mission the timer was getting low and it's not easy to catch them either so it's a bit hard to follow the dialogue without VAing.

Those wingmen were not my favorite people
On the other hand, I don't think they need to be. But this might be a symptom of needing some VA'ing for me to really form a strong opinion about them.

I had no trouble pulling off the assassination
Once I knew how the mission worked - it's not explained well enough in the briefings or conveyed in the mission mechanics. It was hard to judge how much time I had to actually do it, and it wasn't clear I had to positively identify the shuttle to the game before I attacked - you can pretty much determine which ship the Elder is on before you get the yellow target reticle that let's you actually attack. If the mission briefing said something like "we're loading a heuristic sensor program into your ship's computer. You'll need to close on the transport to verify the Elder's identity. Once it's positively confirmed her presence, you may engage." then it would've been much clearer that I can't just say "right it's clearly that one" and blow it away.

I also couldn't figure out how the Mjolnir targeting actually worked.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future'
Once I realized I could use my ship to just cover the transport while it moved in it was pretty easy to do. This would be more obvious if the transport would request cover from the sentry gun network, which is on the only real threat to it.

'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots
It's not really clear what I lost. I haven't tried it with not blowing them up.

I loved flying the Custos-X
Cap-ships are fun to fly, though I still find managing turrets is a bit tricky. It feels like really I need to be able to fly the cap-ship from a much further back 3rd person perspective so I can get a better picture of whats around me and shooting at me.

I adapted well to 'Her Finest Hour
Loved this mission. The main issue I had (which I had in a lot of other places too) was it took me just forever to realize that my stealth fighter could safely attack and disengage.

One big problem I had was that it wasn't clear the capture/destroy decision would be made for me, so I wasted a lot of ships fighting the support craft/destroying turrets and ignoring the Carthage the first time round (pretty much all of them). When replaying it, even though this time I got all the ships out successfully (ordered them to depart once the Carthage was down) the ship-loss counter didn't seem to reset properly (still reported losses being total).

Placing turrets was tricky during 'Eyes in the Storm'
I couldn't find the list of support turrets initially. There didn't seem to be much point to selective deployment either vs. spamming them all as soon as you could in a nice tight grid to fight that second wave. The Tev's also seem a bit quick to start pounding on the gas station if you don't engage them.

I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth'
But I loved the mission, and the GD did freak me out when it shows up.

I had a big problem with Universal Truth though - the jump nodes throughout the whole game have been showing up as grey colored rather then green, so they were nigh impossible to see. The mission is also very long without any checkpoints or anything, so if you get lost while looking for the way out it gets fairly irritating having to loop through all that dialogue again. I also thought the sensor distortion on the nebula when you're talking to Ken was unnecessary, since it just makes it hard to find him/it.

I'm uncomfortable with the Fedayeen
In the sense that they're kind of an over-reaction from Ubuntu. GTVA SoC seem like level-headed intelligence spooks. The Fedayeen are mixing up religion/intelligence gathering and transhumanism. I get why Laporte is there, but they certainly don't seem like the right answer.

I changed sides from UEF to GTVA
Although it's tricky to say really. The GTVA seem's like the right answer to the galaxy's big problems, but the initial invasion still feels like an overreaction. I definitely don't hate Steele though - he's an effective commander. My Laporte definitely wouldn't kill him in the end, since as she states - she learned from the best and Steele is amongst them.

[MatthTheGeek]

the jump nodes throughout the whole game have been showing up as grey colored rather then green, so they were nigh impossible to see.

You should try to reproduce with retail assets and post a Mantis report - this sounds like a serious issue and I've never heard anyone having this problem before.

[CT27]

I had some technical issues running Act 3
But after some trial and error and experimenting with different builds I was able to beat it.


I read most of the material in the dreamscape
It was fairly interesting.


I released the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'
I was in a good mood when I played the mission.


I used the sensor flashbang during the assassination


I loved flying the Custos-X


I was overwhelmed by 'Her Finest Hour'
I beat it, but wow that was a lot to do.


I took the Carthage's surrender
As a GTVA supporter, I had to choose the lesser of two evils here.


Placing turrets was tricky during 'Eyes in the Storm'
I had to use the "5X fail-skip" on this mission unfortunately.


I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth'



I have supported the GTVA, and still do

[StargateSpankyHam]

-- I had some technical difficulties running Act 3
It took me about a half hour to get it up and running. Also, the left control key seems to do absolutely nothing in the turret-placement mission.

-- I read most of the material in the Dreamscape
Seriously, this place is awesome beyond awesome. Some of this stuff is endlessly inspiring.

-- I released the Gefs
...Mainly because I was too preoccupied blowing up tankers to press more keys.

-- I believe the Ridwan pilots had to die
Seriously, who the f*** thought it was a good idea to fly into a Gef vs. Vasudan showdown? How morbidly idealistic does the Ridwan's captain have to be to authorize that sortie? You expect the Zods to side with the UEF or something? Your mere presence REINFORCES the idea that the UEF and Gefs are working together. While you're at it, why not wish for a jetpack, a teleporter, and a UEF Sathanas?

-- Falconer was my favorite wingman
Seriously this guy/girl/whatever is awesome. It's so rare to see such a pure psychopath so well fleshed out.

-- I had no trouble pulling off the assassination
It wasn't difficult, it just required WAY too much afterburner.

-- I hacked a Mjolnir during the assassination
I did it, because I wanted to make ALL the Tevs curse at their consoles. SIMULTANEOUSLY.

-- I destroyed the Gef reactor
Yeah, you're trying to cause a mass extinction event by warping a chunk of cometary ice toward Earth? #1 on my list of things to avoid is a duel with a warship ten times my size.

-- I loved flying the Custos-X
Spew ALL the chaff!

-- I was overwhelmed by 'Her Finest Hour'
Those turrets...those damn turrets...spewing blue streams of anti-fighter death...

-- I destroyed the Carthage
At first, I was going to press the button to accept surrender. Unfortunately, the surrender option was 'sit here and wait'. Then I noticed her escorts cutting Calder's air wing to shreds. That wasn't very nice.

-- Placing turrets was tricky
I'm stuck on this mission because I cannot figure out how to do it. Left control does nothing when I press it.

-- I'm uncomfortable with the Fedayeen
Why is it so absolutely disastrous to freely and openly admit 'Psychopaths have a purpose in a utopian society'? Ubuntu should be completely okay with this. If transparency would destroy Ubuntu, then so be it. The GTVA may be backstabbing hypocrites, but the UEF isn't much better.

-- I changed sides from UEF to GTVA Shivans
Can I go join the Shivans now? UEF and GTVA alike need to be purged from the galaxy. The grand, cosmic psychopaths need to show up and clean house. They're like a more pure and focused version of the Fedayeen, minus all the black-ops-secrecy BS.

-- Humanity is doomed!
The Shivans probably have enough juggernauts to shock-jump every GTVA and UEF destroyer, simultaneously. From a sheer planet-glassing perspective...I would not be surprised if they could burn the humans from the cosmos in >24 hours. Zods are okay though, they can stay. WTB Shivan-Zod Alliance.

[IronBeer]

We still doing this? Looks like it. I probably don't have unique perspectives, but it's good etiquette to share my choices, so here we go.

I had no technical issues running Act 3.
-I did have to tweak my keybindings a bit to get the capship controls working properly in 'One Future', but that's not your problem.

I read most of the material in the dreamscape.
-'nuff said. I love BP's backstory and technical details, so the dreamscape was a really nice treat. Shame I couldn't interact with the various firewalls, though.

I sanitized the Gefs in 'Nothing is True'.
-I decided I didn't want them potentially jeopardizing that and other operations. Didn't feel bad about it, though.

I believed the Ridwan pilots had to die.
-Didn't actually tick this one because I answered the survey late at night and derped. This one I felt bad about, but again- I couldn't risk the operation.

(No vote on wingman preference)
-It's been a while, but none of the wingmen's personalities really stuck with me. Could just be my memory fading on me, though.

(Write-in) I needed a few tries to make the assassination work.
I used the decoy transport during the assassination.
I used the sensor flashbang during the assassination.
-I did try to hack a Mjolnir, but I wound up bailing because of the nosy patrol fighters. Ultimately, I just crippled the target from afar, then snuck in close and finished it off when the heat cleared. Once the deed was done, I triggered the sensor flashbang and drifted away giggling like a little girl.
One thing I would have appreciated regarding the items would be a little more explanation of how they were going to work. I expected the sensor flashbang to go off instantly, for example. Had I known that it needed time to charge up, I would have executed my plan a bit differently.

I captured the Gef habitat in 'One Future'.
'One Future' didn't change my earlier decision about the Gef pilots.
I loved flying the Custos-X.
-Barely. On the attempt that I succeeded, I thought for sure I had blown it. I guess 'One Future' is a little more lenient if the transport has already docked, since I was technically out of time for at least a full minute.
-Nope. Still don't feel bad about toasting the Gef pilots. To be fair, I do think the Gefs as a faction are a lot more interesting now, but the pilots from earlier still had the misfortune of being in the wrong place. And that place would be their fighters with their lives in my cruel hands.
-I would have appreciated having a little time to get used to the Custos-X. ("The Blade Itself!" Bite me.) But, once I got used to flying it, I had a great time. I'm quite used to more sluggish ships since I've played a lot of X3 in my non-FS flight time.

I was overwhelmed by 'Her Finest Hour'.
I destroyed the Carthage.
(Can't remember if I summoned the Touatis)
-A review at the briefing's end would have been really nice. Once I put about four false starts into it, things began to fall into place, but I was still a little aggravated that it took that long just to figure out what I needed to do.
-Carthago delenda est! The Tevs would have done the same if the situation were reversed. I did feel a shred of remorse since I don't think Admiral Lopez was a *bad* woman, but again- bad day to be my enemy. The previous points are really after-the-fact justification for a decision I made through emotion. The ending of "Delenda Est" in Act 2 is one of the very few times I've really been emotionally moved by a video game, and unfortunately for the Carthage, I was moved to hatred.
-Also, as an aside, I want to say I was a little frustrated by the heavy casualties my strike force took. I got just about the maximal force, ticked all the boxes, crippled everything I could, and the strike force still got trashed pretty hard, particularly the Custos...es. This bothers me because the force consisted of, what, almost 40 combat spacecraft? Surely that many bombers and warships could pluck the turrets from a crippled destroyer and fend off its escorts with little trouble, right?

I had no trouble with the turret placement in 'Eyes in the Storm'.
-First attempt was a wash since I didn't realize that there was no real advantage to holding some turrets back. After that, the mission was a blast.

I wasn't bothered by 'Universal Truth'.
I escaped 'Universal Truth' with my mind intact.
-Staring into the abyss is something of a hobby of mine. 'Universal Truth' was great.
-Probably not by much, but I did.

I recognize the necessity of the Fedayeen.
-Not much to add here. The UEF would probably be utterly screwed without such a merciless organization. Such as it is now, the UEF has a fighting chance.

I have supported the GTVA, and still do.
Humanity has a chance!
-Now here's where things get interesting. The GTVA's motivations are of the "unfortunate, but necessary" brand of forceful re-unification. The Tevs have done some bad, bad things during the war, even managing to seriously piss me off personally. That said, I *must* support them because the GTVA as an overall faction seems to be less affected by Shivan or Vishnan interference (how badly tainted the HoL guys are remains to be seen). Moreover, I simply feel that the GTVA has a better grasp on how apparently hostile the outside universe is, and I think they're better-prepared to face it.
-I'm honestly not sure about this one, but I'd rather stay hopeful. Vishnan motivations are anything but clear, and I'm not at all comfortable with humanity existing so transparently at the whim of trans-dimensional alien powers. Humanity is probably screwed if even a Second Incursion-level fleet comes knocking for a demolition tour, but dying on our own terms would grate me far less than existing as pawns of the Vishnans.