Malfadors New Site Is Up WITH SCREEN SHOTS!

[Atrocities]

www.malfador.com (http://www.malfador.com) No jokes.

[Renegade 13]

Damn you people with faster than dial-up internet! Those screenshots are gonna take forever to load.

But it looks f***ing awesome!

[Ragnarok]

I am in love...

Not with you Renegade.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Nex_Empire]

OH does screenshots are soooo cool, its like a dream come true

[Renegade 13]

Ragnarok said:
I am in love...

Not with you Renegade.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



I sure hope not! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[douglas]

*blink* "Sports" is a tech area? Hmm, I wonder what kind of futuristic sports we'll be inventing when we research it.

Colonization techs apparently have multiple levels now. I wonder what the later levels give. Lower cost? Smaller? More cargo space?

Hmm, "Cultural Achievements". I wonder how similar to Civ3 that is.

[NullAshton]

3D GROUND COMBAT! WOOT!
HEX GRIDS! WOOT!
3D SYSTEM VIEWS! WOOT!
3D COMBAT! WOOT!
BETTER INTERFACES! WOOT!
CLEANER LOOKING RESEARCH PANE! WOOT!
KINDA REALISTIC SIZES! WOOT!
PRETTY STARS! WOOT!
ASTEROID BELTS! WOOT!
SPORTS!(woot?)
MAINTENENCE COSTS! WOOT!
HEX GRIDS! WOOT!
RESEARCH SLIDERS! WOOT!

Now, did I forget anything?

[Caduceus]

NullAshton said:
SPORTS!(woot?)



Lol

Pics look good.

[Will]

Ah, the glory of 3D view AND hex map!

[Atrocities]

I think I need to take a break and just go for a walk..........

[douglas]

Yay, ship size is conveyed visually properly! Look at how much BIGGER that space station is than the ships around it!

Edit: Just got to last screenshot. Judging by that screenshot, we can all stop worrying about too simplistic ground combat! It's ground combat in a hex grid!

[Evil_Duckie]

*drools*

This is sweet! I know what my favourite game is going to be... but that release date (Q4 2005)... I don't know if I can wait that long...

[Atrocities]

I have a new goal in life... learn how to make my ship sets work in SE V and make them look as good as the ones in the game. OMG! The ships are scaled to the bases...... GROUND COMBAT!!!!!! 3D buildings and unites..... Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhh... Shower time.

[douglas]

On Patch Download page:

"Dude! The game has to come out first!"

LOL http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Renegade 13]

Yeah, the patch message is awesome. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Anyone else notice from the screenshots that facilities are now going to have a workforce? and maintenance! Realism! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

And looking at the combat screenshot, it looks like combat won't be so detailed that we can't have tons of ships, but detailed enough to make me drool in anticipation!

[douglas]

Somehow I missed that. Hmm, I wonder if there will be facilities that reduce the maintenance cost of other facilities?

[Renegade 13]

More news!



4/01/05 - SE5 Beta Test Lottery
We're picking them right this very minute. The list of beta testers will be posted just a little later today...

04/01/05 - SE5 Screenshots
And what goes better with a new website than SE5 screenshots! Check them out in the SE5 Gallery.

04/01/05 - New Web Site
A new web site? Oh Yes! Many thanks to David Gervais for his work on the new website. Hopefully it will help everyone find what they're looking for!

[douglas]

I hope the sliders in the research screen (and wherever else they're used) have click-and-drag functionality, or at least a decently high rate of change for click-and-hold on the arrows.

[douglas]

Woops, we have a typo. In the Q&A answer to question 3, "tergeted" is misspelled.

Edit: And another one, in question 4 "allready" should only have one l.

[Renegade 13]

Take a look at the ground combat screenshot. It looks to me like we can manually place where we want our facilities and weapon platforms to be placed for optimal defensive positioning.

[douglas]

Ah yes, that reminds me: Will there be facilities with defensive systems for use during ground combat, and will we be able to but ground combat weaponry on weapon platforms?

Regarding all types of combat, will firing arcs be part of design considerations?

[Renegade 13]

I believe that in the chat sessions Aaron said that firing arcs would be a part of (at least) space combat. Then again, I could be wrong, if I am please correct me someone.

[boran_blok]

Now, about the site, it could use some more of the available screen real estate, with the SEIV banner up about 1/7th of the screen is dedicated to the news, wich imho should take about 2/3rds at least (maybe include the banner as news for now) and then have links to various other things, now the site is packed with information, all on one page. and about 1/5th of the sides is spent on the decoration, which is nice and such, but it's still, only decoration.. content is more important than the package imho.

Anyways as far as the screenshots are concerned I'm drooling, the graphics might not be DX9 accellerated and stuff, the features they promise are worth thousand thimes more.

[Gandalf Parker]

douglas said:
I hope the sliders in the research screen (and wherever else they're used) have click-and-drag functionality, or at least a decently high rate of change for click-and-hold on the arrows.



Actually I was wondering about that. Does anyone ever do research with the "all at once" thing on? (or whatever its called). I always do mine one at a time but maybe thats just me

ALSO the screen shots are great but is that little galaxy window the size of the game or is he just running small games for testing? Will I be eagerly awaiting Fryons first mod to give us back the giant maps?

[Suicide Junkie]

In SE4 the divide research points function is pretty useless.

In SE3, I could put 1% or 2% research towards medical tech, and I would finish the med tech at just the right rate to keep up with natural plagues http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Instar]

I wonder how ground combat works now... can I call in supporting fire from orbiting ships? How about atmospheric fighters? That would rock!

[Captain Kwok]

Exciting stuff - too bad I'm stuck at work for another hour. :-(

[douglas]

IMO there should be a penalty for concentrating too much on a single tech field. This would make simultaneously researching several tech areas with various percentages of research allocated a sensible approach. Make sure click-and-drag works reasonably well, taking points away from other areas (from highest spending fields first) as necessary to meet the current slider's cost, and add locks that can be enabled on each slider to prevent points being taken from it, and I think we'd have a pretty good system. Just make sure there's an undo feature so a single misclick won't require readjusting all the sliders you're interested in because they all got dropped to 0 when you dragged one to 100.

[NullAshton]

Ever heard of the law of diminising returns? As you research more and more, you get less and less.

[douglas]

Exactly. Which is why I think putting 100% on one tech should result in losing something like 25%, maybe more, of your research.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Why? It just reduces my options.

[Renegade 13]

I must say, I really don't like that idea. At the very least, make it an option.

[douglas]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
Why? It just reduces my options.


How so? I think it would increase your options. If you really need a particular tech RIGHT NOW, you could take the loss and get it faster, but always putting 100% into one tech at a time is no longer the only reasonable thing to do in a fiercely competitive game.

[Nodachi]

Just got to look at the new screens. OMG!! They look awe inspiring!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

No, it increases the trade-offs I have to make, but it reduces the time I can focus on one area if I want, thus reducing my options.

[Hunpecked]

Decent eye candy, promising screenshots.

Typo: In the ground facility screenshot (lower right, 8th of eight shots) the word "Ordinance" should be "Ordnance" (no "I"), meaning "weaponry". Ordinance (with an "I") is a municipal regulation.

Thoughts: More complex/detailed game means either more micromanagement or more use of AI ministers, which will probably be much less effective than human players. More options makes it harder to program competent AI functions. I hope MM provides players with more "hooks" into the AI, so talented modders can take up the slack.

It may also take more post-release testing and patching to get the game into an "almost right" state comparable to SEIV Gold's v1.91.

On the other hand the designers seem to have planned some nice features for the game; with luck most of them will actually be implemented.

So overall I guess I'm hopeful, but wary. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

Actually, that ship might be a space-borne colony, and as such needs ordinances http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[douglas]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
No, it increases the trade-offs I have to make, but it reduces the time I can focus on one area if I want, thus reducing my options.


Huh? My proposal wouldn't affect how long you can focus on one tech at all. Hmm, maybe I used the wrong word there. By "losing" I meant "wasting". Investing 100% in one tech area would only add 75% of your research points for the turn to your progress in that tech, but would have absolutely no effect at all on your research rate in later turns. You could spend up to 50% on each tech and get the full value of your research points, but each 1% more than that would only give .5% more progress. Keep in mind that these numbers are only for example purposes; personally, I would prefer an even lower limit for getting full value and a graduated system where the portion of each extra percentage point that gets wasted increases as the total percent allocated to the field increases.

[Will]

Hunpecked said:
Typo: In the ground facility screenshot (lower right, 8th of eight shots) the word "Ordinance" should be "Ordnance" (no "I"), meaning "weaponry". Ordinance (with an "I") is a municipal regulation.



It isn't even in beta yet, give Aaron time! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Fyron]

Don't hold your breath on ordnance... Aaron armed ships with proclamations and laws in SF too...

[Noble713]

Well, I guess I should finish all those 3D Exosquad ships I was making, now that we have a suitable graphics engine to make it worthwhile.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

douglas said:

narf poit chez BOOM said:
No, it increases the trade-offs I have to make, but it reduces the time I can focus on one area if I want, thus reducing my options.


Huh? My proposal wouldn't affect how long you can focus on one tech at all. Hmm, maybe I used the wrong word there. By "losing" I meant "wasting". Investing 100% in one tech area would only add 75% of your research points for the turn to your progress in that tech, but would have absolutely no effect at all on your research rate in later turns. You could spend up to 50% on each tech and get the full value of your research points, but each 1% more than that would only give .5% more progress. Keep in mind that these numbers are only for example purposes; personally, I would prefer an even lower limit for getting full value and a graduated system where the portion of each extra percentage point that gets wasted increases as the total percent allocated to the field increases.


Which would mean that if I try to research one at a time, I'll fall behind.

[zircher]

> Ah, the glory of 3D view AND hex map!

Indeed, in the great minds think alike category, here's a link to a pet project that I've been working off and on for years.

http://www.geocities.com/tzircher/tcom_gallery.htm

Don't be surprised if some of these models become available for SE V after it is released. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
--
TAZ

[Saber Cherry]

At least the new buildings have a "Workforce" rating. Finally population will play a major role! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

On the other hand... I'm worried about potential Sim City-style micromanagment on every planet surface. It would rock in a game with 3 planets, but with 100 planets... I already choose gas giants specifically to have fewer planets to micromanage, but physically placing every building on every planet in a 100-star galaxy seems overboard. I wonder if the computer will do that automatically, with the player just queuing them like in SE4. Also, asteroids are still in clumps rather than belts. Combat looks really neat, though http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Spoo]

Suicide Junkie said:
Actually, that ship might be a space-borne colony, and as such needs ordinances http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



"Endless" ordinances? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

You know how bureaucracy is...:D

[tesco samoa]

i think that having graphics is selling out. I was really hoping that sev was going to be a pure command line type of game. Maybe different colour on the fonts but thats it

[David E. Gervais]

tesco samoa said:
i think that having graphics is selling out. I was really hoping that sev was going to be a pure command line type of game. Maybe different colour on the fonts but thats it



Tesco, you are in the beta, feel free to make that Mod. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Here's a hint, the UI uses .bmp's but one can easilly make a frameset and UI using bitmap versions of the extended IBM ASCII character set.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DeadZone]

Thats a point, has it been coded to allow us to use things other than BMPs?
Cos that was a huge wanted, especially for the use of animated .gifs

[Grandpa Kim]

Yes, I like what I see. Especially the hex grid. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Except the system screen. U-gly! And trying to get my pointer on one of those back side hexes could cause serious damage to my monitor screen and knuckles.

[Aiken]

Scrap BMP, use PNG. This format support alpha-channel at least.

[Captain Kwok]

Grandpa Kim said:
Yes, I like what I see. Especially the hex grid. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Except the system screen. U-gly! And trying to get my pointer on one of those back side hexes could cause serious damage to my monitor screen and knuckles.

I'm sure you'll be able to move the camera to get different views, such as top down etc!

[Aiken]

Grandpa Kim said:
Except the system screen. U-gly! And trying to get my pointer on one of those back side hexes could cause serious damage to my monitor screen and knuckles.

It is possible to rotate system. But I agree, zoomed out planets look horribly - sharp edges, slightly distorted proportions (flaw of early 3d-engines). I hope it will be improved in time.

[DeadZone]

aiken said:
Scrap BMP, use PNG. This format support alpha-channel at least.



Amen to that suggestion

[Spoo]

My only nitpick is that the stars waste a huge amount of space in the system veiw. Why not keep the stars small?

[Jake Monroe]

because stars aren't small?

[Combat Wombat]

Jake Monroe said:
because stars aren't small?



Short and sweet answer

The long answer is that the hex grid in se5 is alot bigger than the grid in se4 so there is room for stuff to make more sense size wise.

[Randallw]

Time to discuss the screenshots.

I notice in the first shot the system has a modifier that moves all points generated automatically to the Norak. Does this mean that the Norak have built a spaceport, or they are natural merchants, or it means something else?. I ask because it's strange that it is one of the system modifiers.

[Suicide Junkie]

It could also be a screenie from early in the alpha, before space ports were coded in.

[Slick]

I wonder what "Experience Types" refers to on the help screen.

[Aiken]

1) Noticed that planets have no indicators of SY's (or other facility's) presence in the system window. Either this option is disabled by default (it's ok) or not implemented (it will be done later, I hope). Small floating symbols (similar to empire flag on top of a HW) could be very nice.

2) I don't like the way system wide modifiers are displayed: system window will be littered with a text if a lot of storms are present in system. Button with a poping window is more comfortable.

[boran_blok]

Imho PNG is also the way to go, it offers compressability, alpha channels, etc.

And on the screenshots, I that we will be able to hide/show much info, that way it is flexible, people who like lots of info can turn it on, and ppl who dislike lots of info can turn it off. also game/Wide (or profile/wide if you're going to work multi-user) settings would be nice (now if you didnt want ships clearing their orders when seeing an enemy presence you'd have to set it anew every game) differences between games should be doable tho, so the settings in game-wide should be only the starting ones and not change games already in progress.

Hmm maybe this post better first in the wish list :/

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Suicide Junkie said:
It could also be a screenie from early in the alpha, before space ports were coded in.



OR it could be a facility/etc other than a Spaceport. Notice the text "ALL resources will be transfered to Norak". What if another race establishes a colony in the system? If *all* points are indeed transfered to the Norak, the other colony would be producing resources for the Norak..... I don't readily see how it would be handled if multiple empires had colonies in the same system. Perhaps the empire with the most spaceports or the like gets ALL production (or a larger fraction) than the other? If so, that would mean that production is not planet-based, but first pooled into a system resource pool, and that the race with the most opportunities for inter-system transport gets a larger portion of the resources, even if the other player produces EVERYTHING. Would be handy for a "parasite" player - such a player would have very low production but ample possibilities to clandestinely transfer other empire's production to their own galactical resource pool.

[ZeroAdunn]

I wonder how a black hole will look in 3D

[Randallw]

I noticed it did say ALL points, but then I forgot to point it out. Actually the first time I thought it meant all warppoints led to Norak space.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

*If* (non-existant chance, but still) what I mentioned (ranted) earlier is true, it would be a very...... well, to phrase it this way, cool addition to the game. This way, as I said, parasitical empires can exist without having to spend over half of their facility space on intel centers. Also, some sort of (roleplaying) "tradeoff" would be possible this way, i.e. your ally is strapped for cash in a war so you scrap some spaceports in systems where he has colonies as well, thereby providing him with an extra flow of resources without you having to grant him the amounts every turn through gifts. Also, this would open up roleplaying possibilities - simulating blockades, privateering and such.

[DeadZone]

When talking over IRC, quite a few have us agree that planets need to look smaller, or the system larger and planets more spaced out, as they look too cramped, just like they did in SEIV

[Aiken]

About "All points go to Norak" thingy:

[06:35:27-PM] <Malfador> Beyond treaties, the big new thing is Alliances.
Empires can join together to form a new union called an Alliance. The Alliance
has all of the political abilities as an Empire, but is a union of empires.
[06:35:44-PM] <Malfador> The empires in the union have to vote on everything
they want the alliance to do.
[06:36:27-PM] <Malfador> The Alliance can specify the rules that govern it, much
like a treay has rules for the two empires.
[06:36:44-PM] <Malfador> And members vote for changes to the rules, add new
members, declare war, etc.

I bet we see some economical aspects of Alliance in action.

[boran_blok]

I got one thing to say on that:
God damnd cool, I'm so excited bout this game, I cant wait for it... hurry up and squash those bugs beta testers !

[Spoo]

Jake Monroe said:
because stars aren't small?



Because stars are so much larger than planets that they can't be to scale anyway, so why waste so much screen space on something that has little effect in-game.

[Aiken]

At least Aaron got rid of this absurd situation then your ships were parked in the center of a star.
(0,0) sector seems to be impassable. And this is a right thing.

[Suicide Junkie]

Slick said:
I wonder what "Experience Types" refers to on the help screen.


Oooh, perhaps it means that experience is tracked separately for attack/defense against each type of target (ships vs units vs drones vs missiles)

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

aiken said:
About "All points go to Norak" thingy:

[06:35:27-PM] <Malfador> Beyond treaties, the big new thing is Alliances.
Empires can join together to form a new union called an Alliance. The Alliance
has all of the political abilities as an Empire, but is a union of empires.
[06:35:44-PM] <Malfador> The empires in the union have to vote on everything
they want the alliance to do.
[06:36:27-PM] <Malfador> The Alliance can specify the rules that govern it, much
like a treay has rules for the two empires.
[06:36:44-PM] <Malfador> And members vote for changes to the rules, add new
members, declare war, etc.

I bet we see some economical aspects of Alliance in action.



Hmm, two things spring to mind.....

-Europa Universalis II with its military alliances
-My idea of a "Galactic Council" as I said in the SEV wishlist.....

God man I can't WAIT for it to be released..... or at least play a demo version

[Suicide Junkie]

Well, the galactic council thing would be Opt-In only.

Although with the advanced treaties, you should be able to have members effectively at war with each other.
Make a PBW game with an OOC rule that everybody has to join and remain in the "Galactic Council alliance", and you should be set.

[Renegade 13]

Looking at screenshots 1, 3 and 6:

Does anyone else think that the icons along the top of the system window seem a little bit...I don't know... out of place, difficult to see maybe? I like the icons at the bottom right, with the blue glow behind the images, but I think the top icons would look better with a different color than brown in the background, perhaps the same blue as is behind the bottom-right images. It's just that some of the pictures in the icons seem to blend in to the background brown to me, making a few of them difficult to see.

[Fyron]

It would also be great if the weird glass pane shine on them was removed... That really doesn't fit.

[Captain Kwok]

Imperator Fyron said:
It would also be great if the weird glass pane shine on them was removed... That really doesn't fit.

David will be sad, that's his trademark. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
I really like the combat buttons though, but with those main buttons I'd probably go with a faint blue background grid without the glare spot. But it doesn't matter anyway really, I'm sure it's all easily moddable. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[David E. Gervais]

Imperator Fyron said:
It would also be great if the weird glass pane shine on them was removed... That really doesn't fit.



The Wierd glass pane shine was deliberately placed on the buttons for the sole purpose of agrivating Fyron,.. thus distracting him and giving his adversaries a chance to win. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Muahahahahahahaha....

Cheers!

Note this is not the righ (or apropriate) place to discuss game changes. That's what the beta is for, and it is not a public beta. That said, as a beta tester your opinion is noted, but no action will be decided on here in public forms. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Fyron]

[non-beta tester, random fan mode]
/me whaps David
[/non-beta tester, random fan mode]

[Thermodyne]

David E. Gervais said:

Imperator Fyron said:
It would also be great if the weird glass pane shine on them was removed... That really doesn't fit.



The Wierd glass pane shine was deliberately placed on the buttons for the sole purpose of agrivating Fyron,.. thus distracting him and giving his adversaries a chance to win. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Muahahahahahahaha....

Cheers!

Note this is not the righ (or apropriate) place to discuss game changes. That's what the beta is for, and it is not a public beta. That said, as a beta tester your opinion is noted, but no action will be decided on here in public forms. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



LOL, it doesn’t take all that much to get him aggravated http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Renegade 13]

David E. Gervais said:
Note this is not the righ (or apropriate) place to discuss game changes. That's what the beta is for, and it is not a public beta. That said, as a beta tester your opinion is noted, but no action will be decided on here in public forms. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



Duly noted.

And here I thought that, since the screenshots were publicly available, comments on them would be ok.

[Combat Wombat]

You can discuss its just aparently no one will be listening, thats cold David.

[David E. Gervais]

I'm just pulling his leg (the 4th one hidden under his arm). he can comment all he wants, I'm prfectly capable of adjusting my input sensors to filter him.

Muahahahahaha http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

edit: Here's a hypothetical situation.. fyron is in the beta, I'm on the dev team,.. if fyron makes a comment/request here in public,.. and I in turn make the change in the official game, does that make Fyron and myself in violation of the NDA? If we are not supposed to discuss features in the game that have not been made public then it would stand to reason that yes we would (well he would) be in violation.

Note: now that the beta has started, certain restrictions are now in effect. for the beta testers, minor infractions can and most probably be tolarated, but why get in the habbit now? Fyron the Fan has had plenty of time to discuss 'wishlist features' prior to entering the beta.

But this is such a minor thing, but I felt it worth mentionning to make sure the wandering does not go any further.

Don't mind me, I'm just paranoid half of the time and skitso the rest.

[Combat Wombat]

Alright that makes sense.

[DeadZone]

But it doesnt mean non-betas cant discuss/suggest things, and us betas adapt it and pass it along

[geoschmo]

DeadZoneMDx said:
But it doesnt mean non-betas cant discuss/suggest things, and us betas adapt it and pass it along

Absolutly, we should just refrain from commenting about it ourselves. But by all means read the comments posted in the public forums by non-beta members and if someone suggests something that sounds cool, bring it into the beta forum discussion.

That's really the hadest part about being on a beta team. Avoinding talking about the game with non-beta team members. But it's important.

[Suicide Junkie]

The NDA can't be retroactive to old posts that were perfectly OK at the time they were posted. That would just be crazy.

*SJ resumes counting down the hours until his participation in the beta truly starts with the spinning up of the magic disk.

[Fyron]

Discussing how screenshots that Malfador has made publically available look does not seem applicable to the NDA. As long as nothing is mentioned that has not been made available by Malfador, I do not see any possible infraction.

[Gandalf Parker]

That would be logical.

Of course that doesnt matter to an NDA agreement. If the agreement says not to discuss SEV then its easiest and safest for anyone who signed it not to discuss SEV. I dont think Id press anyone on it. (well, not anyone I liked)

[Phoenix-D]

Not that anyone has signed it yet..according to the site anyway. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

But yeah, the normal NDA proceedure is you say nothing, because you might say something without intending to otherwise..

[AMF]

Can I make this one suggestion: the star system screen is great, but it would help a LOT if it were easily "revolvable" - Adobe does this cool thing where you hold done the mouse button and "grab" the image, and can move it - for the star system screen, it looks a bit crowded, so it would be nice to be able to avoid the hotkey to rotate the image and just use the mouse to do it (by holding down the mouse key, grabbing the image, and thereby rotating the system image clockwise or counterclockwise)

Thanks,

Alarik

[DeadZone]

I think Aaron stated in a IRC chat that his intension was to have that

[dogscoff]

*dogscoff looks at screenshots...

*FZZZKTTZTT!*

*dogscoff unplugs old keyboard and plugs in a new, drool-proof keyboard.



*blink* "Sports" is a tech area? Hmm, I wonder what kind of futuristic sports we'll be inventing when we research it.




http://www.invirtuo.cc/phpwiki/index.php/O%26C%20Dyson%20Hockey - If you can get the malfadorica to work- try hitting "refresh" a few times.




More complex/detailed game means either more micromanagement




More micromanagement! W00T! /me is a Mm+++

[David E. Gervais]

All I'm saying (to the beta testers) is Be mindfull of your posts. The Beta Officially started on April 1st. The first order of business is the signing and gathering of NDA agreements, then the CD's get mailed out, then the bug hunt begins then the gameplay polishing starts.

Fyron, I'm not trying to be harsh, I just want you and the other beta testers to "Be mindful of what you post from now on." Common sense should be enough to make things go smoothly.

Nuf said, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Randallw]

http://www.invirtuo.cc/phpwiki/index.php/O%26C%20Dyson%20Hockey - If you can get the malfadorica to work- try hitting "refresh" a few times.





You'll have to excuse me, but I take everything literally, so when I read that the gamesphere is infinitely smaller than a Dyson Sphere I assumed the whole game is just an intellectual excercise.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Or some sort of "treasure hunt"..... the team that finds the sphere first wins http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif so far all winners have been extradimensional creatures..... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

no but really.

PLZ MORE MICROMANAGEMENT..... I Luv mm, I'm making a mod that not only lets me define the underwear preferences for my fleet captains, but everything down to the very position of Cadet's nose hairs! (no, just kidding)

[dogscoff]

You'll have to excuse me, but I take everything literally, so when I read that the gamesphere is infinitely smaller than a Dyson Sphere I assumed the whole game is just an intellectual excercise.




Smarty-pants =-p

Well, there's infinite and there's infinite. Granted, even a dysonsphere is pretty small on the cosmic scale of things, but I think comparing an object the size of a sports stadium to an object the size of a habitable planet's orbital radius is as close to infinite as my head wants to waste any think-cycles trying to comprehend.

I'll edit the wiki though, just to highlight your pedantry. =-)

Obligatory and only marginally on-topic Schlockery: http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20010702.html

[Randallw]

Please don't feel in anyway that I was criticising your choice of words, I was just showing how my mind works http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DeadZone]

David E. Gervais said:
Common sense should be enough to make things go smoothly.

Nuf said, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



What is this "common sense" you speak of?
*Must be some alien phase David picked up while visiting the Planet Jig

[atari_eric]

On screenshot #6, the one highlighting "Iolo Asteroid belt #1", it mentions "Occlusion". I wonder what that means...

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Possibly some sort of stealth. Like small nebula.

[Slick]

I think it's just the new way of categorizing how much "sight" is affected. In SE4, no asteroids affected sight but it has been modded. I would think that SE5 has a more varied sight/sensor/cloaking???/range formula. In one of the chats, it was stated that certain sensors would be affected by range.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Ooh so that means that you can hide your massive defensive battlefleet amongst asteroids and when the enemy warps in right next to the asteroid field you can so totally cream them.....

[clark]

[put the detectives hat on]

"Elementary, my dear Watson!"

Regarding this screen shot: http://malfador.com/SE5scr001.htm

Bottom Right corner control panel contains five icons in a row above a grid of other icons. Those 5 icons should represent various solar system view controls (from left to right: free form view?, rotate clockwise, rotate counter clockwise, zoom in, and zoom out)

The icon grid beneath seems to be a hodgepodge of hot button key commands like cargo unload, warp to, fleet join/unjoin, build, etc.

To the left of these icons is the selected sector information panel (i.e. the Homeworld planet info... but I assume that it would detail any selected sector, such as sun or stellar storm). It looks to show planet improvements as icons to the right of the planet (people, ship building, repair). I wonder if it will least icons for sats, fighters, Weapon Platforms, mines, etc. The flag of course tells you who owns the planet (which is also displayed above the planet in the solar system view screen).

Above this panel, and below the solar system map are six buttons, three on the left, three on the right. The three right ones look to be quick buttons (from left to right)for solar system grid (so you can turn it on and off), system info, and planet name/info. The three other buttons on the left hand side (a check, a cancel, a play button) all look to be some kind of "issue command", more than likely to confirm ship orders- but then, maybe not.

At the bottom left hand corner you have the galaxy map which looks to show the location of every other player in this game (they all are represented as being "known" (compare it to a an unknown solar system area- this is the first turn)

Above the galaxy map you have quick buttons for (left to right) Previous Ship, Next Ship, Previous Colony, Next Colony, Previous Fleet, Next Fleet, a big N button (no clue, maybe a quick button to an area of interest), and then some other button with 4 arrows (could be free form).

For the game map, it looks like moons have their own hex in relation to their orbiting parent (the planet they orbit).

And I think I've bored you all long enough... thanks for listening, I'm excited about the next version too!

[Emperor's Child]

All I have to say is that there is NO WAY that my DOGA-created ships will look good now. These babies take it to a whole new level that appears unreachable for the average joe. I'd expect a whole lot fewer of us to be making new ship sets...

[Ragnarok]

You did a good job Clark in looking at what the buttons could possibly be for. I was going to do so but haven't had the time but now that I look at them I think you are spot on with a few of them.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

semi-OT, but.....

Aaron is online! The "Who's Online" list showed Malfador Machinations "editing his basic profile". Question time, anyone?

[clark]

Thanks Ragnarok,

Looking at the interface setup I think the current GUI is pretty slick... that said, what would be nice (something for you Betars, my Betters might want to think about when testing) is to have a planet production screen accessible in the solar system map. SEIV always pops you into another screen- it seems if you took that current area where the sector info is shown, and have a small button that would bring up possible builds on that planet (all within the solar system viewing) it would make game play a little more seamless. Two icons above (a ship icon, and a build icon) (or to the right) of the sector info would allow one to build ships (if allowable) or planetary improvements/defense. Have a scrollable queue you can enter into that area (the sector info). I hate jumping screens when it might be possible not to (the more screen jumping you do, the more you are pulled from where the action is).

just a thought.

Also, looking at the tactical screen shots, ground fighting is turn based and ship combat is time/second based (you can control time flow in ship combat, but it looks like the ground combat is a modified SEIV ship combat system that utilizes the new graphics engine)

I dare Malfador to put up some more screen shots, we don't need blabbering NDA Betaers to figger this out! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I would like to see the ship build screen shots though... Too bad we can't have facility design as well. Have your facilities be armed for ground combat!

[Mephisto]

clark said:
Regarding this screen shot: http://malfador.com/SE5scr001.htm




Anybody noticed that the "free look button" (the eye) looks like the old eye icon of geoschmo? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[geoschmo]

Mephisto said:
[Anybody noticed that the "free look button" (the eye) looks like the old eye icon of geoschmo? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Actually that's not suprising, since I got that old icon from the SE4 graphics in the first place. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Caduceus]

LOL Geo

Art imitating life imitating art...

Reminds me of "The Producers" movie based on the musical based on the movie...

[Slick]

I knew someone would mention that. It's the first thing that I thought of when I saw that too.