Well, I\'ve got it in the mail!
Oh no, not another first impressions post!
Heh. Okay, first off this is just my initial first impressions post. I've been terribly busy and as such haven't had a lot of time to tinker with the game. I'd also like to say right off the bat that I like it, and I've always been a strong supporter of MM and Shrapnel...for what it's worth. I really can't wait to wade into this thing (and see some of the community's work with the mods in the future).
Now...after loading up the game I of course tossed the manual aside (yeah, yeah, RTFM, I know, but keep it in mind as I type here) and proceeded to start my first game. It was with great excitement and in trepidation that I looked around my destroyer for the first time and gazed at the space station. Okay, lemme see here...have to shuttle over. I click the (grayed out) "Shuttle Over" button. Nothing. Okay, makes sense, it's grey. I think about other games and try the "[" and "]" keys. Presto! I'm moving. I get in range of the station and the "Shuttle Over" button turns green...awesome! I think to myself that I need to be stopping now. What to do, what to do...grab the manual? Heck no! Oh, I know, from a different game the "\" key should bring me to a dead stop. Yeah, we all know what happens to our hero then . Okay, reload, target station, get close, STOP this time, and try it again...hey wait! There's some numbers at the bottom labeled Weapon's bank 1,2,3, and 4. Oooh...I wonder how I check my weapons? I think that pressing "1", "2", "3", or "4" will probably fire the things, which would be bad...I know, I'll click on them! Yeah...did I mention I was still targeting the station ?
Okay, now that we all know what happens to folks who don't read the documentation right away, lemme say that I was able to play for about a half an hour after that with not too many hitches. And yeah, I did grab the book and hit pause a couple of times. Now. Lemme start the part that will have folks flaming me. Bah, go ahead, but I want to post this stuff here in hopes that Aaron might consider adding this stuff, or some talented folks can mod it (since I'm dumb and henceforth can NOT mod). Ahem, here goes.
Trinkets. Trinkets? Trinkets!!! I would like to see cool stuff like targeting computers that would put a list of all targets in your sensors detection that you could sort and click on to target via the mouse. Of course depending on what level of computer installed would determine how good this is. It'd been neat to see components that you could use to "mask" the true content of your cargo hold for smuggling stuff in to and out of an area. Scanners that allow for different ranges than the default.
Another trinket that'd be cool is an IFF scrambler. Right now pirates are automatically red because, well, I assume that their ships names, ID's, and registry numbers have been reported. Have some trinket that could "mask" this and depending on the level of sensor, proximity, and/or captain experience reveal the true identity of the ship. Now, I'm not playing a pirate, but this might be cool for those individuals that like to play pir...um...entrepreneurs who aren't as...um...concerned where they purchase their stuff. Yeah, less concerned....
Tractor beams. Yeah, I know, everyone screams about wanting them...I thought I'd jump on the band wagon too .
Communication with the other ships...based off your reputation or even level. What? Yeah...kinda like something where 1) Hi! I'm here to attack you; 2) Drop your cargo and you will be spared!; 3) Look, is that an alien over there?; etc. What's the point? Well...depending on your reputation (or level, whichever is easier) you can have the other ship drop their cargo in hopes you'll leave them alone. If Aaron wanted to, he could add in a rep stat too (i.e. not feared looser/tough and respected good guy/tough respected bad guy/evil bad guy) where if you go ahead and bLast the ship after they drop cargo anyway you get a bad rep. Enough bad rep and folks will fight to the end because, well, you've got a bad rep! Not a tough enough rep, and well they'll just laugh at you and tell YOU to jettison your stuff. You could even add another option where merchants would ask you (depending on your rep) to escort them. This in conjunction with the whole IFF scrambler, or masker, could lead to interesting things. "Hi, please help us get to our destination and we'll pay you 5,000c!" You get there, get paid, and then turn off your scrambler and say, "Drop your cargo and you will be spared!" Ships could have distress beacons, blah, blah, blah, this one could go on forever.
Add cargo that you can buy/sell to make your own trade routes!
Mouse control of the camera! C'mon, please? Maybe have the middle mouse button, or a key, make the mouse control the camera angle. This isn't a necessity (we have F7 and F8), but it'd be cool.
The ability to reconfigure weapon hardpoints? Dunno if this is doable or not. By this I mean I want to be able to put six weapons facing forward, or one facing forward and five facing the left, etc. Dunno, but it'd be cool me thinks.
The ability to step backward on things like radar range.
When the game is paused I can do pretty much everything, I can even target with the keyboard ("T", "O", etc). BUT! I can't click on ships to target them. If we could still target ships (via the mouse) while paused that'd be awwwwwwesome.
I had more ideas, but, um, I can't think of them. If I remember more, I'll bug the forums again. Anyway, for what it's worth I'd say I love this game! There is room for improvement, but if someone is considering buying it, grab the demo to be sure, but I think you should just go and grab it.
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No, no, no, no...I'm not crazy. I'm insane, crazy is just a close personal friend of mine!
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