Space Marshal Christoper Blair
Do folks still complain about CIG’s failure to release the game? Since I gave up facebook I don’t see many rants so it is easy to assume all the haters disappeared. LOL.
Still, there is quite a bit to do in this alpha release. So much so that it takes a 12 minute vid to cover some of numerous upgrades in the latest patch. Enjoy!
Gone are the days when you could spend hours trying to escape expert campers at GH. Anyone with a crimestat respawned at GH, the dark pirate base with zero safety protocols. That lawless paradise was also hard to find as it took a couple of blind jumps to navigate close enough to recognize the asteroid formation of GrimHex among the ring of asteroids circling Yela.
Today GrimHex is on all SkyLine maps and has been populated by a bit more friendly blokes as all but hand to hand weapon protocols are now enforced. CIG has promised an upgrade!
It is nice to see some fundamental game play mechanics take shape. During the 3.9 patch I have been altering my loadouts trying to minimize both my IR and ER signatures, primarily for the Arrow, Anvil’s light fighter of the future. JUB has posted a new instructional video, one of many in the Legacy Instructional Series (a source I have relied on for years) explaining exactly how radar works in the latest patch.
Today CIG laid out their strategy to bring back hardcore PVP players in a somewhat lengthy discussion that confirms that they really have heard the message. To do it right turns out to be a rather large project so we expect to see the fruits of CIG’s latest strategy sometime post 3.11, a 3.12 perhaps?
For the 3.10 patch first steps include new tech to model atmospheric flight with changes to the thruster efficiency curves and drag modeling using individually simulated aerodynamic surfaces. Fixed weapons are seeing a buff in their “self gimbaling” capability (convergence) to improve aim. Jerk has been nerfed from infinite to something finite (still fun, we hope) so that thrusters will not respond immediately to changes in acceleration. Hopefully this will result in smoother handling with reduced jitter.
The concept of “capacitance” is expected to provide the next layer of complexity needed to enable the “knife fight” by capping use of critical resources. For example, a ship could circle strafe for a time, but the ability of a ship to continue to excessively strafe would slowly be nerfed, presumably by limiting the amount of power to the thrusters, e.g. the capacitor discharging/recharging.
When flying above SCM speeds weapon accuracy, gimbal assist speed, and missile lock speed will be negatively affected.
The 3.10 FM promises smoother group jumps to assist squadron leaders.
A somewhat pejorative term in recent patches, this term is often used to refer to the “users” experience flying CIG’s ships, abstracting away the underlying systems. I will admit it took me years to understand what was going on. My early years were plagued by questioning folks claiming that uncoupled flight was the only true 6DOF and that somehow flying in space was a magical place for space ships. My irritation at these folks did get me banned from what is now known as Spectrum for a short time.
Nothing to see there, move along, move along.
After we lost the “knife fighter” rendition of the FM after the 3.0 patch folks lost all interest in AC and the really cool instances in Squadron Battle and Battle Royal – just disappeared. I was again at a loss to understand what had happened.
It was clear that a group of self proclaimed skilled pilots with not much to offer but tropes labeling anybody who disagreed with them a Care Bear, were making a lot of noise. Still, I failed to break through the noise. These folks had nothing technical to offer.
I found little to protest with CIG’s onward experimentations with the FM/IFCS as many of the updates made sense (other than hover-mode). Clearly the model needed to evolve. The loss of HUD features that were removed waiting for new UI tech provided CIG some political cover. My initial reviews of the post 3.0 FM pretty much centered on WOW, at last, I can control my ship! But those knife fights never returned.
Obviously something was wrong, with alpha. Go figure. So I am happy to see someone spelled the issues out, clearly.
Spoiler Alert! The SCM mode limiter was a good thing!
Folks been bitchen about Esperian ships ever since 3.0 hit the scene. The Blade failed to make OP in the light fighter category and the Glaive has been plagued with issues.
CIG has been busy behind the scenes making up for the bitterness with a sneak preview of things to come.
Posted as a tribute to the “knife fighting” FM that captured my imagination.
