Reviews
 

The first review (to my knowledge) is in:
http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2005/1...ite-space.html

Re: Reviews
 

Overall, a nice review. Not sure which radar he was referring to, the one that detects occupied systems or the one that you get when you enter a system. If the former, then you just don't have to equip a ship with it. As far as the system radar, as he says, you can usually retreat if you don't think you can deal with the odds, and once you've played the game a bit, the radar allows you to determine if you want to 'expend' the mouse clicks to enter the system http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif I'm curious as to which one he was referring to, and what alternative he would suggest.

Re: Reviews
 

I was referring to the one you get when you enter a system.

I don't think there's really a clear-cut alternative other than removing it (which I don't suggest), it's just a convention of the game. Espeically with short games, you're wasting a lot of time entering star systems and retreating all the time. I just think the radar before you enter combat mode spoils some of the surprise of how many ships you'll be going up against.

Re: Reviews
 

It didn't come up in testing, but come to think about it, there could have been an alternative...made it a ship's system...

Re: Reviews
 

lol...I thought your user name (JaguarUSF) was familar...you're one of my 'British' buddies, elsewhere http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Reviews
 

Ah yes...be careful you don't go down in flames.

Re: Reviews
 

We think you should at least know how many ships are in system, and generally what "size" they are. Don't you think that's good? You don't necessarily know who it is, though, and "who" is what makes guessing fun.

I always go in regardless of what's on the radar screen just to see rxactly what is there. If it is too much, I retreat. That way, you get the ship type icon orbiting the star on the starmap rather than just a yellow circle. This helps later on when you're deciding which stars to return to.

Re: Reviews
 

I don't think it should be changed at all, but it's an interesting game element to talk about...
What's the game balance reasons for having the radar? To allow for quick play via easier retreats? To allow for less death? To allow for easy identification of races afterwards (b/c some of the radar signatures don't change from game to game)?
Discuss.

Re: Reviews
 

For me, the answer to your last three questions are yes. In relation to your refernce to the radar sigatures not changing, this is true. Once you learn them, you have a better understanding of what you may be going up against, and if it's something you'd rather avoid at that time, then it does provide for quicker play and easier retreats. And yes, even sometimes avoiding death, because there are times when you cannot retreat fast enough if you do Engage. Again, for me, it's one of the tools I make a great deal of use with.