Official SE5 release date announced - September 12

[Ed Kolis]

Nobody said anything about not being able to implement leaky armor, though

[Artaud]

AMF said:
I'm led to enquire - why would a game be released in September? I'd always heard that Sept is the worst month to ever release any new product, what with the holidays not yet here, fiscal year budgets tight, just over the back-to-school buying season...

Just curious really.

Thanks,

AMF

I'm not sure release month will make any difference for this game. It's not your typical computer game. It's not a shooter, or a RTS game. The graphics technology is not cutting edge, etc etc. I can't see that SE5 is going to be competing against any other game for market share.

I think the target market for SE5 is going to be receptive to it no matter what time of year it's released. The target market for an incredibly deep strategy game like this is people like you and me, who don't just play a game to "beat" it and then lose interest in a couple of weeks. If SE5 is any good we will be playing it and modding it for years and years.

[Kana]

Baron Munchausen said:

Hybrid systems are always confusing. No firing arcs, no shield/armor arcs. But directional damage.

Damage to components is directional. Or supposed to be. Damage to shields and armor is not. Yes, armor 'components' are placed on the ship like other components but they all get destroyed before any of the inner components are damaged. Or that's how it's supposed to work.

I still say that Aaron missed out on a good opportunity to add something special to the game other than glitz and glamour via 3d graphics. With neither the armor, shields, nor weapons on a directional basis, then what is the need for directional damage to components. Its not like you removing ability for the ship to fight from that side...all weapons arc, so there is no reason to destroy facing weapons, and I cant think of any other reason that directional damage, would have any effect. Sounds like useless code, that basically couldnt be finished. Without weapon, shield, armor arcs, there is absolutely no reason for directed damage...

[Spoo]

Kana said:
I still say that Aaron missed out on a good opportunity to add something special to the game other than glitz and glamour via 3d graphics. With neither the armor, shields, nor weapons on a directional basis, then what is the need for directional damage to components. Its not like you removing ability for the ship to fight from that side...all weapons arc, so there is no reason to destroy facing weapons, and I cant think of any other reason that directional damage, would have any effect. Sounds like useless code, that basically couldnt be finished. Without weapon, shield, armor arcs, there is absolutely no reason for directed damage...

I agree. Non-directional shields/armor is disappointing.

[Q]

Spoo said:

I agree. Non-directional shields/armor is disappointing.

To be honest: I am glad there is no directional shield/armor. Of course it would be interesting if it worked like in starfury and the computer in strategic combat would move the ship optimally and you had some good computer aid in ship design. But if these two "and" are not fulfilled it could be quite tedious and frustrating.
Don't forget that probably 99% of all combats will be strategic.
On the other hand I agree that you could have left directional damage out completely.

[Captain Kwok]

One of the things to keep in mind is that with adding weapon arcs and facings, you make it much more difficult to balance individual shipsets. Unlike Starfury where you might have to balance a dozen or so ships, SE:V has about 150 to worry about. With the directional damage, once shields and armor are down (or special damage types are in use) it plays a minor role such as in a pursuit, where a fleeing ship tends to be hit in the engines first etc. Lastly, fleet battles tend to end up in melees anyway, so if most of these features were active there wouldn't be much difference in the end result.

[AMF]

So...speaking of battles...are the combats now greater than 30 turns, and floating? (ie, don't have corners, so you can do that pursuit thing you allude to...)?

I just keep up with the pestering questions, don't I...

[Captain Kwok]

Combat is time-based and there are no corners. If a gap between a chasing ship and a fleeing ship reaches a certain distance the combat will end.

[Ed Kolis]

Yay! I kinda suspected that you could flee combat in that manner but it's good to hear confirmation of that!
Presumably that distance is moddable, and perhaps it might even be a formula, so for instance if you start with Chemical Rockets going 20 km/s or something and eventually get Hyper-Quasar Drives going 100 km/s then the distance required to retreat could increase throughout the game as the average player's tech level advances? Or is it time-based - based on the speed of the fastest ship in the pursuing fleet? (e.g. "if the enemy ship can't reach your current position within 30 seconds the combat ends")

edit: clarified from "can't reach you" to "can't reach your current position"

[RonGianti]

I just assumed that some shipsets would be better than others, and that you would have to pay for better ship sets the same way you pay for any other advantage at the beginning of the game. Oh well.

So now we have to pay for maintenance on fighters? Oh great. Are they completely useless then? Are they just a little niche item or just something to bypass completely?